http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/SPARKnews/index.html SPARKnews, a monthly column on what's new in scholarly research, library resources and the world of information, is now available! This new feature will help you discover and investigate hot topics in information, and help you in your teaching and your personal life. With the high rate of technological change in education, it is increasingly important to be able to locate, evaluate, and effectively use information. This column will do just that, giving you the tools to take advantage of this crazy, information-rich world. en-us Copyright 2011 Seneca Libraries January 17, 2011 http://library.senecacollege.ca/SPARKnewsrss.xml ilfc@senecacollege.ca Jane.Foo@senecacollege.ca http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/SPARKnews/winter2011.html There has been much discussion in the press about the use of eReaders in the college classroom. Some universities in the U.S. have adopted them en masse. Stanford, Duke, Chicago State and Northwest Missouri State, have all adopted eReaders to deliver electronic textbook content. After formal trials, Princeton and Arizona State have rejected eReaders as inadequate textbook replacements. An eReader is a device ...[click the title to read the full article] Kathryn Klages --> Fall 2010 http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/SPARKnews/fall2010.html Crediting sources is one of the most important steps in the research process. It is also one of the most challenging. Preparing a complete and accurate list of sources according to the MLA or APA citation styles takes time and focus. In an effort to reduce the required time and focus, researchers are increasingly turning to freely available online citation products. When deciding which citation tool to use ...[click the title to read the full article] Kathryn Klages --> Fall 2010 http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/SPARKnews/spring2010.html Anyone who has pored over the minutiae of an MLA Works Cited or an APA References list would likely appreciate a tool that automatically does the work for you. Indeed, there are many tools that promise to relieve you of citation stresses. Perhaps you’ve heard of RefWorks, the online research management tool? Or you’ve encountered the References feature of Microsoft Office Word 2007? Maybe you’ve been tempted by the Cite this feature ...[click the title to read the full article] Kathryn Klages --> Spring 2010 http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/SPARKnews/fall2009.html How I would have wanted, when I was an undergraduate twenty-odd years ago, all the benefits that eBooks and eTextbooks are bringing to today’s classroom. To be able to carry all your textbooks in your laptop, netbook or reader – and not 30 pounds of paper. To have the most up-to-date content on a variety of subjects, updated frequently to reflect changes in industry or the world at large. To read a wide selection of important papers or books from the comfort of your home, whenever you want...[click the title to read the full article] Patricia Presti Fall 2009 http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/SPARKnews/apr2009.html I like the CBC’s new show, Being Erica. It’s on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m., right when I’m at my weekly choir practice. So, normally, I would have to set up my not-so-trusty VCR and tape the episode, advertisements and all. But nowadays, CBC has all of the episodes of this particular show available online, so I can watch it anywhere there is a good broadband connection to the Internet. Best of all, the show is not something that I have to download onto my computer, with all the security worries that entails. No special software or plug-ins are needed … just click on the link, and watch...[click the title to read the full article] Patricia Presti and Jennifer Peters-Lise April 2009 http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/SPARKnews/mar2009.html If you go to the Lands’ End online store (http://www.landsend.com), there is a “Get Live Help” area on each product page. If you click on this area, a customer service representative is immediately there to answer questions on everything from where the item is manufactured to how to best clean it. It is fast, friendly and convenient – especially when you don’t have the physical item to hold, see or touch. And the ability to actually contact someone within the company lessens the stress of the online buying experience....[click the title to read the full article] Patricia Presti March 2009 http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/SPARKnews/feb2009.html In an academic environment, educational jargon gets thrown around an awful lot. Formative assessments. Multiple intelligences. Performance-based outcomes. Developmentally appropriate curriculum integration. The mind boggles! Amazingly enough, librarians are no different than most academics, and what we like to prattle on about is usually information literacy (IL)...[click the title to read the full article] Patricia Presti February 2009