Happy Holidays from the Library!

Everyone have a great break!

See you again around January 9!

LRC Learn at Lunch - TCC Intellectual Property, Dec. 7

LRC Learn at Lunch Program:
Copyright & Intellectual Property
Wednesday, December 7, noon
Room I-278 (ITV Classroom), West Campus

Take a brief rest from the hectic pace of the end of the fall semester and have a little pizza and learn about the origin and purpose of copyright, exemptions (especially fair use), the TEACH Act, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, licensing agreements, use of digital learning materials, course packs, and the TCC policy statements about copyright and intellectual property.

Please RSVP for the program no later than 10:00 am, Wednesday, December 7
or send an e-mail message to: debereolos@tulsacc.edu or leave a voice message at 918-595-8093.

Known Issue: Off-Campus Access to Facts on File (Solved)

Off-campus users may find that they cannot access Facts on File/Facts.com databases (Issues and Controversies, Issues and Controversies in American History and Today's Science), even after logging in through Blackboard. We are aware of the problem and are working on fixing it. We will post an update here when we have it working again. We do currently have access from on campus, so you are welcome to come visit us if you need to use one of Facts resources.

Thank you for your patience!

Update:
As of Monday, Dec. 5, access to the Facts.com resources seems to be restored. If you are trying to get access and can't, please contact us by chat, email or phone. Thank you!

Top Ten Reasons I Love Research Guides

Browse all of our Research Guides

1. Brings links to recommended sources for different classes, topics and educational programs together in one guide.


2. Easy to navigate.


3. Recommends online sources, including e-books.


4. Suggests scholarly databases.


5. Recommends credible websites.


6. Gives citation help.


7. Suggests printed sources for bibliophiles.


8. Has embedded tutorials and instructional clips.


9. Contains photos of helpful LRC staff, including Kim Monday, virtual librarian.


10. Has photos of attractive library staff, including Kim Monday, virtual librarian.

Known Issue: Off-Campus Access Through Safari (Solved)

Students, faculty and staff trying to access the LRC's electronic resources off-campus through the most recent version of the Safari web browser, including Safari for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, may not be able to get through to our databases or e-books. For desktop and laptop users, we recommend using Firefox. For mobile users, we recommend trying an alternate browser like Opera Mini or Mercury. We are looking for a better solution, and will post an update here when we find one. Thanks for your patience!

Update:
As of December 8, we have restored access through Safari. If you are trying to use our e-resources from off-campus in Safari, however, and are getting an error message about cookies, please contact us.

Vampire Week in the NEC LRC! Oct. 24 - 28

A different vampire series has been highlighted every day this week in the NEC LRC. Ghoulish authors that have been covered include:

P .C. Cast (Local author - Monday)
Anne Rice (Interview with a Vampire Series - Tuesday)
L. J. Smith (Vampire Diaries - Wednesday)
Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse or Trueblood - Thursday)
Stephenie Meyer (Twilight - Friday)

NEC Student Activities has combined efforts with the NEC LRC to Show Us Your Teeth! Daily entries for chances to win books and DVDs from the various book series have been made available at the LRC. Activities have also included Pumpkin Carving and Drawing, Best Vampire Contest, and Halloween Costume Contest. Treats and vampire accessories
galore in the LRC!

National Information Literacy Awareness Month

October is National Information Literacy Awareness Month

Visit Your Campus LRC!

The National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL) was created in 1989 as a response to the recommendations of the American Library Association’s Presidential Committee on Information Literacy. Today, the National Forum on Information Literacy is a robust collaborative of over 93 national and international organizations working together, on various levels, to mainstream this critical, 21st century educational and workforce development concept throughout every segment of society.

Known Issue: Off-Campus Access Through Chrome (Solved)

Some off-campus users have found that they cannot access our databases or ebooks when using Google's Chrome web browser. If you are having this problem, please switch to Firefox or Internet Explorer. We are working on a solution and will post an update when it has been fixed.

Update:
As of December 8, we have restored access through Chrome. If you are trying to use our e-resources from off-campus in Chrome, however, and are getting an error message about cookies, please contact us.

HALLOWEEN!

Some books to get you in the spooky spirit!

Halloween [electronic resource ebrary] : from pagan ritual to party night / Nicholas Rogers.

Halloween : an American holiday, an American history / Lesley Pratt Bannatyne

Pagan mysteries of halloween : celebrating the dark half of the year / by Jean Markale ; translated by Jon Graham.

Death makes a holiday : a cultural history of Halloween / David J. Skal.

Banned Books Week - SEC presentation

Join us on Thursday, Sept. 29th at noon in the SEC Student Center Auditorium (Rm. 9101) for a celebration of Banned Books Week (September 24 - October 1, 2011.) PIZZA will be served. Learn
about censorship and why books have been banned from libraries.

This is the thirtieth annual celebration of the freedom to read. This freedom, not only to choose what we read, but also to select from a full array of possibilities, is firmly rooted in the First Amendent to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
American Library Association

Banned Books Week Web Site

Be Brave! Visit your campus LRC, checkout and read a banned book. Just a few titles that are available:

To kill a mockingbird / Harper Lee
Catcher in the rye / J. D. Salinger
Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets / J.K. Rowling
Catch-22 : a novel / by Joseph Heller.

Come to the LRC for more recommendations!

I Need a Research Topic......Where do I go for Ideas?

Check some of our online databases for topic ideas:

CQ Researcher Online
Issues & Controversies
Points of View Reference Center





We have many sources and research guides that will help you choose a topic. The "Choose a Topic" tab in the Comp I Research Guide suggests:

• Select a topic that interests you


• Read some background information about your topic


• State your research topic as a single sentence or question - what are you trying to find out?


• Brainstorm keywords that describe your topic

September 11 Resources

Click on the book covers for info

Check out some of the the following links for information on 9/11. The 10-year anniversary is just next week. Links include ebooks, video, and info on traditional books available in you LRC's.

Internet Archive - Understanding 9/11 - a Television News Archive

"A website featuring a wide selection of archived television programming from that fateful day and its aftermath. The collection of DVD-quality video footage starts at 8 a.m. EDT on September 11, 2001 - less than an hour before the first plane hit the World Trade Center in New York City - and ends at 9 p.m. on September 17. The resource features 3000 hours of footage from 20 channels around the world, including CNN; the BBC; affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox; and networks from China, Russia, and Mexico, among others."

from David Rapp's Library Journal Blog

Free ebooks from ebrary - 9/11 Searcheable Information Center

Do you have the textbook for my class?

Search the LRC Course Reserves to see if we have a copy of your class textbook. We do not have all the required textbooks, but we do have many textbooks for the core classes.
Students may check out textbooks for up to 2 hours for use inside the LRC. A student ID is required for textbook use.

New Books

We've got new books! Look out for these titles, and many more, coming to an LRC near you sometime this summer:

As we get them cataloged and shelved, we'll post some highlights here.

ZOMBIES! Escape to the LRC

Remember, if zombies start to bother you on campus, you can always escape to your local LRC. Just make sure that you close the door behind you. LRC staff members have been trained in zombie defense and we have the necessary first aid supplies, in case you don't quite make it.

If zombies do manage to enter the LRC, we have library supplies (large staplers and tape dispensers) that will double as weapons. We also have some super-sized print materials (remember books) that could do some significant damage. E-books are not as helpful, in this case.

If you are interested in reading more about zombies, see the following:

Zombie Movies the Ultimate Guide

My Mama Says There Aren't Any Zombies, Ghosts, Vampires, Creatures, Demons, Monsters, Fiends, Goblins, or Things

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

World War Z: an Oral History of the Zombie War

Tracking the Man-Beasts

Assignment Time Calculator

You have been assigned a research paper and have no idea where to start! Check out our Assignment Time Calculator via the LRC webpage under Research Help.

Tulsa City County Library Resources

Did you know that anyone living, working or going to school in Tulsa County is eligible for a Tulsa City-County Library card? TCCL provides a whole bunch of resources that may be helpful to you for school, work or leisure:

• Nearly 1.75 million cataloged holdings, including books, DVDs and CDs, which can be delivered to the branch closest to you for pick-up
• Downloadable ebooks and audiobooks from OverDrive
• Electronic reference databases like the American Indian Experience and Auto Repair Reference Center
• Other research databases like Access Business News and Index to Current Urban Documents
• Test preparation materials and software tutorials from Learning Express, and foreign language learning help from Mango Languages
• Lots more! Check out their full list of databases here: http://tulsalibrary.org/research/onlinedatabases.asp

Looking for a good book to read this summer? Not only do they have an amazing fiction collection, they have special resources to help you find that perfect book:

• NoveList
• Your Next Great Read
• Various book blogs and book lists

When Blackboard is acting funny or something else has caused your access to the LRC's electronic resources to malfunction, head over to TCCL's website for access to Issues and Controversies, Literature Criticism Online and many EbscoHost databases like Academic Search Premier and Business Source Premier.  You will need to sign up for a card before you can use their resources; for more information, see individual branch hours and card FAQs.

Note: Because of TCC's firewall, some of TCCL's databases may not be accessible on campus. If there is one you'd like to use but can't, please let us know. As always, you can call us, chat online with us, email us, or stop by any of our four locations.

Intersession and Summer Hours for LRC

Intersession Hours (when classes are not in session)
Beginning May 9-July 31, 2011
TCC is closed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday

First Intersession May 9-June 3, 2011

West LRC is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Thursday
Southeast and Metro LRCs are open 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday thru Thursday
Northeast LRC is open 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday thru Thursday

Second Intersession August 1-19, 2011
LRCs are open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday

Summer Hours
June 4th-July 29th, 2011

LRCs are open Monday thru Thursday

Southeast Campus: 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
West Campus: 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Metro Campus: 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Northeast Campus: 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Congratulations Graduates!

The LRC would like to congratulate all new graduates. May you continue to be life-long learners.

New E-Resources!

The TCC libraries recently set up access to two new electronic databases, CAMIO and ArchiveGrid.

CAMIO is a database of art images, much like ArtStor.. There are nearly 100,000 images included from museums all around the world. Some of the contributers are the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D.C., and the Dallas Museum of Art.

ArchiveGrid is an online catalog of museum, historical society, university and library archives across the United States. Unfortunately, you can't actually access the material in the archives, but you can see where items can be found and learn more about what is in each archive; check out the record for the David L. Boren archives kept at the University of Oklahoma. Other participating archives include the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Vatican Secret Archives!

LRC Website Survey

The LRC got some wonderful responses to our survey in the fall, and now we want to know more! We've set up a survey to find out what our students, faculty and staff think about our website. If you like it, if you don't like it, if you have suggestions for how to make it better, please let us know! You can take the survey here. If you have any questions, stop by your local LRC or call (918) 595-7705.

Thank you!

Poem in Your Pocket Day, Thursday, April 14

Poem in Your Pocket Day, April 14

Make a copy of your favorite poem

download a poem from the National Poem in Your Pocket website

pick up a poem at any LRC Reference Desk

or

download poetry to your iPhone (free app--PoemFlow at iTunes Store)

On April 14, carry your favorite poem with you and share it .

Come to the live open poetry reading

April 14, noon, at the Student Commons,

Metro Campus Student Union

National Library Week April 10-16

Public, school, academic and special libraries help millions of Americans begin the next chapter in their lives every day. National Library Week is April 10-16. Celebrate today by visiting your library - in person or online and create your own story @ your library.

Visit the TCC LRCs online

"Kim Monday" Monday, April 11

Send an instant message with a research or library-related question to LRC Virtual Librarian Kim Monday via our webpage or contact her on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter.

Newspapers Update

As of March 28, 2011, the New York Times introduced a new access model for their website. Users who wish to view more than 20 articles a month will be asked to subscribe to one of a variety of plans. And, the Tulsa World began a similar plan today, with a limit of 10 articles per user per month without a subscription. They join an increasing number of newspapers turning to digital subscriptions to keep their revenue up.

But do not lose hope! The LRC has subscriptions to both papers through our article databases. Find the New York Times (and the Wall Street Journal, which has always required subscriptions) in ProQuest Newspapers, and the Tulsa World in Newsbank and in EbscoHost. The LRCs at all four campuses subscribe to the print edition of the Tulsa World, and the Metro Campus LRC and the Southeast Campus LRC subscribe to the New York Times as well.

To find more local, national and international newspapers, check out this list on our website.

iPad Apps for School and Work

Are you the proud owner of a shiny new iPad? Need some useful apps for school or work? Here are some of my favorites:

For keeping up with the blogs I read, I've been using Flipboard and Pulse News, which download blog content and display it so it's easier to read on the iPad. For my personal blogging, I use the Wordpress app to blog on the go. It doesn't have as many functions as their web-based version, and I've noticed a few bugs, but altogether, it's quite easy to use and works well for my purposes.

For reading ebooks, I like iBooks alright; its support for PDFs is fantastic, but it can't read ebooks that I check out from the public library. To read those, I use Bluefire Reader and Overdrive for iPad. Both of those work well, and you can download books straight from TCCL using Overdrive. I also have used Kindle for iPad and Google Books for iPad, which let me read books I've bought from the Amazon or Google book stores, respectively.

For writing notes during meetings and for accessing important files away from my computer, I use Dropbox and PlainText. Dropbox is an online file-storage service (up to 2gigs of storage space is free), and they have an app that lets you view all your saved documents. PlainText syncs with Dropbox and lets you type basic documents on your iPad. It has an attractive interface, and I use it all the time, even though it doesn't have any of the formatting that you'd be used to with MS Word or other word processing software (bold or italic text, columns, bullets, different fonts or font sizes, etc.). I have downloaded Pages, but I wasn't a huge fan; it seemed slow to load to me, and I didn't like the interface.

I think my favorite app of all time has got to be Wunderlist, a free, super easy-to-use to do list app. You can create different categories of lists (home, school, work, etc.) and access and edit your lists from the app on your iPad or iPhone, through a program on your home PC or Mac, or from a web-browser on any other computer. You can mark important items, set deadlines and notifications, add text notes, and share lists with other people. From the web-based version, you can print or email a list. It also keeps all the items you've checked off your list, in case you need to go back and congratulate yourself on what you've accomplished. On top of its functions, the interface is beautiful.

A couple of other apps I use less frequently, but still quite like, are Wolfram Alpha and IMDb (reference on the go), PCalc Lite (a basic calculator), PS Express and Adobe Ideas by Adobe (simple photo-editing and drawing apps), and Scrabble for iPad (to play with Facebook friends during my lunchbreak).

Finally, although it isn't an app, one of the things I've found most useful is having a wireless keyboard. The on-screen keyboard isn't terrible for writing quick notes, but for extended typing, an external keyboard is great. Together, the iPad and keyboard are still lighter than most laptops, and I can bring them to meetings and take my notes easily.

Have a great app that helps you stay productive? Please share!

Vote for Space Shuttle in Tulsa

The Tulsa Air & Space Museum is among 29 institutions nationwide competing to be a final destination for the retired space shuttles, the Enterprise, Atlantis or Endeavor. This article link will let you vote for Tulsa and bring a space shuttle to our area. Encourage your friends to vote!

http://www.spacetimesnews.com/news/2011/mar/27/space-shuttles-retitrement-fuels-rivalry-among-exhi

Stitch Niche NEC LRC

STITCH NICHE

Every Tuesday

from 12:30 to 1:30 pm

in the NEC Learning Resources Center

(LRC a.k.a. the Library)

Come knit with us!

Instruction and supplies are

provided for FREE!

Social Security 101

Social Security 101: What's in it for me?
March 10, 2 pm

Film & Lecture Room (near the book store)
TCC Metro Campus

A live webinar for young adults (ages 18-24) that will explore how Social Security is relevant to
college students and young workers--including how Social Security is funded and an explanation
of the FICA tax.

The webinar will also offer tips on saving and planning for a secure financial future.
Enjoy some free popcorn.

Sponsored by the TCC Learning Resources Center

Eyes of the Overworld - Book Review

Eyes of the Overworld: Reading about the adventures of one of fantasy’s greatest rascals.

Fantasy is full of picaros; rascally protagonists that are just as likely to steal the king’s treasure as he is to rescue the King’s daughter. Fritz Leiber’s Grey Mouser and Fafhrd come to mind. None however, are as charming and irredeemable as Cugel the self-proclaimed "Clever" in Jack Vance’s Eyes of the Overworld.

Eyes of the Overworld is set in the distant future where science has given away to occult superstition and the earth’s bloated red sun hangs in the sky like a piece of rotten fruit ready to drop form the vine. In light of earth’s soon to be demise, most people just go about the business of self-gratification. Cugel is a master at this. He is a lazy, untrustworthy, rakish, lecherous, greedy, and impish rogue. Unfortunately for him, he gets caught stealing from a powerful magician and is coerced into performing a task that takes Cugel to the far side of the world. He must use his wits and natural talents (which are fairly base) to return to the wizard and free himself from his service.

Reading about Cugel’s adventures while he accomplishes his task is a beautiful train wreck. Time after time he surprises the reader with his selfish behavior and turns advantage against him. And as bad as Cugel gets, I can’t help but read on. Much of this is a result of Jack Vance’s masterful use of baroque language. Jack Vance weaves a tapestry of obscure words and vivid descriptions that keep the reader ensorcelled. He introduces language in such a way that not only does the willing of suspension of disbelief remain unbroken, but context offers clues to even the most archaic of terms and keeps the reader from running for his dictionary.
This book is a timeless classic of fantasy, and has inspired legions; Gary Gygax, George R. R. Martin and Neil Gaiman to name a few. If you are interested in getting back to popular fantasy roots, reading something that isn’t a pastiche of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, and like scoundrels, this book is for you!

Adam Brennan

LRC Floater

TCC's Online Writing Lab

At the beginning of last semester, the campus Writing Centers debuted the Online Writing Lab, a place where students can go to get help with English mechanics, like grammar and punctuation, and all the steps of the writing process, including research, drafting, revising, and documentation.

One of the highlights of the OWL are the tutorials; check out the tutorial on diction, for example, to learn more about when to use Standard American English, and when to use colloquial or informal English. There are examples of good word choices for different situations, quizzes to test your understanding, and videos and images to illustrate concepts.

There are also handouts and presentations on common questions and problems, plus links to high-quality outside sources that can help you. And, the Writing Centers plan on adding even more content over the next few semesters, so be sure to check back regularly to see what they can do for you!

Laptops are now available @ Southeast Campus LRC

Hello everyone,

This is a busy time of the semester and we are here to help. We now have laptops available for use in the LRC. So if you need to work on an assignment and all of the computers are full, just ask at the desk and we will help you checkout a laptop.Don't forget, you can also go to the computer lab which is located in room 4231 to work on assignments.

New Books!

China in the 21st century : what everyone needs to know / Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom.
Wasserstrom, Jeffrey N.
2010.
DS779.4 .W37 2010
available at one location, West Campus Circulation

Haunting of America : from the Salem witch trials to Harry Houdini /
William J. Birnes and Joel Martin ; foreword by George Noory.
Birnes, William J.
2009.
BF1028.5.U5 B57 2009
available at one location, West Campus Circulation

Dancing people : powwow culture on the southern Plains / Clyde Ellis.
Ellis, Clyde, 1958-
c2003.
E98.P86 E55 2003
available at one location, West Campus Circulation


Look me in the eye : my life with Asperger's / John Elder Robison.
Robison, John Elder.
c2008.
RC553.A88 R635 2008
available at one location, West Campus Circulation








Occult America : the secret history of how mysticism shaped our nation / Mitch Horowitz.
Horowitz, Mitch.
c2009.
BF1434.U6 H67 2009
available at one location, West Campus Circulation

Phase I Remodel is Complete at Southeast Campus

Welcome back students,
As the Spring semester gets started, make sure you visit the Southeast Campus LRC. We have made several improvements that have given the area a more light and open appearance. We have also combined our service desks to one area, so there will always been plenty of staff available to assist you. Stop by and check it out,we think you will like it. Also feel free to offer suggestions on changes that you would like to see as we continue with our improvements.

Need a Video?

Need a video? The LRC has you covered.

Multimedia is an ongoing and growing component of higher education. At TCC, every classroom is equipped to be able to show video, stream internet content or use (Gasp!) the venerable and near retired VHS cassette tape and its seemingly soon-to-be companion, the DVD. Multimedia heavy curriculum such as film studies are flourishing semester after semester.

The LRC has developed an online video scheduling form as a new way instructors may acquire the materials that they need for class. This new online form does not replace the previous methods of scheduling videos (namely, calling the department on the phone or dropping in and scheduling the materials in person), but compliments existing forms of scheduling.

If you are an instructor and you wish to try the new form for yourself, please give it a try! You can find the link to the form under the faculty tab. You will still need to know the title and barcode number of the video you want to schedule in advance. The barcode number can be found on the record page of the video you wish to schedule in the library catalog: (http://lrc.tulsacc.edu/vwebv/searchBasic ).

Have a great semester, and happy viewing!

Adam Brennan
LRC Floater