A portable advisor

In looking for something to read, using an on-line resource like NoveList in GALILEO can be helpful for requesting a title through inter-library loan (WorldCat).

But what if I'm going to a book store, do I have to remember the titles or the author I was interested in? Is there a readers advisory tool that I can tote around?

A search in our catalog for the subject readers advisory turned up 13 titles, all electronic books, all in Ebsco. Each title is available for download onto an e-reader. The books can be 'checked out' for up to 7 days.


There are two titles published in 2011 (audiobooks and Fang Tastic). The other titles range in publication date from 2004 to 2010. You might not get the latest titles but you'd have a plethora of options for your portable readers advisory.

You do need a login and password to use the Ebsco e-books. Check with your campus librarian for that information!

-kss

What to read next?

The chill in the air encourages me to stay home and read. I enjoy reading series that show the main character growing and changing. How do I find another series that I can read and read and read while curled up in front of the fire?


Through GALILEO, NoveList has recently added some new features.
- Goodreads Now Available: All of the NoveList databases now include reader ratings and book reviews from Goodreads.
- Easier to Find Read-alike Content: In addition to the Read-alikes located on the right side of every Title, Author, and Series Detail page, NoveList has added links to Title, Author, and Series Read-alikes at each record in the search results.
- Easy to find Author Information: Author information is located in one easily accessible location. Just enter the author name in the search box and go to the Author Detail page where you can find author read-alikes, author descriptions, a list of all of the books by that author, and a list of all the series by that author (if applicable).

See this announcement from EBSCO for more information.

-kss

GALILEO ask your Georgia librarian for the current password
...Select Databases A-Z
.....Select N
.......Select NoveList

Asking your opinion

Regularly I dread being asked my opinion. Usually the 'asker' is doing it to make the 'askee' feel involved. The 'asker' rarely has any intention of following through on the opinions of the 'askee'.


In the case of GALILEO's annual survey, I say ask away! The staff at GALILEO do listen and follow through on the suggestions, concerns and compliments offered by users. Please take their annual survey. Your response will make a difference.

The annual GALILEO user survey will start Monday, November 7 [that's today], and this year’s incentive is an iPad drawing. An iPad will be awarded in a random drawing of survey respondents. In addition to the drawing, the survey gives users an opportunity to relate their experience with GALILEO and to share their ideas for the future. Please encourage your patrons, students, faculty and teachers, colleagues, and others to participate. The survey link will appear on the GALILEO welcome and home pages November 7-13 and is available at the link below. Take the GALILEO survey: http://galileo2011.questionpro.com

-kss

1967

Today has been a day for writing about time. I have had a song in my head where the artists shouted TIME followed by music, a shout of TIME, and then more music. I could hear the song but I couldn't think of the title.

I searched in YouTube. There are lots of videos with 'time' in the title. This particular song eluded me. I figured it had to be from my high school era. You remember my post on popular music and how I haven't paid attention to current trends in music since then.

A friend sent a link to Poem Hunter. Scrolling through the selection on 'time' didn't turn up what I thought I was looking for.

A post on my Facebook was aimed at my peers, who I hoped would remember the group and the song. Social networking can help with research. Two friends suggested it was the Chamber Brothers from 1967. They were correct!



So now I know that 'time has come today' and on Saturday we'll fall back one hour.


-kss

What to do?

We are in the process of weeding our health collection. Standards say it should be current (less than five years old). We do have a few books to pitch. What should we do with the discards?

NPR Blogger, Robert Krulwich, wrote about a lovely Scottish mystery. The blog is not a 'how to' on art crafts for old books but a gentle, sweet discussion about a humble and anonymous artist. The pictures are amazing!

Maybe we should make library furniture with our discards or offer them to artists to make dioramas like these. Who knows what we'll decide to do.

-kss

Clocks

Saturday night before I go to bed, there will be a spell of time changing as I reset the clocks to an earlier hour. We'll be falling back an hour. It is autumn (fall) so it seems appropriate to fall back. Makes me think of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Do I get a 'do over' for that hour? Yes, I must be rambling.

Dictionary of clocks and watches by Eric Bruton [TS540.7 .B7 Reference] is at the Marietta campus in the Reference section. I've asked a librarian there to take a look at it and give me a 'report'. The description in the catalog says it is illustrated. The title says it is a dictionary but what in the world can you say about clocks and watches?
-- clock and watch terminology with definitions, some pictures
-- example : Balance Staff - The shaft or axle of the balance

Now we know why it's in the Reference section!


-kss

It's coming!

Back in September, I wrote about the beta testing for Auto Repair Reference Center.

Today this e-mail arrived from EBSCO:

We are pleased to announce that, as a current subscriber to Auto Repair Reference Center (ARRC), you will soon (in about one week) notice that your ARRC interface has been automatically replaced by the new version announced last spring.

We hope that you found it helpful to have the opportunity to try the new interface for several months in advance of its automatic upgrade to the new design. Key features of the updated interface include:

• Intuitive, user-friendly navigation
• Enhanced searching within content collections
• Ability to print/email/save high-quality PDF records
• Increased repair coverage – more than 37,000 vehicles covered
• Expanded, in-depth repair information from the major original equipment manufacturers, including Ford, Honda, and GMC
• On-Board Diagnostics (OBD II) codes with description and troubleshooting information

To learn more about the new Auto Repair Reference Center, please sign up to attend one of our free online training sessions at http://training.ebsco.com.

My quick spin with it in September inspired me!

-kss

To use GALILEO, get the current password from your Georgia Librarian
...Select Databases A-Z
.....Select A
........Select Auto Repair Reference Center.

Saturday night

From Time and Date.com: Many people in North America and the United Kingdom (UK) use the term “spring forward” and “fall back” when they refer to the daylight saving start and end dates. This is mainly due to the fact that DST occurs in the spring season and ends in the fall (or autumn) season in the northern hemisphere, where Canada, the UK, and the United States (USA) are located.

The term “to spring forward” refers to when people set the clocks one hour forward, marking the start of DST. It is a term that is easy to remember for many people in countries such as Canada, the UK and the USA. This is because the DST start date coincides with the spring season in these countries. It is the time of the year when the days begin to have longer hours of sunlight after the winter’s end, in addition DST, which brings forth an extra hour of daylight in the afternoons or evenings.

The term “to fall back” suggests that one must set the clocks one hour back when DST ends. [more from Time and Date.com]


-kss (This is not my original work and there's more to read. What I admire about Time and Date.com is the way they credit every photo. It's a very nice example of appropriate citing.)

11022011

A palindrome date for us.

As someone noted it was this number nine months ago in Europe. Why do they put the month in the middle and we put the month at the beginning?

-kss

Pen in hand

We're coming up on the time of year when families gather to reminisce. November is National Novel Writing Month! You could start today and have the great American novel ready (well almost ready) for Thanksgiving.

I started thinking about family stories. Little Women is the first that came to mind. I know there are other novels that use the family as their foundation. I just can't think of any- well, I thought of Little House on the Prairie but I couldn't think of any adult titles. A search in NoveList for Little Women revealed the genre tagged as 'family sagas'. That gave me a clue on what to search for.

The advanced search option in NoveList has a drop down box with GN genre. The search for family sagas as genre turned up over 1800 titles!

Now I need to narrow my search again. On the left side there are boxes to help narrow results. I picked Location. That dropped down to reveal a number of areas. I selected Southern States and then North Carolina. Three titles turned up. I wasn't interested in their characters so I x'd out North Carolina and tried Georgia.

I can see this might take some time!

Once you find the right book, click on the World Cat link to see which library has the book. There is a request a copy link. Because I went into NoveList through GALILEO I can request a copy be sent to my campus library.

Start writing or start reading to get ideas for your great American novel.

-kss

Get the password to use GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.
Select Databases A-Z
..Select N
....NoveList

Dem Bones

The spate of CSI programs with crusty but clever doctors deciphering the clues left by the body have inspired many a student to go into Criminal Justice.

Beyond the body farm (GN69.8 .B35 2007) in which "Forensic anthropologist Bass nicely complements his memoir, Death's Acre, with this unnervingly cheerful collection (ably co-written by science journalist Jefferson) of case studies and anecdotes from the field of corpse identification. With careful attention to detail and the occasional darkly humorous aside, the authors describe charred maggot cocoons; the grotesquely dismembered victims of a fireworks factory explosion; and the forensic uses of sonar, scanning electron microscopes and computer databases. [More]" You can get a hint of what you'll learn by reading the excerpt at the author's site.

This book is available at our Woodstock campus. We do move books around the system through the courier. Check with your CTC Librarian for your reading needs.

-kss

Rattling bones

Now that Halloween has passed, the neighborhood skeletons are back in their closets.

You have time to learn the names of the bones before they rattle their way out next year. We have access to two online skeletal resources which make it possible for our Anatomy and Physiology students to study bones anywhere and anytime.

ESkeletons,from the University of Texas at Austin, Department of Anthropology,"provides an interactive environment in which to examine and learn about skeletal anatomy. The purpose of this site is to enable you to view the bones of both human and non-human primates and to gather information about them from our osteology database." Access to this resource can be had through GALILEO.

CTC Library subscribes to Anatomy.TV which is a 3D anatomy resource. The Systemic Edition covers Skeletal, Muscular, Surface, Cardiovasular, and Lymphatic systems. Students do need the login and password for this resource off campus.

There is a difference between the two- ESkeletons has photographs of bones, Anatomy.TV has line drawings.

Between the resources, you can learn the names of the bones before they shake loose.


-kss

Another financial thought

From the overview for An anatomy of the financial crisis.

How did the US financial crisis snowball into USD 15 trillion global losses? This book offers a clear synthesis and original analysis of the various factors that led to the financial crisis of 2007-2010 - namely, an asset price bubble and excessive leverage. The focus is on the ingredients of and dynamics within the international financial system, and as such is the most comprehensive publication in scope to date in terms of market, country and instrument coverage.[more]

An anatomy of the financial crisis is one of our electronic books, available 24/7. To access the title off campus ask your CTC Librarian for the login information for ebrary.

-kss

The Law

Henry VI, Part 2, Act 4, Scene 2- Dick the Butcher says "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers" and laughter ensues in the audience. Seth Finkelstein wrote in July of 1997 how lawyers take this phrase and explain it as praise for lawyers rather than contempt. If we did get rid of all the lawyers, would being run by political innocents be any better? Dictators regularly purge the educated (lawyers, professors, teachers, clergy, doctors) to keep the ignorant truly in the dark.

Honest, good, ethical lawyers try to protect the innocent from the powerful. The good lawyers try to keep the playing field level for all participants, no matter their economic power. We teach Business Law to our Marketing students. To help the students find legal information, we've created a Library Guide for MKTG 1130. We refer them to print and non-print resources. The information we provide opens their eyes to the need to understand there are rules (laws) designed to protect both consumer and retailer.


-kss

Money, money, money

The Occupy Wall Street movement is angry at the greed and corruption of the financial industry. Folks regularly say that money is the root of all evil, but the Bible notes it is the "Love of money" that is the root of all evil [1 Timothy 6:10]. What is going on in the Banking industry that has turned a fair return on investment into an addiction for more and more?

GALILEO has over 100 databases with current journals, magazines, and newspapers at your fingertips. Banking Information Source (Proquest) combines the currency of the Internet and the perspective of industry journals to provide the ultimate financial services research tool.

In today's banking world, keeping informed of what's happening in economic markets is as important as monitoring national and international developments. Banking Information Source (Proquest) can help users predict future market trends, monitor the rise of future competition, and even pick up ideas that have worked successfully in the financial services market. The database brings together leading journals from the most important international markets and allows you to analyze and compare articles from 360 full-text sources in a manner of seconds.

My complaint with the banks is the new charge for debit card use. I understand that the unintended consequence of the Dodd-Frank bill, which was an effort to help retailers, by putting a halt to the fees banks could charge the retailers for debit card use, ended up pushing banks to make up the loss in income by charging the consumers. Unintended consequences can turn a good idea into a terrible one.

My search in Banking Information Source (Proquest) for debit card charges (no quotes) turned up a hodge podge of articles. A second search for "debit card charges" (in quotes) turned up a few appropriate articles. The drop down list under the search box caught my eye with the phrase, 'debit card fees'. Using that phrase and sorting by most recent date gave me just what I hoped to find. Among the 12617 'hits' pulled up The November 5th, Investment Weekly News and the November 1, American Banker came first, followed by the Credit Union Journal and the Economist. Each has multiple articles referring to 'debit card fees'.

To access Banking Information Source (Proquest)
Go to GALILEO
..Select Database A-Z
....Select B
......Select Banking Information Source(Proquest)
You may get the password to access GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.


-kss

Waiting for the Great Pumpkin

Tonight is the night when Linus sits waiting for the Great Pumpkin to arrive.


Why does he wait? What is he waiting for? It does seem like the wait must be a theological response to something Linus feels is greater than himself. A search for "great pumpkin" in the Religion (Proquest) database in GALILEO turned up 15 articles dating to 1989. There are humorous, serious, reflective, even German responses to Linus, the Great Pumpkin and God. But no one seems to really know why Linus waits. It's a puzzle.

-kss

The password to access Religion (Proquest) in GALILEO is available from your Georgia librarian. Just ask.

Analyzing Popular Music

The Credo pop music quiz had me searching for popular music in our catalog. I wondered what we had that might help me with the Credo questions. My search for facts was derailed when I ran across two e-copies of Analyzing Popular Music by Allan F. Moore [MT146 ONLINE RESOURCE 2003]. A trip through Google looking for more info on the title led me to Amazon which has a 2009 print edition for sale.

To see if there had been a seismic shift in the six years between editions, the "Look Inside" option allowed me to compare the Table of Contents and the first page of the index of the two editions. With my, admittedly quick, skimming I couldn't see any differences between the 2003 and 2009 versions.

The book description offered at Amazon gives hints on the content

How do we "know" music? We perform it, compose it, sing it in the shower; cook, sleep and dance to it. Eventually we think and write about it. This book represents the culmination of such shared processes. Portraying a wide range of genres (rock, dance, TV soundtracks, country, pop, soul, easy listening, Turkish Arabesk), the essays cover methodology, modernism, postmodernism, Marxism and communication.

This title does offer an erudite look at popular music. It didn't help with the Credo quiz but it did offer thought provoking entries.

To use the e-books in our collection you do need a log-in. Check with your CTC librarian.




-kss

Singing along

Credo Reference sends out a weekly trivia quiz:

This week: Pop Albums

This week's brainteaser is about albums of popular music. Can you say which group or artist released these albums in the years indicated?

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).

2. The Dark Side of the Moon (1973).

3. Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967) and Sticky Fingers (1971).

4. Pop (1997) and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004).

5. Aladdin Sane (1973) and Heroes (1977).

6. Californication (1999) and Stadium Arcadium (2006).

7. The College Dropout (2004) and Graduation (2007).

8. Songs in the Key of Life (1976).

9. Heart of Stone (1989) and Believe (1998).

10. Such Sweet Thunder (1957).

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

The only one I 'knew' was the first one. That dates me doesn't it? It also shows I just didn't keep up with pop music. The answers to these 'teasers' can be found in the music collection of Credo Reference!

Check with your CTC librarian for the log-in to Credo. You may also access Credo through GALILEO. You know who can give you the password to GALILEO?

-kss

Houses

The children's book by Virginia Burton, The Little House [PZ 7 .B954 LI 1978], is a "powerful, visually appealing story of a little country farmhouse that gets slowly engulfed, year by year, by the encroachment of a nearby booming metropolis. Eventually, the house is left derelict in a seedy neighborhood ..." [More]

I'm thinking about the changes going on around me. This book may be 'old' but it has a timeless appeal.

-kss

De-construction

Pondering the renovation of the changing view, brought to mind how buildings around town have evolved.

consists of 4,445 maps by the Sanborn Map Company depicting commercial, industrial, and residential areas for 133 municipalities [within Georgia]. Originally designed for fire insurance assessment, the color-coded maps relate the location and use of buildings [frequently naming the business that was housed in the building], as well as the materials employed in their construction. The maps indicate which city utilities--such as water and fire service--were available.

Fire insurance maps document the changing face of towns and cities, providing highly detailed information for each neighborhood and block. The Library of Congress web site refers to them as "probably the single most important record of urban growth and development in the United States during the past one hundred years."

Not every city in Georgia has a map. I used this with an intro to college class that was looking at Cartersville history. (Cartersville is in Bartow County, as is this campus). For Cartersville, there are maps for 1885, 1890, 1895, 1900, 1905, 1909, 1916,and 1921. 36 years of detailed city maps!

It's not too difficult to navigate the maps. There is a tool bar with zoom in/out and pan left/right arrows at the top of each map. The search boxes are self explanatory and yes, the more accurate an address you have, the better your results on the map!

In conjunction with Google Earth one could see how much an area has changed in over a 100 years!


-kss

Building

Thinking about the construction going on (well, destruction at the moment), I went to our catalog to see if there was a book that might help me understand what is happening to the building.

My first search for construction as a word or phrase turned up 1883 titles. As I scrolled down the list, nothing popped right up that would be applicable.

Switching my search for construction to a subject term narrowed the field to 1020 titles. That was better but not much.

Skimming the list, Slope stability, retaining walls, and foundations [electronic] showed possibilities, but it was "selected papers from the 2009 GeoHunan International Conference, August 3-6, 2009, Changsha, Hunan, China". It's subject terms might help my search. Foundations - design and construction looked to be the best option (after eliminating Congresses). No success.

What term could I use? Building might work as a subject. 428 titles. We're narrowing the field of results.

This time I found a book that had possibilities. It is for new construction but one of the subject headings gave me an idea - Building Superintendence. Yes, that's it. 21 titles retrieved. Really that's what I'm going to be doing for the next few months, superintending from the circulation desk!


-kss

What do I see?

The wall comes down. The wall goes up.

Outside the retaining walls have been removed from around the exterior of the auditorium.

Inside a temporary wall has been erected to protect us from flying debris as interior demolition begins.

The renovation of the current auditorium just outside the North Metro campus library has picked up speed. In 2012 it will be an entry/student space. Glass walls will replace the concrete and brick exterior. The interior will have TV's, tables, chairs, and a few sofas. The furniture will be artfully arranged on swooping carpet spaces.

My view is being obstructed for a time but soon it will be expanded!


-kss

A view of an event

Annals of American History includes the full text of primary documents in American history, including historical accounts, speeches, memoirs, poems, editorials, landmark court decisions, and cultural criticism.

This being my Frederick Douglass day, I looked him up in Annals of American History and found two articles that he wrote. The title of the first article, "An African American View of the Mexican War", leads one to believe that there is a racial side to the discussion. "The treaty was opposed in America both by those who wanted more territory from Mexico than the treaty secured and by those who wanted no territory at all." After reading his editorial, I wondered why in the world did the editors title this as an African American view?

I searched for Mexican War in Annals of American History to see what other sources might be included. Not one title mentioned the race of the author. Fascinating. What are the editors saying?

You can get to Annals of American History by going to GALILEO (the current password is available from your Georgia librarian).
...Select Databases A-Z
.....Select A
.......Select Annals of American History

-kss

Dedication

Learning about dedication from the life of Frederick Douglass is available as an electronic book in EBSCO. This is one of the many titles that can be downloaded into an e-reader.

The School Library Journal review noted in Amazon.com

"Although the need for books about values and character building is real, these series titles seem like a marketing ploy. The texts are basic, providing essentially the same or less information found in standard encyclopedias. No sources are listed. The material is simplified sometimes to the point of being misleading."

The review gave me pause - so I read the book online. It is a children's book under 26 pages long. It is simplistic and choppy. There is a glossary but no references. There is a bit of biographical information but not as much as an encyclopedia. I agree with the reviewer. This could have been done so much better, even if it's part of a series on character aimed at children. Children deserve the very best in writing.



-kss

Primary sources

Showing English 2130 students how to find and use Primary Sources gives me a chance to advocate the use of Ancestry.com Library Edition. The Library Edition is only available on campus through GALILEO.

My favorite primary source in Ancestry is the Federal census. Each Federal census provides slightly different information. Since the beginning of Federal census taking in 1790, the name the head of the household was enumerated. The Head of the Household was usually the oldest male but sometimes a woman was noted as Head of Household. Starting in 1850, each person who lived in the household, whether kin or not, was named. Some census noted the relationship of each person to the head of the household.

I was showing Mrs. Alden's American Literature class how to find Frederick Douglass in Ancestry. I did a search with thousands of hits. Showing the Advanced search and the exact limiter brought our results to a manageable level of a little over 1600 names. The 1930 census (latest census available) had quite a few Frederick Douglass' noted. My question was- what do you know about Frederick Douglass? Could the author, Frederick Douglass, be in the 1930 census?

Credo Reference serves as a quick (and authoritative) search option - Douglass, Frederick (1818 - 1895). The brief biography lets me know that the Frederick Douglass enumerated in 1930 is not the Frederick Douglass I'm looking for. I also learn that Mr. Douglass was born in Maryland. The location is another piece of information I can use when looking in the census (or any other primary document).

Back to Ancestry. Since Mr. Douglass died in 1895, I start my search with the 1880 census (the 1890 census was burned and is incomplete). F W Douglass is noted as being born in 1820 in Maryland. I point out the census is notorious for getting the ages not quite right. When we look at the original census image, we see F.W. as head of household, his wife Anna, and four granddaughters (now there's a story). His occupation was U.S. Marshall. On one side of the Douglass family lives a white family, on the other side a black family. Mr. Douglass is noted as mulatto. An integrated neighborhood documented in the 1880 census.

Watching students eyes light up as they see the possibilities for adding primary source information to their projects is priceless.



-kss

Poetry Sherpas

Sherpas are guides for the traveler through the mountains of Nepal. They carry and assist without being 'in charge'. If the traveler says I want to go that way, the sherpa will help them.

I happily point out that our Library Guides act as sherpas for the researcher. If an instructor requests a specialized guide for their class, we create one. There are English guides that list poets on drop down lists. The American Literature guide has a Reading List tab with many of the poets and authors that are covered in the term.

My theme for today is Carl Sandburg and 'Fog'. The page under the Reading List tab for Carl Sandburg includes a You Tube video, links to poems, and links to GALILEO resources LION and Literature Resource Center.

Like a good sherpa, we carry the load and point you in the best direction.



-kss

Selected Poems

Selected Poems by Carl Sandburg [PS 3537 .A618 A6 1991] sits quietly on the shelf, a thin volume of poetry. The front flap notes "This volume contains the poems upon which Sandburg's reputation and career were established."

The NPR Morning Edition interview with the editor, Paul Berman, refers to this as a new collection focusing on the Midwestern poet's early works, what the editor calls Sandburg's "great period."

On the back flap of the book, 'eminent critic Malcolm Cowley once observed that Carl Sandburg 'turned the Mid-western voice into a sort of music". Paul Berman divided the poems into seven sections. 'Fog' is not in the 'Chicago' or 'Fogs and Fires' sections but in 'Handfuls' (page 81). I wonder why he put it there?

The fog comes...
...and then moves on.


-kss

Fog

Every time I see the fog hovering over the ground, I remember Carl Sandburg's poem "Fog".

I used LION (Literature Online) which "is a full-text library of over 330,000 works of British and American poetry, drama and prose" to find the poem.

Entering the word 'fog' brought up 206 poems. I knew the author so I could scroll through the alphabetized list to find the specific poem. What if I had forgotten "Sandburg"?

I went to the Texts search page. There I have limiters that might help find the poem. I selected the tab Poetry.
1. I typed in cat's feet as keywords and fog as in the title. Sandburg's poem did not come up. Guy Carryl and Kenneth Rexroth have written poems that include cat's feet and fog.
2. Trying again, I entered cat and fog- 6 entries and Carl's poem was there.

I was able to scan the list which included a few lines for each poem to get to Carl Sandburg:
...The fog comes on little cat feet....
...sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then

Using cat's was my downfall. I think cat feet might have produced better results. I'll try a third search.

3. Yes, searching under the poetry tab, cat feet as the key word, fog as the title pulled up just one result- Carl Sandburg's, Fog.

Teaching students how to process the search results and finagle what you ask for until you get the correct response is tricky. You just have to keep trying!

CTC Library subscribes to LION. It is available through GALILEO. Your Campus Librarian can give you the current password.

-kss

Just the facts

CTC Library subscribes to Facts.com aka Facts on File. Facts.com offers 5 databases covering Today's Science, Health, Writing, World News, and Issues & Controversies.

In ENG 1101, when the students are assigned a paper involving research into a topic with two sides, we encourage them to use Issues and Controversies. There are several tips I share with students to help them find exactly what they are looking for, without as much trial and error as I go through.

I admit I haven't explored the other Facts.com resources. Because of Mole Day and Avogadro, I decided to look at 'Today's Science' which "bridges the gap between the science that students learn in the classroom and the discoveries pushing the boundaries of science today."

There are two routes to access Today's Science in Facts.com. The easiest way is to go to the CTC Library page and scroll down to Social Issues, Current Events & History. You'll need the login/password from your CTC Librarian to get in.

The other route is through GALILEO (you need the password from your Georgia librarian)
..Databases A-Z
....Select F
......Select Facts. com
........Select Today's Science (you still need the login/password but it's right there in the red link on the Select F page before you click on Facts.com)

Now that we're in, I did a search for Avogadro. I searched a couple of times because I am having trouble keeping the vowels in the correct location. I finally did a search for 'mole' so I could get the correct spelling for the scientists name.

What did I find on Avogadro? 4 articles, one as recent as 2007, and 12 encyclopedia entries. The first article, "Pick A Number, But Not Any Number: Redefining Avogadro's Number and the Kilogram", provided the mug picture in the upper corner. Ms. Bai also had a portrait of Avogadro. At first glance I thought of Gollum. The eyes are so large. I digress. The article reviewed the history of Avogadro's number and tied in the current field of science with references to two scientists at Georgia Tech, who are redefining the exact value of the Avogadro's number!

My brain is fogging as I think of the size of the numbers. Many ways to get more information. Check with your CTC Librarian for access to current and reliable information.

-kss

Picture from : Bai, Nina Yu. "Pick A Number, But Not Any Number: Redefining Avogadro's Number and the Kilogram." Today’s Science. Facts On File News Services, Oct. 2007. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. .

Better living

At this point, we don't have a Chemistry Library Guide. There are a dozen Chemistry classes being offered in the Spring. I think we'll want to create a Chemistry guide.

The question becomes- should there be one for inorganic, organic, just plain old chemistry or a combination of the three with tabs for type of chemistry?

Something to ponder.


-kss

Mole Day

My brother-in-law finds the most interesting 'days':

Mole Day is an unofficial holiday celebrated among chemists on October 23, between 6:02 AM and 6:02 PM, making the time/date 6:02 10/23 in the American style of writing dates. The time and date are derived from Avogadro's number, which is approximately 6.02×1023, defining the number of particles (atoms or molecules) in one mole of substance, one of the seven base SI units.

My sister-in-law remembered "That's 10 to the 23rd - pretty much the only thing I remember from high school chemistry!" I had no clue as to what they were talking about. I must have drifted that day in class.

A little research helps fill in the blanks of knowledge. Our catalog notes over 150,000 titles. Surely there will be answers to be found. I did a search in our catalog for 'mole'. Nada. I did a search for 'Avogadro'. Still nothing in the catalog.

Where could I find Avogadro? E-books are easy to search through, individually and as a group. A search for the subject 'chemistry' turned up a few titles. I selected an EBSCO e-book, Organic Chemist's Desk Reference.
..To search within a title, you must first select 'E-Book Full Text' (on the left side of the screen).
.....The second step is to select the search icon that looks like a magnifying glass over a piece of paper (right side of the screen at the top on the tool bar that runs down the right side of the document).
I searched in that title for Avogadro. Zero results.

To search throughout all of the Ebsco e-books for Avogadro, I used the main search box at the top of the screen. I needed to clear the box of the number for , Organic Chemist's Desk Reference. That search retrieved 13 titles! More books than I wanted to look through to sate my curiosity.

Where could I find just enough information about Avogadro? Reminds me of Goldilocks- first too little, then too much- what would be just right?

Among the more than 500 reference books, Credo Reference has just the right amount of information on both the man and the concept. Avogadro from Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary gives the definition. Avogadro , (Lorenzo Romano) Amedio (Carlo) (1776 - 1856) from The Cambridge Dictionary of Scientists tells about the man, himself!

Credo Reference is available on our Library page with the password. It is also available through GALILEO.

Your CTC campus librarian can give you the logins!


-kss

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Today the World Series begins. The only way to find out what was going on in sports, before radio, television and the internet, was to read the newspaper. Admittedly, my knowledge of current sports is minimal. My knowledge of sports history is absolutely nil. Where could I go to get a taste of historic sports information?

I looked in the Atlanta Historic Newspapers, which is a part of the Digital Library of Georgia. This is available without going through GALILEO . I searched for "world series". I put the phrase in quotes to hold it together. I didn't want to search for world and for series. 173 articles were retrieved. Most of the articles were dated late October, in the 1907-1911 time frame. To read the articles, I did need to download the DjVu plug-in.

While I was reading the sports pages, I noticed mention of Marist events. Marist is an Atlanta Catholic school that was founded for boys in 1901. Their sports activities were prominent on the sports pages of the turn of the century newspapers. Fascinating to read how excited people were over high school sports. But then this is the south.

Wandering while searching is an occupational hazard. One search leads to another. Go read about your favorite team from the turn of the century! You might be surprised at what you'll discover. Digital Library of Georgia has other newspapers from Georgia available.

-kss

Bulb carpeting

In GALILEO, the Ebsco database, Garden, Landscape & Horticulture Index

provides access to articles about gardens and plants, including topics such as horticulture, botany, garden and landscape design & history, ecology, plant and garden conservation, garden management, and horticultural therapy. A highlight of the database is its focus on environmentally sustainable horticultural and design practices. This index and abstract product is designed for gardening enthusiasts, professionals, and students of horticulture and of garden and landscape design & history. It covers more than 300 core serial titles that include general gardening titles of national, international, and regional interest, and titles devoted to specialty gardens and plant groups.

The title refers to the database as an index. However, you can limit your search to full text and find plenty of articles.

I searched for bulb planting and limited my search to 'full text'. 37 articles were retrieved. The first article The Changing World of Bulb Designs, fits nicely with my thoughts about planting now for a long lasting display. "The author suggests several methods of bulb planting in combination with perennial plants to avoid blank patches of land after the bulbs die, including tapestry design, bulb carpeting, and naturalistic designs of landscape designer Jacqueline van der Kloet."
I have something to think about as I get ready to design my spring display.

Go to GALILEO
...select Databases A-Z
....select G
.....select Garden, Landscape & Horticulture Index
Limit your search to full text to find informative articles about gardening.

You will need the current password for GALILEO to use Garden, Landscape & Horticulture Index. Your Georgia librarian can give you the password!




-kss

Thinking of Spring

Yes, I know Fall has barely begun, Winter is still months away but I'm thinking about Spring. A friend noted she had prepared a large pot with layers of bulbs that will bloom consecutively creating a long lasting spring floral display. She planted pansies as the last layer in the container, to give color for autumn.

We have an extensive collection of horticulture books to support our Environmental Horticulture program. This title might give you ideas on how to prepare your Spring display.Garden bulbs for the South by Scott Ogden [SB 425 .O44 2007]

There are hundreds of choice bulbs that revel in southern warmth and humidity, and Scott Ogden profiles the best of them in this fascinating, comprehensive volume. In a series of chapters that takes us through the gardening year, Ogden introduces the plants that help to give southern gardens their distinct regional flavor, many with charmingly descriptive names: rain lilies, oxblood lilies, jonquils, crinums, and scores of others. Weaving in bits of history and lore, Ogden details each plant's appearance and growing requirements. [more]

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Cool, cooler, coolest

This morning the weather prognosticators noted a cool down is coming. We may have seen the last of the 80's for awhile. Knowing when the temperature will change and how low it will go is crucial for the agriculture industry.

The agriculture industry ranges from the commercial farmer to the patio container gardener. Each one has a vested interest in protecting their crop (no matter the size of the field).



The award winning Environmental Horticulture program has a page of weather information on their Library Guide. Stay tuned to the weather, your plants depend on your knowing what is going to happen next.



-kss

Hard hats

I saw men in hard hats wander by the door this morning.

I hear saws running.

The View from our front door will change over the next few months.

The auditorium will become a student area with three TV viewing spaces, vending machines and tables and chairs.

We will have a Student Commons area with the Student Success Center, Student Services, and the Library surrounding the new gathering space.



-kss

Noah Webster we salute you!

Dictionary Day is celebrated on October 16th.

The American Library Association noted on their FaceBook page -

My favorite online dictionary is still Merriam-Webster.com but another good source is the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, a part of Yahoo/reference. This is a clean site devoid of flashing advertisements, etc. which defines a word, has its part of speech and etymology. For some words there is a photo of the entry which is a hallmark of the print edition. A new edition of the dictionary will be published this fall and it is hoped that it will be incorporated into the Yahoo education site.

The OED (Oxford English Dictionary)is the grand master of dictionaries. We used to have access to the online edition but we do not subscribe any longer. We have the print edition in our reference collection [PE1625 .O87 1991 REF]. Our English instructors have created an assignment to have their students come to the library to use the OED. I'm grateful they are encouraging students to use this grand print resource.

-kss

Let's try this

Cool, hot, wet, or dry, weather is what it is! The American Museum of Natural History has experiments to help students understand climate and climate change.

Sometimes you want something fun to illustrate the serious nature of science. A search in our catalog for a weather book turned up Crafts for Kids Who Are Learning About Weather.This is an electronic book available through Ebsco. A hint- to open the book you need to click on the link on the left that says 'E-book full text'. It seems natural to click on the book cover but that's not the way it works.

It is a crafts book, not a book of experiments. The art activities illustrate a concept. Each craft follows a pattern with a page for 'Here is what you need'. The list of supplies is illustrated. There are several pages, if need be, for 'Here is what you do'. Illustrations accompany each numbered step.

If you're thinking of using this craft book to plan activities for guests, you could e-mail the specific pages to those attending. There is an envelope on the right side of the screen that takes you to the email option. I sent myself a section. The body of the e-mail gave me the citation information. The pages were attached as a pdf file. On the left side of each page is the copyright information. Scout leaders, Sunday School teachers, and babysitters would find this book helpful in coming up with something 'new' to do while learning about a scientific principle.

Ebsco has begun to let some titles be downloaded to an e-reader. This does not seem to be one of those titles. I'm not sure which titles are available and why. I'll do a little research and report back. In the mean time, have fun planning your craft activities!


-kss

How do you like this weather?

A safe topic of conversation is the weather. It's a neutral topic. Hardly anyone has an impassioned response to a question about the rain, or lack thereof. Stepping outside can tell you a great deal about what the weather is like right now.

What if you want to know more than just the facts of the immediate situation?

Following up on Abraham Lincoln's advice to read and study till one understands, I thought I'd explore Resources for Learning .

Resources for Learning [in GALILEO]is a collection of activities, curriculum materials, articles, scientific evidence, exhibitions, and reference lists developed by the American Museum of Natural History for students, educators, parents, and anyone interesting in exploring science. Topics include anthropology, astronomy, biology, earth science, and paleontology.

This site is one of the freely available information sources that GALILEO links to. Yes, GALILEO is a library that gathers information for Georgia citizens.

Back to American Museum of Natural History : Resources for Learning.
From the 5 broad topics listed, I selected Earth Science.
I have a choice between 7 links in Atmosphere or 44 links in Climate/Climate Change.
I selected Climate/Climate Change.
The lessons are sorted by grade level. The topics deal with climate change more than climate (weather).It's not what I thought might help me learn about the weather.

I can see this as being very useful for homeschooling. It also came to me that during the holidays this might be a fun, and free, place for families to go and find an experiment they could do together. The topics are current. The activities are laid out in a way that reminds me of lesson plans. Clear and detailed. Most adults would be able to walk through the experiments with their children or guests!

Begin planning "what to do" with the holiday company by exploring this resource!

I found the site in GALILEO
...Databases A-Z
.....selected A
........scrolled to American Museum of Natural History : Resources for Learning

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Read and study

After Lincoln became a well-known lawyer, he sometimes received inquiries from people who aspired to become lawyers. He wrote: “Get the books and read and study them till you understand them in their principal features; and that is the main thing….It is of no consequence to be in a large town while you are reading. I read at New Salem, which never had three hundred people living in it. The books, and your capacity for understanding them, are just the same in all places.” April 2004 [More}

In GALILEO articles from thousands of newspapers, journals, and magazines are available. One can create an RSS feed or an e-mail alert in several of the 'big' databases to have current articles delivered as they are made available. With wi-fi, GALILEO is a portable library. One isn't constrained by opening hours or a physical location. keeping Lincoln's remarks in mind, it doesn't matter where you are, just read and study till you understand.

To access this portable treasure ask your Georgia librarian for the current password.



-kss

Early birds

Early registration for Spring Semester started on Monday. The registration rush didn't impact the library, but I could see students in the Success Center working with advisors. Access to Banner was calculated on the number of hours a student had completed. Tomorrow (October 13th) Banner is open to all currently enrolled students.

Early registration ensures a place in the very class you need to finish your program. The first Fee Payment deadline is December 2nd at noon.

The early bird does get a seat in the desired class.

-kss

Hunting

Looking for information about the Hunters Moon, I ran across a blog that referred to the Harvest Moon poem by Mary Oliver. Mark Zeiger shared that his Dad sang "Shine on Harvest Moon" in a Barber Shop quartet.

Could I find the lyrics in one of the GALILEO databases?

I used the search box in the Databases A-Z tab.
...I looked for lyrics- nothing.
...I looked for music - and 5 resources were retrieved.
The two Ebsco databases looked most promising.

I opened Academic Search Complete. It took me awhile to remember to use Advanced Search to be able to limit my search to a type of article. I figured 'poem' might pull up the lyrics. I was wrong. A search for the phrase "Shine On Harvest Moon" pulled up 9 articles that referred to the song. None had the complete lyrics.

It still was informative to read a few of the articles. I picked the obituary, the article about a seniors music group, and a description of a seniors camping trip.

The seniors music group started with the first four lines of the refrain.

I did find a portion of the lyrics - just not the complete song laid out in a way I could count as 'lyrics'. Exploring on the official Columbus Day, I found something, just not what I was aiming for!


-kss

To use GALILEO off campus you need the current password. You may get the current password from your Georgia librarian.

Hunters Moon

image by joiseyshowaa

Farmers Almanac shared the October

... full Moon is often referred to as the Full Hunter’s Moon, Blood Moon, or Sanguine Moon. Many moons ago, Native Americans named this bright moon for obvious reasons. The leaves are falling from trees, the deer are fattened, and it’s time to begin storing up meat for the long winter ahead. [more...]

Roland Leach lectured about Mary Oliver's work. In ‘Hunter’s Moon - Eating the Bear’ [from Twelve Moons : Poems by Mary Oliver] "the Indians eat the meat of another creature but are shown to respect all life as sacred. Moreover, the death is not an end but the bear now becomes part of a greater cycle where it is a source of energy that infuses other life.... The Indian persona speaks respectfully and with awe of the relationship that now exists exists between himself and the dead bear"[more..]

Hunters Moon -- Eating the Bear, begins with a greeting:

Good friend,
it is a long afternoon.
The shadows of the pines are blue on the field
When I find you,
I am going to turn the world inside out.
The rocks around you will melt,
your heart will fall from your body.
And I will step out over the fields.......

and ends with

the pines you can no longer see
will be twisted and small, their shadows
stretching out, still turning around
in the small sinews of my prayers
some invisible dead center.

Read the complete poem on page 50, when you check out Twelve Moons : Poems by Mary Oliver [PS 3565 .L5 T9].

-kss

Go where?

To find the valuable intel. Thank you, Parker and Hart.


-kss

Go West, Young Man

Go west, young man! [electronic resource] : Horace Greeley's vision for America by Coy F. Cross takes the phrase we are familiar with and explains what it all means:

When twenty-year-old Horace Greeley arrived in New York City to start a printing business in 1831, he did not suspect that his faith in hard work and frugality would soon be tested by the worst financial depression in U.S. history to that date. Although Greeley survived and prospered, his concern for the urban unemployed prompted him to search for a universal solution—the safety valve of land in the West.
For the rest of his life, Greeley used his position as editor of the New York Tribune and occasional politician to promote his agrarian utopian ideology. Cross examines here Greeley's efforts in favor of four important factors in westward expansion[more...]

This title is available through our electronic book collection. It can be downloaded onto a variety of electronic readers.

I went to look at how this might work, though I don't have an electronic reader. You will first create a free account in Ebsco, which will be useful for any of the Ebsco databases. Maximum check out is for 7 days. I checked a title out for 1 day. When I go look at the book, the timer is running to tell me how many hours I have left to use the title. When I have the book checked out, no one else can use it.

I'll let you know what happens when the 24 hours are up.



-kss

Looking East

Columbus was trying to reach the East by going west. The plan was to find a shorter (quicker) trade path to the delicacies westerners had come to desire. The world was a bit bigger than he realized.

Today we marvel at how small the world has become because of the speed of information access.

The internet has tied us together in ways Columbus could never imagine. A Google search can reveal information about companies and products that are available world wide. But if we aren't sure of the name of a company or what could be available, how do we know what terms to use in our search?

I was scrolling through GALILEO and noticed ProQuest Asian Business and Reference which 'offers detailed information on companies, economies, markets, and overall business conditions throughout the Eastern Hemisphere'.

This could be a source for foundational information about Asian business. I clicked on publications. They have 318 publications. There are 67 Trade Journals. I scrolled through the list of Trade Journals.

The longest running trade journal in the database is The Banker [ISSN 0005-5395‎] from 1971 to the present. The issues from 2006 to the present are full text. Earlier issues offer a link to search for a library that has the issue. An intriguing note about the current issue of The Banker [ISSN 0005-5395‎]is the articles concerning Nigeria and Guatemala. It's not just about Asian businesses.

Explore the East without venturing across uncharted waters!




-kss

The Ocean Blue

To set out on a journey with only the stars as your guide takes a great deal of courage. Today we have GPS to pinpoint our exact location. We have charts of coastlines.

Through GALILEO, we have access to World Atlas (Encyclopaedia Britannica). We have a choice of views : map, satellite, and terrain. It's fairly easy to navigate in and out. To look at a particular state in the United States, you search for United States, then close in on the area and move around with the pan button and the zoom in/out tab on the left.


GALILEO (you need the current password which is available from your Georgia librarian)...select Databases A-Z
......select W
.........World Atlas (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

-kss

Columbus sailed

Our History Library Guide focuses on post American Revolution history. Though, one can find links to solid resources for information about the early explorers.

-- The books tab has a search box for Credo Reference.
-- The articles tab has links to resources in GALILEO - World History Collection, History Reference Center, and Annals of American History.

Annals of American History includes a letter written by Christopher Columbus, dated March 14, 1493 which describes the lands and people he had seen.

Christopher Columbus isn't held in the same high esteem he once was, but he started the procession of 15th century Europeans crossing the Atlantic like it was a pond.

You will need the current password to access these databases through GALILEO

-kss

In fourteen hundred ninety-two

(image courtesy of Open Library)

I, Columbus : my journal, 1492-3 [E118 .I2 1990] Follows the voyages of discovery made by Christopher Columbus through excerpts from the journals he kept of his travels.

-kss

Leaves of three, let them be

While out in the wilds watching the birds, you may notice what the bird is nesting in or sitting on or hovering over. You might even wonder what you are nesting in or sitting on or hovering over.

Is that what you think it is? Do you really want to touch it?

Our Horticulture library guide has links to a plethora of plant ID web sites. We collect these sites for our students to use while studying to compete at PLANET : Student Career Days.

Before you wander in the woods, you might want to get an idea of what you'll encounter!

-kss

Look, look

Birding for beginners : a comprehensive introduction to the art of birdwatching by Sheila Buff [QL677.5 .B793 2010] shelved at the Marietta campus.

Whether you're traveling to an exotic bird habitat or just interested in better appreciating the avian wonders in your own backyard, Sheila Buff helps novice birdwatchers get the most out of the popular pastime of birding. Starting with where and how to find birds to identify, Birding for Beginners offers an engaging explanation of the basics-- the jargon used, the equipment needed, how to use a field guide, how to create and maintain lists, how to plan a trip into the field, etc. And, of course, the brightly illustrated pages are chock-full of detailed identification techniques, both visual and aural.[more...]

Though this title is at the Marietta campus, we move books from campus to campus through the courier system. Ask your campus librarian to have the title sent to your campus- just in time for a cool autumn afternoon spent watching the birds.


-kss

Tweet, Tweet

It's not about Twitter but All About Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology). This is a website from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that includes information about watching birds, learning their nesting behaviors, attracting birds, identifying them, recording observations, and getting involved in bird conservation. The site includes guides, images, maps, sounds, videos, and much more. There is also a link to the Macaulay Library, an archive of animal sounds and videos.

The nice thing about GALILEO is that it is a 'library' for online learning in Georgia. The librarians at GALILEO gather not only subscription databases but quality web sites that are of interest to Georgians.

To supplement the web site, All About Birds , Georgia Wildlife Resources Division provides lists of wildlife management areas in the 7 regions of Georgia that are perfect for bird watching.

With the moderate temperatures and the leaves beginning to thin a bit, who knows what you might see when you take a moment to just watch what is going on around you.



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68

I just presented Library resources to an English 1010 class. I noticed we have 68 Library Guides not 67. We are a prolific bunch of resource sharers. We are adding new guides weekly. You may search by Librarian to see at a glance who has done what.


-kss

Ah that feels better

Yes, I'm looking forward to being an exam subject this afternoon.

Our PTA (Physical Therapist Assistant) program has its own Library Guide. The guide pulls together CTC resources the student will find useful while completing their program.

We have 67 Library Guides. There are guides for programs, special topics (like citations), and for specific classes. Our library guide layout seems fairly clear with a tab for Books, Articles, Internet, and How do I information. Please do check them out!





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