Friday, December 17, 2010

Brain teaser for Christmas

Credo Reference sends out a weekly brain teaser. There are over 450 reference books available through a full subscription to Credo Reference. It is a superb resource for all our students but especially for our on-line students who can't get to one of the campus libraries!

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Welcome to the Friday Brainteaser from Credo Reference.

This week: Christmas
Our brainteaser is all about Christmas. We wish you all a happy one.

Questions:
1. Which rock group has returned its 1973 Christmas chart-topper "Merry Xmas Everybody" to the British charts at least eight times?
2. In which year did the "Christmas truce" occur?
3. Santa Claus is named after which saint?
4. What kind of tree is most commonly used as a Christmas tree?
5. Who wrote the 1973 picturebook "Father Christmas" in which Father Christmas lives in a terrace house with an outside toilet and an old-fashioned stove?
6. Who composed the Christmas Oratorio, first performed in 1734/35: Bach, Mozart or Beethoven?
7. What was the title of Phil Spector's 1963 Christmas album?
8. "A Christmas Carol" was the first of five "Christmas Books" by Charles Dickens which were published together for the first time in 1852. Can you name one of the other books in this collection?
9. What kind of bird is the "colly bird" (often changed to "calling bird") referred to in the traditional song "The Twelve Days of Christmas"?
10. On what date in the year is "Women's Christmas", also called "Small Christmas" or "Little Christmas"?

Questions set by Tony Augarde (www.augardebooks.co.uk)

Check your answers by copying and pasting this link into your browser address bar: http://corp.credoreference.com/quiz

The Brainteaser is posted every Friday morning to the Credo Reference Blog - check it out and comment on questions, or just let us know how well you did! Follow us on Twitter, or become our fan on Facebook!


About Credo Reference
The Friday Brainteaser is compiled using Credo Reference, an online reference library containing hundreds of searchable and browsable reference titles, audio files and images from reference books by leading publishers. With Credo, you can find accurate answers fast.

Thank you,
The Credo Reference team
brainteaser@credoreference.com


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-kls

Moving links

Delicious was one of the first Web 2.0 tools I latched onto. I loved how I could quickly and easily save and tag web sites for access from any computer. It became my favorite Favorites listing! Unfortunately, Delicious seems to be going away. The first announcement that registered in my brain was via ALA's Facebook. I've now exported both sets of my Delicious bookmarks.

The LM_NET list serve is a wealth of hints and tips. Someone on the list suggested this blog which has very clear directions on how to export the Delicious file. The blogger suggests several options for a 'new' portable Favorites. Over the break I'll be exploring my options!


-kls

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Where did it come from?

We talk about citations during each Library Instruction. A citation is so basic, so simple and so easy to do. All your reader wants to know is who did this, what is it called and how does the reader get a copy (author, title, and publisher). Why do people get so unnerved about doing a citation? The punctuation throws them off. Do we use commas, semi-colons, quotation marks, or italicize the title. It's the punctuation that gets one in trouble.

Many database vendors are including the citation format with their articles. Today as I looked at the History Channel, I noticed the Cite This link on the right side. How wonderful that a website is including the citation format.

It is important to tell your reader where the information you used came from. I am grateful for those who help me cite the source accurately.

-kls

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Look what is new!

Check out the new website for Chattahoochee Technical College.

Library info can quickly be found by using the Quicklinks drop down.

You may also find us by selecting Current Students, Student Resources, Library!


-kls

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Patchwork Nation

Patchwork Nation is a website that first came to my attention during the 2008 Presidential election. The authors use demographic and economic data to assign every county into one of 12 categories. These include designating counties as 'Boom Town,' 'Emptying Nests,' and 'Monied 'Burbs.' On the website, one can even find that an index is provided per county of how difficult it is to live in a particular county.

Cobb County is designated a 'Monied 'Burb.' Paulding, Bartow, Cherokee, Pickens, and Gilmer Counties all receive the designation of 'Boom Towns.'

The authors have maintained and updated the website since 2008. A companion book, with the same title, has recently been released. You can find out what local colleges and/or public libraries near you own the book by using the Worldcat database within Galileo.

-JWF

Monday, November 08, 2010

Happy Birthday X-Rays!

Today is the 115th anniversary of the discovery of x-rays! The Radiology degree offered at Chattahoochee Technical College teaches students operating standards and procedures for using the machine and other various forms of radiation technology for visualizing the interior of the human body. Check out the library catalog for more information on x-rays or the college catalog for information about the program.

~ lbm

What do you think!

The annual GALILEO user survey gives you the chance to sound off on your experience using GALILEO, and this year, gives you the chance to win an iPad. The survey will be available Monday, November 8—Sunday, November 14 from a link on the GALILEO website. Questions on the survey are designed to measure the satisfaction and identify the issues experienced by everyone who uses GALILEO. To help ensure a broad representation of users, please encourage others to participate. Your feedback is important!

You may get the password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.

-kls

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Library Guides Open House

As a faculty, staff, or student member of Chattahoochee Technical College, you need to be aware of the services provided by the school to help you succeed. Most of these services are free of charge, including the recently developed Library Guides.

Library Guides is a website dedicated to research assistance, subject guides, and other useful resources. Guides also access GALILEO databases and the college catalogue, which searches both campus print collections and ebooks.

In order to spread the word, the librarians will be attending different campuses throughout the Fall Quarter to instruct interested people in accessing and using the guides. On Monday, October 25th the Library Guide authors will have an Open House between 11:30AM to 1:00PM at the Austell Campus. Can't make it by 1:00PM? The library Open House will run until 6PM with Librarian Janice Levine and assistant Britney O'Mara as your guides. Refreshments will be served all day. Stop by and check it out!

In November, the librarians will be celebrating up in the northern part of the CTC community at the Woodstock and Jasper campuses. Stay tuned for more details and events as information becomes available.

~ lbm

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Something new

We are building our collection of electronic books. The joy of the electronic book is first and foremost, accessibility. We don't have the staff budget to be open 24 hours a day. Nor do students really want to drive to a campus to use the resources. The ability to find and use just the right book at any time and not leave home makes research a breeze.

We now subscribe to the Ovid e-book collection with 144 titles. I like being able to search through all the titles with one search. The Quick search box pulls up multiple references. On the right side of the selection I can select Ovid Full Text or Complete Reference. Complete Reference is the citation information. I wonder why they didn't just give the citation?

You can access Ovid from the CTC Library page! Scroll down to Nursing and Allied Health.

I'll explore Ovid's search features in another blog.

-kls

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Happy Birthday, Harlequin

Do you like to read what my grandmother referred to as 'trashy novels'? Some reviewers refer to the genre as 'bodice rippers'. In honor of Harlequin's 60th, they're offering 16 free book downloads (in pdf format). You may download one title, or all sixteen.

NoveList (in GALILEO) does have Harlequin titles in its database. I searched for a few of the free titles from the 60th anniversary offering. I didn't find them. I went to Advanced Search and looked for Harlequin as Publisher. 3209 titles were retrieved!

Happy reading from Harlequin and your public library!


-kls

Monday, October 11, 2010

Sailing the Ocean Blue

What do you really know about Christopher Columbus and his voyages? A subject search in our catalog revealed 14 titles for Christopher Columbus. Ten titles are available online giving you access to the books right this minute!

Mind you, two titles refer to an education book. I wondered what that title had to do with the explorer. When I clicked on the title catalog record, I saw immediately that a personal subject was C.C (Christopher Columbus).

My subject search turned up two titles that weren't right on target. Check your search and check the results to be sure you're getting the information you need!

-kls

Library Guides

It is the beginning of the quarter. The campus librarians are showing students our latest tool - Library Guides. We have 47 Library Guides covering an assortment of classes. Look and see if your course or program has a Library Guide! They are tweaked regularly after consults with instructors to make sure the resources noted accurately reflect the course and program!

-kls

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Who uses what

Did you know that one of the most important things that is noticed in a typical German business meeting is the type of pen a person uses?

I learned this through one of our newest library resources, the Global Road Warrior database. This database focuses on information about the various countries of the world. Going beyond the statistical and factual, the GRW provides information on etiquette, currency, food, holidays, almost everything a student would need to know about the country, all located in one spot.

Culinary Arts-The database contains information related to the cuisine of various countries. Specific examples and pictures are provided. There are also recipes from the various countries. I have linked to many of these pages through our Library Guides tool on the Culinary Arts guide- World Regional pages.

Digital Media and Entertainment Technology-The information about business etiquette and customs will be useful to our students as they enter the workforce. Also, there is detailed and specific information regarding different media outlets in various countries.

Interiors-The database has information and photographs on various architectural sites and points for each country. This is found under ‘points of interest.’


-jwf

You may get the login and password from your CTC campus librarian!



Thursday, September 30, 2010

Welcome...To the Library!

The first week of the fall quarter is always busy, especially with the record number of students attending CTC. You don't have to spend all your free time on campus parking or buying books; you may also browse your campus library during free periods. The libraries provide a vast Internet and print collection for programs, and other services such as faxing, copying, printing, and group/quiet study areas.

While the library is a family, each individual campus location provides something different for students. Satellite campus locations provide materials specific to programs taught on that campus, such as culinary materials at Mountain View or horticulture materials at North Metro. As the main branch, Marietta provides several more services than satellite campuses, including purchasing a copying card for copies and prints. Marietta also loans out games like checkers, chess, dominoes, and scrabble for interested students.

Our polices and procedures for borrowing materials and accessing online accounts are the same for each campus. Materials may be checked out for three weeks except at the end of the quarter. You may pick up or return materials to any CTC campus. You may also borrow books from our partner libraries at Kennesaw State University, Southern Polytechnic State University, Reinhardt College, and all other TCSG libraries. Please come into the library or ask your instructors for the new GALILEO password. For a quiet and clean environment, please keep all drinks, food, and children out of the libraries!

The library has more than 55,000 physical items plus 11,000 online resources. The librarians and library assistants are always willing to help students, faculty, and staff. Check the library home page for hours and locations nearest you.
lbm

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Criminology Today

Have you ever been interested in theories and practices in criminology today? Check out the book Fixing Broken Windows : Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in our Communities by George L. Kelling. Published in 1996, this book explores strategies to reduce and eliminate crime through community based policing. It can be found at the Paulding Campus Library or you may have it sent to a campus library location nearest you!

If you are interested in the theory but have no time to read the book, explore the subject in GALILEO. Under the “Browse by Subject” heading, click on “Government Information” for a drop down box of searching options, and then click on “Law and Criminology.” You'll be allowed to keyword search "Broken Windows" in Academic Search Complete, Legal Collection, Research Library (at ProQuest), and ProQuest Social Science Journals for articles matching your query. Remember to click both FULL TEXT SEARCH and PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES for the best up-to-date research articles available online.

lbm

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

What to read...

Good news students –

In a couple of weeks, the quarter will be over. Wondering what to do with all your free time? Read a book! Check out NoveList, an online readers' advisory tool that helps readers find new books based on books they've read or on topics in which they are interested. Located in GALILEO, it is the source for bookworms. Remember, you may stop by any CTC library to pick up the GALILEO password for off-campus access.

NoveList recently revamped their web site to a more user-friendly design. Located on the home page, patrons are shown current “Best Selling Books” with similar recommended titles listed below. By clicking on a book, patrons will be directed to a page listing the books descriptive and thematic qualities, reviews, and much, much more. Also located on the home page, a section on “How to use NoveList” is provided for patrons unsure on navigating the site.


You may always check the CTC library catalog to see if we carry any titles you may be interested in reading. Check out periods for the break are for currently preregistered and paid students, and must be returned (or renewed) by the first day of the new quarter.

Happy reading!

lbm

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

and they keep on coming

We subscribe to Credo Reference. They have passed the 500 titles mark in their Reference collection. It is a broad collection of Reference materials available 24/7. What I like about Credo Reference is its ease of use. A simple search box pulls up a wealth of information. Yet the Advanced search can limit my search to a specific title.

These are the latest additions:
• The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility, Wiley
• An African Biographical Dictionary, Grey House Publishing
• BCS Glossary of Computing and ICT, British Computer Society
• Encyclopedia of the Antebellum South, ABC-CLIO
• Encyclopedia of Consciousness, Elsevier Science & Technology
• The Encyclopedia of Tourism and Recreation in Marine Environments, CABI
• The Essentials of Philosophy and Ethics, Hodder Education
• A Financial History of Modern U.S. Corporate Scandals from Enron to Reform, M.E. Sharpe
• Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor, ABC-CLIO
• Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide, Wiley
• Myths and Legends of the Celts, Penguin


You can access Credo Reference through the CTC GALILEO and through our catalog with a patron login! Stop by any campus library to get the GALILEO password or to apply for your library account.


-kls

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

90 years ago today

Tennessee was the state that made it possible for all women in the United States to vote. From Exploring Constitutional Conflicts:
"In May, 1919, the necessary two-thirds vote in favor of the women suffrage amendment was finally mustered in Congress, and the proposed amendment was sent to the states for ratification. By July 1920, with a number of primarily southern states adamantly opposed to the amendment, it all came down to Tennessee. It appeared that the amendment might fail by one vote in the Tennessee house, but twenty-four-year-old Harry Burns surprised observers by casting the deciding vote for ratification. At the time of his vote, Burns had in his pocket a letter he had received from his mother urging him, "Don't forget to be a good boy" and "vote for suffrage."

Mothers have a great deal of influence.

Read more about the 19th Amendment by searching in GALILEO.

  • From the Browse by Subject page, select History

  • Scroll a bit in the drop down box and select History again

  • Six databases are preselected

  • There is the option to select more databases

  • I searched for 19th amendment and pulled up a wealth of articles


  • You may get the password to access GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.

    -kls

    Tuesday, August 17, 2010

    How does your garden grow?

    Does your garden overflow with produce? Are your friends and neighbors smiling wanly as you try to 'give' away your bounty? What is a gardener to do?

    The librarians at North Georgia Technical College posted on their Facebook page, the suggestion that one check out the Hospitality and Tourism Complete database found in GALILEO.

    So I did and I discovered that....
    Hospitality & Tourism Complete covers scholarly research and industry news relating to all areas of hospitality and tourism. Coverage includes periodicals, company and country reports, and books from domestic and international sources. Subject areas include culinary arts, demographics and statistics, development and investment, food and beverage management, hospitality law, hotel management and administrative practices, leisure and business travel, market trends, technology, and more.


    I used eggplant for my subject.
    I limited my search to full text.
    I scrolled down and limited the Document Type to recipe.
    43 results were retrieved.
    Looks like there could be an opportunity for some fine cooking.

    Get the password to use GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

    -kls

    Thursday, August 12, 2010

    I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

    Read about Google and their homage du Wizard of Oz on the 71st year of its existence!

    A search in GALILEO using wizard of oz as the search phrase turned up over a thousand articles. However, the first batch had nothing to do with the movie. I added garland as a second search term and that narrowed the results to just articles about the movie.

    Sometimes you think a search phrase will be specific enough until you see the results and realize- oops, need to narrow that down.


    -kls

    Thursday, August 05, 2010

    Sherpas

    My understanding of a sherpa is a person who guides the traveler through uncharted territory. We have created Library Guides for the instructors that have requested Library Instruction. We have created guides for specific courses as well as general programs. These guides serve as 'sherpas' for students - leading them to resources that might be considered inaccessible!

    Happy exploring!

    -kls

    Thursday, July 22, 2010

    Library Catalog: One Stop Shop for Resources

    Students, you can now access the library catalog from home! After you log in, you can review your library account, renew materials, update your address, and find passwords that are necessary for accessing library resources from off campus, including GALILEO.

    Stop by any campus library, create an account, and get started!

    lbm

    Wednesday, July 21, 2010

    July 21 - One small step

    Here is a YouTube video of an amazing day. If you want to read all about it - try some of the resources in GALILEO.

    I did a search using the History search screen.
    select Browse by Subject (main screen)
    ...select History
    .....select History

    I used one small step and moon as my search terms. A variety of articles pulled up to refresh my memory of that unbelievable day!

    You get the password to access GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

    -kls

    Who us?

    Could we become popular? NPR seems to think so.

    -kls

    Wednesday, July 14, 2010

    Vive la France

    Today being Bastille Day offers an opportunity to showcase our newest resource, Global Road Warrior.
    Global Road Warrior is a massive database of constantly updated proprietary editorial and graphics for 175 countries of the world. It provides deep content coverage in major topic areas of society and culture, travel, communications, business, trade, marketing, and security. Currently, the database has7,000,000+ words of editorial, 1,750+ country maps and 12,000+ photographs This product and others create a product line that distinguishes World Trade Press in the field of electronic data publication.

    It's easy to use. The opening page offers three options for searches. The screen is open and easy to navigate. I looked for a specific country (France) and a specific topic in the country (Bastille Day). Two articles were displayed. I selected the government one because of this paragraph:
    Fete de la Federation, 14 July (1790); note - although often incorrectly referred to as Bastille Day, the celebration actually commemorates the holiday held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille (on 14 July 1789) and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy; other names for the holiday are Fete Nationale (National Holiday) and quatorze juillet (14th of July)

    Play inside Global Road Warrior, see what interesting tidbits you can find. I'd love to hear about your experience within our newest resource.

    -kls

    Bastille Day

    Today is Bastille Day, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris. This was one of the key early events of the French Revolution. Today, France is a republic similar to the United States. However, the economic crisis heralds great changes for the French. There is particular concern in France, as well as other European states, regarding the survival of the famous welfare system. Known for its low retirement age, modest work weeks, and generous vacation times, the French system is in danger due to budget shortfalls.

    A story regarding this matter is part of a recent NPR series on the European Union and its member states.

    -JWF

    Thursday, July 08, 2010

    Westlaw

    GALILEO is now providing Campus Research (Westlaw) instead of Lexis Nexis for our Business Law and Paralegal programs.

    I tried finding Westlaw in Databases A-Z under W. It wasn't there on July 1st or 2nd or 3rd. I finally put Westlaw in the Find A Database search box on the Databases A-Z page and voila Campus Research (Westlaw) in the C's came up!

    You will need to scroll through the access agreement and click on "I agree" to get to the Campus Research (Westlaw) database.

    It is different from Lexis Nexis. Our Business Law students will need to click on the Law tab (News & Business is the default screen). A search in Campus Research (Westlaw) is more forgiving than Lexis Nexis. One can use upper or lower case in the Find a Document by citation: (e.g., 98 S.CT 2733) search. For our Business Law students the left column with Find a Document by citation: (e.g., 98 S.CT 2733) will make searching very easy!

    I'll be playing with the Campus Research (Westlaw) with the Business Law instructor. As we discover helpful hints and tricks, I'll let you know what we discover!

    -kls

    Get the current GALILEO password from your Georgia librarian.

    To Kill a Mockingbird

    This Sunday July 11th will be the 50th anniversary of the publication of Harper Lee’s novel: To Kill A Mockingbird. There is an excellent article about the book and its anniversary on the USA Today website. 'To Kill a Mockingbird': Endearing, enduring at 50 years - USATODAY.com.

    The Marietta and Paulding campuses have print copies [PS3562 .E353 T6]. The Cliffs notes are available through NetLibrary. You do need to create your free account to use NetLibrary from an on campus computer.


    -kls

    Wednesday, June 16, 2010

    Pillars of the Earth

    from our Woodstock campus Librarian, Lauren Barnes :

    "Looking forward to the new TV movie THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH on Starz (July 23)?

    Read the book 1st! The CTC Libraries have 3 copies.This is a powerful story of medieval life written by the renowned author Ken Follett. Love, hate, murder, intrigue & mystery, suspense & action all revolving around the building of a medieval cathedral. Enjoy!"
    LB

    The local call number for Pillars of the Earth is PR6056. O45 P55 1989. Marietta, North Metro and Woodstock campus libraries have a copy. For more information about the novel try NoveList in GALILEO. NoveList has a discussion guide for Pillars of the Earth that will help you explore the deeper meaning to the story!


    kls

    You may get the current password for GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

    Tuesday, June 08, 2010

    Lazy days of summer


    Slowly but surely, the warm days build. What can one do when it gets too hot to play outside? NPR published a list of summer reading suggestions for 2010. They include a link to Nancy Pearl's list from 2009. I admit, I missed the list from 2009. I'm grateful for the North Metro campus Library assistants efforts at keeping all of us informed!

    I'm going to do Inter Library Loan (ILL) requests for the novels that intrigue me on Nancy's 2009 list! I'm thankful libraries are willing to share their resources.

    I'll go to GALILEO
    ...select Databases A-Z
    .....select W
    ........go to WorldCat
    -type the title
    -click search
    -then select "Borrow this item from another library"
    -fill in the form and our Inter Library Loan department will follow through!
    It takes about ten days to get a book through ILL. Well, worth the time.

    Get the password for GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.


    -kls
    The Nancy Pearl Action figure is prominently on display in my office!

    Thursday, June 03, 2010

    Bayeux Tapestry



    Clever bit of art and animated history! For more information about The Bayeux Tapestry-
    go to GALILEO
    ..select Browse by Subject
    ...select History
    ....select History again
    ......type in Bayeux Tapestry, select full text

    and then begin reading about this famous piece of needlework.

    Of course, you get the password to use GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

    -kls

    Wednesday, June 02, 2010

    Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

    As you sit here reading this blog, oil is gushing from an underwater pipe in the Gulf of Mexico. This not only affects the wildlife and the animals in the Gulf’s ecosystem, not only the tourist and tourism industries, not only the food and restaurant industries; this disaster affects you too.

    An entire region of America is changing every second and will never be the same again. Are you interested in learning more details about the destruction to the ecosystem? Are you interested in learning about the federal government and BP’s efforts to stop the oil spill? You can find answers to these questions and more from your library WEBSITE.

    To find information about oil debates and past spills, click on the FIND BOOKS link on the library’s main website. This will take you to the library catalogue, searching all campus libraries and ebooks (NETLIBRARY and EBRARY). Typing “OIL SPILLS” into the search tab brings up sixteen titles. Such titles include: Should drilling be permitted in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? and Before and after an oil spill [electronic resource] : the Arthur Kill. Remember, if logging in from home, you will need to have created a free account for NETLIBRARY. If the book is located in EBRARY, you may access it with your 900#.

    If you are more interested in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, click on the NEWSBANK link on the library’s main website. Located on the left is a “SPECIAL EVENTS” sidebar with WORLD ENVIRONMENT – GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL listed as number two. Click on the heading and it will direct you to news articles about the spill, starting from April 23, 2010. Remember, if logging into NEWSBANK from home, you must go through GALILEO first. Obtain the password from your college librarian!

    lbm

    Tuesday, May 11, 2010

    something more

    CTC Library subscribes to the online edition of Encyclopedia Britannica. Many folks are quick to use Wikipedia because it's just easy to get to online.

    Encyclopedia Britannica is easy to access through GALILEO. Encyclopedia Britannica has vetted resources - check out what they offer:

    The foundation of Britannica Online is the Encyclopedia Britannica, the largest, most authoritative encyclopedia in the world. You'll be happy to find the below features within Britannica Online Academic Edition :

    Encyclopedia Britannica – All of the articles in the print set plus thousands more, as well as maps, photos, illustrations, videos, multimedia clips, and Yearbooks dating back to 1993 !
    • eBook / Primary Sources – Since Fall 2008, Britannica has been adding an extensive collection of eBook resources through a partnership with Project Gutenberg. Users are able to link from biographies and history articles to related full-text primary source documents. Britannica expects the collection to eventually have over 500,000 primary source documents. Some sample articles to check out include: Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud, Abraham Lincoln, JFK, Herman Melville, and Thomas Jefferson. There will be no charge for this added service.
    • World Data Analyst – Britannica’s exclusive database of current and past statistics on the countries of the world
    • Gateway to the Classics – An extensive collection of significant works in literature, philosophy, history, and science
    • Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary & Thesaurus – Completely integrated into the site and easily accessible
    • Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Quotations – A lively collection of more than 4,000 quotations, both contemporary and classic
    • Full-text Journal and Magazine articles from EBSCO – more than 700 titles, hand-selected for college needs
    • BBC & New York Times daily headlines – top stories from two trusted sources
    • The Web’s Best – a collection of Web sites carefully selected by Britannica’s editorial department
    • World Atlas – Access Britannica maps through this interactive resource
    • Advanced search capabilities and Britannica’s exclusive “Workspace”, a research organizer.
    • Extensive video collection – over 3,000 videos and video clips that cover a variety of subjects, including History, Science, the Arts, and Social Studies. Video topics include Toulouse-Lautrec, Botticelli, Lewis & Clark, Asia, Ancient Cultures, World Wars, Economics, Native Americans, Insects, the Chaos Theory, and the expanding Universe, among others. Short video clips are 1-5 minutes long and full length extended play videos are between 15 to 45 minutes long. All videos can be played online or downloaded and used in Power Point Presentations.
    Britannica Blog – stimulating dialogue covering a wide range of topics
    • Britannica’s Core Databases support Web 2.0 – Use the Share this Article and Widget features to publish selected articles and interactive topic widgets to your blog or Web site. Interact with Britannica Blog, our award-winning (2008 CODiE) moderated forum and blog. Store, organize and share your research with the Workspace tool. Interact with the Internet by clicking on Britannica’s Web’s Best Sites.

    Get the password to access GALILEO from your Georgia librarian!

    -kls

    Tuesday, May 04, 2010

    Conversations with directors


    Do you ever wonder why directors of films do what they do? Is it really art or is it money that drives their efforts?

    New on our shelf- Conversations with Directors : an anthology of Interviews from Literature/Film Quarterly [PN 1998.2 .C615 2008]

    From Amazon - Founded in 1973, the journal Literature/Film Quarterly has featured interviews with some of the most prominent and influential filmmakers from around the world. In Conversations with Directors, the journal's coeditors have assembled an exciting collection of interviews spanning 35 years. Interviewees include directors like Robert Wise, Billy Wilder, Frank Capra, Federico Fellini, William Friedkin, and Robert Altman. Organized chronologically, each interview is preceded by a short introduction that establishes a contemporary context, along with providing the reader with a clear sense of the interview's primary concerns, usefully illuminating the many fascinating, and sometimes surprising, points of connection and difference between the directors.

    The journal Literature/Film Quarterly is available through GALILEO.
    ...Go to the tab Journals A-Z
    .....Type in Literature
    .......Select the radio button "Starts with"
    Scroll down a bit till you find Literature/Film Quarterly (full text)
    It's available from Ebsco (1973), Gale(2005), and Proquest (1973)

    Catch up on all the people interviewed to get an indepth picture of the link between literature and film!

    -kls

    - and of course, get the password to use GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

    Monday, May 03, 2010

    and the band plays on

    Over the weekend, several of my friends posted You Tube videos of current and past musicians. It inspired me to rummage through our LP collection and play a few discs.

    While wandering down memory lane, I wondered what info I could find in GALILEO. I was pretty sure there was a music database. Imagine my surprise when I did a database search and discovered - nope, no music database for the tech college. Hmm...I scrolled through the databases we do have, wondering which might give me information about musicians - Encyclopædia Britannica seemed like a good bet but I thought surely there's something more. And yes, we subscribe to Credo Reference. Our subscription is to the complete Credo with 487 reference works and over 3 million full text entries!

    Under the subject, Music, Credo offers these 7 reference works (with a see also):

    Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Locations

    Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Media, Industry and Society

    Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Performance and Production

    The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music

    The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music

    The Harvard Dictionary of Music

    The New Penguin Dictionary of Music

    and a see also for A Biographical Dictionary of Artists, Andromeda

    We do have a resource in GALILEO that can help you find more information (citable information) about a musician!


    -kls

    The current password to use GALILEO is available from your Georgia librarian. Credo is a database that CTC library subscribes to and is available through our portion of GALILEO.

    Friday, April 30, 2010

    NoveList

    E-mail announcement from NoveList. I use this database for Early Childhood resources. They offer teacher resource ideas for extending the story! The Readers Advisory portion is so helpful at letting you know who else writes stories like the one you just read!

    Check NoveList out in GALILEO. Your Georgia librarian can give you the password to access GALILEO at home!

    -----------

    We know it can sometimes be challenging to adapt to a new version of a trusted resource after a major user interface change. To help, we've taken several measures to ensure that you're ready to transition by the time the new version of NoveList is released this summer. There are three ways to explore the new version before the official release:

    1. Play in the Beta version. In the center of the homepage of your version of NoveList, you'll find a link to the Beta version of our forthcoming release. By clicking on the preview link, you'll have access to all of the exciting new features coming this summer, along with the entireNoveList database to try. While you can practice using appeal factors in your Readers' Advisory work and using NoveList to find title, series, and author recommendations, you won't be able to use yourNoveList folders, set your personalization, or use your catalog link in the Beta.
    2. Check out the NoveList Support Center (http://support.ebsco.com/novelist). Here, you will find everything you need to know about the new version and its release, including a timeline, screenshots, and information on reading recommendations and the addition of appeal factors like writing style and pace. We'll be adding training and promotional materials along with additional information up until the release date.
    3. Sign up for a webinar. We will begin offering webinars on the new version of NoveList to walk you through the new interface and demonstrate the new features. We've designed these sessions to make sure you don't miss anything. We'll begin offering two 45-minute sessions each week beginning Tuesday, May 4th at 10:00 am EDT (GMT - 4:00). To view the complete list of dates and times, visit the EBSCO Training Site and sign up today!


    -kls

    Thursday, April 08, 2010

    Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA)

    The Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) is the world’s most comprehensive bibliography of scholarly writing about the history of western art. On April 1, 2010, the Getty Research Institute announced it would be providing free access to the BHA via its website.

    GALILEO has now added this free resource to GALILEO menus.
    ..Databases A-Z
    .....following subject categories (depending on your user view):
    .....Art, Art History, and Architecture.

    The direct GALILEO Express Link that can be used on library and media center websites is: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=gett.

    BHA includes articles from over 1,200 journals. This link leads to a list of names and ISSNs of each of those journals. Journals Included in BHA (PDF, 308 K) . BHA includes all articles within the subject scope of BHA regardless of the subject focus of a particular journal. Thus, many of the journals on this list are covered partially, as only some of their articles are within BHA’s scope.

    BHA on the Getty Web site offers both basic and advanced search modules, and can be searched easily by subject, artist, author, article or journal title, and other elements. Note that the database search includes both BHA (covering 1990-2007) and the International Bibliography of Art (IBA), covering the years 2008 and part of 2009. The Répertoire de la litterature de l’art (RILA), one of the predecessors of BHA, with records that cover 1975-1989, will be online by May 1.

    The Getty Research Institute has no plans to continue the databases into the future. It is a static resource. There are not any plans for the RAA data currently because that data is owned by the French INIST, not by the Getty.


    From GALILEO News

    -kls

    You may get the current GALILEO password for home use from your Georgia librarian

    ProQuest celebrates National Library Week

    ProQuest celebrates National Library Week

    Communities thrive @ your library

    ProQuest is proud to celebrate National Library Week with you.

    From April 12-18, 2010, ProQuest is offering free, open access to some of our most popular online resources at www.proquest.com/go/celebrate.

    CultureGrams™ explore the world's cultures with local experts that document the history, customs, government, and daily life in multimedia reports on over 200 countries. [Try it out!]

    eLibrary® this easy to use resource brings together content about in-demand subjects from millions of multimedia-rich, global resources. [Try it out!]

    ProQuest® African American Heritage brings together records critical to African American family history research and connects users to a community of research experts. [Try it out!]

    ProQuest Historical Newspapers™ - Black Newspapers experience history firsthand via continuous runs of the following full-image titles: The Baltimore Afro-American, Chicago Defender, Los Angeles Sentinel, and New York Amsterdam News [Try it out!]

     And more!

    Visit http://www.proquest.com/go/celebrate to access these resources and more, during National Library Week. No username or password needed!

    -kls

    Thursday, April 01, 2010

    Gotcha

    My brother-in-law posted : "Before the Gregorian calendar was adopted, new years was on April 1st. Makes more sense being in the spring anyway. Those who continued to celebrate new years on April 1st were called fools. Happy New Year to everyone!" Where can I corroborate his statement?

    I went to GALILEO and searched in several places at once by using the Search tab and adding more databases. Encyclopedia Britannica had just what I was looking for on April Fools' Day.

    Use reliable sources to verify information posted on the internet.

    For fun, check out what Google posted about their name change! Note the date and time stamp. Someone was up late/early!


    -kls

    Monday, March 29, 2010

    Spring

    Amazing how time has flown by. The quarter break is almost over. I realized I haven't posted in weeks. Between time changes, St. Patrick's Day, the Sweet Sixteen, finals, staff meetings, and state wide library meetings, I have been out of contact.

    There's always tomorrow!


    -kls

    Friday, March 12, 2010

    Spring forward

    Daylight savings time begins this weekend. We spring forward an hour. Why do we do this?


    A search in GALILEO turned up this interesting article from the Washington Post. How did I find a current article with a brief history of Daylight Savings Time?


    I went to Search in GALILEO
    ..Typed in Daylight Savings Time
    ....Clicked on Full Text
    ....Selected 2010 as the year
    ....I unclicked Academic Search Complete and Research Library
    ....I clicked on Show More Databases
    I scrolled through the list looking for newspapers. I figured a newspaper might have a current history on Daylight Savings time.
    ....I selected Newspaper Source and ProQuest Newspapers

    Selected the Search 2 databases button (I like how it tells me how many databases I've selected)


    It was in ProQuest Newspapers that I found the Washington Post article

    I like the ending...

    In 2005, Congress moved the start date up three weeks and moved the end date back one week, adding an entire month to daylight saving -- and saving energy. That, however, may not apply to you, with all the energy you will spend playing outside in the extra daylight.



    Lets go outside and play (if it quits raining).

    -kls

    You may get the current password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.

    Thursday, March 11, 2010

    To be or not to be

    Little kids are regularly asked - what do you want to be when you grow up? Some of us have yet to make that determination and we're well into being a grown up. NPR posted a fascinating look at
    the jobs humans once held, entire professions are now extinct. Click through the gallery below to see examples of endangered professions, from milkman to telegrapher, and hear from people who once filled those oft-forgotten jobs.

    If you're thinking about what you'd like to do before the job becomes obsolete - check out the Georgia Career Information Center. It is a stand alone site that I'm sending you to through the listing in GALILEO.

    What I like the most about the GCIS is the Skills Assessment because SKILLS helps you identify occupations that use the skills you like. It also helps you recognize skills that transfer between occupations. You can use SKILLS to select occupations to explore, identify ways to modify your career direction, or prepare for a job interview. When I took this self assessment the job it said I was most likely to succeed in was - drum roll, please - librarian. I admit to laughing out loud.

    If you're not sure what you want to be - check out the GCIS.

    You will need the password to get into Galileo. Select Databases A-Z, then G, scroll to Georgia Career Information Center. The login and password for GCIS is in the more information section.


    -kls

    Wednesday, March 03, 2010

    In like a lion

    Sometimes we get a classic proverb confused - is March coming in like a lamb and going out like a lion or is it coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb?

    The first week of March has definitely come in like a lion with cold, rain, and snow in Georgia.

    In our Reference collection we have several books of proverbs. The Facts on File dictionary of proverbs [PN 6421 .M36 2002] compiled by Martin H. Manser, notes this weather related proverb dates to before 1625.

    I also checked the OED [Oxford English Dictionary PE 1625 .O8 1991, vol. IX pg 358] for the word march. The OED provided pages of information about the month and the physical activity of the march. Three proverbs are noted in the section defining the month, including the Facts on File Reference to Fletcher's 'Wife for a Month'.

    There are free resources online but the free resources don't have the depth of information available in our print resources. Come inside, get out of the March weather and peruse our print resources!

    -kls

    Monday, March 01, 2010

    Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook




    March 2nd is the anniversary of the birthday of Dr. Seuss. The Mountain View campus library has a cookbook related to a very famous tale by Dr. Seuss. The book 'Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook' contains recipes related to various characters and stories of Dr. Seuss. Included are recipes for Schlopp with a Cherry on Top, Blueberry Bumplings, Glunker Stew, and other exotic fare.

    Please drop by the Mountain View campus and check the book out. Or, if you are based on another campus, please remember that your Chattahoochee campus librarian can request that the book be sent to the campus library most convenient for you through intralibrary loan.

    JWF

    I like them, Sam-I-am

    Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss turns 50 this year. Many teachers and librarians are sharing the story with classes as part of Read Across America.

    I'm reading it to English literature classes where the instructor has tied it to Hamlet. NoveList offers other Curricular Connections to extend the poem into various classes. You may like it if you try!

    Wordle: GreenEggsandHam
    Thank you to Susan Grigsby, Teacher-Librarian, for sharing her Wordle.



    -kls

    Wednesday, February 24, 2010

    the Girls' Guide to Rocking

    Rock bands of past years that featured all female lineups are going to get some more attention with the release of the film the Runaways this spring. The film tells the story of an all-girl rock band of the late seventies that featured Joan Jett and Lita Ford, who would later go on to become big stars as solo acts during the 1980's. Other notable all female bands include the Go-Go's, the Bangles, the Indigo Girls, and the Donnas.

    The Chattahoochee Technical College Library has a book about female rock bands. The Girls' Guide to Rocking [ML 3795 .H775 2009] is a book about how to start an all female band. The book includes basic information on getting started in the music business, writing songs, and choosing equipment. The book also provides some information on the history of women in rock.

    This book is located at the Mountain View campus library. Remember that current Chattahoochee Technical College students can have library books located at one campus sent to another campus library for pickup and checkout. So check it out and start rocking!


    JF

    Tuesday, February 23, 2010

    To see or not to see

    We are becoming a society of visual learners. We absorb information from pictures rather than by making pictures of our own from the text we read.

    YouTube has become one source for visual information. It is a veritable 'how to' library. GALILEO has a channel with 14 videos to help one learn how to use what is available in GALILEO!



    The videos are also available on the GALILEO home page. On the right - under Getting started, select what can I do in GALILEO? You may click on Related tutorials to begin opening up other titles!

    Learn how to use GALILEO!
    You may get the current password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.

    -kls

    Friday, February 19, 2010

    Something new


    The upgraded Library catalog is up and running.

    It has many new (to us) features- including book covers and a visual search. I’m enjoying playing with the visual search – I clicked on the Visual Search link (the link is in the gray bar toward the middle of the screen) .


    There are a few options pictured in alphabetical order - I picked Food.
    When I click on a picture, the books available in the CTC collection are displayed.
    Select a book by clicking on the details tab.

    Some titles will display the Table of Contents

    and some extra information about the book- including reviews.

    Do you see the subject links? Clicking on one of them narrows your search to just that subject!

    What a superb tool to help you make the best selection.

    I’m looking forward to showing classes how delightfully fun this catalog is.

    I have 8 English classes scheduled next week- they are in for a treat!





    -kls

    Thursday, February 18, 2010

    5 letters across

    Do you do crossword puzzles? Do you ever find yourself just stuck? Janice Levine, one of the librarians at the Paulding campus, attended a webinar for Credo Reference. Here are her notes with the great hint for solving crossword snafus!

    Some of the features that I liked:
    • Citations at the end of each entry, in four possible formats, MLA , APA, and 2 others
    • I liked the "Related Resources" that show up in the left column when you go to an entry, that link you back to our CTC online catalog and to Encyclopedia Brittanica
    • There is also easy access back to the table of contents/index and to biographical entries and images and videos (if there are any) in a reference source through the "Browse Book" feature at the bottom left of any entry
    • The advanced search feature allows you to limit your search by specific subjects or book titles, as well as by date, image, etc.
    • Also, like in some other systems, one can save results as you flip from one article/entry to another, then delete unneeded info, and save or email info that you would like to keep
    • The Gadgets box to the right was also very neat-it allowed you to do a quick search for definitions, people, images, pronunciations, crossword puzzle clues, quotations, holidays and festivals, and to easily convert from one type of measurement to another.
    • *Yes-for those of you who are crossword puzzle fans you can actually put in the clues you have so far for a particular crossword puzzle word in the Gadgets box under "Crossword" and the computer will give you options as to what the word should be. So, next time you are doing a crossword puzzle while you are near a computer and you get stuck, you can try out this feature of Credo Reference!

    JWF pointed out that Credo Reference has updated the MLA citations to MLA 7!

    You may access Credo Reference through GALILEO and through the CTC Library page
    Get the password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.

    -kls

    Wednesday, February 17, 2010

    A Librarian read....

    Do you remember when Wolf Hall [PR 6063 .A438 W65 2009] arrived at Chattahoochee Tech, North Metro campus? I did a blog noting it was two inches thick and I just wasn't sure if I'd wade through it all. I did start it but couldn't, just couldn't finish it. Another librarian, Lauren Barnes at the Woodstock campus, borrowed the book.
    Lauren e-mailed:
    I have to say the work getting through the book was worth the interesting viewpoint. It was an interesting angle on the familiar Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII story. It was written from Cromwell’s viewpoint, who usually is painted as a villain. This time he’s the main character. The author starts talking about someone and you don’t know who she’s talking about. Like towards the end of the book there’s a conversation with “The Maid”. In this case, I would say it would make a better movie than a book! It was difficult to read, but if you’re a student of this era in time, it’s worth the time spent.


    Maybe I'll try again.....

    -kls

    Black New Yorkers

    The Black New Yorkers : The Schomburg Illustrated Chronology, 400 years of African American History [F 128.9 .N4 D63 2000] written by Howard Dodson, Christopher Moore, and Roberta Yancy offers a chronological history of African Americans in New York.

    There are two lists with brief biographies of African Americans - Early Black New York leaders (pg 425) and The New York Black 100 (pg 426). Both offer just a bit of information - birth year, death year, and their accomplishments. If you're looking for Black History tidbits- this book offers you a plethora of opportunities to explore not only New York but America's Black History.

    Amazon.com offers a peak inside the book as well as reviews.

    -kls

    Tuesday, February 16, 2010

    Literature Resource Center

    Literature Resource Center is a literature database in Galileo. The database allows you to look up articles of literary criticism, as well as information on various authors.

    When you conduct a search in LRC, you will be given a list of search results. Select one of the results from your search. The page displayed for this item will have a red box on the right hand side of the page that is labeled 'tools.' One of the links in the tools box is for 'citation tools.' Clicking on this link will open up a new window that will allow you to select from a variety of citation formats for that particular article. One of these options is for MLA 7, which is the latest update to the MLA citation format.

    You should also note that databases in Galileo that are produced by the GALE group, such as Literature Resource Center, all now carry the updated version of MLA. This should make life a bit easier for students citing in the updated MLA format.

    Remember that the Chattahoochee Technical College Library has a PDF handout for the updated MLA, with examples, posted on the library's website.

    JF

    It's here!

    The new and improved Lexis Nexis is available through GALILEO!

    Today is Fat Tuesday also known as Mardi Gras . The day many Christians clean out the cupboard of dairy and meat products to spend the next 6 weeks fasting. I did a search in the new Lexis Nexis for Fat Tuesday.


    Searching for Fat Tuesday (no quotes) turned up 971 articles that emphasized fat. It must have only looked for the word fat.
    Searching for "Fat Tuesday" (with quotes) pulled 993 articles.
    Sorting both results by publication date shows -
    - the no quotes search has a GlaxoSmithKline Health care article first.
    - the quote results search lists the Feb 16, 2010 Washington Post article on DC Fat Tuesday activities first.

    The sort options are intriguing - chronological puts the articles in publication date order so the oldest article is first. Publication date puts the most recent article at the top of the list. I wonder why they didn't choose one term and note oldest and most recent as options for the sort?

    And then, as long as I'm complaining - after you've selected an article, look to the right of the screen. See the icons? The printer, the envelope, the disc are all self explanatory . It was the open book that confused me. It is the icon they are using to send the bibliographic notes to RefWorks (Export of RefWorks format will be redirected to the RefWorks login center.). I know my institution does not subscribe to RefWorks but as an experiment, I clicked on the links.

    I could apply for a 30 day trial account (an individual RefWorks subscription would be $100 per year). Why can't they just use whatever ProQuest and Ebsco use to create the citation?

    I like Lexis Nexis for the legal information for our Business Law classes. I like it for transcripts of television or radio programs that I want to check.

    It isn't as friendly for students to use for research because of the lack of a durable URL to an article. The lack of citation information isn't critical but they obviously know people want citation information or they wouldn't have the link to RefWorks.


    I'm glad the new interface for Lexis Nexis is available. I hope they'll add a durable URL and a better citation system.

    Get the password to access GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

    -kls

    The links for Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras are thanks to Encyclopedia Britannica, another resource available through GALILEO!

    Why we read for fun!

    Thank you to Non Sequitur's author Wiley Miller for making it so clear why reading can be anything but boring.

    -kls