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Library News For Instructors

New library policies for KPU Employees

Change is Coming!

​We have a new loan period and fines policy for Employees that will start September 2019. We're letting you know ahead of time so it doesn't take anyone by surprise! The incentive for this change is to make our policies more equitable between students and employees and to encourage a healthier circulation of our library materials.

The biggest change for Employees involves fines and borrowing of our library materials. Employees will have a shortened loan period for books, but we've added more renewals and a system that automatically renews eligible material for you as long as it is not requested by another user.  You will also have late fees on all items if not returned by its due date, but we give you ample time and warning to return items so you can easily avoid them.​ 

The changes in our policies mean that our users are treated equally and also encourages our users to return items in a timely manner. We want students and employees alike to have access to our material rather than languish in a forgotten pile!

Our loan periods, automatic renewal eligibility, and fines will differ depending on the type of item you borrow. Visit Loans, Renewals & Returns for Employees for full details on these upcoming changes. 

Questions or concerns? Please use the 'Email' form on our Ask Us page.

 

 

New databases

New Databases

ProQuest Central 

This is a huge collection of  databases. KPU Library already subscribes to some of them -- such as Criminal Justice Periodicals Index -- but 35 are brand new to us. Here are a few that might be of particular interest:

EBSCO Academic Ebook Collection

"Offering more than 180,000 e-books, this collection includes titles from leading university presses such as Oxford University Press, MIT Press, State University of New York Press, Cambridge University Press, University of California Press, McGill-Queen's University Press, Harvard University Press and many others. Additional academic publishers include Elsevier, Ashgate Publishing, Taylor & Francis, Sage Publications and John Wiley & Sons" -- Publisher.

This new database supplements our other collections of e-books. All titles are integrated into the library catalogue and can be found through the catalogue, Summon or by searching directly in specific e-book databases.

Open Publishing Suite

What is Open Publishing Suite (OPUS)?

Among other features, Open Textbooks are resources that are freely available to students and open to instructors to use, adapt, and share. Open Textbooks are one type of Open Educational Resources (OER) and many are developed and vetted by experts. 

The library has a new suite of services and tools we collectively refer to as the Open Publishing Suite (OPUS). OPUS offers support to KPU instructors create or adapt open resources. With our help, you can:

  • Develop accessible open textbooks
  • Publish your own Open Journal (great for departmental journals or even student led projects!)
  • Embed library resources and open content into Moodle
  • Find open textbooks to use in your classroom
  • Submit work to KORA or search it for scholarly works by KPU authors 

If you have questions, want to know more, or just want to have a chat about the possibilities of OPUS, we encourage you to visit the OPUS website, contact the Library or contact the Open Ed office

You can also browse our handout on ways to reduce textbook costs below!

Helpful library links

Plan your semester with these helpful library links 

Need library resources for your class this term? These links should help you navigate your needs. 

Book a Library Instruction session

Help set up your students for success! You can contact the library to arrange for an instruction session to take place during your class time.  Please note we can only schedule sessions with two weeks (or more) notice ahead of your preferred date.

We offer many different types of information literacy instruction including research methods for scholarly/peer reviewed journal articles, evaluating the difference between popular and scholarly online sources, and information on plagiarism and citation methods. Visit Library Workshop Request and submit the form. We'll get back to you shortly!

 

Embed Library Resources in your Moodle Site

Did you know you can have any library subject guide embedded into moodle? If you want to direct students to subject specific resources, or library resources on subjects such as  academic integrity, citation styles, or popular vs. academic sources, contact your Liaison Librarian or Ask A Librarian and we'll take care of the rest!

 

Plagiarism and citation guides

The library also has guides on academic integrity (with the Plagiarism Awareness Tutorial), citation styles, and more.

 New edition of APA style coming this fall:

The APA will be releasing the new 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual in October. The library will update its popular APA quick guide as soon as possible after that. We don't know much about the changes yet, so I'd recommend checking the APA Style Blog for updates.

 
Search widgets

If you're feeling adventurous, you can also embed search widgets into your Moodle courses. These are little search boxes for specific databases or research tools.

Course Reserves

Do you have extra copies of your course text or want a copy available to your students? Place your textbook on course reserve at the library so your students can access it. We have various loan periods that can be applied to the loan, including 2 hours, 1 day, 2 weeks, and more.

For more information, read Placing Materials on Course Reserve (PDF) or visit Course Reserves.

Aren't those just for books?

DVDs, articles, and book chapters can all be put on course reserve. We can also place any items that are copyright cleared on e-reserve, like sample exams.

Reserve Equipment 

Need to book equipment for your classes or reserve a film? Our website will guide you through the request process and includes contact information if you need assistance.

What type of equipment does the library have?

Find a list, with photos and descriptions, of all the items available through our Equipment Services

New this semester: iPads

Connect an iPad to the projector in a KPU classroom to project notes as you create them or access your KPU Virtual Desktop via Citrix to project files you've already created.  You can integrate handwriting, typing, drawings, audio and pictures.  Notepad can also be used to annotate PDF documents such as student assignments in PDF format.

This semester loan equipment is for employee use only and is limited to one iPad per person. iPads are not bookable items and are available on a first come, first served basis.

The Teaching & Learning page has more information about iPads and other equipment for the classroom.

Equipment circulation support

Tired of the hassle of tracking which student borrowed your department equipment?  Let the library do it for you!  We’re experts at loaning equipment and helping students manage their loans. 

For example, the library has helped physics instructors circulate their set of IOLab devices--handheld, data-gathering instruments used to conduct experiments.  Instructors arranged the terms with us beforehand, told their students to come to the library to borrow, and we kept track of the devices! 

Interested in having us help manage your equipment loans to students?  Contact Ruth Mullane or Debbie Smith.

Give us feedback and contact us

Librarians and library employees are happy to assist you with your library and information needs. Don't know where to start? Want to know what resources are available for your subject area? Visit Ask a Librarian to contact us or view librarian reference hours.  

Tell us what you think!  We are always open to feedback on ways we can improve your experience at the library as well as your student's.

Follow us @kpulibrary and keep up-to-date on the library.
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