This week’s Tech Tuesdays column is running a day late, due to attending the Faculty Development Center’s excellent “Teaching With Technology” program yesterday.

A couple of weeks ago, Facebook announced a new platform — Groups for Schools.  This new platform allows Facebook users from the same college or university to create an entire network of Groups specific to that particular institution, and these new Groups for Schools are ONLY accessible to members of that institution who have an active campus email address associated with their personal Facebook Profile.

In Cal State Fullerton’s case, only Facebook users with a valid @fullerton.edu or @csu.fullerton.edu email address may join the “Groups at CSU Fullerton” network.

Search for your college or university from the Groups for Schools site. (Click on this image to view it in a larger size).

The “Groups at CSU Fullerton” network can be accessed several ways. You can try finding it via the Facebook search bar, you can search for it from the Groups for Schools site, the home page of your personal Profile should display a notice and link at the top of your left sidebar if you already have your campus email attached to your Profile, or you can access the Groups at CSU Fullerton home page directly at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/groupsatcsufullerton/.

The Groups at CSU Fullerton home page. (Click on the image to view a larger size).

It is important to note that Groups at CSU Fullerton is not actually affiliated with, or endorsed by, the university. That is true as well of every other campus group in this new Groups for Schools platform. The main campus group for each college or university is created and administered by Facebook. It is not possible for a campus employee to be attached as a group administrator.  This is not the case with the sub-groups that reside under the main campus group — those groups need to manually be created, and then are administered by the person who created the group.

What is different from regular Facebook Groups?

• All group members must have an active CSUF email address affiliated with their Facebook Profile.
• Only Facebook users with a valid CSUF email address may join any of these new groups.
• Unlike regular Facebook Groups, members of Groups for Schools can upload a broader range of files (i.e., Word or Excel files, PowerPoints, PDFs, etc.) than just the photos or videos allowed in regular Groups.  This is particularly useful for course documents.
• Unlike regular Facebook Groups, members of the same “Schools” group can chat privately (not just do a group chat) with each other right within the Group page, using the Message feature — even if those members are not Facebook Friends. This is again very helpful for instruction courses.
• By default, email notifications for group activity are sent to your campus email account, and to the primary email account associated with your Facebook Profile (if that is a personal email account, rather than your campus email account). This means two email notifications if you’re like me. If you only want notifications sent to your personal email address, you can toggle off the campus email notification from the Notifications settings for your groups.

Why might one want to create a group within Groups at CSU Fullerton?

• One might want to share content or updates only among the CSUF community, instead of the regular Facebook community.
• One might want to take advantage of the new File uploading feature or the more flexible Chat avialable in Groups for Schools.

What types of groups has the CSUF community already created?

• Campus community groups, such as the CSUF Faculty group.
• Graduating class groups, such as the Class of 2012 group.
• Special interest groups, such as the Christian Students group.
• Major or discipline focused groups, such as the American Studies group or the Biochemistry group.
• Student clubs and organizations, such as the Adventure Club or the Accounting Society.
• Course groups, such as the Comm 497T group.

The CSUF Faculty group is open to any current CSUF faculty member. (Click on the image to view a larger copy).

How can a CSUF member create a new CSUF-related group?

1. Go to the home page for the main Groups at CSU Fullerton site.
2. Click on the “Create Group” button located under the header (cover) photo, at the far right.
3. The rest of the process is identical to creating a regular Facebook Group, however, you can only add members that have a valid CSUF email attached to their Profile.

How can I learn more?

• Follow the Pollak Library’s Facebook Page and The Pollak Library Blog for updates, tips, and use cases.
• If you are a CSUF faculty member who is interested in sharing or learning more about using social media for instruction and research, join the CSUF Faculty Social Media User Group on Facebook.
• Refer to the Facebook Help Center.

Good news! The Pollak Library has purchased campus-wide access to the Chronicle app, which allows you to download issues to your iPad. Here’s a step by step tutorial to get you started.

Step 1:
Create a free account using your university email address at the Chronicle of Higher Education website. You will need to confirm creation of the account by clicking on the link they send in an email.

Create a free Chronicle account

Step 2:
Download the free Chronicle app from the App Store on your iPad.

Download the free Chronicle app

Step 3:
Log in to the app with your account details.

Sign In to the Chronicle

Step 4:
You’re done! Now you can download issues of the CHE to your iPad!

Download Chronicle issues

If you have any questions, please email me at jbedoya@fullerton.edu, or Ask a Librarian.

With the cancellation of Blackboard scheduled for June, the Library would like to remind instructors that they can continue to make supplementary materials available to their students electronically by linking to articles and uploading PDFs or other electronic documents using the university’s new learning-management system (TITANium). These procedures replace the methods used for adding “electronic reserves” to Blackboard courses and are regularly taught in the TITANium workshops offered by the Faculty Development Center. They may also be reviewed in this video tutorial: Adding Content Part 1.

These instructions are also posted on the Library’s website and in our faculty guide. They are summarized below for quick reference.

How do I link to an article in the Library’s databases?

A persistent link to an article can be made available directly to your students under the content section of TITANium. We recommend linking to articles in the Library’s databases whenever possible to ensure quicker access for your students and to maintain copyright compliance.

How to add a persistent link to TITANium:

(From the Topic Outline page, turn on editing.)

1. Use the “Add a Resource” drop down menu
2. Drop down to URL
3. Name and describe the URL
4. Paste the URL into the “Content” section
5. Click on SAVE AND DISPLAY

If you do not have a persistent link, you can create one with Citation Finder.

1. Find the article by clicking on FIND JOURNALS on the Library’s homepage
2. Click on CITATION FINDER
3. Enter the information, click GO
4. Select your article and click on MORE OPTIONS
5. Click CREATE LINK FOR THIS ITEM
6. Use drop down menu to format citation and click GO
7. Copy and paste the link into TITANium

How do I upload electronic files?

Most electronic documents can be uploaded directly to TITANium and made available to your students under the content section. If you have a print article that you wish to convert to a PDF file, the Academic Technology Center can provide hands-on assistance in creating versions compliant with ADA 508 standards.

(From the Topic Outline page, turn on editing.)

1. Use the “Add a resource” drop down menu
2. Drop down to FILE or FOLDER
3. Name and describe the file or folder
4. Click ADD under content
5. Click UPLOAD A FILE, CHOOSE FILE and browse PC for saved file, then click UPLOAD THIS FILE
6. Click SAVE AND DISPLAY

New procedures for managing print/physical course reserves will be announced at a later date, but this service will continue without interruption during the transition to TITANium.

Are you a student that needs to create collaborative presentations with classmates?  Are you an instructor or a professional that needs to co-present with a colleague?

Google Presentations — Google’s version of PowerPoint or Keynote, part of Google Docs — just got a whole lot more collaborative and useful for group assignments and group presentations. Last week, Google Docs  pushed out a discussions component to all users, which allows collaborators to chat online in real time while creating or editing a presentation.

Feature Highlights

• Collaborators can comment on a whole slide, or just a single component in that slide.
• You can allow presentation viewers (such as your instructor, or your audience) to provide feedback via comments, without giving them access to actually edit your presentation.

You can also convert old Google Presentations to the new format by following these import instructions.

Not Using Google Docs?

Some of the advantages are:

• Google Presentations integrates with other Google Apps you use, such as your CSUF student email account.
• Google Presentations, and the entire Google Apps Suite, is free.
• You don’t have to download any software to your computer.
• You can view and edit presentations from any computer that has an internet connection.
• You can import or export as a PowerPoint file in case you need to give a presentation someplace that doesn’t have internet access, or if you are just required to submit the presentation in that format.

Don’t forget that you can check your library account online! You can access your circulation record at https://opac.fullerton.edu/patroninfo/ to see what you currently have checked out and when those items are due, to renew materials when possible, and to view any fines or fees — none, we hope! — that you may owe.

Can’t remember your CWID? You can look that up online, too, at: http://www.fullerton.edu/cwid/.

If you need help with research, try one of our online help options. We can help demystify the search process and get you the information you need. So if you are looking for peer reviewed articles, books, demographic data, business information, websites, or anything else, visit our Ask a Librarian page.

We are available 24/7 to help you find the information you need.

Ask a Librarian

Did you know that the Pollak Library has a huge collection of full-text electronic books waiting to be discovered?

About the collection

Currently, the Pollak Library provides access to well over 50,000 eBooks through the online Catalog. Our eBook collection covers a broad range of subject areas for academic, technical, and reference books.

How to find our eBooks

There are different approaches you can take to discovering our eBooks.

• If you do a keyword or subject search in the Catalog and limit your search to internet resources only, you will access eBook titles on your searched topic, as well as other electronic sources such as government documents and ejournals.
• You can also do a keyword or subject search and add the word, “ebook”, for example, “psychology and ebook”.

Accessing eBooks is very easy.

• Select your title from the list and click the link in the orange “Connect To” box.
• In some cases however, due to the fact that the Library purchases eBooks from several different vendors, you may be asked to login after clicking the link, to access the eBook.

So, the next time you’re researching from home and need a book, remember that a wealth of information is just a Catalog search away!

Cynthia Bruns and Lin Ford contributed to this post.

New to Cal State Fullerton? Finally got a smart phone over the holidays? Whether you fit into either one of these two groups, or you’re just a returning student or professor who doesn’t know about our mobile site, the Pollak Library wants to get your semester off to a smart start by introducing this helpful portable research tool.

The Pollak Libary mobile website works best on an iPhone, iPod, Android, Blackberry or Windows Phone 7. Point your phone’s browser (or use the QR Code below) to our main website at: http://www.library.fullerton.edu, and you should get redirected to our mobile website. If for some reason, you have the mobile

What can you do on our mobile site?

• Search among, and access, any of our mobile-enabled journal articles and research databases.
• Search the library catalog to find both print and electronic books available through the Library.
• Access our class-specific, subject and special topic research guides.
• Text or chat online with one of our librarians, during normal reference hours.
• Check if any computers are currently available in the library.
• View our latest Facebook updates, Tweets and blog posts.
• View any current Library Alerts.
• Look-up names and phone numbers of library employees.

QR Code to access the Pollak Library mobile site

If you have a web-enabled mobile phone with a QR Code Reader, point your phone’s camera at this QR code to go directly to our mobile site.

What are QR Codes?

QR Codes are two-dimensional barcodes which can be scanned by a cell phone camera prompting the cell phone to load a webpage URL, display text, call a phone number, or send a text message that is encoded in the QR code.

In order to make use of QR Codes you need:

• A cell phone with a camera
• QR Code reading software
  • Find a QR Reader for your cell phone
  • Get the free QR app for the iPhone
  • Get the free QR app for Android

Do you use Prezi as an alternative to PowerPoint or Keynote for your class or work presentations?

Why Templates?

Earlier this month, Prezi made it even quicker and easier to create polished professional looking interactive presentations with the launch of Prezi Templates. Templates allow you to focus solely on your content, instead of worrying about the look, feel and flow of your presentation. Simply choose from a handful of ready-made templates when creating a new Prezi.

New to Prezi?

Want to see some examples and get a little more background on how Prezi works? Be sure to read our blog post from earlier this year about how to use Prezi for collaborative presentations.

And don’t forget, current student and educators are eligible to apply for a FREE Edu license that is packed with a ton of extra features normally only available in the paid premium subscription.

Do you use Facebook a lot?  Even when studying or doing research?

Now you can do at least some of your research from within our Facebook Page. Just click on the “Research Tools” tab link in the left sidebar of our Facebook page.

Our new “Research Tools” app will allow you to:

• Search for books, DVDs, CDs, and other library materials that are owned by the Pollak Library, other CSU libraries, and libraries located throughout the world.
• Do a Basic Article keyword search thoughout all of our Ebsco databases.
• Chat live with a CSUF Librarian for research help during our regular reference desk hours.
• Access other Pollak Library research discovery tools such as our Library Catalog, Find Databases, Find Journals and our extensive collection of Research Guides.

We are also working on adding our 24/7 Live Help tool, which allows you to get around-the-clock help from librarians located in other universities and libraries throughout the world.

From the Pollak Library Facebook Page, click on the "Research Tools" tab in our left sidebar.