• For Earth Day, a few good Web sites

    Looking to “green” your home, watch some frogs or bursting buds? Some recommended Web sites, courtesy of Librarians’ Internet Index:

    Sierra Club Green Home
    Dedicated to helping you create “a more sustainable home environment.” Main topics include reducing energy consumption (and a home carbon dioxide calculator), solar energy, and home health hazards (such as radon, pesticides, and mold). The “Learn More” section includes content organized by subjects such as bath, cleaning, flooring, landscaping, and plumbing. Also includes a video library. From the Sierra Club.

    Frogwatch USA
    “Frogwatch USA is a Citizen Science Monitoring Program that gives you the opportunity to help scientists conserve amphibians.” On this site read the eight easy steps for becoming a frog-watching volunteer, discover the instructions for frog-watching, and learn about the frog species in your state (including images and sounds). From the National Wildlife Federation.

    Project Budburst
    Another way to be a citizen scientist. “Join thousands of others in gathering valuable environmental and climate change information from across the country. Project BudBurst engages the public in making careful observations of the phenophases such as first leafing, first flower, and first fruit ripening of a diversity of … [plants] in their local area.” Learn how to join, review illustrated field guides (on wildflowers, grasses, trees, and more), and see data. From the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. You can even join them on Facebook!

    April 23, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1357

  • Training sessions in May

    DCTC students and employees can access dozens of databases through the DCTC Library web site. State tax dollars pay for many of these databases, which are collectively known as ELM, the Electronic Library for Minnesota. ELM is one of several Minitex programs.

    Minitex offers free web-based training on ELM databases from time to time. Here are some of the upcoming training sessions, as described on the Minitex web site:

    EBSCO Academic Search Premier Advanced
    This one-hour webinar will build upon the Academic Search Premier Basic Overview webinar by taking a look at the more advanced features of the database. Time will be spent exploring the Advanced Search & Limiter options, Cited References, Search History Management, Search & Journal Alerts, and Folder Features (e.g., Results Management, Page Composer).
    Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2009
    Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM
    Register

    Gale K12 Resources and PowerSearch
    This session covers the K12 resources available in ELM from Gale, including the Discovering Collection, Kids InfoBits, InfoTrac K12 editions, and Junior Reference Collection. This session will cover the new PowerSearch interface.
    Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009
    Time: 3:30 – 4:30 PM
    Register

    To learn more about these and other resources, register for a training session or just ask a librarian!

    April 20, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1306

  • We’re on Facebook!

    The DCTC Library has just published a page on Facebook! Check us out for updates, photos, recommended new books, and discussions. You can even search the Library catalog and a few of our most popular databases right from our Facebook page. On our Wall, you can ask a question or make a suggestion. There’s more to come, as we are just building the site.

    Come visit the Library’s new Facebook page. Become a Fan!

    April 14, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1329

  • More new titles in March

    Please see this spreadsheet for a list of books and videos we added to our collection in the last half of March. You’ll find these and other great titles in our catalog, MnPALS Plus.

    April 6, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1257

  • Science Online update

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

    Overview
    This update includes many exciting new features that make Science Online even more accessible and user-friendly for students and researchers. Check out our useful new “Did You Mean…?” feature and other search enhancements, our new easy-to-use conversion calculator, the handy new site map, more than 150 new or newly colored illustrations, and more than 500 new entries on a variety of topics, from artificial intelligence and robotics to hot issues such as climate change. Continue reading for more details about this update.

    New Search Features
    Science Online has been enhanced with several powerful search features that help users navigate the extensive range of material in the database. Our new “Did You Mean…?” feature suggests another search term when a user’s search does not yield results. In addition, users are now able to sort the search results for news articles and Today’s Science articles by either relevancy or date from the Science in the News page or the Advanced Search page. Search results for videos can now be filtered for those with closed-captioning only. The new site map offers quick navigation to the key browse pages in the database, and the Science Standards link–which allows users to search for science education standards and then find entries in Science Online related to those standards–is now easily accessible at the top of the page.
    DidYouMean?
    AdvancedSearch
    ScienceStandards
    Click here to enter Science Online and view these new features.

    New Conversion Calculator
    Find out how many grams equal one pound, or convert temperatures from Celsius to Fahrenheit–all without leaving the database or opening a new browser window. The easy-to-use new conversion calculator makes it simple to convert to and from the metric system as well as between other units of measure commonly found in science. With the calculator, users can convert measurements such as volume, weight, speed, time, and more.
    Conversion Calculator

    New Illustrations and Entries
    More than 150 new or newly colored illustrations have just been added, helping students to better visualize important scientific ideas and concepts. In addition, there are more than 500 new entries on a variety of topics, including artificial intelligence and robotics, computer security and risks, the Internet and the World Wide Web, computer science fundamentals and programming concepts, and hot issues such as climate change.
    New records include:

    April 2, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1581

  • Birds, poetry and White House gardening

    Thinking Spring… here are some Web sites for the season. (April is National Poetry Month.) Enjoy!

    The State of the Birds
    Website for “the first ever comprehensive report [released March 2009] on bird populations in the United States, showing that nearly a third of the nation’s 800 bird species are endangered, threatened or in significant decline due to habitat loss, invasive species, and other threats.” Find the report, maps, data, and suggestions for how to get involved in bird population studies. Produced for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

    Library of Congress Poetry Resources
    Guide to poetry resources at the Library of Congress, including webcasts, digital collections, exhibitions, learning materials, and other features. Also provides links to guides to finding a poem, locating poetry criticism, official state poems, poets laureate, and more. Compiled by Peter Armenti, Digital Reference Specialist at the Library of Congress (LOC).

    White House Blog: Spring Gardening
    This brief blog post from March 2009 announces the White House vegetable garden on the South Lawn, vegetables from which will be “cooked in the White House Kitchen and given to Miriam’s Kitchen, which serves the homeless in Washington, DC.” Features a downloadable diagram of the garden with vegetables and herbs that will be planted for the spring. From the White House.

    Links and annotations courtesy of Librarians’ Internet Index.

    March 26, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1442

  • New titles in March

    Please see this spreadsheet for a list of books and videos we added to our collection in the first half of March. You’ll find these and other great titles in our catalog, MnPALS Plus.

    March 18, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1245

  • Free books

    Please see our spreadsheet of March 2009 Library discards and contact us if you’d like any of them. And yes, they’re really free!

    March 17, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1455

  • Training sessions in April

    DCTC students and employees can access dozens of databases through the DCTC Library web site. State tax dollars pay for many of these databases, which are collectively known as ELM, the Electronic Library for Minnesota. ELM is one of several MINITEX Library Information Network programs.

    MINITEX offers free web-based training on ELM databases from time to time. Here are some of the upcoming training sessions, as described on the MINITEX web site:

    Gale K12 Resources and PowerSearch
    This session covers the K12 resources available in ELM from Gale, including the Discovering Collection, Kids InfoBits, InfoTrac K12 editions, and Junior Reference Collection. This session will cover the new PowerSearch interface.
    Date: Thursday, April 2, 2009
    Time: 2:00 – 3:00 PM
    Register

    EBSCO Academic Search Premier Advanced
    This one-hour webinar will build upon the Academic Search Premier Basic Overview webinar by taking a look at the more advanced features of the database. Time will be spent exploring the Advanced Search & Limiter options, Cited References, Search History Management, Search & Journal Alerts, and Folder Features (e.g., Results Management, Page Composer).
    Date: Friday, April 10, 2009
    Time: 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
    Register

    ProQuest Newsstand Complete
    Citation, abstract, and full-text coverage of approximately 250 local, state, regional, national, and international newspapers is available through Newsstand Complete! This includes 27 major newspapers: The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Barron’s, and USA Today are just some of them. The Star Tribune is also available full-text back to 1986! Learn more about the newspaper collection and join MINITEX Reference Services staff as they take you through content, searching, and working with results in Newsstand Complete.
    Date: Monday, April 13, 2009
    Time: 9:30 – 10:30 AM
    Register
    View an archived version of ProQuest Newsstand Complete

    EBSCO Business Source Premier Basics
    In this 60 minute webinar, MINITEX Reference Services staff will take you through content of Business Source Premier, one of the world’s largest business databases. This comprehensive database offers full-text for more than 1,150 scholarly business journals covering management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and much more. Business Source Premier contains periodicals ranging from Business Week, Forbes, Fortune and American Banker to journals such as Harvard Business Review, Journal of Management, Academy of Management Review, and many more. More than 250 of these full text publications are available exclusively from EBSCO. The full-text, peer-reviewed content in Business Source Premier is unmatched and full-text coverage begins in 1990 for many journals. Business Source Premier includes PDF images and embedded images for many of these journals. In addition, the database provides detailed information on the 10,000 largest international and national companies in the public and private sector based on sales. Do you need gender or religious breakdowns by country, global or international business/travel information, SWOT analyses for a company you’re interviewing with? Business Source Premier will give you the answers to these and many more business-related questions.
    Date: Monday, April 20, 2009
    Time: 3:00 – 4:00 PM
    Register

    To learn more about these and other resources, register for a training session or just ask a librarian!

    March 16, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1439

  • More new titles in February

    Please see this spreadsheet for a list of books and videos we added to our collection in the last half of February. You’ll find these and other great titles in our catalog, MnPALS Plus.

    March 6, 2009 • Uncategorized • Views: 1374