Rethinking

The images photographers produce make picture taking seem so effortless.

There is a new title on the Mountain View campus shelf, Rethinking digital photography : making & using traditional & contemporary photo tools by John Neel, that might help the struggling picture taker.

The catalog record abstract offers clues to the content : Demonstrates how to create innovative photographs through the use of digital cameras, current software, and such unconventional methods as homemade lenses made with household items or parts from obsolete cameras.

The weekend is coming up, the fall colors beckon, maybe I'll take pictures that illustrate exactly what I mean when I mention autumn.


-kss

What does it look like?

Still thinking about finding visuals. There is a database in GALILEO just for Images [EBSCO].

The images consist of a wide array of photos and maps, with an emphasis on world news and events. Other areas of coverage include contemporary and historical photos of people, places, and the natural kingdom.

The nice thing about using the EBSCO product is they'll create a citation for you. I don't see the cite link on the page but when I click on the email icon, there is the citation format. I tested it by e-mailing myself. A citation and a permalink arrive with this helpful disclaimer

NOTE: Review the instructions at and make any necessary corrections before using. Pay special attention to personal names, capitalization, and dates. Always consult your library resources for the exact formatting and punctuation guidelines.

This resource makes it easier to find and cite pictures to illustrate a presentation.

-kss

For access to Images [EBSCO] in GALILEO get the current password from your Georgia librarian.

Finding and citing images

Yesterdays thoughts about autumn, fall, color, led to searching for appropriate images. This search led me to our Library Guides where we have a specific guide to help students find just the right visual for their project.

Those who use visuals in their work must give credit where credit is due. How do you cite a picture you've plucked off the Internet? Our guide has a page of examples of MLA and APA citations for pictures from a book or from the web. There are web sites with 'free' pictures that use Creative Commons licensing.

Honor the work of those who labor by giving them credit in an appropriate citation!


-kss

A picture is worth what?

Autumn colors are permeating my thoughts. The wisps of red and yellow are beginning to show up on the trees. Georgia doesn't get the grand swaths of bright color like New England. To give me a boost, I went looking for a book of autumnal photos. I thought a Timber Press book, My Garden in Autumn and Winter [ISBN:9780881924596,
in Ebsco books would give me that visual punch. But there were no pictures.

I began to think oops- no pictures in Ebsco books, that's not good. I did another search specifically for Timber Press and the first book I opened [Bulbs] had pictures. I'm not sure why one title does and one does not. Could there really be no pictures in the Timber Press book, My Garden in Autumn and Winter by E. A. Bowles [ISBN:9780881924596]?

If you have the print edition of this title, would you share if there are pictures?


-kss

Know it all

Researchers, serious people who are hunting for a specific piece of information, attend workshops and seminars on individual resources. They learn how to make one resource stand up and be counted.

How do you get the same sort of control over a search through Google? Trial and error, asking friends, posting queries on lists are ways to learn the ins and outs of Google searches.

Google has an Improve your Search Experience page. There you'll find hints and tips on getting exactly what you want from the world wide web.

Use the Tutorials, the Help Screens, the Ask Us links on every resource. Reinventing the wheel with each search seems counterproductive.


-kss

Beta

Beta tests can be lots of fun. You get to try it before anyone else. You have the thrill of discovery (and sometimes the agony of defeat).

I stumbled upon the ARRC (Auto Repair Reference Center) Beta for Ebsco. Oh my goodness, you will be delighted. I've talked about ARRC several times. It's kind of clunky but full of information. The ARRC Beta - well, apples and oranges couldn't be more alike.

I found it when I was kicked out of Ebsco books. I clicked on the Ebsco link, there is a list of Ebsco products, I scrolled down looking for Books and saw the ARRC Beta.

The difference is not in the information offered but in the 'look'.

With the 'old' ARRC, one made a selection for year, went to another page, selected the make, went to another page, selected the model,went to another page for the detailed vehicle. A final page contained links to the information.

The 'beta' ARRC has almost every search option on one page with drop down boxes for selection. The visual is much more appealing! There are links to the Auto IQ, the Care, and the Troubleshooting tips.

How do you get to the Beta ARRC?
Log into GALILEO you may get the current password from your Georgia librarian
....select Databases A-Z
.....select E
......Select EBSCO Databases
.......Scroll down to the bottom of the list for ARRC Beta

It's a great day to play!

-kss

Fall Leaves

Yesterday, a student asked if I thought Libraries were going to exist in the future. This query came up at the end of a Library Instruction class. An instruction session where I showed the very basics of searching in our catalog and one of the databases available. I laughed and said, yes, because Librarians know where the information is and how to find it.

Here's an example of why Librarians will be around in the future. As I drive to work, I am struck by the leaves that are beginning to change color, autumn is such an emotional transition between the heat of summer and the cold of winter. I want to find a poem that illustrates my feelings.

We'll use LION Literature Online which

is a full-text library of over 330,000 works of British and American poetry, drama and prose. In addition to literary texts, LION includes biographical sketches of major writers, selected author bibliographies, and critical and reference works.

A quick search for 'autumn' found 1546 poems. I looked on the main page for an advanced search or a search limiters page. It didn't jump out at me. I clicked on Text (under Search) and voila - there were the limiters. I want to find a poem about autumn, referring to fall colors, written in the latter half of the twentieth century. How do I limit my search?
I selected the Poetry tab
I clicked on "select from a list" for the First line/ Title Keywords
I noticed each word has a number next to it.
I selected 'autumn' (over 900). LION puts the word in quotes in the search box.
Back to the search page, I limited the publication date to 1950-2011
Searched.
Pulled up 537 titles.
We're getting closer to a reasonable number but still way to many.

Selected 'modify search' which kept the initial search terms. I added 'leaves' to the search box for keywords in the poem. 219 titles

Selected modify search and typed in 'color' for a keyword! That brought the number down to 20!

It is thought provoking to set a limiter on publishing between 1950 and 2011 but poems are pulled up by authors who died in the 1800's. Publishing date is the key here.

Back to modify search, scrolled down and noticed a limiter for additional poet details where I can put in the years the poet lived. I limited it to a poet living between 1920 and 2011 This time there were 19 titles.

I quickly found a poem that touched me - Autumn [from Carnival Evening (1998) , Norton ] by Linda Pastan.

Took about ten minutes to think through the search process, narrowing, refining, limiting, until I was able to put my hands on a manageable number of poems!

Yes, librarians will be around.

-kss

Your CTC campus librarian will give you the current password to GALILEO. CTC Library subscribes to LION just for our students.

Michael Hart RIP

Do you use e-books? Are you familiar with the Gutenberg Project? Today, I read in the Chronicle that Michael S. Hart founder of the Gutenberg Project had passed on earlier in September.

Project Gutenberg was inarguably the birthplace of the e-book. Today we don't think twice about downloading a book to our Kindle, tablet, Web browser, or cellphone. But in 1971, when Mr. Hart officially began Project Gutenberg, or even in the early 1990s, when it began to reach critical mass, e-books were not just unusual—they were unheard-of....[more]

We have downloaded the MARC records for 415 Gutenberg Project titles. You can of course access all 36,000 by going directly to Project Gutenberg.

Thank you, Mr. Hart, for creating this invaluable resource for information sharing.


-kss

VW history

Driving to work I noticed a billboard advertising the new VW Beetle. It does have a sleek look yet it is reminiscent of the original beetle.

Check out "VW Beetle specification guide 1968-1980" by Richard Copping [TL215 .V6 C66 2010 , Appalachian campus] if you'd like to wander down memory lane. The book goes well with the Automobile Repair Reference Center in GALILEO. I did a search in ARRC for 1968 Volkswagon, Beetle. You pick the year, the manufacturer, the model to finally get to the 'manual' with pictures, charts, and even a history of the vehicle. Comparing the book and database is an entertaining way to spend time learning about the VW Beetle!

-kss


Your Georgia librarian has the current password to access GALILEO off campus. Current students of CTC may borrow books from any campus. We will ship books from one campus to another via the courier. If you are not a current CTC student, your public library may borrow books from us for you!

The guides

What does a guide do for you? I laughingly refer to the Library Guides we subscribed to last year as sherpas. Our 67 Library Guides carry the research 'load' specifically for our classes and programs.

Our latest guide is for the Automotive Technology program.

Each Library guide follows a pattern - Intro, Books, Articles, Internet sources, News sources, How do I. The content varies by program or course.

A few Library Guides have multiple drop down pages with supplemental information (i.e. Horticulture, ENGL 2130 American Literature, and CUUL 1120 American Regional Cuisine).

Find a guide that can carry your research load to your ultimate goal, which is a superbly crafted, well researched, and correctly cited paper.

-kss

Zoom Zoom

Cooler weather inspires thoughts of travel, fast cars, new vistas.

[Yes, I like this advertisement]

Before I hit the road less traveled, I need to give my car the once over to ensure that I don't end up stuck on the side of the road. There is a helpful resource in GALILEO, ARRC Automobile Repair Reference Center.

Content includes nearly 857,000 drawings and step-by-step photographs, approximately 99,000 technical service bulletins & recalls issued by the original equipment vehicle manufacturer, over 158,600 enhanced wiring diagrams for easy viewing and printing.

The ability to print out step-by-step directions makes this a most useful tool as I try to make sure my car will go 'zoom zoom'!

-kss

Your Georgia librarian can give you the current password to GALILEO.

Tweeting

Do you tweet? "There is a forum on the Constitution for #ctcConstitutionDay TODAY at 11:45 at the Marietta Campus F 1129!"

Which leads to the opportunity to mention this new title Bloggerati, twitterati [electronic resource] : how blogs and Twitter are transforming popular culture.

from Google: - Bloggerati, Twitterati: How Blogs and Twitter are Transforming Popular Culture explores the ongoing digital revolution and examines the way it is changing and will change the way people live and communicate. Starting from the proposition that the Internet is now the center of popular culture, the book offers descriptions of blogs and Twitter and the online behavior they foster. It looks at the demographics of users and the impact of the Internet on knowledge, thinking, writing, politics, and journalism. A primary focus is on the way blogs and tweets are opening up communication to the people, free from gatekeepers and sanctioned rhetoric. ...[more] .

Our copy is an electronic book available through Ebsco books. They bought NetLibrary. I'm very pleased with the way we can access the e-books, cite, print, save, etc. Stop by your campus library, or send me an e-mail using your CTC e-mail, for the username and login.

-kss

Apps and More apps

The American Library Association Facebook editors posted Continuing the Conversation: Using Google Apps for a More Efficient Library Part 2. "We just wrapped up the second session of the ALA TechSource Workshop Using Google Apps for a More Efficient Library with Suzann Holland"

I am exploring the Google Apps page. Fascinating what Google offers Higher Education for free. The success stories by various academic venues note the cost savings, the ease of use, and the familiarity students already have with Google products. I know a few people who have G-mail. I haven't stepped into that pond yet. Perhaps today is the day!




-kss

Shiver me timbers

Tis the day to roll, swagger, and talk in pirate cliches! Yes, it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day

Some Databases in GALILEO have translators. I checked Proquest and they don't offer 'pirate' as one of their language options! I looked in Ebsco Academic Search and couldn't find the translation link. I would have sworn they had a translation link.

But for fun, Facebook does have an English (Pirate) translator. Go to Account, Settings, Language, English (pirate).

Everybody should have a silly day!



-kss