Dakota County Technical College Library | A DCTC Blog

New ELM / EBSCO database webinars

I received this e-mail from Minitex last week:

Minitex Reference Services and EBSCO are pleased to offer the following upcoming webinars:

Overview of Medical Resources
Sept. 15, 2009, 12:30-1:30pm
Sept. 29, 2009, 9:30-10:30am

A thorough overview of the Consumer Health Complete medical resource including key features such as accessing Evidence-Based Reports, reference book content, medical images, animations and video as well as searching a variety of health topics. An overview of additional medical databases Alt HealthWatch, Health Source: Consumer Edition and Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition will also be covered.

Points of View Reference Center
Sept. 16, 2009, 10:00-11:00am
Sept. 30, 2009, 12:00-1:00pm

A detailed overview of an online tool to assist researchers in understanding the full scope of a wide range of controversial subjects and evaluate the issues of yesterday, today and tomorrow. This session will include reviewing key essays (Overview, Point, Counterpoint and Guide to Critical Analysis) on a variety of topics. Advanced searching techniques using lexiles, limiters and source types will also be covered.

Research Tools for Grades K-5 (Searchasaurus / Kids Search)
Sept. 18, 2009, 3:00-4:00pm
Sept. 24, 2009, 3:30-4:30pm

An overview, for teachers and librarians, of the Searchasaurus (designed for pre-K – Grades 3 students) and Kids Search interface (designed for Grade K-5 students). A variety of search techniques using the interface’s functionality will be covered including searching by Lexiles, subjects and topics.

Research Tools for Middle and High School (Student Research Center)
Sept. 25, 2009, 3:00-4:00pm
Sept. 28, 2009, 12:00-1:00pm

A thorough overview of research tools for teachers and librarians including Student Research Center (designed for Grade 6 -12 students) and EBSCOhost interfaces. A variety of search techniques including source-type searching and searching by Lexiles will be covered. Key research databases include: Middle Search Plus, MAS Ultra – School Edition, Science Reference Center, Professional Development Collection, ERIC, and Health Source: Consumer Edition will be covered.

Science Reference Center
Sept. 22, 2009, 9:00-10:00am
Oct. 6, 2009, 12:30-1:30pm

This session will take a look at the broad spectrum of reference information from the areas of life sciences, physical sciences and earth & space sciences, including scientist and mathematician biographies, science videos and science experiments contained in Science Reference Center. Conducting advanced searches to retrieve specific information will be emphasized.

To register please go to http://support.ebsco.com/customtraining and select Minitex as Your Sponsoring Group.

September 1, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1425

Historical Encyclopedia of American Business

Last spring, we purchased the three-volume Historical Encyclopedia of American Business from Salem Press, which gives us three years of free access to the same content online. Read more about this valuable resource on the Salem Press web site, find it in our reference collection at HF3021 .H67 2009, or jump right in and start searching at Salem History.

August 31, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1510

Health care reform

Check out the latest CQ Researcher report on health care reform for objective information on this controversial topic:

Clemmitt, Marcia. “Health-Care Reform.” CQ Researcher Online 19, no. 29 (August 28, 2009): 693-716.

August 28, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1481

Credo Reference content update

Credo Reference added the following new titles in the last week:

Credo Reference has also updated the following titles to the latest available edition:

See “Credo Content” on the Credo Reference Blog for more information about these and other recent titles. Enjoy!

July 14, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1394

Science Online update

I just received this update from Facts On File regarding our Science Online subscription. Check it out!

Overview
This update further broadens the scope of this outstanding database, adding coverage of several core-curriculum subject areas–marine science, chemistry, and physics. As always, our new content comes in a variety of student-friendly formats–including more than 250 new or newly colored illustrations, more than 60 new photographs, and more than 440 new essays. In addition, a record URL has been added to the Advanced Search page, allowing users to easily bookmark and link directly to this page. Continue reading for more details about this update.

New Marine Science Subject Page
A new marine science subject page has been added to Science Online, easily accessible from the “Explore Subjects” menu on the home page. From this page, students and researchers will find the perfect starting point for exploring the wealth of newly added content on this topic–including new or newly colored illustrations, new photographs, and hundreds of new essays. The helpful suggested searches give ideas for important topics and terms to research, and the links to diagrams and images, experiments, biographies, videos, and a timeline will help educators liven their lesson plans while clarifying important concepts.

Examples of the new content include:

Formation of the Hawaiian Islands:
Use this clear illustration to help explain how the drifting of the Pacific tectonic plate over a hot spot resulted in the formation of the Hawaiian Islands.

Ocean currents:
Get an informative overview, with links and illustrations, of this important part of marine science.

Marine sextant:
Learn exactly how this navigational tool works with this clear diagram and labels.

New Chemistry Content
With new essays as well as new or newly colored illustrations, our new chemistry content provides an overview of some fascinating areas of research. Coverage ranges from the most fundamental fields of chemistry, such as the origins of matter and of the universe, to those with important applications to everyday life, such as the composition of foods and drugs, to hot topics such as forensic chemistry, and more. The new material will be helpful to teachers looking to supplement coursework in general science, physical science, and chemistry classes.

Examples of the new content include:

New Physics Content
Studying matter and energy and their interactions is an integral part of science. The new physics material added with this update makes it easy for students to grasp the fundamental science by providing accessible real-life examples to which they can relate. New essays along with new or newly colored illustrations cover the wide world of physics, from the smallest particles that make up matter to the immense forces that move the continents. Use this new material to teach this core-curriculum topic in an entertaining way.

Examples of the new content include:

July 9, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1655

Summer reading suggestions

Everything from “click lit” to politics! Here’s a super compilation of great summer ’09 reading lists for adults, teens and children. Lists come from from NPR, the New York Times, Oprah, various libraries, the American Library Association and myriad newspapers, radio stations, and other sources.

It’s called Rebecca’s Pocket, and comes from a long-time book blogger.

(Thanks to Librarians’ Internet Index for this great suggestion.)

July 1, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1532

Gale PowerSearch 2.0

From the June 2009 Gale Product Update Bulletin:

Gale PowerSearch 2.0 Now Available

Since its launch in 2002, the Gale PowerSearch platform has offered comprehensive access to authoritative reference, periodical and primary source information. Gale has incorporated new enhancements, creating Gale PowerSearch 2.0, a platform providing even greater ease and giving more power to the user. Gale PowerSearch 2.0 simplifies browsing through Gale’s more than 20,000 publications, providing the ability to search across more than 150 million documents.
Improvements include:

Web 2.0 sharing tools including Del.icio.us, MySpace, Reddit, Digg, Facebook, Newsvine, Twitter and others to connect users with their community, allowing them to push interesting articles out to the Web to share with others

ReadSpeaker (text-to-speech technology), allowing users to have all articles available from within the platform read aloud to them. All articles are fully downloadable in MP3 file format and can be played on an iPod or other audio devices

Addition of “named user” functionality, allowing researchers to create custom profiles, name and save any search and modify RSS feeds on the product’s homepage, thus facilitating ongoing research and supporting user’s interests

Search results that incorporate portals of context sensitive multimedia (images, video and podcasts)

On demand translation of documents into 11 different languages, helping institutions support a global community of users

Visit the Gale PowerSearch web site for more information. Happy researching!

June 25, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1948

Understanding Iran and the recent election

For reliable news and updates on the recent election in Iran and its aftermath, check out the following Web sites:

The BBC News Special Report on Iran: In-depth reporting and late-breaking news from the British Broadcasting Corporation, renowned for its coverage of world affairs.

The New York Times Middle East page: Current news stories, in-depth reports and analysis on the Middle East, currently focusing on the Iran crisis.

To understand the news from Iran, it helps to have credible background information. Here’s a link to information on Iran from the World Factbook, published by the U.S. government.

June 23, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1507

Credo Reference content update

Credo Reference added the following new titles in May:

Credo Reference has also updated the following titles to the latest available edition:

Enjoy!

June 2, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1400

Web sites on Pakistan and Afghanistan

These days all eyes are on Pakistan and Afghanistan as the volatile “hot spots” that most concern national security.

Here are two information-packed Web sites, one with updates, the other providing background and analysis. The links and commentary are from Librarians’ Internet Index .

Conflict Zones: Pakistan & Afganistan
Ongoing coverage of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan-Pakistan relations. Provides documentaries and reports on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the Taliban, politicians and elections, and U.S. policy. Includes video dispatches from the region, and related links. From Frontline/World, a national public television series produced by KQED and WGBH.

Rough Neighbors: Afghanistan and Pakistan
This 2003 article provides historical context for contemporary Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, noting that after “the end of the Cold War this relationship became a prime facilitator of the international terrorist network, which found its locus in the region.” Covers effects of the Pashtun movement back to the 19th century, the Taliban, the “Pashtunwali” code, elections in Pakistan, and related topics. From Strategic Insights, an electronic journal from the Center for Contemporary Conflict, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

May 20, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1424

New ELM / EBSCO database webinars

Historical Encyclopedia of American Business

Health care reform

Credo Reference content update

Science Online update

Summer reading suggestions

Gale PowerSearch 2.0

Understanding Iran and the recent election

Credo Reference content update

Web sites on Pakistan and Afghanistan

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