Library News

The Library has secured a site license for the APA Style Manual.  This resource has the same content as the print version of the APA Style Guide and also includes lessions and quizzes that are related to APA Style and academic writing.

Sage Business Case Studies includes reputable and peer-reviewed  case studies on a variety of topics related to Business, Management, and other topics.  If you'd like to use a case study for a course, please let us know if you need  any help.

Affordability Initiatives

The Affordability Program is now tracking cost savings more effectively, with expanded dashboards in development to monitor NOTX and OER course tagging in Banner. The library supported multiple course revisions this month, ensuring that 65% of courses remain “affordable” through use of OER, library-licensed eBooks, or zero-cost materials. Outreach to students included preparing a half-hour presentation on the program’s benefits, with a focus on the financial impact for non-traditional learners. We’ll soon be updating with our newest percentage numbers for the fall 2025 semester.

Open Educational Resources (OER)

Faculty engagement with OER continues to grow. Several new projects under the Joyce McKnight Fellowship advanced this month, including work on adapting and translating existing OER for wider student access. Library staff provided early consultations to faculty beginning OER projects, emphasizing planning for accessibility, publication format, and sustainability. These conversations have strengthened the library’s position as an essential partner in course design and student success. We thank faculty partners for continuing to work with the library and trust us to act as partners to bring their projects over the finish line.

Scholarly Communications

The Faculty Publishing Support Series is expanding, with recent work focusing on data management tools—from small-scale researcher needs to large repository solutions—and evaluating costs and options for faculty. The team also delivered resources on predatory publishing awareness and journal selection, building on earlier sessions about author rights and ORCID. Please join us for a new series on scholarship at Empire starting September 25^th

The first submissions of the semester are in from students on the library's APA Quick Tips handout quiz. Most students passed the 7 question quiz easily, with the average score = 77% (median score = 83%), from 45 submissions. The tricky questions some students struggled with?

1. What should you do when you have a source in hand that doesn't fit clearly into one of the examples in the APA Guidelines? 42% chose incorrectly: 20% chose “If it's unclear, don't use that source” and 22% chose “When unclear, always default to citing it as a webpage”. Correct answer: "If unclear, choose the example you think most closely fits the source. Sometimes there won't be a black and white answer."
2. Which library database journal article citation below is correctly formatted? 51% chose incorrectly: 31% chose the option with each journal title word capitalized and 20% chose the option with incorrect author info (using only the first author and “et al”). This is the trickiest question on the quiz, with only subtle differences displayed between each choice.

One thing to keep in mind: student learning effectiveness is much stronger when such quizzes are part of a course's grades. If you might be interested in building a library quiz or custom information literacy learning activity into your course's grade book, please reach out to: librarian@sunyempire.edu and a librarian can discuss options with you. You can also see examples of information literacy learning objects and quizzes.

• Released the new library homepage in May 2025 based on usability testing data and feedback from students, faculty, and staff. A new round of usability testing is planned to continue to make library website improvements for our university community. 
• Heather Shalhoub was invited to be the keynote speaker at the NYS Comptroller's Office Arab American Heritage Month Event and received a proclamation from NYS Comptroller, Thomas P. Dinapoli.    
  
• Created extensive Web Content Best Practices guidelines for consistency, accuracy, and accessibility for all library web pages, guides, and content. Training on the Best Practices was done in June. 
• Library guide responsibility reassignments were made to create a consistent and streamlined process for maintaining and updating the library's website and guides. 
• Continued editing and maintenance of the OAA Artificial Intelligence website which has now moved into SharePoint. 
• Training on the SharePoint platform for web content management and updates. 
• Heather Shalhoub completed 3 courses and earned a certificate in Library Leadership and Management from SUNY CPD. 
• In support of the Spanish BBA program, the library released a Spanish version of the library homepage and a listing of Spanish language databases in the A-Z databases list. 
• The Ebook Central Reader App went live Aug 13. The app is an improvement for accessibility standards. It is downloadable on all Windows based SUNY Empire ITS computers and you can download the app on up to 6 personal computers or devices. 
• Heather Shalhoub is now the library's representative on the EITA Committee. 
• Gathering usage statistics for ebook collections as part of our data driven collection development process. 
• Trained members of Empire Online on LibGuides use and best practices for the course guides. 
• Working with Springshare to implement an additional LTI Integration tool for Brightspace that will better serve the needs of instructional design and course revision work. 
• Broken link repairs and University logo link updates following the University website redesign.