Need a book & the Library's closed?

If you're at home working on your English Composition paper, your persuasive speech -- whatever research you're doing -- don't forget that almost one-third of the Library's book collection is available to you electronically. You can search for the ebooks either through the online catalog (CCCC Library Catalog/Athena -- look for the "globe" icon), or search only the online books through the netLibrary link listed below the catalog link. If you want to look up something in an encyclopedia just click on the Encyclopedias, Almanacs, etc. link on the right side of the Library's Webpage to see which encyclopedias we have available for you.

The semester's almost over, but research is just heating up! Good luck!

Tri-Conference at Wichita, Kansas
April 6th-7th

Amazing Spaces Presentation

This presentation dealt with how to make your library space more functional and how to important it is to have an architect look over your plans before making any changes. There are so many codes and accessibility issues to consider that you need a professional to help you create the best design for your library. My interest in attending this session was to see if there were any grant opportunities mentioned to help us in a future renovation that would include more functional space, better air movement through the library that would help control the heat, and a better arrangement of the library to serve our students. This was a great presentation, but ultimately funding is the key factor!

K-State K-12 Outreach Presentation

This presentation was about how to reach out to K-12 schools in your area and promote information literacy. K-State has started a program where their librarians collaborate with school librarians to bring elementary and middle school students onto K-State Hale Library for a short presentation and tour. Hale library uses this as an opportunity to “give back to the community” and also to make children aware of how amazing a library can be. This sets the students on the right track towards their future and understanding that the library is a place they can go for help, a place to study, or just a place to read a good book!
In addition, K-State offers tours and programs to junior high and high school students to help them find resources for research papers and projects. This opportunity is great PR for K-State and starts students thinking about college and what opportunities await them. Although CCCC is much smaller than K-State, I think we have opportunities to reach out to the community as well as to our children right here on campus (across the street at the children’s center). Finding space for programs/tours is an issue, where would we put these students when they come for a tour without disrupting our college students learning? But it is something to think about and keep in mind for the future!

Librarians gone wild!

I know you all don't believe it's even possible for librarians to let down their hair, kick off their sensible shoes and dance on the table, but just get a group of us together and you never know what might happen! Well, okay, I am exaggerating a little to get your attention. I just wanted to share with you a liitle about the Kansas Library Conference that Jennifer and I attended last week in Wichita.

Since the conference was for all types of libraries and librarians, we were able to attend sessions for public and K-12 schools to see what were the hot issues for them and how we can use their ideas to better serve our patrons in the community college setting. I attended sessions on new resource sharing initiatives in Kansas, copyright updates, redesigning library space, and technology planning.

Resource Sharing in Kansas
The State Library of Kansas has made it possible for EVERY Kansas citizen to gain access to a variety of online resources through the Kansas Library Card. Although you have access to these resources through the LRC's Web page as students and staff of CCCC, you may want to tell your friends and family about this opportunity. All they have to do is go to www.kslc.org and register for a temporary card. Then they have 30 days to use the databases and electronic books before they need to go to a library to make their card valid.

The State Library is also promoting several digitization projects such as the Kansas Digital Library which is attempting to digitize all materials that are unique to Kansas, and the Western Trails Project that five state museums have started to digitize their collections dealing with western migration through Kansas.

Copyright Updates
Dr. Rosemary Talab, copyright guru at K-State, provided some information where copyright issues are heating up: "orphan works" (materials whose author(s) cannot be determined), individuals with disabilities (specifically offering textbooks in another format), the Family Entertainment Act (altering movies with objectionable language for family viewing), etc. What surprised me the most was that this copyright expert bowed to the expertise of librarians who deal with copyright issues everyday! I'm also interested in trying out the online copyright quiz she mentioned. If you want to check your knowledge of copyright and fair use let me know and I'll get you the URL.

See Jennifer's posting for information on the sessions she attended. Have a great weekend!

New Books!
Here’s a list of the new books we received in March. They are all located at the Concordia campus library. Anyone may check them out for two weeks:

Computer Science & Generalities
Degunking Windows, by Joli Ballew. Paraglyph Press, 2004. NEW 005.446 B212
Degunking your Mac, by Joli Ballew. Paraglyph Press, 2004. NEW 005.446 B212m

Religion
The evolution-creation struggle, by Michael Ruse. Harvard University Press, 2005. NEW 231.7652 R894
No god but God: the origins, evolution, and future of Islam, by Reza Aslan. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2006. NEW 297 As51

Social Sciences
Courtroom 302: a year behind the scenes in an American criminal courthouse, by Steve Bogira. Vintage Books, 2006. NEW 345.773 B634
Freedom vs. intervention: six tough cases, by Daniel E. Lee. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. NEW 342.73 L511
Powering up: learning to teach well with technology, by Eileen M. Coppola. Teachers College Press, 2004. NEW 371.334 C796
See Jane hit: why girls are growing more violent and what can be done about it, by James Garbarino. Penguin Press, 2006. NEW 303.6 G136
Student success in college: creating conditions that matter. Jossey-Bass, 2005. NEW 378.198 K954
To the flag: the unlikely history of the Pledge of Allegiance, by Richard Ellis. University Press of Kansas, 2005. NEW 323.65 EL59
What we know about childcare, by Alison Clarke-Stewart. Harvard University Press, 2005. NEW 362.712 C550
When in Rome or Rio or Riyadh-- cultural Q&As for successful business behavior around the world, by Gwyneth Olofsson. Intercultural Press, 2004. NEW 395.52 OL7

Languages
Larousse student dictionary, Spanish-English, English-Spanish. Larousse, 2003. NEW 463.2 L328

Natural Sciences & Mathematics
Out of Eden: an odyssey of ecological invasion, by Alan Burdick. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2005. NEW 577 B897

Technology & Applied Sciences
The poison paradox: chemicals as friends and foes, by John A Timbrell. Oxford University Press, 2005. NEW 615.9 T735

Arts & Recreation
Art & physics: parallel visions in space, time, and light, by Leonard Shlain. Quill/W. Morrow, 1993. NEW 701 Sh69
Jean-Michel Basquiat, by Jean Michel Basquiat. Skira, 2005. NEW 759.13 B293
The show: the inside story of the spectacular Los Angeles Lakers in the words of those who lived it, by Roland Lazenby. McGraw-Hill, 2006. NEW 796.323 L458

Literature
Melville: his world and work, by Andrew Delbanco. Knopf, 2005. NEW 813.009 M497d