Tutorials 

Are you having trouble putting all the pieces together? The tutorials provided here are designed to be fun, quick, easy to use, and relevant to your information needs. Some come from other institutions or companies, while others have been specifically designed by our USM librarians. Use the tabs at the top of the page.

Phone: 780-4272  ::  Email  ::  Chat (AskALibrarian)

General tutorials that you might find useful...

Assignment Planner (Kansas State University)

Glossary of Library Terms (Cornell University)

The Information Literacy Tutorial (TILT) - Univ. of Texas

Starting a Research Project - Champlain College

EndNote (Purdue University)

Distinguishing Scholarly Books From Others (California  State - Chico)

Welcome to our series of 3-minute tutorials, designed to help you begin finding good sources of information. Once you become comfortable with the basics we hope you will try our other tutorials on specifc products and topics.

Refining Your Research Topic ... In 3 Minutes 

Going Beyond Google ...  In 3 Minutes

Finding Books ... In 3 Minutes 

Finding Articles ... In 3 Minutes

Citing Your Sources ... In 3 Minutes

If you need more help, please use the contact information below to ask for assistance.  We're here to help you.

Contacts:

207-780-4272  ::  Email  ::  Chat (AskALibrarian)   

Plagiarism and similar forms of academic dishonesty seem to be more prevalent as students have greater access to online materials and use them in the preparation of assignments and papers. Whether it is unintentional borrowing of small text passages without proper attribution or outright copying of larger sections of the work of others, studies indicate that it is becoming more of a problem than one may wish to imagine. It is time consuming for faculty to identify and pursue perceived violations.

The Blackboard Course Management System has an application called "SafeAssign" that can review electronically submitted written work, compare the work to the internet, article databases, and an institutional repository of previously submitted papers. "SafeAssign" reviews the paper and provides the instructor with a report on similarities with other sources. The report provides the faculty member with information to help decide if the student simply needs to learn proper citation formats or if he/she has outright taken from the work of others.

At the last meeting of UMS Chief Academic Officers, it was decided to "turn on" this function within Blackboard. The decision to use "SafeAssign" will be solely up to individual faculty members. It is being offered as a tool which can be used to educate students about using the work of others or, in the extreme case, to be used as evidence of plagiarism. If you wish to learn more about "SafeAssign," please go to:

http://wiki.safeassign.com/download/attachments/5460/Bb_Safeassign_datasheet_FINAL.pdf

USM Libraries invite faculty to schedule instruction, read our blog and much more at the Instructional Services page.

Citation Examples/Manuals:

Works Cited in Your Paper (Duke University Libraries)

Dianne Hacker Companion Website

Citation Styles (Bedford/St. Martins)

The Source (Ocean County College)

Chicago Style

OWL (Purdue University)

Create Citations:

End Note (Professional-Level, 1,000+ styles) Mounted on all USM Library computers

Grammar Handbook (University of Illinois)

Citation Machine (Beginning-level / APA, MLA)