Study-In and Spring late hours are here!

Join us on May 28th and June 4th for late hours, June 5th, 2010 for the Spring Study-In!

It's that time of year again, where we all put on our thinking caps and start studying for Finals! The UCC Library will be open 7:30 am - 6:00 pm on Friday, May 28th and June 4th.

We're also back this Spring for the ASUCC Study-In on June 5th from 11am-7pm! Come on in, grab a snack courtesy of your student government, and get help from faculty, tutors, and librarians as you study.

The library will be closed Saturday, May 29th and Monday, May 31st for the Memorial Day Holiday.

Good luck, and study hard!

A Virtual Film Treasure Box

Where do rare films go besides DVD-- try online!

We all know about the classic films that are available in a million different formats and milieus-- Dracula, Metropolis, Gone with the Wind-- and even those that are so present they exist as remakes-- cinematic perennials that keep popping up year after year.

But what about those films that are so rare or little thought-of that they are not currently distributed by tape or DVD in the USA, like Luchino Visconti's Lo Straniero (1967) [at upper-right].

Well, how about YouTube?

Visconti was a well-known Italian director who produced a number of classic films, including The Leopard (Il Gattopardo, 1963) [available at the UCC library: DVD 791.43 L] . These classics are available on DVD, but in the past, some of the director's other works have fallen off the screen. The British Film Institute has this to say about Lo Straniero, one of these "lesser" works:

Lo straniero (The Stranger) (1967), Visconti's adaptation of Albert Camus's novel "L'Etranger", received mixed press on first release and has rarely been seen since.

But now we have other options! Online digital services, like YouTube, Hulu, and even digital streaming services like iTunes and Amazon Unbox, are making previously rare films as accessible as any US-based cinephile can hope (N.B. - most of these digital services work within the United States only):

• On YouTube, where video length is limited to roughly 10 minutes or less, clever film fans have been linking public-domain foreign films in sequential clips, as this playlist does. Watch classic films from Africa, Japan, Italy, and more- most with subtitles and in languages other than English.
  
  
• Hulu is a service that allows viewers to watch videos and (mainly) television episodes online for free. (The clips are ad-supported). The service includes digitization of a number of classic TV shows such as The Addams Family and I Spy.
  
  
• Amazon Unbox and Apple's iTunes Store are two places where you can buy "copies" of films and television shows to watch digitally on your computer (or in some cases, your music player). These two stores have many of the same videos that are also available physically on DVD for a by-the-episode price.

• The Criterion Collection, which publishes high-quality reprints of classic cinema, offers its own "online cinema," titled The Auteurs, which includes free digital screenings of rare films each month (requires signing up for a username).

And there you have it! Happy viewing!

WorldCat Local Quick Start is Here

The UCC Library has signed up with WorldCat to provide you with a new way to search the library catalog. Check out the "Search the Catalog" page on the library website and you'll see a new search box for looking for books, CDs, and DVDs. When you search for an item, you'll be searching our local catalog and thousands of other library catalogs, including Douglas County Library System, at the same time. If UCC owns the item, it should be at the top of your result list. If you desperately need an item NOT in our local collection, let us know and we'll try to retrieve it from a library that owns it.

If you prefer, you can still use our local interface for searching the catalog. It has the benefit of simultaneously searching through the Douglas County Library System, too.

Fit Yourself

Whether it is the approach of Spring beckoning you, the athletes of the Olympics inspiring you, or a vague guilt about a New Year's resolution depressing you, it's a good time to commit to SOME kind of exercise.



Browse the library shelves for fitness plans, yoga, and exercise regimens (613.7) or for tips on taking on a new sport or improving a current one (796).

If you'd prefer a DVD to guide you to physical fitness, check out pilates, tai-chi, or workout videos in DVD 613.71 and DVD 796.

What Did You Really Do for the Holidays and Why?

Now that we've survived the end-of-the-year holidays and head into a new year and a new college term, what better time to reflect on customs, manners, food, drink, and celebration? The following social histories bring perspective to fundamental aspects of our lives which we usually take for granted.

What are good manners, anyway? How does our culture establish rules of civility in public life, business relations, and personal relationships? "A Short History of Rudeness :Manners, Morals and Misbehavior in Modern America" takes a look at how we get along--or don't.











Thinking about all the food you've eaten recently? "Much Depends on Dinner: The Extraordinary History and Mythology, Allure and Obsessions, Perils, and Taboos of an Ordinary Meal" isn't just for Culinary Arts students. Maybe you ate more than you should have over the holidays and you took all that food for granted. Learn its history, how it gets to our tables, and the business behind everyday foods like corn flakes, citrus fruits, and even canned olives, for example.




Barbara Ehrenreich takes a look at the social history of partying in "Dancing in the Streets". From cave paintings to rock concerts humans like to get together in the pursuit of collective joy, often through dance. Today it isn't happening so much and she examines what we're missing.






Explore the history of your holiday customs with "Celebrating the Family: Ethnicity, Consumer Culture, and Family Rituals". We didn't always celebrate holidays this way in America and our customs are continuing to change.



Tom Standage maintains that every epoch has had its signature beverage. Whether it's wine, beer, or Coca Cola there is plenty to learn both about the drink and the era which produced it and why.

Happening Saturday

ASUCC (UCC's Student Government) hosted a "Study In", December 5, for UCC students to prepare for Finals Week--beginning on Monday.














Staff were there to organize and help.




















Tutors were in attendance.

Faculty came to tutor, too.

Students showed up!

Pizza was served to keep the intellectual faculties fueled.

Saturday Study @ the Library!

Duh Duh Duh! Finals are upon us, but if you need a place to brush up on those test notes or polish your final papers to a shine, you'll want to come to the UCC Library this Saturday!

ASUCC is sponsoring a Student Study-In at the Library from 11am -7pm on Dec. 5 (Sat.), with free snacks, beverages, and tutors provided! There will even be a few librarians hanging about if you need help with paper sources!

Keep in mind, the Library will also be open an extra hour on Fri. Dec. 4th (until 6pm) for those of you who want to get a little extra studying in before the weekend hits.

See you at the UCC Library!