Library Closed for Semester Break

SWC Libraries are closed May 19 - June 3. Summer hours begin Monday, June 4.

Summer - SWC Libraries Are Open

Summer Hours: June 4-August 2, 2012

Main Campus Library
Monday & Wednesday: 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday & Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Higher Education Center at National City - Librarian Available
Monday: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Thursday: 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.


Higher Education Center at Otay Mesa - Librarian Available
Monday: 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday & Wednesday 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.


Higher Education Center at San Ysidro - Librarian Available
Monday & Tuesday: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday & Thursday: 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m

SWC Libraries will be closed for the Semester Break: May 19 - June 3, 2012.

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When is my final?

Spring Semester Finals Schedule

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Access our live-chat service -- available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. You can receive online research or reference assistance from a Southwestern College librarian or another academic librarian.

Cinco de Mayo

"Cinco de Mayo is widely celebrated in the U.S. – hey, it’s a good excuse to have some chips and salsa, along with a margarita, right? But what is celebrated on this holiday?

On May 5, 1862, a French army approached the city of Puebla, Mexico, with intentions of overcoming its defenders and ultimately colonizing Mexico for the emperor Napoleon III of France. An army of guerrilleros under the command of Ignacio Zaragoza, a native of Goliad, Texas, stood between the invaders and their plans. Using proven European tactics of artillery barrages and frontal assaults, the French launched repeated attacks on the fortified city. But the Mexicans held their ground, and the French retreated. Thenceforth, the day of this epic showdown came to be observed as the Cinco de Mayo, both in Mexico and in Greater Mexico, the area in the United States where people of Mexican origin reside

Up until about the 1920s, the Cinco de Mayo celebrations served Mexican-origin residents with a private space and time wherein they reaffirmed their identity as Mexicanos. People recalled their years in the homeland and exalted Mexico for its valiant men and women. The revelers genuinely celebrated their affinity to Cinco de Mayo patriots such as Ignacio Zaragoza and to other heroes like Miguel Hidalgo and Benito Juárez. In segregated zones they proclaimed their pride via open-air oratory, declamations, and recitation of poetry. They dressed up in the native fashions of the homeland, played Mexican music, and sold and bought Mexican foods and delicacies

Historically, the Cinco de Mayo observations have served other functions in Latina and Latino communities across the United States. As a leisure activity, the Cinco de Mayo commemoration offered a respite, or at least a distraction, from the onus of everyday life. As a group spectacle, it became a force for community solidarity. It rallied folks behind shared goals such as financing, with scant nickels and dimes, the cost of the celebration. The Cinco de Mayo anniversary further acted to reinforce the leadership roles of the fiesta coordinators. Common people anointed these organizers as community spokespersons and endorsed them as intermediaries to bring colonial problems to the attention of city hall bureaucrats. Up until the mid-twentieth century, for instance, it was men and women closely identified with Cinco de Mayo and other community affairs who succeeded, however modestly, in getting school boards to attend to special needs of students or local companies to donate to one barrio cause or another

The celebrations became more culturally inclusive during the early decades of the twentieth century. Anglo municipal leaders recognized their potential for serving a larger purpose: the fiestas generated revenue for the city through hall rental fees, and they presented the opportunity for a bit of political campaigning. Young Latinas and Latinos undergoing increasing Americanization by then demanded modernization as well. By the 1920s, some of the new American dance crazes had infiltrated the ceremonies. By World War II the Cinco de Mayo celebrations provided the occasion for selling war bonds, and by the 1950s they had become ideal times for raising scholarship monies. In the early twenty-first century the Cinco de Mayo celebrations serve the original purpose of accentuating the celebrants' dual culture, while inculcating lessons of the past to an increasingly Americanized generation."

Arnoldo De León "Cinco de Mayo" The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States . Suzanne Oboler and Deena J. González. © 2005 Oxford University Press, Inc.. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States : (e-reference edition). Oxford University Press. Southwestern College (CA). 27 April 2012 http://www.oxford-latinos.com/entry?entry=t199.e155

To access this resource from off-campus, use the current semester's passwords.

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Register to Vote

Want to register to vote? Visit the San Diego County, Registrar of Voters site.

You Can Register to Vote in California, if you are: 
•A U.S. Citizen
•A California Resident
•At least 18 years of age on or before the next election
•Not in prison or on parole for a felony conviction
•Not declared mentally incompetent by court action

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Is it a Reliable Website?

Here is a checklist of five things to evaluate about a website when determining if it is a reliable, credible, and accurate source of information.

1. Authority

• Is the author a qualified expert in the field?
• What is her/his occupation, position, education, experience?
• What are her/his credentials?
• Who endorsed or published the information?

2. Objectivity

• What is the purpose of publication? Does the material inform? Explain? Persuade?
• Are assumptions, personal bias and opinions clearly stated?
• Is information presented in a clear and reasonable fashion?
• Are conclusions supported by facts?
• Is the site supported by advertising or run by a business?
• Is the author affiliated with particular organizations, institutions, or associations?

3. Accuracy

• What were the author's sources?
• Was the work peer reviewed and/or edited?
• Is the work free of grammatical and typographical errors?
• Do facts and conclusions check out with other reputable sources?

4. Currency

• When was the work written and published?
• Are the author's sources up-to-date?
• Has the information been updated or revised?
• Is there provision for corrective feedback to the author?

5. Scope

• Is it clear what topics are covered?
• Are they covered in sufficient depth?
• What is their relevance to your research? 

Evaluating Information on the Internet
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May Day

Maypole

May 1 - May Day

Happy Spring!
"Many of the customs associated with the first day of May may come from the old Roman Floralia, or festival of flowers. These include the gathering of branches and flowers on May Day Eve or early May Day morning, the choosing and crowning of a May Queen, and dancing around a bush, tree, or decorated pole, the maypole. The sports and festivities that are held on this day symbolize the rebirth of nature as well as human fertility."

Bringing in the May - American Folklife Center -- Jennifer Cutting, Folklife Specialist at the Library of Congress, describes and displays some of the folk traditions surrounding May Day (Day 1) and the spring season in Britain and the United States.

International Workers' Day
"In Great Britain, May 1 is Labor Day. More than 50 other countries also celebrate Labor Day in honor of workers on May 1."

Today's news: "May Day Rallies Held Around the World." Tens of thousands of workers are taking to the streets in cities around the world to mark International Workers' Day with marches and calls for higher pay and better working conditions.

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Source: "May Day." Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary. Detroit: Omnigraphics, Inc., 2010. Credo Reference. Web. 01 May 2012. Accessible via the Library's Articles and Databases page.