Illustrated girl on laptop surrounded by books.

Beyond Books and Better than Google

We know that you would rather be doing things other than researching and writing your papers. You type in countless searches to find your sources. Then you sit down to write your paper. You finish writing your paper, but wait, you aren’t finished yet! You need to make sure your sources are cited in correct APA Style. The research and writing process can leave you tired and frustrated.

Does this sound familiar? We understand the frustration that research and writing can cause. You have what it takes to succeed, and we are here to guide you through the research process and help answer your citation questions.
Library services are vital for quality online education, and IWU’s Online Campus Library Services (OCLS) provides busy adult students with research, citation, and technology help they can use to achieve success in their classes.

The next time you have a paper quickly approaching and you need to find scholarly peer-reviewed articles and write your paper in APA Style, try these seven steps:

  1. Start Your Research - Search using keywords from your topic or research question.

  2. Research Help - If you can’t find what you are looking for after 30 minutes, ask for research help! We create customized Personalized Search Plans (PSPs) to guide you through researching your topic and finding the sources you need.

  3. Librarian Appointments - When you need extra help, you can request a phone or Zoom librarian appointment. Zoom appointments are helpful for visual learners. You share your screen with a librarian, and they guide you through the research process.

  4. Citation Help - Librarians can help you with when and how to cite a source. We will help you with the secret tool for successful APA Style writing! Academic Writer is the official APA writing platform. Academic Writer formats your papers in APA Style so you can concentrate on writing your paper content.

  5. APA Review - Do you ever want someone else to look at your paper before you turn it in? When you have completed your final draft, email it to OCLS. We will look at your paper and give you feedback on your citations, references, and other APA style elements.

  6. Plan Ahead - Planning ahead is the key to success! It is essential to start planning and working on assignments as soon as possible. We all know life throws us curve balls, especially when it feels like you are already running behind. Planning will let you use your time wisely and gives you enough time to ask for help. When you contact OCLS, we pledge to respond within one (1) business day. Business days do not include weekends or holidays.

    For example, if we receive a question or request after 12:00 pm on the Thursday before Good Friday, you should expect a reply on Monday. Even though it’s been four (4) days, Monday is the next business day.

  7. Keep Practicing - As with any new skill, you need to practice. Start researching on your own, but ask for help when you need it. Check out the OCLS Tutorials Page for research guides, Academic Writer and Grammarly tutorials, and much more! Like and follow us on Facebook for research tips and webinar announcements to help you use OCLS databases, Academic Writer, and Grammarly.

When people think about libraries, they think about books. As librarians, we love books, but that is a small part of what we do. Think of us as Google, but even better!

For more information, contact the OCLS team:

1-800-521-1848

ocls@indwes.edu


IWU National & Global | 1886 W. 50th St. | Marion, IN 46953