Friday, May 27, 2016

SWC Libraries Are Closed


SWC Libraries are closed May 28 - June 5, 2016.

Summer hours begin on Monday, June 6, at the Chula Vista, National City, and Otay Mesa campus Libraries. The San Ysidro campus Library reopens on Monday, June 13.

Have a question? Ask a librarian!

See you this summer!


Thursday, May 26, 2016

Congratulations Graduates!

The SWC Library congratulates all of this year's graduates. Excellent work! We wish you the very best in your future endeavors.

The commencement ceremony will be held on Friday, May 27, 4 pm, at DeVore Stadium



Graduating SWC students in 2015

Have a question?





Chat with a librarian
24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Free research assistance
Available for all SWC students

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Open until 9:30 tonight!

See you at the Library!

May 9 - May 25, 2016:
Monday - Thursday: 7:30 am - 9:30 pm
Friday: 7:30 am - 4 pm
Saturday: 10 am - 4 pm


Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Closed May 28 - June 5


SWC Libraries are closed May 28 - June 5, 2016.

Summer hours begin on Monday, June 6, at the Chula Vista, National City, and Otay Mesa campus Libraries. The San Ysidro campus Library reopens on Monday, June 13.

Have a question? Ask a librarian!

See you this summer!


Monday, May 23, 2016

We're open 7:30 am - 9:30 pm

Three days of extended hours left!

Need assistance with your research? Writing a paper? Making an appointment with a tutor?

See you at the Library!

May 9 - May 25, 2016:
Monday - Thursday: 7:30 am - 9:30 pm
Friday: 7:30 am - 4 pm
Saturday: 10 am - 4 pm


Saturday, May 21, 2016

Check It Out

Title: The Joey Song: A Mother’s Story of Her Son’s Addiction 
Author: Sandra Swenson
Call No: New Book Shelf HV 5805.S94 A3 2014



In The Joey Song, mother and author Sandra Swenson shares the personal, painful journey of watching her son’s deterioration caused by drug addiction, and feeling helpless as he continues the downward spiral into drug overdose, attempted suicide, and time spent in jail. As she shares her story, the reader witnesses a transformation from love and loss, to learning that when actively trying to help doesn’t work, letting go can stop the enabling cycle. As Swenson expresses, “letting go is not the same as giving up.”

Swenson makes the shift from trying to get her son to recover, to an awareness that she can work on her own recovery from the grueling, exhausting, heartbreaking experience.

Review by Tanya Carr, SWC Librarian

Friday, May 20, 2016

Taking an online class for the first time?



















Join us for an hour for a free orientation!

We will go over what you need to know to be an online or hybrid student. We will also introduce you to using Blackboard, your course management system.

No need to sign up, just be on time.

See you there!


Thursday, May 19, 2016

Are you registered to vote?

The deadline to register to vote is this Monday -- May 23!

Take a moment to fill out the easy online voter registration for California.





Open Saturday 10 am - 4 pm!



Studying for finals? Finishing up that paper?

Join us on Saturday -- we are open longer so that you can get your work done.

See you at the Library!


Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Have a question?





Chat with a librarian
24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Free research assistance
Available for all SWC students

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Website of the Week

The Foundation for California Community Colleges is the statewide non-profit supporting the California Community College system, the largest system of higher education in the nation. Incorporated in 1998, the Foundation serves as the official auxiliary to the California Community Colleges’ Board of Governors and the system-wide Chancellor’s Office.

The Foundation is the trusted partner of the California Community Colleges— facilitating collaboration, accelerating innovation, and increasing system-wide resources.

CollegeBuys, powered by the Foundation for California Community Colleges, offers discounts of up to 85 percent on a wide range of educational products—from industry-leading software and technology to high quality office and classroom furniture. 


  • A student can currently buy a 4 year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 University for $79.95. 
  • 4 year subscription 
  • Provides access to both Office 365 online services as well as a download of Office 2016 for Windows and Mac for up to 2 Desktop/laptops and 2 tablets/mobile devices. 
  • Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher*, and Access* as well as 60 Skype world minutes, 27GB of SkyDrive storage, and free version upgrades during the subscription period as they become available 
  • Available to students, staff and faculty at higher education institutions ONLY.
  • Non-returnable. 


They also have good deals on Adobe software, QuickBooks, and other software and hardware.

Review by John Stanton, SWC Librarian

Monday, May 16, 2016

Open Early! Open Late!

Don't forget -- the SWC Library is open longer so that you can prepare for finals!

May 9 - May 25, 2016:
Monday - Thursday: 7:30 am - 9:30 pm
Friday: 7:30 am - 4 pm
Saturday: 10 am - 4 pm


Friday, May 13, 2016

Check It Out

May 2016 is National Bicycling Month! 




Did you know there's a great book emphasizing this theme to check out? It is called, One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility. It was written by Zack Furness and published in 2010. 

The SWC Library has both the print and the e-book editions of this title.

The print copy is located in the Stacks on the third floor of the Library. It is shelved under the following call number: HE 308.F87 2010. This book is available for check out for four weeks with your SWC photo ID card.

The e-book edition is exactly the same as the print edition -- the only difference is that it's available online so that you can read it without having to leave the house! To read this e-book, click on the "Electronic Resource" link for the book in the Library's catalog.

This book discusses the positive aspects of bicycling for everyone. One Less Car looks at the historical, cultural, socioeconomic, and politics involved in choosing bicycling over driving.

Come to the library to see more National Bicycling Month-related titles on display.

Cheers!

Review by Arnold Josafat, SWC Librarian

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Taking an online class this summer?


















Join us for an hour for a free orientation!

Orientations for Online Students (Room L-244):
Monday, June 6: 12 pm or 5 pm
Tuesday, June 7: 12 pm
Wednesday, June 8: 9 am

We will go over what you need to know to be an online or hybrid student. We will also introduce you to using Blackboard, your course management system.

No need to sign up, just be on time.

See you there!


Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Today -- Open 7:30 am - 9:30 pm!

Early bird?



Or night owl?


We are open earlier in the morning and later at night so that you can study for finals and finish that paper!

Main Campus Library Hours
May 9 - May 25, 2016
Monday - Thursday: 7:30 am - 9:30 pm
Friday: 7:30 am - 4 pm
Saturday: 10 am - 4 pm


See you at the Library!

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Need some study tips?

We have several books in English and Spanish to get you on the right track to study for finals!


Stop by the Reference Desk display in the Library to visit with a librarian. Any of the books on display there are available for four week check out with your SWC photo ID card.



See you at the Library!

Monday, May 09, 2016

Library Open Longer - Beginning Today!

Beginning today, you will have more time to study at the Library. We will be open earlier and stay open later.

Need assistance with your research? Writing a paper? Making an appointment with a tutor?

See you at the Library!

May 9 - May 25, 2016:
Monday - Thursday: 7:30 am - 9:30 pm
Friday: 7:30 am - 4 pm
Saturday: 10 am - 4 pm


Saturday, May 07, 2016

May is National Bike Month

Check out our display on the third floor of the Library. We have a great selection of books, streaming videos, e-books, and articles about biking!








See you at the Library!

Friday, May 06, 2016

Google Scholar


Google Scholar is a search engine and a gateway to scholarly materials on the web.

When using Google Scholar, one has the ability to select date ranges for articles and books. Citations and article content can be saved to a Google Scholar account (this is similar to how YouTube works). Alerts can be set to send updates on subjects or authors.

Google Scholar also contains a set of U.S. patents that can easily searched.

Google Scholar returns results that point to several sites that have full-text copies of articles including the PLoS (Public Library of Science), PNAS ( Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America), NIH (National Institute of Health), Nature, Wiley, Cell Report, other open access journals, ResearchGate, and academic institutions.

ResearchGate is a site that anyone with a ".edu" email can sign up for and access full-text, peer-reviewed articles directly from authors of articles. It is a social networking site for researchers, but I have received many papers directly from scientists happy to share their research. Researchers have a vested interest in making their articles easily available because having their papers cited by other researchers boosts their impact, something which is used in getting tenure or jobs.

It is possible for academic libraries to link their collection to Google Scholar so that a student will see full text articles that are available through their institution. A student who is on campus or logged into their institution's databases can simply click on a link and bring up the article.

The U.S. government and many other governments have guiding principles that research conducted with government funds should be freely available to the public. One way for researchers to do this is to publish in Open Access journals.

The California Digital Library (CDL) is operated by the University of California and is a repository of research published by UC institutions. One of their goals is to make UC research widely available. Since much of the research conducted by UC uses government funds, potentially large elements will become Open Access.

The Google Scholar page suffers from several deficiencies such as not having controlled vocabularies. Quality and coverage is considered to not be as good as commercial databases. However Google Scholar has made good progress since it was first available in 2004. Its usefulness may improve if freely available Open Access journals continue to grow more significant.

Review by John Stanton, SWC Librarian

Thursday, May 05, 2016

Food and Nutrition -- What's the latest?

Stop by Otay Mesa Library this month to learn more about food and nutrition!



The Library provides access to up-to-date streaming videos, e-books, articles, and books.




See you at the Library!


Wednesday, May 04, 2016

Extended hours begin Monday

Beginning on Monday, May 9, you will have more time to study at the Library. We will be open earlier and stay open later.

May 9 - May 25, 2016:
Monday - Thursday: 7:30 am - 9:30 pm
Friday: 7:30 am - 4 pm
Saturday: 10 am - 4 pm