Category Archives: Library Services

Providing information on a service offered by the library: details or interesting insights, modifications to previous service, new tool or utitlity…and informing how it affects the user.

Library Services, Resources, Student Author

Healey Library Hacks: Unlocking Hidden Treasures – Research Guides Edition 

Table of Contents: 

Introduction

Research Guides

Summary

Introduction

Welcome to “Healey Library Hacks: Unlocking Hidden Treasures – Research Guides Edition “! If you’ve ever wondered whether or not Healey Library offers curated subject-matter content and wondered where those are stored, you’ve come to the right place. Healey Library offers what are known as “Research Guides”, created by the Reference, Outreach, and Instruction (ROI) librarians. They are a collection of recommended resources and information designed to assist students, faculty, and staff in navigating and conducting research on specific subjects or topics. These guides can also be created and tailored to specific courses based on faculty requests.  The research guides can also be searched by types: Course Guide, General Purpose, Subject Guide, and Help Guide. In this blog post, we’ll look at some sample research guides recommended by our library staff, using the potential needs of School for the Environment as examples.

Research Guides

Environmental Sciences  

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The Environmental Sciences LibGuide is a comprehensive overview of articles, books, databases, and other resources available through Healey Library and open access related to Environmental Sciences. 


Sustainability 

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The Sustainability LibGuide is a collection of sustainability-related faculty publications, campus and community resources, and national/international resources. 


Raw Data   

The Raw Data LibGuide is a curated list of recommended databases that provide raw data sets, organized into user-friendly sections based on data type for easy browsing. 


Open Access  

open access

The Open Access LibGuide is a valuable resource for students, faculty, and staff, providing free and unrestricted access to a wide range of scholarly materials. 




Language Table and Library Glossary 

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Located in the “Guide to Credo Information Literacy Models” LibGuide on the left-hand side under “Library Vocabulary”:

The Language Table includes a multilingual glossary of research terms in seven different languages. 

The Library Glossary offers a comprehensive collection of research terms and definitions to aid researchers in understanding key concepts and terminology essential for their studies. 

Summary

Healey Library offers a comprehensive collection of research guides for students, faculty, and staff. Using the School for the Environment as an example of a broad research focus, this blog highlighted several useful guides to fit those needs:

  • Raw Data LibGuide is especially recommended to students in Geographical Information Systems (ENVSCI 281) or Statistics for the Environment (ENVSCI 261) courses or for those in need of statistical data.

  • Open Access LibGuide offers unrestricted access to a wide range of scholarly materials and is especially recommended to faculty looking to enhance course material accessibility while maintaining credible sources.

While these guides used examples from the School for the Environment, Healey Library offers over 200 research guides covering a wide range of topics. Exploring these resources can enhance teaching, deepen studies, and advance research. We hope this guide has provided valuable insights and inspired you to make the most of Healey Library’s resources. Happy exploring! 

Library Services, Resources, Student Author

Healey Library Hacks: Unlocking Hidden Treasures – Databases Edition

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Databases

Summary

Introduction

Welcome to “Healey Library Hacks: Unlocking Hidden Treasures – Databases Edition “! If you’ve been curious about what databases Healey Library offers students, faculty and staff, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog post, we’ll highlight 9 out of the 351 library databases recommended by our library staff for research foci that align with School for the Environment. These resources are designed to enhance your teaching, studies, and research endeavors. While we’ll be using examples of how these databases could benefit those in the School for the Environment, these databases are multidisciplinary tools that can be used to fit the research needs of any college or major. 

Databases

ProQuest 

As seen above, get access to popular newspapers like The Economist on ProQuest.

ProQuest is a comprehensive research database that provides access to thousands of full-text scholarly journals as well as newspapers, magazines, dissertations, and more.

Science Direct  

As seen above, type in keywords such as “Asian Shore Crabs” and get access to up to date research, even as recent as this year (2024).

The Science Direct database provides credible and up-to-date research that covers a broad range of disciplines with an emphasis on scientific, technical, and medical research.  



JSTOR 

As seen above, type in keywords related to your research interests to get access to older materials like the journal article seen above from 1994.

JSTOR provides access to current and older journal articles and e-books across various disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and some natural sciences. 


ScholarWorks 

As seen above, browse academic papers, theses, dissertations, and other scholarly publications published by faculty and students by departments, majors, etc.


ScholarWorks offers access to a wide range of scholarly works produced by the university’s faculty, researchers, and students.  


Browzine 

As seen above, access thousands of journals collections like Nature.

BrowZine contains an extensive collection of current scholarly journals from multiple publishers in one place. Create an account and stay up-to date by getting notifications from your virtual bookshelf.

Kanopy 

As seen above, find movies and documentaries that fit your interests.

Kanopy serves as a streaming video provider. It offers a wide selection of documentaries and popular films. 


PolicyMap 

As seen above, PolicyMap can visualize data depending on your needs.

PolicyMap provides access to a wide range of demographic, economic, and social data, which can be easily visualized and analyzed using tools provided by the platform itself. 

Social Explorer 

As seen above, Social Explorer provides data that can be analyzed using maps.

Social Explorer has a user-friendly interface, extensive data visualization, and comprehensive data sets based on the U.S Census.



Brill Climate Change and Law Collection 

As seen above, BRILL provides access legal aspects and policies related to climate change.

The Climate Change and Law Collection database concentrates solely on legal aspects and policies related to climate change, providing specific and detailed information in this area. 

Summary

Healey Library offers a multitude of databases that can greatly benefit students, faculty and staff. Here’s a brief overview of the databases covered: 

  • ProQuest is user-friendly and frequently recommended by Healey librarians to freshmen and sophomores who are beginning their research process.  It includes thousands of full-text scholarly journals, newspapers, magazines, dissertations, and more.

  • Science Direct provides credible, up-to-date research on a broad range of disciplines. For example, this database can be helpful for researchers interested in ecology or animal populations and looking to find the most up-to-date research.  

  • JSTOR focuses on providing access to current and older journal articles and e-books across various disciplines. This database, for example, can be beneficial for students researching long-term ecological trends.  

  • ScholarWorks provides free and open access to academic papers, theses, dissertations, and other scholarly publications published by faculty and students all across campus. This resource can be especially helpful for grad students as a reference for their own dissertations or thesis as it organizes its contents by colleges, departments, etc. 

  • Browzine allows students and faculty to easily browse, read, and organize journals by subject. For example, making it simple to find top-tier environmental science publications for those interested in environmental sciences. 

  • Kanopy is recommended as an additional tool for faculty and students looking for video content. For example, Kanopy has a wide collection of environmentally oriented films such as the Green Planet collection, that faculty in the School for the Environment will find interesting. 

  • PolicyMap provides access to a wide range of demographic, economic, and social data. For example, this database can be useful for those in Geographical Information System (ENVSCI 281) or Statistics for the Environment (ENVSCI 261) courses. 

  • Social Explorer serves as an alternative to the U.S. Census database that makes it easier for students to navigate and understand statistical information. 

  • Brill Climate Change and Law Collection provides detailed, relevant information on legal aspects and policies related to climate change.

By exploring these resources recommended by our library staff, you can enhance your teaching, deepen your studies, and advance your research. We hope this guide has provided valuable insights and inspired you to make the most of the resources available to you at Healey Library. Happy exploring! 

Library Services, Resources, Student Author

Healey Library Hacks: Unlocking Hidden Treasures – Archival Collections Edition 

Table of Contents: 

Introduction

Archival Collections

Summary

Introduction

Welcome to “Healey Library Hacks: Unlocking Hidden Treasures – Archival Collections Edition!” If you’ve been wondering about what the Archives in the Healey Library has to offer students, faculty and staff, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog post, we’ll look at a sample of some of the archival collections recommended by our library staff, using the potential needs of the School for the Environment as examples.  

Archival Collections

Visiting the Archives

The Archives Research Room is located on the fifth floor of the Healey Library.
The Archives Research Room is located on the fifth floor of the Healey Library.

The Archives Research Room is where researchers can view many of the library’s physical collections containing original historical and contemporary records, manuscripts, photographs, and other primary source materials

Digital Collections & Finding Aids 

The archival collections that have been digitized can be found on the department’s Digital Collections site. The Finding Aids for all archival collections contain extensive overviews of archival materials for easy access and browsing. 

Open Archives News

The Open Archives News site is an excellent resource for staying up to date on the latest materials and activities from the Archives.  

Thompson Island Collection  

Gleason's Pictorial: The Farm School at Thompson's Island, Boston Harbor (1852)
Gleason’s Pictorial: The Farm School at Thompson’s Island, Boston Harbor (1852)

This collection contains historical documents, maps, and records that provide insights into the environmental changes and ecosystem dynamics of Thompson Island over time.  



Boston Harbor Islands Collections

The day I climbed Boston Light
“The day I climbed Boston Light” by Clare Diminico (2005)

This Archives has a number of collections focused on the different islands around Boston Harbor.




Mass. Memories Road Show  

Volunteers and contributors at “Show ‘Em Whatcha Got” Mass. Memories Road Show: The Hip-Hop Edition” in 2018.

The Mass. Memories Road Show is a statewide, event-based participatory archiving program that collects and digitizes photographs and documents highlighting Massachusetts history. All digitized content can be found on the Digitized Collections page. 

Boston Harbor Cleanup Case: Judge Mazzone’s Papers  

This physical collection contains comprehensive documentation of legal cases and environmental disputes that took place during the Boston Harbor Clean Up.  

Boston Urban Gardeners Records   

Daisy Beaufort, coordinator, poses in Gerland Com. Garden (1980)
Daisy Beaufort, coordinator, poses in Gerland Com. Garden (1980)

This collection provides a rich repository of historical documents, photographs, and records documenting Boston’s urban gardening movement.  


Roadmap for Participatory Archiving (RoPA) 

Created by the Archives, this resource guides libraries and organizations through the process of creating and executing participatory archiving events.  

Summary 

The Archives in the Healey Library offers a comprehensive collection of archival material for students, faculty, and staff across various content areas. This blog highlighted a sample of archival materials focused on School for the Environment: 

  • The Finding Aids and Digital Collections are valuable for environmental sciences students looking to access a wealth of historical and contemporary data, research reports, and multimedia resources. These collections support students’ understanding of environmental issues, local and global ecological changes, and historical environmental data, enhancing their research and academic projects. 
  • Students can set up appointments with archivists to find collections relevant to their research by visiting the Archives website or by emailing library.archives@umb.edu. 
  • The Open Archives News site is an excellent resource for staying up to date on the latest materials available in the Archives.
  • The Thompson Island Collection supports researchers by offering primary source materials that may help with studying long-term ecosystem dynamics, human impacts, and conservation efforts specific to Thompson Island. Some of the items in the collections can be found online, optimizing student accessibility. 
  • The Boston Harbor Islands Collections offer historical documents, maps, and records that provide insights into environmental changes on the islands over time. Students can focus on a particular island that is the most relevant to their research.   
  • Many of the materials in the Mass. Memories Road Show collection contain environmental themes. Students can search the digitized collections, using keywords related to environmental sciences to find materials relevant to their research. 
  • Judge Mazzone’s chambers papers contains comprehensive documentation of the legal and environmental cases that resulted in the Boston Harbor Clean Up. These papers provide firsthand insights into legal proceedings, environmental policies, and regulatory frameworks, offering students a deep understanding of historical and contemporary environmental issues. 
  • The Boston Urban Gardeners collection offers insights into sustainable urban agriculture practices, community engagement in environmental stewardship, and the evolution of green spaces within urban landscapes.  
  • The Roadmap for Participatory Archiving (or RoPA) is a valuable resource to faculty members looking for alternative ways of engaging communities for field research. This can be especially beneficial for sciences focused on community dynamics and allowing for communities to tell their own stories.

 By exploring these archival treasures recommended by our library staff, you can enhance your teaching, deepen your studies, and advance your research. We hope this guide has provided valuable insights and inspired you to make the most of the resources available at Healey Library. Happy exploring! 

Library Services, Resources, Student Author

Healey Library Hacks: Unlocking Hidden Treasures 

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Notable Resources

Summary


Introduction

Welcome to “Healey Library Hacks: Unlocking Hidden Treasures”! If you’ve been curious about what Healey Library offers students, faculty, and staff, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog post, we’ll discuss three notable resources, the Info for Faculty Page, Google Scholar, and the Lean Library browser extension which are designed to enrich your teaching, studies, and research journeys.

Notable Resources

Info For Faculty Page

Found on the library website, the Info for Faculty Page is useful for those looking to maximize their use of library resources. While intended for faculty, please note that some of the resources are open to everyone.

What resources does Healey Library offer?


Google Scholar

By selecting UMass Boston as your institution under “Library Links” in the Google Scholar Settings, you can get access to library-subscribed content for free.

For more help, visit our Ask a Librarian page.

Lean Library

The Lean Library browser extension provides instant access to a wide array of scholarly resources directly from your web browsers.

The Lean Library browser extension provides instant access to a wide array of scholarly resources directly from your web browsers.

Explore other blogs about Lean Library browser extension:


For even more help, visit our Lean Library Libguide or our Ask a Librarian page.

Summary

Healey Library offers a wealth of tools, applications, and curated content that can greatly benefit UMass Boston students, faculty and staff:

  • The Info for Faculty page serves as a helpful resources guide for new faculty navigating library resources while also assisting current faculty in maximizing their use of library resources.

  • Google Scholar provides access to a wide range of scholarly material. By selecting UMass Boston as your institution under “Library Links” in Settings, you can get full access to library-subscribed content for free when you search on Google Scholar.

  • The Lean Library browser extension provides instant access to library-subscribed research articles, journals, and books, facilitating efficient and up-to-date research for students and faculty without having to go onto the library website.

By exploring these free resources recommended by our library staff, you can enhance your teaching, deepen your studies, and advance your research. We hope this guide has provided valuable insights and inspired you to make the most of the resources available at Healey Library. Happy exploring!

Announcements, Library Services, The Dean's Desk

Healey Library Updates – Fall 2022

Please read on for updates on Library services for the Fall semester!

Permanent Dean of University Libraries

Dean Stephanie Walker headshotOn August 22, 2022, Dean Stephanie Walker joined the Healey Library and UMass Boston. Stephanie comes to us most recently from the University of North Dakota Libraries, where she led a multi-library system and also oversaw the University’s Art Collections. While at UND, she led the gut-renovation of the state’s largest research library (Chester Fritz Library), started and led an Open Educational Resources (OER) program that saved UND students $11 million over 6 years, led the creation of an Open Access publishing program, oversaw the creation of one of the largest and fastest-growing institutional repositories on the Digital Commons platform, and more. Prior to her time at UND, Stephanie was the Chief Librarian & Executive Director of Academic Information Technologies at the City University of New York’s Brooklyn College. She previously also served as the Manager of Collections, Technical Services, & Library IT at Harvard Medical School’s Countway Library, as Dean & University Librarian at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and as the head of two libraries at the University of Toronto. Stephanie is delighted to join UMass Boston, and looks forward to working with everyone here! Email her any time at stephanie.walker@umb.edu – she’d love to hear from you! 

Open Educational Resources (OERs) and Open Access (OA)

Last year, a number of UMass Boston faculty applied for small grants related to Open Textbooks and other Open Educational Resources. As part of this program, they could a) adopt existing OERs, b) adapt one or more existing OERs for use in their courses, or c) create OERs themselves. This year, we have begun early discussions on expanding our programs by offering some of these options again. We also hope to expand our marketing and promotion of OERs, with upcoming speakers and events. We are still very early in this process, but wanted to let you know that there is much more to come! Dean Stephanie Walker had previously represented her former institution in the National Academy of Sciences’ HELIOS project (Higher Education Leadership In Open Source), which is a multi-institutional program to grow and enhance uptake and usage of OERs in Higher Education. With the support of Provost Joseph Berger, Dean Walker is now representing UMass Boston on this initiative – stay tuned!  

Curbside Pickup Available Monday – Saturday

Curbside pickup for physical Healey Library and interlibrary loan (ILL) materials is available BY APPOINTMENT, Monday – Saturday in the ISC turn-around. To request a book or DVD from Healey Library’s collection for curbside pickup, please sign into UMBrella directly, search for a title, open the item’s record, and click ‘REQUEST OPTIONS: Place Hold for Pickup’ link. When an item is ready for pickup, patrons will receive an email including the details for booking curbside appointments. 

This same request function can be used to pick up items directly from the 2nd floor Circulation Desk as well.

Library Requests Form – Including Reserves Requests!

Use the Healey Library Requests Form to request items for purchase, course reserves, or digitization. Using this form allows library staff to route requests to the appropriate departments and make sure nothing falls through the cracks! 

Library Website Update – Coming Soon!

In addition to the campus-wide website update, Healey Library is in the process of making significant updates to its website based on the user feedback and data we have collected from the community in the past fall and spring. Thank you to all of you who have participated in the library’s website assessment efforts, and stay tuned to see how your feedback will be incorporated into the new Healey Library website!

Mass. Memories Road Show and RoPA

The trailblazing Mass. Memories Road Show (MMRS) program that so many of us know and love has been on a path of growth and expansion over the last few years. Supported in part by a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the University Archives and Special Collections at UMass Boston launched the Roadmap for Participatory Archiving (RoPA). This project makes the MMRS model accessible to libraries and cultural institutions across the globe who are interested in collecting, documenting, and preserving their communities’ history, traditions, and collective memories. Browse the more than 12,000 Massachusetts memories that have already been collected and preserved through MMRS events, and check out RoPA for guidance on initiating similar efforts within your own communities!

There is a great deal happening at Healey Library, and we are thrilled to be fully back on campus and open to all. We also expect to have more news in multiple areas shortly – stay tuned! And we would welcome any suggestions and feedback – like all campus units, Healey Library will be undergoing a strategic planning process over the next several months, and we will be seeking your input! Thank you all for your time and attention – and drop by and visit us anytime!