Shrinking Print

The UCC Library online reference collection keeps growing. . .as our print reference collection keeps shrinking. More and more of the big (and not-so-big) publishers of quality reference books are moving their collections online.

Check here for all of our online databases: http://www.umpqua.edu/index.php/search-databases

A few highlights:

• EBSCO’s Literary Reference Center contains tens of thousands of literary critical analyses and over a thousand literary reference works.

• Oxford Online Premium contains hundreds of reference books from Oxford Press.

• Nearly all of our medical and nursing reference books are available both in print and online in Gale Health or Salem Health databases.

• Credo Reference is an online general reference collection of 500+ books from various publishers.

• Small Business Resource Center includes the complete text of dozens of handbooks, “—for Dummies” titles, and start-up books

• Learning Express Library is a database of eBooks on test preparation, GED study guides, practice entrance exams to health occupations, math skills, reading skills, writing resumes, and more.

• Access Science includes the 21 volume McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology

Whether it’s the history of popular culture, current social topics, foreign language dictionaries, or encyclopedias, we have it online in an eBook. (And, of course, we have thousands of journals and magazines in our databases, as well.)

While we always like seeing you in the library, please be sure to check out all of our online offerings from wherever you are.

Global Road Warrior? Credo?

What stereotypes of Venezuelans are accepted by foreigners? What is the literacy rate in Ireland? What is the main religion in Iceland? The UCC Library recently picked up a new subscription to "Global Road Warrior", a new database, that answers these questions and provides easy-to-find information about countries and cultures around the world.

Choose a continent:


Click on a country:


From the country profile, you can choose a subject on the left, print screens, and grab the citation by clicking on "Cite this document".

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The library is also subscribing--on a trial basis--to Credo, a database of 348 reference books. This is a great place to start researching any topic to learn more about it. All 348 books are available completely online and can be searched simultaneously. Or you can search books by subject. If you find a book you like, you can browse it by its table of contents, look through the images in the book or search through it by keyword.

To give you an idea of the variety of ways you can approach the books in Credo, here's an index of some of the pictures found in "The Encyclopedia of Folk Art":


When you zero in on a topic in Credo, note the list on the left side of the screen. You'll find a list of related entries elsewhere in Credo, as well as a list of related resources. The related resources provide a list of other library databases, including the library catalog. Click on a resource to carry on your search outside of Credo. Kinda cool.

Favorite Online Tools for Awesome Academics: a short list

Living la vida virtual this term in your classes? Whether you are taking, teaching, building, or just considering online coursework, there is a bewildering selection of tools and tips that can leave even the most techno-saavy user feeling as overwhelmed as an ant in a swimming pool. But with the proper care and feeding, online tools can be a powerful ally in the classroom, whether said room is a traditional one or the type you can attend in your PJs on a Saturday morning.

Here are five of my personal favorite (free!) online tools:

1. UCC Life
   Yes, it has its issues. But did you know, every single UCC class has its own "course homepage" within UCC Life where links can be posted, documents placed online, and discussions can be held all available from any computer with an internet connection? Even if your class is entirely "on campus," the UCC Life course homepage can provide another place for communication to occur.
   
   Suggested uses if you're an instructor: By using the "manage" links, you can post assignments or a syllabus, and send out announcements that will automatically appear on your students' front UCC Life pages when they login.
   
   Suggested uses if you're a student: Even if your instructor is not using every course homepage feature, there will be a link to email your instructor, or to post webpage links if you have a resource to share with the class.
   
   
2. Google Tools
   Have you ever had the frustrating experience of wanting to print out an assignment you've worked on for hours, only to realize the disk was left in your other bag? Never again, with Google Documents. In addition to a very popular search engine, Google offers a variety of online tools that allow you to use a word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation program that will save your documents to your account, and you can access and work with them on any computer with an internet connection. You can also share your document with others, and the changes will be automatically saved so you can always see who made which alterations. The service does require one to sign-in, but account creation is free.
   
   To learn more, take Google's friendly online tour.
   
   Suggested uses if you're an instructor: Use a Google Document to track comments and contributions to a shared class product, such as an info page on a class-related topic created by students (like a wiki, you can see all past versions of a Google Doc. in a drop-down menu). Or create an interactive course schedule that you can update and students can view on the web: see an example for LIB 127 (Library & Internet Research).
   
   Suggested uses if you're a student: Eliminate the sinking feeling that occurs when it is the day a paper is due and you can't remember where your USB drive is-- Save your research paper as a Google document, and have access to it from any computer with an internet connection. Or use the "sharing" ability to work on group projects online.
   
   
3. Del.icio.us
   Social bookmarking allows you to have that great website you found last week at your fingertips, and share it, too. Del.icio.us has been used and continues to be used heavily by educators; for an example, check out this great video introduction by Lee LeFever of the Common Craft website:







Suggested uses for instructors and students: Share links related to topics you are discussing in class, or other websites (like BibMe) that you think might help classmates and colleagues. For example, this list generated by students and instructors of NRS 111 (Chronic Illness) at UCC.




4. Firefox (+ add-ons)
   Firefox is a free web browser that preforms all of the same internet-viewing options as Internet Explorer or Safari, but also gives you the option to add on free, open-source "add-ons." These add-ons are like the "extra features" you might select when buying a car-- they make your web browsing experience more pleasant, and they can be highly personal. There is even a "Firefox Campus Edition" available that includes the most popular features for college students and scholars.
   
   Suggested uses for instructors and students: Use Firefox add-ons to do more work with your web browser. You can add-on automatic Wikipedia searches, citation managers (like Zotero), and automatic spell-check. (True story: the automatic spell-check add-on I have for my Firefox browser just saved me from misspelling that last sentence.) You can also find add-ons that will do everything from helping you build webpages to updating you on the weather or alerting you when your tea has brewed long enough.
   
   
5. Remember the Milk
   If you are like most of us, there's too much to do and not enough time to do it. Remember the Milk is a online to-do list that lets you sort items into different categories and will even allow you to set up an item to occur multiple times. Best of all, it is super-easy to use: all you have to do is type an item in ("Remember to feed the goldfish every day.") and Remember the Milk automatically detects when the item should be "due" (today), and how often it should appear on your to-do list (every day).
   
   Take the online tour to learn more.
   
   Suggested uses for instructors and students: Use Remember the Milk to finally remember the milk. Or whatever else you need to keep track of-- homework, meetings, birthdays, or knowing where your towel is.

Do you have other online tools that you use to help you manage classwork or college life that you couldn't live without? Let others know-- leave a comment on this post!