Tonight I began to work on one of my 2 research papers due for my Business Communications class at Ashford and saw that in the instructions it said that I had to use their Proquest library search engine for my sources on this paper. I silently swore to myself because I know how much time it can take to navigate your way around a library database that you are unfamiliar with. Southwestern College, my beloved alma mater, had subscriptions to multiple databases, each of which were prohibitively difficult to use and generally took hours to master or find anything of value at all. Since that time I have generally stuck to using text based sources (you remember the library right?) and Google.com for most if not all of my sources. I'm not exactly technologically inadequate here, it's just when learning about a topic on a research paper, learning the various rules of the databases and what they cover can become irksome and draining.
So I go to Ashford's Proquest library expecting the worst but all I saw was a very simple search field with a just a couple of very simple options to choose from. Better still was the fact that this search engine was universal for all of their respective databases, saving you the time and hassle of logging into each and figuring out your way around. Whoever thought of this deserves a big wet kiss. Combine this with the fact that the entire Ashford University follows the same writing guidelines and style (APA) for every class and you have a student's paradise for writing research papers. I can't even begin to tell you how relieving it is to simply focus on your research topic without having to worry about all of the little inconveniences that can rear their ugly heads.
To give you an idea of what I mean, at Southwestern you would have to open a separate browser and navigate to the library and log in using your password and user name. Once there you were given about 15 different categories to pick from, I cannot remember the name at this time but there was one intended specifically for online students to conduct research. Once in, you would see a huge list of probably 20 different databases to pick from, some covering certain topics like law and some that cover a variety of areas. For each you select there were user names and passwords to enter and you would inevitably be met with a screen full of various search fields. Sometimes you retrieved full articles, sometimes partials, sometimes just abstracts. Sometimes there were requests to be sent to use an article which would then maybe be emailed to you, I honestly don't know because I'd just skip those articles. Some of them were difficult to print or cut and paste and there were various rules to using each. What a hassle. I basically learned to use one and used Google ever after.
Not Ashford University. I log into Blackboard and follow a link to the library, no additional passwords required. I am met with a very simplified search screen that allows for additional options for the advanced user if needed including limiting database searches etc. From the end user position every database searches and prints in the same manner. Genius! That combined with the universal APA format for all school research, Ashford University deserves an A+.