Monthly Archives: February 2020

Free online resources, what are they good for?

The Consortium Library subscribes to a host of high-quality peer reviewed online articles available through online databases, accessible both on and off campus with your student log in. These resources are useful for academic research and modern reviews of both historic and contemporary issues, including everything from scholarly journals to Sanborn Maps. So, it’s easy to forget there are reputable free online sources too. Project Gutenberg and Muse, both listed on the library’s database page, have legally digitized materials that either no longer have active copyrights in the U.S. or that have been paid for through grants. But what kinds of materials do these databases have and what are they useful for? Here’s more information about each site, from their own homepages.

Project Gutenberg is a library of over 60,000 free eBooks. Choose among free epub and Kindle eBooks, download them or read them online. You will find the world’s great literature here, with focus on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired. Thousands of volunteers digitized and diligently proofread the eBooks, for enjoyment and education.

No fee or registration! Everything from Project Gutenberg is gratis, libre, and completely without cost to readers.

No special apps needed! Project Gutenberg eBooks require no special apps to read, just the regular Web browsers or eBook readers that are included with computers and mobile devices. There have been reports of sites that charge fees for custom apps, or for the same eBooks that are freely available from Project Gutenberg. Some of the apps might have worthwhile features, but none are required to enjoy Project Gutenberg eBooks.

-Project Gutenberg, https://www.gutenberg.org/, February 12, 2020.

 

Project MUSE offers open access (OA) books and journals from several distinguished university presses and scholarly societies. Through our open access hosting programs, we are able to offer publishers a platform for their OA content which ensures visibility, discoverability, and wide dissemination. These books and journals are freely available to libraries and users around the world.

Features of OA books and journals on MUSE

  • Search and browse using the same tools for all MUSE content
  • Appear in search results with content already owned by libraries
  • Require no login or registration for access
  • DRM-free, with unlimited downloading and printing

OA Books on MUSE

Books are made open access on MUSE through a variety of funding initiatives, including Knowledge Unlatched, NEH Humanities Open Book grants, TOME, and individual publisher programs.

MUSE Open, an initiative supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, enables Project MUSE to distribute selected OA books in browser-native HTML5 format, with enhanced functionality. Many other books are available OA as PDF files. The publishers of the books determine the licensing terms under which the books are made available.

Books may change their status on MUSE from paid access to OA, at the request of the publisher. Some books previously sold in collections may become OA; these titles will be delivered with their original collection(s) but are no longer included in the pricing for future sales.

OA Journals on MUSE:

  • Constitutional Studies
  • Journal of Appalachian Health
  • RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
  • Southeast of Now: Directions in Contemporary & Modern Art in Asia
  • Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies

-Project Muse, https://muse.jhu.edu/, February 12, 2020.

Textbooks on Reserve at the Library

Looking for a textbook? Your professors may have placed their course books on reserve at the Consortium Library! These books are available free of charge for either check out or in-library use (meaning you may only use them in the library). 

To see if your books are available on reserve, go to the UAA/APU Consortium Library’s home page and click on “Course Reserves” under “Services.”

You can search by Course ID, Course Name, or Instructor Name. Once you find your class or professor, click on the name to pull up the list of materials on reserve. Visit the Circulation Desk to pick up your books.

If you’d like more information about finding textbooks, check out this guide: https://libguides.consortiumlibrary.org/textbooks

Happy studying!

Learn More About Open Educational Resources (OER)!

You may have heard the term “Open Educational Resources” or “OER” but what does it mean for you?

Today, Dr. Roberts, the OER Keynote speaker, will be discussing “how open educational practices can strengthen sustainable connections between universities, rural communities and cultural learning contexts. She will suggest how university programs can benefit from learning from and with multiple learning contexts. She will also advocate for how learning networks can provide the foundational bridge that can interconnect learning communities in order to expand learning opportunities for all learners. This keynote aims to emphasize how student-centered learning and open educational practices can expand learning opportunities for all learners, especially those from rural and culturally diverse communities who may have previously felt confused when designing their learning pathway in university contexts.”

The talk will be taking place today, Tuesday February 11th 7:30-8:30pm at Beatrice McDonald Hall Room 116. This is a free event with free parking.

For registration information, including distance delivery options, visit uaa.alaska.edu/affordable

Want to learn more about Open Educational Resources generally? Check out the Library’s Guide here: https://libguides.consortiumlibrary.org/OER

The Great Backyard Bird Count is almost here!

Learn how you can participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count February 14-17, 2020. Begun in 1998, it’s the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds.

February is also National Bird Feeding Month. And to help you attract birds to your backyard and learn to identify them, check out this list of field guides, basic birding books, and much more found in libraries all across the state.