NE/SE Clinical Campus (Grand Forks/Fargo)

In the Loop: Clinical Faculty Edition

October 2025 Vol. 1 No.4

Fostering Clinical Excellence with Comprehensive Library Resources

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The University of North Dakota now has trial access to the JoVE video platform, which includes JoVE Research, JoVE Education, and JoVE Business. This new resource is a valuable tool to enhance both teaching and research across a wide range of disciplines. 

JoVE is a video platform that empowers faculty to improve teaching outcomes by preparing students before class, boosting their confidence, and keeping them engaged throughout the semester. This resource offers comprehensive coverage of core science concepts and undergraduate lab experiments through easy-to-watch, high-quality 1-minute animated videos that are mapped to the most common textbooks used in classes and clear visual demonstrations that enhance student engagement and understanding. It includes videos that integrate seamlessly into your LMS with built-in quizzes to reinforce learning. Peer-reviewed case studies show JoVE can more than double student performance, and 95% of students report greater engagement in science. With JoVE, students arrive prepared and motivated, allowing you to dedicate more class time to higher-level discussions and deeper understanding, leading to stronger teaching impact. 

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Citation Management Software

Eventually your research will require that you keep track of many citations on one or more topics. At that point, you should consider using a citation management software to help you format and organize your references.

What are Citation Managers?

Citation mangers are computer programs that allow you to generate, save, and sort citations online or on a desktop client. These managers can also generate in-text citations and a bibliography from inside a document, saving you time.

Which one should you use?

There are a lot of programs on the market, both free and subscription based. The UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences generally recommends Zotero due to its ease of use, free access, and unlimited storage. However, there are others you could consider as well, including: Mendeley, RefWorks, EndNote, CiteULike, BibMe, etc.

Here are some questions you may want to consider as you decide which program best fits your needs: 

• Are you collaborating with another individual or group that already is using a citation manager?
• How many citations do you want to organize?
• Do you want software that will be available over time regardless of your status as a student, employee, or health professional?
• What databases do you typically search, and what options for direct exporting (automatically adding) citations are offered?
• Does the citation management software work with Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or whatever word processing software you will be using?
• What citation styles do you need for formatting references and can you change citation styles quickly and easily as needed?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Poster Presentation Tips: Make Your Research Stand Out

Whether you're preparing for a conference or a departmental showcase, here are a few quick tips to help your poster communicate clearly and effectively:

 Highlight Your Key Finding

• Ask yourself: What is the most interesting or surprising result from my research?
• Make that the centerpiece of your poster.

 Tell the Story Visually

• Effective visuals often communicate more than blocks of text.
• Use charts, diagrams, and images to guide the viewer through your research.
• Keep it visual, keep it clear.

Explore tools like the Data Viz Catalog to find the best way to present your data.

 Complement, Don’t Repeat

• If a graph or image already conveys the message, let it speak for itself.
• Avoid repeating the same information in text.

 Peer Review Matters

• Read your poster out loud to a peer—it’s a great way to catch unclear phrasing or unnecessary jargon.
• Eliminate extra words and keep your language concise.

Want more tips? I’d be happy to present at your next Grand Rounds or team meeting—just reach out!

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Faculty Library Account Renewals

Volunteer faculty receive a number of benefits from the university, including access to our online collections and search tools. For information about additional benefits beyond access to our library, contact the Office of Academic Affairs.

Account Application and Renewal

The following SMHS and CNPD volunteer affiliates will need to apply for a library account:

• School of Medicine & Health Sciences volunteer faculty including fieldwork educators or clinical educators for Med Ed, OT, PT, PA, or MLS programs,
• College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines clinical preceptors,
• Human Nutrition Research Center staff and researchers,
• Altru residents, and
• INBRE researchers.

Please allow at least five business days to process your request. Applications are subject to approval.

Accounts are active for one year and must be renewed yearly, during which time we will verify continued affiliation with your SMHS or CNPD department. To renew your account, fill out the form and choose the "Renewal" option for the first question.

Apply or Renew

Log In and Access Articles

1. Visit our home page or our Databases A-Z list to access subscribed resources, such as PubMed or Embase.
2. Log in using the "Volunteer Faculty" section of the authentication page when prompted. Your username is the email address you signed up with and your password is what you set after your account was created.
3. Search for information with your access to our subscribed resources.
4. When necessary, you can use the "Find It @ SMHS" button to access full-text books and articles from our e-resources.

Change Password

1. Start on our home page.
2. Click to access one of our resources under the Quick Links section. (Note: BoardVitals does not use the library login, so you'll want to choose one of the other options in the list.)
3. On the authentication screen, select the "Click here to reset password" link under the "Volunteer Faculty" section.

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One of our other librarians wrote this, but I wanted to share this wonderful blog post about medical librarians!

October is the month to celebrate medical librarians and health information professionals who work tirelessly to support healthcare providers, researchers, and patients for evidence-based medical knowledge.

Our librarians can direct users to curated resources and explain how to identify reputable journals. They train students on how to conduct efficient health information searches, and assist with data management.