Monday, September 28, 2009

H1N1 Influenza Information Resources

As public concern about Pandemic H1N1 and the upcoming flu season continues to grow, the medical and nursing editors from EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) are offering the latest evidence-based flu-related information available for free.

This free flu information resource is located at www.ebscohost.com/flu and will provide continually updated, evidence-based clinical information from DynaMed™ and Nursing Reference Center™, EBSCO’s clinical and nursing point-of-care databases, along with patient education information in 17 languages from Patient Education Reference Center™.

Other reliable sources of information about H1N1 flu are:

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/




Pandemic Flu: Individuals and Family Planning http://www.sdpandemicfacts.org/individuals.htm

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

This Week in CQ Researcher

Gays in the Military by Peter Katel,
September 18, 2009

Should the ban on homosexuals be lifted?

Political passions over the ban on open homosexuality in the U.S. military are stirring again. A new legislative fight on the issue may be headed for House and Senate hearings as early as this fall. Iraq War veteran Rep. Patrick J. Murphy, D-Pa., is proposing legislation to end sexuality-based discrimination in the armed forces.

Under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, gays and lesbians are barred from military service unless their orientation stays hidden. The policy was designed as a compromise to a 1993 call to lift the ban. Supporters of the policy say dropping it would degrade the “unit cohesion” that is critical to battlefield effectiveness.

Murphy and some other recent vets argue that most of today’s warriors don’t care about their comrades’ sexuality. In another element of political drama, some gay political activists are questioning President Barack Obama’s level of commitment to pushing for repeal, as he has promised to do.

  • Can military units function effectively with openly homosexual members?
  • Is the “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to differentiating sexual “orientation” from conduct a viable compromise?
  • Should the United States follow other countries’ examples and allow gays to serve openly in the military?


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

ARTstor: Buddhist art collection from Lantian, China

ARTstor is collaborating with Northwestern University Academic and Research Technologies to share 20 images, including 7 Quick Time Virtual Reality (QTVR) panoramas, documenting Buddhist sculpture at Shuilu'an Temple in Lantian, Shaanxi Province, China. The temple structure dates from the Tang Dynasty (c. 1000 CE) and the site is famous for its Ming Dynasty (c. 1500 CE) painted sculpture.

To view the Shuilu'an Temple (Northwestern University) collection: go to the ARTstor Digital Library, browse by collection, and click "Shuilu'an Temple (Northwestern University)" or enter the keyword search: "shuilu'an temple" or shuilu'an qtvr .

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

Friday, September 18, 2009

Don't Drown in an Ocean of Results

Try our Online Reference Chat Service

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Thursday, September 17, 2009

Check It Out

Shades of Difference: A History of Ethnicity in America by Richard Rees
Call no: New Book Shelf E 184 A1 R426 2007
Reviewer: Tanya Carr, SWC Librarian

Richard Reese, university teacher of literature, writing and American Studies, takes an in-depth look at the diverse "schools" from which the concept of ethnicity in America has derived throughout history. By analyzing works in sociology, anthropolopgy, critical whiteness studies, and literary and race theory he offers new perspectives on the difference between race and ethnicity and how they developed in relation to one another. This book provides a detailed history of how today's concepts of ethnicity and race have emerged.

Monday, September 14, 2009

This Week in CQ Researcher

State Budget Crisis by Alan Greenblatt, September 11, 2009

Are permanent changes in spending needed?

State budgets always fall out of balance during recessions, but in the current downturn states are facing the worst budget crunch since the Great Depression. Over the past two years, states have had to close budget gaps exceeding $300 billion. Many have raised taxes, but they’ve mainly dealt with the challenge by cutting spending. State workers are facing layoffs and unpaid furloughs. Social services, including health insurance for children, are being cut dramatically.

Even areas such as K-12 education and public safety are taking hits. The federal stimulus package included fiscal relief for states, but that money will soon run out. And states expect to face continuing problems. Their revenues will grow more slowly than they’ve come to expect over the past 30 years, leading some observers to wonder whether states have to make fundamental changes in the scope and scale of the services they provide.

  • Should states raise taxes?
  • Are public-sector workers’ benefits too generous?
  • Will the recession force states to make fundamental changes?
To read this article and others visit our Articles and Databases webpage and click on CQ Researcher. Select the Off Campus Access link for information on how to access this resource from off campus locations.

Check It Out


Occupational Outlook for Community College Students

Editors Richard M. Romano and Hirschel Kasper

Call Number New Book Shelf
LB 2328 .N4 v. 146

This new title in the Southwestern College library focuses on the trends in the labor markets most common to community college programming. It considers the long-run employment projections for programs in the fields of interest to community college students: health sciences, business, noncredit programs, protective services, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. A case study of California community colleges and an essay on the changing nature of transfer programs are also included.

Friday, September 11, 2009

ARTstor: Wilfried Wang Modern Architecture Collection

ARTstor has collaborated with the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin to distribute 458 images of modern European and American architecture, with a special focus on museum architecture. Architects represented include: Alvar Aalto, Frank Gehry, Louis Kahn,José Rafael Moneo,and Alvaro Siza. The images were digitized from slides housed in the School of Architecture's Visual Resources Collection and created by faculty member Wilfried Wang.

To view the Wilfried Wang: Modern Architecture (University of Texas at Austin) collection: go to the ARTstor Digital Library, browse by collection, and click "Wilfried Wang: Modern Architecture (University of Texas at Austin)" Or search the keywords: wang utexas.

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

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Check It Out

Garage to Gigs: A Musician's Guide

by Andrew Thomas
Call Number New Book Shelf ML3795 .T56 2008

Professional musician Andrew Thomas shows musicians the possibilities open to them at every stage of their careers: be in a cover band or write new songs; collaborate with other band members or back a star; the choices are wide open.

This book walks you through the steps of considering what kind of band to form or join, finding musicians or a band, auditioning musicians for your band or auditioning to join a band, recording a demo to get gigs and marketing your band to preparing and playing the gig.

Check it out today available on the library's New Book Shelf.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Newsbank Access World News

Need access to newspapers around the world? The Access World News online database features an intuitive, map-based interface that provides extensive newspaper coverage at any level—local, state, regional, national and international. When news breaks in small towns or large cities across the U.S. and around the globe, Access World News enables researchers to gain valuable local perspectives by zeroing in on the sources closest to the events.

Additionally, Access World News offers searchable news video clips and over a thousand international news sources from scores of countries on six continents, translated into English when written in other languages.

Visit our Articles and Databases webpage and click on Newsbank Access World News. Select the Off Campus Access link for information on how to access this resource from off campus locations.


Friday, September 04, 2009

September e-Book of the Month



by Guy L. Clifton, M.D Rutgers University Press, 2009

By 2018 Medicare and Medicaid will consume about one-third of the federal budget. American businesses now pay three times as much of their payroll for health care as global competitors, a figure that is expected to worsen as health care grows at twice the rate of the U.S. economy.

In Flatlined, Author Guy L. Clifton, M.D lifts the veil of secrecy on twenty-first century health care and delves into the realities of good people caught in a bad medical system. Arguing that a lack of coordinated care and quality medical practice benchmarks result in high levels of redundancy and ineffectiveness, Clifton proposes that the key to reducing health care costs, improving quality, and financially protecting the uninsured, is to reduce wastefulness, and offers a solution for achieving success.


Flatlined: Resuscitating American Medicine will be provided with free, unlimited access September 1-30, 2009.


If you have already established a NetLibrary account through Southwestern College Library, visit http://www.netlibrary.com/ and log in to read "Flatlined: Resuscitating American Medicine" or any of our other 20,000 electronic book titles from your home, work or any other off campus location.
If you do not have a NetLibrary account, you can create your own account from any computer on the Southwestern College campuses. Visit our NetLibrary information page .

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

This Week in CQ Researcher

Health-Care Reform by Marcia Clemmitt,
August 28, 2009


Is universal coverage too expensive?

For the first time in 15 years, health-care reform has moved to the top of Washington’s agenda. A new Democratic president and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate have declared two major goals: increase coverage to near-universal levels and stop the huge, annual cost increases that are gradually putting health care out of reach for small businesses and low-income families.

Most proposals would subsidize insurance for low-income Americans and create new, government-regulated insurance markets for those without employer-provided coverage. One controversial scheme would create a publicly run insurance plan and require individuals to buy coverage. Congressional Republicans and some Democrats argue, however, that the plan would be too expensive and would allow government to meddle too much in health care. And at angry town hall meetings in August, some even charged, incorrectly, that the arrangement would establish “death panels” that would deny treatment to elderly and disabled patients.


  • Could a single-payer health-care system work for America?
  • Should reform include a publicly run health insurance plan?
  • Would universal coverage be too expensive?


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