Category: Reference Desk Questions

Often in our wanderings through cyberspace we find articles and websites that look promising for an assignment, but there’s a nagging little voice inside our heads saying, “Hmm… is this website legit?”

To place a hold on a book look for the Place hold link in the bottom left-hand corner of the Library catalog record. When a hold becomes available, the Library will send you an email. Items on hold will be placed in a fresh brown paper bag, and you can pick them up from the old scooter parking area in the lobby vestibule. You have five business days to pick up your holds.

Since the end of the spring semester, and all summer long, patrons have been asking us “When can I return my books?” and “Will I have to pay a fine as my books are really overdue!” Well, the good news is that the Library is now accepting returns, the due date for all items is October 15, and existing fines did not accrue while the Library was closed.

Start with scholarly articles that really speak to your topic. Look at their reference lists and find other articles. Use our databases to find full-text copies. Save them to one dedicated folder in the cloud. Make a plan to save articles you find online or in print. Over time your core “great articles” will snowball.

If you are starting to collect items for a literature review, something you might want to look at is Google Scholar. Recently, Google updated its search engine so that it will look though our databases and identify what we have in full-text. You can help by logging into your Google Scholar account with your Bank Street email address, and setting up your laptop with Library Links.

If you are starting to collect items for a literature review, something you might want to consider is looking at popular articles in a database. Looking through a list of results you may have noticed a PlumX icon (it looks a little bit like a stylized flower). If you click the icon, a pop-up window will appear with some data. Although not all items have metrics, when they are available let then help you decide what to read and what to skip.

The printers in the Library can staple your assignment and journal article that you need to read in print. Wake up the machine and make sure the stapler icon is green. Place your assignment like this into the slot, and wait. The copier will automatically staple your work. That’s it – very simple and it looks professional.

In the past APA didn’t really pay much attention to student papers, but in APA7 edition they’ve been explicit about how to create that perfect paper (it’s a simplified version of a professional paper). In this blog post we’re looking at what should go on a cover page for an assignment.

Recently, the American Psychological Association (APA) released an update to its publication manual. It seems to be more streamlined with fewer exceptions than the 6th edition, and has lots more examples. Note that we don’t need to start using it until spring 2020.

The Library has been collecting and cataloging Something About the Author (SATA) for years, in fact we have 344 volumes as of October, 2019. If you are doing an author or illustrator study this is the resource you should be consulting.

Sometimes we just want to get a quick and easy APA citation for a book we’ve found in the Bank Street Library online catalog. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but there is an APA citation button for each item in our catalog. It’s not perfect, but it will do most of the work you need to do to create a good citation.

The key to making a great flyer is, as one student told me “work smarter, don’t work harder… use templates!” Templates take the hard work out of making an eye-catching poster. With a little bit of tweaking here and there you can change text, colors, and create something that is your own.

The circulation desk staff have signed you up for a Library account and placed a 14 digit barcode on the back of your Student ID card. You’re probably wondering how […]

Last year we surveyed our graduate school faculty. We asked them about their levels of comfort (or frustration) with accessing the following: renewing books online accessing databases from home, electronic […]