Top Shelf

by John Stanton and Laura Galvan-Estrada, SWC Librarians

Top Shelf is a weekly column where librarians share some of their favorite resources with you.

Book Selection
Oxford English Dictionary
Call#: Reference PE 1625 N53 1989

If you are looking for in depth information about a word including its etymology, this granddaddy of dictionaries is the right place to look.

The 20 volume 1989 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is available in print at the main library. But if you need information that is more recent or you are at one of the branch libraries, an online version of the OED is available. You will need a user name and password to access the reference book however. The password to the OED can be gotten by showing a current student ID at any SWC library and getting the list of passwords for databases. The online OED is accessed from the Articles and Databases page of the library web site (http://www.swccd.edu/~library/articles.htm). To learn how you can use the online OED from off-campus, visit the Library's Remote Access page.

According to the description of the online Oxford English Dictionary, it is a work in progress and hundreds of new entries are added every year. The OED is currently being revised, with the aim of producing a completely updated third edition. Draft material from the revision program is published online, alongside unrevised entries from the 20-volume Second Edition, first published in 1989, and its 3-volume Additions Series, published in 1993 (volumes 1 and 2) and 1997 (volume 3).

-John S.


Website Selection
Living Libraries
http://living-library.org

I had been looking for some innovative site that would help me learn something and that I would find it possibly interesting for others. As I’m scanning news sites tonight, one grabs my attention. The first Living Library is the United States is opening this weekend in L.A. Santa Monica Public Library (http://www.smpl.org/).

So, what is a Living Library, you may ask? A Living Library has a collection of live books (people) with a unique specialty/knowledge/life experience. The user gets to “check out” the living book for half an hour. If no one is waiting, you may renew your checkout. The purpose is that you learn about a certain topic from a live person, living that particular “subject.” For example, Santa Monica will start with a teenager, a Buddhist, a nudist and a vegan as part of their collection. These live books will share their life stories in a protected, safe environment.

I particularly like their checkout policy:
“The Reader must return the Book in the same mental and physical condition as borrowed. It is forbidden to cause damage to the book, tear out or bend pages, get food or drink spilled over the book or hurt her or his dignity in any other way. The Reader is responsible for preserving the condition of the Book.”

So, Santa Monica PL is the first one in the US but this concept has been around since 2000. It was started by group of youth in Denmark, Finland, in an organization to stop violence. The idea, broadly summarized, is that we will be less prejudiced if we learn more about others. This project has mostly taken place in Europe but also in Canada and Australia (Australia has even come the first library with a permanent Living Library collection!).
So, go check out this fascinating idea. And we’ll see how it is received in the United States.

-Laura.