Freshman Lost on Campus – Meeting First Year Needs in One Package

Are your Freshman lost when they arrive on campus? Do they find it difficult to locate resources needed to succeed in a higher learning environment? Are faculty who teach freshman courses continually asking you for the same resources over and over? Join this informative session covering the creation of a comprehensive Libguide for freshmen (faculty & staff too) that provides direction to resources, important campus events, and eases the transition from high school to college. This unique guide uses the latest technology and can be used in the mobile learning environment to enable students in improving their academic skills and ability to successfully navigate many resources, whether on or off campus. As an extremely useful tool, every department on your campus can have a learning space within the success guide. Learn from our experience in creating Student Success @ Limestone College Library guide and methods to maintain quality and imperative information to ensure your success. We found that students spent unnecessary time searching for resources needed to be successful at Limestone College so we collaborated with departments outside the library to ensure students could locate resources in one location on the Web. Information inside the guide is consistent in that students know they can easily find sources like emergency contact information, guidance counselor contact email and phone number, campus safety, and information regarding their Limestone College username and password. We also provided an interactive ThingLink map where students can view helpful videos that assist with locating classrooms, dining hall, art exhibits and more. Our guide usage statistics are housed inside our LibAnalytics account. The Student Success @ Limestone College guide has been the number one accessed guide since creation. We promoted the guide using every ID 100 Academic Inquiry day course, which is a required course for all incoming Freshman. Faculty on campus have been extremely satisfied and amazed how well Freshman transcend into next-year semesters since the guide\u27s existence and now use the guide as a resource in all their courses. Attendees will come away with a better understanding of what it takes to create a one-stop resource that is easily accessed and shared across your campus

Meeting the Needs of Freshmen and Transfer Students: Using Library Guides and Instruction as Platform

The presentation focuses on methods used for developing a one-stop-shop that provides resources and vital information for students in their first year on campus. During the presentation, presenters will deliver methods used in designing a LibGuide that contains various assignments and research activities so that students gain an understanding of library research, critical thinking, evaluation skills, financial literacy, registration, ethics, and more. The presenter developed Student Success @ Limestone College LibGuide specifically for freshman students. The guide has been so popular it has been designated as a required tool in freshman day and online courses

Designing an Upper-Level Research Course in an Online Environment

The workshop focuses on ideas for developing an online course to provide proper knowledge of research strategies appropriate for a 3-credit hour course. During the workshop, the course development process will be shared, and there will be time for participants to brainstorm ways to deliver instruction online through various assignments and research activities so that students gain an understanding of advanced library research, critical thinking, and evaluating skills. The presenters developed Academic Research, a 300-level course specifically for online students. The course has been so popular it has been designated as a required course for graduation in the fields of Liberal Studies and English. Academic Research, offered initially as online only, has now been included in the day course offerings. keywords: academic research, instruction delivery, course desig

Walls, Borders, Boundaries

Walls are built and then fall, borders are fortified and then shift, boundaries are demarcated and then transgressed. And then they are constructed all over again. As (post)moderns living in an age of globalization, we weary of our seemingly old-fashioned political and market-oriented boundaries: walls and fences are a nuisance to build and maintain, they invite vandalism and intrusion (rather than guarantee privacy or protection), and public surveys often reveal disapproval of national boundaries for moral, aesthetic, and economic reasons. Indeed, recently erected walls and borders intended to sever communities or fortify political and economic boundaries between neighboring countries rarely solve the underlying political problems; more often they result in increased criminal activity, violence, and alienation

Rural communities and awareness of DOE environmental management programs at the Nevada Test Site: Do outreach efforts matter?

Are residents living in communities around the Nevada Test Site aware of environmental remediation activities and do outreach efforts contribute to awareness? Through a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas administered a mail questionnaire to 14,083 residents and received 1,721 responses. Approximately 90% of the respondents reported awareness of past nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site; 63% reported awareness of low-level radioactive waste disposal at the site; and 41% are aware that the Yucca Mountain Project for high level waste disposal is part of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management and not part of the Office of Environmental Management. Using both logit and probit regression models, at a 1% level of significance, respondents who reported obtaining information from the Community Advisory Board for Nevada Test Site Programs are more likely to be knowledgeable about low-level radioactive waste disposal activities and are more likely to be knowledgeable that the missions of the Office of Environmental Management and Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management are different

Evaluating Design Options for a Dynamic Traffic Sign

This study describes two usability methods that were used to determine the final design of a prototype dynamic traffic sign. The Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System-Stop Sign Assist (CICAS-SSA) is an infrastructure-based driver support system to improve gap acceptance at rural stop-controlled intersections. This study evaluated drivers’ comprehension of recommended design changes made to the SSA message set using paper-andpencil and computerized testing. The goal was to choose the final interface design that would later be tested using driving simulation. Overall, comprehension was highest for sign messages that showed prohibitive information and was lowest for signs indicating no traffic was detected near the intersection. The results for the design options were similar between studies, allowing for the selection of a final set of design features for the interface. Results also suggest that the two methodologies provided a low-cost alternative to simulation for down-selecting the design options

Evolutionary Models for Formation of Network Motifs and Modularity in the Saccharomyces Transcription Factor Network

Many natural and artificial networks contain overrepresented subgraphs, which have been termed network motifs. In this article, we investigate the processes that led to the formation of the two most common network motifs in eukaryote transcription factor networks: the bi-fan motif and the feed-forward loop. Around 100 million y ago, the common ancestor of the Saccharomyces clade underwent a whole-genome duplication event. The simultaneous duplication of the genes created by this event enabled the origin of many network motifs to be established. The data suggest that there are two primary mechanisms that are involved in motif formation. The first mechanism, enabled by the substantial plasticity in promoter regions, is rewiring of connections as a result of positive environmental selection. The second is duplication of transcription factors, which is also shown to be involved in the formation of intermediate-scale network modularity. These two evolutionary processes are complementary, with the pre-existence of network motifs enabling duplicated transcription factors to bind different targets despite structural constraints on their DNA-binding specificities. This process may facilitate the creation of novel expression states and the increases in regulatory complexity associated with higher eukaryotes

Partnerships That Work: Teaching Research Skills Through Successful Faculty-Librarian Collaborations.

Librarians from the A.J. Eastwood Library at Limestone College have successfully partnered with faculty in their efforts to teach students research skills. Through a variety of formats (including online class webinars, instructor-specific LibGuides, the Embedded Librarian in Blackboard and progressive research instruction sessions) as well as outreach initiatives (such as “Tea & Tidbits,” which is a monthly faculty training session, and Faculty Recognition Day), librarian-faculty collaboration is now at its highest peak. The presenters will share with attendees the evolution of these successful partnerships and also identify initiatives that worked well and those that did not, resulting in a “best practices” gleaned from lessons learned