Triboro News

Summer B has started! We hope everyone is feeling comfortable as the new term begins.

Let’s go over a few things:

The Learning Commons consists of the Student Learning Center (SLC) and Library. We are here to provide academic support. This means we can help with coursework, understanding assignments, providing feedback on your work, navigating software, and more.  

We want to help you to learn more effectively! Here are some tools to assist you:

1. Our library databases. These are all available through the portal, but you can get a glimpse at them here: https://rmcad.libguides.com/az/databases
   1. If you go to the portal and the links don’t work, check your popup blocker. You have to allow pop-ups. 99.99% of the time, that is the reason the databases don’t work. 
2. Our SLC scheduler: https://rmcad.mywconline.com/
   1. You need to make an account, this is not automatic. Use your RMCAD email address and make up a password of your choosing. 
   2. Once you have an account you can choose your topic and find the person who can help. We meet on Google Meet, Zoom, or in person.
3. Our SLC Shared Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0AE5f5szuWpX6Uk9PVA
   1. This drive has all our tipsheets – we even have a spreadsheet with the tipsheets all linked!
4. Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RmcadSLC
   1. This channel has helpful videos of all kinds, including how to access library resources. 

If you need further assistance or have questions, please email us at learning@rmcad.edu.

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, June 21st marks the 2025 summer solstice—the longest day of the year and the official beginning of summer. What better way to expand your creative writing skills than by drawing inspiration from the changing seasons? Whether you want to try your hand at creative nonfiction, fiction, or poetry, here are some prompts to get you started:

1. Creative nonfiction: Ambushed by smell

Alongside warm weather and sunny skies, summer brings its own unique scents. When I think of summer, I imagine the chlorine of pool water and the sulfur of fireworks. What comes to your mind? 

Scent is tied closely to memory in our brains, so smells can be powerful prompts for reflective essays. The authors of Tell it Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfiction ask, 

Have you ever been ‘ambushed’ by a smell you didn’t expect? For example, have you opened a box of clothing from a deceased relative and had the smell of that person’s house flood over you? Or, have you walked into a friend’s house and smelled a meal exactly like one you remember from childhood? (Miller & Paola, p. 13)

Take a moment to reflect on the scents of your summer and the memories they evoke. Have you ever been ambushed by smell?

2. Fiction: Six-word story

The most famous six-word story was penned by Ernest Hemingway. You may have heard it before:

For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn. 

Written in the form of a newspaper ad, this tiny story evokes an entire narrative. Today, six-word stories are a popular form of microfiction. Wired Magazine even hosts a monthly six-word science fiction contest.

Try your hand at a six-word story inspired by the summer solstice. 

3. Poetry: Idyll

Idylls are brief poems centered on the natural world. They evoke nostalgia by emphasizing small, everyday moments. Writing one is the perfect way to reflect on the changing seasons and the past year. 

Idylls have a long history, going all the way back to the ancient Greek poet Theocritus (born c. 300 BCE). While many Greek poets wrote about warfare, Theocritus focused on simple pleasures and the beauty of the natural world. Following Theocritus’s example, poets throughout the centuries have written idylls. 

Check out a few famous idylls to get your creative juices flowing: 

• “Idyll” by Siegfried Sassoon
• “To Autumn” by John Keats

• “The Solitary Reaper” by William Wordsworth

   

Now try writing your own!

If you haven't ever explored our Library Guides, you might not know all that we offer. 

For example, check out our College 101 guide.

We also have a guide about critical thinking and another one about media literacy. 

And Dr. Black's Warrior Queens class has been building a guide about weapons and armor.

We have a guide for Art History: Theories and Methods that covers starting points for the theories you learn. 

We have a guide for professional practice that includes business information. 

If you could make a guide, what would you make?

As you are finishing up this term, and getting your bibliographies and citations in order, you might wonder why we cite, and also why we cite in different styles. 

The reason why we might use one style over another is often determined by the field in which we are working. Purdue OWL breaks it down this way:

MLA (Modern language Association) emphasizes Authorship, so authors are very important.

APA (American Psychological Association) emphasizes date. Since publication date is important in the social sciences, APA Style is more likely to be used. 

CMOS (Chicago Manual of Style) emphasizes source origin. History and art history are concerned greatly with source, so footnotes and detailed references lists are preferred. 

There are a lot of other reasons why we might use one over another. APA tries to reduce bias, for example, so first initials, instead of names are included in references. CMOS has a much more robust way of including images, which makes is preferable in art history. We don't use MLA much at RMCAD, because we teach fewer literature classes where it would be used. 

One of the big differences between APA and CMOS is the way citations are built within the paper itself. They both use final bibliographies or references lists, but within the paper, APA uses in-text citations while CMOS uses footnotes. from the description above, you can probably figure out why. APA is concernced about dates so a citation to Purdue OWL (2018) is sufficient as it points to the item in the reference list. CMOS wants a more complete source, which the footnote will provide. 

I hope this helps clear things up. 

As always, make an appointment with the SLC if you need help finalizing those citations!

Okay! it is week five and you are staring down the last few weeks of the term. There is still a lot to do. How are you going to organize what you need to get done?

Here are some resources from the SLC to help you with time management and organization:

First, check out our tipsheet on Time Management! There you will find tips on breaking down assignments and using timers to help you set goals. 

If you are writing a paper, you might find our tipsheet on Graphic Organizers helpful. If you are trying to organize your thoughts, admit to yourself that you are an art student and use visual tools!

If you are just struggling with motivation, check out our tipsheet on that! Sometimes just remembering your dreams can help you get started again. 

And always, the SLC is on your side. Make an appointment and let us help!

Hey everyone, you all know that library databases are available on the student portal. Here is a quick list of what we offer. If you have any trouble accessing the databases from the portal, remember to allow pop-ups in your browser! If you are still having trouble, contact us at library@rmcad.edu.

JSTOR and ArtStor 

JSTOR is a research database primarily used for art history and the humanities. Artstor is a digital image library.

Berg Fashion Library. 

Coverage of world fashion including journal articles, ebooks, and images.

Bloomsbury Applied Visual Arts

170 ebooks in the applied visual arts. Great for photo, graphic design, drawing, and more. 

Building Green

Sustainable design resources for architecture and interior design – includes case studies and information about materials. 

EbscoHost (includes Art & Architecture Source, eBooks, and more)

Substantial research database for pretty much everything. 

Fairchild Books Interior Design Library

Fairchild Books Interior Design Library about 70 acclaimed textbooks and dedicated supplementary resources, to support interior design curriculum.

Films on Demand 

More than 30,000 of streaming educational films and documentaries

Kanopy

Movies and documentaries.

Music Online: Listening

Comprehensive streaming audio collection

Naxos Music Library

Streaming classical music

Stash Media

Online magazine that showcases exceptional motion design, visual effects, and animation projects. 

WGSN

Trend forecasting.  We subscribe to fashion and interior design, but don’t let that stop you. You want to know what colors will be popular in 2024, visit WGSN. Lots of lifestyle forecasting is included.