See What We Can Do For You - GTCC Library

Student Workshop: Introducing Our Services

2010-08-26T09:15:00.004-04:00

The library will be holding several workshops throughout the semester for any student to attend. The first workshop will introduce library services. The workshops will be held:
Jamestown Wednesday 9/1/2010 @ 9am LRC 202
Thursday 9/2/2010 @ 2pm LRC 202

Greensboro Wednesday 9/1/2010 @ 2pm

Students in the Digital Age-Some Thoughts

2010-08-25T14:17:00.003-04:00

I came across some interesting articles regarding the current generation of students, who as children of the digital age are expected to embrace technology in all it's glory. You might be surprised...

The Digital Generation? Not so fast.

http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2010/07/29/29readwriteweb-so-called-digital-natives-not-media-savvy-n-74704.html?src=me&ref=technology

Abandoning print for online sources? Again, not so fast.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/readers-are-abandoning-print-yet-dont-trust-the-web/?ref=technology

Students and digital plagiarism.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html?ref=technology

And finally, information without context is well....just information. Nice to know, but what does it mean?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/28/wikileaks/

Make of it what you will.

Later,
KB

Journal Liberation-A Primer

2010-06-14T13:14:00.001-04:00

It is possible to extract some articles from those expensive academic journals, if you know how to do it.

Journal Liberation-A Primer

TitanNet "HOT" at the Wendover Campus!

2010-06-08T13:59:00.002-04:00

TitanNet, GTCC's public access wireless network, is now "hot" at the GTCC Wendover Campus. TitanNet can be accessed in the Wendover Campus library....all that is required is logging in as guest user by entering an email address. It's easy and it's free! So bring that new wireless laptop you've been dying to use and join the cool kids on TitanNet!

A Couple of Useful Technologies, and "One for Fun"

2010-05-13T10:12:00.004-04:00

Having trouble keeping up with all that electronic correspondence? Check this out.

Silenta

And an extremely useful service for the visually impaired.

Library for the Visually Impaired

This is actually pretty useful as well, but make sure you watch the introduction for retro look and feel.

The Suggest-O-Mometer

and I now want to be called "The Bookulater."

Test preparation

2009-07-02T14:52:00.007-04:00

Over 150 online books like career guides, study aides and test preparation titles are now available through Learning Express, an online service that provides practice tests and tutorial courses designed to help learners succeed on academic or licensing tests. Here are just some of the ebook titles:
- Acing the GED Exam
- Express Review Guides: Math Word Problems
- 501 Critical Reading Questions
- 501 Sentence Completion Questions
- Goof-Proof Resumes & Cover Letters
- Paralegal Career Starter
- Probation Officer/Parole Officer Exam

Find these and many more ebooks by going directly to Learning Express (the link to the ebook collection is on the right side). Or, link directly to these and other full text online books by searching the Library catalog.

Learning Express is a resource provided by NC LIVE a state service that provides North Carolina residents and students with access to high quality information.

Web 2.0 vs Email Discussion Groups in the Scholarly Community

2009-07-01T11:13:00.002-04:00

Interesting article on how Web 2.0 is impacting scholarly electronic discussion, especially the use of email discussion groups.

http://beta.chronicle.com/article/Change-or-Die-Scholarly/46962/

Learn About the Chrysler Building

2009-04-01T11:47:00.002-04:00

Click here for details

Word Tips - Keyboard shortcuts

2009-04-01T09:03:00.005-04:00

For the gamut, go to QUAMUT, the go to how to

Bold letters Ctrl+B
Italicize letters Ctrl+I
Underline letters Ctrl+U
Decrease the font size 1 point Ctrl+[
Increase the font size 1 point Ctrl+]
Copy selected text or an object Ctrl+C
Cut selected text or an object Ctrl+X
Paste text or an object Ctrl+V
Save a document Ctrl+S
Move one character to the left Left Arrow
Move one character to the right Right Arrow
Move one word to the left Ctrl+Left Arrow
Move one word to the right Ctrl+Right Arrow

Display your art work

2009-03-13T15:45:00.002-04:00

Are you an artist or do you know someone who is? Consider submitting your art for the third annual GTCC Student, Employee, Retiree, Alumni Art Exhibition sponsored by the Friends of the Library. All GTCC curriculum and continuing education students, employees, retirees, and alumni are invited to submit original works of art for the show which will begin on April 22 and continue through May 29. Works will be on display throughout the LRC building on the Jamestown campus.

Entry forms for participating in the show are due on March 27. See the submission form for more information.

Please Attend!!

2009-02-23T16:01:00.002-05:00

February 24

New Procedure for requesting library instruction

2009-01-30T09:32:00.002-05:00

Good Morning.

Beginning Monday, February 2, 2009, the library will be following a new procedure for requesting library instruction. Our hope is that faculty will be able to request library instruction without having to track down a busy librarian!

To schedule a session, faculty will need to go to: http://www.gtcc.edu/lib/LI/MainCustomerMenu.htm. They can also go to our homepage: http://www.gtcc.edu/lib and click on the Faculty tab at the top of the page. Then click the link "Request Instruction for your class".
Faculty may still come in and request a session, but they will still be asked to complete the online form. Classes will not be guarenteed unless an online form has been completed.

Also please note the following guidelines below. Some are reminders of guidelines from the past and some are new.

1. Please give 5 days notice of request and complete the form below within 5 days of scheduled instruction. Requests may be denied if less than 5 days.
2. Instructors must remain with the class at all times.
3. Instruction will take place in LRC 202. If the room is unavailable, librarians can come to the classroom and teach the class if the Internet and data projector is available.
4. You will receive a confirmation email by the librarian scheduled to teach the class. The instruction session is not confirmed until you receive the confirmation email from a librarian. You must select topics from the list below to receive a confirmation email from a librarian. You must also provide a description or provide the assignment in order to receive a confirmation email from a librarian.
5. A copy of the assignment or explanation of the assignment is required to facilitate library instruction.
6. Time of instruction is estimated. The length will depend on how students interact with the librarian.

Those who have already signed up for a session still need to complete the online form.

If there are any questions please don't hesitate to contact the library.

Picturing America

2009-01-27T11:55:00.002-05:00

Omni means all

2009-01-26T11:57:00.002-05:00

The Library's newest online resource, OmniFile Full Text Mega Edition, seems to cover all topics - hence the name. Learn more about all the great information in this database and how to find it at our upcoming 30 minute session:

Discover OmniFile - The Library's Newest Database
When: Thursday, 1/29 1:30-2:00 PM
Where: LRC 202, Jamestown Campus

Topics to be addressed:
* Finding articles on topics related to nursing, business, education, science, literature, etc.

* Accessing the full-text of articles from 1,700+ publications.
* Receiving automatic updates on search topics.
* Citing articles instantly.

Professional development credit is available for attending this session.

Luminarias at GTCC!!

2008-12-01T17:00:00.008-05:00

Luminaries
for the Friends of the GTCC Library

Luminaries to celebrate the holiday past and to welcome in the new year

On display in front of the Library and Medlin Campus Center

4 p.m. Monday, January 12.

There will be free hot chocolate to enjoy during the lighting.

The proceeds from the luminaries will help to support the Friends of the GTCC Library.

If you have any questions concerning these luminaries, please contact Margot at mlhorney@gtcc.edu

2008-12-01T15:17:00.006-05:00

Search the newly digitized Google LIFE Magazine photo archive.

New Books!

2008-11-11T11:51:00.003-05:00

Over 40 news book have just arrived! These are just a few:

The Flavor Bible: the Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs
Why We Watched: Europe, America, and the Holocaust
Made in Spain: Spanish Dishes for the American Kitchen
Hot-Button Issues for Teachers: What Every Educator Needs to Know about Leadership, Testing, Textbooks, Vouchers, and More
Chain of Blame: How Wall Street Caused the Mortgage and Credit Crisis
Point, Click & Wow! The Techniques and Habits of Successful Presenters
Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath
Plugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work

Our most comprehensive database yet

2008-10-30T15:33:00.005-04:00

Introducing OmniFile Full Text, the Library's new online database. This database provides access to information on virtually any subject; science, humanities, business, and many more. OmniFile will be especially useful for finding articles on topics pertaining to nursing, literature, history - even art!

Wilson OmniFile includes:

Full text of articles from nearly 2,300 publications, many of them peer-reviewed.
Article abstracts and indexing from over 4,000 publications.
Retrospective coverage as far back as 1982.
Content from all of these Wilson databases: Education Full Text, General Science Full Text, Humanties Full Text, Reader's Guide Full Text, Social Sciences Full Text, Business Full Text, Applied Science & Technology Full Text, Art Full Text, Biological & Agricultural Index Plus, Index to Legal Periodicals Full Text.

Wireless Internet Access

2008-10-22T08:44:00.003-04:00

The Jamestown LRC/Library now has wireless internet access on all three floors of the building. To access, pick the TitanNet network. No special usernames or passwords are required. For more information visit the directions posted by the GTCC MIS Department at http://www.gtcc.edu/services/titannet/.

You can now borrow in-person at any college library in the vicinity.

2008-09-22T14:58:00.002-04:00

The member libraries of the Triad Academic Library Association have entered into a borrowing agreement with all other TALA libraries, enabling students and faculty in good standing at their home institutions to borrow from other participating libraries.
Click here to see which libraries and to learn more details.

Building Concept Plan

2008-09-15T19:05:00.001-04:00

Check out the library's Building Concept Plan.

Learning Express Bookmarks

2008-07-29T08:54:00.002-04:00

Have you accessed Learning Express?

This program has practice tests for many subjects, especially reading, writing, and math. Come to the library to pick up a bookmark that explains how to access this program.

Changes in the Library Summer 2008

2008-07-28T09:28:00.003-04:00

The library has been busy this summer. See below for a brief description of all the changes:

We have a new Service Desk. Check out materials; ask reference questions; schedule library instruction classes all in one place.
An updated Library Orientation Worksheet is now available. If you have old copies throw them away. The new worksheet focuses more on the research options at the library and directs students to create a citation.
Our website address has changed: http://www.gtcc.edu/lib Update your bookmarks!
Accessing a database from home has now become much easier! No more numerous usernames and passwords. You can find further information by going to : http://www.gtcc.edu/lib/RemoteAccessPoliciesProcedures.html
Ebscohost, a database vendor for most of our online databases, has released a new interface in July 2008. This may confuse students at first, but we will be happy to walk them through the new screens. Access Academic Search Premier to see the changes.
A new subject guide for this year’s All College Read is available. The web site address is: http://www.gtcc.edu/lib/Guides/AllCampusRead/thepleasurewasmine.html

It's so easy

2008-07-03T08:14:00.003-04:00

The Library is excited to introduce a new, easy way to access library online resources and databases when off-campus. All off-site users will now be able to log in to these resources with one username and password. Students, faculty, and staff can use their Moodle username (or Blackboard username without the gtcc-) which is first initial+middle initial+last name. Students' password is their six digit birth date.

This change should make access to library resources much easier for online students and anyone who needs to do research at home or anywhere. And, once you log in with a valid username and password, you can easily access all other databases without logging in again.

Summer Reading Event Pictures

2008-06-19T19:56:00.003-04:00

More >>>>>

Professional Development Opportunity Sponsored by Learning Resources at the Wendover Campus

2008-06-17T09:17:00.002-04:00

It Is Really Not That Hard!-Using the Media in the News & Record Room

Learn how to use all the features of this state-of-the-art meeting room on the Greensboro campus. This session will cover how to use the media technology and equipment in this facility and will include time for hands-on practice. Presented by Keith Burkhead, Greensboro Campus Librarian. Directions for use of the media controls will be distributed.

When-Thursday, June 26 from 1:30 - 3 pm.
Where-Room 221, Adult Education Center, Greensboro Campus.

This session has been approved for Professional Development Credit.

Reading and Refreshments

2008-06-12T09:08:00.000-04:00

Who wouldn't like a little R&R while at work or school? GTCC students, faculty, and staff have been busy recommending all types of different books they think you will enjoy this summer. These will be on display at our Reading and Refreshments gathering on Thursday, June 19th, 2:30 - 3:30 at the Jamestown LRC in room 204/205. We will have a mobile check-out station set up so you can take any of the books you like home with you to read.

If you are interested in recommending a book, please send the title, author, your name and a short description or review of the work to khmoore@gtcc.mailcruiser.com.

We will see you there!

Pics of legal reference

2008-06-04T17:02:00.005-04:00

Other news...

2008-05-15T15:43:00.002-04:00

Stay tuned for the next Lunch-n-Learn sessions scheduled for mid-June at the 3 campuses
And keep an eye out for some of our new electronic guides covering various topics and disciplines; a sampling is listed below

LRC Summer Schedule

2008-05-15T15:24:00.002-04:00

Jamestown campus

Monday - Thursday, 7:30am-6:00pm
Friday, 8:00am-12:00pm

Greensboro campus

Monday - Thursday, 8:00am-12:00pm, 1:00pm-6:00pm
Friday, CLOSED

High Point campus

Monday - Thursday, 8:00am-12:00pm, 1:00pm-6:00pm
Friday, CLOSED

Interior Design Changes

2008-05-15T14:36:00.012-04:00

Check out our new Service Desk and Flat Screens!

And our 3rd floor Group-Study Areas.

Books in the GTCC Library-David Simon's Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets

2008-04-08T10:26:00.003-04:00

Hamlet Act 1, Scene V.

Ghost:
Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing
To what I shall unfold.

HAMLET:
Speak; I am bound to hear.

Ghost:
So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.

HAMLET: What?

Ghost:
I am thy father's spirit,
Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night,
And for the day confined to fast in fires,
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison-house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine:
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love--

HAMLET: O God!

Ghost: Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.

HAMLET: Murder!

Ghost:
Murder most foul, as in the best it is;
But this most foul, strange and unnatural.

HAMLET:
Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift
As meditation or the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge.

David Simon's Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is the source material for the much missed TV show Homicide: Life on the Streets. Simon has gone on to make a sort of mini-career on media built on the police theme-another book set in the same urban jungle, and serving as one of the creative forces behind another highly acclaimed TV cop show-The Wire. Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is where it all began.

Simon spent a year as a "police intern" observing all facets of the work of the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit-answering the 3:00 AM calls, watching the grisly work of the medical examiner's office, meeting victims' families, and observing the Byzantine workings of the legal system from booking to the final moments of a capital trial. Baltimore at the time had one of the highest murder rates in the country, much of it stemming from drug related violence, but a lot coming from much more traditional motives-arguments between friends, domestic spats, real or perceived insults, and the out-and-out behavior of the true sociopath.

The real strength of Simon's work is how he personalizes the detectives he gets to know and the people they interact with each day-suspects, members of other arms of the legal system, family members, and most of all, the deceased.

For it is getting to know the deceased-how they dressed, what they smoked, who was friend and who was foe, what color lipstick they favored-that the detectives are able to solve the more puzzling cases. It all works together: interviews, the crime scene, canvassing the block, the ME office report, the ballistics tests, the suspect interrogation. All of these things go together to create a painstaking picture of what happened when the murder took place.

Not that a case that requires so much work is what is preferred, mind you. The detectives much prefer an easy case (a "dunker") to an Agatha Christie style puzzle (a "stone whodunnit"). The pressure is on from all sides: family members, the public, the media, and most importantly the "upstairs offices" to get the board cleared. The detectives are constantly in a race against time to get cases "in the black", meaning a suspect has been arrested and charged. One of the inner dramas is the office warfare between a lieutenant who runs a lose ship administratively but gets results, and a captain who wants all procedures followed, even at the expense of getting the job done. Staying in budget is sometimes more important than catching the killer, much to the ongoing disgust of the detectives.

The detectives are a cynical and caustic lot, but that's a requirement to keep doing the job. The humor is black and acerbic, but serves as a buffer between the corpses and the loss of sanity. And the occasional case pierces the the defenses-the brutal killing of a little girl, who becomes known as the Angel of Reservoir Hill (the neighborhood where the murder takes place) sends one detective on a long, lonely, and soul-devouring quest to catch the murderer. The primary suspect is right there in front of him, but time and circumstance combine to keep him on the streets. Failure, while rare, does happen.

Simon doesn't shy away from the issues inherent in a mostly white detective force working with an almost completely black public. Racism and classism colored by the self-destructiveness of the urban neighborhoods is openly on display. The casual contempt for humanity is open-ended, but it is played out most starkly in the interactions between white cops and a black, urban community. To my mind that's one of the strengths of the story-it doesn't shy away from telling things as they are.

The detectives don't really see themselves as avenging angels, but there is a clear sense at times that justice is being done. The conviction of a shooter who left a policeman blinded is one; the conviction of the "Black Widow" is another, a woman who actively seeks out older men, marries them, and then has them killed for the life insurance money.

Simon's writing is clear and concise, and the tone is matter-of-fact. He doesn't romanticize the police or demonize the killers-the facts as presented pretty much speak for themselves. It is true-human beings are the most predatory animal on the planet.

In the end Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is really a story of the degrees of inhumanity in humans. Happily for the rest of us, there are those willing to put their humanity on the line to protect us from the truly inhuman. Highly recommended book, and a must read for anyone considering law enforcement as a career.

More Art

2008-04-04T15:05:00.002-04:00

In addition to the fabulous art that is now on display as part of the annual Friends of the Library Art Show, the Library now has access to Oxford Art Online, a virtual art reference library. This great resource contains artist biographies, subject entries within the field of art, and, of course, images. The site includes content from Grove Art Online, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, The Concise Dictionary of Art Terms - and more. Access this resource on the Library's Online tab.

Oxford Art Online is available anywhere on campus and off site with a username and password (available through Blackboard or use instructions for obtaining password on the Library website).

2008-03-26T09:30:00.000-04:00

present: Art Show!

March 27 through May 2, 2008

The works are now on display throughout the GTCC Jamestown Learning Resource Center. Come by and take a leisurely tour.

Art is by GTCC curriculum and continuing education students, employees, retirees, and alumni.

Dr. Lee Kinard's history of GTCC about to be released.

2008-03-24T14:36:00.001-04:00

Here is the press release

JT Lunch and Learn Opportunity-Sponsored by Learning Resources

2008-03-10T14:04:00.002-04:00

When: Wednesday, 3/19 at 12:00 PM.

Where: Learning Resource Center, Rm. 202.

What: Citations: Easy and Fast!

Professional Development Credit available for this workshop.

Learn about the latest tools for creating APA and MLA citations faster, easier, and more accurately than you ever thought possible. This 30 minute session will cover:
- citing with Word 2007 - the good and the bad
- using citation machines
- creating pre-formatted citations in periodical databases
- different interpretations of how to cite electronic resources

Presenter: Ms. Kristen Moore

High Point Lunch and Learn Opportunity-Sponsored by Learning Resources

2008-03-10T13:12:00.002-04:00

HP LRC Lunch and Learn Opportunity

The next LRC Lunch-n-Learn session will be March 19th in the LRC (H4, room 216) from noon to 12:30 p.m. Participants will receive Staff Development credit for their involvement. Session participants must provide his or her own lunch.

The topic is Learning Express: Online Practice Tests and Tutorial Courses. Learning Express is a comprehensive, interactive online database of practice tests and tutorial courses designed to help students and adult learners succeed on academic or licensing tests. Users receive immediate scoring, complete answer explanations, and an individualized analysis of their results.

During this 30 minute session, Anders Selhorst, the HP Campus Librarian, will cover:
• How to access LearningExpress via the library Web site and remotely
• How to set up a username and password
• An overview of the topics/subjects covered in the database, including TOEFL, GED, SAT, and others

For further information please contact Anders Selhorst:
• LRC hours: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Email: abselhorst@gtcc.edu
• Phone: ext. 4112

Gene Roberts at UNCG

2008-03-09T17:50:00.002-04:00

Friends of the UNCG Libraries Annual Dinner is April 16

Gene Roberts is the speaker, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book titled The Race Beat. All are welcome. The $10 tickets to hear the speaker (and not attend the dinner) might be very appealing to to those who are interested in this topic.

Lunch and Learn at the Greensboro Campus

2008-03-05T16:31:00.003-05:00

Lunch and Learn Opportunity-First ever at the Greensboro Campus!

What: Proquest Career and Technical Education Database
What is a database, and why would I care? In library land, and for the purpose of this Lunch'N'Learn, it means a large collection of trade, academic, and general magazines with copyrighted articles in their complete form, unavailable via the general Internet (unless you pay) but available to you free through your library.

Where-Greensboro Campus, Technical Education Building (TEC), Room 123, for the presentation, followed by lunch in TEC 130 :)

When-Friday, 3/14-Program to start at 11:30, followed by lunch

What will be covered - This Lunch and Learn Opportunity will cover use of the ProQuest Career and Technical Education Database, a database designed with community college students and faculty in mind, especially those working in a trade field.

Topics to be covered include:
*Accessing the database.
*Conducting Basic, Advanced, Subject Browse, and Publications Searches.
*Use of the Set-Up Alert feature.
*Use of the Cite This feature.
*Use of the Email Results feature.

Presenter-Keith Burkhead, Greensboro Campus Librarian

Sponsored by Learning Resources/and your GTCC library

Library News

2008-03-04T14:54:00.004-05:00

Read the latest news about the GTCC Library in the Spring 2008 edition of our semesterly newsletter. Find out about:
- the GTCC archives
- our newest online resource
- how to become a Friend of the Library
- and more!

Faculty Requests Have Picked Up

2008-03-04T10:21:00.001-05:00

- Faculty Requests
Our efforts to encourage faculty to submit requests for needed library resources are paying off, especially the 2006-2007 fund allocation whereby we allotted $700 of book budget funds to each dept. Each of the most recent years has seen steady increases in the number of faculty requests, specifically:

2006-2007 - 135 requests (as of only Feb. 2007)
2005-2006 - 101 requests
2004-2005 - 75 requests
2003-2004 - 30 requests

- The time between placing an order for an item and when that item is processed and ready averages about 11 days (this includes a time lapse for back-ordered items, so in daily practice it's actually faster than that).

Not bad considering that in 2002 the average was 74 days (of course this was before we started using CatExpress for copy cataloging). That means we now process items 84% faster than five years ago!

Greensboro Campus Lunch'N'Learn

2008-02-29T15:19:00.003-05:00

First ever at the Greensboro Campus!

What: Proquest Career and Technical Education Database

What is a database, and why would I care? In library land, and for the purpose of this Lunch'N'Learn, it means a large collection of trade, academic, and general magazines with copyrighted articles in their complete form, unavailable via the general Internet (unless you pay) but available to you free through your library.
Where-Greensboro Campus, Technical Education Building (TEC), Room 123, for the presentation, followed by lunch in TEC 130 :)

When-Friday, 3/14-Program to start at 11:30, followed by lunch

What will be covered - This Lunch and Learn Opportunity will cover use of the ProQuest Career and Technical Education Database, a database designed with community college students, those in our going into trades, and faculty in mind. Topics to be covered include:

*Accessing the database.

*Conducting Basic, Advanced, Subject Browse, and Publications Searches.

*Use of the Set-Up Alert feature.

*Use of the Cite This feature.

*Use of the Email Results feature.

Presenter-Keith Burkhead, Greensboro Campus Librarian

Sponsored by Learning Resources/and your GTCC library

Find your campus library's new books Quick 'n' Easy

2008-02-29T12:14:00.003-05:00

http://www.gtcc.edu/library/newtitlesgso.htm

2008-02-12T16:02:00.000-05:00

Click here for links to new books, bestsellers, and more!

Lunch'N'Learn : Streaming Videos

2008-02-12T10:51:00.000-05:00

February 21, Thursday, LRC325, 12pm-1
Streaming Video - In Class, At Home, Anywhere

Learn about how to access high quality, educational, streaming videos. You can play almost 400 videos over the Internet right now for a class, for a supplementary assignment, or for personal knowledge and enjoyment. This 30 minute session will cover:

- how to access videos

- technical requirements

- available titles

- how to view videos off campus

Where were you in 1983?

2008-02-11T12:08:00.000-05:00

Some people were working here at GTCC and are still here 25 years later! Find out what went on during those 25 years at the next Friends of the Library program that continues the celebration of GTCC's 50th anniversary:

New books and videos

2008-02-05T10:12:00.000-05:00

Libraries at all 3 GTCC campuses have many new books and videos available right now, including online videos that you can watch anywhere. Here are just a few of our new titles:

- Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide
- Speechless : the erosion of free expression in the American workplace
- How Starbucks saved my life
- The 51st State
- The Torture Question

Visit our new titles page regularly to see new resources as we add them.

Books in the GTCC Libraries-Denis Johnson's Tree of Smoke

2008-01-22T10:15:00.000-05:00

The Fog of War, The Smoke of Oblivion, and The Tree of Family…

Denis Johnson’s Tree of Smoke is first and foremost, a big novel-big on character, big on language, big in time span, and big in length, 614 pages to be exact. It is has been criticized for not being so big on plot. That’s a valid criticism of the book, but it may also be one that misses the point-this novel begs to be experienced in a non-linear, dreamlike fashion. Indeed, like so much about the Vietnam War, where most of it takes place, the novel is less intent on time and place than it is on a state of mind, and changes in state of mind.

The central character is one William “Skip” Sands, a budding CIA officer whom we meet not long after JFK’s assassination at his first post in the Philippines, assisting in the fight against the Huk insurrection. Skip is wide-eyed, in country for the first time, and in love with his vision of America, which he knows will prevail against the godless Communists at this mid-point in the chronology of the Cold War. He is drawn into the orbit of his uncle, the “Colonel”, a WWII hero and something of a legend in intelligence circles. The “Colonel” is larger than life in Skip’s eyes and in his own eyes as well. After the Huk insurrection is quelled the Colonel moves on to Vietnam, and at Skip’s insistence, arranges for Skip to join him there. While in the Philippines we also meet Sgt. Jimmy Storm, who serves as the Colonel’s right hand, and Kathy Jones, a missionary nurse whose husband is kidnapped by the rebels and probably killed. Skip has a brief affair with her after her husband’s death is confirmed as she seeks relief from her grief and he from the beginnings of the disillusionment which starts to seep in after the CIA arranges the killing of a Roman Catholic priest wrongly thought to be smuggling guns to the Huks.

We also briefly meet the Houston brothers, one just leaving the Navy and one enlisting in the army, lying about his age to escape the dead-end nature of life in his small Arizona hometown, and who ends up assigned to the recon unit the Colonel arranges through Byzantine manipulation of the military beaucracy to become his personal unit for his various and often outside-the-chain-of-command operations. There is also Trung, a North Vietnamese agent who is a turncoat to his cause, and Hao, a life long friend of Trung’s who arranges his contact with the Americans, culminating in Trung connecting with the Colonel.

The Colonel becomes increasingly convinced that America will lose the war or lacks the will to do what is necessary to win, and operates more and more outside the chain-of-command. This progression reaches it’s apex in a campaign of misinformation he designs using Trung to plant the idea among the North Vietnamese that the United States is contemplating using nuclear weapons as the tide of war continues to shift in favor of the North Vietnamese. Skip, now fully caught up in his uncle’s illusions even while his Star-Spangled naiveté dissipates, is a full partner in this plan along with Storm.

The story is told from multiple points-of-view-Skips, the Colonel, Storm, the Vietnamese, Kathy, the Houston brothers, and even their mother, whose counsels are laced with ever increasing religious fervor. The frequent shifts in point-of-view seem are jarring, but this seem deliberate as we leap from one time and place to another-the jungle outpost of Jimmy Houston and his buddies, Saigon and it’s environs, the Tet offensive, a small boarding house where an assassin awaits his victim. No one is ever sure who is on whose side, and allegiances keep changing. Then the military and CIA become aware of the Colonel’s off-the-book activities, and what has been at best an unstable situation quickly disintegrates for all concerned. The Colonel disappears, maybe dead, maybe not. Hao informs on his former friend Trung to the “official” intelligence apparatus, and Trung’s death is planned. Storm, never all that stable, begins to come apart at the seams, and the younger Houston, his unit pulled from its lazy existence working for the Colonel into real combat operations, realizes to late that signing up for another tour may be the end of him.

“You don’t understand,” Nash said. “I’m not ready for this at all. I’ve only been here three days!”

“I just took a second tour, “James said. “I don’t which of us is the stupider #$%^.”

Skip quickly grows out his immaturity and blind patriotism, but has become eroded morally and spiritually by the endless ethical grey zone where he lives, works, and breathes. So jaded has he become that even acquiesces to the Colonel’s request to stay at a critical time for Operation Tree of Smoke rather than attend his mother’s funeral upon her sudden death.

Skip’s fate, set in Southeast Asia some years after the end of the war, is probably inescapable. The war makes him what he becomes, and he is so dead of soul and weary of will that he cannot make the choices needed to become something other than what he is. The other characters, especially Jimmy Houston, live post-war lives that cannot escape the scarring of a war that started out so clearly and ended in a mist of incomprehension and national self-doubt.

As mentioned earlier the plot is rather secondary to this novel. It is there, but the thread is easy to lose in the vastness of the setting, the multitude of characters, and the richness of the dialogue. At times the conversations are so strange and dreamlike that the characters seem outside the weirdness of the landscape and the situation in which they find themselves. The cast of Tree of Smoke often does not seem to know who they are anymore, and they wander among the paths of the jungle and the streets of Saigon looking for something, anything, to assure them that somewhere is a center that is still holding as the surreal hell of war continues to envelop them.

The dialouge is fast, furious, fun, and profane. Here is a sample:

One of the grunts from the LZ came into the clearing, and said “God#$%^! God@#$%!”
James realized he himself probably looked liked that-sweaty, dirty, wild in the eyes. “S@#$! s@#$!” the boy said. He ran to the clearing’s edge and faced the purple distance, the shadows of other mountains. “S@#$!”

One of his friends said, “S@#$ what?”

The boy came back and sat down shaking his head. He took both his friend’s hands in his won as if in some foreign style of heartfelt greeting.

“S@#$. I killed a guy.”

“I guess. S@#$.”

The boy said, “It ain’t no different than shooting a deer.”

“When did you ever shoot a deer?”

“I guess I had it mixed up with the movies. But this was just-bing. And now it’s over.”

“It don’t sound like it’s over, Tommy.”

“Hey. Half his skull flew up in the air. Is that over enough for you?”

“Lay it down. You’re losing control of yourself.”

“Yea, okay,” Tommy said. “I gotta lay it down.”

“Hey, let go of my hand, you fruit.”

Dark humor, death, and loss of innocence-the essence of war in a few sparse lines.

I enjoyed this novel on its own, but I suppose comparisons to the war in Iraq and the run-up, especially the faulty intelligence (I’m still wondering where the WMDs are, myself) are inevitable. They can be made, but I found Tree of Smoke to be much more about its own era.

Tree of Smoke is not a novel for everyone. But if you are looking for a knowing and compassionate interpretation of the human consequences of the Vietnamese war, then this is the novel for you.

NetLibrary New Titles

2008-01-18T09:15:00.000-05:00

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New Releases & Special Collections from NetLibrary

Dating & Relationships
	Babyproofing Your Marriage : How to Laugh More, Argue Less, and Communicate Better As Your Family Grows by Cockrell, Stacie.; O'Neill, Cathy.; Stone, Julia.; Martin, Larry. Publication: HarperCollins e-books, 2007

	The Proper Care and Feeding of Marriage by Schlessinger, Laura. Publication: HarperCollins e-books, 2007

	Manual : A True Bad Boy Explains How Men Think, Date, and Mate--and What Women Can Do to Come Out On Top by Santagati, Steve.; Cohen, Arianne. Publication: Arena/Allen & Unwin, 2007

	Dating for Dummies Author: Browne, Joy. Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (US), 2006

Diversity & Multicultural Education
	Letters From the Future : Linking Students and Teaching With the Diversity of Everyday Life {1St Ed.} by Brunson, Deborah A.; Jarmon, Brenda.; Lampl, Linda L. Publication: Stylus Pub., 2007

	Doing Multicultural Education for Achievement and Equity by Grant, Carl A.; Sleeter, Christine E. Publication: Routledge, 2007

	White Teachers, Diverse Classrooms : A Guide to Building Inclusive Schools, Promoting High Expectations, and Eliminating Racism {1St Ed.} Publication: Stylus Pub., 2006 by Landsman, Julie.; Lewis, Chance W. Publication: Stylus Pub., 2006

	The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Inclusive Education {Readers in Education} by Topping, Keith J.; Maloney, Sheelagh Publication: RoutledgeFalmer, 2005

New eAudiobooks
	Charlie Wilson's War : The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History by Crile, George. Narrator Lane, Christopher. Publication: Blackstone Audio, 2006

	World Without End by Follett, Ken. Publication: Books on Tape, 2007

	You, On a Walk {Unabridged.} by Roizen, Michael F.; Oz, Mehmet Publication: Recorded Books, 2007

	Choice by Sparks, Nicholas. Publication: Books on Tape, 2007

Public Speaking & Debate
	In the Line of Fire : How to Handle Tough Questions When It Counts by Weissman, Jerry. Publication: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005

	Critical Thinking for Students : Learn the Skills of Critical Assessment and Effective Argument {Rev. & Updated 3rd Ed.} by Brink-Budgen, Roy van Publication: How To Books, 2007

	Confident Speaker : Beat Your Nerves and Communicate At Your Best in Any Situation {McGraw Hill Professional} by Monarth, Harrison.; Kase, Larina. Publication: McGraw-Hill, 2007

	Communicating Effectively : Write, Speak, and Present With Authority Author: Kranz, Garry. Publication: HarperCollins, 2007

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New Literature Database

2008-01-09T16:28:00.000-05:00

The Library is excited to introduce a new literature database: Literary Reference Center from EBSCO. Use it to find biographical information on authors, literary criticism, reviews and more. This full-text database combines information from major reference works, books, and literary journals as well as original content from EBSCO Publishing.

Get to Literary Reference Center from the "Online" tab of the GTCC Libraries website. Here are just a few of LRC's great features:

easy search interface
the ability to email full-text articles including the pre-formatted citation
the option to create RSS feeds from searches

PBS Videos Available Online - Anytime, Anywhere

2008-01-03T09:44:00.000-05:00

NC LIVE, the state consortium that provides us with so many wonderful information resources, has recently launched a media collection that includes over 200 videos that can be accessed and played over the Internet. The collection includes high quality PBS videos such as Ken Burns’ "The Civil War," "Baseball," and "Jazz," selected episodes from "American Experience" and "Frontline," and many more.

These videos can be viewed any time, anywhere; at home, in the classroom, in the Library! Users will need Flash Media Player 9.0 or higher and a high-speed Internet connection to play the videos. Off-campus users will also need the NC LIVE password to access the videos.

The current list of titles is outstanding. And, 150 more files will be added in late January, so be sure to check back to see what new videos are available.

GTCC Archives

2007-12-03T11:30:00.000-05:00

Another image from the GTCC Archives - the first graduating class:

As we prepare to celebrate GTCC's 50th anniversary, you'll want to learn about what can be found in the archives and how to find interesting documents and images (like the one above) pertaining to the history of the College.

Join us in the Library (LRC 325) this Thursday, December 6 at 2 pm as Belinda Daniels-Richardson, librarian for the archives, discusses the GTCC Archives, how it began, and what great things you can find in it.

Books in the GTCC Libraries-Stephen R. Donaldson, The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Fatal Revenant

2007-11-13T13:31:00.000-05:00

It Is Slowly Drawing to a Close...

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever started way back in 1977. As seems to be the case with much modern fantasy, the series is published in sets of threes, the first set being The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, and the second set being The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. Catchy titles, eh? The last installment is projected to be four books, starting with The Runes of the Earth and continuing with the latest installment, Fatal Revenant.

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is regarded by some as a modern fantasy classic. The hero is an author from the “real” world who finds himself translated to an alternate world, the “Land.” The second trilogy demonstrates that that there is a larger world beyond the Land, but for the most part the action in the books is set in the Land proper.

Covenant has two basic problems. He is never really sure if the Land is real and he has really been relocated to this new reality, or it the Land is a product of his increasing insanity, brought on by loneliness and isolation.

This loneliness and isolation is caused by the second of Covenant’s problems: he suffers from Hansen’s disease, better known as leprosy. Much of the first trilogy is devoted to how the local population in the “real” world reacts to having a leper in their midst. Covenant is first shunned by the people of his town, a sort of collective pretending that he no longer exists. As he refuses to accept this situation, and makes ever more desperate attempts for some kind of human contact, the shunning turns to persecution.

The place where Covenant finds himself now is a place infused with something called Earthpower, essentially the living vitality of Nature made manifest. Covenant is healed of his leprosy, but the consequences for the people of the Land who have aided him in his dislocation are catastrophic in every way.

Also, the Land is beset by its ancient foe, a being who calls himself Lord Foul the Despiser. In many ways Lord Foul is the embodiment of the inner darkness of humanity. Foul’s intent is pretty simple-he intends the complete and utter ruin of the Land and indeed of the Earth itself.

Space does not allow for fuller back-story, but the essence of the rest of the series is Covenant’s ongoing battle to save the Land from the machinations of Lord Foul, and the utter and extravagant lengths he will go to achieve this. Eventually this struggle comes to include a woman from the real world, Linden Avery, a physician with her own woes of spirit and mind who becomes involved in looking after Covenant, and who eventually finds herself whisked off to the Land with him. This is the starting point for the second trilogy, and it ends with Covenant defeating Lord Foul again, but this time at the cost of his life. Along the way we get further development of the Land and this time this alternate Earth as it exists outside the Land.

The latest round of books deals with yet another threat to the Land from Lord Foul, but this time around Linden is the Land’s champion. Foul draws her to the Land by kidnapping her adopted son Jeremiah. Linden goes on to have her own series of adventures in the Land. I assume (and I hope) that the conclusion of the Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant will be the end, one way or another. 2 books down, 2 books to go.

So why read the latest book? This is not the entry point to the series. After reading Fatal Revenant and having a few days to digest it, I think it would be almost impossible to access the series from this book. For long time readers of the series though, it is invaluable.

Many, many things dating back to the first book in the series, Lord Foul’s Bane, are clarified and explained, and Donaldson works very hard at connecting the many, many threads that inevitably develop in a story and mythology so vast.

Donaldson is really one the writers in whom you can see a change and improvement in his writing and storytelling skills as you trace his career. I found the tension in Fatal Revenant almost unbearable at times. Some of that, of course, comes from being a long time reader of the series and waiting for the next little scrap of information. But as I think about it seems there is a discernable improvement in Donaldson’s craftwork. Your mileage may vary.

Fatal Revenant, and the rest of the series for that matter, is not an easy read. Many of the characters, including the chief protagonists, are very troubled people in very, very serious ways. But that is one of the challenges of reading the series-it presents an almost endless series of moral and ethical issues for the reader to ponder. I like that in Covenant and Linden’s stories, but it is definitely not for everyone.

Another issue is Donaldson’s use of Big, Important Words When Lesser Words Would Suffice. This is one area of his writing that has not improved. I have mixed feelings about a book I need a dictionary at hand to read. Still, reading The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant will enhance your vocabulary. You will have to decide if that is a good reason for reading one of the more massive fantasy series around today.

Fatal Revenant is a must read for fans of the series, but it is not the place to try to gain entrance to the series. If you are in need of a new fantasy epic and have not read this series, and are interested in something really different, go find Lord Foul’s Bane at Edwin McKay’s, work through it, and then decide if you are hooked. If you are, then you will find some rare fantasy treasures in the stories of the Land, its enemies, and its protectors.

THIRD THURSDAY THEATER Nov. 15

2007-11-09T10:01:00.000-05:00

THIRD THURSDAY THEATRE

presents

Joyeux Noël

(Merry Christmas)

Enemies abandon their weapons for one night during World War I.

Thursday

November 15, 2007

12 p.m.

AT Auditorium

Professors Conchita McNeal and Bill Raines will lead a discussion of the film after the screening.

A "Tooting LRC Staff's Horn Moment"-GTCC Librarian Published in Professional Journal!

2007-11-06T09:19:00.001-05:00

Keith Burkhead, the Greensboro Campus Librarian, had his essay "Problem Patrons, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ban" published in the Perspectives column of the September/October 2007 issue of Public Libraries, a publication of the Public Library Association.

Is This GTCC?

2007-11-04T18:58:00.000-05:00

Upcoming program not to miss!

Friends of the Library Presentation On the GTCC Historical Archives

Thursday, November 29, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM, in the library

Belinda Daniels-Richardson, librarian for the GTCC Historical Archives, will talk about what the project is, how it started, what's in it, and why you will be very interested.

For a preview, go to the GTCC Archives Website

Books in the GTCC Libraries-Cormac McCarthy's The Road

2007-11-01T13:44:00.000-04:00

The Road Less Traveled? Better The Road Never Traveled.

The Road-Cormac McCarthy

I’ve been putting off writing a review of this book for some time now. It is not that it isn’t a good book-in fact it may be a great book, one of the best written in this young century and millennium.

But the fact is I do not like mentally revisiting the world of The Road. It is a harsh and unforgiving place, and is a meditation on what is truly the worst and the best in humankind. The best is there in acts and words of kindness, love, and beauty. The worst is there in acts and words of wanton cruelty and barbarity.

If you have read other books by Cormac McCarthy you will already be aware that his outlook is, to be brief, bleak. The murderous loner in Child of God, the lonely and lost cowboys of the Plains trilogy, and the apocalyptic gang of mercenaries-cum-outlaws in Blood Meridian are all inhabitants of the world that has reached its culmination in The Road.

The Road centers on the travels of a nameless man and and his young son as they wander what appears to be a post-nuclear exchange United States. The world is locked in the grip of the much debated “nuclear winter”, and there is very little life of any kind-human, animal, plant-left. The bare necessities of living-food, water, clothing, shelter-are almost impossible to come by, and can only be found by incessant scavenging of every home, shop, and building left standing. The road of the title refers to the highways that our hapless pair follow as they look for some surviving community that has maintained the minimum standards of civilized behavior.

Because for the most part, civilized behavior is a thing long blown away, like the grey ash that constantly fills the air of this strange new world. The man and the boy may be the last civilized people left in the world. Their journey consists in part of hiding whenever they encounter strangers, trying to determine if they will be welcomed as fellow survivors or as a new source of protein. Cannibalism is a very real thing among the desperate survivors of the nuclear exchange.

I told you it was bleak.

Yet among the ruins there are moments of mercy, of kindness, of humanity. The man tries desperately to protect the innocence of his son, and of course in this world there is ultimately no way he can. He is also trying to teach him what he needs to know to survive, and the balance between innocence lost in the face of doing what is required to live is an ever present theme of The Road.

As you read The Road the hint of the ending is all to clear, and I suppose is some of why it affected me so deeply. I don’t want to give it away, but it centers on the meaning of being a parent. My own son is only a little older than the child at the heart of The Road, and the ending brings painful consideration of what the final task of a parent is.

Again, if you have read other books by McCarthy you will already be familiar with the quality of the prose in The Road. The poetic liquidity of his language and what it invokes only serve to heighten the elegiac tone of The Road. Consider this passage

“The soft black talc blew through the streets like squid ink uncoiling along a sea floor and the cold crept down and the dark came early and the scavengers passing down the steep canyons with their torches trod silky holes in the drifted ash that closed behind them silently as eyes."

The English language as it can shaped only by the hands of a master craftsman.

So take the long, slow walk of The Road. You may not like what you find along the way, but at the end of the journey you may find yourself understanding what it is that makes us human and what keeps back the darkness a bit better. This, to my mind, is what the best literature does-imparting some wisdom about the human condition. And the human condition, good and bad, light and dark, is what is at the center of The Road.

NetLibrary e-Book of the Month

2007-10-31T08:25:00.000-04:00

Tree of Souls
The Mythology of Judaism
by Howard Schwartz
Oxford University Press, 2007

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award for Reference

Only one of the world's mythologies has remained essentially unrecognized—the mythology of Judaism. As Howard Schwartz reveals in Tree of Souls, the first anthology of Jewish mythology in English, this mythical tradition is as rich and as fascinating as any in the world.

Drawing from the Bible, the Pseudepigrapha, the Talmud and Midrash, the kabbalistic literature, medieval folklore, Hasidic texts, and oral lore collected in the modern era, Schwartz has gathered together nearly 700 of the key Jewish myths. Equally important, Schwartz provides a wealth of additional information, revealing the source of the myth and explaining how it relates to other Jewish myths as well as to world literature.

Designed to increase awareness of online resources and highlight the value of your eBook collection, the November eBook of the Month is provided through the generous support of Oxford University Press. Don’t miss this opportunity to showcase your NetLibrary collection by sharing this pioneering anthology of Jewish mythology.

Read What GTCC Students Have To Say About the All-Campus Read

2007-10-25T10:45:00.000-04:00

Here is what Golda Fried's students say about Don't Make Me Stop Now in their review at Amazon.com

Golda says,

I'm teaching this collection of short stories at my community college and we're having a lot of fun. A lot of my students can't stand when the stories are open-ended because they really want to know what happens to these characters. But that means they care about the characters, right?

One student says, "The whole music thing did it for me"--Jonathan White. "Many of the stories have cool 70s point-of-reference songs. I like how the main character is composed in his thoughts but then he'll lash out at his father and stuff. But then there are many surprises for the reader and diabolical twists."

In "Couple Strikes it Rich," Jeff Kinzie says,"The main couple is not the one who gets rich; the older couple is the one who does which makes the story ironic. His girlfriend was real indecisive."

In "Hidden Meanings," Ian Griffith says, "I really like how he filled the whole thing with comedy and sarcasm. The whole time this student is writing the story she is complaining about the other students and that the teacher is probably not going to listen to her opinions anyway."

About the story 'The Right to Remain'," says Amanda Slaughter, "I appreciate the cold and tense internal battle Sanderson has with his wishful love life in an alcoholic haze."

Rebecca Turner says about "Muddy Water, Turned to Wine": "It was a very well-written story but a little morbid. The main character is this guy who's obviously getting over a relationship which ended very badly for him and he has a one night stand and the girl gets a call that her father has died and he offers to drive her to the funeral. He finds out that he's being used...."

Natalia Alston states about "The Golden Era of Heartbreak": "I liked the descriptions. I felt like I was there in the background watching. I like how he had heartbreak. The story was suspenseful because it had a Sopranos feeling."

Kim Woods states about "Everything Was Paid For": "I like how the main character tried to make everything right for his girlfriend. I did like the ending because there is poetic justice to the two guys. I also like how the main character was upset and trying to take care of his girlfriend and so was in touch with some of his emotions."

Shelly Shealy states about "Results for Novice Males": "I like the competitive nature of the main characters. These guys are out of control trying to do a triathalon in the middle of the night."

Overall, we as a class give it eighteen thumbs up.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

2007-10-24T12:18:00.000-04:00

from the book cover of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"

NetLibrary eBook of the Month

2007-10-17T13:00:00.000-04:00

Check out NetLibrary's eBook of the month, "Capitalism: As if the World Matters" by Jonathon Porritt.

From the publisher:
"As our great economic machine grinds relentlessly forward into a future of declining fossil fuel supplies, climate change and ecosystem failure, humanity, by necessity, is beginning to question the very structure of the economy that has provided so much wealth, and inequity, across the world. In this fresh, politically charged analysis, Jonathon Porritt wades in on the most pressing question of the 21st century – can capitalism, as the only real economic game in town, be retooled to deliver a sustainable future? Porritt argues that indeed it can and it must as he lays out the framework for a new ‘sustainable capitalism’ that cuts across the political divide and promises a prosperous future of wealth, equity and ecosystem integrity."

Garden Spells

2007-10-16T09:27:00.000-04:00

I just finished this wonderful book by North Carolina author Sarah Addison Allen, who lives in Asheville. It's a quick, light read about a magical garden and the reconciliation of two sisters.

From the author's website:
"Welcome to Bascom, North Carolina, where everyone has a story to tell about the Waverley women. The old house that’s been in the family for generations, the walled garden that mysteriously blooms year round, the rumors and innuendoes of dangerous loves and tragic passions. Eccentric, reclusive, or renegade, there’s not one that wasn’t somehow touched by magic.

As the town’s successful caterer, Claire has always clung closely to the Waverleys’ roots in their enchanted soil, tending the family garden from which she makes her much sought-after delicacies. She has everything she thinks she needs – until one day she finds a vine of ivy creeping into her garden and knows that everything is about to change.

Then her prodigal sister Sydney arrives with her five-year-old daughter and a dark secret she hopes to keep well hidden. And suddenly Claire’s carefully tended life is about to run gloriously out of control …"

PC Magazine's Top 100 Sites

2007-09-24T14:15:00.000-04:00

Need something new to look at while mindlessly browsing the net? Check out PC Magazine's Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites! It's full of fun and useful websites that you might otherwise never come across in your attempts to navigate the ridiculously vast web of knowledge that is the Internet. I especially like footnote, which is ideal for the history lover and has a partnership with The National Archives to digitize historic documents; and Uncyclopedia, a site that is essentially Wikipedia's evil twin (not quite academic but fun to browse nevertheless!).

New Books List

2007-09-24T08:38:00.000-04:00

Now, an easy way to see new books and other resources available through the Library. Just go to our new title list on the Library website to see new nonfiction, fiction and audiobooks recently added to the Library's collections.

If you have an account with an RSS reader such as Google Reader or Bloglines, you can also subscribe to our RSS feeds of new title lists.

In the GTCC Library Collection-William Gibson's Spook Country

2007-09-20T13:04:00.000-04:00

The World We Live In-William Gibson's Spook Country

The godfather of the cyberpunk movement in science fiction continues his transition into telling tales about the here and now in Spook Country, which both is and is not a spy novel, as the title might lead you to think. There is plenty of cloak-and-dagger in Spook Country, but as in Pattern Recognition, Gibson's other novel set in the early 21st century, the cloak-and-dagger bits are really just the frame of a plot Gibson needs to spin out his observations about society, politics, homeland security, the war in Iraq, humans and technology, and even what I took to be a crack about Scientology. For those more familiar with Gibson's earlier novels such as Neuromancer or Mona Lisa Overdrive, do not despair-the sharp understanding of where we are going with our technology is here as well. Among other things, Gibson envisions a use of the Ipod that I'm fairly certain Steve Jobs never intends to happen. The usual cast of those living in the shadows of society and used by the powers-that-be is here as well. Gibson writes with empathy for those living in the cracks of the walls of the larger society around them.

Effortlessly written and dryly hilarious, Spook Country is also a dispassionate dissection of the policies of the Bush administration in matters of foreign policy and domestic security. I will leave it up to the reader to decide where Gibson comes down on these issues, but I will say it made me wince to think this might be how our neighbors to the north (Gibson is a Canadian national) really see us.

William Gibson-he has envisioned our future, and now he looks at our present. I'm not sure he approves of where we are, but no novelist is doing a better job right now of helping us understand where we are and just maybe, where we are going.

Jeff Kinard's New Book!

2007-09-19T10:51:00.000-04:00

GTCC's very own Jeff Kinard has just published a new book! As a part of ABC-CLIO's "Weapons of Warfare" series, this book focuses on the history of artillery "from ancient dart firers and catapults...to the latest rapid-fire, rocket-propelled, laser-guided models." It can be found at the Jamestown Library on the new book display!

From ABC-CLIO's website:

Title Features

Includes case studies of the wars of Louis XIV, the Napoleonic wars, the American Civil War, and the Franco-Prussian War illustrating the impact of specific technical and strategic innovations in artillery
Dozens of photographs and illustrations show various types of artillery, artillery mechanisms, and projectiles

Highlights

The only volume to offer an accessible, concise history of artillery weapons combining descriptions of all major technical and strategic innovations with coverage of their impact on and off the battlefield
Highlights the contributions of artillery innovators throughout history, including Jean Baptiste de Gribeauval, William Congreve, the Krupp family, and John Dahlgren
Illustrates the impact of artillery on the battlefield from the ancient world to the present and covers the latest trends in artillery including laser guidance systems and rocket-propelled weapons

**********************************************************************************
Review from Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA):

ARTILLERY: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF ITS IMPACT provides a wide-ranging survey of artillery's development and powers over the centuries, covering both its technical development and its use by leaders and nations over time. Military collections, especially those strong in overviews of military encounters with focus on equipment and its evolution, will find ARTILLERY a fine survey that blends historical background with a narrowed focus on battle equipment development.

Astronomy Books!

2007-09-04T09:11:00.000-04:00

2007-08-22T14:51:00.000-04:00

Welcome back. It is sizzling outside and things are heating up in the classroom as well, now that we are back at the start of a new semester.

The start of the semester is always a good time for reminders of things that may have slipped the mind over the summer, and of course we have new staff and faculty on board who may not know about some of the services offered by the library. With that in mind...

You Can Suggest Items for Purchase for the Library Collection!

The easiest way to do this is use our online form set up for this purpose. Just go to

http://www.gtcc.edu/library/requests/MaterialsRequestIndex.htm

and click on the link for Make a Request.

The form is self-explanatory but there are a couple of things to remember:

1. The more information you can provide, the easier it is for us to fulfill your request.

2. At a minimum, we need to know the title, the author, and the format (book, DVD, magazine).Library staff will also be happy to take this information directly from you.

It Is Time to Renew Your Home Access to the Library Databases!

We are happy to provide this service, but it does require that users make a new request as the login and passwords are changed every few months. Again, this is easily done online.Go to

http://www.gtcc.edu/library/RemoteAccessPoliciesProcedures.html

From there you will have 2 options:

1. Click on the If You Use BlackBoard tab, and follow the instructions from there.

2. Click on the If You Do Not Use BlackBoard tab and follow the instructions from there.

Please note that if you do not use BlackBoard we have to verify that you are a GTCC student, faculty member, or staff member. This may mean a waiting period of usually not over 1 working day while we "check your credentials".

Staff and faculty, you can help us here. Please remind students that they have to renew their access even if they have previously had access.

You Can Place Material on Electronic Reserves for Use by Your Students!

That's right. Not only can you place hard copy/physical items on reserve, but you can even utilize cyberspace for those things you want the students to use.

Go to http://www.gtcc.edu/library/ereserve/index.htm

and carefully review the Electronic Reserves FAQ. Everything you need to know to utilize this service is there one place.
Again, welcome back.

Please don't hesitate to ask questions about these or other library services. A directory of library staff, including contact information, can be found at

http://www.gtcc.edu/library/Staff/staffdirectory.html

Librarian Avengers!

2007-08-19T18:10:00.000-04:00

Summer Newsletter

2007-08-09T10:28:00.000-04:00

Click here for the Library's Summer Newsletter!

The Hollywood Librarian . . .

2007-07-30T06:10:00.000-04:00

. . . A Look At Librarians Through Film
http://hollywoodlibrarian.com/about.html

"Norma Rae" donates her papers to Alamance Community College

2007-07-27T19:49:00.000-04:00

North Carolina Community College System
For Immediate Release

“Norma Rae” donates her papers to Alamance Community College
Alamance alum Leslie Thompson helps catalog donation
By Peggy Beach, System Office, Public Affairs

Crystal Lee Sutton, the real-life inspiration behind Sally Field’s character in the film Norma Rae, has donated her unionization papers and memorabilia to Alamance Community College. Sutton was fired from J.P. Stevens in 1974 for trying to unionize the plant in Roanoke Rapids, and her story was told in the 1979 Oscar-winning film.

At a June reception in her honor, Sutton, who now lives in Alamance County, said she made the donation because of the college’s efforts in retraining laid-off textile workers. "Thank God for Alamance Community College, where even the working poor can come, get financial assistance, and get a new start in life," she said. Sutton took nursing courses at Alamance in 1988. Her daughter-in-law, Cathy Jordan, is a secretary in the college’s literacy department.

Leslie Thompson, an Alamance graduate and rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will catalog the new collection. She attended the reception along with Sherri Singer, head of the social and behavioral sciences department at Alamance, Dr. Sam Powell, college trustee and Dr. Martin Nadelman, college president.

Powell officially accepted the Crystal Lee Sutton collection on behalf of
the college. "This collection will inspire current and future students,
many who themselves have had direct or indirect connections to the
textile industry," he said.

Thompson presented Sutton with a framed, handwritten letter from
women's activist Gloria Steinem, with whom Sutton became friends in
the 1980s during the latter's speaking engagements.

"We admire her courage, we admire her convictions, and we admire her spirit," said Nadelman. "She is a champion not only of the working class but also of all who inspire to improve the lives of others."

In the early 1970s, Sutton was 33 and working at the J.P. Stevens plant where she was making $2.65 an hour folding towels. The poor working conditions she and her fellow employees suffered compelled her to join forces with Eli Zivkovich, a union organizer, and attempt to unionize the J.P. Stevens employees.

"Management and others treated me as if I had leprosy," said Sutton. She received threats and was finally fired from her job. But before she left, she took one final stand, filmed verbatim in Norma Rae. "I took a piece of cardboard and wrote the word UNION on it in big letters, got up on my work table, and slowly turned it around. The workers started cutting their machines off and giving me the victory sign. All of a sudden the plant was very quiet..."

Sutton was physically removed from the plant by police, but the result of her actions was monumental. The Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) won the right to represent the workers at the plant and Sutton became an organizer for the union. In 1977, Sutton was awarded back wages and her job was reinstated by court order, although she chose to return to work for just two days. She subsequently became a speaker on behalf of the ACTWU and was profiled in interviews on Good Morning America, in The New York Times Magazine, and countless other national and international publications during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Crystal Lee Sutton Awards, established in her name and presented by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, recognizes individuals and organizations whose efforts have contributed to presenting positive images of working people to the American public.

Thompson, who is working closely with Sutton while cataloguing the collection, said that she took a lot of history courses with Singer while studying at Alamance.

“When the collection came in, she (Singer) called me and asked me to look at it,” said Thompson. “I was very excited. It fell in with what I studied about the workers rights movement.”

Thompson plans to interview Sutton for an oral history to include in the collection. Sutton said that she began collecting material since 1973, when she began her crusade for unionization. “She documented everything and I do mean everything,” said Thompson. Included in the collection are letters, videos, awards, certificates, newspaper articles, and calendars. “There are photos of her with Gloria Steinem and also a copy of the documentary she did with Ms. Steinem and PBS in 1974,” said Thompson. “She was very thorough.”

Thompson said that when the catalog is complete, it will likely be available not only at the library at Alamance Community College but also on NC ECHO. NC ECHO, Exploring Cultural Heritage Online, is the state’s Internet doorway to the special collections of North Carolina’s libraries, archives, museums, historic sites and other cultural institutions.

Thompson received a grant from the university to catalog the collection and is planning to write her honors thesis on the project. She is planning to go to graduate school at UNC-CH and eventually hopes to teach at a university or a community college. “Community college is a great place to get a start on your education,” she said. “I am 33 and I have four kids so Alamance Community College was the best way for me to begin my education.”

Contact: Peggy Beach, North Carolina Community College System, Public Affairs, 919-807-6964, beachm@nccommunitycolleges.edu

Credo Reference - Credible Sources

2007-07-23T11:20:00.000-04:00

Credo Reference is the GTCC Library's newest online resource. Credo is a complete reference collection from over 50 publishers that is completely full-text and searchable. It also contains images, sound files, data, maps and more. Search through dictionaries (many bilingual), biographies, maps, encyclopedias, etc. - all from reputable sources. The entire content of Credo can be searched from their site. And, the Library catalog includes records that link to the full-text of Credo resources too.

Book Review - "What is the What"

2007-07-23T11:14:00.000-04:00

If you had the chance to look into a person’s soul, their past, would you want to remember what you see? In the case of Valentino Achak Deng, you would probably try to forget, but he must live with the memories every day of his life. In the novel What is the What by Dave Eggers, the story of a boy ripped from his family and home in war-torn

Sudan

is eloquently told. While this is a work of fiction, it is also the autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng. Having started his rough journey so early in life, much of the conversations and detail of events that Valentino witnessed had to be improvised for the sake of literary fluency.

This book follows Valentino, whose given name was Achak Achak, from his village in Marial Bai to the 13 years he spent in Ethiopian and Kenyan refugee camps and finally to Atlanta, Georgia, the latest stop on his journey. As one of the Lost Boys, he walked across Sudan’s harsh landscapes with thousands of other boys in search of a safe haven after his village was raided and destroyed, watching those around him die of exhaustion, diseases, and even in the jaws of wild beasts. He often went days without food, water, or shelter, and when food was available the portions were meager. Not knowing the fate of his family and having little hope of ever returning to his village, Valentino struggled with his will to live, and even attempted to take his own life. He eventually came to Kakuma, a refugee camp in Kenya which quickly grew to a population in the tens of thousands. It was in Kakuma that he spent his last ten years in Sudan before being “resettled” in the United States, where he lives today.

The purpose of What is the What is perhaps the most important thing to remember after reading it. In Valentino’s own words, “this book was born out of the desire on the part of myself and the author to reach out to others to help them understand the atrocities many successive governments of Sudan committed before and during the civil war.” It is imperative that as members of the human society we realize the atrocities that are going on around the world and have an understanding that those we meet in our everyday lives could very well have stories similar to Valentino’s. When you have a bad day or someone does something to harm you, remember the story of the boy who spent the majority of his life in situations you could scarcely imagine, but to this day has the strength to say, “even when my hours were darkest, I believed that some day I could share my experiences with readers, so as to prevent the same horrors from repeating themselves. This book is a form of struggle, and it keeps my spirit alive to struggle. To struggle is to strengthen my faith, my hope, and my belief in humanity.”

To learn more, visit the Valentino Achak Deng website.

Book Review-Stephen King's Blaze

2007-07-16T15:05:00.001-04:00

Just in time for the heat of summer-the GTCC Jamestown Campus LRC has landed Stephen King's Blaze in the latest batch of bestsellers.

Blaze is one of the titles King wrote long ago under the pseudonym Richard Bachman early in his career, to distinguish the novels he was writing from the short stories he was cranking out for what are politely referred to as "gentlemen's magazines" under his real name. It was never published and languished in the Folger Library at the University of Maine in the Stephen King collection there for well over thirty years. King returned to it after becoming involved with a publisher called Hard Case Crime, a small press dedicated to reviving old-style paperback crime novels.

Blaze is the tale of a small-time thug named Clayton Blaisdell, Jr., who is long on brawn and short on brains. Blaze is a nickname he aquires while growing up in Hetton House, an orphanage for wards of the state. Blaze shows signs of promise as a kid even after the early death of his mother, an event that leaves him at the mercy of his alcoholic, abusive father. One day his father in a fit of drunken rage picks up young Clayton and throws him down the stairs, then repeats the act a couple more times for good measure. This event leaves Clayton with a large hole in his forehead and not functioning on all cylinders. The authorities take Blaze away from his father and put him at Hetton House, where Blaze remains until his young adulthood. As the story unfolds in flashbacks, we see that the situation at Hetton House is not a vast improvement over living with his father.

Clayton eventually leaves the warm confines of Hetton House and drifts into a life of small-time crime, usually recruited as muscle by whatever clever type needs a big (6 foot 7 inch) and strong guy for his next nefarious enterprise. Blaze follows this pattern for a few years, fluctuating between low level crime jobs, jail, and a few attempts to go straight. Then he meets George, and everything changes.

George Rackley is a thief and small-time con man who sees in Blaze a willing and not-to-bright partner who can follow orders without asking to many questions. He and Blaze form a partnership that is generally successful for both-George has a steady associate and bodyguard, and Blaze has someone to do his thinking for him and look after him.

Eventually one of their capers goes awry and George heads uptsate to do some hard time. He emerges from prison with a new idea, bordering on obessesion-getting the one big score that will enable mean an end to the cycle of small jobs and jail terms. Blaze opens not long after George has been killed in a knife fight, leaving Blaze on his own to carry on with George's plan for the one big score.

I found Blaze to be a nice, tightly written crime story that is also working as a lower-class tragedy. King has real gift for telling stories about losers for whom time and circumstance are ever the enemy, always slamming the door shut just when it looks like something may finally happen to make a positive change in what has been a very hard life. The story deliberately echoes Of Mice and Men, albeit with a darker twist. The scenario for the big score could have have been cloying, but King handles it cleanly without descending into pathos. Blaze may be a good guy at heart, but he is still doing the wrong thing. It is hard not to sympathize with him; it is hard to forgive some of his actions as well.

Well-written, well characterized, and well-plotted, Blaze succeeds on every level. Need noir, here's your fix. Enjoy!

African-American Collection

2007-07-11T08:15:00.000-04:00

61 books of special interest.
Click here to see what they are!

Friends of the GTCC Library

2007-07-09T06:49:00.000-04:00

Join the Friends of the GTCC Library. The purpose of the Friends is to promote an interest in the GTCC Libraries among college faculty, students, alumni, and members of the community.

The group works to enhance the facilities and resources of the library through

exhibits
programs
special projects
publications
other appropriate means

It also nurtures support for the library through monetary contributions and other gifts.

Become a member!

Membership is open to all individuals and organizations who share in the purpose of the Friends.
Membership is for one academic year.
Membership categories and dues are:

a. Student Pal- $5.00
b. Friend - $25.00
c. Advocate -$50.00
d. Champion- $125

Membership dues may be paid by cash or check or by gifts in kind (the Executive Board will determine the category of membership for gifts in kind.)

The GTCC Foundation is the recipient and custodian of all funds and gifts.

Donations will be made to the GTCC Library.

What do I get by becoming a member?

Well, satisfaction that you are helping us!
Travel opportunities.
Notification of programs.
A T-shirt with our bookworm logo in the size of your choice.
Access to the library's online information resources.

Think about it!

New librarian at GTCC Jamestown

2007-07-07T18:19:00.000-04:00

On July 2, 2007, your library staff welcomed Alisha Webb as our newest team member. Alisha's primary duties are to provide reference and library instruction to users of your Jamestown Campus library. Alisha's MLIS is recently from UNC Greensboro.

One of Alisha's goals is to build relationships especially with faculty so they and we can help as many of our students stay On Course. I will remind everyone for Alisha that we are here to provide, among other things

formal information literacy instruction in a classroom setting,
online subject guides to help students complete their research work successfully and quickly, and
one-on-one help.

Alisha's extension is 2287. Her hours are 9am-1pm Monday-Friday.

Welcome, Alisha!

Free Audiobooks!

2007-06-26T08:45:00.000-04:00

Someone recently came into the library and informed us of a great site called LibriVox. This website is run by volunteers and their objective is "to make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet." Books in the "public domain" are those whose copyrights have expired and therefore are available for use however the public sees fit. These are usually older books, published before 1925. The volunteers at LibriVox create recordings of these books and donate them to the public. You can even volunteer to read yourself! So if you enjoy audiobooks, this is the site for you!

Book Review

2007-06-26T08:39:00.000-04:00

"The Glass Castle"
Kristen Moore

You’ve probably heard that truth is stranger than fiction. In MSNBC columnist Jeanette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle, this is definitely the case. Telling a story that for years she tried to hide, Walls relates an amazing tale of resiliency and determination that readers will find to be both heart-warming and shocking.

Growing up in the Walls’ family meant that you had to fend for yourself. Her father’s alcohol problem and her mother’s extreme detachment made for an incredibly difficult childhood. Supporting their family was not a top priority, and often what little food and clothing they had were scavenged. Evading bill collectors and social services, the Walls often had to pack up and move at a moment’s notice, even when they had no idea where they were going and few means to get there.

When they were enrolled school, which happened sporadically, the taunts they endured for their lack of food and clothing were terribly cruel. The four Walls children had to stick together in order to survive, and ultimately escape the life their parents made for them. While her parents viewed their lifestyle as an exciting adventure, Walls knew she wanted something more.

It is understandable that Jeannette Walls might be furious with her parents and traumatized by her childhood, yet her memoir is surprisingly objective. Readers will be taken in with her story and affected by it long after they turn the last page. This book is available for checkout at the Jamestown LRC.

NEW BOOKS!!!!!

2007-05-17T16:34:00.000-04:00

The Jamestown Library has over 100 brand new books! Some of the titles include:

The Jamestown Project

Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language

The Essential Baker

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

From Edison to the iPod

The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur

Breaking News: How the A.P. has Covered War, Peace, and Everything Else

These are just a few of the many wonderful new titles we've acquired. Please stop by and check them out on the new book display carts!

Hey Hobbit-Heads! The Children of Hurin are here!

2007-05-16T16:56:00.000-04:00

Hey Hobbit-Heads! The next episode in the saga of Middle-Earth is now in the Jamestown GTCC library, The Tale of the Children of Hurin.

For those familiar with The Silimillarion, not much of this will be new. The Tale of the Children of Hurin expands on those sections of The Simillarion that deal with this sad tale of the fate of the children of the human warrior Hurin, who is first captured and then cursed by Morgoth when he refuses to submit. The curse of a former Valar is a heavy thing, and evil follows Turin, his mother, and his sister throughout their lives.

For anyone who thinks the works of J.R.R Tolkien are all about the good guys winning, this book will be an eye-opener. At the time in the history of Middle-Earth where The Tale of the Children of Hurin is set, not much is going well for the cause of Goodness and Right. In fact, things are going quite poorly for those who struggle against the Shadow.

It is here, and it is a new tale of Middle-Earth. My fellow Hobbit-Heads, rejoice! For the rest of you, if you are not familiar with the wondrous works of the Master of Middle-Earth, there is no time like the present. Your GTCC libraries can provide with you The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and that will get you started. Come, experience the wonder!

GTCC Library Art Show, April, 2007

2007-04-30T17:21:00.000-04:00

GTCC Library Art Show, April, 2007

GTCC alumni, employees, and students submitted over 100 works of art. Thank you all!

Of special note are the works produced by Greensboro CED students under the direction of Wilma Murphy, Reanna Coleman, Marva Mathis, and Tracey Thompson. Aren't they wonderful?

Click on a picture to start the show.

Internationalizing the Curriculum : Pakistan

2007-04-28T12:34:00.000-04:00

Here are some del.icio.us links for you, compiled by GTCC's own Conchita McNeal
While you're there, check out other school-related links we've found for you.

Wikis can be useful

2007-04-21T09:33:00.000-04:00

What is a wiki?
Well, where else to get the definition?? --according to Wikipedeia, "A wiki (IPA: [ˈwɪ.kiː] or [ˈwiː.kiː][1]) is a website that allows visitors to add, remove, edit and change content, typically without the need for registration. It also allows for linking among any number of pages. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for mass collaborative authoring.

Ever pass meeting minutes around the group for approval? And several members send the Word document back with their revisions, then you have to add each person's revision to the original document? Ooops! Which one is the original? I now have five copies ... etc.

Wikis can solve the problem. Put the minutes up on the wiki, and everyone can make their edits directly. The wiki tracks who made edits, what they were, and when. Fix everything in a single document, and when you're done...well, you're done.

Wikis are also searchable, which means you can run a search on all your minutes to find out who said what and when.

PBwiki is a good, free, very easy to use wiki. They like educators and provide ad-free space for us.

Take a PBwiki tour

Watch some PBwiki educator videos

Watch out for Word 2007

2007-04-05T09:38:00.000-04:00

There is a new version of Microsoft Office, v.7. Previous versions of Word, Excel, etc. will not read files created with the new version.

Go here to get Microsoft's program to fix this.

Bon chance!

The Future of Books?

2007-04-04T16:44:00.000-04:00

This is an interesting article from The Economist that examines what might become of our dearly beloved books as more and more are digitized and made available online.

Learning College Book Collection

2007-03-22T14:12:00.000-04:00

Did you know we have more than a few books about
Learning College concepts
and also lots of online articles about
education in general?

Is Interlibrary Loan the Sexiest Thing Around?

2007-03-22T12:59:00.000-04:00

What Goes Around, by Susanna Ashton

Featured Books in the Greensboro Campus LRC

2007-03-09T14:27:00.000-05:00

In honor of Women's History Month, we have created a display of books honoring the special contributions of women. Among other titles, we have books on women aviators in World War II, important women physicians, women inventors, women who acted as forces for social progress, women Noble Prize winners, and of course the many other facets of women in history.

The other featured books concern a subject of interest to both men and women-sweet love. Yes, the books currently occupying the genre place-of-honor in the Greensboro Campus LRC are the Romances! Need to feel like you are not alone on the rocky rapids of love? Need to feel the glorious heights of passion without the headache of a relationship? Then have we got the books for you! Come indulge that secret craving. Like chocolate, a good Romance novel can make everything better.

Friends of the Library Art Exhibit

2007-03-06T10:18:00.000-05:00

Please participate in this first ever Art Exhibition for GTCC Students, Employees, Retirees, Alumni.

The art exhibit will be on display in the Jamestown Library from April 10 - 27 and is sponsored by the GTCC Friends of the Library. An opening reception will be held on opening day from 4:00 - 6:00 pm.

This may be just the right place for you to begin (or continue) displaying your art for all to see and enjoy. This exhibit will include original artworks pertaining to any subject executed in any medium. More information on the exhibit, including the submission form, is located on our alumni website at http://foundation.gtcc.edu/?ArtExhibit.

Don't be shy, join us!

Time to Read!

2007-02-27T16:17:00.000-05:00

It's the 10th anniversary of the National Education Association's Read Across America program and the birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss! To celebrate, the library has put on display some fun books for young and old readers alike. Kids can discover Newbery Award winning books and adults can be transported back to their childhoods, with favorites like "The Cat in the Hat," "The Hobbit," and "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales." Come by the library today and celebrate the power of reading!

New Edition: Library Newsletter

2007-02-15T13:20:00.000-05:00

Yep, we do more than you might think.

No More Academic Libraries?

2007-02-12T11:32:00.000-05:00

If the Academic Library Ceased to Exist, Would We Have to Invent It?

EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 42, no. 1 (January/February 2007): 6–7

Lynn Scott Cochrane

Conventional wisdom among college and university students (and many of their parents) in early 2007 is that "everything needed for research is available free on the Web." Therefore, academic libraries are often viewed as costly dinosaurs—unnecessary expenses in today's environment. This idea is uninformed at best and foolish at worst. If college and university libraries and librarians didn't exist, we would certainly have to invent—better yet, re-invent—them. Here's why.

AIA/Harris Poll Best Works of Architecture

2007-02-09T19:57:00.000-05:00

Brought to you by National Public Radio :

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Harris Interactive teamed up for a public poll of the 150 best works of architecture in America.

Learning Resources Association Conference

2007-01-16T15:39:00.000-05:00

Registration for the 2007 North Carolina Community College Learning Resources Association annual conference is now open. The conference this year will be in New Bern, on March 13, 14 and 15. Full details including registration information is available at www.nccclra.org , just click on the box under What's New for conference details.

We are excited about our conference offerings, venue selection and organized activities. Please join us for what we are considering a quality professional development event in an environment that will foster networking and social interactions.

We hope to see you there!

Mike Crumpton
2006/07 NCCCLRA President

Myra Blue
2006/07 NCCCLRA VP/President-elect

NC LIVE Insights

2007-01-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

* New look for ReferenceUSA

==================

At the end of December ReferenceUSA released a new look and feel for searching their products. The home page now offers search tips and outlines new features.

http://www.nclive.org/cgi-bin/nclsm?rsrc=215

Darfur

2007-01-07T19:38:00.000-05:00

From: Emily
To: [anyone interested]
Subject: Darfur (please read!)
Time: 12/20/2006 at 10:18AM
Message

Hi Everybody,
I attended the meeting on Dec. 19 and, let me tell you, Mohamed Yahya touched our hearts. He is from Darfur, like the previous email said, and on one day in 1993 his whole village was burned, along with 49 others. He lost 21 close relatives, including his grandparents who were too disabled to flee and were burned alive and two of his brothers. Two of his sisters were also raped, which in that region is worse than death. Due to his thick accent I couldn't make out some of what he said, but as I understood it, he heard from his parents once, as he was away on holiday, and to this day has no idea what has happened to them and his siblings. This was in 1993!!! Most of us have only recently learned about Darfur/Sudan, but the war has been raging for decades. Since the Darfur Peace Agreement was enacted, the fighting and killing has actually escalated. In August of this year, Resolution 1706 was passed to further enforce the peace act and protect those who wish to help Darfurians; its purpose was given as: "Invites Consent of Sudanese Government; Authorizes Use of ‘All Necessary Means’ To Protect United Nations Personnel, Civilians under Threat of Physical Violence." Mohamed Yahya addressed the issue of asking the Sudanese government for consent as ridiculous, comparing it to asking a criminal if it's okay to stop him from committing his crimes.
When one woman asked what else could possibly be done besides fund-raising and writing letters, Yahya relayed the devastating truth that money is wonderful but essentially ends up in the hands of the Janjaweed; we provide food and shelter, and the militia in turn kills the refugees and takes these supplies. Money is still helpful for organizations that wish to aid Darfur, but writing to our President, Congressmen, and whoever else will listen is just as important. Too much attention has been placed on other areas of the world, and this genocide is going unpunished. We always think of the Holocaust, Rwanda, etc. and say "Never again," but what are we doing about Darfur?
I'm so glad I was able to hear Yahya speak and share his voice with you.
Thank You for reading!
Emily

P.S. For more information about Yahya's group, check out this website —> Damanga

Free Courses!

2007-01-05T15:44:00.000-05:00

I've just recently become aware of the OpenCourseWare movement whereby universities around the world provide content for many of their courses online for free. The OpenCourseWare Consortium website provides links to universities' OpenCourseWare sites (including MIT and Notre Dame). The university sites provide links to content for courses on ancient philosophy, project management, modern poetry, etc., etc. What a great opportunity for delving into a subject on your on or learning how/what others teach.

New Books!

2007-01-03T10:23:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of our newest arrivals! Click on the book's image to view its catalog information.

New at the Greensboro LRC:

Non-circulating Non-Fiction (Reference)

The World Almanac and Book of Facts-Call #Ref. 317.3 W927

The World Book Encyclopedia of People and Places-Call #Ref. 031 W927

The World Book Encyclopedia 2007-Call #Ref. 031 W927 W.17

Physicians Desk Reference, 2007 Edition-Call #Ref 615.1 P578

Circulating Non-Fiction

What Color Is Your Parachute? 2007-Call #331.128 B691w

Defending the Devil: My Story as Ted Bundy’s Last Attorney-Call #345.759 N428d

Steck-Vaughn Complete GED-Call #373.1262 S811

Roads of the USA 1789-Call #526.809 C697s

No-Nonsense Resumes-Call #650.142 B688n

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl-Call #840.5318 F828d (Reserve copy)

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl-Call #940.53 D539 (5 copies)

Circulating Fiction

Alderman, P.J.-A Killing Tide-Call #Fiction

Anderson, Kevin J.-Star Wars: Champions of the Force-Call #Science Fiction

Anderson, Kevin J.-Ill Wind-Call #Fiction

Armstrong, Kelley.-Broken-Call # Fiction

Austen, Lynn-Faith of My Fathers-F A936c

Bailey, Roz-Postcards from Last Summer-Call #FB155p

Baldacci, David-Absolute Power-Call #Fiction

Banks, Leanne-Footloose-Call #Romance

Banks, Leslie Esdaile-Shattered Trust-Call #F821s

Benson, Amber-Witchery: A Ghosts of Albion Novel- Call #FB474w

Black, Jenna-Watchers in the Night- Call # Romance

Brown, Sandra-Exclusive-Call #FB879e

Browne, Gerald A.-18 mm Blues-Call #FB882e

Buckley, Michelle-Trippin’-Call # FB294t

Cach, Lisa-Have Glass Slippers, Will Travel-Call #Romance

Carr, Philippa-A Time for Silence-Call # F C312t

Castle, Jayne-Ghost Hunter-Call #Romance.

Clancy, Tom-Executive Orders-Call #FC587e

Clancy, Tom-The Sum of All Fears-Call #FC587s

Clayton, Debra-Fallen Star-Call #FC619f

Cornwell, Patricia-From Potter’s Field-Call #FC821f

Cornwell, Patricia-Trace- Call #FC821t

Crichton, Michael-Airframe-Call #FC928a

Chichton, Michael-Timeline-Call #FC928t

Culberson, San-The Nick of Time-Call #FC967h

Cussler, Clive-Serpent-Call #Fiction

Davis, Dee-Eye of the Storm-Call #Romance.

Deblasis, Celeste-Swan’s Chance-Call #FP286s

Donovan, Susan-The Kept Woman-Call #Fiction.

E-Fierce-The Sistahood on the Mic-Call #FE27s.

Esdalie, Leslie-Take Me There-Call #Romance

Fitch, Janet-White Oleander-Call #F671d

Flynn, Vince-Transfer of Power-Call #F648v

Folsom, Allan-The Day After Tomorrow- Call #FF671d

Francis, Dick-10 LB Penalty-Call #FF818t

Francis, Dick-Decider-Call #FF818d

Francis, Dick-Wild Horses-Call #FF818w

Frey, Stephen W.-The Takeover-Call #FF893t

Gerritsen, Tess-Body Double-Call #FG378b

Gipson, Fred-Old Yeller-Call #Fiction

Grafton, Sue-M is for Malice-Call #FG731i

Groffom. W.E.B.-The Investigators-Call #FG852i

Grimes, Martha-The Five Bells and Bladebone-Call FG862t

Hunt, Jill-Another Sad Love Song-Call #Romance

James, P.D.-The Children of Men-Call #F28c

Jackson, Derek-Brother Word-Call #FJ12b

Jihad-Riding Rhythm-Call #FJ61r

Jones, Katherine D.-Deep Down-Call #Romance

Kemer, Julie-California Demon-Call #FK36c.

Kendrick, Beth-Nearlyweds-Call #F K33n

Korda, Michael-Curtain-Call #F K84c

Koen, Karleen-Now Face to Face-Call #FK78h

MacPherson, Suzanne-Hysterical Blondeness-Call #Romance

Marquez, Babriel Garcia-One Hundred Years of Solitude-Call #Fiction

Martin, Steve-The Judge-Call #FM383j

Michaels, Fern-The Jury-Call #Fiction

Monroe, Mary-In Sheep’s Clothing-Call #FM753i

Paretsky, Sara-Tunnel Vision-FP228t

Parker, Robert B.-Change-Call #FP242c

Parker, Robert B.-Straight Passage- Call #F242n

Perry, Anne-Pentecost Alley-Call #FP462p

Perry, Steve-Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire-Call #Science Fiction

Perry, Thomas-Shadow Woman-Call #F P465s

Reich, Christopher-Numbered Account-Call #FR347n

Ridgway, Christine-Must Love Mistletoe-Call #Romance.

Rowe, Jennifer-Stranglehold-Call #FR878s

Sargeant, Patricia-You Belong to Me-Call #Romance

Thompson, Faye-In Her Mother’s Shadow-Call #Fiction.

Turow, Scott-Pleading Guilty-Call #FT956p

Ulen, Eisa Nefetari-Crystelle Mourning-Call #FU37c

Woods, Stuart-Swimming to Catalina-Call #F 897s