Don't Panic!

For any readers who are Douglas Adams fans, the words “Don’t Panic!” will bring a smile of recognition. The phrase is an integral part of the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series of books published beginning in the late 1970’s, but it is very fitting to use at this point in Fall Semester as well.

Library staff don’t really need to look at an academic calendar to know what week it is, since student traffic in the library is a reliable indicator that “it’s midterm” or “it’s the last week of classes” and students are frantically working to complete assignments and write papers. Many of these are (supposedly) semester-long projects, assigned by instructors weeks or months ago, but ignored by students till now. Instructors vent their frustration with students to us, wondering why students don’t see the benefits of working on something intermittently throughout the semester. Students also vent to us, wondering why instructors are so thoughtless and inconsiderate when making so many assignments due at the end of the term.

My advice to students is always some version of “Don’t Panic!” Often they just need someone to listen to them talk about feeling overwhelmed. Others need some organizational assistance, which might be the question, “Okay, what do you need to do first?” and some suggestions for what to include in a research paper. Still others realize, after hearing it come out of their mouth, that they are the ones to blame since they really have had fourteen weeks to work on the project and then, feeling sheepish, they buckle down and get it done.

My hope is that students remember this terrible panicky time NEXT semester, when the assignments are made and they think, “Hey, that’s not due till April! PLENTY of time!” Time management is one of those things learned in college that has wider applications than cell division, polynomial factoring, or the date and impact of the Magna Carta.

By, Sue Andrus

Remote Student Assistance

While many students come to the library for research assistance in person, we also assist students in a variety of remote ways. The most frequent of these is through our chat box, located on the TCTC library’s website http://library.tctc.edu/. Many students submit questions via this tool each day. For our students, who are immersed in the digital world, this is a quick, easy way to ask for help. The types of questions we receive through the chat box range from topics related to an English 101 or 102 research paper to general questions about the college, such as when exams take place. We are happy to provide this service to the students at TCTC.

Students in the English distance learning courses are being encouraged to submit emails to the Embedded Librarian, as they progress through their research requirements. Many DL students are using email to obtain help and guidance, in regards to the library’s resources and research. This is an effective way to meet the research needs of students who are remotely taking classes. Providing research assistance to DL students through email contacts also provides a personal connection for students who are not on campus but have the same research requirements/expectations as students taking the same English courses on campus. Research is difficult for many students. It is important that the research needs of DL students be addressed and special assistance is offered to that student population.

Lastly, the library still receives the occasional phone call for assistance. Students who have questions about research or our general services can pick up the phone and speak with someone in the library department. This form of research assistance is happening less and less but it is still a viable option for students who would like to verbally ask a quick question, related to their research project!

Michele Gregg

Transformers

The Tri-County Tech Library faculty and staff members pride themselves on being a consistent beacon for student success. Known for our exemplary customer service, we make every effort to meet students where they are! This means that sometimes we may have to console them during an anxiety attack, assist them when they’ve waited until the last minute to perform research, or to simply provide them with a kind word or smile when their having a bad day. While this may not be a part of our initial job responsibilities, we are well aware that all of these things fall under the ‘other duties as assigned’ part of every college employees’ job description. We are all (as Tech employees) in a great position to transform the lives of every student that entrusts us with their education. Have you made a transforming gesture today? If not, check yourself and make adjustments…

Written by, Alydia Sims

New Resources!

Through PASCAL (Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries) and lottery funds, the library now has access to three new databases in the area of Healthcare and another collection of ebooks. They are;

• Anatomy and Physiololgy Online This database covers all a student needs to know and learn for a 2 semester Anatomy & Physiology course.
• AAFP Conditions A to Z  A handy patient-information tool that has been written and reviewed by physicians and patient education professionals at the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
• MedCalc 3000 A collection of over 520 calculators, clinical criteria sets and decision trees that are indispensable to anyone practicing, teaching or studying evidence-based medicine.

All three databases are powered by StatRef!, which is a premier e-source in the area of healthcare.

We also have access to ebrary, which is a collection of 100,000 ebooks from trusted publishers. Ebooks from ebrary cover all subject areas and can be searched by the usual keyword, title, author and subject. It can also be searched by document type, document language and publication year. Books from ebrary can be read online, on an iPhone, an iPad or and an iPod touch with ebrary app.

There are links to these new e-resources on the library homepage http://library.tctc.edu/ and all subject specific pages.

Library Professional Development

The TCTC Library faculty and staff attended a Library Retreat on October 22, 2013. The focus of the retreat was our Gallup Strength test results. We focused on how best to use one another’s strengths to become more of a team in the library.  Although the library may appear to be a team from the outside, we deal with three campuses and the librarians work at various campuses each week. Also the team at Anderson and Easley don't get to Pendleton that often. Because we travel so much during the week from the home base (Pendleton Campus) some of us feel as if we are “out of the loop.” Thus, we must find ways to keep everyone abreast of our daily activities. The library director usually sends emails to make everyone aware of changes to policy and procedure, yet we must all make a concerted effort to include our colleagues in the day to day life of the library on all three campuses.

We want everyone that works for the library to feel that they belong to the library family; for we are more than a team working towards student success…We are family!


 

Roving Librarian

The library is excited to announce a new service for students!  From 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM on October 29^th we will bring our library services to Oconee Hall.   From 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM on November 13^th we will bring our library services to Fulp Hall.   On these days, a librarian will be in the lobby of the designated building.  She will be there to assist students with research.  We are looking forward to providing this new service to students!

History, the Government, and our legal documents

This blog post is not to debate the current issue of the US government shutdown and its various political maceration's.  Rather it is to give you the tools to help define your ideas and how you feel about the current state of events.  The Library at TCTC is fortunate enough to have a number of databases and documents that should help you in this process.  Start first at our page that is dedicated to History which is http://library.tctc.edu/history.  Look under the tab American History and you will find these resources (and more).

U.S. History in Context
The premier source for American history: provides access to 4,000 primary source documents, as well as journal articles covering themes, events, individuals, and periods in U.S. history.

Oxford Companion to United States History
Over 1400 entries cover all aspects of American history: people, events, and topics such as science, religion, politics, social trends, the arts, economics, etc.

Milestone Documents in American History
Included in the Salem History database. Provides full text of the most important documents in American history, e.g. Monroe Doctrine, Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor Speech, Marshall Plan, Bybee Torture Memo, etc. An extensive analysis and historical overview are provided for each document.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law
Comprehensive history and overview of American law: concepts, events, movements, cases, and persons.

Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
Comprehensive overview and history of the Constitution, with application to subsequent issues like hate crimes, race, adoption, gun rights, etc.

Major Acts of Congress
Examines landmark pieces of legislation, explaining factors that led to their adoption and their impact on American life.

One of the rumors and status messages currently going around is that the Affordable Healthcare Act will violate the 28^th amendment.  If you are an observer of American history, you would know we have NO 28^th amendment.  However, consider that you are not up on the Constitution and the various amendments.  All of the above databases could help you discover the answer to this question: What do the amendments to the Constitution say?  How are amendments added to the Constitution?

From West’s Encyclopedia of American Law: Constitutional Amendment. (West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Ed. Shirelle Phelps and Jeffrey Lehman. Vol. 3. 2^nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2005. p126-127.)

The means by which an alteration to the U.S. Constitution, whether a modification, deletion, or addition, is accomplished.

Article V of the U.S. Constitution establishes the means for amending that document according to a two-step procedure: proposal of amendments, followed by ratification. Amendments may be proposed in two ways: by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress or by a special convention summoned by Congress on the petition of two-thirds (34) of the state legislatures.

In the long history of the U.S. Constitution, over 5,000 amendments have been introduced in Congress. Only 33 of these have been formally proposed by Congress, and none has ever been proposed by a special convention.

No matter which method is used for the proposal of a constitutional amendment, Congress retains the power to decide what method will be used for ratification: approval of three-fourths (38) of the state legislatures, or approval of three-fourths (38) of special state conventions. Congress may also place other restrictions, such as a limited time frame, on ratification.

Of the 33 amendments proposed by Congress, 27 were ratified. Of the amendments ratified, only one—the TWENTY-FIRST AMENDMENT, which repealed a PROHIBITION on alcohol—was ratified by the state convention method. The rest have been ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures.

The process for amending the Constitution is deliberately difficult. Even when an amendment is proposed by Congress, it has taken, on average, two-and-a-half years for it to be ratified. That difficulty creates stability, with its accompanying advantages and disadvantages. The advantages lie in the fact that the Constitution's provisions are not subject to change according to the whims of a particular moment. The disadvantages inhere in the reality that the Constitution must also adapt and be relevant to a changing society. Given the difficulty of amendment, much of the burden of adapting the Constitution to a changing world has fallen on the shoulders of the Supreme Court and its powers of JUDICIAL REVIEW, which have been described as an informal method of changing the Constitution. However, constitutional amendments may in turn modify or overturn judicial opinion, as was the case with the Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Sixteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-sixth Amendments.

And just in case you still have questions after reviewing those databases, please see http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html. 

What's Wrong With Wikipedia?

Around 2007, an entry in Wikipedia stated that Sinbad, an actor-comedian, died of a heart attack. Several people saw it and started calling and emailing one another. Word got to Sinbad’s daughter and she called him. He assured her that he was, in fact, not dead. In one of the interviews he said; “I wish that people would’ve called me back like this when I was alive. I gotta die more often.”

The lesson here is that anyone can post anything on Wikipedia, as well as on the Internet in general. There are no review standards with regard to content. There are no quality control mechanisms that verify the validity of the information. Not only that, the information is not stable. Websites come and go at the whim of their creators. Contents can be sneakily altered without prior notice. Locations and contents can change at any time. Worst yet, it can be a hoax.

In 2009, only hours after Maurice Jarre, a famous French composer, passed away, Shane Fitzgerald, a Dublin University student, posted a poetic but phony quote on Wikipedia. He said afterward that it was just “to test how our globalized, increasingly Internet-dependent media was upholding accuracy and accountability in an age of instant news.” Months went by and nobody noticed the editorial fraud. So Fitzgerald started emailing several media outlets concerning what he had done. But that was several days after the quote had been cut and pasted into different newspapers. Fitzgerald said; “I am 100 percent convinced that if I hadn’t come forward, that quote would have gone down in history as something Maurice Jarre said, instead of something I made up.”

I use Wikipedia as an example to show how unreliable the Internet in general can be.  In the Internet world anything that can go wrong eventually will go wrong, even a site that ‘appears’ reliable like Wikipedia.

Back to Wikipedia. It has improved tremendously since the days of Sinbad and Shane Fitzgerald. It tightened its content posting guidelines and notes at the top of each entry when information needs verification or references. There is an army of volunteers monitor content and entries at all times. Nevertheless, problems still exist with a site that is open to all like that. Lance Ulanoff, Editor in Chief of PC Magazine, wrote about Wikipedia in 2011. Shortly after that an entry about him appeared in Wikipedia. He said he felt honored even though there was hardly any information there. So he went in and edited it by adding his background and projects he was working on. Then, somebody changed it by adding new details about his life.  This individual said that he served in the French Foreign Legion, was a chef, and dated super models. He said all of those statements were “100 percent false.”

So trust your professor and your librarian when he/she tells you to use academic databases rather than Google or Wikipedia for your information searching.

By Kultida Dunagin

Finding Information on Diabetes from the TCTC Library Databases

The library has a number of databases and print resources that can be used by anyone associated with TCTC. This blog entry is about finding medical resources related to the topic of diabetes. You may have diabetes, and you may want to control it with your doctor’s permission. Also, you may be able to get off of medication with the proper control of the diabetes so that you can live diabetes free. We are not medical professionals but we can show you a variety of resources to use in making informed decisions to talk to your doctor about your specific condition.

I have copied the below article from the Health Source - Consumer Edition database for two reasons.  One is that I wanted to show you how easy the information was to understand.  Two is that is has good information and I wanted to share the article.  Yes, I could have just shared the citation but felt that the text of the article conveyed the quality of material available in the databases.  I thought about using the libraries megasearch option but decided that I wanted to highlight information for consumers.  So I used the Ebsco Health Source - Consumer Edition and typed in "diabetes" "type 2" "type 1" and came up with the below article.  The article is in italics with green text.

BLOOD SUGAR BATTLES: HOW TO PREVENT, TREAT, AND EVEN CURE TYPE 2 DIABETES. By: Bowden, Jonny, Better Nutrition, 0405668X, Nov2011, Vol. 73, Issue 11
Database: Health Source - Consumer Edition

 

Type 2 diabetes used to be called "adult-onset" diabetes. Not anymore. In fact, it's no longer uncommon to see it in teenagers, and it's even been reported in children as young as four. So what happened? And, more to the point, what can we do about it?

What's the Difference?

Type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are entirely different diseases. In both types, there's a problem with the hormone insulin, but it's a very different problem. Type 1 diabetes is basically an autoimmune disease where the body attacks and destroys cells in the pancreas that produce insulin (the beta-cells). As a result, type 1 diabetics simply can't make insulin, or can't make nearly enough of it.

The widely shared view is that injectable insulin is the only available treatment for type 1 diabetes, since without insulin you would simply die. (Prior to the discovery of insulin in the 1920s, children with type 1 diabetes rarely lived beyond their late teens.) But the dietary and lifestyle modifications I'm going to suggest for type 2 diabetes are also a great idea for type 1 diabetics.

Type 2 diabetics make plenty of insulin -- it just doesn't get the job done. And since type 2 diabetes almost wholly results from poor diet and lifestyle choices, it's not only preventable, but correctable.

Sugar Struggles

When you eat, your blood sugar rises and the pancreas releases insulin to remove excess sugar from the bloodstream. How much insulin is released depends on the workload, which depends on the amount of sugar, which depends on what you ate. Simple, right?

Pure carbohydrates -- especially those that are high in sugar or convert to sugar quickly -- have the most impact on blood sugar. Protein has an effect as well, but not nearly as pronounced, and fat has virtually no effect at all. That's why diets higher in fat and protein and lower in carbs are terrific for controlling both blood sugar and insulin.

Insulin's job is to act as a sugar wrangler; it goes into the bloodstream, grabs extra sugar, and escorts it to cells to be burned for energy. Ideally, the cells that need sugar the most are muscle cells, since they're supposed to do the heavy lifting. But the system doesn't always work so well.

Modern Problems

For one thing, our bodies weren't designed for the amount of sugar and processed carbs we consume on a daily basis. And we're not just talking desserts and candy. Virtually all cereals -- except those that are really high in fiber -- as well as most pastas, white rice, white bread, crackers, and the like are high-glycemic, meaning they convert to sugar quickly and raise your blood sugar rapidly. This puts a heavy demand on the pancreas.

Unfortunately, our sedentary lifestyles doesn’t create much demand for sugar as an energy source. So when you eat a carb-laden meal, your blood sugar goes crazy and your pancreas starts pumping out insulin. Insulin floods the bloodstream, grabs up the excess sugar, and starts looking for places to drop it off. The muscle cells certainly don't need it if the only exercise they're getting is pushing the clicker on a TV remote. So the sugar has to go somewhere else. And that's a problem.

Rigid Resistance

The condition whereby muscle cells stop paying attention to insulin is called insulin resistance, and it's at the heart of diabetes. A good visual test for insulin resistance is to look at your belly. Men with waists over 40 inches and women with waists over 35 inches almost certainly have insulin resistance.

When muscle cells start resisting insulin, it takes its sugar payload to the fat cells. And they're more than happy to welcome it in.

In these early stages, the pancreas may produce enough insulin to prevent blood sugar from rising into the diabetic range, but there's trouble brewing. High levels of insulin essentially lock the doors to fat cells, making weight loss difficult. As you gain weight -- an inevitable consequence of insulin resistance -- those fat cells begin secreting hormones of their own, which are designed to keep you fat. The result is you become fatter while progressing toward a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

Healthy Solutions

The obvious answer is to lower your insulin levels to a normal, healthy range. And the way to do that is by eating foods that don't spike your blood sugar. When blood sugar is normal, there's no need for the pancreas to go into overdrive, and insulin levels will fall almost immediately. In fact, most experts believe that insulin resistance -- the hallmark of type 2 diabetes -- can be reversed within three days of eating mostly low-glycemic foods that don't produce elevated levels of blood sugar.

Since carbohydrates have the greatest impact on blood sugar, it makes sense that a low-carb diet is the ticket to preventing and treating type 2 diabetes. So an eating plan that's higher in protein and fat and lower in starchy carbs is the way to go.

Such a plan can also be helpful for type 1 diabetics, because it may allow them to lower their insulin dose. And that's a good thing because insulin has many other effects in the body besides lowering blood sugar. For one thing it sends a message to the kidneys to hold onto sodium, which raises blood pressure. And if you're interested in losing weight, high levels of insulin are exactly what you don't want.

An eating plan resembling the Paleolithic diet -- foods you could hunt, fish, gather, or pluck -- coupled with exercise, which creates demand tor sugar in muscle cells thus reducing insulin resistance, is the best plan for controlling blood sugar and insulin. And come to think of it, it's a terrific overall plan for anyone wanting to stay healthy for life.

For one thing, our bodies weren't designed for the amount of sugar and processed carbs we consume on a daily basis.

In addition to diet and lifestyle changes, certain vitamins, herbs, and nutrients can help bring your blood sugar into balance.
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Remember, we at the TCTC library are NOT medical professionals so please consult with your professional provider before making any medical, diet, or lifestyle changes when you are treating this condition.  The library has a variety of databases and books (both print and electronic) that discuss medical issues.  Start your research at this link: TCTC Library Health web page. 
 

Written By, Mel Chandler

Fall Book Club schedule and Library Social Networking Sites

Thanks to everyone who expressed interest in the TCTC Book Club and our social networking sites.  Feel free to “like” us on any of the sites and follow us for updates.

 

Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

 

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Vintage) Paperback - Cheryl Strayed
At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and she would do it alone. Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

 

September 10 (pick up and general discussion of what do we want from the club this semester)

September 24 (discussion of Gone Girl first half of the book)
October 8 (discussion of Gone Girls and pick up Wild)
October 29 (discussion of Wild - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
November 12 (discussion of Wild –Part 4 and Part 5)
December 3 (tentative final meeting)

 

Our social networking sites are:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/LibraryTCTC

Twitter: @tctclibrary

Blog: http://tctclibrary.blogspot.com/

Library Gets a Facelift - Redux

As we reported on an earlier blog the library was scheduled to be remodeled this summer.  Well,  guess what?  We did!  And we look marvelous.  We have new furniture, new carpet, new paint, new computers (including Macs), new seating areas, and an updated café. 

We are hearing great compliments from many folks that enter our space.

Projects like this don’t just happen over night.  In fact this one took about 9 months.

• December 2012 – We interviewed three different vendors to see which one would work best with our needs.

• January, February, and March,  - We looked at fabric pagers and furniture. We did know that we wanted to go with the TCTC color palette of red, black, and khaki. Facutly, staff, and students give input into our decisions.

• April - the library staff began the process of the move by shifting some of the shelving so that the large back window area became more open.  The bound periodicals were moved to another location so that a Legal area could be created to support the new paralegal program.

• May and June – The furniture began disappearing from the Library.  Painting started.

• July - Carpet and other construction.

• August – New furniture and a new circulation desk arrived.
• September - See those orange cones in the below picture?  Those will be replaced by new lights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Impact on Students

Fall 2013 at Tri-County has begun with a newly remodeled library, new lecturer positions, and a renewed mission.  In addition to these, let’s adopt a customer service attitude towards the new students who have never been away from home. We need to show patience with the students who returned after a bad semester, have no idea what they are here for, and trusts us to unlock the door to their future. Empathy for the adult learners, who realize that they need an education to become better providers, yet are overwhelmed by the unknown. Most of us are here because we’d like to impart something or to be a part of something that’s far greater than all of us. There is no amount of money that will compensate for the overwhelming pride one feels when they’ve done their best and it was good enough. Your smile, warm words or tough love have changed someone’s life for the better.  A renewal has taken place, and we all have a reason to return for another semester.

Back to School!

Those words will either thrill you or make you cringe. When I was a student, for the most part I cringed at the thought of my summer ending and being “forced” to learn things that I could not foresee using in my future. Around the time I went to college. My attitude toward “Back to School!” began to change, as I was beginning to see the advantages of learning about things I might just use at some point.  I saw that I was nearing the end of my education, and I began preparing to get a job in my profession.

“Back to School!” has a very different connotation for a student’s first semester at college. The transition between high school and college (for traditional students) or between work and college (for adult students) can be jarring due to differences in expectations, responsibilities, and schedules. Tri-County Tech is working on making that transition the best it can be for all students regardless of their previous situation by creating a new department. Soon, all aspects of entering Tri-County Tech will be handled by the “College Transition” Department. This will include the dual-enrollment of high school students who are taking college classes for high school graduation requirements, recruiting students from high schools to attend TCTC as freshmen, the Bridge to Clemson program, and working with local industry to develop programs that produce graduates with skills needed for business. This new department will also cover the transition period when a student first arrives, as it will house the Comprehensive Studies Department and College Skills classes, both of which give students the ability to succeed here.

Other colleges, big and small, have seen the importance of the transition period and have departments like this. Here at TCTC, many individuals were working to accomplish these things independently. We will transition from the old way of doing things, where many departments were helping their students acclimate to college, to the new way, a standardized procedure that will surely help many more students persist in their college experience and eventually succeed.

Providing Library Services to Distance Learning Students

As colleges adopt a mode of classroom delivery that is dependent on distance learning (DL) courses, academic libraries are beginning to implement services to these students that rely on an Embedded Librarian program. At Tri-County Technical College, we have worked to partner with the English department to embed library services into the entry-level DL courses that concurrently require library workshops for the students enrolled in on-campus English courses.

We want students in the DL courses to obtain skills for conducting academic research. While the students that attend our on-campus workshops obtain solid instruction on the research process through a face-to-face workshop, we felt that the students in the DL courses were missing this key element of the overall English curriculum for the entry-level courses. As a result, students in the DL English courses were advancing through their academic careers with no clear guidance on what a true academic source for research is. Additionally, they had no knowledge on the methods available for obtaining academic sources from the library’s databases. By embedding library services into the entry-level DL courses, we were able to provide more direct support and instruction to this segment of the academic population.

The provision of these services contained some challenges and many successes. They are outlined below:

• The students enrolled in the DL courses must take the initiative to participate and experience success. We offered events, such as live chat sessions for research assistance, that the students often neglected to take advantage of. While there was a level of frustration related to this lack of participation, we felt that it was important to reach out to the students and offer the service. Their willingness to take advantage of it was entirely up to them, but as a college, we were working to provide an alternative connection between the English DL students and the library department through these live chat sessions.
• The provision of DL websites that provided library resources specifically for the research projects required of the students was beneficial and utilized by the students. For each course that we were embedded in, we designed a project-specific webpage that contained links to sources directly related to the requirements of the course’s research project. These step-by-step web guides assisted the DL students, as they progressed through the requirements of their research project. The current Tri-County Technical College DL pages are: http://library.tctc.edu/DLENG101, http://library.tctc.edu/DLENG102, and http://library.tctc.edu/ENG156
• As embedded librarians, we sent weekly emails to the students. These emails were designed to highlight the databases that would most benefit the students, based on the DL courses they were involved in. Additionally, they provided an opportunity for a direct connection to exist between the librarians and the DL students enrolled in the English courses. If the students had further questions, they could easily reply to the librarian to get additional information about the library, academic sources, and the research process.

The embedded librarian program has been underway for a year. Continuous evaluation of the program is a must, as we progress forward. Collaboration, between the library department and the instructors in the English department, is equally essential in obtaining success with this method for reaching out to the students enrolled in a variety of the entry-level DL English courses.

Library Cataloging

A library catalog is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations. A bibliographic item can be any information entity (e.g., books, computer files, graphics, realia, cartographic materials, etc.) that is considered library material (e.g., a single novel in an anthology), or a group of library materials (e.g., a trilogy), or linked from the catalog (e.g., a webpage) as far as it is relevant to the catalog and to the users (patrons) of the library.

The card catalog was a familiar sight to library users for generations, but it has been effectively replaced by the online public access catalog (OPAC). Some still refer to the online catalog as a "card catalog". Some libraries with OPAC access still have card catalogs on site, but these are now strictly a secondary resource and are seldom updated. Many of the libraries that have retained their physical card catalog post a sign advising the last year that the card catalog was updated. Some libraries have eliminated their card catalog in favor of the OPAC for the purpose of saving space for other use, such as additional shelving.

Charles Ammi Cutter made the first explicit statement regarding the objectives of a bibliographic system in his Rules for a Printed Dictionary Catalog in 1876. According to Cutter, those objectives were

1. To enable a person to find a book of which either (Identifying objective)

• the author 
• the title 
• the subject 
• the category 

Is known

2. To show what the library has (Collocating objective)

• by a given author 
• on a given subject 
• in a given kind of literature 

3. To assist in the choice of a book (Evaluating objective)

• as to its edition (bibliographically) 
• as to its character (literary or topical) 

These objectives can still be recognized in more modern definitions formulated throughout the 20th century. 1960/61 Cutter's objectives were revised by Lubetzky and the Conference on Cataloging Principles (CCP) in Paris. The latest attempt to describe a library catalog's goals and functions was made in 1998 with Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) which defines four user tasks: find, identify, select, and obtain.

A catalog also serves as an inventory or bookkeeping of what's in the library. If an item (a book) is not found in the catalog, the user doesn't have to search the shelves but can continue her search at another library.
For our Library Guides please click this link for more Cataloging: Mel Chandler,
Guides

Library Book Collections
by Mel Chandler - Last Updated Dec 3, 2012
A listing of the TCTC Library Book Collections

Are there any helicopters looming over your area of expertise?

     As a parent of one child who raised a son alone for several years, I often wondered if I’ve done too much or not enough for my son in preparation for his future. At work, I witness parents who loom over their young adult children as if they too are experiencing a lack of trust or insecurity over their parenting skills. We are constantly receiving calls from parents who will not allow their child to become a self-sufficient young adult.

     They hover from the prospective admissions stage to graduation and the job market beyond—contacting presidents of universities, deans, and professors, disputing their child’s grade; requesting an extension for their child; complaining their child does not receive as much praise as the parent would like; completing assignments for their child; requesting notification of grades their child received; and even attending job fairs and interviews with their child (Vinson, 2006, p. 423)

     Whether checking on an overdue fine or performing research on their behalf, it is not the parent’s place to interfere with the process of growing up. We must trust in our youth, as well as our parenting skills, by allowing our children to make mistakes or good decisions towards their future. If we do not allow them to learn on their own, we may find ourselves holding their hands throughout adulthood. I refuse to financially support my son for the rest of my life! I fear that will be the result, if I do not allow him to experience life as an independent young adult. “While the link between parenting effort and wellbeing of children has been firmly established, contemporary discussion has proposed that extreme levels of parental protection of and responsiveness to children could be counterproductive” (Locke et al., 2012, 249). Remember that there are laws to protect the student and we must adhere to them. When all else fails, one can always lean on FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) to “protect the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. These rights are granted to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level (FERPA, 2006).

References

United States Department of Education. (2006). Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). ED.gov. Retrieved from ED.gov on July 24, 2013 at

http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

Locke, J. Y., Campbell, M. A., & Kavanaugh, D. (2012). Can a Parent Do Too Much for Their Child? An Examination By Parenting Professionals of the Concept of Overparenting. Australian Journal of Guidance & Counseling, 22(2), 249-265.

Vinson, K. (2013). Hovering Too Close: the Ramifications of Helicopter Parenting in Higher Education. Georgia State University Law Review, 29(2), 423-451.

Getting the Message Out

     At Tri-County Technical College, we are working to promote the library and increase its presence campus-wide.  To effectively do this, we standardized all of our PR materials, utilized a set of specific colors to identify the library as a unique entity within the college campus, and tapped into an array of opportunities for getting the word out about the library and its services.

  A year ago, we met with our PR department.  The goal of this meeting was to begin the process of standardizing all of our materials that promote the library.  As we worked with the department, we selected some images that reflected the library, learning, and research in a fun and entertaining way.  The key image we used for the 2012-2013 school year is displayed below:

     We selected the color green to represent the library and bring attention to our facilities.  We now use this color in all of our publications, and we are experiencing much success with this approach.  Design, and quality of design, is imperative.  As brochures, posters, information literacy handouts, and power point presentations on research techniques are produced that represent the library, we are requiring the usage of these adopted colors, images, and templates.  The end result is quite appealing, aesthetically.

     We are pleased with the outcome of this approach to promoting, and ultimately selling, library services to students.  Additionally, we are pleased with the manner in which the library staff members embraced these colors and templates, by working to integrate them into the individual items they are producing to promote the library and/or information literacy skills.

Jargon

Anyone who has entered the Ruby Hicks building in the last 2 months realizes the library is undergoing a major renovation.  With a renovation comes the byproduct of looking at workflow and signage.  One of the updates to workflow that we decided on was to incorporate the circulation desk and the reference desk into one area instead of two.  This decision was based on a few factors which included noticing that patrons seemed to come to the Circulation desk instead of the Reference desk for help much of the time even though the Reference desk was staffed.

Since we are creating one service point instead of two, a discussion started on the various signs we have in the library.  I have included pictures of some of those signs in this blog post.  Similar to a number of other professions, libraries use “jargon” when we talk to each other.

 

According to our Credo Reference database “Jargon is the technical language used within a particular subject or profession, such as science, computing, medicine, law, accountancy, etc.: • CVA or cerebral vascular accident is medical jargon for a stroke. The term is also used to denote the complex, obscure, pretentious or euphemistic language used by estate agents, journalists, sociologists, advertisers, bureaucrats, politicians, etc. Jargon of both types is acceptable, and often indispensable, in professional journals and in written or spoken communications between members of the same group. It should be avoided, however, in articles, brochures, insurance policies, etc. that are to be read and understood by lay people, and in conversations with members of the general public. Jargon should not be used to impress, intimidate, confuse, or mislead the outsider. <http://www.credoreference.com/entry/acbgwg/jargon>.

We bounced around a few ideas for the new circulation area.  Some of these are “service desk”, “help desk”, “information”, and “ask us”.  None of those signs quite conveyed what we are looking for.  Our decision is that Sue Andrus is going to ask student during Information Literacy Workshops what they call “that place”.  Do you have any suggestions?  If so, email me at mrobers1@tctc.edu

Problems with Stop Words

     What will you find when you Search for Khaled Hosseini’s new book, And the Mountains Echoed, in a library catalog?  Chances are you will retrieve quite a number of hits about ‘mountains’ and ‘echo’ but not the novel itself. Why is that? The book exists. The terms you entered are valid. Why can’t you find it? The problem is related to the words ‘and’ and ‘the’, which unfortunately appear at the beginning of the title. Those words are called ‘stop words’. Stop words are very common words that normally add little meaning to the subject content of the document being indexed. Most of the stop words are there to make a sentence grammatically correct. If you ignore them, a sentence will still make sense, somewhat. However, the problem is that search engines are ignoring them too.

     Most search engines do not index stop words in order to save disk space, to make searching more efficient, and to reduce result pollution. Some search engines might replace them with what is called a marker.

Consider this sentence:

                It is an unforgettable novel about finding a lost piece of yourself in someone else.

There are 7 stop words in this sentence; it, is, an, about, a, of, in. The sentence would be stored like this:

                *** unforgettable novel * finding * lost piece * yourself * someone else.

     To speed up the search process, search engines do not search for certain terms in order to save time. Consider the title And the Mountains Echoed.  A search engine will look for ‘mountains’ and ‘echoed’. To save time, it will most likely exclude terms that it considers too common, such as ‘and’ and ‘the’.

     So what should a researcher do short of asking every author in the world not to use stop words in the titles of their books? One way to avoid this problem is by entering search phrases as search engines are programmed to understand.  You can accomplish this by using markers where stop words appear.  Instead of And the Mountains Echoed, enter ** Mountains Echoed. Or skip certain words entirely; Dark and Deadly Pool instead of The Dark and Deadly Pool. You can also put the phrase in quotation marks for the search engine to search the exact phrase.

     Fortunately, database publishers understand this problem, and they are doing something about it. Some add extra script to let search engines be aware of certain terms. Some create a stop list, which is a list of stop words, and apply it to the content indexed in the database. However, this problem is still looming and will not go away entirely. The other day Mel, our cataloger, could not find a record for And the Mountains Echoed in the library catalog.  His search turned into a definite stop word dilemma!

Old School Punctuation Rule

What does the MLA Style Manual say about the amount of spaces to insert after each punctuation mark?  When I first saw this question come across the ALA listserv, I quickly dismissed it.  How much can librarians write about a topic such as this?  I must admit that I soon realized my knowledge and understanding of this rule was far from accurate.

I am a two spaces woman.  As I write, I punctuate each sentence and insert two spaces before beginning my next sentence.  In my eyes, it is clean and clearly delineates the beginning and ending of each sentence.  When I took typing in high school, we were told about this rule and it stuck with me for, I guess I will admit it…, forever.  Why question such a functional, noninvasive rule?

As I read the posts on today’s listserv, I was amazed to find out the current MLA Style calls for simply one space after each punctuation mark.  One space…  How can that be?  This bit of information from the Grammar Girl website further clarifies some of the reasoning behind this punctuation shift:

“Here's the deal: Most typewriter fonts are called monospaced fonts. That means every character takes up the same amount of space. An "i" takes up as much space as an "m," for example. When using a monospaced font, where everything is the same width, it makes sense to type two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence to create a visual break. For that reason, people who learned to type on a typewriter were taught to put two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence. 

But when you're typing on a computer, most fonts are proportional fonts, which means that characters are different widths.  An "i" is more  narrow than an "m," for example, and putting extra space between sentences doesn't do anything to improve readability.”

So, the rule is quite clear.  If writing a paper using MLA Style, insert one space only after each punctuation mark!

Just out of curiosity… did anyone check the amount of spaces I inserted between sentences in this blog entry?  If you counted 2, you are correct!  By the way, APA Style still calls for the standard two spaces between sentences!

Michele Gregg

Library welcomes Kultida Dunagin

Kultida Dunagin is our new electronic resources librarian.    Previously she worked for the University Center of Greenville where she was a librarian for 15 years and  Spartanburg Methodist College from 1993-1998.

Kultida  began her academic career by earning a bachelor's degree in English from Chulalongkorn Univeristy in Bangkok, Thailand.  From there she earned her first masters which is in Theatre Arts from California State University in Los Angeles.  Following that she moved to the University of North Texas for a PhD in College Teaching. When she moved to South Carolina she decided  that the library profession is where her passion was and earned a second masters  in Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina. 

Kultida is fluent in English, Thai, and French.  She translates novels, such as books by Ken  Follett, from English into Thai for a publisher in Thailand.  She has authored a number of books in Thai including one on President Obama. Her PhD Dissertation is on the "Cultural Identity in Thai Movies and its Implications for the Study of Film in Thailand."

Kultida and her daughter Niki live in Spartanburg.

New Books!

The Tri-County Technical College Library faculty and staff made its annual Books-a-Million run! We purchased titles for all three campuses.  Each campus will have a display during June that will feature the new books. Many of our faithful library patrons have made requests for casual reading, as well as for subject areas that needed up-to-date information for student research purposes. Some of the subjects that we purchased materials for are: the Romanovs, NCLEX, ASVAB, credit repair, personal finance, Military history, local history, alternative medicine, weaponry, gardening, cook books, and architecture. Some of the popular titles that we purchased are: Inferno by Dan Brown, NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, Waiting to be Heard by Amanda Knox, Winter of the World by Ken Follett, Getting in!: the Zinch guide to College Admissions and Financial Aid in the Digital Age by Steve Cohen, et al, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloots, and My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor, as well as many, many more. The new titles have not been fully processed so they are not yet available for check out. We will keep you informed on the progress of the processing of these books.  If you made a specific request, we will send you an email to let you know when your title is ready.

Library Gets a Face Lift

For the first time in over 20 years, the TCTC library will be remodeled.  This summer project will include new furniture, a new circulation and reference desk area, new carpet, new paint on the walls, and a café area.  We are especially proud of the anticipated updates to the large study rooms.  These rooms will include a large screen monitor that is hooked to individual input stations.  By using this technology students can bring 21^st century skills to their team group projects.  See Backbone Media Platform. Additionally we will be adding a Mac Bar area that will include Mac computers. Colors will focus on the TCTC colors of red, black, and khaki.  Planning for this project started a few years ago and ramped up in December, 2012, with the choice of KI as the furniture vendor and designer.  During January, February, and March, colors, patterns, and furniture was discussed between a number of staff and faculty and students. In April, the library staff began the process by shifting some of the shelving so that the large back window area became more open.  We are in the process of moving the bound periodicals to another location. That area will become the Legal area and support the new paralegal program that starts in Fall, 2013.  The next steps will be redoing the carpet, painting the walls, and updating the study rooms. There will be different times that specific areas of the library will need to be blocked off to accommodate all these adjustments.  Furniture should arrive by the end of July.  We anticipate the entire project to be complete for the beginning of the fall semester.  A color board and design plans are at the circulation desk. Feel free to stop by and look at the redesign.

 

 

National Library Week: Like Shark Week, but with Cardigans

NLW was 4/15/13-4/21/13 this year.  I usually don’t pay too much attention to it, but when I worked at the Oconee County Public Library we liked to make a big deal of it.  We created displays, scheduled programs at each library location, and sometimes even had “Fine Free Week” if overdue books were returned.

I’ve been the main Instruction Librarian at TCTC for almost 6 years, so most students have attended a workshop in which I guided them through the process of using an academic library.  Part of the English 101 workshop explains the differences between academic journals and magazines.  I use a journal article called “library anxiety among students” as an example of research results published in academic journals.  When I talk about “library anxiety”, many students giggle self-consciously, then furtively glance around to see if others in the room also just realized that they suffer from a touch of it themselves.

The quote, National Library Week:  Like Shark Week, but with cardigans, is from a listserv of community college librarians.  While it was posted in jest, it makes me wonder why the general population continues to see librarians as (at best) uptight shushers and (at worst) sharks in sweaters.  Here at the TCTC library all of us strive to be friendly, approachable, and helpful to students, so rest assured that we are here to assist you with whatever you need.  I’ve answered plenty of reference questions, but I’ve also given people directions to hotels, helped them register for next semester’s classes, given out BandAids, and on one occasion found enough safety pins for a student to fix the zipper in her pants.  Obviously, a shark in a sweater would not do that!

A New Discovery Service

Students engage in information searches through Google on a daily basis.  As we work to meet the needs of our students, the library wanted to adopt a Discovery Service that reflects a similar search experience.  This service, called MegaSearch, is one that many students take advantage of on a daily basis.  It feels like a Google search, retrieves many hits like a Google search, and is easy to use.

Most of our databases and the library’s catalog can now be searched via this tool.  Additionally, hits obtained from a single search can be filtered through a source selection feature of the service.  Are you looking specifically for a reference source, a magazine, or possibly a newspaper article?  If so, select the box on the left side of your results screen to access this feature! 

The MegaSearch box can be found on the TCTC library’s home page.  The address is http://library.tctc.edu.  Good luck!

Additional Practice Tests added to Learning Express

Learning Express has added additional practice tests to its database.  You can access these by going to the Library Career webpage at http://library.tctc.edu/Careers . Most of these are listed under the Jobs and Career tab.

NCLEX-PN Practice Exams
?       NCLEX-PN Practice Exam 1
?       NCLEX-PN Practice Exam 2
?       NCLEX-PN Practice Exam 3

AP Biology Practice Exams
?       AP Biology Practice Exam 1: Section I
?       AP Biology Practice Exam 2: Section II
?       AP Biology Practice Exam 1: Section I
?       AP Biology Practice Exam 2: Section II

Additional Civil Service Practice Exams
?       Civil Service Practice Exam 3
?       Civil Service Practice Exam 4

ISEE Practice Tests
?       ISEE Practice Test: Lower Level
?       ISEE Practice Test: Middle Level
?       ISEE Practice Test: Upper Level

SSAT Practice Test
?       SSAT Upper Level Practice Test

New eBooks
?       GED Vocabulary Flash Review
?       Civil Service Exams: Power Practice
?       Math for College Placement Exams in 20 Minutes a Day

Latest Editions of Popular eBooks
?       Firefighter Exam, 5e
?       Health Occupations Entrance Exams, 3e
?       Medical Assistant Exam, 2e

Dr. Norman Hoyle retires

            The Library staff  will bid a fond farewell Friday, March 29, to Dr. Norman Hoyle, who retires after 17 years as a reference and electronics resources librarian.

            For Norman, who is 78 years young, this is his second retirement – he was a professor for 25 years in the School of Library and Information Science graduate program at the State University of New York at Albany, as well as working in the library of Washington State University and as a professor of English at Linfield College.

            “Norman is very focused on projects until they are done. He is detail oriented,” added Library Director and good friend Marla Roberson, who referenced the large scale literature database, numerous research guides, and the design of the library website as his major accomplishments since he became full time in 2007.

            He created and mainained a database that provides online access to  thousands of scholarly analyses and interpretations of individual literary works.  “This is a unique resource --  no one has anything like this.  It’s a Norman invention,” said Marla.   All of our literature courses rely heavily on the database.  His second accomplishment was designing the library subject portal pages.  He also created coding for MegaSearch, which simultaneously searches all of the TCTC Library’s catalogs and databases; additionally, he created Journal*Browse, which provides faculty and staff  an easy means to keep up with the literature of their field by browsing online the tables-of-contents of selected professional journals and printing out articles of interest.

            “He created remarkable products that will last a long time,” said Marla. “Student surveys always refer to him and applaud his service.”

            “In terms of student success, if we didn’t have the literature database and the subject portal pages he created himself, we’d be back to the 1980s.”

            “I’ll miss working with the people here,” said Norman.  “I take pride in the projects I have been responsible for, what they have done for students, and how these readily accessible resources have contributed to their success.”

            “There’s not another Norman,” said Marla. 

          Berry McMurray, discovery service engineer, EBSCO Publishing, agrees.  “I still remember the first day we met way back when I first started in sales at EBSCO.  I have met many librarians over the years, and it was quite clear even that first day that you were truly committed to your profession and diligently worked to make resources easily available to your patrons/customers/students.  It was a pleasure to have had the opportunity to work with you, and I wish you the best of times in your retirement.”