Keeping Up With the Librarians

"Did you write out your goals for this year?"

This is from my husband, who single-handedly ingrained the New Year's resolution practice in our three children.

I craned my head to the side as I slouched on the sofa to see the television. "Hold on. I'm at the denouement for NCIS season 112."

I admit it. I dread writing out New Year's resolutions. In the past, my resolutions tended to be unoriginal (exercise more, eat less, watch less tv) and lacked measurable steps. It was less of a set of annual goals and more like my list of annual disappointments. And the crash and burn of my past New Year's resolutions lay entirely on my shoulders. I followed none of the tenets of setting achievable goals: SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound.

Under the pitying looks of my (mostly) adult children scribbling away their plans to dominate 2023, I slunk off to my office to reconsider my approach. I decided to start with a quick Google search for ways to lower my personal W/F rate for goals. (Yes, librarians Google. Come on, people, we went over this last year!)

I spent some time reviewing Google's 2022 search trends (wordle?!) but stumbled across an article on Verywell Mind discussing the Psychological Strategies That Can Help You Stick to Your Goals. I liked the tone, and the article made me consider something else: Maybe I was picking the wrong goals.

I decided to mix things up and add a couple of non-traditional goals to the list. Specifically, I adopted two from a list of 10 Unusual New Year's Resolutions:

1. Every week, I will do something that is out of the routine (for example, turn on my camera for EVERY meeting at least one day a week).
2. Every day, I will do something nice for someone else.

I recognize that these are relatively easy and innocuous, but I want a couple of wins to offset the more challenging goals.

If this idea intrigues you, may I throw out an option for consideration? Improve your library skills (yes, I went there). But before you jump to the Google trends list, hear me out. The library staff set a 2022 goal to introduce new videos for navigating the library. They had to be short (2-3 minutes), easy to follow, include the new library webpage design, and be done by the end of the year. And we nailed it! Consider reviewing them as easy wins to add to your goals list.

You can find all of our videos, including those in our new Getting Started in the Library collection, on our University of Phoenix Library YouTube page.

Have any unusual or alternative New Year's resolutions? We would love to hear about them!

Ever struggle to use the library? Then, our new Toolkits are for you!

The toolkits offer a central location where you can find the "tools" you may need to help you research a topic or use a resource.

For this launch, we've focused on providing Database Toolkits, which offer tips on how to use our largest, and most popular, databases more effectively. Additionally, there are tutorials if you're new to the database and other insights that might be useful to you. For example, one of our featured databases is Business Source Complete. This toolkit offers links to the database (and in this case, a specialized collection within Business Source Complete: SWOT Analysis), videos on how to search Business Source Complete, and tips and resources that align with research that you may be doing in your courses.

We currently have four toolkits available, with more coming soon! If there's something, in particular, you'd like to see, let us know in the comments or reach out to us through Ask Us!

Yes, it’s the announcement you’ve been waiting for…

We have some new stuff! (Go on, I’ll give you a minute to finish cheering. We’re pretty excited, too.)

We’re pleased as Punch to announce the addition of some new databases and the expansion of a couple of databases we already offered, but now cover more subject areas.

New

Data Planet

Do you thrive on numbers? Do statistics and historical trends make your heart beat in anticipation? Then Data Planet is for you! Data Planet provides data sets across a wide selection of topics, from economics (mortgage rates and gas prices) to labor (unemployment rates) and health (health expenditures by state). I dug around in there for awhile (because I'm a nerd like that) and I was amazed at some of the things I found: historical national debt numbers, water use by certain industries (mining, agriculture, etc.), how many miles the U.S. drove as a collective population. So, if you need data or you're looking for statistics to backup your research, check out Data Planet.

SAGE Campus

If you're looking to update your data science skills (and who isn't, these days), SAGE Campus has you covered. It offers a number of topics, such as data visualization or programming in Python, and allows you to either pick the courses you want to take or follow a learning pathway. Learn things like how to use social media data in your research or how to mine text from the web for analysis. Please note that you'll need to sign up for a SAGE Campus account to access courses in this database.

Expanded
 

SAGE Knowledge

SAGE Knowledge now includes SAGE Business Cases, which provides scenarios of business decisions you’ll face outside of the classroom. Check out Managing the Move to the Cloud – Analyzing the Risks and Opportunities of Cloud-Based Accounting Information Systems or Denim Products Incorporated: Creating and Using a Master Budget for some examples of what you’ll find.

SAGE Research Methods

Doctoral students, this one's for you! SAGE Research Methods has been expanded to include a bunch of new content (too much to list out here). One feature worth taking a look at, if you haven't already, is the Project Planner, which walks you through your research project, start to finish. Access all of the supporting documentation referenced in the planner to ensure you've good a good grasp on what you'll need to do to conduct and finish your research.

SAGE Videos

SAGE Videos, formerly known as SAGE Education Video Collection, now includes videos from a number of subjects (not just education). Subjects covered including business, communication, counseling, criminal justice, education, management and leadership, nursing, political science, psychology, and social work.