Darwin and Women's History

Currently featured displays in the Library:

Charles Darwin

February 12th marked the anniversary of the birth of English naturalist, Charles Darwin. In honor of his contributions to science, books written by and about Darwin are on display on the third floor of the Library.

Women's History Month

Women's History Month can be traced back to March 8, 1857. A display of interesting facts, suggested useful resources, and books about women's suffrage, the Women's Rights Movement, and their struggle for equality throughout history are currently on display on the third floor of the Library.

You could win $250

You could win $250 in the essay contest!

Once again the Friends of the SWC Library/LRC are sponsoring an essay contest for currently-enrolled SWC students. There will be two prizes of $250 each.

The essay prompt is based on this year's College Book, Motorcycle Ride on the Sea of Tranquility by Patricia Santana:


Choose a character from Motorcycle Ride on the Sea of Tranquility and explain to what extent you find the character likeable. Explain which elements of the character’s personality and actions appeal to you in some way, which elements are less appealing to you, and the reasons you reacted that way to the character. Give examples from the book to illustrate your point of view.

The essay must be the student's original work, submitted electronically to essaycontest@swccd.edu before 4 p.m. on Monday, March 16, 2009. Late entries will not be accepted. Prizes will be given at the Student Awards Ceremony in May.

The essay must be at least one page but no more than three pages, double-spaced and will be judged on originality of thought, clarity of expression, and how well it answers the prompt. A separate page (not counted as one of the three maximum) must give the writer's name, SWC ID#, address, email address, and telephone number. This page will be separated from the essay and a code assigned so that the judges will not know the identity of the writer. No identifiers (name, ID #, etc.) are to appear in the essay itself.

The Library owns several Reserve copies of this book that may be checked out for 7 days.

Questions? Call Diane Gustafson in the Library, 482-6433, or email dgustafson@swccd.edu.

ARTstor: Magnum Images

Now available in ARTstor is the Magnum Photos collection. This collection of more than 73,000 high-quality photographs of major world events and personalities.


This collection relates to courses of study across the arts, humanities, social sciences, and beyond. This collection provides access to high-quality photographs from around the world, covering industry, society and people, places of interest, politics, news events, disasters and conflict, from the late 1930s to the present day. From the Spanish Civil War to the Gulf War, from Marilyn Monroe to Paul Newman, from John Updike to Toni Morrison, from Christian Dior to Oscar de la Renta, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the crisis in Chechnya, these images capture wars, celebrities, authors, fashion designers, and defining moments in our shared history.

To view the Magnum Image collection: go to the ARTstor Digital Library, browse by collection, and click "Magnum Photos." Or search the keywords: "magnum photos"

To view ARTstor from off campus locations you need to create an ARTstor account at http://www.artstor.org/ from any on campus computer.

This Week in CQ Researcher

Public-Works Projects by Marcia Clemmitt, February 20, 2009


Do they stimulate the economy more than tax cuts?


To battle the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt put millions of unemployed Americans to work on New Deal projects such as repairing roads and building cabins in national parks. To stimulate today’s ailing economy, Congress has enacted a $787 billion package that includes tax cuts and spending on infrastructure, including expanding highway and rail systems and weatherizing buildings. But many conservatives argue that government spending does not create jobs and merely diverts money from the private sector, which they call the only true engine of job creation.

• Will federal spending on public works create jobs?
  
• Does infrastructure construction strengthen the economy?
  
• Is the Democratic public-works spending plan too big?

To read this article and others visit our Articles and Databases webpage and click on CQ Researcher. Select the Remote Access link for information on how to access this resource from off campus locations.

Energy Saving Online Websites

Here is a list of useful energy saving and carbon footprint sites from the Reference Warehouse Series.

• U.S. Department of Energy: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/calculators/ They have a whole list of calculators for homes, buildings, vehicles, and industry. Good lists.




• Home Energy Saver: http://hes.lbl.gov/ Created by Lawrence Berkeley Labs, creates a local and customized recommendations list about home energy consumption (can be used for a business too, though some questions won’t apply).




• The Building Life-Cycle Cost Program: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/information/download_blcc.html BLCC 5.3-08 is a program from National Institute of Standards and Technology to provide computational support for energy-usage analysis of capital investments in buildings.



• Personal Emissions Calculator: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/calculator/ind_calculator.html From the EPA, this site calculates, based on individual and local information, the environmental cost of personal, driving, household, and business electricity usage.



• General Electrical Energy Cost Calculator: http://www.csgnetwork.com/elecenergycalcs.html From a random free calculator site, this will give you the exact cost for the use of lighting, appliances, personal items, and other things based on the type and hours used. Really, really detailed.



• Carbon Footprint Calculator: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator1.html The original calculator, with sections for home or business.



• Energy Guide’s Carbon Footprint Calculator: https://www.energyguide.com/ Detailed, easy to use, and suggests ways of reducing consumption as well.



• Nature Conservancy’s Carbon Footprint Calculator: http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/ Allows you to calculate for only yourself or your whole household. Includes cross-links to informational pages and ways to save energy.



• An Inconvenient Truth’s Carbon Footprint Calculator: http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/ A simplified calculator from the popular Al Gore documentary.



• Power Score Card: http://www.powerscorecard.org/reduce_energy.cfm Twenty things to do to reduce energy consumption.



• 365 Ways to Save Energy: http://www.savewithces.com/365in2008.html A lengthy, and good, list from Carroll Energy Solutions



• EnergyQuest’s Saving Energy Page: http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/saving_energy/index.html Geared toward middle and high schoolers, this page lists many ways to save energy, though some of the links are out of date (so just ignore that part).



• Alliance to Save Energy: http://www.ase.org/section/_audience/consumers This is the section for consumers – filled with info on tax credits, energy-saving tips, and more. There are also sections for educators and others.
  

Library Closed for President's Day Weekend

The Library is closed February 13-16 in commemoration of President's Day.

Regular hours resume on Tuesday, February 17.

For assistance when the Library is not open, contact our Ask Us Now - Online Reference Chat service. This live-chat service is available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. You will receive online research or reference assistance from a Southwestern College or another academic librarian.

Got a Question? Need an Answer?

Try our Online Reference Chat Service
Real People - Real Help - Real Fast

24 hours a day, 7 days a week
http://www.swccd.edu/~library/ask.htm

You could win $250

You could win $250 in the essay contest!
Once again the Friends of the SWC Library/LRC are sponsoring an essay contest for currently-enrolled SWC students. There will be two prizes of $250 each.

The essay prompt is based on this year's College Book, Motorcycle Ride on the Sea of Tranquility by Patricia Santana:

Choose a character from Motorcycle Ride on the Sea of Tranquility and explain to what extent you find the character likeable. Explain which elements of the character’s personality and actions appeal to you in some way, which elements are less appealing to you, and the reasons you reacted that way to the character. Give examples from the book to illustrate your point of view.

The essay must be the student's original work, submitted electronically to essaycontest@swccd.edu before 4 p.m. on Monday, March 16, 2009. Late entries will not be accepted. Prizes will be given at the Student Awards Ceremony in May.

The essay must be at least one page but no more than three pages, double-spaced and will be judged on originality of thought, clarity of expression, and how well it answers the prompt. A separate page (not counted as one of the three maximum) must give the writer's name, SWC ID#, address, email address, and telephone number. This page will be separated from the essay and a code assigned so that the judges will not know the identity of the writer. No identifiers (name, ID #, etc.) are to appear in the essay itself.

The Library owns several Reserve copies of this book that may be checked out for 7 days.

Questions? Call Diane Gustafson in the Library, 482-6433, or email dgustafson@swccd.edu.

New Online Resource: Science Online

Southwestern College students and staff now have electronic access to Science, one of the leading peer-reviewed journals in its field.

Science Online includes full text news stories, research reports and commentary articles. The resource is also enhanced with web links, multimedia and includes access to Science journal articles from 1997 to present.

You can access Science Online from both on and off campus locations. Visit our Articles and Databases website to access Science Online.

ARTstor: the Eugene James Martin Collection

Now available 200 images of the works by African American artist Eugene James Martin in the ARTstor Digital Library. These abstract works represented in ARTstor include paintings on canvas, mixed media collages, and pencil, pen, and ink drawings.

Eugene James Martin's artwork spans the 1960s through 2004, this collection is an excellent teaching and research vehicle to illustrate and assess the major artistic tendencies and influences that have taken place in Modern and Contemporary Visual Art. Mr Martin's works of art can be found in numerous private collections and museum permanent collections, including the Munich Museum of Modern Art, the Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and many others in the United States.

To view the Eugene James Martin collection: go to the ARTstor Digital Library, browse by collection, and click "Eugene James Martin." Or search the keywords: "eugene james martin"

To view ARTstor from off campus locations you need to create an ARTstor account at http://www.artstor.org/ from any on campus computer.

Check it out

Vibrational Communication in Animals
Author: Peggy S.M. Hill
Call #: New Books QL 776 H55 2008
Reviewer: Sidney Laramie, SWC Librarian

True or False?

1) Each banner-tailed kangaroo rat develops its own footdrumming pattern which it may change due to the drumming pattern of a “new neighbor.”

2) Many spiders use their webs for not only catching prey but to “…supply information about prey caught in the web, as well as to keep track of young and to send and receive courtship signals…”

3) Some treehoppers use vibrations to communicate to up to 80 siblings that they have found a new source of food.

In the technical but fascinating book, Vibrational Communication in Animals, Hill summarizes research done on vibrational communication in animals. She explains how some animals accomplish this communication, discusses the complexities and frustrations of working in this field, and makes suggestions for future research.

Got a Question? Need an Answer?

Try our Online Reference Chat Service

Real People - Real Help - Real Fast
24 hours a day, 7 days a week

http://www.swccd.edu/~library/ask.htm

This Week in CQ Researcher

The Obama Presidency by Kenneth Jost, January 30, 2009


Can Barack Obama deliver the change he promises?

As the 44th president of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama confronts a set of challenges more daunting perhaps than any chief executive has faced since the Great Depression and World War II. At home, the nation is in the second year of a recession that Obama warns may get worse before the economy starts to improve. Abroad, he faces the task of withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq, reversing the deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan and trying to ease the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Still, Obama begins his four years in office with the biggest winning percentage of any president in 20 years and a strong Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. But he began encountering criticism and opposition from Republicans in his first days in office as he filled in the details of his campaign theme: “Change We Can Believe In.”

• Is President Obama on the right track in fixing the U.S. economy?
• Is President Obama on the right track in Iraq and Afghanistan?
• Is President Obama on the right track in winning support for his programs in Congress?

To read this article and others visit our Articles and Databases webpage and click on CQ Researcher. Select the Remote Access link for information on how to access this resource from off campus locations.