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Himmelfarb Headlines: Pump Up Your Productivity With This Trio Of Tech Tips!

Pump Up Your Productivity With This Trio Of Tech Tips!

Tech Tips

Himmelfarb Library is always looking for ways to help our library users increase their research productivity. This month we’ll look at three things you can install to make your next research session seamless and convenient.

Do you do most of your research from an off-campus location? Are you a distance student? If so, make sure you are connecting to library resources via the GW VPN. Once you have installed the GW VPN, you can connect to it when you begin a research session. Rather than having to go through two-factor authentication to connect to online databases and journals, you will notice that you’re able to access these resources seamlessly. The VPN allows your computer to function as though it is on the GW campus and therefore allows you to access most databases, e-texts, and e-journals without additional logins.

NOTE: If you installed the Cisco GW VPN prior to 2023, this is no longer the VPN in use at GW. You will need to uninstall the Cisco VPN and replace it with our current product, Palo Alto GlobalProtect (scroll down the page to VPN to find the download link).

Now that you’ve streamlined your access to library resources with the VPN, consider adding Libkey Nomad to your web browser. Libkey Nomad is a web browser extension that will integrate with Himmelfarb Library’s journal collection. To install Libkey Nomad, follow the link and select your web browser. Once it is installed, make sure to select Himmelfarb from the drop-down menu:

Tech Tips

Once you have installed Libkey Nomad, you will notice links within your search results in PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and other databases. Those links enable you to open the PDF of an article directly (where available), rather than navigating out to the library catalog and then to the journal article source.

Now you have located many useful articles and want to organize a list of references. Don’t create a list in Microsoft Excel or Word, because Himmelfarb Library has another method to offer you: citation management via RefWorks. Whether you are keeping track of dozens of references, collaborating with research partners, or writing up your project, RefWorks can help. It can even store your PDFs! All GW affiliates are entitled to create an account, and RefWorks remains available to you upon graduation. Visit our guide to RefWorks to learn more!

Once you have configured the resources above, get ready to maximize your productivity! As always, contact us at himmelfarb@gwu.edu with any questions.