Mohawk College Library Blog

Good-bye and thank-you to our readers – bye bye blog!

librarybrainblog — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 12:00:16 +0000

After ten years, Mohawk College Library bloggers are saying good-bye.

We are happy to have had the opportunity to share lots of information and library news with you, and have truly enjoyed reading and responding to your comments on a variety of different topics. Although we will no longer be posting to this blog, you can still find us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram so you can stay up-to-date on library news, events, and services.

We sincerely thank you for your support and readership and look forward to hearing from you through our social media sites.

So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, adieu!

Statistically significant subject guides

librarybrainblog — Wed, 17 Dec 2014 19:44:29 +0000

The Library’s subject guides are a hit! Actually they were a hit over 275,000 times in 2014! Congrats to faculty and students in the RPN to BScN program for having the top used program guide (almost 16000 hits). Students in two of our Continuing Education programs made good use of their subject guides too: over 10,000 hits each for the Library and Information Technician program guide and the Mental Health Nursing Certificate guide.

Haven’t discovered your program’s guide yet? Make this your first priority in January! You’ll find lists of customized, best bet, online and print resources selected with care and expertise by your Library staff. They provide great starting points for just about any assignment and will save you gobs of time!

As you can see, our APA guide really attracts attention! Technical help is just a click away with our Tech Support guide. Dreaming about that job at the end of the rainbow? Check out our Careers and Job Search guide for some great tips and tricks! Writing skills, time management, stress relief … we’ve got it!

New Year’s resolution: get to know your subject guide! We’d like to see a little more competition for those top spots!

Get to know your library!

librarybrainblog — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 12:00:58 +0000

Mohawk College Library is encouraging all students to sign up for a library tour in January. Each campus library location offers a variety of study spaces, services, and resources to help you succeed. So, even if you are a returning student, be sure to sign up to get to know your library!

Please click on this link to sign up to participate in a library tour at your campus.

Mohawk College presents Laverne Cox

librarybrainblog — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 12:00:56 +0000

The Mohawk College community is already getting ready for a special guest early next year! Social Inc. in partnership with the Mohawk Students’ Association, The Well (LGBTQ Community Wellness Centre of Hamilton) and the Sexual Assault Centre of Hamilton and Area present Laverne Cox.

Laverne Cox is well-known for her role on the hit show “Orange is the New Black” and will discuss her life and journey as a transgender actress. This event will be held at the McIntyre Performing Arts Centre, located at the Fennell campus on March 23rd, 2015. For more information and tickets, please click here.

Mohawk College Library has resources to help you learn more about the LGBTQ community. The library has recently acquired the video Beautiful Boxer which is based on the true story of Thailand’s famed transgendered kick-boxer, Parinya Charoenphol (known as Nong Toom in Thailand). The book, Transgender people discusses gender identity disorders, the transgender rights movement, and other issues faced by the transgender community.

If you do go to the event, be sure to send us a message on Facebook, Tweet us @mohawklibrary, or send us a picture on Instagram.

Films on Demand

librarybrainblog — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 20:26:22 +0000

Do you have a presentation? Don’t know how to fill the entire 20 minutes? Mohawk College Library has the solution. Films on Demand! Films on Demand online videos are produced for educational use making them a resource for reliable, current information. New videos are added monthly and … bonus! … there are no commercials or ad banners to be found.

All Films on Demand videos are broken down into short segments making them easy to use in a class presentation since you can choose a small clip or number of clips to view. Searching the database is easy: simply type in your search term and click search! The default search is by segment but you can choose to do a title search by using the drop down menu beside the search box. The example below allows you to see the results for both a segment and a title search:

Similar to YouTube you will see a description of the video, the date published, the number of views, and can also expand the video to full screen.

Give Films on Demand a try when researching your next project.

In the city: Christmas in Gore Park

mohawklibrarygirl — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 12:00:51 +0000

This weekend in the city, the Downtown Hamilton BIA and local radio station AM 900 CHML celebrate Christmas in Gore Park with a variety of family friendly activities.

The fun begins on Friday, December 5th at 5:00 p.m. with a free concert by local band Crank. The lighting of the Christmas Tree of Hope will take place at 6:00 p.m. Children can ride the Christmas miniature train and merry-go-round, and everyone is welcome to enjoy free refreshments. And don’t forget your letter to Santa; letters may be sent to Santa in a “direct to the North Pole” mailbox.

The Downtown Hamilton BIA invites everyone back to Gore Park on Saturday, December 6th, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to shop in Santa’s village. The event includes great vendors, free refreshments and Christmas crafts. There will be carolling and Christmas entertainment throughout the park. You can even have your picture taken with Santa Claus.

Mohawk College Library can help you get ready for the holiday season. The library has books on cooking, crafts, and your favorite Christmas carols. If you still have names to cross off our list, checkout this gift guide from People magazine. You can always keep up-to-date on the latest trends using library databases and e-journals.

Of flying sleighs and airplanes

librarybrainblog — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 17:52:04 +0000

The Official NORAD Santa Tracker is hard at work counting down the days, hours and minutes ’til his arrival. This year on Christmas Eve, you’ll also be able to follow Saint Nick’s progress on Google Maps!

Perhaps you’ve wondered about the aerodynamics of a guy in a sleigh with 8 tiny reindeer? You’re not alone! Check out the interesting numbers presented in this article and do your own weight and balance calculation or learn more about the science of flight from our e-book, Understanding flight.

Maybe Santa actually flies in a Westjet plane? There’s a town in the Dominican Republic that believes that! Don’t miss Westjet’s 2014 Christmas miracle video. It’ll put a big smile on your face and a tear in your eye!

It’s library poll time!

librarybrainblog — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 12:30:55 +0000

Complete the library poll this week and let us know what you think.

Your opinion counts!

Helping students succeed one guide at a time

librarybrainblog — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 20:04:17 +0000

Need some math, writing or technical help? The Mohawk College Library can still help! We have self-help Student Success Subject Guides to get you through during a late night study session.

Our Math Help Subject Guide covers topics from all disciplines. If you are a business, nursing or technical and skilled trades student, there is a page for you. Each pages offers a variety of e-books, videos, and tutorials to help you solve that tough math question. Many of the video resources are free to use online.

Need some tips on how to format your essay? Need to cite your sources using APA or IEEE citation styles? Try the Writing Skills Subject Guide. This guide provides information on grammar and spelling, report writing tips many of the resources are online. Also included is a section on plagiarism and how to avoid it and a page on how to use the plagiarism tool Turnitin. Turnitin is a tool many faculty use to detect plagiarism in students’ essays. As a student you can use this tool to check your paper for plagiarism before you turn in your assignment.

The Tech Support Subject Guide will provide guidance on using eLearn, ePortfolios, MOCOmotion, just to name a few. As a Mohawk College student you can download a copy of Office 365 and AutoCAD. Instructions can be found on this guide. Printing locations, wireless printing and printing at the IAHS campus are also highlighted. Instructions for logging into OntarioLearn are included for our distance education students.

These guides are just the tip of the iceberg; a Subject Guide has been created for most Mohawk College programs. Each guide is filled with links to books, magazines, online videos and websites all carefully chosen for your assignment needs. Check them out for yourself or come into any campus library location for a one-on-one tour of your Subject Guide. We are always happy to help in person, by phone or by text/chat.

Support the MSA food bank at your campus library

mohawklibrarygirl — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 12:30:16 +0000

The season for giving is upon us, yet so many people in our community are in need.

The Mohawk Student Association operates a student food bank at each campus in the MSA Office. This is a free service for students in emergency need of food. To learn more about the MSA food bank, you can read this article published earlier this year by Mohawk’s own Ignite News.

The Mohawk College Library is encouraging you to support our students and the MSA food bank this holiday season. The library will be collecting non-perishable food donations at each campus library location in support of this MSA initiative.

Please give generously to support our students!