Library News & Clues

Beverages now allowed in the Library!

2008-05-22T09:52:00.003-04:00

We know that studying can sometimes be a DRY process... so the Library's policies have been revised to allow you to bring a beverage with you into the Library.

There are some limits, mainly to protect the computers and print materials.

You may only bring beverages that are in securely-lidded containers - that is, something where the lid screws on or snaps on or takes a distinct effort to get off. The waxpaper lids on styrofoam or paper cups are not sufficient to stop a spill if the cup is overturned.
Beverages may be enjoyed at the tables, couch groupings and study rooms, but NOT at the computers.
Please dispose of unfinished beverages by pouring the liquid down the bathroom sinks - not in the water fountain or in trashcans.
Food is still NOT allowed in the Library because of crumbs leading to pest problems - please enjoy your food in the Back Lobby of the Everett building or elsewhere on campus.

If you have a spill, please notify the Library staff immediately so that we can ensure its thorough cleanup.

Overdue fines forgiven!

2008-04-14T11:53:00.005-04:00

To celebrate National Library Week (April 13-19), your Library is offering an overdue fine amnesty. Just bring any overdue items back to the PCC Library.

If you return your overdue material this week, any existing fines will be forgiven and your account will be cleared.

The Library suggests that you consider donating the all or part of your forgiven fine to the Karen Perry Memorial Scholarship fund. There is a display downstairs in the Library (1st floor C.W. Everett Building) where you may make your donation. (You don't even have to have an overdue item to make a donation!)

E-book Week is March 9-15, 2008

2008-03-05T10:15:00.002-05:00

"Reduce your carbon footprint in 2008... read an e-book!"

From the Read An E-Book Week website, here are a few facts to consider:

E-books are created, exist, are distributed and are viewed electronically.
It takes 12 trees to produce a ton of printing paper, 24 trees for higher grade writing paper - no paper needed for an E-book!
Up to 35% of books printed for consumers are never read. They end up in landfills.
You can acquire and read an E-book without ever leaving home, as long as you have Internet access.

Not sure where to find E-books? You can begin with the free E-book links @ your PCC library (if you're an off-campus student, email us for the passwords at pittref@email.pittcc.edu). You can also find E-books for purchase at most major online booksellers - Amazon.com even has its own popular E-book reader for sale, called the Kindle.

March 6th is World Book Day

2008-03-05T09:54:00.002-05:00

Celebrate World Book Day on March 6th (or later, if you don't see this soon enough!) The World Book Day movement began in the UK and Ireland and is reaching out to the rest of the world.

Source: LISNews item

If you want help in finding a good read to help you in your celebration, join us @ your PCC Library, in the C.W. Everett building. We'll be delighted to help you!

Online, you can read eBooks or download audio books from NetLibrary (no password needed on campus - if you're a PCC student off-campus, email us at pittref@email.pittcc.edu for the password).

Black History Month: A Medical Perspective

2008-02-05T13:31:00.000-05:00

Did you know that Shaw University once had a medical school? Or that the first Black professional nurse in the U.S. received her degree in 1879?

The Medical Center Library at Duke University is offering an online retrospective of Black Americans and their achievements in medical fields at Black History Month: A Medical Perspective. First exhibited in 1999, this exhibit was updated in 2006 and contains information in the following categories: People, Medical Education, Hospitals and Folk Medicine. It also offers a Chronology of Achievements and a selective bibliography.

You don't have to be an allied health student or a medical professional to check this site out. There is much fascinating information, and the Folk Medicine section alone is worth the visit.

Learn & Help the UN World Food Programme at the same time!

2007-11-09T11:37:00.000-05:00

In recognition of International Education Week, the Library offers you the opportunity to broaden your vocabulary and help the United Nations' World Food Programme at the same time.

At FreeRice, "For each word you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations to help end world hunger." They show the previous day's total donations at the bottom of the screen; for example, 77,126,310 grains of rice were donated on Nov. 8th.

FreeRice is recommended on the World Food Programme site, so that speaks to its legitimacy. The donations are paid for by the sales of advertisements that you can see on the bottom of the screen as you progress through the game, and most of the advertisers are well-known businesses.

It's very simple, and no login or password is required. You are shown a word and given four choices as to its meaning. You choose an answer, and 10 grains of rice are awarded if you are correct. The program will assess your progress as you continue and tailor its difficulty accordingly.

Have fun, learn something, and help others - that's a pretty good deal!

Library Printing: Ways to Save!

2007-10-06T09:23:00.000-04:00

There are a few things you can do to save money and paper when printing in the library:

Print double-sided. Cost: 10 cents for the front, 5 cents for the back
Print more than one page per sheet.
Make sure there are not extra blank sheets at the end of your MS Word Document.
Adjust margins and font sizes to allow more text to print on a page.
PowerPoint Presentations: Print more than one slide per page.
Always check the print settings before sending a job to the printer. The person before you could have changed them to something you would not want. Look for the PROPERTIES button after you click on PRINT. The library is not responsible for your not checking the print settings!

If you have questions about any of these points, please ask the staff member on duty. We can help you!

Top 10 careers with a 2-yr degree (or less)

2007-09-04T15:15:00.000-04:00

Yahoo Education provides a list of the its current "top 10" careers for people with an associate's degree, certificate or diploma:

Top 10 Careers Requiring Two Years of Training (or Less)

Practice tests and exam reviews

2007-06-11T17:07:00.000-04:00

If you must take an entrance exam or placement test for school, or a certification test for your chosen occupation, you may be able to find practice tests and exam reviews in one of our databases.

LearningExpress Library "is a comprehensive, interactive online learning platform of practice tests and tutorial course series designed to help patrons—students and adult learners—succeed on the academic or licensing tests they must pass. You'll get immediate scoring, complete answer explanations, and an individualized analysis of your results."

You can view their demo or go ahead and sign in as a new user. Creating your user profile allows you to save results and track your progress.

Practice exams: Advanced placement, Civil Service, College entrance exams, Cosmetology, EMS, Firefighter, GED, Graduate School entrance exams, Job search and success skills, Law Enforcement, Military, Nursing, Real Estate, TOEFL, U.S. citizenship.

Skills improvement drills: Elementary, middle school and high-school levels; business writing; math; reading; job search and success.

You can access LearningExpress Library at the link above. If you are on campus, no password is needed. From off-campus, click on this link: How to Get Passwords.

Hurricane Information Links

2007-05-30T12:24:00.000-04:00

The 2007 Hurricane Season officially begins on June 1st. Below are some links to various sources of Hurricane information.

U.S. Government Hurricane Links
National Hurricane Center / Tropical Prediction Center (NHC/TPC)
NWS Marine Fax Charts (Many charts - .TIF format)
NOAA Hurricane Hunters (Aircraft Operations Center)
Air Force Hurricane Hunters (USAF 53rd WRS)
NOAA Satellite Imagery of Tropical Cyclones
NOAA National Climate Data Center's historical hurricane data
FEMA (general preparedness info)
US Coast Guard Storm Center
National Weather Service, Newport/Morehead City, NC

Local Government Hurricane Links
State Climate Office of North Carolina – Hurricanes
North Carolina Emergency Management – Hurricane update page
NCStormSurge.com
North Carolina Hurricane Evacuation Routes map
NC Dept of Crime Control and Public Safety - Hurricanes
NC Dept of Health & Human Services - Hurricanes

University Hurricane Links
NC Cooperative Extension (NCSU) – Disaster preparedness
Miami University [Ohio] (Advisories, discussion, satellite loops, recon info , model data, etc.)
Tropical Meteorology Project, Colorado State (Dr. William Gray's seasonal forecasts)
Online meteorology guide (Univ. Ill. Urbana)

Local Media Weather Reporting
Storm Team 9 Weather (WNCT-TV)
WITN-TV 7 Weather
WeatherCenter12 (WCTI-TV)
WRAL-TV Weather
Daily Reflector (Greenville, NC)
News & Observer Hurricane Center (Raleigh, NC)

Private Hurricane Links
Southern Aviation Resources Tropical Weather
Hurricane City
Weather Underground (Everything)
Interweb Schoolhouse hurricane information
Fotosearch hurricanes stock photos
Weatherman 911
Golden Triangle (Advisories, discussions, images, links, TX info)
Terrapin Associates (JAVA animated storm tracking)
UNISYS Weather's Hurricane Page
INFOPLEASE's Hurricane Page
University of North Carolina Press Hurricane books

Hurricane Preparedness Links
USA Today's Hurricane Safety Guide
American Red Cross: Hurricanes
WRAL-TV StormTrack Guides

Kid's Weather Links
NOAA's weather research site for Kids
NCAR's interactive Hurricane Strike
Surfing the Net with Kids : Hurricanes
FEMA's Hurricane site for Kids

Wireless access available @ Your Library

2007-04-05T12:48:00.001-04:00

If you have a wireless-enabled laptop, you can now use it @ the PCC Library!

The process to bring wireless Internet access to our patrons was begun in 2003 when the Library applied for an LSTA Internet Infrastructure Improvement Grant for this purpose. The grant was awarded to the Library that year by the State Library of North Carolina (Department of Cultural Resources). Until now, our wireless hub has been active, but could only be accessed by checking out Library-owned laptops with specially-configured wireless cards. Thanks to help from PCC Network Services, this goal has finally been achieved:

Wireless access for all patrons is now available on the second floor of the Library.

Patrons who have laptops without a wireless card should note that the Library has provided cables where such laptops can be hooked up to access the Internet. Access cables can be found downstairs outside the Children's Room, and upstairs near the Periodicals Area and in all of the group study rooms.

New York Times "TimesSelect" available free to students and faculty

2007-03-19T14:00:00.001-04:00

Up to now, the New York Times has limited a significant portion of its online content to paid subscribers behind its TimesSelect subscription portal. According to the following news article, TimesSelect is now offered free to college and university faculty and students (those with an email address ending in ".edu"). This access began March 13, 2007.

'NYT' Opening TimesSelect to Students and Teachers for Free

TimesSelect includes access to the NYT op-ed columnists, the Times archive back to 1851, Times Preview (selected articles which are released online prior to their appearance in the print edition), and multimedia supplements to print articles, among other features. Read more about it in this Overview.

You can sign up for your free TimesSelect subscription here.

FDA Q&A: Peanut Butter Recall

2007-03-02T11:12:00.000-05:00

If you have questions about the recent Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter recall, you can get up-to-date information online at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) website titled: Questions and Answers: Peter Pan & Great Value Peanut Butter Salmonella Outbreak and Product Recall.

You can also find information about Salmonella and the recent outbreak at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website.

Don't forget that the library subscribes to various newspaper databases that you can use to search for newspaper articles from all over. You will have to use a password to access the databases from off-campus.

ASK A LIBRARIAN if you need help researching this or other topics!

V-day facts and trivia

2007-02-07T10:48:00.000-05:00

Question: How many Valentines are exchanged annually in the United States? (Scroll down for the answer)

You can find more information about Valentine's Day at the following websites:

History.com's Valentine's Day page
Facts and figures about Valentine's Day - U.S. Census Bureau
Hallmark's Valentine's Day page

Answer: Approximately 180 million Valentine's Day cards are sent annually in the U.S., making Valentine's Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion behind Christmas. [from BlueMountain.com]

Technology Trends of 2007

2006-12-15T15:38:00.000-05:00

Bendable concrete? Cars that can talk to other cars -- AND the road?? Check out ten technology concepts you need to know for 2007 in Popular Mechanics.

Statewide Creative Writing Contest

2006-10-18T10:15:00.000-04:00

The Campbell University Department of English is sponsoring The Lyricist Annual Creative Writing Contest, with first prizes of $100 and second prizes of $50 in each of two categories: Poetry and Prose Short Story.

The deadline for entry is January 10, 2007. Entries must be postmarked no later than this date and late entries will NOT be accepted.

Competition is open to authors statewide for original and unpublished works only, with a limit of 3 works per author.

Type entries in standard manuscript and label them "Statewide"; write author's name on the back. Include a short biographical sketch.

All entries will be considered for inclusion in the 2006-2007 issue of The Lyricist.

Address:
Statewide Contest
The Lyricist
Department of English
Campbell University
Buies Creek, NC 27506-0507

or email to: lyricist@mailcenter.campbell.edu

International Day Against DRM

2006-10-10T10:54:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, Oct. 3rd this year was designated by some as International Day Against DRM. DRM is the acronym for Digital Rights Management, which is copy-protection software often embedded in many of the CDs and DVDs sold today. However, it also covers measures used to protect data stored in the information systems of corporations and institutions.

What's your position on DRM? The following are some places to start learning about DRM:

From Wikipedia:

Digital Rights Management (generally abbreviated to DRM) is any of several technologies used by publishers (or copyright owners) to control access to and usage of digital data (such as software, music, movies) and hardware, handling usage restrictions associated with a specific instance of a digital work. The term often is confused with copy protection and technical protection measures (TPM). These two terms refer to technologies that control or restrict the use and access of digital media content on electronic devices with such technologies installed, acting as components of a DRM design.

Digital Rights Management is a controversial topic. Advocates argue DRM is necessary for copyright holders to prevent unauthorized duplication of their work to ensure continued revenue streams. Some critics of the technology, including the Free Software Foundation, suggest that the use of the word "Rights" is misleading and suggest that people instead use the term Digital Restrictions Management. The position put forth is that copyright holders are attempting to restrict use of copyrighted material in ways already granted by statutory or common law applying to copyright. Others, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, consider some DRM schemes to be anti-competitive, citing the iTunes Store as an example.

See the whole article, which presents pros and cons.

This site contains a number of links which present information from the anti-DRM point of view.

About.com also offers an explanation of DRM, detailing its impact on users.

Here is a blog entry detailing the struggles of a user (who happens to be a tech librarian) to listen or watch digital audio and video... legally!

Voting results

2006-10-10T10:42:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all who came to Books 'n' Brew last Friday and learned about Pitt County's new voting machines. Here are the results of the demonstration votes:

Best Automobile manufacturer: 20 votes cast, Honda wins with 5 votes, followed by Ford with 4.
Best Vocal artist: 40 votes cast (could vote for tw0 choices), Elvis wins with 7 votes.
Best Ice cream flavor: 20 votes cast, chocolate won going away with 12 votes.
Proposition 1 (Are you in favor of a 3-day weekend?): 20 votes cast, Yes got 13 votes.
Proposition 2 (Should pay increases be issued every 6 months instead of yearly?): 20 votes cast, Yes got 13 votes.

Now, when do those 3-day weekends start??

Ready, set, Vote event @ Books & Brew

2006-09-30T12:24:00.000-04:00

Ready, Set ... VOTE!

At our Books & Brew on Friday, October 6th from 9 to 11 AM, officials from the Pitt County Board of Elections will be @ your Library to demonstrate the use of the County's new voting machines. They will also provide information about the upcoming elections in November.

Join us for refreshments and information about this vital American process. New voters may register to vote at this event.

Need a topic for your research paper?

2006-08-17T11:10:00.000-04:00

If you need to come up with a topic for your research paper, here are some places to look. Start at the Library's Online Databases A to Z List and look for the following links:

America's Newspapers -- this source of articles from North Carolina and national newspapers has a "Hot Topics" link on the left side of the main webpage. Clicking on this link will bring up a list of hot news items from the latest month. It gives the search terms you should use to find articles on these topics. Some of the topics from August 2006 are: Airport Security, Israel/Lebanon ceasefire, Fidel Castro, Alaska Oil Pipeline Shutdown, Heat Wave, and New Planets, among others.

Issues & Controversies -- this database provides "up-to-date, in-depth and objective information on the most prominent and hotly debated issues of the day." Near the top right corner of the main webpage, there is a link that says "Need a research topic? Click here!" Clicking will bring up a list of over 60 links on potential research topics. Below the list are summary statements and more links for each topic.

Opposing Viewpoints -- this is also a source of information on controversial topics. More than 70 popular topics are listed as links on the main webpage. Articles from books, journals and primary sources are available.

Start Your Research -- for more general information on efficient searching, see this page created by our Reference Librarians.

Is "hyper-parenting" creating "A Nation of Wimps"?

2006-07-31T13:34:00.000-04:00

From Pyschology Today:

A Nation of Wimps

Parents are going to ludicrous lengths to take the bumps out of life for their children. However, parental hyperconcern has the net effect of making kids more fragile; that may be why they're breaking down in record numbers...

Do you agree or disagree with the article? You can add a comment to this item and let us know!

Hot Links for Summer

2006-07-10T15:43:00.000-04:00

It's the season to head outdoors so check out eNature and its field guides to help you identify birds, insects, seashells and more.

Global Warming is a "hot" topic these days. Dimming the Sun, a NOVA documentary on global dimming, adds another dimension to the issue. Need more info on this topic? Search our online databases such as Issues & Controversies, Opposing Viewpoints and CQ Researcher for "global warming" and "climate change." Ask a librarian if you need some help.

Heading to the beach? Don't forget the sunscreen. Everyday Mysteries explains how sunscreen works.

Database review: America's Newspapers

2006-06-19T14:03:00.000-04:00

Want to browse the online version of a North Carolina newspaper? ... Find coverage of a hot topic in the American press? America's Newspapers from NewsBank provides full-text articles from the electronic editions of record for hundreds of U.S. newspapers - all in one easy-to-search database.

Newspapers provide rich sources of information for researchers, as well as for those who just want to browse their hometown paper. Newspaper archives provide comprehensive coverage of current events (history in the making) and historical events. Each newspaper or wire service provides unique coverage of local and regional news, including specific information about local companies, politics, sports, industries, cultural activities, and the people in the community. Paid advertisements are excluded.

More Free Software

2006-06-07T11:58:00.000-04:00

Google has announced Google Spreadsheets, a web-based spreadsheet program. This is the 4th program in Google's office suite--the previous ones being Word/Writely, OneNote/Notebook and Frontpage/PagesCreator.

Windows Media Player 11 now includes podcasting support.

One caveat, software in the beta phase is still being tested for bugs and inconsistencies.

Mashing up the Library Competition Announced

2006-06-06T17:23:00.000-04:00

Talis announces a library mashup competition. You don't have to be a librarian or even work in a library to enter. From the Talis site:

Talis is pleased to announce the first competition intended to encourage innovation in the display, use, and reuse of data from and about libraries. The competition is open to all, and includes a first prize of £1,000 for the best entry. Read on for more information, and the respected panel of judges looks forward to reviewing a wide range of innovative entries.