Getting Access: Alumni Libraries

Welcome to Getting Access, a series devoted to helping you obtain the digital records you need.  

Alumni Libraries

Many universities and colleges extend library privileges to alumni. Benefits vary, but can include book borrowing privileges and access to online resources.

The catch: You must be a paying member of the school’s alumni association.

The Good

The Penn State Alumni Association excels in their library access for alumni. They offer Association members book borrowing privileges and remote access to digital databases.

The databases in the Penn State Alumni Library include:

• Ebsco’s Academic Search
• JStor
• Project Muse
• ProQuest ABI
• ProQuest National Newspapers

I am grateful for the access Penn State provides, but it is not a comprehensive solution. Not all journals allow universities to extend their full-institutional subscriptions to persons who are not employed by or enrolled in the university. I spend $15/year for additional JStor access through the William and Mary Quarterly because it is the only way I can download an article they have published within the last 5 years. (I keep only the most current journal because bookshelf space is scarce in my house.)

The Not So Good

Not all alumni libraries are equal. I also belong to the Cal Aggie Alumni Association, the organization for University of California, Davis alumni. Like Penn State, the University of California offers members of its alumni associations access to an “Alumni Library.” However, UC limits its library privileges to books; paid members of its alumni associations can borrow up to 5 books from any UC Library. (This benefit does not include ILL privileges.)

The University of California may tout itself as one system, but it does not have one alumni organization. Each campus has its own group and some groups add features to its UC Alumni Library. For example, the UCLA Alumni Association offers its members access to the ProQuest Research Library.

The Bottom Line

You should see if your college alumni association offers library access. If they do, and you're a member, then you may be missing out on a great benefit you already paid for. If you are not an alumni association member, perhaps the database access provided by your alumni library is worth rekindling your school spirit for.

What Do You Think?

Have you found any helpful ways for remotely accessing digital records or academic journal articles? If so please leave a comment or send me a tweet.

How to Twitter: History Hashtags

Twitter is a powerful social networking tool that allows users to spread information quickly and widely in succinct, 140 character conversations. I began using Twitter in late March after I took a "How to Twitter" course. That course inspired my 3-post series about how to use Twitter: Part 1: 4 Myths and Realities about Twitter, Part 2: 5 Reasons Why You Should Use Twitter, & Part 3: 5 Points to Consider Before Creating Your Twitter Identity.  

Hashtags: Use & History

When I first started tweeting, I found hashtags to be a bit overwhelming because of their sheer number. Hashtags denote the group or topic of a tweet. They came about in August 2007, when Chris Messina, aka @FactoryJoe, asked other Twitter users what they thought about using # (pound) to classify groups. (Interesting historical fact, Chris Messina and I were high school classmates.) Thus Twitter users started to use #hashtags at the end of their tweets to tell other users what the content is and who it is directed at.

Historians use hashtags to direct information to all historians via #Twitterstorians or #history or to historians who study a specific field, such as #AmRev for American Revolution or #EarlyAmHist for Early American History. Twitter users also use hashtags to follow specific conversations. For example, I follow the hashtags #Twitterstorians, #EarlyAmHist, #writers, #writing, #postac (post-academic), and #altac (alternative academic) in separate lists as far more people than I follow participate in these conversations.

History Hashtags

I started keeping a list of different history-related hashtags before tweeting and hashtags became second nature. This is by no means a complete list. Hashtags possess an organic-like nature in that people create new hashtags every day. Regardless, I feel that it is a good list and that it will help any historian or history enthusiast grasp the plethora of history-related conversations occurring on Twitter and locate conversations of interest to them.

I have created a new page on my site to host the History Hashtags list. You can access it anytime you like via this post or by clicking the page link located near the top of the right sidebar on my website. I included a Google form on the History Hashtags page with the hope that you will help me keep this list up-to-date. Through this form you can submit any new history-related hashtag that you come across or create for inclusion on the list.

What Do You Think?

What are your favorite history and non-history hashtags?

Are you on Twitter? Please send me a tweet and introduce yourself.

How to Twitter Part 3: 5 Points to Consider Before Creating Your Twitter Identity

How to Twitter Part 3 is the final post in my series on how I understand and use Twitter. My first two posts covered the Myths and Realities about Twitter and 5 Reasons Why I think you should use Twitter. This final post will discuss 5 points you should consider before you create your Twitter identity.

5 Points to Consider Before Creating Your Twitter Identity

1.     Why Are You Tweeting?

• To create a platform for your research and publications? 
• To interact and network with like-minded people?
• To stay up-to-date on the latest celebrity gossip?

Knowing what you hope to gain from your Twitter experience will help you craft your Twitter persona—the version of yourself that you present on Twitter.

2.    What Do You Want Your Twitter Persona to Be?

Do you want to tweet mainly about work or play? Will your tone be mostly serious or funny?

Self-assess your personality. Tweet with the traits that will appeal most to your desired audience, but that will also present the genuine “you.” Your Twitter persona should represent a polished, but not too polished, version of you.

I use Twitter primarily to network and converse with other historians, writers, and alternative academics. I also use it to keep up with friends, news, my favorite sports teams, and events around Boston. I use the same account for all my tweeting, but I tweet more about history and writing than I do about the Red Sox.

3.     What Are Your Boundaries?

How much information will you share on Twitter? Will you tweet about your friends and family members? Project your political and religious opinions for all to see?

I want my followers to know about my work and who I am as a person. I typically use first names or relationships when I tweet about family. One weekend I tweeted: “Enjoying a family day at the New England Aquarium.” This tweet allowed my followers to see that I have a life outside of my work and that I value time with my family. Its vagueness also maintained the privacy of my family members.  

I do not over share. I may tell you that I am at a Red Sox game, but I won’t disclose what I am eating, wearing (usually my food), or cheering at the game.

With regards to hot button topics like politics and religion, I haven’t tweeted about them. I enjoy a good discussion or debate, but I would rather have them in person.

4.   What Will Your Twitter Handle Be?

Your handle will be part of your brand so create one that people will easily identify with you, like your name.

Twitter limits tweets to 140 characters so shorten a long name with a nickname or initials. I publish under my full name: Elizabeth M. Covart. 16 characters is a bit much for people to Retweet (RT in Twitter lingo) so I use @lizcovart.

If you have a common name you might need to be creative by adding numbers, underscores, and abbreviations to your handle.

5.     Will You Adhere to Good Twitter Etiquette Practices?

There are many rules for good Twitter Etiquette, but I think one rule is the most important: the 90-10 rule.

90% of your Tweets should be about something other than self-promotion. Most Twitterers hate it when a person tweets only about their book, product, or blog posts. The best Twitterers are those who tweet to discuss, start a conversation, or to bring something of interest to the attention of their community, such as a blog post, book, news article, or event.

Promote your work on Twitter, but make sure that it represents only 10% of what you tweet about.

One final tip, you might find it handy to know that Twitter has a glossary. Twitterers use a lot of abbreviations to save character space and the glossary will be helpful when you need to know what RT, MT, & FF means.

How to Twitter Part 2: 5 Reasons Why You Should Use Twitter

How to Twitter Part 2 is the second in my three post series on how I understand and use Twitter. (How to Twitter Part 1: 4 Myths and Realities) This second post will discuss my top five reasons why YOU should use Twitter.

 5 Reasons Why You Should Tweet

Reason 1: Networking with Like-minded Individuals

Twitter will connect you with a worldwide network of historians, writers, archivists, and publishers. All historians can benefit from these connections, but they are especially important for independent historians. Twitter can help us escape our isolation by recreating the departmental camaraderie we miss out on by being unaffiliated scholars. Need someone else to talk to? Try starting a conversation on Twitter.

Reason 2: Research Tool

Have a question? Twitter can help you find an answer. In the last week I have asked, answered, or seen requests for book and primary source referrals, historiographical inquiries, restaurant and hotel recommendations for upcoming research trips, blog suggestions, and technology questions.

Although I have not tried it, I believe Twitter will be a useful hack to getting around our diminished access to J-Stor and other journal databases. The scholars on Twitter are a helpful and generous group of people. I have no doubt that if you Tweet a request for an article that someone will help you access it. 

Reason 3: Instant Knowledge

Twitter will provide you with up-to-date information. You will learn about history-related news, events, books, scholarly debates, articles of interest, fellowships, and the work of other scholars almost the moment they happen or when someone has posted about them on the web.

Reason 4: Enhanced or Virtual Conference Experiences

Tweeting scholars have become a fixture at modern-day history conferences. Conference tweets will enhance your conference experience because they will allow you to keep up with and attend more conference panels.

No longer do you have to choose between the three really interesting panels you want to attend during the same 2-hour time slot. No matter which panel you attend another Twitterer will likely attend and tweet one of the others.

Can’t attend a conference in person? Attend it virtually by using Twitter to follow the official conference hashtag.

Twitter will also help you improve your conference sociability by providing opportunities for in-person meet-ups with fellow Twitterers. Want to dine or have coffee with other historians? Send a tweet and see who is available. Unfamiliar with the conference’s host city? Tweet for dining or activity recommendations.

Reason 5: Authorial Platform

Twitter will be an important part of your authorial platform. Publishers will require you to participate in the marketing of your book. Your authorial platform serves as the podium from which you will introduce (and hopefully sell) your work and publications to your followers. Independent historians need strong authorial platforms because we lack the pizazz and built-in platforms that our affiliated counterparts enjoy with their institutional affiliations. (I will further define and discuss how to build an authorial platform in future posts.)

These are my top 5 reasons why historians should tweet. What are your reasons and which reason do you think is the most important? Please leave a comment or send me a tweet @lizcovart.

How to Twitter Part 1: 4 Myths and Realities

How to Twitter Part 1 is the first of a three post series on how I understand and use Twitter. Twitter is a powerful social networking tool that allows users to spread information quickly and widely in succinct, 140 character conversations. It is an important tool to master and one I misunderstood until recently.

This first post will focus on myths and realities about how to use Twitter. The second will open a discussion on why historians (especially independent historians) should use Twitter. The third post will discuss how you can get started with Twitter.

I began using Twitter about eighteen months ago after I heard other historians talk about how they used it at the AHA 2012 THATCamp. I loved the idea of using Twitter to meet and converse with other historians. However within a few days of creating my account, I became overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information on Twitter and within a few weeks I stopped using it. The source of my frustration: I did not really understand how to use Twitter.

Recently, I attended a workshop on how to Twitter. For three hours, Lauren MacLeod (@bostonbookgirl) walked me and other writers through Twitter and dispelled the misconceptions we had formed about using it

Myth #1: You have to Follow and Keep Up with Every Twitter Conversation

Reality: Twitter is an information blitz. You cannot keep up with every conversation. The best you can do is check in periodically and add your two cents.

Myth #2: Using Twitter Takes Up Too Much Time

Reality: Using Twitter takes only the amount of time you let it. You can Twitter in as little as 10 to 20 minutes per day. I spread out my daily 10-20 minutes to check Twitter at 2 or 3 different times.

Myth #3: Twitter is Disorganized and Hard to Use

Reality: Twitter Lists organize Twitter conversations into user-friendly categories. You can set up lists around hashtags, such as #twitterstorians, or customize them by topic. I have lists organized around friends and family, historians, writers, archives, presses and publishing, digital humanities, Boston news and events, Boston sports, and product news. When I check-in I simply click on my lists and scroll down to peruse what people are tweeting about.

Incidentally, I use Twitter apps such as Janetter on my Mac and Tweetcaster on my iDevices. I have found them easier to use than Twitter as I prefer to follow Twitter using lists; in my opinion their list browsing functionality is better and easier to use.

Myth #4: Twitter is Only for Work OR Personal Use

Reality: You can use Twitter for both. Recent studies have shown that the social media works best when you tweet a mixture of work and personal news. Your followers like to know who you are by learning about your other interests and activities.

With that said, your Twitter profile and tweets are highly Googleable. Therefore, you should decide how you want to represent yourself on Twitter before you tweet. What is your primary purpose for being on Twitter? Professional networking? Or, personal pleasure? Most of your tweets should concern your primary purpose.

My primary purpose on Twitter is professional. With that said, I am also a Boston sports fan and I use Twitter to converse with other fans. I tweet history by day and sports by night.

A Happy Twitter Ending

Now that I understand how to use Twitter I am having a lot of fun with it. The historians, writers, and publishers I have met and follow are very nice and helpful; they always draw my attention to articles, blog posts, books, events, and facts that I might have missed. They are also generous with their time. @OUPAcademic recommended sources on early American diplomacy after I asked if they had similar titles to [amazon_link id="0199640351" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]Remaking the British Atlantic[/amazon_link] by P.J. Marshall. And, several historians responded when I queried about peace talks between the United States and Great Britain prior to 1782.

What Do You Think?

I would love to know more about how you use Twitter and about the great hashtags and people you follow. Please leave a comment if you have suggestions or send me a tweet @lizcovart.