Research Toolkit

Mobile Apps for Study and Research Part 1

Today we begin a three-part post on mobile apps of interest to the John Tyler community. When using your smartphone or tablet, mobile apps can be an advantage for studying and researching when you aren't near a computer.  Mobile apps are specifically designed to view on a smartphone or tablet; they usually have a clean design and larger text, making the site easier to operate on a small screen. All of these apps are free to download.  Some may require registration. Recommended Mobile Apps for John Tyler Students Blackboard Mobile Learn: This app…continue reading →

What were you doing in 1940?

    After a 72-year embargo the US Census department released the 1940 census data April 2, 2012. Hosted by Archives.com  and the "first-ever on-line release” the site promptly crashed shortly after going live, unable to handle the 37 million hits in the first hours. Bolstered by new servers, the curious can now search records for favorite family members. Want to know if Great-grandpa was really a World War I veteran or Grandma’s family really came from Russia? As of this writing the data has not been indexed by name, but if you…continue reading →

TED Talks now on Films on Demand

The streaming video subscription service newly added to the John Tyler roster of databases Films on Demand, recently included more than 200 of the popular TEDTalks with more to come. TED, according to the website, is “a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.” Begun in 1984 TED stands for the intersection of Technology, Entertainment, and Design. The 1100+ TEDTalks range from funny to inspirational and from persuasive to informative. Films on Demand can be found on the library database page and may be access with your MyTyler login. Do you need any more…continue reading →

Library Workshops!

The John Tyler libraries are hosting several workshops for research and citation help that are open to all interested students and staff members. Join us for different tips and tools to successfully search the catalog and various databases.  The workshops also discuss the importance of citing sources and how to format citations using different manuals of style, such as MLA or APA.  These workshops can also be used toward SDV 100 activities! The Chester campus on: -Monday, February 27th from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. for “Library Databases Demystified” in room E1 -Tuesday,…continue reading →

Web Truthiness

  Have you ever seen this “quote?”Full of misinformation, out-right untruths, and deception, the internet can also be a source of facts and information to support the research you do for both college and in your personal life. But how do you tell the difference? And are some websites more reliable than others? The John Tyler Community College Library can help you in your search for trustworthy information.  We have tips on our web page for evaluating websites.  There is much more to web researching than Wikipedia or even Google Scholar so we…continue reading →