Want to be a better researcher?

Enroll in our one-credit course! The course is only 8 weeks long, and it begins on October 23.

Congratulations, Debbie!

SWC Library Technical Services technician, Debbie Peckenpaugh, was named Southwestern College Employee of the Quarter (October - December 2015).

Those nominating Deborah say she is a “what can I do” and “not a problem!” person. She loves working in the library and helping students, staff, and faculty. She is also great to work with!

Congratulations, Debbie!

Photo: Debbie Peckenpaugh is recognized as Employee of the Quarter (October – December, 2015).
CSEA President Andre Harris waits to present Debbie with flowers.

SWC Otay Mesa Library

Taking a class at Otay Mesa? The Library offers a variety of great resources for you, including:

-- Research help from a Librarian

-- Research databases, e-books, and print books

-- Books delivered from main campus

-- Textbooks for some classes on Reserve

Otay Mesa SWC Library

Fall Hours - Librarian Available

Monday: 9 am - 4 pm

Tuesday: 11 am - 6 pm

Wednesday: 11 am - 6 pm

Thursday: 9 am - 4 pm

Friday - Sunday: Closed

Current hours for all four SWC Library locations are posted on the Library's Hours webpage.

See you at the Library!

Banned Books Week

Celebrate the Freedom to Read 

Banned Books Week: September 27 - October 3 

Many popular books have been banned or challenged over the years. Read more about what the difference is between "banned" and "challenged," and why these attempts at censorship matter: American Library Association: About Banned and Challenged Books. 

From their site:

"As Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., in Texas v. Johnson , said most eloquently:

If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.

If we are to continue to protect our First Amendment, we would do well to keep in mind these words of Noam Chomsky:

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

The SWC Library is featuring a display of commonly challenged or banned books. Stop by the second floor near the entrance to browse the titles and check out any of the books for four weeks with your SWC photo ID card. 

 

Library closed? We're still here!

Ask us now!

Chat with a librarian

24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Free research assistance

Available for all SWC students

Author Visit - Tomorrow!

Southwestern College is excited and honored to host Sonia Nazario, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Enrique's Journey.

Presentation and Q&A by Sonia Nazario:

When: Thursday, September 24, 9:30-10:45 a.m.

Where: Student Union East

The Library has several copies of Enrique's Journey available for four-week check out with your SWC photo ID card.

Thinking of transferring?

Make an informed decision!


Choosing a college can be tricky. But, there are many resources available to help you figure out what school would be a good fit. 

There are two new college and university review websites that are designed to be unbiased (some widely used college reviews are criticized for promoting schools unjustly). In addition, these new sites take into account some other considerations that might be important to your particular needs as a student.

College Scorecard

https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/

College Scorecard is a government-based college review website maintained by the Department of Education. The search features allow for the usual majors and degrees offered, but in addition, students can search by specialized missions (e.g. women only, historically black colleges) and size of school. What makes this website fun and easy-to-use is that the results appear as cards with basic school information. Students can even rank results by how much money typical graduates earn after college. In addition, this website prominently features information about financial aid, which is an important factor for most students.

The Washington Monthly College Guide

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/toc_2015.php

The Washington Monthly College Guide is an independent and more objective resource for choosing the right college. This guide asks: “What colleges are doing for the country”. This is truly a unique resource that tries to address other concerns students might have while choosing a school. For instance, this resource ranks schools based on their “contribution to the public good”. The three main areas include:

1)     Social Mobility (how many low income students are recruited and graduate)

2)     Research (how much original scholarship this school contributes)

3)     Service (how active is the school in promoting giving back to the community)

While there are many resources available to consult when deciding on the right college for you, these new resources offer a fresh perspective and make researching this decision kind of fun.

To find out more, stop by SWC's Transfer Center in the Cesar Chavez Student Services Building!

Website of the Week

Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB) 

http://www.imdb.com

An Oldie but Goodie!!

IMDB has been around now for twenty-five years and has grown from a small and limited hobby project to be "the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, t.v. and celebrity content."

 IMDB offers a free, searchable database of more than 100 million data items including two million movies, television and entertainment programs, current and historic, from around the world as well as information on four million cast and crew members.

Complete lists and coverage of festivals, events, awards, industry news, t.v. shows and, of course, movies, movies and more movies!

Enjoy!

Review by John Tibbals, SWC Librarian

Saturday? We're open!

Looking for free WiFi and air conditioning?

The main campus Library is open 10 am - 2 pm on Saturdays.
 

Have a question?

Ask us now!

Chat with a librarian

24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Free research assistance

Available for all SWC students

Happy Constitution Day!

Enjoy a FREE delicious slice of Constitution Day U.S. Flag Cake (chocolate or vanilla) at the Cesar Chavez Student Services Building Lobby between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. today, September 17!

"Constitution Day and Citizenship Day is observed each year on September 17 to commemorate the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787, and 'recognize all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become citizens.'"

(Source: The Law Library of Congress)


Stop by the Library to pick up a free pocket Constitution and to visit our display to learn more about the history of the Constitution and what it means.

Additional resources about the U.S. Constitution and Citizenship Day are available online:

Southwestern College Constitution Day Quizzes and Activities

The Law Library of Congress: Constitution Day and Citizenship Day

The White House: Information about the Constitution

The National Archives Transcript of the Constitution

Check It Out

September 2015 is Hispanic Heritage Month!

Did you know in the Library’s New Books Collection there's a great title honoring this theme to check out? It is called, Americans by Heart : Undocumented Latino Students and the Promise of Higher Education. It was written by William Perez and published in 2012. There is one copy in the library’s New Books Collection with the call number: LC2670.6 .P47 2012.

It can be found through the SWC Library’s Search the Library Catalog webpage. Just type in the title in the search box and you can find it in the results list.

This book highlights the experiences of one of America’s most invisible groups—undocumented students. Americans by Heart examines the educational and legal constraints that undocumented Hispanic students face and presents new ideas to help them that could resolve this situation in terms of immigration reform and higher education access.

Come to the library to see more Hispanic Heritage-related titles on display this month.

Cheers!

Review by Arnold Josafat, SWC Librarian

Hispanic Heritage Month

Today is the official start of Hispanic Heritage Month!

From September 15 - October 15, Americans celebrate the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Stop by the Library to visit our display honoring Hispanic Heritage Month!

Want to find out more information about Hispanic Heritage Month? Ask a librarian!

Website of the Week

7 Billion Others 

http://www.7billionothers.org

Courtesy 7 Billion Others

The 7 Billion Others video exhibition was brought to my attention by SWC student Sabrina Sperry-Johnson (the exhibition was on display at the San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts from February 21 to September 13, 2015) - it was fascinating!!!

The 7 Billion Others exhibition website presents excerpts from over 6000 interviews, filmed in 84 countries and in more than 50 languages, conducted over a 7 year period.

Respondents around the world answered the same questions about their fears, ordeals, dreams and hopes. Among the 45 questions are:

• What have you learnt from your parents?
• What do you want to pass on to your children?
• What difficult circumstances have you been through?
• What does love mean to you?

Courtesy 7 Billion Others

The responses reveal not only what differentiates us around the world but, more importantly, what unites us. Project founder and filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand explains: "The times in which one could think only of oneself or of one’s own small community are over. From now on, we cannot ignore what it is that binds us and the responsibilities that this implies. There are more than seven billion of us on Earth, and there will be no sustainable development if we cannot manage to live together."

The 7 Billion Others exhibition website includes a downloadable eBook (divided into chapters including Family, Love, After Death, Happiness, Leaving One's Country, War, Fears, Meaning of Life), and an interactive mosaic of testimonies (click on people's photos to listen to/read their testimony, or select Videos - Search in Testimonies.

Review by Rachael Smithey, SWC Librarian

Open Saturday!

Free WiFi and air conditioning

Get a jump-start on your homework! 

The main campus Library is open 10 am - 2 pm on Saturdays.

Study on Fridays until 4 pm!

The Library is open later this fall!

Main Campus SWC Library

Monday - Thursday: 8 am - 8 pm

Friday: 8 am - 4 pm

Saturday: 10 am - 2 pm 

Sunday: Closed

Taking class at a Center? Library Services are available at the three Centers in National City, Otay Mesa, and San Ysidro. We also have increased hours at the San Ysidro Higher Education Center Library.

National City SWC Library

Monday: 8 am - 11 am

Tuesday: 3 pm - 6:30 pm

Wednesday: 3 pm - 6:30 pm

Thursday: 12 pm - 2 pm

Friday - Sunday: Closed

Otay Mesa SWC Library

Monday: 9 am - 4 pm

Tuesday: 11 am - 6 pm

Wednesday: 11 am - 6 pm

Thursday: 9 am - 4 pm

Friday - Sunday: Closed

San Ysidro SWC Library

Monday: 1 pm - 5 pm

Tuesday: 10 am - 2 pm

Wednesday: 10 am - 2 pm

Thursday: 10 am - 12 pm; 1 pm - 5 pm

Friday - Sunday: Closed

Have a question? Ask a Librarian

See you at the Library!

SWC National City Library

Taking a class at National City? The Library offers a variety of great resources for you, including:

-- Research help from a Librarian

-- Research databases, e-books, and print books

-- Books delivered from main campus

-- Textbooks for some classes on Reserve

National City SWC Library

Fall Hours - Librarian Available

Monday: 8 am - 11 am

Tuesday: 3 pm - 6:30 pm

Wednesday: 3 pm - 6:30 pm

Thursday: 12 pm - 2 pm

Friday - Sunday: Closed

Current hours for all four SWC Library locations are posted on the Library's Hours webpage.

See you at the Library!

Tours -- Today and Thursday!

Tours of the Library

When: Noon and 4 pm, Wednesday and Thursday

Where: Meet in the Library lobby (main entrance)

What: A brief tour of the resources available to you!

See you at the Library!

Database Feature of the Week

Scientific and Medical ART (SMART) Imagebase : Anatomy Coloring Book Feature 

Courtesy SMART Imagebase: EBSCOhost

If you’re a fan of coloring books, the SWC Library has access to a database feature that lets you print out images to color, but also learn about the human body too!

The “Anatomy Coloring Book” feature is new to the Scientific and Medical ART (SMART) Imagebase database. You can access it by going to the SWC Library’s Articles and Databases website at: www.swccd.edu/libraryarticles. Look for the Health and Medicine section box and click on the link to the Scientific and Medical ART Imagebase: (EBSCOhost).

If you’re off-campus, you will need to use your WebAdvisor username [first initial of your first and last names, 0 (zero) and your six digit student ID number, like aa012345] and password before accessing this database.

You will then find the “Anatomy Coloring Book” image and link as a New Feature on the database’s homepage. Once you decide on an image to color, you can choose to print, email, download, or socially share it.

This is a great feature to learn about the human body in general, but really helpful if you’re studying a health-related course, such as dental hygiene, nursing or emergency medicine.

Happy coloring!
Review by Arnold Josafat, SWC Librarian 

 

Library Tours -- Today!

Brief tours of the Library are offered today at noon and 6 pm. Meet in the lobby -- see you there!

Website of the Week

Food Timeline
http://www.foodtimeline.org/ 

Do you ever wonder where your food comes from? I don’t just mean where it was grown, but where it originated. You can trace the origin of foods back to the earliest times (17,000 BC and earlier) with the Food Timeline. This internet resource is great for better understanding the earliest conditions of foods, as well as discovering how modern day foods were invented.

Did you know ice cream was invented in China? It took the form of something closer to flavored ice and dates all the way back to 3000 BC. There are claims that Marco Polo brought it to Italy, where the creamy, cold treat we know today as ice cream was invented during the 17th century.

Another example is the delicious breakfast (or brunch) dish known as eggs benedict, which was invented in New York in the 1890s. However, there is a rich and perhaps controversial story about how this eggy favorite came to be. Besides finding out when these foods were first mentioned, there are often accompanying recipes, which allows the researcher to replicate the original dish.

The timeline presents information in chronological order with water, ice, and salt making the top three earliest forms of food (no dates given). Some of the more recent entries include cronuts and test tube burgers. While the design leaves much to be desired on this website, the simplicity of the Food Timeline does offer an easy to use experience. Librarian Lynne Olver created the website and the content. Her research on the topic comes from a variety of sources, and her background in cooking and researching food is discussed on her site.

If you’re the type of person who when eating a watermelon wonders if Cleopatra might have eaten one too (she probably did), then the Food Timeline is a great resource to check out.

Review by Lauren McFall, SWC Librarian

San Ysidro SWC Library

Taking a class at San Ysidro? The Library offers a variety of great resources for you, including:

-- Research help from a Librarian

-- Research databases, e-books, and print books

-- Books delivered from main campus

-- Textbooks for some classes on Reserve

San Ysidro SWC Library

Fall Hours - Librarian Available

Monday: 1 pm - 5 pm

Tuesday: 10 am - 2 pm

Wednesday: 10 am - 2 pm

Thursday: 10 am - 12 pm; 1 pm - 5 pm

Friday - Sunday: Closed

Current hours for all four SWC Library locations are posted on the Library's Hours webpage.

See you at the Library!