User Education

#Throwback - Library events
 

How Do You Expand Your English Vocabulary?

Are you interested in knowing your English vocabulary size?

English vocabulary is the central for teaching, learning and daily communication in an international tertiary education environment like PolyU. We rely heavily on vocabulary to understand, build ideas and deliver clear messages to the people around us. So, it is safe to say that vocabulary plays a big part in how well we can express ourselves.

In March, Dr Phoebe Lin from Department of English gave a talk at the Library on how to expand English vocabularies. The event, co-organised with Department of English, attracted a full house of 72 staff and students. Participants learnt research-based facts about English vocabulary size and various strategies to expand it. Dr Lin also introduced a wide variety of Library and online resources to learn new English words and idioms.
talk

Here are some learning resources/tools introduced at the event to help you get started on expanding your English vocabulary:
 
Library Resources Free Tools
Check out details and photos of the seminar from the Library’s Twitter and Flickr sites. More talks and seminars are on the way to support your learning and research. Stay tuned for the next Library event!

Online Guide for New Academic and Research Staff

Are you new to PolyU? Or would like a refresher on how the Library can support your teaching and research? We’ve launched this new online guide to quickly walk you through the most relevant Library services for academic and research staff at PolyU.
 
  • Top 5 things you need to know about the Library:
    Know your Faculty Librarian, recommend course readings suggest a purchase, request a customized workshop, and increase research visibility.
     
  • Research Support:
    From publishing in open access to managing author profiles, see how we can support you in your scholarly communication needs.
     
  • Teaching Support:
    Explore resources and services provided by the Library to support your teaching needs.
     
  • Using our collections:
    Step-by-step guides in accessing resources from and beyond the Library.
     
  • Space & Facilities:
    Go on a virtual tour and explore the wide variety of spaces we have in the Library! You can also request for a Library tour through your Faculty Librarian.
     
  • Library Instructions & Workshops:
    We conduct a wide variety of instruction sessions and workshops to equip our students and staff with relevant information literacy skills. Talk to your Faculty Librarian to see how we can help you or your students.
Want to know more? Contact your Faculty Librarian for details.

How to search for images with Library databases? (Britannica ImageQuest & ARTstor)

Did you know that the Library has dedicated databases for images? If you need images for your next presentation, assignment or report, be sure to check out ARTstor and Britannica ImageQuest. Both databases have images that are cleared of copyright for educational, non-commercial use.

Are image databases better than Google Images?
Unlike Google or other online search engines, most Library subscribed image databases come with high-quality information describing the images and clear copyright information for using the images in their collection. This ensures reliability of the image source and leaves little ambiguity for terms of use. Accurate information in the data fields within image databases also allow users to easily find images from the same creator, topic, and time period. Because of this, compared to Google Images, image databases facilitate better context building and scholarly comparisons on a particular topic.


ARTstor
ARTstor contains over 2.5 million digital images in arts, architecture, humanities and sciences. Their collections are from international museums, photographers, libraries, photo archives and artists across the world.

Finding images in ARTstor:

  • Keyword search:
    Just key in a term in the search box and then narrow or expand your results by using filters.
     
  • Advanced search:
    This search allows you to use Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) to combine multiple keywords and limit your search results by subject, creator, title fields, etc. You can also limit searches by geography, date, collection, and classification (e.g. graphic design, photographs, paintings, etc.)
     
  • Browse by geography, classification or collection:
    You can select one of the three broad categories to browse and then narrow results using filters.
     
 

Britannica ImageQuest
Britannica ImageQuest is a collection of almost 3 million images from more than 50 collections worldwide, including Getty Images, the National Portrait Gallery of London, the National Geographic Society, etc.

Finding images in Britannica ImageQuest:

  • Keyword search: Key in a term to search image collection then filter search results by collection or shape (horizontal, vertical, square).
     
  • Browse by collection or curated albums (e.g. laughter, summer Olympic games, etc.)
     
  • Browse by keywords in image information: Selecting an image will give you the image’s caption, details, and keywords that you can click and browse other images with the same keyword.
     
 
Quick take:
  ARTstor Britannica ImageQuest
Collection Photographs, paintings, illustrations, dating back to 10th century B.C. More recent photographs
- Stock photos
- Photos related to news, current and societal issues
Generate citation Yes Yes
Download image Yes Yes
Search and browse - Keyword and advanced search
- Filter by geographic region, time period, collection, etc.
- Keyword search
- Browse by collection
- Browse by keywords
 
Read our images guide to learn more about finding and using images for research and learning.