9 09 09

Today is September 9th, 2009 or 9 09 09. This will be the last date with repeating numbers in single digits until the first day of 2101.


Today is also the day that the entire catalog of songs by the Beatles will be released in a remastered format.

Also note that nine is a powerful number. Multiply any whole number by 9. Add the numbers in the product, and you will get 9 (or 9's) as your total. Example 9 x 345=3105. 3 + 1 +0 + 5=9.

The radio station Dave FM in Atlanta played songs related to the number 9 as part of the Radio Free Lunch show. Check out the playlist here.

And somewhere out there, kids are being born with the birthday 9 09 09 . . .


JWF

From the horses mouth

Vendors share information about their product on a regular basis - just to keep the user informed. NewsBank sent out this timely reminder for Friday's remembrance:

Special Reports on a variety of issues are part of your NewsBank subscription. They offer a way to quickly find the latest information on important topics in the news.

Special Reports include a wide array of globally-oriented topics and monthly themes. New articles are added daily to provide current coverage of these topics. The background information helps one to understand today's issues.

In addition to current and background material, these Reports include related images, links to related web sites, maps and suggested search terms to use in your NewsBank products to find out even more about these topics.

Throughout the year, new reports are added and existing ones are featured either for a monthly theme or a significant issue or event relative to that topic.

All NewsBank Special Reports are located on the left side bar on your online resource menu page right under the Current Events link.

Report of particular interest this week:

Remembering 9/11
• Chronological events of that day
• Clean-up and recovery
• The investigation
• Rebuilding
• Impact on the world
• Current related activities

Chattahoochee students may access NewsBank two ways - from the Chattahoochee Tech Library page and through GALILEO by going to Databases A-Z and selecting N.


-kls

A year on the lawn

The title (and cover art) intrigued me - Suburban Safari : a year on the lawn by Hannah Holmes [QL 181 .H65 2005]. At Chattahoochee Technical College, we have an award winning Environmental Horticulture department which is based on the North Metro campus. I thought this title, Suburban Safari , would be about taking care of the yard over a year.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Ms. Holmes spent more time on the safari nature of the yard with her chapter on birds, then the one on insects, and another on squirrels. She does exhibit a light touch when covering what lives amongst the greenery. I found myself looking at my yard with a whole different attitude!

It's not a how to take care of the yard book. Yet, it is a very enjoyable read (and cheaper than taking a real safari).


-kls

Book Review of Columbine

Greetings.

Some time ago I finished reading the book 'Columbine' by David Cullen. This book is a well-researched account of the infamous school shooting in a suburb of Denver, Colorado in 1999. The author manages to cut through the stereotypes surrounding the shootings, such as the killers' alleged racism and the notion that they killed because they were bullied. Many of these stereotypes, the author points out, were generated by the media in the days after the murders. The two shooters were in fact bullies themselves, and had intended on committing far more murder than what they were actually able to do. The author does a good job of setting the stage and context of the shooting. He describes in detail what happened to those who survived the massacre, along with the families of the victims and the killers.

The Chattahoochee Technical College library has a copy of 'Columbine.' You can find it by going to the library's online catalog.
..Type in Columbine as your search term in the search bar.
....Select the 'title' button to search.
The entry for 'Columbine' should be the third entry in the list.
(Also note that if you are a Chattahoochee Technical College faculty/staff member you can read the book for staff development credit.)

You may want to check out the section of the author's official website that deals with the book.

JWF

What's in your wallet?

What cards do you carry around? Do you have a card that will allow you to access books, CD's, and videos? Bet you have a credit card that allows you to purchase those items. It gets a bit pricey to buy every book, CD and video that interests you. The other problem is where do you store all those things.

Do you have a card that lets you use books, CD's and videos for free? Do you have a library card?

September is Library Card Sign Up month. On the ALA web site there are mp3 files you may listen to that extol the benefits of using your library.

For fun- search YouTube for "library card" videos... this one made me smile...



Winner of Best Storyline (or Most Original Storyline) and Audience Choice Award (Sun. 1;30-3;00) in the Quiet on the Set short film competition 2009 presented by MELSA


Get your library card- gain access to books, movies, CD's and GALILEO resources for free.

-kls

Primary sources at your fingertips

Researchers (died in the wool, heavy duty fact explorers) prefer primary sources. To be able to see the original data, not filtered but right there - the raw, pure, unprocessed data. As the researcher views the original documents then their theories can be affirmed or denied.

Where are original documents for medical students, sociologists, historians, and linguists to be found? Usually the unfiltered data is stored at the repository for the documents - courthouses, archives, research institutions. Usually these repositories are far, far away from the researcher.

GALILEO has a resource with 65 separate databases that have original images that can be printed. What you ask, is this phenomenal resource?

It's Ancestry.com. It is only available at the library (so you don't need the GALILEO password).

If you've done any genealogy, you're already aware that you can find relatives in Ancestry.

As a dedicated researcher, it may not have occurred to you to mine the original images in Ancestry looking for patterns, links, and esoteric bits of information about famous (and not so famous) folks.

How do you find the databases in Ancestry with the original images?

GALILEO (in the library only)
Databases A-Z
A
Ancestry
In the middle of the screen under More Collections, there are links to assorted resources.
Select all databases
In the keywords box, type images
Click the Search button toward the bottom of the screen

65 databases are shown. When you click on one, there is a note to the right that says This database contains images of original records. The next best tool offered by Ancestry for the serious data miner is the Sample Forms which are available for each original images database. The Sample Forms allow one to map out the facts that could be gleaned from this particular database.

Now you know. You only need to travel as far as your local Georgia library to access these primary documents and do your own figuring out why things happened!


-kls

What now, oh reader?

You've read everything by your favorite author, including the latest release. Now what? You've asked your friends what they like to read, you've browsed the bookstore shelves, you've even started to look through your own collection to see who you haven't read lately...

Try GALILEO

You did get the password for home use? No? Did you notice the Log in via IP link? It will take you to your local Georgia public library (based on a Georgia IP address)

Select Databases A-Z
Select NoveList

Type in your authors name.
At the Search line click on the Author button

When the list of titles by your favorite author comes up- you may see a title you missed but more importantly -
Look for the Author Read-alikes link (not all authors have a Read Alike…)Click on that - read about your author then see who is like them!

Notice the Find it in WorldCat link under each title? That will tell you which library has that book (and how close they are to your IP address).
If you need a little Readers Advice and you don't know who to ask- try NoveList in GALILEO.

-kls

It must be autumn

The weather has a touch of cool to it- not a blast but a touch. The football parties are being planned. Teams are being discussed. It must be autumn. Where do you go to get your Fall sports information fix? One place is in GALILEO with NewsBank. Chattahoochee pays for our users to access this remarkably comprehensive news tool.

My sons both graduated from Florida- we sort of drip orange and blue. I looked up Florida Gators in NewsBank. Over 1000 articles pulled up, with the most current at the top of the list. The blue column on the left has information that helps me narrow my search. I can easily select the year the articles were published (even though they arrive in newest date order).

The Location link seems to refer to the sections in the news magazine that an article appears- Business, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Sports...heavy on the sports.

The Source link has Sports Illustrated leading the pack with over 800 articles.The magazine that surprised me was FSB : Fortune Small Business. After I skimmed an article in FSB I realized- the NewsBank search had picked up Florida and gators, not the team but the state and the local animal. I wonder if I put the phrase in quotes, if that would eliminate the random Florida and gator article?

The last link in the blue column tells me how many magazine articles and how many web-only resources were pulled. What I realized is- these aren't web sites but articles that are only available on the web through a news organizations online publishing arm.

Try it out- see what NewsBank can find for you to share at the watercooler!

Get the password from your CTC librarian to access the Chattahoochee portion of GALILEO!

(and yes, when I put "Florida Gators" in quotes- the number of articles plummeted to just over 100)

-kls

Fixing the page

I glanced at the View sidebar and realized...there were unedited portions referring to the pre-merged institution. It's been a busy first six weeks as three become one.

A co-worker passed along Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large from September 2009. Way down on a chart, the author notes the View From the Library. That tickled me that my co-worker read the article and passed it along and that Walt Crawford had noticed us!

We are posting less than we did. At the beginning (4 years ago) I created a post almost every day. My excuse for the change is- I've read several articles that said, 'post only when you have something to say.'

Besides, with the merger of three independent institutions into one system. It has been a bit busy. I'm going back to looking for references to North Metro Technical College so I can edit them to refer to Chattahoochee Technical College: North Metro campus.


-kls

Welcome, Guest

When I talk about a resource in GALILEO, I note you need to get the password from your Georgia librarian to access the resources from home.

There is a GALILEO Guest access which includes non-password-protected resources only, such as the Digital Library of Georgia databases, the New Georgia Encyclopedia, and other public databases.

I was scrolling through the 98 resources available to Guests of Georgia's GALILEO. Nothing like Ebsco or Proquest but still a nice variety of resources on, about, and for Georgia.

The Scholastic News Online caught my attention. I like the Book/Author resources- it's similar to NoveList in that you get reviews on a book from a reputable source. The description of the title helps you decide if you'd like to read it. There is a link to purchase the item. It is a publishers web site so they have a vested interest in getting you to purchase the book.

I've suggested to GALILEO through the 'contact us' link, the possibility of adding the public WorldCat link. It will tell you the closest library that has the book you are looking for.

Have you tried the IP recognizer link (GeoLocation tool) to access the subscription resources? I tried it out from home this morning....there is a link on the GALILEO entry page for using your IP address to connect to the local public GALILEO. It works - superb way to get to the resources even when you can't get the current password.

CAVEAT- if your internet service provider has an out of the state of Georgia location...it doesn't work. If you live near the borders (Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida) your internet service provider may be based in the neighboring state. You'd still have to go to your local public Georgia library to get the current password.

It is getting easier and easier to use these fabulous resources!

-kls

Les Paul

Guitarist Les Paul died today. Paul is best remembered for being a musician who was an innovator in the field of electric guitars and recording techniques. Paul produced his own brand of electric guitars. The Les Paul brand was the preferred guitar of several noted rock and roll musicians.

Paul was also a pioneer in the field of recording. He was noted for his innovations in overdubbing as well as with mulitrack recording.

A good place to find reliable and authoritative information on Les Paul is Encyclopedia Britannica a database within Galileo. Britannica is a good database for finding factual information on noted persons past and present.

Another source of information is Credo Reference. Credo is a collection of over 400 searchable reference books. A search for Les Paul leads you to several articles on the man from the pages of these reference books.

Access to Britannica or Credo from home, through Galileo, requires the current Galileo password. Please contact your local Georgia librarian to get the password.

JWF

Sweet tooth

I have a sweet tooth. If it's sweet, I'll probably like it! This morning on the local Fox channel there was a story about scarcity and prices. How when something is scarce (oil, water, etc) the price goes up. Basic economics. You probably have figured if I start off by noting I have a sweet tooth....the scarce item must be - sugar.

Looking for the 'real' story in our databases is one of my joys. I must have been a fact checker in a previous life. Opening GALILEO and selecting Databases A-Z, then selecting All Databases. I scrolled through looking for a database I thought might have an article about the sugar shortage and its impact on processed food producers in the United States.

At first glance I selected Business Source Complete which is "a scholarly business database that provides full-text access to many peer-reviewed business related journals, including disciplines such as marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics".. Nothing-

Back to the All Databases list- Agricola seemed a likely source for information about a sugar shortage. Agricola "contains bibliographic records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library and covers every major agricultural subject"...again... Nothing -

Perhaps I need a news story - my favorite newsy source is Lexis Nexis. While scrolling to L, I passed Facts.com which "highlights articles on current issues and controversies in society and science. Additionally, Facts.com contains a World Almanac Reference Database, World Almanac Encyclopedia, Reuters news articles, and World News Digest special features and articles from 1940 - present." CTC has purchased access to this particular resource. I stopped- did a search using sugar in both title and text in World News Digest, nothing current. Redid the search using sugar just in the title- still nothing.

Back to Databases A-Z, All Databases and my scroll to Lexis Nexis. I limited my search to the previous three months, used sugar as my search term, limited the search to Major U.S. and World Publications and TV and Radio Broadcast Transcripts. I sorted the results in chronological order. Victory! In June, July and August there are multiple stories about the shortage of sugar and the rising price of this commodity. Yes, I should have saved time and just gone to Lexis Nexis but I'd have missed the suspense of looking and looking.

If you have a sweet tooth (and are thinking about holiday baking) you might want to read these news stories to see if you need to plan ahead. You'll need the current GALILEO password. You may get that password from your Georgia librarian.


-kls

The information lives on

A blog I read regularly noted the Washington Post's Mensa* Invitational list of edited words.

A search ensued for the original article in the Washington Post so I could comment on the entertaining list (and tell you where to read the original).

NewsBank, a new to me resource, available through Chattahoochee Technical College seemed a good place to start for a newspaper article.

I selected United States, clicked on DC, selected Washington Post, entered Mensa - and did find in 2007 an article "Week 699: Our Greatest Hit"

With mystifying regularity, we continue to receive (often passed through several mailboxes at The Post) unsolicited entries to what's sometimes called the " Mensa Invitational ," and most recently "Change a Letter, Change a Lot": The results of Week 271 have continued to orbit in cyberspace for almost 10 years, picking up forwarders' own efforts along the way. We hope these lost souls find us this week. This week's contest: Take a word, term or name that begins with E, F, G or H; add one letter, subtract one letter, replace one letter or transpose two letters; and define the new word, as in the examples above, which got ink in 1998 and 2003.

A Google search for "Washington Post's Mensa Invitational" turned up a number of bloggers commenting at various times (first one I noticed was in 2005 , then the same list but a different blog in 2006 and again most recently in 2009 ). The 2006 blog noted searching for the original source (and not finding it in the Washington Post's archives)!

Information lives on and on and on - check the sources and recheck and check again....


-kls

* Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions. The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population, with the objective of enjoying each other's company and participating in a wide range of social and cultural activities.

The word "Mensa" means "table" in Latin. The name stands for a round-table society, where race, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant.

Step by step

Yes, I'm am thrilled with the GALILEO toolbar. They have a video, powerpoint and handouts available to offer reasons why using the GALILEO toolbar is beneficial to the researcher in Georgia. I created a step by step video on loading the toolbar and uploaded it to YouTube - some of us just need that 1-2-3 information.



GALILEO is available to Georgia citizens. Get the current password from your Georgia librarian.

-kls

John Hughes

You might have heard in recent days about the passing of film director John Hughes. Hughes is best known for his work in teen oriented films during the 1980's. Unlike the beach camp of past decades, Hughes' films were marked by a level of angst and insecurity that made the films very mature yet still teen oriented.

The writing and directing within Hughes' films captures the essence of being a teen, without the over the top jokes and absurdities that so often characterize films of past and future decades. The films of Hughes are also intertwined with the decade of the 1980's, and the films manage to capture the mood and feel of the decade, particularly that of the 1980's in suburban Chicago.

Hughes only directed eight films, although he was the writer on over two dozen other pieces. He key works include three films starring actress Molly Ringwald: Sixteen Candles, the Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink, of which Hughes directed the first two. A later film that he authored, Some Kind of Wonderful, is a retelling of Pretty in Pink, with the gender roles reversed.

The release of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles in 1987 saw a move away from the teen genre for Hughes. Much of his later work was comedy for a general audience, including writing the early 1990's hit Home Alone.

Hughes would leave film altogether by the time of his death. Few films in the teen genre have come close to approaching the level of the 1980's work of Hughes. There was a bit of hope for the genre with the release of the teen slasher film Scream in 1996, but this descended into a glurge of copycat films and WB influenced teen comedies that did not meet expectations.

Finding articles on Hughes and his work is easy in Galileo. Click on the 'search' tab and search for 'John Hughes.' You will find articles on his recent death and critique of his films. Be sure to limit your articles to full text.

JF

A picture is worth

Yes, some of us are visual learners. Here is a video from GALILEO...



I'm all agog about this toolbar!

-kls

To cite or not to cite

It's getting close to mid-term. Papers are being generated. Students are asking - "how do I cite this?" We have the 7th edition MLA [LB 2369 .G53 2009] (and we have created a handout with samples). We have the new APA (no samples yet). Both require a bit of thinking and digging and using to get the citation correct. Is there an "easy button" (yes, I watch too much TV) for creating a citation?

On our delicious page, we have collected a list of citation creators. The tag is listed under each program area. These are just links to the citation creators - no commentary on which is best.

We're a fan of ALA on Facebook. They posted a link to Bill Ferris', 16 July Instructify blog, Top 5 citation application.

Back in my day we had to figure out arcane citation formats by poring through dusty old style manuals. This was during that awkward window after people started putting good information on the internet, but before the style manuals told you how to cite web documents.
Your students don’t know how lucky they are...[read it all]

There's the commentary. Go read which ones Bill thinks are the top 5. Then try them out and decide for yourself!

-kls

Galileo Toobar

Galileo has just released a toobar that you can download for use with Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. This toolbar will appear below the url/address bar on Internet Explorer. The toolbar allows you to search within Galileo without having to open up Galileo in a separate window. When you search, you search a group of databases connected with a certain vendor, ex. EBSCO databases, Proquest databases, or by Journals A-Z. It will also allow you to search in the Chattahoochee Technical College catalog. A drop down list on the left will allow you to navigate to various sections and datbases of Galileo, such as Lexis Nexis.

One other interesting feature of the toolbar involves Wikipedia. Once the Galileo toolbar is installed, references in Wikipedia articles that are endnoted at the end of the artilce will now display a link (in most cases) that appears as a purple tab that says 'Find It.' Clicking on the tab at the end of the endnote will take you to a page that will tell you whether or not an article or book can be found in full-text in Galileo and what databases(s)the article is in. To see an example of this, go to the Wikipedia article on President Obama and look at the endnotes near the article's end.

Remember, if you need the current Galileo password, please contact your local Georgia librarian.

JWF

Family vacation

Have you spent time with family this summer? Maybe you gathered for a week at the beach with all the cousins running around or you drove a few hours for a long weekend in the mountains with strolls amidst the forest. The fun thing about family gatherings is the shared laughter as stories are told and retold about kin. How do you find stories about kin that no longer can attend these family gatherings because they have passed on?

I noticed while scrolling through GALILEO the Digital Library of Georgia's African American Funeral Programs from the East Central Georgia Regional Library. I did a quick search for Thomas. I noticed how many of the obituaries tell stories about the person- where they were born, their parents, what they did in life, how their life impacted others.

This resource can help African Americans with kin from east central Georgia find new stories about their family to share at the next family gathering.

Ancestry.com has a collection of obituaries that cover all races and areas (including Canada and Britain). Look at More Collections (toward the bottom middle left of the screen), select all databases, search for obituaries - 46 resources are offered with obituaries from around the US. If you search for obituary 16 resources are given - including a United States Obituaries collection with close to 150 million (yes, million) entries.

Use these resources to find new stories to share about kin!

Get the password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian. Ancestry is accessible only at the library.


-kls

Visual Learners

Are you a visual learner? Is it easier for you to understand a concept if you can 'see' it in action? The GALILEO Support team have added videos on YouTube :

GALILEO, Georgia's Virtual Library, provides licensed research resources to students in Georgia schools and higher education institutions, as well as to all Georgia citizens through their public libraries. The help videos included in YouTube, and also available on the GALILEO website, are designed to help users make the most of their research experience. GALILEO is at http://www.galileo.usg.edu

Get the current password to use GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.


kls