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Upcoming webinar: Introduction to Roper iPoll for Students, Faculty, and Staff

Do you have an interest in researching public opinion data? Roper iPoll is a deeply informative and interactive opinion data research platform produced by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University. On Monday, January 13 from 1:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. and Thursday, January 16 from 11 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., librarians Steve Rokusek and Hansen Zhang will host an Introduction to Roper iPoll workshop for students, faculty and staff. Roper iPoll offers nearly a million survey and poll questions, response data, associated reporting, methodology and transparency documentation (such as survey organization and sponsor information, mode, field dates, etc.), full questionnaires, related survey ephemera and more. In the workshop, attendees will learn how to find and extract data, browse public opinion data of various topics and learn how to download a data set. Register on the library’s calendar page to get our link to this virtual workshop.   Please select either:Monday, January 13 or Thursday, January 16 ...

Introduction to Legal Research webinar coming up!

On Monday, January 13 from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Steve Rokusek (FGCU Social Sciences Librarian) and Dr. Robert N. Diotalevi (FGCU Associate Professor and Founding Program Coordinator of Legal Studies) will host a legal research workshop. This workshop will delve into the basics of legal research including writing skills and techniques. Topics such as a survey of the American Legal System, case and statute citation, and the various types of authorities and how they apply in legal research will be covered. The library’s online legal resources will also be discussed. A question-and-answer period will follow the presentation. Rokusek has been our Social Sciences Librarian for more than 10 years, serving as the liaison to multiple departments and programs including Legal Studies, Criminal Justice, Forensic Studies and Political Science. Dr. Robert Diotalevi has been a lawyer for 39 years as a member of Massachusetts and Florida bars. In addition to law, he possesses degrees in accounting, communication and taxation. Students, faculty and staff are welcome to attend. Register on the library’s calendar page to get the link to this virtual workshop by clicking HERE....

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)....

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