Need a library orientation? Have a library question?

The NOVA Online Librarian (Helen) is offering webinars & drop-in virtual office hours in January!

Drop-in library hours, 10-11 am on Mondays in January: Join Helen’s Zoom room at https://vccs.zoom.us/my/hmcmanus (Links to an external site.)  OR via phone, call 646 558 8656 and enter Meeting ID: 647 707 5834

Library basics webinars info: http://libcal.nvcc.edu/calendar/novaonline/?cid=11660&t=g&d=0000-00-00&cal=11660&ct=45489 (Links to an external site.)

 Email library help: online.library@nvcc.edu

Did you know you have access to Mango Languages, a fun & interactive language-learning software? Log in with your VCCS email, then you can use Mango Languages online or via mobile apps for Apple & Android.

• Get started here: http://eznvcc.vccs.edu:2048/login?url=http://libraries.mangolanguages.com/nvcc/start
• For more info, check this Libguide about Mango: http://libguides.nvcc.edu/mango

Languages available include English, Spanish, Japanese, Farsi (Persian), Arabic (Modern Standard, Egyptian, Iraqi, and Levantine), and even Pirate! For a full list, see https://learn.mangolanguages.com/welcome/language/all

Brought to you by NOVA Libraries.

Let’s give a scenario…

A student, let’s call her Emmie, has been working long and hard on a paper for her ENG 111 class. In her opinion, it may be the best paper she has ever written! She turns it in feeling very satisfied, and then proceeds to take a short vacation to the beach. When she gets home, she checks Blackboard expecting to see an ‘A’. But in fact, she has received an email from her instructor discussing the Academic Dishonesty policy.

What?!?! Dishonest! Emmie is anything but dishonest!

But in fact, after reading her instructor’s comments she finds that she has (unknowingly) committed plagiarism. According to NOVA’s Student Handbook, plagiarism is “the act of appropriating passages from the work of another individual, either word for word or in substance, and representing them as one’s own work. This includes any submission of written work other than one’s own (Section VI, No. 4 pg. 73)”

Emmie looks at her paper and realizes that in fact she did commit plagiarism! She took ideas from books and papers that she had read, and put them in her own words. But when she did this, she didn’t give credit to the original author. She also put some direct quotes in her paper, but forgot to put a citation at the end of each quote.

Fortunately, Emmie’s instructor gave her the opportunity to correct her mistakes and resubmit her paper for a lower grade. However, the situation could have been much worse. She could have received an ‘F’ on the paper, or worse, an ‘F’ in the class.

So how can you avoid Emmie’s frustration?

Anytime you use a quote, a picture, a graph or even an idea from another work, make sure you cite where you got your information. Professors have access to a lot of tools that can help them identify plagiarism in your paper, and not knowing about plagiarism isn’t an excuse.

One of the best resources on plagiarism is the Purdue Online Writing Lab’s Avoiding Plagiarism. Check this website out to see other ways you can avoid the frustration that Emmie went through.

Banned Books Week (Sept 27- Oct 3, 2015):

It’s the start of a new academic year and teachers are sending out their lists of required readings and parents are beginning to gather books. You may be some of those parents!  In some cases, classics like “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “The Catcher in the Rye,” and “To Kill a Mocking Bird,” may not be included school libraries due to challenges made by parents or administrators.

The most challenged and/or restricted reading materials have been books for children.  However, challenges are not simply an expression of a point of view; on the contrary, they are an attempt to remove materials from public use, thereby restricting the access of others. Even if the motivation to ban or challenge a book is well intentioned, the outcome is detrimental. Censorship denies our freedom as individuals to choose and think for ourselves.

American libraries are the cornerstones of our democracy. Libraries are for everyone, everywhere. Because libraries provide free access to a world of information, they bring opportunity to all people. Now, more than ever, celebrate the freedom to read @ your library! Read an old favorite or a new banned book this week.

Have you read any of these banned books?  Click on the title to access the eBook or audiobook with your myNOVA login and password (unless otherwise noted).

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (Download free via Project Gutenberg)

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin

The Call of the Wild, by Jack London (Download free via Project Gutenberg)

The Color Purple, by Alice Walker

Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift (Download free via Project Gutenberg)

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

Written by Heather Blicher, NOVA Online Librarian

Whether you are looking for a scholarly journal article, a clip to spice up your presentation or an e-book for leisure reading, the NOVA Online Librarians are here to help you! There is no longer a need to try and sift through the maze of resources clicking here and there to try and get started. You are not alone; the NOVA Online Librarians are here for you.

Before you begin your next paper, presentation or research, learn how a NOVA Online Librarian can come to your rescue by viewing their YouTube video

You will gain valuable information as you learn to access and navigate the library website with confidence and ease. In four short minutes, you will learn how to use your personal computer, phone or tablet to:

• Access books and e-books online
• Request a book be sent to the campus closest to your home for check-out
• Research library databases by title or subject
• Search journals
• Access the 24/7 ask a librarian chat feature staffed by NOVA librarians and the cooperative network of member libraries
• Reach out to the NOVA – NOVA Online Librarians for personal one on one assistance getting started on your next research paper or presentation
• Gain valuable research assistance, subject guides, and useful resources on your topic.

Once you finish the video, you can take a journey through the NOVA Online Library website to explore the plethora of additional resources offered through the library to support your success. Not only will the librarians guide you through the research process, they can also assist with research & writing skills, understanding & avoiding plagiarism, and finding all of the sources you need to be successful in your courses!‘Knowledge is Power’ – contact your NOVA Online Librarian today!

Written by Adrienne, NOVA Online Student Success Coach

Sometimes when we choose a topic to research, our topic is too broad. For instance, you’re assigned a 5 page research paper. This might seem like a lot, but once you start researching you will need to  narrow your topic to fill those 5 pages. With  a topic that is too broad, you could write an entire book with the amount of research you can find!

To begin, start with your broad topic and add extra elements to it. For example, the ‘Civil Rights Movement’ can be narrowed to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. To focus it even further you might look at the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s in Washington, D.C.

See how I’m adding these extra elements to focus my topic? First I add a time period and then I add a place. The extra elements are not limited to time frames and locations; sometimes they are specific people or themes.

Starting with a good topic will make researching a lot easier!  As always, if you need more help with your topic or research please contact the NOVA Online library at NOVA Online-Library@nvcc.edu.