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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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