Calling all Temple researchers! Mark your calendars for Research Resources Day, Tuesday October 1st, 2024, from 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM, in the Howard Gittis Student Center, Room 200.
This event will showcase the vast array of resources and tools available to support your research journey, from conception to publication.
Meet the New Leadership
This semester’s event features exciting updates. Meet the newly appointed Associate Vice Presidents for Research Administration, Dennis Paffrath, and Research Compliance, Maria Palazuelos Jorganes, who will share insights into their respective divisions.
Vice President for Research Josh Gladden, Dean of Libraries Joe Lucia, and Vice President for IT Larry Brandolph will also be in attendance to share their perspectives on the research landscape.
Connect with Experts
Explore interactive resource tables staffed by experts across campus. Learn about the latest resources and services available to support your research and get personalized guidance on a wide range of topics, including:
OVPR Resources: Pivot, SciENcv, Grants Administration, Research Compliance, Innovation Nest, and ERA
Library Resources: Research data management, planning and sharing, DMPTool, federal public access mandate compliance, LabArchives, ORCID, TUScholarShare and data repositories, GIS & mapping, publishing support, qualitative data support, evidence synthesis & systematic reviews service
ITS Resources: Microsoft Teams, data storage solutions, HIPAA compliance, and secure data sharing with external collaborators
CFR Resources: Get help pursuing corporate and foundation support
Network with your Colleagues
Connect with fellow researchers, share experiences, and build valuable collaborations across disciplines.
Light refreshments will be served.
Register here (registration is encouraged but not required)
Federal Public Access Mandates – Learn about upcoming public access requirements for federally funded research and library resources and services that help with compliance.
GIS & mapping – Get help with mapping and GIS data and tools from our GIS specialist.
LabArchives and OSF – Organize and track your research project with these free electronic lab notebook and project management platforms.
ORCID – Get credit for your work, connect your publications and datasets, and more with a free ORCID.
Publishing support – Get help with publishing your scholarly work, including open access publishing.
Qualitative data support – Our qualitative data service can help you with collecting, finding, and sharing qualitative data.
Research impact – Get help with demonstrating the reach and impact of your research outputs.
Exterior view of Charles Library’s Frederic S. Schroeder and Family Green roof, photo by Michael Grimm.
Dive into the fall 2024 semester at Temple University with Temple Libraries by your side! Our extensive resources, knowledgeable staff, and tailored services are here to propel your academic success. Let us be your partner in unlocking new possibilities and achieving your goals.
In this post you’ll learn ways to use the Libraries to your advantage this academic year. Be sure to check out our website for more resources, and ways to connect with us!
Find what you need to succeed
The Libraries provide access to a broad range of physical and online materials—including books, journals, articles, music, and movies—all discoverable through Library Search.
Each semester the Libraries compile a list of digitally available textbooks that may substitute for required or recommended course textbooks. They are available to students at no cost.
Personalized Research Support at Your Fingertips
Exterior view of Charles Library, photo by Michael Grimm.
Embarking on a research project or paper? Our dedicated team of subject librarians and specialists are here to guide you every step of the way. No matter your field of study or academic pursuit, we have an expert librarian or specialist well-versed in your discipline, ready to provide tailored assistance.
Connecting with your personal research guru is a breeze. Simply choose the mode that suits you best:
Chat: Our 24/7 chat service ensures you’ll always have a knowledgeable librarian or specialist at your disposal, no matter when inspiration strikes.
Email: Prefer the written word? Fire off an email, and your librarian or specialist will respond promptly with insightful guidance.
Appointments: For in-depth consultations, schedule a virtual or in-person appointment at your convenience. Your librarian or specialist will be fully dedicated to your research needs.
With our comprehensive support services, you’ll quickly find your way to the best academic resources for your project. Embrace the power of personalized research assistance and elevate your scholarly endeavors to new heights.
Research at your own pace
Once you’ve reviewed your syllabi, explore our curated Research Guides for subjects, courses, and research skill development expertly assembled by subject librarians and specialists.
Students studying by the oculus on the third floor near the Loretta C. Duckworth Scholars Studio, photo by Heidi Roland Photography.
Explore spaces to study!
We offer a variety of open seating options to satisfy student needs for individual and group study. Students can book study rooms ahead of time at Charles Library and the Ginsburg Health Sciences Library.
If you are interested in making use of the Libraries’ advanced equipment and technology, visit the Loretta C. Duckworth Scholars Studio in Charles Library and the Innovation Space at Ginsburg Health Sciences Library.
The Scholars Studio has many spaces to create in, such as the Tech Sandbox, the Makerspace, and the Media Production Studio. The media production studio is a room designed for individuals and groups to record and edit audio for podcasts, music, and more! It contains a PC and Mac setup as well as professional recording equipment, so no matter what you’re used to working with, we’ve got you covered. It can be reserved from Monday-Friday between the hours of 9AM and 5PM and is open to students, faculty, and staff of Temple University.
Attend our free events and workshops!
We host various events and workshops throughout the academic year. In addition, we’ll be offering a lineup of concerts, conversations, and specialized workshops, on everything from CV writing to graphic design for visual abstracts to 3D printing.
As always, our events and workshops are free and open to all.
Performance at one of our Beyond the Notes public programming series, photo by Heidi Roland Photography.
Stay up to date!
Follow us on social media and sign up for our mailing list to get future updates from the Libraries, including upcoming events and exhibits, featured resources, and more.
Guest post by Noa Kaumeheiwa, Karen Kohn, and Jenny Pierce
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion sub-committee of the Collections Strategic Steering Team (CSST) aims to identify and implement collections practices that ensure Temple Libraries proactively acquire materials by and about under-represented groups and support the publication activities of these groups. While we did not initially have data to show that our collections were inadequately representing marginalized people, this was a safe assumption. After talking to staff at ProQuest and Lehigh University about their processes of purchasing from independent, BIPOC-owned booksellers, the DEI sub-committee decided to pursue a similar project.
The choice to work with a local, independent seller was to benefit from their expertise in identifying works centering BIPOC and other marginalized groups and to support them financially by making purchases there. In the spring of 2023, Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee and Books in Germantown became the first bookseller identified for the project. Described by the Philadelphia Bookstore Map as selling “Books that highlight & celebrate authors & voices from the Black community & other marginalized peoples,” Uncle Bobbie’s is an independent and BIPOC-owned bookstore. Our expectation was that the books purchased through this initiative would be those we might not discover through standard collection development methods and vendor systems, particularly if they came from independent publishers.
Subject headings of books purchased from Uncle Bobbie’s, by Ciera Rybak
Many staff have been involved in making this initiative work. Brian Schoolar, Head, Acquisitions & Collection Development, allocated a modest amount of money annually to this program. Every few weeks, Tom Davis, Bibliographic Assistant II, Acquisitions & Collection Development, checks Uncle Bobbie’s website for updates to their list of new releases and copies information to a spreadsheet. Each quarter, a pair of volunteers choose approximately thirty books to purchase. Lori Bradley, Bibliographic Assistant III, Acquisitions & Collection Development, then places the orders on Bookshop.org, which directs profits to Uncle Bobbie’s.
With the first year of the project ending, the DEI committee wanted to review our purchases to better understand how the initiative affected our collections. We also solicited feedback from those involved in the project to assess the processes.
There were 112 books ordered in FY2023-24. About half of these, 55 books, had call numbers in Literature. There were 18 books in Social Sciences, on topics ranging from police and prisons to transgender people to interracial adoption. Twelve books were in History mostly focused on African American History. There were 4 music books, relating to punk, jazz, and hip hop, and 3 books on education. The remaining 20 were scattered across subject areas.
The many literature books include 10 books of poetry. Biography was another popular genre, with 24 books purchased. Slightly more than half the books (63) have a subject heading relating to African American or Black people, while 12 relate to LGBTQ people.
One of the strengths of independent bookstores is their ability to promote independent publishers not owned by one of the major companies such as Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, or HarperCollins. We were happy to find that 40% of the books we purchased were from independent publishers, as our usual methods of purchasing can miss these.
Picture of the new release shelf in Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee and Books store on 5445 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19144, sourced from Uncle Bobbie’s Instagram: @unclebobbies
For our second year of ordering from Uncle Bobbie’s, we opened our call for volunteer selectors to all of Temple University Libraries and University Press. More than half of last year’s selectors have expressed interest in participating again, and nine new people have volunteered. Acquisitions staff member Tom Davis says that compiling the lists for selectors to choose from is one of the most meaningful parts of his job. The DEI group is pleased with the project and appreciates everyone who continues to help make it run smoothly.
Panel discussion during the Faculty Conversations: Grand Challenges event. From left to right: Christine Cleaver, Slobodan Vucetic, Phillip Dames, Abby Guido, Stephanie Fiore, and Brian Hutler.
The rapid advancement of computer-generated content, exemplified by products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, has ignited a veritable investment arms race within the technology sector. Universities, in turn, find themselves grappling with the momentous task of integrating these tools into their teaching and learning environments, catering to the evolving needs of students, instructors, and researchers alike.
However, this phenomenon is not new to us. When the personal computer first became popular in the early 80s it was accompanied by rumors of widespread job displacement. Although, the past three decades have demonstrated that the true challenge lies not in the technology itself, but in the ability to adapt and harness its potential.
Recognizing the urgency of this paradigm shift, Temple University Libraries has taken proactive steps to stay ahead of the curve. In a bid to initiate the much-needed discussion with faculty, the Libraries hosted a “Grand Challenges” Faculty Conversation on March 20, 2024. This forum brought together seven esteemed faculty members, who shared their insights on the use of AI within their respective industries and classrooms.
Moderator Brian Hutler facilitating questions from the audience.
As Dr. Christine Cleaver, associate professor in the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management, aptly observed, “You are not going to lose your job to AI, rather you will lose your job to someone who knows how to use AI.”
Dr. Cleaver underscores the critical importance of understanding the power of AI technologies and how they might best be used in our educational and professional landscapes.
The panel and audience turn to listen to a question.
The panel was moderated by Associate Professor of Philosophy Brian Hutler from the College and Liberal Arts, and it consisted of:
Stephanie Fiore / Associate Vice Provost & Senior Director for the Center of Advancement of Teaching
Abby Guido / Tyler School of Art and Architecture/ Design
Phillip Dames / College of Engineering / Mechanical Engineering
Slobodan Vucetic / College of Engineering/ Computer and Information Science
Christine Cleaver / School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management
Bruce Hardy / Klein College of Media and Communication / Communication and Social Influence
Steve Ryan / Klein College of Media and Communication / Journalism
Associate Vice Provost & Senior Director for the Center of Advancement of Teaching Stephanie Fiore addressing a question from the audience.
After the panel, three professors sat down with the Libraries to further discuss the hot topic: AI.
AI in the Arts
Abby Guido, associate professor in the Tyler School of Art and Architecture: Graphic and Interactive Design is optimistic about AI entering the design landscape. She explained that she is excited about this new tool and how it will likely minimize the time designers spend on tedious tasks that no one really enjoys doing because the tasks usually lack creativity.
Guido reminisced about the early days of premade icons and when they first became popular in design, and she felt as if it was cheating to use someone else’s icon. She described that this is very similar to how people are reacting to AI in graphic design now, and that there will likely be an attitude shift in the coming years.
“I had mentioned in my class this semester, let’s try to see what AI can do for us and honestly, it hasn’t been that much,” said Guido, “there’s still a long way for the visual side of AI to grow, but it’s going to happen fast. I think folks very quickly realize like having a tool doesn’t make you anything, right? It’s knowing how to use that tool.”
Although she admits that we don’t know what the jobs are going to look like for designers with this big of a technological change. Which is possibly the biggest change to technology that most of us will see in our lifetime. There is still a lot of gray area.
“It means that our voices could be heard and explaining the power of creative work and the power of strong branding and being able to be on the level of the C-Suite position. We’ve been fighting for many years to show our value,” said Guido.
AI in Management – Project Spark
Dr. Christine Cleaver is also confident about the use of AI in her field, but she wants to remind students that AI can be helpful, but it can also be harmful.
“This is not a perfection tool; this is a tool to assist you,” said Dr. Cleaver, “you can’t expect it to be perfect. It’s not going to be––humans aren’t perfect. This language model is also not perfect, but this gives you a starting point.”
Dr. Cleaver has started to use Project Spark in her classrooms which is an industry-specific generative AI tool that the Professional Convention Management Association created.
She mentioned that this tool will streamline certain objectives for her students, such as:
“If you are a sophomore and you’re working on an operations plan for an event and you have to do a timeline, that may be something you’ve never done before, and this product assists you with putting that together so you can actually see a starting point. It’s very helpful and creates some synergy, you can foster more ideas, more collaboration, and more higher-level thinking,” said Dr. Cleaver.
She mentioned that she is implementing reflections throughout the semester to ensure that her students are critically thinking about their use of AI and how it affects their work.
“You need to remind the students this is not the cure. That’s why I want to put this in as a tool that they have to use all semester long, so that before they use this, they need to go through these following checkpoints so that it’s where it needs to be. I want to show the students how to use the tool in the most ethical manner,” said Dr. Cleaver.
Guests gather and chat at the reception after the panel discussion.
Communicating about AI
Dr. Bruce Hardy, associate professor in the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication: Communication and Social Influence has mixed feelings when it comes to generative AI.
“At least in the classroom, I can’t even imagine how much of a positive impact is going to have on our research on thinking through ways in which at least coming up with computations that we wouldn’t be able to do as human,” said Dr. Hardy, “so, I think as a tool for research and teaching, it’s going to be really important. But I know there’s a lot of concerns around other aspects, particularly like cheating.”
Dr. Hardy underscores that many people don’t have a lot of knowledge of what AI is and most of their understanding of it comes from movies or content that they see on social media. He further went on to explain that there is a lack of equity when it comes to the actual use of AI. One must have a certain level of understanding to filter through the results similar to the analogous of the internet.
Dr. Hardy gives an example of an app that uses AI technology to diagnose cancer earlier than doctors can. Some people who understand what AI is will see that app as a useful tool, whereas other communities who already have distrust in doctors, the media, and this kind of technology will widen that gap of distrust.
“The thing that we have to remember is that it is still humans training machines and whatever those humans are doing that will show up in the outcome. That said, it’s a garbage-in garbage-out model. So if you put in garbage, you’re going to get garbage out,” explained Dr. Hardy, “I hope we can integrate it in ways that it really advances us and gives us more time to do other things. And hopefully by work at Temple, we can be at the cutting edge of making sure that there is equitable access to AI for everyone.”
Guests gather and chat with Dean Joe Lucia after the panel discussion at the reception.
Guest post by Will Dean Research and Data Services Librarian
Sharing your research data in a data repository has many beneficial effects: advancing research, increasing knowledge, and helping other researchers and students learn. Data repositories make your work more accessible, preservable, and understandable for others in your field and beyond. Not to mention, that most major public and private funding agencies and many journals now require data sharing as a prerequisite for grant awards and publication.
Temple researchers have access to four great data repository options to deposit, share, and preserve their data through Temple Libraries, including two we have joined in the past year. Read below to learn more about them, or check our guide to data sharing here.
As of January 2024, Temple University Libraries is an Institutional Member of Dryad, a data repository that seeks to make research data discoverable, reusable, and accessible. Dryad is a generalist data repository, meaning it accepts data from all disciplines. With our membership, Temple researchers can deposit their research in Dryad at no cost.
Dryad is integrated with Zenodo, a generalist repository hosted at CERN, and any software and code deposited with your data will be stored in Zenodo. This makes it easy to share your data and link it with the materials necessary to reuse and build on your work.
Dryad is a CoreTrustSeal certified repository and our recommended repository for large datasets that can be shared openly and freely: Deposits can be up to 300 GB and cannot contain any private or sensitive data or personal health information. More on Dryad Guide
QDR
The Qualitative Data Repository (QDR) is a dedicated archive for storing and sharing qualitative and mixed-method research data. QDR staff specialize in qualitative research data and can assist Temple researchers throughout the research process.
QDR is a recommended repository for qualitative data, particularly those data that require controlled access, and is a CoreTrustSeal certified repository that can host restricted-access sensitive data.
As of July 2023, Temple University Libraries is a QDR member institution and is eligible for a limited number of no-cost data deposits per year. Deposits should be under 20 GB, and QDR staff can provide guidance about de-identification and can set up restricted data access as needed. More on QDR Guide
ICPSR
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) is an international research, education, and archiving consortium, hosted at the University of Michigan. The ICPSR data repository focuses on social science and interdisciplinary data for use in secondary data analysis, research, and teaching.
Temple researchers can share research data in ICPSR to satisfy publisher and funder requirements, and it is a recommended repository for social science data. Deposits should be under 30GB, and ICPSR is a CoreTrustSeal certified repository that can assist researchers with sharing and preserving restricted-access sensitive data. More on ICPSR Guide
TUScholarShare
TUScholarShare is the institutional repository for Temple University and exists to share, promote, and archive the wide range of scholarly works created in the course of research and teaching at Temple. The repository aims to make Temple scholarship freely available online to a global audience, with the goal of advancing knowledge and learning.
All data deposits are curated, receive a Digital Object Identifier (DOI, a persistent URL that facilitates citation and attribution), and can be embargoed for a limited time if needed. Deposits must be under 5GB and cannot contain any confidential or sensitive information. More on TUScholarShare Page.
Guest post by Will Dean Research and Data Services Librarian
Research Resources Day is coming to the Health Sciences Campus on Wednesday, April 17th, 2024, from 1 pm to 3 pm, in the lobby of the Medical Education and Research Building (3500 N. Broad St.). The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR), Temple Libraries, and Temple ITS are hosting this in-person event for all faculty, staff, and grants administrators who work on and conduct research at Temple. For questions about Research Resources Day, please contact researchresources@temple.edu.
The event will start with remarks from Vice President for Research Josh Gladden, Dean of Libraries Joe Lucia, and Vice President for IT Larry Brandolph.
Meet and learn from staff from all three research services departments:
OVPR resources: Pivot, SciENcv, Grants Administration, Research Compliance, Innovation Nest, ERA
Library resources: Research data management, planning and sharing, LabArchives, ORCID (Sign up for an ORCID and enter to win a prize package), TUScholarShare, GIS & mapping, publishing support, qualitative data support, evidence synthesis & systematic reviews service
ITS resources: Overview of Teams, how to get started, storing data, HIPAA compliance, sharing with external entities
Data Sharing – Share your data with one of the Temple Libraries-supported data repositories, including our institutional repository, TUScholarShare.
LabArchives and OSF – Organize and track your research project with these free electronic lab notebook and project managment platforms.
ORCID – Get credit for your work, connect your publications and datasets, and more with a free ORCID.
GIS & mapping – Get help with mapping and GIS data and tools from our specialist and liaison librarians.
Publishing support – Find help with publishing your scholarly work, including finding journals, citation managers, poster printing, and more.
Qualitative data support – Our qualitative data service can help you with collecting, finding, and sharing qualitative data.
Evidence synthesis & systematic reviews service – Our librarians can help you learn about reviews, refine your searches, and design and carry out searches for those seeking to publish their reviews.
Author Ellen Jovin with her Grammar Table | sourced from Ellen’s Instagram @grammartable
Come visit the internationally acclaimed Grammar Table in front of Charles Library on March 19, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Ellen Jovin, author of the national bestseller Rebel with a Clause, will be there to answer your most pressing grammar questions, resolve roommate grammar disputes, and generally shoot the linguabreeze.
Want to take a mini grammar quiz? There will be (totally voluntary) quiz questions ready on the table for those who dare!
Jovin has sparked curiosity around the nation with her Grammar table, from New York City to Utah she has settled tons of grammar debates, and she has an extensive digital footprint highlighting her table. Watch a short clip of Ellen on CBS Evening News below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOiNQ-YGP_k
Author Ellen Jovin answers the nation’s grammatical dilemmas | CBS Evening News
Guest post by Olivia Given Castello,Head of Business, Social Sciences, and Education
We invite you to explore our new library guide to AI-powered research tools. This latest guide grew out of our guide to generative AI and chatbots and is intended to help Temple users navigate the landscape of emerging scholarly research tools that have AI features.
You may have already encountered some examples of these tools such as Semantic Scholar, Elicit, JSTOR’s generative AI assistant, and more. The guide provides an overview and links to many types of AI-enabled tools available to support the research process. It highlights tools for literature searching and mapping, summarizing, working with data, writing code, and publishing. The focus is on tools that are free for Temple users or have a significant free usage option.
This guide explores using popular chatbots for research, AI tools in library subscriptions, and offers guidance on assessing AI research tools. It also includes a reusable assessment rubric and assignment for instructors.
Temple Libraries’ guide to AI tools for research
We hope you will find this resource helpful in supporting your research and in teaching student researchers.
Consider registering for the Libraries’ remaining AI workshops this semester to learn more:
Throughout the year the Makerspace, located on the third floor of Charles Library, hosts a variety of workshops for makers of all skill levels. Recently, the Makerspace held a craft workshop for making valentines, cards, and other creative posters. Attendees came together with people of different disciplines and backgrounds and crafted together.
Below is a video highlighting a few moments of the workshop and what three individuals made during their time at the Makerspace.
Read about crafting activities, educational, and creative tools and offered in the Makerspace and review the upcoming workshops at the Loretta C. Duckworth Scholars Studio (LCDSS). To learn more about activities happening at the LCDSS, visit their website.
Join us on February 27 from 2 to 4 in the Loretta C. Duckworth Scholars Studio for a chance to meet others on campus interested in using games for research, creative, and pedagogical purposes. We’ll open with a brief discussion about why we are bringing everyone together and the resources available in the LCDSS. With your help, we’ll scope out the short-term future of this group. We will then break to play a variety of cooperative board and video games to get to know each other better and work some play into the meeting.
The LCDSS is on the 3rd floor of the Charles Library. Pizza and some beverages will be provided.
Guest Post by Julie Randolph, Head of Outreach and Instructional Services at Temple Law Library
Roughly one out of every three working-age Americans has a criminal record. These records have lasting repercussions: most employers use criminal background checks, and a criminal record nearly halves the chance someone will receive a callback or job offer. Criminal convictions can also affect a person’s ability to find housing, vote, and receive mortgages or bank loans. As a result, people who have completed their sentences still find themselves held back by their criminal record.
By removing convictions from an individual’s record, pardons provide a chance to surmount these obstacles. Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity started the Pardon Project in 2011 to help individuals with convictions receive pardons, a process simplified by the 2019 start of the Pennsylvania Board of Parole’s Expedited Review Program. Through the Pardon project, pardon coaches (individuals, including students, who have received a short training) can help people with convictions navigate the pardon process.
Today the Pardon Project has expanded to dozens of Pennsylvania counties, and, since 2019, more than 80% of pardon applicants received a hearing, but many people still don’t know that pardons are available or how to start the pardon process. To highlight this important issue and how to get involved, on February 27, Charles Library will host a screening of the short documentary,Pardon Me,followed by a panel discussion. Further details of the event are below.
Charles Library first floor event space, 1900 N. 13th Street
Pardon Me is a documentary film by Philadelphia filmmaker Shuja Moore that shows how pardons offer the potential to live as full citizens and how they uplift entire communities. The film features the stories of two people going through the pardon process and includes interviews with key civic leaders. By showcasing the transformative potential of pardons, Pardon Me sheds light on the importance of addressing the long-lasting impacts of criminal records and the need for a final release from the criminal justice system. Register here.
Join us for a film screening and panel discussion with:
Shuja Moore, Pardon Me director, producer
A PA pardon recipient
Associate Professor of Political Science, Nyron N. Crawford, Temple University College of Liberal Arts
Shelby Dolch, Temple Law student and past Systemic Justice Project participant
Co-sponsored by Temple University Libraries, Department of Criminal Justice, Department of Political Science, Temple University Public Policy Lab, Beasley School of Law, and Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity.
