Faculty, We Heard You! 10 Libraries Secrets We Didn’t Mean to Keep

Posted on: November 11, 2021

In August, we sent a 2-question survey to faculty members, asking for feedback on our programming, training, and other resources. 

Thank you for your feedback! We can’t do our work of supporting you without hearing about your needs and experiences. Faculty shared some truly innovative ideas, which we were excited to funnel into the appropriate channels for consideration as we plan for future programming. We are pleased to share some resources that may help to meet 10 of the needs we heard expressed in the survey:

  1. How do I get access to the New York Times, etc.? JMU faculty members, staff, and students can access newspaper subscriptions for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and more through our website.
  2. How do I request training on creating infographics, podcasts, or web content? Check out our upcoming workshops and thousands of high-quality LinkedIn Learning videos, or request a consultation or instruction session with Libraries experts on these topics and more.
  3. How do I request journal subscriptions for my department? Contact your liaison librarian to suggest a purchase for our collections.
  4. How do I request training and library programming for my department? Please use our Consultation and Instruction form to let us know what training or programming would be helpful for you or your department.
  5. How do I use Zoom to stream classes for students who are in isolation/quarantine? Our Teaching with Educational Technologies pages offer information about teaching with Zoom, recording and sharing lectures, and teaching hybrid and hyflex classes. For personalized help, request a consultation with an instructional designer.
  6. Where do I find best practices, tips, or timesavers for online teaching and learning? On our Teaching with Educational Technologies pages, you’ll find tips and best practices related to online teaching. We have also worked with the Center for Faculty Innovation (CFI) to identify books to support online teaching. You can also direct students to our Taking Online or Hybrid Courses at JMU page.
  7. How do I effectively engage and motivate students in a large class? Much of our advice for teaching large classes online can be used to engage and motivate students in a large in-person class. Additionally, here are three books about teaching large classes, selected in consultation with the CFI, which is another great place to seek support with teaching large classes.
  8. I need more information on how to access materials, both print and online. Find an overview of how to access our collections and materials on our Resources for Faculty page. We also offer an overview page for students, which you can link to in a syllabus to help your students access library materials and services.
  9. Do you offer any research tools, especially for data collection and analysis? Yes! We provide consultations on data management, and a range of self-serve resources on data collection and analysis techniques and tools: 
    • Data management: You can request personalized consultations on data management, including how to create a data management plan, on-campus services to support your research, and more.
    • Data collection: JMU IT provides two web-based survey tools: Qualtrics and QuestionPro. 
    • Quantitative data analysis: Learn about using SPSS and SAS at JMU—and much more—in our Quantitative Data Analysis guide.
    • Qualitative data analysis: Find info on using NVIVO at JMU and other related topics in our Qualitative Data Analysis guide.
    • Systematic reviews: Visit our new Systematic Reviews guide for a starting point when conducting this type of research.
    • More on research methods: Learn about a variety of research methodologies with Sage Research Methods, which provides instructional videos, ebooks, articles, and more across the social sciences.
  10. What funding is offered to support course development? JMU Libraries periodically advertises Open Course Grants from Virginia’s Academic Library Consortium (VIVA). We have also offered teaching-related grants in the past. We will continue to advertise grants for course development as they become available. Keep an eye on our weekly email for upcoming grant opportunities and deadlines. 

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