SWC Libraries Closed Today

All SWC Libraries are closed Monday, March 31, in observance of Cesar Chavez Day.

Regular hours resume Tuesday, April 1. Have a question? Ask a librarian!

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Check It Out

Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients
Ben Goldacre
Faber and Faber, 2013
New Book Shelf: call number RM 301.27 G65 2013

Just reviewing this book caused me to lose some faith in my doctor’s ability to prescribe the best medicine for me! Americans can rest a little easier than Goldacre’s British readers since the author is English. This means when he discusses the medical system and regulations placed on the pharmaceutical industry he is referring to those in his country. However, most of the book can be applied to the U.S. pharmaceutical industry.

In the introduction to this work Goldacre (also the author of Bad Science) states, “So, to be clear, this whole book is about meticulously defending every assertion in the paragraph that follows. Drugs are tested by the people who manufacture them, in poorly designed trials, on hopelessly small number of weird, unrepresentative patients, and analysed using techniques which are flawed by design, in such a way that they exaggerate the benefits of treatments.” They may also be tested by universities using grants from the pharmaceutical companies. “Unsurprisingly, these trials tend to produce results that favour the manufacturer. When trials throw up results that companies don’t like, they are perfectly entitled to hide them from doctors and patients, so we only see a distorted picture of any drug’s true effects. Regulators see most of the trial data, but only from early on in a drug’s life, and even then they don’t give this data to doctors and patients, or even to other parts of government. This distorted evidence is then communicated and applied in a distorted fashion.” Academic papers “…are often covertly planned and written by people who work directly for the [drug] companies, without disclosure. Sometimes whole academic journals are even owned outright by one drug company.” In addition, doctors may be receiving payments from pharmaceutical companies.

As one reviewer stated, the conclusions of the author are only as good as the studies he bases his thesis on, however, putting some of his recommendations into action could only improve the situation.

Closed Monday

All SWC Libraries are closed Monday, March 31, in observance of Cesar Chavez Day.

Regular hours resume Tuesday, April 1. Have a question? Ask a librarian!

Check It Out

The Liberator : One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau
by Alex Kershaw
Crown, 2012.
New Books Area, Call number:  D769.31 157th K47 2012
Books may be checked out for four weeks with your SWC photo ID card.

In the book, The Liberator : One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau, New York Times best-selling author of many popular World War II titles, Alex Kershaw, shares the story of Army Officer Felix Sparks’ experiences on the battlefields in Germany. Through narrative form, Kershaw uses interviews with Sparks, as well letters from Sparks and his regiment, to depict the horrific yet inspiring story of perseverance, as these soldiers moved from battlefield to battlefield, and ultimately to the liberation of the concentration camp at Dachau in Bavaria.

Review by Tanya Carr, SWC Librarian

WoW! Week of Workshops Continues

Lexis-Nexis Academic -- free workshop today!

Come to the library classroom (L244) at 11 am for a one-hour workshop about Lexis-Nexis Academic, a database that is available for free to you as a SWC student. 

Free Workshop Today

EBSCOhost Databases

Join us for a free workshop today in the library classroom (L244) at 11 am - 12 pm. Learn about EBSCOhost databases, one of the unique resources that is available to you as a SWC student. 

WoW! Week of Free Workshops

Beginning Monday, March 24, drop by the library classroom (L244) at 11 am to learn about unique resources that are available to you as a SWC student.

Today and Tomorrow -- Orientations for Online Students

Online student? Join us for an hour.

We'll go over the basics of what you need to know as an online student -- including how to use Blackboard, the online course management system.

No need to sign up, just be on time! All sessions are held in the Library Classroom - Room L-244.

Choose an orientation session to attend:

Friday, March 21: 1:00 pm

Saturday, March 22: 10 am

Blackboard Orientation - Today!

Online student? Join us for an hour.

We'll go over the basics of what you need to know as an online student -- including how to use Blackboard, the online course management system.

No need to sign up, just be on time! All sessions are held in the Library Classroom - Room L-244.

Choose an orientation session to attend:

Thursday, March 20: 5:30 pm

Friday, March 21: 1:00 pm

Saturday, March 22: 10 am

Check It Out

Love Cycles: The Science of Intimacy
Winnifred B. Cutler
New Book Area: Call Number HQ 21 C86 1991

Books in the New Book Area may be checked out for four weeks with your SWC photo ID card.

The co-discoverer of human pheromones (sexual scents) is back to tell us “…why our love lives wax and wane with biological regularity.” She claims that “…if we understand our hormonal cycles, we can take control of these rhythms [by going with the flow] to enhance sensuality, charge our immune system, inhibit the aging process, ward off PMS, increase the probability of a successful pregnancy, and encourage joie de vivre.”

In this work Cutler presents data from many questionnaires and studies and then gives her conclusions. One review states that, “Extensive annotations, charts, graphs and diagrams provide a solid scientific grounding rare in popular science books.” However, another reviewer calls this a pseudoscientific work. (Many of the authors’ questionnaires had fewer than 100 subjects.)

Ms. Cutler’s theories include the following:

Women who have regular, weekly sex have higher estrogen levels and menstrual cycles closer to the most fertile time-length than those who have sporadic sex. This means they are not only more fertile but also have greater protection against the physical and mental problems associated with low estrogen. If regular, weekly sex isn’t possible it is best to be celibate as that creates a more fertile reproductive system than sporadic sex. However, having sex when women are menstruating isn’t necessary and may be dangerous to a woman’s health.

Women who wait to have intercourse more than seven years after they start menstruating are not as fertile as those who start within the seven year time period.

Both men and women have daily and monthly natural rhythms in their bodies and these are affected by cosmic bodies. “…the moon cycle and the menstruation cycle of fertile women are closely correlated.”

What are the Library's hours?

Need a place to study? Writing a paper or creating a PowerPoint? Researching a topic? Come to the Library!

Library Hours: January 21 through May 30, 2014 


Main Campus 
Monday - Thursday: 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. 
Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. 
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. 
Closed: Sunday 

Higher Education Center at Otay MesaMonday: 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. 
Tuesday: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. 
Wednesday: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. 
Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 
Friday, Saturday & Sunday: Closed 

Higher Education Center at San Ysidro
Monday: 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 
Tuesday: Closed 
Wednesday: 2:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. 
Thursday: 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 
Friday, Saturday & Sunday: Closed 

Higher Education Center at National City - Librarian Available 
Monday: 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. 
Tuesday: 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. 
Wednesday: 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 am & 3:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. 
Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 
Friday, Saturday & Sunday: Closed 

Library Closed 
Cesar Chavez Day: March 31 
Spring Break: April 14-20

Is the Library closed? Ask a librarian! Chat reference is available 24/7.

Online student? Free Orientation

Join us for an hour in the library classroom, Room L-244. We'll go over the basics of what you need to know as an online student -- including how to use Blackboard, the online course management system.

No need to sign up, just be on time!

Choose a session to attend:

Thursday, March 20: 5:30 pm

Friday, March 21: 1:00 pm

Saturday, March 22: 10 am

Check It Out

Accounting Made Simple: Accounting Explained in 100 Pages or Less 

by Mike Piper

Simple Subjects, 2010

New Book Shelf

Call Number: HF5636 .P573 2010

Learn the fundamental concepts of “the language of business” from Mike Piper, CPA. Piper explains financial statements and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in an easy-to-understand way.

Each chapter is only a few pages long, followed by a “simple summary” of key points. The book’s companion web site (http://www.obliviousinvestor.com/example-accounting-problems) offers sample accounting problems for each chapter so you can check your understanding as you go.

Whether you’re an accounting student, a business owner, or evaluating a company’s finances for stock market investing, you’ll find this quick read to be time well spent.

Review by Rachael Smithey, SWC Librarian

Have a question?

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24/7 Chat Reference

Happy Birthday, Internet!

The Web at 25 in the U.S. -- a report by the Pew Research Center

The overall verdict: The internet has been a plus for society and an especially good thing for individual users.

Some highlights of the report:

• 53% of internet users say the internet would be, at minimum, very hard to give up, compared with 38% in 2006
• 36% of internet users say email would be very hard to give up
• 56% of internet users say they have seen an online group come together to help a person or a community solve a problem
• 67% of internet users say their online communication with family and friends has generally strengthened those relationships, while 18% say it generally weakens those relationships

“Overall, when you add up all the advantages and disadvantages of the internet, would you say the internet has mostly been a good thing or a bad thing for you?” In response to this question, 90% of internet users say that overall the internet had been a good thing for them and 6% said it was a bad thing.

Need help with your math homework?

One-on-one, 30-minute tutoring sessions are available in the Library!

• When: Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 
• Where: Library ITC Desk, 3rd floor 
• What: Subjects include Accounting, Computers, English, Humanities, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing. 

Appointments can be made at the ASC (Building 420) and the ITC Desk on the 3rd floor of the main Library.

Call the Library ITC Desk for more information: 619-421-6700 (x5198).

 We hope to see you there!

Reading with Dr. Nish

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” -- Dr. Seuss

Superintendent/President Melinda Nish celebrated Read Across America last week by reading to the third graders in Ms. Silvia Toledo’s class at El Toyon Elementary in National City.

Read Across America is a celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday and is an opportunity for students, parents, and community members to share their love of reading.

Dr. Nish's book selection, The Day the Crayons Quit, provided the students with some life lessons of being sensitive and inclusive. After reading the book, the students asked her what they needed to know to prepare for college.

Dr. Nish noted, "It’s never too early to have students thinking about college—and about attending Southwestern."

To read more about her visit, see the college's Superintendent/President Column. NEA's Read Across America program is on Facebook.

Check It Out

A History of Food in 100 Recipes
by William Sitwell.
Little, Brown, 2013
Call Number: New Books TX 645 .S47 2013
Books in the stacks may be checked out for four weeks with your SWC photo ID card.

Review by Rebecca Seal, published in The Observer on April 21st, 2012:

"In less steady hands, this book might have been a disaster. It's a bold move to try to explain the entire evolution of food via 100 dishes, and the result could easily have been dull and academic or overambitious and patchy. 

But William Sitwell has pulled off something clever: a thoroughly researched and witty history that is both compelling and teeming with scholarly facts. Each short chapter begins with a recipe, but don't mistake this for a cookery book. 

These are not recipes you will want – or even be able – to make. They include ancient Egyptian bread, Aztec hot chocolate and Roman sauces for flamingo, right up to Heston Blumenthal's Tudor-inspired "meat fruit" dish. Sitwell – who is editor of Waitrose Food Illustrated – then fills in the fascinating back story for each one. Because it's as much a socio-cultural history as a culinary one, you don't even need to be a raging foodie to enjoy this."

We're open today!

We're here 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

See you at the Library!

National Celery Month

March is National Celery Month. Visit our display on the 3rd floor of the library! Books in the display may be checked out for four weeks with your SWC photo ID card. Ask staff at the Circulation Desk for assistance.

Database of the Week

Like Wikipedia? You'll love Credo Reference.

Credo Reference is a library database that contains hundreds of reference e-books in one location.

Looking for brief information about a topic? Want to learn more about something, but you don't want to read an entire book about it? Credo Reference is the perfect place to start.

You'll find information covering everything from accounting to zoology. The best part is that the entries are from published sources -- so the authors are known and the facts have been verified.

Have a question? Ask a librarian!

Stuck?

Ask a Librarian!

Real People, Real Help

24 hours a day

7 days a week

SWC Libraries at the Centers

SWC Libraries at Otay Mesa, San Ysdiro, and National City are open and we are ready to help you!

Stop by, or visit us online.

Spring Semester, 2014
Library Hours

Higher Education Center at Otay Mesa

Monday: 11:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday: Closed

Higher Education Center at San Ysidro

Monday: 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 2:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Thursday: 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday: Closed

Higher Education Center at National City

Monday: 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Tuesday: 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday: 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
and 3:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Thursday: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday: Closed

Main Campus - Chula Vista

Monday - Thursday: 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Closed: Sunday

Have a question? Ask a librarian!

Check It Out

Tyranny of the Textbook: An Insider Exposes How Educational Materials Undermine Reforms 
by Beverlee Jobrack
Rowman and Littlefield, 2012
Stacks LB 3047 J64 2012
Available for check out for four weeks with your SWC photo ID card

You always knew your textbook was lousy, right? The author claims that despite innumerable educational reforms student achievement has only slightly improved because “…the curriculum, including the textbooks, does not change. Textbooks sell based on design and superficial features, not because they are based on the latest research on how children learn and how well they promote student achievement.” --Publisher

Beverlee Jobrack’s 50 years in education and publishing (which include teaching and developing curriculum for an educational publisher) have given her inside knowledge as to how educational materials are developed, written, sold, adopted, and used. In this book she provides fascinating and damning analyses of these processes and gives her theories on how the instructional materials selection process needs to change in order for reforms to work.

She describes how various factors work against the selection and use of the best materials and how profits rule the development of curricular materials and their publication rather than the quality of the material.

You’ll learn disturbing facts such as:

• “Three companies publish 75 percent of the K-12 educational materials.” 
• “ Those three companies are producing similar programs with the same instructional strategies, none of which require teachers to change their practices significantly.” 
• “Publishers produce textbooks for California and Texas. All of the other markets have to make do with books only superficially adjusted for their states.” --Publisher