Check It Out

The Tyranny of E-mail: The Four-thousand-year Journey to your Inbox
By John Freeman
HE 7551 F74 2009

Concerned with information overload and the time-consuming work of keeping up with one’s inbox, award winning writer and book critic John Freeman takes a look at the history of communication. From a clay tablet—the earliest known letter—and the communication systems of early civilizations to the development of the United States Postal Service and the modern day e-mail, society has become increasingly focused on time and speed, causing people to become workaholics and increasingly isolated from each other. The author calls for readers to take their lives back from their inboxes by outlining several ways one can become more productive and efficient with their e-mail, including checking e-mail less, during specific times of the day, and using other forms of communication.

While the historical background and the effects of e-mail on modern life are selective and he does not address both sides of the issue, Freeman is able to effectively get his point across in a very concise manner. His recommendations for e-mail use will be helpful to anyone looking to become more efficient with their inboxes.

Check out The Tyranny of E-mail: The Four-thousand-year Journey to your Inbox, available now in the library.

Library Book Sale

Have you browsed our Book Sale lately?

Some of the items currently for sale include computer programming books, math books, math books for computer programmers, math puzzles, and some pretty heavy web and graphic design tomes. All for the unbelievable price of 50 cents (hardcover) or 25 cents (paperback) each! Sometimes you can find older editions of your textbooks – a great bargain for the cash-strapped and textbook needy! Keep an older edition at your house, and use the current edition at the Reserve desk for your assignments. Watch your grades climb higher. Amazing! New books are added regularly, so check back often.

FACTS.com: World News Digest

Read the latest cover story Regulating the Oil Industry: Environmental Oversight and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill in the Facts on File World News Digest database. The World News Digest is updated weekly and contains more than 1 million internal hyperlinks to information. It covers all major political, social, and economic events since November 1940.

To read about the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill in FACTS.com visit the library's website and select the Articles and Databases tab then locate the News section and select FACTS.com: World News Digest.

For information on how to access this information resource from off campus locations select the Off Campus Access link.

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

Gangs in the U.S.
by Alex Kingsbury, July 16, 2010

Are anti-gang efforts by law enforcement effective?

Violent-crime rates are near historic lows in the United States, but in many urban areas violent crime, particularly homicide, remains pervasive, largely due to street gangs. In some areas police blame 80 percent of all crime on gangs. This summer, during a single weekend in Chicago, 54 people were shot, nearly all because of gang violence. Meanwhile, spillover from Mexico’s violent narcotics trade is swamping U.S. law enforcement resources. The federal government estimates the U.S. gang population at 1 million, distributed across some 20,000 gangs. As the gangs grow larger, they merge and grow in strength, often overwhelming local and state police efforts. And a new study calls federal anti-gang efforts uncoordinated and ineffective.

Meanwhile, though studies have shown that prevention and counseling programs provide a greater return on public investments than crime-fighting efforts, police anti-gang efforts still get far greater financial support.

• Do law enforcement campaigns that target gangs reduce crime?
  
• Do illegal drugs cause gang violence?
  
• Has the nation’s gang threat been exaggerated?

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

As if an Enemy’s Country: The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of Revolution.
By Richard Archer
E 210 A73 2010

Focusing on the events leading up to the occupation of Boston by British troops and the Boston Massacre, professor of history emeritus, Richard Archer examines the causes of the American Revolution. Threats and clashes between government representatives, British troops, and Bostonians over the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townsend Act, and the occupation of Boston mounted, enviably causing the Boston Massacre and forever changing the city socially, economically, and politically. Along with similar feelings and transformations in other colonies and the uncompromising representatives on both sides of the Atlantic, the increasing tension eventually led to the colonists’ declaration for independence.

Although the author assumes the reader has basic knowledge of the era, he gives a concise and very thorough illustration of both sides of the events that occurred. Anyone interested in a detailed account of Boston’s participation in the American Revolution’s roots will find Archer’s work fascinating and informative.
Reviewed by Laura Yee, Library Intern, Southwestern College.

Check out As if an Enemy’s Country: The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of Revolution, available now in the library.

Oxford Art Online

Oxford Art Online offers an extensive and easily searchable online art resource , a virtual art reference library of biographies, art related subjects, and images that can be searched or browsed from on and off campus.

Here are a few selected updated subjects this month in Oxford Art Online

• Airports in the USA
  
• African American murals
  
• Patricia Johanson
  
• Edgar Heap of Birds
  
• Charles Alston
  
• Hollis Frampton
  
• Bay Area Figurative school
  
• Art Deco architecture in America
  
• Adeline Adams
  
• Appropriation art
  
• Harriet Powers
  
• Genre painting in American art
  

To access Oxford Art Online visit are Article and Databases website. Select the Off Campus Access link for information on how to access this resource from off campus locations.

Art Display in the Library

After you finish your research, take a moment to enjoy artwork by SWC students -- currently displayed on the second floor of the Library.

Students from Vallo Riberto's ART 107 and ART 108 classes created the works on display. The paintings include still-lifes and a number of other subjects.

Library hours
Library location
SWC art classes offered this fall

Check It Out

From immigrants to Americans : the rise and fall of fitting in
by Jacob L. Vigdor
New Book Shelf JV6450 .V54 2009

With the quadrupling of the immigrant population of the U.S. since the 1970s, with fears of Americans losing jobs, there has been much debate and study about changes in traditional ideas about the immigrant experience and the impact on American society. Jacob Vigdor's new book offers a detailed analysis of immigration to the U.S. from 1850 to 2007.

Although the modern American immigrant compares favorably to those of prior generations—more English speaking and higher skills—there is still a major division between those who come seeking assimilation and those who come seeking work, the latter more likely to be undocumented. The author analyzes the economic and political factors that have encouraged immigration and how immigration policies have influenced decisions by immigrants to assimilate or not. This is a fascinating look at immigration as Americans continue to ponder the relative merits of the melting pot versus the salad bowl.
Reviewed by Vernon Ford, Booklist 2/15/2010.

Check out From immigrants to Americans : the rise and fall of fitting in by Jacob Vigdor, available now in the library on the New Book Shelf JV6450 .V54 2009.

Check It Out

The marriage-go-round : the state of marriage and the family in America today
By Andrew J. Cherlin
HQ 535 C416 2009

Andrew J. Cherlin is Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Johns Hopkins University and in his new book he looks at the history of marriage in this country. Cherlin points out that Americans tend to both marry and divorce more than people in other countries, and that the United States is unique in the extent of governmental dedication to maintaining marriage.

This new title looks at recent developments regarding same-sex marriage, changes in family court decisions, and newer models of marriage and family life. The author also researches the tensions that arise as a result of Americans' high regard for marriage but also for self-expression and personal growth, which allows people to cast marriage aside easily. Cherlin calls his last chapter "Slow Down," counseling Americans to reflect more carefully on how to balance their sense of individuality with their expectations of the "fragile accomplishment" that is marriage.

Check out The marriage-go-round : the state of marriage and the family in America today by Andrew J Cherlin, available now in the library on the New Book Shelf HF5548.32 .M538 2009.

ARTstor: Yale University Art Gallery

The ARTstor Digital Image Library has partnered with the Yale University Art Gallery to share approximately 1,900 images from the Yale University permanent collection, with a particular focus on African art. The collection in ARTstor includes approximately 800 works of African art.

The remainder of the collection in the Digital Library includes works, divided among eleven curatorial departments: African Art, American Decorative Arts, American Paintings and Sculpture, Ancient Art, Art of the Ancient Americas, Asian Art, Coins and Medals, European Art, Indo-Pacific Art, Modern and Contemporary Art, and Prints, Drawings, and Photographs.

The Yale University Art Gallery, America's oldest and one of its most important university art museums, opened to the public in 1832. To view the Yale University Art Gallery collection: go to the ARTstor Digital Library, browse by collection, and click "Yale University Art Gallery". If you are on campus and have an ARTstor account, simply follow this link:
http://library.artstor.org/library/collection/yale_artgallery

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

Website: Choosing an e-Book Reader

An e-book device or e-reader, is an electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital books and periodicals.

The Online Tech Tips website http://www.online-tech-tips.com/gadgets/choose-an-e-book-reader/ provides some pro and cons regarding three major e-book products: Amazon's Kindle, Sony's Reader and Barnes and Noble's Nook.

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

New: Credo Reference

Credo Reference is an online reference service made up of full-text books from the world's best publishers. Whether you're working on a research paper, trying to win trivia or just curious, Credo Reference has something for you.
As easy to use as your favorite search site and fully citable in any research paper, Credo is the perfect place to get your research started.

Whether you are just starting your project, looking to add some interesting images to your final draft or building a bibliography, Credo Reference has something for you.

Credo Reference offers:

•Tools to quickly map your paper topic
•Citable sources for your bibliography
•Answers to your research questions
•Thousands and thousands of images, charts, graphs, diagrams and more


To access Credo Reference visit are Article and Databases website. Select the Off Campus Access link for information on how to access this resource from off campus locations.