While we're waiting

CTC offers degrees in Digital Production and Television Production. We teach the production side of the art rather than the performance side.

The Library staff has created several Library guides to support these programs.

A timely one for this week before the Oscar's is the library guide for Film. The News Sources tab with RSS feeds from Variety, Screen Daily, and Film Journal is most informative.

Stay tuned!

-kss

The envelope please

We have a week to wait till the 2012 Academy Awards. While we're waiting, try your hand at this weeks Credo Reference brain teaser.

The British film critic Barry Norman recently produced his list of "The 100 Greatest Films of All Time". See if you can identify these films chosen from his list.

1. Walt Disney computer-animated film (2001) about an ugly smelly green ogre with a heart of gold.
2. 1989 film for which Meg Ryan is best known for the scene in which she fakes sexual ecstasy in a busy restaurant.
3. 1941 film that looks back on the life and career of a fictional newspaper magnate played by Orson Welles.
4. 1972 film musical starring Liza Minnelli as the cabaret singer Sally Bowles.
5. 1959 film comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis as two jazz musicians who disguise themselves as women.
6. 1938 Errol Flynn film about the outlaw hero of innumerable tales and legends set in medieval England.
7. 2007 film of book by Cormac McCarthy about the violent world of drug-trafficking near the Rio Grande.
8. 1933 Marx Brothers movie whose title refers to an easily accomplished task or assignment.
9. Award-winning 1997 film adapted from 1990 novel by James Ellroy.
10. Stanley Kubrick's 1957 film about mutinies in the French Army during the First World War.
Questions set by Tony Augarde (www.augardebooks.co.uk)

Find out the answers here, or copy and paste this link into your browser address bar: http://blog.credoreference.com/2012/02/credo-reference-brainteaser-100-greatest-films/

What I found fascinating, when I checked the citations, is that none of the references are from Film or Cinema reference books!

-kss

Compare and Contrast

A search for the subject 'diary' in our catalog pulled up six titles. Five are electronic books. The compare and contrast comes in because two titles are offered in two electronic formats, Ebsco and ebrary.

I've talked about the differences between the two vendors. This gives us a chance to compare and contrast with the same content. I selected Mary Chesnut's Civil War epic as the book to compare.

- To open the Ebsco version, you click on the ebook full text link on the left. Don't click on the book cover on the right.
- The ebrary version opens with no extra steps.
One less step to get to the content, sets ebrary ahead in terms of ease of use.

- To search in Ebsco, after the book is open, the tool bar on the right has a magnifying glass icon at the top. Select that icon and a search bar appears above the contents.
- To search in ebrary, the search box for the document is visible above the right column that contains the links to move through the book.
No extra steps needed to search through the text in ebrary.

- To cite the book, Ebsco has a citation link which gives you APA, MLA, etc formatted citations
- There are no formatted citations in ebrary. They do give you the information you need at the bottom of the right hand column to create your citation. In My Settings, they offer the option to use 2 outside vendors to create a citation.
Here Ebsco definitely makes it easy.

- Ebsco offers the option to e-mail the citation and up to 60 pages of text .
- ebrary does not seem to have an e-mail option.
Here Ebsco leads the way.

- Ebsco offers download information for an e-reader
- ebrary offers download information for a pdf file for this title
Neither has an advantage in this area.

-Ebsco has a print icon in the tool list on the right side of the screen.
-ebrary has a print option when you click on Info Tools on the upper left side.
Ebsco makes the print option obvious.

- Ebsco has a create note icon that opens a word document above the text. I see how I can save the notes and print the notes but not how to e-mail the notes.
- ebrary has a  bookshelf where you can place books for future reference.
ebrary has a highlighter feature that allows you to mark passages for future reference
This seems like a draw.

Both vendors offer a service that is invaluable- 24/7 access to books. Ebsco excells in a few areas. ebrary excells in a few areas. I prefer the look of Ebsco. I prefer the e-mail options available in Ebsco. Which works best for you?

To access the electronic books off campus, you will need to use a log in.
As of  February 14th, you may find all the logins through our catalog.
Put your student ID and password in upper right corner boxes.
.. Select My Account.
.....Select the Off Campus Access link.
Scroll to the bottom for the Electronic Books section.



-kss

Dear Diary

It's Black History month. Using the GALILEO, Databases A-Z tab, Find a Database search box and looking for 'African' pulled up eleven resources in GALILEO.

One of the eleven is Samuel Hugh Hawkins Diary, January - July 1877 which chronicles Americus, Georgia entrepreneur, lawyer, and banker Samuel Hawkins' financial, agricultural, civic, and religious activities in Sumter County during the final months of Reconstruction. Diary entries briefly illustrate Hawkins' work at the Bank of Americus and his real estate interests in the county. Having an interest in agriculture and horticulture, Hawkins describes his participation in the Sumter County Agricultural Society and Horticulture Society, attendance at the 1877 Georgia State Agricultural Society meeting in Milledgeville, entrepreneurial interest in the Bell Cultivator, and role in the founding of the Americus Fair Association. While later known for his role as president of the Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railroad Company, Hawkins mentions railroad issues only in passing. An active member of Bethel Baptist Church (later Americus Baptist Church), Hawkins records his religious observances throughout the journal. On a national level, Hawkins comments on the contested presidential election of 1876 and the resulting presidency of Republican candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes. Locally, he chronicles city and county elections and appointments to the constitutional convention, the efforts of an emigrant agent to lure local African Americans to Louisiana as contract laborers as well as events surrounding the murder of a white woman by an African American man.

The diary has no search box. You use the 'find' feature to search through the document. I wondered how Mr. Hawkins refered to the people of a darker skin. Did he call them African, Negro or Black?  Mr. Hawkins refers to African Americans as Colored. He capitalizes the word when referring to a group of Colored people. The word isn't capitalized when he refers to an individual.

Words change meaning over time. A diary reminds us of that change. What words do you use in your diary to describe a group of people?

Samuel Hugh Hawkins Diary, January - July 1877 is available through the Digital Library of Georgia.

-kss

Fraternity

Fraternity by Diane Brady "tells the unforgettable story of how Father Brooks, a Jesuit priest, transformed the lives of a remarkable group of men during one of the most fraught racial periods in the history of our country."

"Among the twenty students he had a hand in recruiting that year were Clarence Thomas, the future Supreme Court justice; Edward P. Jones, who would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature; and Theodore Wells, who would become one of the nation’s most successful defense attorneys."read more

Check with your CTC librarian to borrow this 2012 copyright book. We have current materials available on many topics.

-kss

Memories

Vanishing Georgia contains nearly 18,000 photographs from the Georgia Archives documenting over 100 years of the state's history. Topics covered include, but are not limited to, family and business life, street scenes and architecture, agriculture, school and civic activities, important individuals and events in Georgia history, and landscapes.

This collection is easy to search. There is the basic search box and an advanced search page.

Using the basic search, I looked for 'Blacks' and retrieved over 400 pictures. 'African American' retrieved over 300 images. 'African American' would be a focused search. 'Blacks' brought up people, locations, and items that have nothing to do with Black History.

The fun search began on the Advanced search page using 'African American' as the subject and selecting a random family name that is notable in Georgia as the keyword.

There are some wonderful group pictures of African American families in Georgia. The group pictures of families standing by their car during a vacation are priceless.

The portraits of African Americans in the late 1800's are just like portraits you see of Caucasians from the late 1800's. People who wanted to, and could afford to, have a formal portrait taken are very similar in social stature, no matter the race.

Wander through the collection and compare your family pictures with those preserved by the Digital Library of Georgia. Families are families!



-kss

Get the passwords

At last, all students registered at CTC have been downloaded into our library circulation system. No more having to enter the student record as they stand there waiting to check out a book. This is a time saver  for the library staff and the student.
What really benefits the student  is the ability to 'login' to the library catalog with their student ID number and  their Banner pin. How is this a benefit? The passwords for GALILEO, the electronic books, and the databases CTC subscribes to are behind the login protection, yet available 24/7.

Go to Chattahoochee Technical College
..Select Quicklinks (tab on the upper right corner)
...Scroll to Library
.....Select Find Books (far left side, center of the screen)

..In the upper right side- fill in your Student ID and Banner pin
....Select My Account (middle of the gray bar)
.....Select Off Campus Access to Library Resources (third link to right)
Now you have access to the current passwords.

-kss

Party tonight

The timing is a bit tight but you might be able to pull it together for a Valentines family party this evening.

Holiday story play [electronic resource] : costumes, cooking, music, and more, preK-4 is available as an e-book online. Chapter 6 is for Valentines Day. There are patterns for a King, Queen and Knave puppet to print out and color. There are directions for heart shaped sandwiches. There are suggestions for writing your Valentines story.

The holiday activity book is aimed at classroom teachers in grades pre-kindergarten through fourth grade. What is your home but a little classroom, even if your students are over the age of 9?

To get to the book (and the chapter on Valentines Day)
.. go to the CTC catalog
... search for Valentines Day
.....Holiday story play was the second book on the search list
...click on the URL
....don't click on the cover of the book. My pet peeve with this version of the Ebsco e-books is clicking on the cover does not open the book. Though, you'd think it would.
....select the e-book full text link on the left.
....select the magnifying glass on the right at the top of the Tool bar
....type in Valentines. The links take you to the pages where that word is used

You do need a login to use the Ebsco e-books off campus. You may ask your CTC librarian for the login or you may get the passwords by logging into the catalog with your student ID and your Banner pin. Once you're logged in- select My Account, then select Off Campus Access to Library Resources, scroll down to Electronic Books.


-kss

Pro/Con, Persuasive, Argumentative, Compare/Contrast

In English 1101, the standard research paper revolves around a 'hot' topic. Depending on the instructor, the written product may be a persuasive paper, an argumentative paper, something as simple as compare and contrast, or a pro and con essay. All of these responses involve knowing both sides of the issue. When I share library resources with these classes, I confess I have trouble seeing the 'other side' of some topics. I laugh and note that I'm 'shocked' everyone doesn't agree with my point of view.

After sharing the online resources like Facts.com in GALILEO, I conclude with a tour of the Library Guides.

Our ENGL 1101 Library Guide pulls together the various resources that will help these students easily find both sides of a subject. The Books tab lists links to series  in our collection. Two large series are Opposing Viewpoints and Current Controversies. Each title has enough information to give the student a handle on what could be used to persuade or compare and contrast. If they aren't sure about their topic- these series can jump start their thinking process.

Our 74 Library Guides do provide links to the resources most appropriate for a particular class or program.


-kss

And the question is?

Each week Credo Reference sends out a quiz. I've been posting the questions. Today I thought I'd post the answers to the topic 'Just William' and let you think up the questions.

1. William Shakespeare.^Citation
2. Bill Gates.^Citation
3. Bill Clinton.^Citation
4. William Wordsworth.^Citation
5. Buffalo Bill.^Citation
6. William Penn.^Citation
7. Bill Haley.^Citation
8. William Wilberforce.^Citation
9. Count Basie (William Basie).^Citation
10. William Caxton.^Citation       

If you aren't sure who the William is or was, the citation takes you to the article about that person.

Check with your CTC librarian for the login information to search through over 500 reference sources..

-kss