First Timers Information

Congratulations, you have just joined the ranks of online students world-wide! We have high expectations, yet are always pleased with the excellent student work. This area has been created because it has been our experience that some first time students need a bit of tweaking of their technology skills and a gentle push in the right direction regarding MLA and Mansfield University's North Hall Library. If you follow these directions, class work might be easier for you. If you already know how to do all of these tasks, great, but it never hurts to review.

Please make sure that you are familiar with the information in the Student Handbook, the Blackboard Tutorial, and the various letters and emails sent to new students from Cindy Keller and Larry Schankman. Once you have reviewed this information and completed the tutorial, you are well on your way to starting the coursework.

Following are the areas that you may need to focus on to complete course assignments. Do not hesitate to email your instructor with questions about any of these protocols. I recommend that if you do not know how to do the following procedures, find a friend or a technology person in your school to help you out.

This online school librarian program also offers Student Mentors for your assistance. Don't hesitate to ask Cindy Keller to find a Mentor for you. It has been our experience that you can obtain all types of help from our veteran students.

You need to know how to properly name a file. Granted, this sounds like an easy thing, but it has been our experience over the past five years of online teaching that many new students do not know the basics of naming files. Quite truthfully, there probably has been no reason that you should have known this. But in the electronic age, with dozens of files with similar names, it is a necessity (many students prepare their assignments and simply click SAVE).

SAVE creates a name for you, generally based on the first few words of the document. This name is simply whatever you happen to have typed first, and is quite often meaningless to both you and your instructor. Here's how you properly name a file. Note that Microsoft Office, which includes the word processing package, Microsoft Word, is required for this program.

1. Open Microsoft Word

   Start your assignment. It really works well for your instructor to put your name on the top of each document. As soon as you have a sentence or two, save the file in the Mansfield School Library & Information Technology Program format, as below.

2. Click on File, SAVE AS (not Save)

   The Save As option allows you specify both the name and location of the file to save. We suggest that you delete the default name that appears in the File Name box and instead name the file using our required format:

   Your Lastname + Module Number + Assignment Number + Brief Description + Course Number (all connected by underlines)

   For example:

   Dewey_2_6_HistoryofStandards_5535.doc

   If there are other students who have the same last name, you might also add your first initial or email name (just so there is no confusion as to who submitted the work). You should also type your name near the top of the paper, so again there is no doubt about whose work it is. You will soon learn the creative and effective work habits of your classmates.

All new students ask, "What is a threaded discussion?" Basically, a thread is a posting in the discussion area, along with all of the replies and subsequent discussion that follow. Your thread can be a sentence, paragraph or several paragraphs on a particular topic, question or experience. In effect, a threaded discussion is an online conversation.

To participate in a discussion (also called a forum), click on the button (menu item) labeled Discussion Board. This will give you a list of all the threads (topics) in the course, from which you can select one to view or join (e.g. Forum 2 – Childhood Information Literacy).

Once you select a thread or Forum, a new window will appear containing a list of individual postings. Click on a thread and read the posting. There is a button marked reply where you may respond to the posting or you can create a new thread. When you post or reply, you will get a screen that allows you to type in a response, cut and paste a message, or attach a file. When you have finished doing one of these, click submit to post your message.

With few exceptions, you will generally submit all written work in your course using Blackboard's Assignments tool. Below follow step-by-step instructions for submitting assignments:

1. Click the blue Assignments button on your course menu.

2. Identify the folder for the specific module in which you are working.

3. Click on the link corresponding to the assignment that you wish to submit.

4. Read the assignment instructions and rubric carefully and prepare a response (preferably in a word processor, outside of Blackboard).

5. When you are ready to submit your work click the link at the bottom of the instructions marked View/Complete Assignment.

6. The link above takes you to a screen that is divided into three sections:

   1. Assignment Area (repeat of instructions)
   2. Assignment Materials (any comments or attachments you wish to submit)
   3. Submit button

7. In most cases, you will submit your work as an attachment. You may type comments to the instructor in the Assignments Area, but faculty will rarely ask you to type the entire assignment here. Instead, you will use the browse button below the comments text box to Attach Local Files from your computer that contain your work.

   Note that in Windows based computers, Microsoft Office applications usually save your work automatically to the My Documents folder unless you specify otherwise (we recommend creating a separate folder for the school library program, with sub folders for each course). A typical file could look something like this:

   Smith_1_3_NewLibrary_5535.doc

8. Double click on the file to be attached (or click Open) then confirm that the file name appears in the Attach Local File box. Finally, click Submit. When you see the screen that says “The assignment has been updated” click OK and rest assured that you just handed in an assignment. You can also confirm submission by checking My Grades in Course Tools (a date should appear next to the assignment).

After reviewing the assignment, your instructor will grade your work and enter a grade. Along with your grade, your instructor will post comments and possibly an attachment with a marked up version of your original work (e.g. using Red text or Word's Comments feature). The Gradebook is accessible by clicking Course Tools and selecting My Grades in the Tools menu.

One of the most important skills that you, the library media specialist, must know is correct bibliographic style. You will be the school expert. Whether your district uses, MLA, APA, Turabian or some other format, you will be expected to assist students. Mansfield uses MLA as the style of choice. You will need to have the 6th edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers and keep it handy, close to your computer. The 6th edition has really expanded the online sources and will be the guide you will use (you might want to place a sticky note on page 207, §5.9 “Citing Electronic Publications”).

A few tips and tricks of MLA are:

1. Cut and paste course citations

   If you want to quickly cite a work such as Information Power, go to the Readings or Works Cited section of the syllabus. Highlight the entire entry and type a Control-C (Ctrl-C) to copy the entry to your clipboard (for Mac users replace the control key with the command or apple key). Now, scroll to the place where you want to paste the citation in your bibliography type a Control-V (Ctrl-V), which pastes the Information Power clipboard entry onto your paper.

2. Cut and paste a URL from a web site to your bibliography.

   In most web browsers you can right click on any hyperlink and select the menu option for copying the shortcut (e.g. the Big6 web site, at http://www.big6.com). Then paste that link into your bibliography.

3. Remove the underline

   By default, most Office applications (e.g. Microsoft Word) add a hyperlink underline to any string of text that looks like a URL (i.e. it starts with the letters http://). Using Microsoft Word, right click the underlined hyperlink and select Remove Hyperlink. That will remove the underline, since the 6th edition of MLA does not underline URLs.

   Alternatively, to turn off the automatic hyperlink feature altogether, click Tools, AutoCorrect Options, AutoFormat As You Type, then uncheck the box marked, Internet and network paths with hyperlinks.

4. Use short form of Web address

   Most of the Mansfield University Library databases have their own unique shortened URL for you to use. These can be found in the help screens for citing articles. For example, EBSCOhost's citations all use http://www.search.epnet.com/ instead of the very long address that you find up in the web address window of your browser.

   An example of a citation from a Mansfield University online database might look like:

   Green, Tim. “Teaching Students To Critically Evaluate Web Pages.”

   Clearing House, Sept./Oct. 2001: 32-35. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCOHost. North Hall Library, Mansfield, PA. 30 May 2002 <http://search.epnet.com>.

5. Cite the MU Library

   If you are using information from an MU Library database, such as Library Literature or Education Full-Text, you will need to include “North Hall Library, Mansfield, PA” in your citation. Prepare your citation once, then use the format again by cutting and pasting the North Hall information.

6. Indentations

   MLA requires indentation for the second line of a citation. In Microsoft Word you will be able to indent by doing a hanging indentation or tab. Just type your entries, use the cursor to highlight the entire block of entries, select Format, then Paragraph. In the window that appears, click on Special and select Hanging. That will automatically indent your entries.

Many SL&IT assignments require periodical articles from Mansfield's North Hall Library. Sometimes students do not know how to use the library and instead surf the web and use the free web sites found by their search engine. Organizational (.org), governmental (.gov) and educational (.edu) web sites can be very useful; commercial (.com) web sites may provide some needed information. However, the articles that you need to use for this course might include School Library Journal, Knowledge Quest, Book Report, Education Week, Phi Delta Kappan, etc. and these are not always on the open web; they are, however, accessible via the North Hall Library.

One important note: since our program is recognized as a library school by many database vendors (notably Gale, OCLC, and Wilson), we have access to dozens of databases that are unavailable to regular library users. For this reason, resources unique to the SL&IT program are not listed on the library's menu or web site. Titles restricted to school library students include Wilson's Education Full-Text (the library subscribes to the abstracts-only version, via EBSCOhost), Gale's What Do I Read Next? (required in LSC 5505), and dozens of specialized databases from OCLC's FirstSearch, including their huge full-text journal archive, Electronic Collections Online (ECO).

To access any library resource, your first stop should always be the SL&IT Home Page. The database page, accessed from the Home Page (under Library at bottom of left menu) will link to every resource available to you. You might also bookmark the special web page, available only to SL&IT students and faculty:

http://lib.mansfield.edu/asp/db.asp?db=dblib

Electronic books are found in this database. You can access NetLibrary either from the library tab of any of our SL&IT web pages or from the Home Page of the North Hall Library.

If you have not yet created an account, you first need to Login via the MU library to identify yourself to NetLibrary as an authorized MU user. When requested, enter your 18-digit library barcode and create a personal login and password. Thereafter you can login directly at www.netlibrary.com with your personal NetLibrary login and password.

Once in NetLibrary you will get a window to enter a search. For additional search options select the Advanced Search. For example, type Libraries Unlimited in the Publisher window to retrieve a specialized set of titles for librarians. Also, it is very, very helpful to limit your search to eBooks Only (click the check box for format limits in the advanced search). The results will be books that you can browse online.

When you click on the Database button on the Home Page (under Library Resources), you will access a specialized menu created just for school library students. This page is NOT the same as the library's own database menu, as it includes several resources available ONLY to SL&IT students and faculty.

Besides specialized resources for school librarians, the North Hall Library offers a wide variety of online journals, periodicals, newspapers and other serial publications. If you wish to create your own shortcut to the specialized SL&IT Database menu, bookmark the page below:

http://lib.mansfield.edu/db/slitdbs.cfm

To view all of the 100+ MU library databases, click All Databases A-Z (listed under the menu item, Select A Category). Besides individual titles, five large families of databases account for most usage by students:

EBSCOhost:

FirstSearch:

GaleNet:

InfoTrac:

Wilson:

Some of our class readings are available through Electronic Reserves (e-reserves), via Mansfield's North Hall Library. They are quite easy to find, if you know where to look. Here is the scoop (you might also browse the library's Guide to to Accessing E-Reserves).

1. Go to Pilot

   The electronic reserves are stored in the library's online catalog, known as PILOT. From any of our SL&IT web pages (under the Library tab), select E-Reserves from the bottom left side of the page (under the Library section). If you go to PILOT first, simply select the tab marked, Course Reserve.

2. Login

   You are now in Pilot. But now you need your library card or SL&IT mouse pad, with that very long number, and your last name to login.

3. Identify instructor or course

   To select a specific reading you must identify your Instructor or course, using the little arrow at the right of the box.

4. Pick from list

   After identifying your course, you will get a list of all reserves for that course. To open the document, assuming it is in fact an electronic reserve, click on the title, to access the catalog record, then click on the Web Link.

   Note that all e-reserves are large PDF files, which require the free Acrobat Reader. Depending on the size and speed of your Internet connection, you may have to wait several minutes before the article loads. If it seems to take forever to load don't automatically assume that there is a problem.

   If you do have trouble, make sure that you have the latest version of the Acrobat Reader and that you disable any ad-blocker or Internet security software that blocks popup windows from opening; if this is the case, the suspicious popup is the article, not unsolicited advertising or an undesirable web intrusion. At this point either review our Help page regarding unusual web problems or send a request for assistance via the library's Ask a Librarian.

5. Read or print the article

   Once the article opens, whether in Acrobat or your Web browser (depending on how your computer is setup), you can print the article, save it, or read it online. For best results with Acrobat, do not use the web browser's print icon but rather the Acrobat print feature (this will print just the article, not the web page surrounding it).

For help with any other issues related to course work, start with the SL&IT Help page. Within that page are also links to the guide, Whom Do I Ask About..., and for more technical matters, our searchable Knowledge Base of questions and answers. If you still need help, either ask me or submit a question through the SL&IT Question Form. Just don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it (that's why they pay us!).