Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween!




Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Website of the Week


Part of the Pew Research Center, this site has been doing surveys and tracking Internet related activities since 2000. They started with a 2000 survey on the general role of the Internet and e-mail in people’s lives and they’ve been at it ever since.

The site contains timely reports, surveys, data on the use of technology. Topics range from online dating to banking to video sharing to the digital divide. Topics/reports are highlighted on the main page and one can also browse their topic categories. The information is presented in accessible formats and oftentimes, eye catching graphics are included (they call them infographics), such as this one on online dating.

If you like to manipulate data to create your own reports, they also provide data sets. Additionally, they provide information on the experts who work on this site, providing short biographies and contact information for each individual. Topics often times go beyond Internet or link to other non-Internet activities. For example, check out their report book readership. And just to put a plug for libraries, they have a section especially devoted to library issues!

Review by Laura Galvan-Estrada, SWC Librarian

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Check It Out

by Guevarra, Rudy.
Rutgers University Press, c2012.

New Book Shelf:
F869.S22 G78 2012

"Becoming Mexipino is a social-historical interpretation of two ethnic groups, one Mexican, the other Filipino, whose paths led both groups to San Diego, California.

"Rudy Guevarra traces the earliest interactions of both groups with Spanish colonialism to illustrate how these historical ties and cultural bonds laid the foundation for what would become close inter-ethnic relationships and communities in twentieth-century San Diego as well as in other locales throughout California and the Pacific West Coast.

"Through racially restrictive covenants and other forms of discrimination, both groups, regardless of their differences, were confined to segregated living spaces along with African Americans, other Asian groups, and a few European immigrant clusters. Within these urban multiracial spaces, Mexicans and Filipinos coalesced to build a world of their own through family and kin networks, shared cultural practices, social organizations, and music and other forms of entertainment. They occupied the same living spaces, attended the same Catholic churches, and worked together creating labor cultures that reinforced their ties, often fostering marriages. Mexipino children, living simultaneously in two cultures, have forged a new identity for themselves. Their lives are the lens through which these two communities are examined, revealing the ways in which Mexicans and Filipinos interacted over generations to produce this distinct and instructive multiethnic experience.

"Using archival sources, oral histories, newspapers, and personal collections and photographs, Guevarra defines the niche that this particular group carved out for itself."

Description from publisher

Monday, October 28, 2013

Free Workshops on Primary Sources


PRIMARY SOURCES – What are they and how do you find them?

Tuesday, Oct. 29 -- 2 pm
Monday, Nov. 4 -- 5:30 pm
Tuesday, Nov. 5 -- 9 am
Wednesday, Nov 6 -- 11 am

All workshops are one hour long and are held in the SWC Library classroom, L-244. No need to sign up -- just be on time!

Friday, October 25, 2013

Saturday? We're open!


The Main Campus Library is open 10 AM - 2 PM on Saturdays. Stop by to study or to get help with your research. We have over 100 computers in the Library -- start working on that paper!

Remember, the Online Library is always open! E-books, articles, online resources, and chat reference are available 24/7, even when the library is closed.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Free Workshop - Today @ 11 AM

Lexis-Nexis Academic: Legal and Business Information
Room L-244 in the LRC
11 AM - 12 PM

No need to sign up, just be on time! See you there.


Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Have a question?

24/7 Reference Assistance
Real People, Real Help

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Free Workshop - Today!

Primary Sources - What are they and how can you find them?
Room L-244 in the LRC
11 AM - 12 PM

No need to sign up, just be on time! See you there.


Monday, October 21, 2013

Check It Out

Edited by Sharon L. James.
Wiley, 2012.

New Books: HQ 1127 .C637 2012


"A Companion to Women in the Ancient World is the first interdisciplinary, methodologically-based collection of readings to address the study of women in the ancient world while weaving textual, visual, and archaeological evidence into its approach. Prominent scholars tackle the myriad problems inherent in the interpretation of the evidence, and consider the biases and interpretive categories inherited from centuries of scholarship. Essays and case studies cover an unprecedented breadth of chronological and geographical range, genres, and themes. 

 Illuminating and insightful, A Companion to Women in the Ancient World both challenges preconceived notions and paves the way for new directions in research on women in antiquity."
from back cover

Friday, October 18, 2013

WoW! Week of Workshops Next Week

Join us for our Week of Workshops (WoW) beginning next week. Pick one or more workshops -- each one lasts an hour. No need to sign up in advance.

All workshops start at 11 am and are held in the LRC classroom L-244.

WEEK OF WORKSHOPS (WoW)
October 21-24


Additional one-hour workshops on Primary Sources will be offered throughout fall semester in Room L-244.

PRIMARY SOURCES – What are they and how do you find them?
Tuesday, Oct. 29 -- 2 pm
Monday, Nov. 4 -- 5:30 pm
Tuesday, Nov. 5 -- 9 am
Wednesday, Nov 6 -- 11 am

See you there!



Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Website of the Week

If you are a logophile -- someone who likes words, words’ origins, crossword puzzles, playing with words, interesting tidbits about words, people, places or objects -- then you will be delighted to read the Oxford Dictionary Blog.

There are several blog categories, such as, “competitions and quizzes,” which entice you to win an iPod Touch or iPod Nano, or “grammar and writing help,” where I learned of correct English use, or “word origins” which was always very interesting for me, to mention a few.

After enjoying several entries, I discovered that the symbol, commercial at, or @ that we use so frequently nowadays, is actually more than 500 years old. It was used as an abbreviation for the measurement of weight, arroba. 

I also enjoyed reading about English in other countries, Welsh English , Australian English, Irish and Scottish English, or Rastafari. I even learned that the word “twerk” was just recently added to the dictionary.
                                                        
The Southwestern Library has a subscription to the Oxford English Dictionary that you’ll find among the databases listed on the Articles and Databases page.

Review by Erika Prange, SWC Librarian

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Taking an Online Class for the first time?

Not sure what to expect? Join us for an hour! We will cover information you need to know about being an online student. We'll also show you how to navigate your class in Blackboard, the course management system.

All classes are held in the LRC classroom L-244
Thursday, October 17: 5:30 PM
Friday, October 18: 1 PM
Saturday, October 19: 10 AM

Monday, October 14, 2013

This Week in CQ Researcher

By Peter Katel


"A scandal over mold-contaminated medicine that killed dozens of patients last year has added fuel to a debate over how well federal and state officials are policing the safety and effectiveness of prescription drugs. 
Innovative medicines have helped drive down death rates from such diseases as HIV/AIDS and cancer, but other drugs have spurred concerns about safety, physician prescribing practices and patient abuse. Painkillers known as opioids are blamed for a nationwide wave of addiction, for example, and the growing overuse of antibiotics has led to a surge in deadly, drug-resistant infections. Meanwhile, beginning next year, the pharmaceutical industry, which spends nearly $29 billion annually on product promotion, must disclose an unprecedented level of information about its efforts to market drugs to consumers and doctors."
Source: CQ Researcher

CQ Researcher is one of many academic research databases that the library subscribes to for SWC students.

Read the full report. Or browse other databases the library subscribes to for your research.

Have a question? We can help - ask a librarian, 24/7.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Need help but the library is closed?

Real Librarians
Real Help

Friday, October 11, 2013

Check It Out

by Maurine Hoffman Beasley
University Press of Kansas, 2010
New Books Area: E 807.1 .B43 2010
Available for four-week check out with your SWC photo ID card.

"Presiding in the White House longer than any other first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt championed the downtrodden as she traveled the globe, yet she was a maze of contradictions—an idealist who carried on a moneymaking career that depended on her position and a conventional-appearing wife and mother who found emotional succor from intense relationships outside her family. This book cuts through those contradictions to reveal how Eleanor operated, both in and out of public view, to advance the causes in which she believed by participating in the political process.

Although previous books have dealt with Eleanor Roosevelt, this is the first to focus on her White House years. Maurine H. Beasley, a scholar with extensive knowledge of Eleanor’s life and times, provides a detailed examination of the innovative first lady that will enlighten those who think they already know her. Rich with detail, it effectively links her social activism from her early life, through the White House years, and to her work after FDR’s presidency. From the ways in which Eleanor earned a living to the domestic arrangements in the White House, Beasley is an insightful and informed guide to the historical issues surrounding Mrs. Roosevelt’s performance, describing how she took the ambiguous position of first lady and transformed it into an institution of the American political system.

Beasley leaves no stone unturned as she casts fresh light on Eleanor’s relations with Franklin, the people around her, and the causes she championed. She explores how personal relationships led Mrs. Roosevelt to hone political skills that redefined the position of the first lady for years to come. And as she enlarges our understanding of Eleanor’s use of media to disseminate her political views, Beasley illuminates her complex network of personal relationships, finances, contributions to New Deal programs, and extensive publicity commitments.

Here is a book that will reward general readers interested in Eleanor’s historical importance and inform specialists looking for judicious appraisals of her words, her deeds, and the controversies that surrounded her. Anyone interested in the enigma that was Eleanor Roosevelt will discover here a rich trove of essential information for understanding how this dynamic and troubled woman succeeded in transforming the institution of the first lady during a dozen years of activism and commitment."
-Review from publisher 



Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Hungry?


Friday, October 04, 2013

Need help?

24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Chat with a Reference Librarian

Thursday, October 03, 2013

Filipino American History Month

During the month of October, the Library is celebrating Filipino American History Month with a display of notable writers. Stop by the 3rd floor of the library. Any of the books on display may be checked out for four weeks with your SWC photo ID card.



CELEBRATING NOTABLE WRITERS! 
Carlos Bulosan 
Melinda De Jesus 
Yen Le Espiritu 
Luis Francia 
Eric Gamalinda 
Juanita Tamayo Lott 
Judy Patacsil 
Antonio Pido 
Pati Navalta Poblete 
Norman Reyes 
Maria P. P. Root Reuben Seguritan