Happy New Year! It's that time of year when you may find yourself in one of three camps:
- You've joined a gym and are impatiently waiting for when the effort and energy it takes to get there is reflected on the scale or
- You're a regular gym member and are impatiently waiting for the newbies to drop out so the machines are available again or
- You're curled up on the couch with a snack, impatiently waiting for the next season of Severance to drop and trying to tune out all that chatter about gyms and working out.
Regardless of your affiliation (I've been known to bounce from camp to camp depending on the year), most of us see the new year as a time to start fresh and set goals – better known as New Year's resolutions (or in my house: Things I'll forget to do by February). While we draw the line at becoming your gym buddy or providing streaming updates, the University Library can support some of your more common resolutions in other ways.
Resolution #1: Save money. The library has a ridiculous amount of information on saving money. But here's a practical tip: Cancel your subscriptions to magazines and journals and access these publications through the library. You can browse a publication daily (like the New York Times) or set up alerts in databases like ProQuest and EBSCOhost to get email notifications when new publication issues become available.
Resolution #2: Get organized. Anyone who has seen my desk knows I'm the last person to criticize someone's lack of organization. However, the library has tools and services that can help you be more efficient and save time while conducting research.
- Add the Lean Library extension to your internet browser to save time and money. That way, when you search Google (and we know you do), you'll get a pop-up if the article you discovered is in the library.
- Create an account in RefWorks to keep all your citations and full-text downloads in one place. RefWorks is a citation management software that (among many other things) creates bibliographies and allows you to organize your research in valuable folders.
- Use the Ask Us! service to connect with a librarian for database recommendations and search strategies. Submit your question through our form, and our team will typically respond via email in a few hours, saving you time.
Resolution #3: Adopt a hobby. The library has more than just dry academic articles and specialty databases. We've dug deep to surface resources covering many topics you wouldn't expect to live in an academic library – including videos on all types of hobbies. Specifically, Traci Avet featured resources on sports, arts & crafts, and cooking & baking in her last blog post.
Resolution #4: Get healthy. Since I've already cracked this door, let's kick it open and explore how the library can help you get healthy in 2025. Obviously, the actual act of eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep is beyond our purview. However, using the library is a great way to get started.
Get physical. For those of you of a certain age, Olivia Newton-John may be in your head now. You're welcome. If you're like me, finding the motivation to start exercising can be the most challenging part of exercise. We have short videos to help you ramp up your enthusiasm to get moving:
- Top Tips From Personal Trainers. (0:56). Besides individualizing exercise programs, personal trainers can offer insights to keep you motivated and how to tweak your exercise plan to fit your needs. Here are some of their best tips.
- Exercise in The Truth About Improving Your Mental Health. (7:26) A study found that performing exercises that target parts of the brain that influence mood can improve mental health. Different exercises increase blood flow to different parts of the brain.
- Worst Exercise Myths. (1:38) Debunk some common myths affecting your exercise routine.
Put down the donut. This is a hard one for me, as donuts are my go-to comfort food. But something about this time of year has me willing to reconsider my less-than-healthy habits. The following videos focus on how we view food.
- Small Steps to Healthy Eating Habits. (4:12) Changing our eating habits or behaviors takes time. See how making small changes in these behaviors can help you reach your healthy eating goal—for life.
- Healthy Eating. A six-part series with short videos discussing carbs, fats, fiber, protein, reducing calories, salt, and alcohol, and setting yourself up to succeed.
- Is Chocolate Really a Sweet Treat for Your Heart? (0:56) (It's not all carrots and wheat germ!) Eating chocolate at least once a week may reduce your risk of heart disease, according to a new study.
- Clean Eating: The Dirty Truth. (52:34) Imagine if your food could "clean" your body and make you feel healthier. This film separates fact from pseudo-scientific fiction to unravel the diet conspiracy gripping the West: clean eating.
Care for your mind and spirit. With the pressure to get fit, many of us forget the simple act of being kind to ourselves and focusing attention on our minds and spirits. In addition to the few videos listed below, to launch the new year with strong mental health, consider checking out our database, Mind Tools. We tend to think of Mind Tools as a career-focused database, but its Wellbeing section addresses topics like beating loneliness in the workplace, dealing with stress, and tips to improve your sleep.
- Common Skills to Help You Cope With Stress. (3:07) Watch examples of common ways to cope with the day-to-day stress in our lives and find which may work best for you.
- TedEd: How Stress Affects Your Brain (Madhumita Murgia). (4:16) Stress isn't always bad; it can be handy for a burst of extra energy and focus, like when you're playing a competitive sport or have to speak in public. But when it's continuous, it actually begins to change your brain. Madhumita Murgia shows how chronic stress can affect brain size, structure, and function - down to the level of your genes.
- TedEd: How Stress Affects Your Body (Sharon Horesh Bergquist). (4:42). Our hard-wired stress response is designed to give us the quick burst of heightened alertness and energy needed to perform our best. But stress isn't all good. When activated too long or too often, stress can damage virtually every part of our body. Sharon Horesh Bergquist looks at what happens inside our body when we are chronically stressed.
Resolution #5: Skill up. Is it on your list to become a better public speaker or wow your employer with your newly polished Excel skills? Whether soft skills or hard, the library has entire databases devoted to helping you advance your career. Mind Tools offers short videos, tips, checklists, and more to help you develop your skills to advance your career. Our PrepSTEP database offers tutorials, microlessons, and practice tests on English and writing, math and science, and career preparation.
Resolution #6: Get connected. Keeping up with the Librarians is a great way to stay current on resources and get tips on effectively using the library. We don't like to brag, but where else could you find a blog demonstrating how even Dolly Parton can be found in an academic library? Subscribe to get notified when new posts are uploaded. Faculty and staff can join the Library Community on Viva Engage to see just how informative and quirky we can be.
Resolution #7: Practice gratitude. On days when the internet goes down, both your child and your dog have thrown up on the carpet, and your insurance drops you for filing a claim, it's hard to be grateful. However, research has suggested that practicing gratitude can improve your physical and mental well-being (and may also help you better deal with those adverse events I mentioned).
- Ted Talks: Christina Costa - How Gratitude Rewires Your Brain. (10:14) When a psychologist who studies well-being ends up with a brain tumor, what happens when she puts her own research into practice? Christina Costa goes beyond the "fight" narrative of cancer -- or any formidable personal journey -- to highlight the brain benefits of an empowering alternative to fostering resilience in the face of unexpected challenges: gratitude.
Resolution Resolution #8: Stop procrastinating. Last month, we shared some ideas on how not just to procrastinate but to be effective at it. Check out our blogs that promote procrastination as a learning opportunity (mixed messages, I know). If you really want to stomp out your procrastinatory tendencies, review these resources from Mind Tools for tips.
While I've addressed just a few of the ordinary resolutions, you can see that the library is more than just a repository of dry academic articles. We can help you find those nuggets of information that can help you succeed in whatever you resolve to do. What are your resolutions for the coming year? We'd love to hear about them.
Good luck in 2025, and Happy New Year! We can't wait to work with you this year!
Nicole Tassinari is an associate university librarian and oversees content development. She's the proud mom of three almost-grown children who love to tell her to "just Google it!"