On Feb. 26, Kean’s Nancy Thompson Library Learning Commons (NTLC) held an Allied Health Digital Library Resources Webinar. Kean students were exposed to the many databases on the NTLC website that can help them find health and medical information. The goal of this workshop was to guide students into access to evidence-based healthcare information.
The Nancy Thompson Learning Commons is a great support service designed to provide learning support that directly assists students with their academic learning, completion of research-creative-and-scholarly activities and continuous professional development. Through programming, technology lab, and various student support and learning services, the library serves as a center for lifelong learning.
Craig J. Anderson, one of the many hard-working librarians at Kean University, hosted this workshop to help students navigate the learning commons portal and better their online learning experience.
With Kean University’s shift online, it is important to know how to navigate the various online resources that are available. Therefore, Anderson began with a basic rundown of the learning common’s website.
He brought to light the support chat on the corner of the home screen on the learning commons website. Here, the librarian staff is available to answer any questions students have.
Anderson says, ”It does go to a national 24/7 service. So, someone will be able to answer your question and it will be somebody that works in a library or learning commons setting.”
So, If a student happens to have questions in the middle of the night, they can still get the help they need to complete their research.
He also goes over the intern-library loan system, in which a student can ask for help to gain access to any article/book that isn’t readily available at the library. Since the library is not open due to Covid-19, Anderson tells the participants how to place holds on the book at the library and schedule times to come and pick them up.
In this workshop, specifically, Anderson teaches students the tips and tricks of searching through databases for sources on allied health. He informs that EBSCOhost’s Nursing, Health and Medical resources are one of the best for this topic. Others would be the Proquest databases and Science Direct. Here Kean students can find academic information about health and medicine.
Anderson also offers the Proquest Coronavirus Research Database for students who want to research specific data about the pandemic in which the world is living through today.
The NTLC has an array of workshops available to help each and every student find the resources they need to be successful. One can sign up for these workshops on the Nancy Thompsons Learning Commons on Cougar Link.
For any further questions on workshops, resources, and more, students can email the NTLC at library@kean.edu.
