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09/26/2024
profile-icon Angela Davis

There’s always something to learn…about everything, all the time, and A.I. is the latest thing we are expected to master. But how? Who has time? Do we just jump right in, or take our time? In either case, here are few things I’ve come across just in the past couple of weeks that have been helpful to me – someone who is only just beginning to stick their toes into the vast ocean of AI “stuff.” 

Figuring Out Artificial Intelligence. Just jump right in...?

What do college students need to know about AI? 

  • Read the Student Guide to Artificial Intelligence by Elon Univ. and the AAC&U. It’s brief and to the point, which makes it very manageable for all types of learners. It has a CC BY license, which means you can use it all day long for your classes!

  • If you only have time to read one section of this guide… 

    • The Essential AI “How-To” Manual should be required reading for all– students and instructors alike. There is a lot of good advice here on how to use generative AI for various things, but most importantly, it briefly outlines Generative AI Cautions – all from an academic perspective. 

    • And on that note... if you don’t know how to fact-check, that is now an essential skill.

       

What is A.I. trained on?  

 

How do I distinguish AI hype vs. what it can actually do? 

 

What AI tools should I try first?

There are so many AI tools it’s hard to know where to start, but this librarian has decided to play around with these for right now: 

  • Perplexity: Free tool that can be described as a cross between an internet search engine and generative AI. There is a pro version too, but the free version does plenty. It’s highly recommended by library-folk. 

  • Semantic Scholar: Free, AI-driven search and discovery tools, and open resources for the global research community. It’s not for general searching, but if you create an account, you have some neat research tools. 

  • MagicSchool – A high school teacher told me about this one and it’s great for all kinds of education things. You must have a .edu email to sign up, but it has a lot of built-in prompts that are specifically useful for teachers (K-12 and College) and students.  

  • Copilot: PCC provides access to Copilot 365.  

    • To use it… Open the Copilot homepage (https://copilot.microsoft.com).  

    • Click "Sign In" and choose "school or work account."  

    • Log in using your myPittCC credentials. 

Important Info from PCC IT 

  • This version of Copilot DOES use your data to train the LLM for this tenant (and the OpenAI LLM too due to their business connections). So, if you log in and utilize Copilot AI, it should have access to the same data YOU have access to.  

  • Why log in? Logging in with your PCC credentials gives you access to everything that comes with a paid subscription to ChatGPT4o (audio generators, visual generators, agents, etc.). 

 

Well, that’s probably more than you wanted to know. I went on an AI bender earlier this year and created an Artificial Intelligence Library Guide, but things change so fast it could literally be updated every day of the week.  

Have fun discovering new things! If you find something cool, let us know about it. 

Angela Davis 
Instruction & Web Services Librarian, PCC 
 

Open Access Logo

Open Access (OA) makes research accessible immediately upon publication with no restrictions. Anyone with internet access can find, read, mine, cite and share OA articles at no cost to them. OA scholarly literature is free of charge and often carries less restrictive copyright and licensing barriers than traditionally published works, for both the users and the authors. 

While OA is a newer form of scholarly publishing, many OA journals comply with well-established peer-review processes and maintain high publishing standards. 

Traditional vs OA Journals

The traditional way to access scholarly research is by purchasing a copy of an individual article, which can be quite expensive. Academic libraries purchase institutional subscriptions to many journals and provide access to their students and staff through online library databases and/or print copies. This restricts access to those who can afford to purchase articles and to those who have access to an academic library. 

In contrast, journals and/or articles published via Open Access, allow anyone, anywhere to access the information without having to pay or be affiliated with an academic library. 

Search for OA Resources:

OA in Summon

PCC Library's Summon Search includes Open Access materials. When you search Summon, there will be an indication of peer-review, open access, etc. for each item in the results list. You can choose to view only Open Access resources by checking beside Open Access under Refine Your Search.

Summon results page with open access highlighted

Learn more:

 

Have more questions about Open Access? Ask a librarian!

 

By setting up Library Links, you can access research articles licensed by PCC Library while using Google Scholar.

Go to Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com

If you have a Google account, go ahead and sign in. This way, you will always have your Library Link connected no matter where you log in to Google.

Click the sandwich menu in the top left.

Google Scholar menu

From the drop-down menu, choose Settings.

Google Scholar Settings

From the Settings menu, choose Library Links.

Google Scholar Library Links

In the search box under Show library access links for… type Pitt Community College.

Click the Search button.

Google Scholar Pitt Community College

Click to check the box next to Pitt Community College - Full-Text @ My Library.

You may also see options for PITT COMMUNITY COLLEGE-ProQuest Fulltext and/or Open WorldCat. You may check all three, but it is not necessary.

Click Save.

Google Scholar: Check options for Pitt Community College Library

When you log in to your Google account and search Google Scholar, you will see Full-Text @ My Library along with other links out to the sides of articles. 

To access the article, click one of the links out to the side (there may be more than one way to access an article). 

When you see . . .

  • No link out to the side - You can submit an Interlibrary Loan request and we will try to find access via another library

  • [PDF] URL from a school (.edu) or other website (.org, .com, etc.) - Click to open the article

  • ProQuest Fulltext - Available in one of PCC's ProQuest databases; Click the link, login to mypittCC, get the article

  • Full-Text @ My Library - Available in one of PCC Library's databases; Click the link, login to mypittCC, get the article

NOTE: When you click a link that goes to content available via a Library database, you will be prompted to login to myPittCC before you can access the article.

Google Scholar results list

If you have questions, or come across an article with a Full-Text @ My Library link that doesn’t actually take you to the article, please contact Angela Davis, PCC Librarian, at asdavis688@my.pittcc.edu

Updated: 5/30/2024 ASD

HELP! I just need one article about . . . 

Student with a speech bubble: "How can I find a scholarly article about...?"Ok. Don't panic. Here’s a quick way to find an article on just about any topic, especially if you don’t have much time.

Go to the Library homepage [opens a new window].

Click Quick Search.

See the Summon Search box at the top? Just type a word in there. Anything related to your topic will do. But here's the thing . . . DO NOT type a complete sentence or anything that even resembles a complete sentence in that box. 

Just type one word like biotechnology or a short phrase like social media.

Click the Search button.

Don't freak out when you see the very long list of results. Don't even look at that yet.

First, stop and think about what type of article you need:

  1. Scholarly, Academic, or Peer-Reviewed?
    Under REFINE YOUR SEARCH click Scholarly & Peer-Review.

  2. Regular magazine article?
    Under CONTENT TYPE click Magazine Article.

  3. Newspaper?
    Under CONTENT TYPE click Newspaper Article.

After this first decision, your work is not yet done. Your results list is probably still huge. Look under PUBLICATION DATE and click one of the following:

  • Last 12 months
  • Last 3 years
  • Last 5 years

Now you can start looking at the results list. It's probably still pretty big, but it's OK to start skimming through the list to see what article titles appear there. If you see something interesting, click the title to be taken to the database where that article "lives." If you are at home, you will be prompted to enter your myPittCC username and password.Student with speech bubble: "Yes! That is much better. These search tips are great!"

 

Make Your Results List BETTER

To focus your search results around a more narrow topic, add keywords to the search box up at the top of the page.

If you typed social media in the search box, try adding something like bias.

Like this...

social media AND bias

Now click the search button and see what you get.

Try tweaking your search a little more...

social media AND confirmation bias

And one last trick is to put quotation marks around any phrase that you want searched together as one block of text.

social media AND "confirmation bias"

Your list (depending on your topic of course) will hopefully be a lot shorter, but also more focused.

 

Stuff That Can Go Wrong 

Technology is great, but it can also be challenging at times.

 

Logging In to the Online Databases:

If you don't know your myPittCC username and password, we (the Library) can't help you with that. However, if it's too late to call the PCC IT Help Desk, go to the Chat with a Librarian box and ask them for help. They have generic login information that you can use in a pinch.Student with speech bubble: "I found an article and now it's time for coffee. My librarian is amazing."


Error Messages:

When you click the article title in the results list, you might get an error message.

  • In a hurry? Just skip that article and try to find another one that will open.
  • Use the library chat and see if the librarian there can get it for you.
  • If you are not in a rush, contact the Library with the article title, author, date, etc. and they can usually find it.

That wasn't so bad was it? Of course, some topics are much trickier than others and you may still need help. That's fine. You have librarians who can help you figure this out. 

But I Just Want to Watch a Video!

That’s cool. We have a video on how to search Summon along with some other library tutorials and research guides to help you search for resources.

So there you go. This is a quick way to jump right in and get to a list of articles. If you have questions, ask a librarian. We really are here to help you! 

Happy searching!

 

The photos in this post were taken by Erge Mahindra and are available on Unsplash. The speech bubbles were added by Angela Davis, PCC Library.

05/05/2021
profile-icon Angela Davis

Library instructionPitt CC Library, along with most academic libraries across the nation, is busy assessing and revisiting library instruction options as we prepare for the return of in-person library visits. How will it work for those students who have gotten used to the convenience and flexibility of Zoom and WebEx sessions? Will faculty find it harder to incorporate library instruction into their courses as they work to help ease their students’ transition back to face-to-face meetings?

More than ever, it is critical not to lose sight of the positive aspects of asynchronous practices and how they might be applied to synchronous class settings. In addition to blending the practices of both formats, we must accept the fact that this will be a drastic shift for the student body and instructional staff alike as we make the return to our “old” normal. 

The good news is that PCC librarians are here and eager to help! Allow us to help ease the burden by scheduling library instruction for your classes this upcoming academic year. We are excited to be able to provide one-time sessions or recurring library instruction as needed to help eliminate research anxiety and make the use of library resources less scary for your students. 

What else can PCC librarians do for you and your students?

  • Customize library instruction to fit your specific course needs 

  • Create research guides (LibGuides) to help your students with the research process from beginning to end 

  • Develop self-guided assignments to help students retain what they’ve learned 

  • Encourage positive library relationships through brief librarian visits in your own classroom (these can be as casual as you’d like) 

  • Cultivate students’ confidence in searching for and using library resources through one-on-one consultations 

  • Provide students with multiple options for the use of physical library spaces to support their diverse learning styles

We look forward to working with you and helping you in whatever ways we can as the PCC community returns to campus in the fall. If you would like to request a library instruction session, review the instruction calendar for available dates, then complete the Library Instructional Support Request Form.

We hope to see you soon!

Brittany N. Champion, MLS
Instruction & Outreach Librarian
bnchampion711@my.pittcc.edu
(252) 493-7362

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