New URL creates easier access to Lynda!

Lynda can now be accessed from this url: http://www.american.edu/lynda This is the easiest way to get to all the Lynda.com resources. It’s an easy to remember address and gives all the information a user would need – login requirements, products available, tech support information, mobile access, sample videos, and links to Lynda’s newest tutorials and … Continue reading “New URL creates easier access to Lynda!”


Lynda can now be accessed from this url: http://www.american.edu/lynda
This is the easiest way to get to all the Lynda.com resources.
It’s an easy to remember address and gives all the information a user would need – login requirements, products available, tech support information, mobile access, sample videos, and links to Lynda’s newest tutorials and newsletter. Check it out!

Friday, January 13: Please Join Us for the 23rd Annual Ann Ferren Conference on Teaching, Research and Learning

Friday, January 13, 2012, 8:00am – 5:30pm Mary Graydon Center and Library The Center for Teaching, Research and Learning is pleased to invite all AU faculty and staff to attend the Ann Ferren Conference on Teaching, Research and Learning. The conference will be held on January 13, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the … Continue reading “Friday, January 13: Please Join Us for the 23rd Annual Ann Ferren Conference on Teaching, Research and Learning”

Friday, January 13, 2012, 8:00am – 5:30pm

Mary Graydon Center and Library

The Center for Teaching, Research and Learning is pleased to invite all AU faculty and staff to attend the Ann Ferren Conference on Teaching, Research and Learning. The conference will be held on January 13, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Mary Graydon Center at American University. This year’s program will feature 30 sessions, an early breakfast with cohort breakout sessions and thematic roundtable discussions, and a luncheon with a plenary speech titled “Social networked learning in complex information environments” by George Siemens, Associate Director of the Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute at Athabasca University. A dessert reception follows the third session with live jazz music and raffle prizes.

Registration for the 2012 Ann Ferren Conference is now open.

CLICK HERE to register!

To register you will be asked to log in using your AU user name and password.

If you do not have an AU user name, please CLICK HERE.

The New Media Center is participating in the conference as well! Our Best Practices for Multimedia Assignments session runs from 2:00pm – 3:15pm – location TBA. 37 faculty and staff members are already registered for the session!
See description below:

205: Best Practices for Multimedia Assignments

Todd Chappell (New Media Center), John Doolittle (SOC) and Nanette Levinson (SIS)

Are multimedia assignments effective pedagogical tools? Absolutely. In this session you will learn strategies for creating multimedia assignments which will extend your students’ understanding of class material and reinforce persuasive presentation techniques. This session will also provide an understanding of the workflows and time-frames necessary to complete various multimedia projects (audio, video, websites, etc…), reasonable expectations for student assignments and the resources available on campus to assist your students with multimedia projects.

#phonar: A Free and Open Undergrad Photography Course

#phonar, short for “Photography and Narrative”, is a free and open undergraduate photography course run by Jonathan Worth at Coventry University in the UK. Worth spent nearly 15 years as a successful commercial portrait photographer in New York before taking this part-time teaching position, and invites some pretty prominent photographers to guest lecture in the … Continue reading “#phonar: A Free and Open Undergrad Photography Course”

#phonar, short for “Photography and Narrative”, is a free and open undergraduate photography course run by Jonathan Worth at Coventry University in the UK. Worth spent nearly 15 years as a successful commercial portrait photographer in New York before taking this part-time teaching position, and invites some pretty prominent photographers to guest lecture in the class. Participants have access to recorded lectures, assignments, and special discussions.

You can check out the material from last year’s class on the course website, or participate in this year’s class starting in October by signing up here. There’s also a second course in the Winter called #picbod. Yay for free online education!

Ken Burns and Films on Demand

As an AU student, staff, or faculty member there are thousands of titles available to stream on Films on Demand. Ken Burns has many great ones that can be found by doing an advanced keyword search for “ken burns” in the Films on Demand database. Some of these titles are also available on VHS or … Continue reading “Ken Burns and Films on Demand”

As an AU student, staff, or faculty member there are thousands of titles available to stream on Films on Demand. Ken Burns has many great ones that can be found by doing an advanced keyword search for “ken burns” in the Films on Demand database. Some of these titles are also available on VHS or DVD in the Media Services collection.

Here are the titles that came up in the advanced keyword search:

Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns – DVD 4731 – 4735, VHS 1255 – 1263
Frank Lloyd Wright
Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery – DVD 5964, VHS 4785
Mark Twain – DVD 3289
Thomas Jefferson – HU DVD 6575
Not for Oursleves Alone – DVD 5875, VHS 5947
The Congress – DVD 3257

AU Library Has Unveiled a New Unified Search – SearchBox!

Have you ever wanted to search the library’s web resources all at once? Find both books and articles with just one search engine? Your dream is very near reality because AU Library has added SearchBox. With SearchBox, library researchers can search simultaneously the ALADIN Catalog and approximately ninety percent (yes, 90%!) of the library’s electronic … Continue reading “AU Library Has Unveiled a New Unified Search – SearchBox!”


Have you ever wanted to search the library’s web resources all at once? Find both books and articles with just one search engine? Your dream is very near reality because AU Library has added SearchBox. With SearchBox, library researchers can search simultaneously the ALADIN Catalog and approximately ninety percent (yes, 90%!) of the library’s electronic resources, including journal, magazine, and newspaper articles in databases. “SearchBox is the most revolutionary and amazing new development since the library went online two decades ago,” says one longtime AU librarian.

For students and faculty, research will be much faster and easier because they can conduct Google-style searches of the library’s vast array of electronic resources. These resources are not available through a regular public Google search because the resources are privately paid for by the library through subscription fees. SearchBox also covers the consortium-wide holdings of the ALADIN Catalog and the digital repository, American University Research Commons. The only resources that the SearchBox engine cannot currently search are some statistical and financial databases. Those databases can still be searched individually. In fact, all databases can still be searched individually, which is particularly important to researchers who want to execute more sophisticated or complex searches that take advantage of specific database features.

SearchBox is supported with material from 6,800 publishers, 94,000 journal titles, and 550 million indexed items—numbers that increase daily. It has many powerful features that will help researchers. For instance, researchers can limit search results to full text or to peer-reviewed/scholarly journals or both. The default for displaying search results is relevancy ranking, but the results can also be displayed in ascending or descending order by date of publication. Other limits include subject, content type, and language. Individual items can be saved and displayed in selected citation formats. Results can also be exported to citation management software such as EndNote. Unlike the ALADIN Catalog or most current databases, SearchBox can also correct for spelling. For instance, if a researcher mistakenly types “Humon rights,” SearchBox will query, “Did you mean human rights?”

Using SearchBox is easy and highly intuitive, but as always, researchers may wish to contact a reference librarian if questions arise.

AU Library Video Tutorials Available on Youtube

The library has a youtube channel with a variety of useful videos. These brief videos give an overview of tools, databases, and software applications that will be useful in your research. They are all public, so subscribe here or just check them out! You can also find these tutorials on the How to… page on … Continue reading “AU Library Video Tutorials Available on Youtube”



The library has a youtube channel with a variety of useful videos. These brief videos give an overview of tools, databases, and software applications that will be useful in your research. They are all public, so subscribe here or just check them out!

You can also find these tutorials on the How to… page on our website.

How to Use World Development Indicators Online to Find Data on Countries

American University Librarian, Melissa Becher demonstrates how to use World Development Indicators Online (WDI) to find data on countries.

Finding a Subject Specific Database to Cover Your Topic

American University Librarian, Melissa Becher demonstrates how to use a general database to decide what discipline your subject is in, and then how to find a subject specific database that covers your topic.

How to Research an Interdisciplinary Topic

American University Librarian, Melissa Becher demonstrates how to research an interdisciplinary topic when you are unsure which discipline will have the most relevant information for your project.

Find Data on a City Using Lexis Nexis Statistical

American University Librarian, Melissa Becher demonstrates how to find data on a city using the Lexis Nexis Statistical database.