Ohio University Libraries News and Events

Every quarter Ohio University Libraries hold several free workshops open to the entire university community. These workshops are a great opportunity to learn about the libraries, their collection, and services. Special topic workshops and seminars are offered each quarter to assist researchers in becoming more effective and efficient in using specific databases or search tools. The workshops for winter quarter are as follows:

Click the links above for more information and to register. If you would like to suggest that the library provide a workshop on a different topic, please use our feedback form.

Every New Year it seems that everyone publishes his own “best of ” or “top ____” list of the past year. Therefore, it only seemed fitting that the Library follow suit. Below is a list of our Top 25 InfoTree Resources of 2004. Out of the nearly 3,000 records in InfoTree, these 25 were used most often by Ohio University faculty, staff, and students. You will notice that these sources were used a lot. As always, if you would like to give feedback regarding our collection, please feel free to contact your subject bibliographer or visit our feedback form.

What is the Online Writing Center?
It’s like a chat room, where the tutor and student talk in real time. The online writing center is similar to the traditional writing center, with the same philosophies, just online. Students can meet with a tutor to talk about the assignment and ideas before writing, to discuss a paper in the early stages of writing, in the final stages of writing to get a reader’s perspective of the paper, or anywhere in between. One important difference between face to face and online meetings is that students must make an appointment at least 24 hours in advance to meet a tutor online.

Where is the Online Writing Center?
The online writing center can be found at BobKatz MOO (again, similar to a chatroom) sponsored by the Center for Writing Excellence and Writing Across the Curriculum and can be accessed at http://wac.citl.ohiou.edu.

How do I set up appointments?
Clients can log on to the Bobkatz MOO as a guest. Once in the MOO, click on the Map icon on the left hand side of the tool bar at the top of the screen. A map should appear of the various rooms in the MOO. By clicking on the Tutoring Waiting Room, students will be shown a room with a large appointment book. After clicking on the book, a form will appear, similar to the form clients fill out at the traditional writing center. Once this form is filled out and sent, the tutor will contact the client confirming the time of the meeting.

If I have a draft of some kind, how do I get a copy of my paper to the tutor?
Set up an appointment first. A tutor will then be in contact via email and give instructions regarding the exchange of documents.

How do I prepare for an online tutoring session?
First, visit the online writing center BEFORE the scheduled session. Become familiar with how to “talk” and how to move around. To learn basic commands, see the How to Use the MOO option, also on the log-in page. Make sure that both sides of the screen work-one with the room description and the other with the written text. Make sure your pop-up blocker is turned off.

What if I have technical problems?
Go to the BobKatz MOO Web page link on the log-in page or go to: http://wac.citl.ohiou.edu/moo/Paul/mootutor/Problems.htm.