Central Search

As of today, and if you are in the library, there is a new way to search for online articles, books (online and real), and videos. It is called Central Search. Type in a search term, and you will get results from most of our online resources as well as resources like books or videos available at your GTCC libraries. Go to Online Resources from the library page and click "Central Search."

The Year in Review - 2006, by NewsBank

NC LIVE Insights
================

NewsBank Special Report
=============
NewsBank’s new Special Report, "The Year in Review - 2006," is now available as part of our NewsBank subscription. "The Year in Review - 2006" takes a look back at the most important events and issues that occurred during the year.

Go to NewsBank via NCLIVE, and click on "Special Reports" in the left-hand navbar.

Stories include the most important issues and events in the Arts, Business, Science, Health, Government, Crime, and other areas including people who made the news. Also are pictures of the major events and people, maps of areas that were in the news, and suggested search terms to use in NewsBank products.

This Special Report is available on our NewsBank America's Newspapers subscription. Simply choose "Special Reports" to locate the "Year in Review" reports.

Burkhead's Best Reads for 2006, Genre Specific and Otherwise.

Burkhead’s Best Reads 2006, Genre Specific and Otherwise

A few caveats:

• I’m a big science fiction, fantasy, and horror buff, so a lot of the things below are from those genres. If you are looking for a purely “quality literature” list, this isn’t it.


• Having said that, there are a few things on the list that in my judgment cross the boundary from genre to good literature. I think those will be self-evident, but I’ll point them out anyway.


• Don’t be deceived by the “2006” moniker. Several of the books listed below are years old and I just happened to have read them in 2006. That is to say, not all of them are new publications.


• I’m mainly interested in letting people know about books I’ve enjoyed so other readers will be aware of them as well.


• Why? Because everyone else does their own year’s best list, and I felt left out. :D

So, without further preamble-Burkhead’s Best Reads for 2006!

The Lies of Locke Lammora-Scott Lynch-What a fun read! This is a rollicking tale of a band of young thieves/con men in the fantastical city of Camorra. The tale jumps back and forth between the apprenticeship of this band of brothers under their criminal mentor, and an elaborate set of underworld plots and plans in the present involving the local underworld, the authorities, and a new outside force. Not without some moral edification-becomes a study on the nature and psychology of revenge. If nothing else, proves the truth of “honor among thieves. This may be the most entertaining book I read in 2006.

Bridge of Birds-Barry Hughart-Lyrical fantasy based in Chinese myth, culture, and folklore. I had heard for years how good this book was but didn’t read until May, 06. Sorry I waited so long. Ki Lao the great scholar and his assistant the peasant boy Number 10 Ox are on a quest to save the children of Number 10 Ox’s village from a poisoned slumber. A heartfelt meditation on the meaning of purity of heart and purpose.

Anno Dracula-Kim Newman-What if Van Helsing, Harker, et. all failed in their attempt to kill Dracula? This thoughtful novel examines what might have been if Dracula were alive to plague Britain at the height of the empire. This book is as much mystery and political thriller as it is horror story, although it is plenty terrifying. Watch for the sly jokes about 90’s Goth culture and the literary in-jokes. A must read for classic vampire
story fans.

Evolution’s Shore-Ian McDonald-I read 3 books by this author about the same time, and after some reflection decided to recommend this one as the best. Something strange has fallen to earth and is completely transforming the biology of the world. Is it the next stage of human evolution or simply the end of the world? Set against the backdrop of modern Africa and her sorrows, this is a compelling tale of how we respond to a future out of human control.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War-Max Brooks-Who’d thought the son of the director of Blazing Saddles could write a horror novel? This one is most interesting for its global perspective on the great zombie war in our near future and for the way it is constructed, as a set of interviews with survivors, military and civilian. It seems to be modeled on World War II, and deals not just with land military actions but with politics, the changes in industry needed to meet the zombie threat, the conflict at sea (yes, you read that right) and everything in between.

The Border Trilogy-All the Pretty Horses, the Crossing, and Cities of the Plain- Cormac McCarthy. Here’s an entry that qualifies as “literature”. ;) I suppose these are best described as modern Westerns. They are set in the modern American West, and draw deeply on the mythology of the West-as-frontier. Wonderfully written and rich in symbolism, so much so as to be almost impenetrable at times. All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing double as coming-of-age tales, and Cities of the Plain brings the stories of boys-become-men to an epic and tragic conclusion. And among other things Cities of the Plain contains what may be best knife fight I’ve ever read put to paper.

The Dead Zone-Stephen King-This is one of King’s older books, but I found it to be one of his best. Part supernatural horror and part political thriller, it tells the tale of a man who after a horrifying car accident gets partial glimpses of the future when he touches another person, and what he sees when he bumps into a candidate for office in his state. Tense, paranoid, and heartbreaking, this is an early winner from one of our most prolific authors.

The Last Picture Show-Larry McMurtry-I told you there would be a few actual pieces of literature on the list. ;) Elegiac story of small town life, and the absolute despair of people who have no where else to go as their world gets smaller and smaller as they get older and older, from high school seniors to the town’s leading citizens. Change the oil fields and ranches of rural Texas to the cotton fields and red clay of Mississippi, and you have the towns I grew up in. The famous movie is completely faithful to the book, but I would urge you to read it anyway.

Shriek: An Afterword-Jeff Vandermeer-This easily qualifies as fantasy or horror, so I’ll leave it for you to decide. Elegantly written, lush, surreal novel about the secret history of the city of Ambergris as relayed by a brother and sister team of historian/writer/artists. Weird and strange, but gripping from page 1. Are the human inhabitants of the city in charge of their destiny, or are they really just pawns of the inhabitants of the city underneath Ambergris, the “mushroom people”, who clearly have their own, if undecipherable, agenda and plans? This novel succeeds on every level-characters, writing, imagined world fully realized, use of the language, plot. There is a consistent sub-plot commenting on the publishing industry for all you would be writers. Maybe the most literary novel I read in 2006.

NC LIVE Insights

ReferenceUSA enhancements. Try It!
================
Beginning November 1st, ReferenceUSA added some enhancements to its product:

* 2.5 million company photos
* 125,000 company descriptions
* 5000 annual reports in PDF format
* UCC Filings
* Local Content - which gives the current weather and local news
* Hours of Operation and credit cards accepted
* An Executive Gender Search

All presented in a new detailed listings layout. This new layout
presents an easier to read format.

Our Own Cindy Kane mentioned in a Florida Blog

And did anyone say blogs do not matter? Cindy's comment is great (thanks, Cindy for permitting us to use it.) But what if my comments were not so great? Blogs, a component of what we call Web2.0, can carry one's words far, far away (like a real estate blog in Florida!) without your ever knowing it. This can be powerful stuff.

Miami Real Estate - News update

Our Own Library in a Library Student's Blog

From: wanna guess?
To: me
Cc:
Bcc:
Subject: bloggin
Time: 11/9/2006 at 7:00PM

hey i thought this was pretty cool. someone was actually looking at our blog! ;)
http://laurenpressley.com/library/?p=129

Invasion of the Wildcats!

I’m sitting here in the GTCC Wendover Campus Library with a horde of wildcats!

Nope, happily not the feline kind or I would have locked myself in my office right away!

The Wildcats I speak of are of the Eastern Guilford variety, species Junior and Senior.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave you are by now of course aware of the tragic fire at Eastern Guilford High, and the forced relocation of the Eastern Guilford High students to locations hither and yon.

I suppose in my case that would be hither. Again, unless you’ve been living in cave, you are by now also aware that the junior and senior classes, 400 strong, are having their classes for the near future at the GTCC Wendover Campus.

The GTCC libraries are making plans to do everything we can to work with our new guests. Among other things we will be able to offer them:

• computer use.


• library database use.


• item borrowing privileges.


• reference service


• information literacy training

GTCC library staff is excited about the opportunity to be of assistance during this time of transition for the staff and students of Eastern Guilford High School. We will be working closely with Eastern Guilford High staff to insure we use our resources to their fullest to meet the educational needs of this unexpected but welcome addition to the GTCC student body. One of the Eastern Guilford High library staff will be working with us in the afternoon so we accommodate the hours the Eastern Guilford students will be in class-12:00 PM until 6:00 PM.

And who knows? If they have a good experience while attending high school classes here, maybe we’ll see them in the next few years as GTCC curriculum students, and that’s always a good thing.

I’ve been impressed by the resiliency of the Eastern Guilford staff and students. They seem to be making the best of a catastrophic situation that I think any of us would find tough to bounce back from. And I’ve been equally impressed by the way GTCC staff has rallied to support our neighbors in their time of need. You can all be proud of the response of GTCC staff and faculty, especially those at the Wendover campus.

I’ll probably write another posting about this after our guests have been with us for a few weeks, just to keep the rest of GTCC filled in on how the situation is progressing. Stay tuned, it’s going to be quite a ride.

Blogging

Many of you may have attended one of the presentations by David Warlick last week pertaining to blogging, podcasting, wikis, etc. Your library has books to help you understand some of these wonderful learning tools, as well as many online resources. Here's a list of some of our book titles:

• Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom
• Blog! How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture
• How to do Everything with iTunes for Macintosh and Windows
• Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers
  
• Who Let the Blogs Out?
• Blogging for Dummies
  
• How to do Everything with Your iPod & iTunes (HP Campus)
• Absolute Beginner's Guide to iPod & iTunes (HP Campus)
  

Featured e-Reference Title

Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. Richard C. Martin, Ed. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 820 pp. 2 vols.

ISBN: 0-02-865603-2 eBook ISBN: 0-02-865912-0 Subject Category: Religion LC Subject(s): Islam-- Encyclopedias. Brief Description: This encyclopedia looks at Islam's role in the modern world, doing so in context of the religion's history and development over the last 13 centuries. Contains thematic articles, biographies of key figures, definitions, illustrations, maps and more.

del.icio.us

We've started using the social bookmarking site, del.icio.us, for the open Web portion of our subject guides.

The experiment has only started, but here is an example: Sociology! (Look for "Good Internet Sites.")

Your own account with del.icio.us is free. Set one up to see how exciting, time-saving, and just plain fun this can be.

The library's account name is GTCCLibraries. Put us on your del.icio.us network. Then, when you find something useful to your students, send it to us, and we can spread it around some more!

Diary of Anne Frank - One City One Book

View complete interviews with Holocaust survivors, as well as local religious leaders and other Greensboro residents talking about the impact and significance of Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl. Hosted by the Greensboro Public Library.

The Public Likes Libraries

==============================================
Public Agenda Alert -- June 13, 2006
* Long Overdue: A Fresh Look at Public Attitudes About Libraries in the 21st Century
http://www.publicagenda.org
==============================================
* Long Overdue: A Fresh Look at Public Attitudes About Libraries in the 21st Century

Americans prize public library service and see libraries as potential solutions to many communities’ most pressing problems, from universal access to computers to the need for better options for keeping teens safe and productive. But few Americans are aware of the increasingly tenuous financial picture faced by many libraries.

Public Agenda examines attitudes about libraries in our latest study, "Long Overdue," prepared with support from the Americans for Libraries Council and funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The report includes the results of a national survey of the general public as well as interviews with national and local civic leaders.

Libraries came out on top when the public assessed the performance of local institutions. Forty-five percent give an "A" to their local community for maintaining well-run libraries, far ahead of any other community institutions, including schools, parks and police.

The public also has a clear sense of what is crucial in a local library. More than 8 in 10 Americans believe that keeping services free should be a very high priority. Having enough current books for children, enough reference materials, friendly, knowledgeable library staff, and good programs for children and teens are also considered absolute essentials for libraries. The public also endorses the further development of libraries' Internet and other computer services, which is particularly noteworthy given that most respondents are already "wired" at home or at work.

Those who think public libraries are primarily used by folks who can't afford bookstores are clearly mistaken, with higher-income families even more likely to use public libraries than low-income families.

Four areas of opportunity for libraries resonated with the public and leaders alike: (1) providing stronger services for teens, (2) helping address illiteracy and poor reading skills among adults, (3) providing ready access to information about government services, including making public documents and forms readily available and (4) providing even greater access to computers for all.

Find out more about "Long Overdue," including free downloads of the full report:
http://www.publicagenda.org/research/research_reports_details.cfm?list=99

Hear a story!

Hey, everyone!

Dont' forget that on

Thursday, October 26, 2 -3, LRC301 (open area on the bottom floor)




The GTCC Friends of the Library will host Ron Jones, an award-winning North Carolina storyteller.




This event will refresh your spirit in an OPENMinds sort of way.
Please do give yourselves an hour from your busy schedules.
Cookies and tea, too!



Here is what Ron writes about himself:

Storyteller
http://www.rijones.com

I like to tell people that I grew up on a dairy farm in North Carolina in a whole family of storytellers. Living in a large family of six children, parents, grandmother, and extended family members- aunts, uncle, cousins- there was always time for a story and a willing teller. Among my earliest memories are gatherings on our porch or in the yard under sprawling oak trees listening to my grandmother tell stories. Even when working around the farm, you might get an impromptu story from an idle farmhand while sitting on the fence waiting for the cows to amble into the milk barn. So I feel that I come to my love for storytelling honestly.

For the past thirty years I have been sharing stories and songs with audiences of all ages. In schools, libraries, and at storytelling festivals throughout the southeast I have been telling traditional and contemporary folktales, classic fairy tales, as well as original stories and songs. I often involve the audience with participation stories and sing-a-longs. I believe strongly in the rich oral tradition of storytelling and the common experience it brings to us all.

With an under graduate degree in theater, I spent several years as an actor touring with educational theater companies throughout the southeast. After receiving a Masters Degree in Library Science, I spent over twenty-two years as a Children’s Librarian and Coordinator of Youth Services for the Wake County Public Library System in Raleigh, NC. During my time with the public library I developed storytelling programs for children of all ages, founded and coordinated one of the longest running storytelling festivals in NC, and conducted storytelling workshops, as well as teaching storytelling at Meredith College in Raleigh. I left Wake County to become the Youth Services Consultant for the State Library of North Carolina in the Department of Cultural Resources. During that time I worked with libraries, schools, and other organizations throughout the state to develop and improve programs and services to the youth of North Carolina. After five years with the State Library I left in 2000 to pursue storytelling and writing full time. I received the Lifetime Achievement Award by the NC Public Library Director’s Association, the 2000 Emerging Artist Award by the Durham Arts Council, and awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by former NC Governor James B. Hunt, III.

I have been an active member of the local and national storytelling community. As a founding board member and past president of the North Carolina Storytelling Guild, I have worked closely with other storytellers throughout the state to promote and support storytellers and the art of storytelling. I served for five years as the NC Liaison to the National Storytelling Network in Jonesborough, TN.

For the past four years I have been performing throughout the southeast and New England presenting storytelling programs in schools, libraries, museums, and at conferences and festivals. I am currently touring STORIES BY THE BOOKS a storytelling program for adults with eight original stories focusing on the power and impact books and reading can have on our lives. I have just released a new CD of stories and songs for children entitled I’d Rather Be a Dog…and Other Stories. I am currently working on a CD of stories for older children and adults.

GSO LRC Featured Shelf Update!

The GSO LRC Featured Shelf has recently changed-the flavor this month is Mystery. Come along and capture suspects, stop crimes, and put the murderer away! Solving the crime is easy when the Featured Shelf is Mystery. The more hardboiled, the better! Remember, the CSI members have nothing on you when comes to breaking the case. With the Mystery Feature, you are the Sleuth in charge.

Essay Contest

Write a winning essay on diversity and get yourself published!

Finding Statistics Just Got Easier!

If you need to find out the number of people who speak Greek in North Carolina*, you're in luck! The GTCC Library recently began subscribing to an online database called Statistical Warehouse that makes finding statistics on any number of issues relatively painless. From languages spoken at home, to reported income, crimes, causes of death - you can find statistics on all these and many other demographic, social, health, and economic indicators.

Use this resource to find statistics for a paper or other research. Select relevant statistical facts and figures to support your argument or provide background information in a paper or project. Take a look at Statistical Warehouse and see what interesting facts and figures you can find.

* In 2000, 6,404 people in NC spoke Greek at home (from Statistical Warehouse, extracted from 2000 census files).

Constitution Day

GTCC will commemorate Constitution Day on September 18th with a series of classroom and related activities. The day marks the anniversary of the signing of the U. S. Constitution on September 17, 1787; the commemoration is part of federal law. September 18th is the day of classes closest to the actual anniversary of the signing.

On Monday noon, September 18th, Dr. Edward Sharpe will present "Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Impact of the Bush Administration on the Operation of Constitutional Checks and Balances." This keynote talk and audience discussion will take place in the Applied Technologies Auditorium at noon.

High Point and Greensboro News

From: Keith Burkhead

Hi all,

Well, this has been the hottest week of the summer so far, but the start of the fall semester is right around the corner. With that in mind, here is the summer edition of the Extension Campus LRC News.

News of Interest to Greensboro and High Point Faculty and Staff

• Learning Express-It's Still Here!

As you begin to make your academic plans for the fall, don't forget about Learning Express. Learning Express is a database that supports several academic programs, and is especially helpful for Developmental Eduction and Adult Basic Education Classes. Its free and can be used from any Internet capable computer, including your computer at home.

Use of Learning Express does require than an account be created through a GTCC computer, and just to confuse you further, :D to use Learning Express from home requires that you register for to use the library databases from home.

You can work on this yourself or point your students to the library webpage at http://webster.gtcc.cc.nc.us/library/

or you can bring your class to the library and I'll be happy to work with you and your students on setting up these accounts.

• Remote Access to Library Databases

While I'm on the subject of remote access to Learning Express, let me also mention that many other library databases offer this feature. These too require that you register to use the library from home but once that is done...the user is good to go.

You can do this yourself by going to the library webpage at http://www.gtcc.edu/library/ and choosing Use the Library from Home, then filling out the form on the next page.

Or, I would be happy to assist you with this personally.

Incidentally, if you have previously registered for this service and/or have had your classes do this, they will need to reregister for the fall term. The remote access logins and passwords change each semester.

• Library Hours for the Fall, 2006 Semester

Here are the HP and Greensboro Campus Hours for the fall semester.

Day Hours-Both Locations

Monday-Thursday

Open 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, closed 12:00 PM-1:00 PM, open 1:00 PM-3:30 PM.

Evening Hours

Greensboro

Open Monday and Wednesday Nights-6:00 PM-9:00 PM

High Point

Open Tuesday and Thursday nights-6:00 PM-9:00 PM

We realize these hours may not suit everyone's needs. We appreciate your patience and understanding with this matter.

• Library Instruction for Your Classes Available

We will be happy to work with you to arrange a session on use of library resources for you and your students. I am usually available to do sessions at Greensboro. I will be available on Wednesdays at High Point. Other days at High Point will be trickier, but let us know your needs and I am sure we can work something out.

Library Locations and Contact Information

Greensboro

Location-Adult Education Center, second floor, Room 224.

Phone extensions-4225 or 4203.

High Point

Entertainment Technology Building, second floor, Room 216.

Phone extensions-4112 or 4153.

Email for both locations-bkburkhead@gtcc.edu

News of Interest to HP Staff and Faculty

Amy English, the HP Campus Librarian, left GTCC at the end of July for greener pastures. We'll miss Amy and wish her well. While we are in the process of getting her replacement selected and trained, I'll be staffing the HP library on Wednesdays, and JT library staff will be rotating through on the other days. We realize this is not the optimal arrangement and will have Amy's replacement handling the day-to-day staffing of the HP LRC as soon as possible. We hope this will be not-to-deep into the fall semester.

News of Interest to GSO ICET Staff and Faculty

The ICET books that were sent from Jamestown to support the ICET programs finally went on the shelves right at the end of the spring 2006 semester. I shared that information then but....I know I try not to think about work when I'm not here, and I imagine it was the same for you folks off during the summer. :D So, just in case you missed it, the ICET books that were housed in storage for a while are on the shelves and ready for use by you and your students.

That's it for this edition of the Extension LRC News. Please share this information with anyone you feel would benefit from it, and please let me know of anyone who should be added to or removed from the list.

Thanks,
KB

Learning Resources-Come See What We Can Do For You!

Just A Recommendation!

I have just finished reading a wonderful book! Normally, I wouldn't recommend a book, as everyone's taste in reading is different, but this is a book for everyone! The title is Life Is So Good, and it's the remarkable story of George Dawson, the grandson of a slave who learned to read when he was 98!!! Not only is it a good read, but it's encouraging to people of all ages who have struggled through life. Teachers, if you have students who are discouraged or think they'll never make it, tell them the story of the man who went back to school at 98!

Off-Campus Access to Library Databases

You can now quickly and easily retrieve the off-campus login information, usernames, and passwords for accessing several GTCC Library database services by logging into Blackboard (instead of registering via the Use the Library From Home web page).

To access this off-campus login information, follow these instructions:

1. Login to Blackboard.
2. When the My GTCC Blackboard screen appears, click on the GTCC Library tab near the top of the screen.
3. When the next screen appears, click on the 2nd link - Library Databases - Login Information & Passwords.
4. When the next screen appears, click on the Click Here button.
5. When the next screen appears, click on the Click here once more for your passwords button.
6. The next screen to appear will be the Off-Campus Login Information web page which contains the usernames and passwords to several GTCC Library database services.

The Truth about the Da Vinci Code

Sure we have "The Da Vinci Code!" But want to dig deeper?
Historian Bart D. Ehrman (and professor of Religious Studies at UNC-CH), attempts to separate fact from fiction in his book, "Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know About Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine," It's available as an audio book from our NetLibrary collection.

To download this audiobook go to the record by clicking here.

Thinking of retiring early?

Check out NetLibrary's ebook of of the month - Work Less, Live More.

Author, Bob Clyatt, offers an alternative to the daily grind - early semiretirement. Clatt provides advice, tips, and specific strategies for:

• Long-term investing.
• Living off your savings.
• Sensible spending.
• Living outside the culture of consumption and overwork.

To read this book, click here.

To search for other books to read online, go to: http://www.netlibrary.com.

Would you like to learn how to . . .

• Create your own free blog or space on the Web?
• Search for online journal, magazine & newspaper articles?
• Trace your family tree?
• Copy & paste stable url article links to your Blackboard course?
• Find K-12 online resources for your child's school assignments and projects?
• Access & use online and audio books?

Please let us know the types of workshops you are interested in attending by taking a few minutes to complete the library's online workshop survey (see survey link below). Just check off or describe the workshops that interest you.

Link to Workshop Survey

NC LIVE Insights

* LearningExpress E-books
* New NetLibrary IT titles

LearningExpress E-books
================
These online books are a little-known resource available to the NC LIVE community. This resource provides study guides and test-preparation books to help people prepare for high-stakes tests—to advance in school, or pass licensing, certification, or competitive entry-level exams.
Examples of titles include:

Acing the SAT 2006
Goof-Proof Interviews
Reading Comprehension Success in 20 Minutes a Day
Webmaster Career Starter 2nd Edition
Teacher Career Starter 2nd Edition
and many others.

To view these books, choose "LearningExpress Library" from any of the NC
LIVE menus, sign in (create a LearningExpress account first if
necessary), then click on E-books. Search for a topic of your choice. A
complete list of all the E-books is located on the NC LIVE "Library
Staff Resources" page.

New NetLibrary IT titles
================
NC LIVE has added over 200 new IT titles to our ebook collection. These new titles are integrated into the current collection, so continue using NetLibrary as usual to find these new titles. A complete list of these March 2006 additions is located on the NC LIVE "Library Staff Resources"

NC LIVE Insights for March

NewsBank Special Reports
================
Newsbank offers topical reports taking information from news headlines
around the world. Recent topics include "Year in Review -- 2005", "2006
Winter Olympics", "World Health", and this month's feature "Women's
History" in celebration of March being Women's History Month.

If you are accessing NC LIVE from an IP authenticated location the URL
below should work. Otherwise click on the left side navigation and
under "More Resources" you will see "Special Reports".

http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/Static/?p_product=SR&p_theme=current&p_action=home&p_nbid=


Britannica Newsletters
================
Britannica offers topical newsletters delivered right to your email box.
You can select to subscribe to the Public Library or Academic edition.
These newsletters will help you tie your electronic resources to
topical programs you may offer at your library. See a sample of the
current March 2006 newsletter celebrating Women's History month:
http://newsletter.eb.com/search/newsletter_mar06.html

Learning Express = Basic Skills Success!

One of the many resources available through your GTCC library is a NC LIVE database called Learning Express. Learning Express is one of the best online resources around for enhancing the learning experience for GTCC Basic Skills students.

The first step is for the new Learning Express user to create a Learning Express account through any GTCC computer. Once that is done, the user can access Learning Express from any Internet capable computer: at home, another library, or from work. Creating a Learning Express login and password is simple-there are no strange login or password requirements, like having 4 Upper Case Letters, 5 Lower Case Letters, and 7 numbers and punctuation symbols. No, the Learning Express login and password can be something as plain as your name and birthday-simple and easy to remember. I suggest that if a user already has an email account that they just use their login and password for that, and avoid the hassle of having to create and learn a new one.

Once in Learning Express the new user can see immediately there is a wide range of subject area modules to choose from. Some of special interest to Basic Skills students, staff, and faculty would be as follows:

• GED


• Math Skills Improvement


• Reading Skills Improvement


• Writing Improvement Program


• US Citizenship


• Skills Improvement with Spanish Instructions


• Job & Career Success Skills

There are many others, but this gives you some idea of what’s available.

The easiest way to access Learning Express the first time is to go through the library web site at http://webster.gtcc.cc.nc.us/library/

Then choose Online Resources (the computer icon.)

Then scroll down to the Alphabetical Listing of Databases area, and click on the “L” button.

Learning Express will be the first link on the next page. Click on that link to get started.

As always, please let library staff know if you have any questions, or if you need any assistance getting started.

Experience Basic Skills Success with Learning Express!

March Ebook of the Month is BAD!!

Check out NetLibrary's ebook of of the month -
Bad: Infamy, Darkness, Evil, and Slime on Screen

How can bad be so good? From Nosferatu to Tom Ripley, from evil villains to empires of evil, from psychotic slashers to bloodthirsty aliens, violence, infamy, and slime has become an expected staple of the Hollywood diet. In the March eBook of the Month, the contributors to Bad explore a wide range of genres and use a variety of critical approaches to examine evil, villainy, and immorality in twentieth-century film.

To read this ebook, click on the link below:
NetLibrary eBook of the Month

Fish Love to Read!

Sammy, the Library fish at Jamestown, loves to read the latest fiction. He's pictured here reading Cell by Stephen King which is currently #2 on the New York Times Best Seller List. Come check out Cell and other best sellers at the front desk in the Jamestown campus Library. If he's not too busy reading, Sammy may be able to recommend something!

Not in Jamestown? Request a best seller at the Greensboro or High Point campus Library, and if it's available it will be at your location in a day or two for you to check out.

See other titles on the New York Times Best Seller List at:
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller/index.html

We have new DVDs to help you prepare for the GED!

The libraries at the High Point and Greensboro campuses both received new sets of DVDs to help students prepare for the GED. These may be checked out by faculty or students with a valid student ID or library card.

Titles in the series include:

GED: Language Arts, Reading
GED: Language Arts, Writing
GED: Mathematics
GED: Calculator Essentials
GED: Science
GED: Social Studies

Some of these are multiple-DVD sets. Useful for classroom instruction or for individuals preparing to take the test. They show you the types of questions that will be asked on the exam, and discuss the major subject areas that will be covered.

Ask at the desk at your library for more information, or to check out these DVDs!

Basic Reading Series for Adult Basic Education Students in the Wendover LRC

We have a new set of books in the Wendover Campus LRC (Adult Education Center, Rm. 224, second floor) designed especially for adults learning to read. This is the Contemporary's Reading for Adults-Easy Reading for Adults Learning to Read series, call #428.6.

This series is designed for adults reading on a k-5 grade level, or for adults learning to read and speak English. The books are short, and usually contain no more than 1-3 lines of text per page. They deal with real life situations, and are designed to be easy to read while being appropriate for adults in content.

Here are some example titles from the series:

• Laid Off
• Jobs We See
• Job Hunting
• Group Therapy
• The Grocery Store
• A Good Parent
• The Good News and the Bad News
• Good Moves
• Getting Up on Time
• Earning Extra Money
• My First Real Job
• My Daily Schedule
• When I Have a Problem
• What Worries Me
• Third Shift
• The Temporary Service
• Stress
• Starting Over
• Where Does Our Money Go?
• Old Car

This is not an exhaustive list, but it should give you an overall idea of the content. These books are also available at the HP LRC.

I encourage you to utilize these resources. Sometimes it can be difficult to find material suitable for practice reading that is also appropriate in content for adults, i.e., material where the content is not aimed at children! Contemporary's Reading for Adults addresses both of these concerns. Please take advantage of these books.

Please contact me if you have any questions. I can be reached at 334-4822, x4225 or x4203, or email bkburkhead@gtcc.edu.

NC LIVE Home Page Changes. Black History Month

Changes to the NC LIVE home page
On Monday morning, February 6th, NC LIVE will roll out a new version of
the NC LIVE home page.

Based on usability testing students and patrons, and surveys conducted
with library staff from around the state, we are developing a host of
changes for the NC LIVE web site over the next several months.
The first of these is a move to make the home page more functional by
bringing popular features front and center.

* "Browse by Subject" and "Browse by Type" will appear in the left side
bar. Some of the current features, including the "Featured Resource"
will disappear.

* Below the EZ Search box will be the addition of "Need a specific
resource? Use our Alphabetic list." and "Need a specific title? Use our
journal and magazine search feature."

If you have any questions or comments feel free to let the Help Desk know.


Black History Month Resources through Encyclopedia Britannica

NC LIVE users have access to Encyclopedia Britannica's Guide to Black
History website.

This website was recently updated and presents a vast array of articles,
hundreds of images, and a wide assortment of audio clips, film clips,
and multimedia presentations. The timeline traces two millennia of black
history, and the browse features enable you to pinpoint the central
people, places, topics, and events covered in black history. Our image
and multimedia galleries provide snapshots of black culture throughout
the ages.

You can access the website by opening Britannica Online and scrolling to
the bottom of the homepage where there is a link to Britannica
Spotlights archive. The Guide to Black History is the third selection.

NC LIVE / EbscoHOST Insights

from the NC LIVE folks:

In the month of February EBSCO is releasing a host of new features for their databases. An exact release date is unknown, but look for the changes in the next couple of weeks.

"Visual Searching"
A new "Visual Search" tab will soon appear that will provide a great complement to the traditional basic and advanced search options. EBSCO had provided a link to a 30 second flash movie for a sneak preview of this exciting new tool that they are making available to all customers at no additional charge.
http://www.epnet.com/flashViewer.php?marketID=1&topicID=407

"Clustering"
Eliminating the need to browse through Result Lists or check individual records, EBSCO's Clustering feature provides a convenient list of links (or clusters) that allows users to sort results by Subjects, Authors, or Journals (depending upon which grouping the library administrator has chosen in EBSCOadmin), along the left side of the Result List. When the clustering feature has been enabled, a list of ten clusters is displayed with the Result List. This feature must be enabled by the NC LIVE help desk.

"Database Selection From Search Screen"
EBSCO provides a convenient drop-down list, located right under the Find field on both the Basic and Advanced Search screens, of every database in the profile. Users can select a new database to search without having to return to the Choose Databases screen.

"RSS Feeds"
Researchers now have the capability to extend the usefulness and reach of the Alerts they create within EBSCOhost. Each alert can be set up as an RSS feed, allowing them to view Alert results within their RSS Aggregator, or allowing them to include these results in a web site with EBSCOhost articles.

New MORNINGSTAR.COM LIBRARY EDITION Now Available

Next time you’re in the library take a look at our Internet-based investing tool, Morningstar.com Library Edition, a NC LIVE resource. Morningstar takes you through the entire investing process – finding stocks and funds, evaluating them and seeing how they work together in a portfolio. It covers all stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, American Stock Exchange and nearly 14,000 mutual funds – more than 20,000 securities in all. It provides detailed financial information, analyst reports and helps you build lists of stocks and funds based on hundreds of different criteria.

Give Morningstar.com Library Edition a try or stop by the Reference Desk for assistance.

Access North Carolina Newspapers via Newsbank

Several North Carolina newspapers including the Greensboro News & Record are now available via Newsbank. To access the Newsbank database from home, you will need to use the NC LIVE password. If you haven't registered yet this semester to use Newsbank or any of our other GTCC Library databases from home or outside campus, go to Use the Library From Home to fill out an online request form.

If you would like to learn more about using Newsbank or any of GTCC Library's online resources, schedule a research consultation with one of our librarians. To schedule a consultation:

-Jamestown campus - drop by the Reference Desk or call us at ext. 2287 or 2636. Ask for Belinda or Denise.

-Greensboro campus - drop by the library or call Keith at ext. 4225 or 4203

-High Point campus - drop by the Library or call Amy at ext. 4112 or 4153

January eBook of the Month Offers Practical Advice for Successful Weight Management and a Healthy Lifestyle

BOULDER, COLO.— NetLibrary, in Partnership with Que Publishing, will feature Absolute Beginner's Guide to a Lite and Healthy Lifestyle as the January eBook of the Month. Written by registered dietician Nicole Haywood and endorsed by the National Institute for Fitness and Sport, Absolute Beginner's Guide to a Lite and Healthy Lifestyle ignores fad diets and focuses on helping readers make the lifestyle changes necessary for successful weight management.

While the goal of every diet is weight loss, Haywood argues that most diets are designed to fail because they do not adequately address all the factors related to food choices.

• Diets focus on the scale instead of behavior changes.
• Diets do not often include, encourage, or promote physical activity.
• Diets do not require a lifestyle change.
• Diets have a beginning and an end.
• Diets create a parent/child relationship with food (being "good" or "bad" when you eat certain foods) that frequently leads to rebellious eating.
• Diets do not require you to change the way you think about food.

How to find community assistance

Looking for help and don't know where to turn?

The United Way has set up a website and telephone hotline to help you figure out which agency or community group to contact for help. If you are looking for community assistance for a variety of needs - heating bill help, housing, counseling, medical issues, and more - then the United Way service is where you can turn for help.

You can access this information by visiting the United Way's website at

http://www.nc211.org/

Or you can simply dial 211 from any telephone to speak to somebody in person.

This service provides resources for people in Guilford, Randolph, Davidson, Forsyth, and other NC counties.

Help with NC LIVE's audio books

NC LIVE has posted information on how to use NetLibrary's audio books:

http://www.nclive.org/help.phtml?page=2
and
http://www.nclive.org/audiobooks.phtml

Self-Guided Library Orientation for Students

GTCC Faculty -
Introduce your students to the library's resources and services by having them pick up a copy of the recently revised Library Orientation Assignment at the Jamestown Campus Reference Desk. This orientation assignment guides students through the various areas, services, and resources of the Jamestown Campus library. The assignment takes approximately 30 - 45 minutes to complete. Completed assignments are handed in at the Circulation Desk and graded by library staff. To view and print out this assignment, click here. For more information or questions regarding this assignment, contact me (Denise Woetzel) at ext. 2287 or email me at mdwoetzel@gtcc.edu.

A New Beginning

Welcome to the Guilford Technical Community College Library blog! Look here for news and information about what's happening in the GTCC libraries ~ at Jamestown, Greensboro, and High Point.

We have lots of new services to offer, including a ton of new NC LIVE resources. Watch this site for more details!

New audio book service

Use NC LIVE to download books in MP3 format. You can then transfer these to your MP3 player. The files last for three weeks. Ask a librarian to help you.
Sorry! They haven't discovered iPods yet :(