Have you seen the new Twilight movie?

What about Arthur Christmas or the new Marilyn Monroe movie -- My Week with Marilyn?

After watching these movies, you may be curious to know more about Robert Pattinson, Adam Sandler, or Marilyn Monroe. Or there might be other people of interest to you -- Michelle Obama, Anna Pavlova, Bob Marley, or Plato.

Whether it's a historical figure, a politician, a scientist, a musician, a dancer, a philosopher -- there are a million interesting people (literally!) that you can learn about in the library's Biography Resource Center database.

Look up a person by name, occupation, or nationality. You'll find a complete collection of information about them -- such as articles, book chapters, audio files, videos, websites, images, and more.

Access Biography Resource Center from off-campus with the current semester's passwords.

Have a question? Ask a Librarian!

Website of the Week

PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support) -- www.pawssdc.org

This is the website for the local branch of an organization, PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support)! The research is unanimous in its findings that companion animals are very therapeutic for elderly, disabled, chronically ill, isolated and vulnerable people. Humane societies and shelters often have programs where animals are taken to visit institutionalized people, but PAWS provides comprehensive services aimed at helping people who might not otherwise have the resources to be able to keep and maintain their animal companions. Volunteers deliver pet food and other supplies, provide veterinary care vouchers, offer in home services, and arrange transport to veterinary appointments. Currently nearly 700 low income San Diegans and their pets are being served by PAWS.

Have a question? Ask a Librarian!

Check it Out

Top 300 careers : your complete guidebook to major jobs in every field. Indianapolis, IN : JIST Works, c2010. 12th edition.
New Book Shelf HF5382.5.U5 A716 2010

"Explore hundreds of careers, assess your best career fit, and land a job fast with this extensive, authoritative resource. In one time-saving volume, job seekers and students find everything they need to research careers; learn about pay, outlook, education, and skills needed for about 300 jobs; match their personal skills to the jobs; and take seven steps to land a good job in less time. This book provides thorough, current, and interesting descriptions for all major jobs-covering about 90 percent of the workforce. A special book-within-a-book section by career and job search author Michael Farr describes the seven steps that cut job search time in half and includes sample resumes. An assessment matches your personal skills with the characteristics of the occupations described in the book. Green occupations are described in an exclusive section and included in the assessment."
(review from publisher)

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24 hours a day, 7 days a week

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ARTstor: Art History Topics

The ARTstor Digital Image Library has launched 25 "Art History Topics," curated image groups based on major subject areas in the history of art and architecture. Each topic includes dozens of images of seminal works taught in introductory-level art history courses. Subjects include "Prehistoric Art," "Gothic Art,' Modern Art: Europe and the Americas," "The International Scene, post-1945," "African Art," and "Islamic Art." On the ARTstor Digital Library Search page, click on Browse > Featured Groups.

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. Next time your on campus drop the library and create your ARTstor account

Check It Out

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul.

By Howard Schultz and Joanne Gordon.

New Book Shelf HD 9199 U54 S737 2011

"The author Howard Schultz is the founder and CEO of Starbucks, a company that began as a small Seattle distributor of coffee beans and ground coffee that he transformed into what it is today, inspired by the espresso shops he visited in Italy. Written with Joanne Gordon, a former Forbes writer and contributing editor, this account is a spotlight on the period of 2007–08, when the company lost some of its vision due to over expansion and the pressure to maintain unabated growth. Seeing that Starbucks was becoming a victim of its own success, Schultz returned to the CEO position after eight years away from overseeing daily operations of the company. He details the struggle to maintain the identity of Starbucks while attempting to branch out into areas such as music sales and hot food, facing competition and the over saturation that caused the company the painful closing of about 600 stores in 2008. This is one of those turnaround stories that illustrates that a company can overcome its growth pains by returning to its core principles."

-Booklist.

This book is available for four-week check out with your SWC photo ID card.

This Week in CQ Researcher

College Football by Kenneth Jost, Nov. 18, 2011

Is the drive for prestige and profit out of control?

College football, the nation’s third-most-popular spectator sport after pro football and baseball, has millions of devoted fans but also a growing number of critics who say the game has become a multibillion-dollar business increasingly in conflict with colleges’ core educational mission. Major football schools spend lavishly to field top teams and reap millions in revenues, but most colleges actually lose money on athletics overall. Players earn millions for schools and private companies but must shortchange academics because of demanding schedules.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is proposing changes to help players and tighten academic standards, but it has little power to control schools’ spending. Meanwhile, big-time football schools are jockeying for position in conference realignments. And the game drew more unwelcome attention with the firing of Penn State’s legendary head coach, Joe Paterno, in a child sex-abuse scandal involving a former assistant.

• Should academic standards be raised for college athletic teams?
• Should big-time college football players be better compensated financially?
• Should the BCS system be significantly changed?

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

Thanksgiving Hours

All SWC Libraries will be closed November 24 - 27 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

On Wednesday, November 23, SWC Libraries will be open limited hours:

• Main Campus Library closes at 4:30 pm
• Otay Mesa Campus Library closes at 5:00 pm
• San Ysidro Campus Library is closed
• National City Campus Library is closed

Have a question? Ask a Librarian!

Website of the Week

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine -- http://nccam.nih.gov/
Review by Ron Vess, SWC Library Faculty

“NCCAM defines CAM as a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of Western medicine.” The boundaries between CAM and conventional medicine are not absolute, and specific CAM practices may, over time, become widely accepted. Earlier this month there was a question about whether adding the supplement Milk Thistle is beneficial for a particular disorder. I used NCCAM and found it. Milk Thistle has been used for thousands of years for such ailments and other problems, who knew? In addition ongoing clinical trials were linked to the site and many other helpful aspects for the inquiring mind. All in all I find this a very informative site for alternative medicine and supplements; however it might lean a bit on cautionary side of medicine but one well worth investigating.

Have a question? Ask a Librarian!

College Book 2012 Results

The College Book for Spring 2012 will be The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

Thanks to all who participated in the College Book selection for this year: those who nominated books, those who read and assessed them, those who voted, and Pati Hinck who sent out the global emails.

Here are the results of the balloting:

• Art of Racing in the Rain 19 votes
• Book Thief 18
• Half Broke Horses 11
• Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks 39

The Library is acquiring and will place on 7-day Reserve six copies of Henrietta. They will be available by the beginning of Spring semester.

The following four people have won copies of Henrietta in a random drawing among those who voted for any of the four finalists. The winners are:

Freddie Ball
Sheila Hearvey
Thelma Llorens Corrao
Angelica Preciado

Diane Gustafson, Chair of the College Book Committee, will deliver the copies to the winners when the books have been received.

Between now and the beginning of Spring semester, Diane will create discussion questions, essay prompts, etc. based on Henrietta for as many disciplines as possible. If you have ideas for your discipline, contact Diane at dgustafson@swccd.edu.

E-books - Free for Students

Do your research from home! The Library provides access to a collection of over 25,000 e-books.

Go to: http://www.swccd.edu/~library/articles.htm and click on EBSCOhost e-books at Southwestern. Use the current semester's passwords to access e-books from off-campus.

Questions? Ask a Librarian!

This Week in CQ Researcher

Google’s Dominance by David Hatch, Nov. 11, 2011


Is the online-search giant too powerful?

The meteoric rise of Google in just 13 years has revolutionized the Internet. But competitors are growing wary as the Silicon Valley icon, known for its “Don’t Be Evil” motto, strengthens its dominance over online searching and advertising and rapidly expands into new areas. Up to 70 percent of online searches in the United States are conducted on Google, whose vast portfolio includes airline ticketing, comparison shopping, social networking and mobile-phone software. In addition, Google has proposed a $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a major manufacturer of wireless phones and other electronic devices.

Critics portray Google as a monopoly that leverages its power in order to bully rivals. Google strongly denies the accusations and counters that alternatives are one click away. Now, regulators in the United States and abroad are examining whether Google has run afoul of antitrust laws and should be reined in.

• Does Google wield too much control over the Internet?
  
• Does Google violate antitrust law through anticompetitive behavior?
  
• Should the federal government break Google into separate companies?
  

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


The Library Catalog is another great resource for locating information on this issue.

Website of the Week

Google Art Project - http://www.googleartproject.com

Once you have downloaded Google Earth the Google Art Project allows you to use Google Street Level View to walk through 17 museums and look at some of the works they hold. Each museum has one painting which can be viewed at a resolution higher than what the human eye can see on its own.

If you click on the “I” to the right of the “Visitor Guide” you can obtain more information on the work. This includes “Viewing Notes”, “Artist Information” and “More Works by the Artist”. The site also allows you to save your favorites in your own collection and to add comments to specific zoom levels. Tip: Check out “No Woman, No Cry” in high definition and also in the dark. (It’s in the Tate Britain.)

The very disappointing aspect of this site is that the primary search method is drop-down menus. You can only search for a painting if you know what museum it’s in.

The high resolution magnification here is greater than that in the Library's Artstor database.



Have a question? Ask a librarian!

Library Closed Friday and Saturday

In observance of Veterans' Day, the Library will be closed Friday (11/11) and Saturday (11/12). Regular hours resume Monday, 11/14.

Have a question? Ask a Librarian!

Photo: Human Statue of Liberty, 18,000 Officers and Men at Camp Dodge, Des Moines, Iowa. September, 1918

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

Website of the Week

Internet Archive - http://www.archive.org
Review by John Stanton, SWC Library Faculty

“Sherman, set the WABAC Machine for …” – Mr. Peabody, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show

In 1996 one of the early millionaires of the Internet, Brewster Kahle, created a non-profit organization called the Internet Archive. They have a staff of 200, most of whom are book scanners. The Archive has an annual budget of $10 million, is a member of the ALA and is recognized as a library in the state of California.

The Internet Archive has several initiatives. Their most famous project is the Wayback Machine which can be used to view website snapshots over the past 10-15 years. Another of their initiatives is Archive-It which can be used by institutions to create digital archives that are stored on their computers. They have an extensive repository of NASA images. Their most ambitious project is called the Open Library.

The Open Library’s goal is to build a web page for every book ever published and they want to make digital copies of books they have scanned available to the public through public libraries. "We're trying to build an integrated digital lending library of anything that is available anywhere, where you can go and find not just information about books, but also find the books themselves and borrow them," said Brewster Kahle, the founder and digital librarian of the Internet Archive.
With its latest project, the organization is making inroads into the idea of loaning in-copyright books to the masses. Only one person at a time will be allowed to check out a digital copy of an in-copyright book for two weeks. While on loan, the physical copy of the book won't be loaned, due to copyright restrictions.
More information can be found here: http://web.resourceshelf.com/go/resourceblog/59332

The most well-known feature of the Internet Archive is the Wayback Machine. This project is a three dimensional index of information found on the internet. Software robots "crawl" the Internet creating snapshots of information found, most notably websites. The size of the Internet Archive is measured in petabytes (thousands of terabytes) and located in with a backup in the Library of Alexandria. The Internet Archive provides snapshots of the Internet that are available for public viewing at archive.org.

Have a question? Ask a librarian!