Book Review of Columbine

Greetings.

Some time ago I finished reading the book 'Columbine' by David Cullen. This book is a well-researched account of the infamous school shooting in a suburb of Denver, Colorado in 1999. The author manages to cut through the stereotypes surrounding the shootings, such as the killers' alleged racism and the notion that they killed because they were bullied. Many of these stereotypes, the author points out, were generated by the media in the days after the murders. The two shooters were in fact bullies themselves, and had intended on committing far more murder than what they were actually able to do. The author does a good job of setting the stage and context of the shooting. He describes in detail what happened to those who survived the massacre, along with the families of the victims and the killers.

The Chattahoochee Technical College library has a copy of 'Columbine.' You can find it by going to the library's online catalog.
..Type in Columbine as your search term in the search bar.
....Select the 'title' button to search.
The entry for 'Columbine' should be the third entry in the list.
(Also note that if you are a Chattahoochee Technical College faculty/staff member you can read the book for staff development credit.)

You may want to check out the section of the author's official website that deals with the book.

JWF

What's in your wallet?

What cards do you carry around? Do you have a card that will allow you to access books, CD's, and videos? Bet you have a credit card that allows you to purchase those items. It gets a bit pricey to buy every book, CD and video that interests you. The other problem is where do you store all those things.

Do you have a card that lets you use books, CD's and videos for free? Do you have a library card?

September is Library Card Sign Up month. On the ALA web site there are mp3 files you may listen to that extol the benefits of using your library.

For fun- search YouTube for "library card" videos... this one made me smile...



Winner of Best Storyline (or Most Original Storyline) and Audience Choice Award (Sun. 1;30-3;00) in the Quiet on the Set short film competition 2009 presented by MELSA


Get your library card- gain access to books, movies, CD's and GALILEO resources for free.

-kls

Primary sources at your fingertips

Researchers (died in the wool, heavy duty fact explorers) prefer primary sources. To be able to see the original data, not filtered but right there - the raw, pure, unprocessed data. As the researcher views the original documents then their theories can be affirmed or denied.

Where are original documents for medical students, sociologists, historians, and linguists to be found? Usually the unfiltered data is stored at the repository for the documents - courthouses, archives, research institutions. Usually these repositories are far, far away from the researcher.

GALILEO has a resource with 65 separate databases that have original images that can be printed. What you ask, is this phenomenal resource?

It's Ancestry.com. It is only available at the library (so you don't need the GALILEO password).

If you've done any genealogy, you're already aware that you can find relatives in Ancestry.

As a dedicated researcher, it may not have occurred to you to mine the original images in Ancestry looking for patterns, links, and esoteric bits of information about famous (and not so famous) folks.

How do you find the databases in Ancestry with the original images?

GALILEO (in the library only)
Databases A-Z
A
Ancestry
In the middle of the screen under More Collections, there are links to assorted resources.
Select all databases
In the keywords box, type images
Click the Search button toward the bottom of the screen

65 databases are shown. When you click on one, there is a note to the right that says This database contains images of original records. The next best tool offered by Ancestry for the serious data miner is the Sample Forms which are available for each original images database. The Sample Forms allow one to map out the facts that could be gleaned from this particular database.

Now you know. You only need to travel as far as your local Georgia library to access these primary documents and do your own figuring out why things happened!


-kls

What now, oh reader?

You've read everything by your favorite author, including the latest release. Now what? You've asked your friends what they like to read, you've browsed the bookstore shelves, you've even started to look through your own collection to see who you haven't read lately...

Try GALILEO

You did get the password for home use? No? Did you notice the Log in via IP link? It will take you to your local Georgia public library (based on a Georgia IP address)

Select Databases A-Z
Select NoveList

Type in your authors name.
At the Search line click on the Author button

When the list of titles by your favorite author comes up- you may see a title you missed but more importantly -
Look for the Author Read-alikes link (not all authors have a Read Alike…)Click on that - read about your author then see who is like them!

Notice the Find it in WorldCat link under each title? That will tell you which library has that book (and how close they are to your IP address).
If you need a little Readers Advice and you don't know who to ask- try NoveList in GALILEO.

-kls