University Library News - University Library at Florida Gulf Coast University

It can seem daunting to start an evidence synthesis project or systematic review, but we offer many online tools to help get you started and to save time and stress! Join us on October 26 to learn the basics of evidence synthesis and the different types of reviews, how they’re conducted and how librarians’ expertise can help you create a successful project.

Our Health and Human Services Librarian, Traci Mays, along with our STEM Librarian, Kimberly Reycraft will guide this session and give you the help you need when thinking about starting and publishing your review. Creating a strong foundation when conducting a review is a critical skill for all current and future researchers.

Level up your research with help from the library. It starts here.

Recent Posts

University Archives and Special Collections: Showcasing Excellence

By Emily Murray, Archives CoordinatorDuring the Fall semester, the University Archives and Special Collections hosted four incredible student interns - Isabella Elg, Presley Long, Sierra Smith, and Zephyr Wolfe. The internship program is designed to broadly introduce students to the fields of archives and librarianship as they pursue their academic and career interests. Students experience the day-to-day operations, including collection management, preservation, outreach, and reference work. As a final task, students must complete a cumulative project that showcases their work, in any format, throughout the semester. Isabella Elg As a freshman pursuing a double major in English and Communications with a concentration in Public Relations, Isabella contributed her skills to the America in the Depression Years Collection, President’s Collection, University Marketing and Communications, and the Kevin Erwin Environmental Collection. For the final project, Isabella presented a poster at the Symposium of Undergraduate Research and Internships (SURI) that reflected her internship experience. Presley Long Presley, a sophomore studying English with a minor in Creative Writing, immersed herself in the Mainsail Video Productions Inc. Collection, President’s Collection, and the Floridiana Collection throughout the semester.For the final project, Presley wrote a Case Study regarding the digitization, metadata, and the use of ArchivesSpace with the postcards from the Floridiana Collection. Sierra Smith As a senior majoring in Political Science with a minor in Gender Studies, Sierra furthered the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Collection and the Porecki Orchid Collection. For the final project, Sierra created a digital humanities project that maps orchid stamps from around the globe from the Porecki Orchid Collection. Zephyr Wolfe Zephyr is a senior majoring in History and dedicated their time to the FGCU Athletics Collection, Oral History Collection, and the Sanibel Island Collection. For the final project, Zephyr designed a zine that reflected their internship experience. As the semester comes to a close, the University Archives and Special Collections want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Isabella, Presley, Sierra, and Zephyr for their incredible contributions. Each student brought unique skills, perspectives, and dedication to their work, leaving a lasting impact on these collections. We are so proud of all that you have accomplished and wish each of you all the best in your future endeavors—you will always have a place in the archives community! ❤️ For more information about University Archives and Special Collections internships, please contact Emily Murray (eamurray@fgcu.edu). ...

Library Course Material Lists are Making an Impact

Faculty members are saving time and students are saving money with library course materials lists. FGCU Library has ramped up use of the course reading lists platform (Leganto) in the past year, and we are seeing positive results! A student in a class that used a library course reading list told us in a survey:I love the reading list!! In my previous classes, professors typically linked readings in Modules or in their syllabus or under specific assignments. And, each professor seemed to have a different way they liked to link readings to their course which made the readings difficult to find and harder to plan ahead if there was a longer reading assignment. Being able to see the dates by which the readings are due is great, and marking them as done afterwards feels really satisfying. I like that all sorts of media can be linked to the list. Articles, yes; but also videos and podcasts! Students are saving money on textbooks by using library-owned materials or Open Educational Resources (OER) in the reading lists instead of buying textbooks. The library has purchased more electronic copies of textbooks in the past year, increasing potential savings to students by over $100,000 from last year. Unfortunately, many textbooks are not available for the library to buy as ebooks because of publisher limitations. If every student in every class since Spring 2023 that had an electronic copy of their textbook in a library reading list skipped buying that textbook, the library could have saved students $1.9 million dollars! More students and faculty are using the reading lists in Fall 2024 more than ever. The graph to the right shows that potential savings based on the course reading lists that have been actively accessed by students has doubled over last Fall. This means more faculty are using links to the reading lists in their Canvas courses and more students are using them to look at course materials for free!Faculty members told us:“I love how it is easily integrated into canvas and that it offers ways to organize the content. In addition I love that this allows students to not have to spend money on textbooks." and “I absolutely love being able to reuse the list each year.”You can learn more about course materials lists provided by the library from our handy online guide (designed for faculty) or you can start browsing the course materials lists to see them for yourself (FGCU login required)....

A Taste of the Past

By Victoria Jones, University Archivist(Two pages from Kochrecepte, a hand-written German cookbook) November is the perfect month to highlight historic cookbooks! With the holiday season on the horizon, you can get some food inspiration from the past by trying out cozy and comforting recipes that have stood the test of time. Some people may be surprised to learn that University Archives and Special Collections houses a selection of vintage and historic cookbooks within our Rare Book collection. But it’s true! In the same way that we keep and preserve rare books related to Southwest Florida history, we also keep and preserve cookbooks. Why Keep Cookbooks? While it may seem unusual for us to collect cookbooks, there is a reason! Historic cookbooks can serve as small, delicious time capsules. They highlight the way that agriculture and our relationship with food has changed in a particular area based on the ingredients within the recipe. Vintage cookbooks can also tell the story of technological innovation by documenting the introduction and accessibility to tools like electric stoves, hand mixers and even air fryers. A lot about a community can be understood from what food its members eat, how they eat, and when they eat it. Try Some Vintage Recipes (Cover of Evelyn Luettich Horne’s community cookbook, published by the Estero Historical Society) Below are two traditional recipes from Evelyn Luettich Horne. Born on Mound Key in 1922, Evelyn grew up in Lee County. Her grandmother was a member of the Koreshan Unity, and she lived through and saw the rapid changes to Southwest Florida before her death in 2007. Be sure to let us know if you try one and what you think of it. You can also visit University Archives and Special Collections on the third floor of the Wilson G. Bradshaw Library for more historic cookbooks and vintage recipes! Sauerkraut Casserole This older recipe calls for ingredients that are to be provided in “No. 2” cans. A No. 2 can would contain about 2 ½ cups. 1 No. 2 can sauerkraut 1 No. 2 can apple slices, undrained ½ cup brown sugar, packed 2 tablespoons vinegar ½ cup onion, chopped 1 stick butter Topping: Kielbasa, 2 lengths (about 1 ½ pounds) ½ cup brown sugar, packed 2 teaspoons prepared mustard Instructions Combine sauerkraut and undrained apples with brown sugar, vinegar, and onion. Dot with butter. Lay Kielbasa on top and cover with brown sugar and mustard. Bake uncovered at 400 for 40 minutes. Serves 6. (The Sisters' First Table from the Koreshan Unity Collection) Perfect Pecan Pie 3 eggs 2/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup melted butter ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup light corn syrup 1 cup pecans, shelled and halved (or chopped) Instructions Beat together all ingredients except the pecans with a hand mixer. Stir in pecans. Pour into pie crust and bake at 375 for 40 – 45 minutes until set. ...

FGCU Librarians would like to hear your thoughts on AI!

On Monday, Nov. 18 (students), and Thursday, Nov. 21(faculty and staff) from 11 a.m. - noon, we will be hosting virtual town hall meetings that will discuss the ways AI is being used. We’re using this forum to understand what AI is being used for, what people's feelings are about it and what training needs to be done on campus. The information we gather will guide us in establishing future training and discussion opportunities. To inform our discussion, please consider taking the time to fill out the following brief survey: SURVEY. Please register on the library’s website (CLICK HERE). We hope you participate in this discussion, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts! ...

Evidence Synthesis: Level Up Your Research

Florida Gulf Coast University Library