Cache Rules Everything Around Me: Troubleshooting Access Problems

May 21st, 2013

Accessing the library’s electronic resources seems as simple as clicking a link, but there is a lot of action going on in the network behind the scenes.  E-resource vendors expect certain information from your computer when you try to access a subscription resource, like a database, online article, or streaming video.  This information proves you are a member of the DCCC community and authenticates your access to our subscription resources.

When you are connected to the DCCC network by using an on-campus computer or a DCCC wireless connection, the network (IP) address of your device is all the information the vendors need to let you in to these resources.  From off-campus, you will see the DCCC database login page and input your P# and password for access.

But what happens when you receive a login prompt directly from an e-resource site, or a different kind of access error?  Find out after the jump!

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Research is for Earth Day

April 22nd, 2013

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

What better way to celebrate our big blue marble and early spring than to eat a heaping helping of organic veggies? You might think that buying organic means meandering through the stalls of your local farmer’s market, chatting  up a dairy maid about her artisanal cheese. In fact, the organic food market is dominated by four giant companies: Costco, Kroger, Target, and Wal-Mart (which also operates Sam’s Club).

How do I know? I looked it up in Business Source Premier, one of the many databases that you have free access to as a DCCC student. To find a report on an industry (for instance, the organic foods industry) find Business Source Premier in our list of business databases. Enter search terms, choose the Industry option under the search bar, and retrieve a report on many aspects, including who’s raking in the green (and who’s not).

Want more info on these big companies and their sustainable practices? Use the Articles box in our Quick Search page. Try searching something like Walmart and sustainability. Your assumptions may be challenged…no matter what they are.

Reference: Organic Food Industry Profile: United States. (2012). Organic Food Industry Profile: United States, 1-32.

 

Student Theatre Production: Godspell, April 10-13 and 17-20 at 7pm

March 27th, 2013

GodspellGodspell, a classic, colorful splash of a Broadway musical from 1971 that enjoyed a fresh run on Broadway in 2011 and 2012, is coming to DCCC! Students who are attracted to late 60’s and early 70’s rock (and baby boomers who will remember every note) will feel the heartening theme of community while enjoying the moving lyrics performed by students in the DCCC  theater department.

An overview of the play is provided by the Guide to Musical Theatre, and this article from The Dramatist (follow links) refers to both the original 1971 and the retro 2012 productions on Broadway.

More details about the DCCC Student Theatre Production of Godspell after the jump!

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Researching the News: Sequestration and Financial Aid

March 6th, 2013

Everyone’s talking about sequestration — some claim the policy will result in furloughs and job losses, longer waits and compromised security for air travel, holes in the social safety net, and weakening of national defense.

But what is sequestration, and how will it affect students’ access to financial aid?

The Budget Control Act of 2011, commonly called sequestration, requires $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts in the federal budget over the next ten years.  The across-the-board cuts are due to Congress’ failure to agree on how to reduce the annual federal deficit by the January 1, 2013 deadline.  The cuts amount to approximately 5-8% of both defense and nondefense discretionary program spending.

Sequestration is anticipated to impact career-technical education, including reductions to the State Grants for Career and Technical Education program and other workforce development programs that community colleges in particular provide.  The Obama administration also anticipates cuts to Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and Federal Work-Study funds.  (Luckily, Pell Grants are exempt from sequester this year.)  These cuts will reduce the availability of financial aid and work-study programs for college students, making higher education less affordable and accessible, and forcing students to rely more on loans.  Institutions that rely on federal research funds will also experience the cuts, resulting in the loss of grant-supported research jobs, a reduction in knowledge creation and scholarly output, and even long-term ‘brain drain.’

Want to learn more?  All of the links above are search results from the library’s EBSCO databases.  I recommend selecting Education Full Text and Newspaper Source Plus to search both databases simultaneously for more information about sequestration and it’s impact on higher education.  Try the search string:

“Budget Control Act” OR sequestration AND higher education NOT carbon.

For the most up-to-date results, change the default sort from Relevance to Date Descending.  Happy searching!

E-Book Nation

February 22nd, 2013

If you need a book for a research paper, you might find it on the shelves of the Learning Commons, or you might find it through our ever-expanding E-Book collection. There’s a lot of stuff that available to you for free loan as a registered DCCC student, and there are a number of ways to find what you need. Your best bet is to start with our E-Books Library Guide, which gives you the basics on where to find E-Books and how to get them onto your computer and portable device.

Just want to browse? Try starting with our “Contemporary Issues” collection, which offers nearly 90 E-Books by reputable authors and publishers on the complex issues that touch our modern society. If you’re interested in a book, click on the title, then on the link at the top of the page for downloadable access for a portable, in-depth read.

 

Looking for love?

February 11th, 2013

Source: Arthur Mee and Holland Thompson, eds. The Book of Knowledge (New York, NY: The Grolier Society, 1912)

If you’re hoping to find a mate, you might do well to skip Valentine’s Day and wait for spring. A recent study titled “Weather and courtship behavior: A quasi-experiment with the flirty sunshine” shows that people in their late teens and early twenties feel flirtier when the sun is shining.

How do I know? I read about it in the journal Social Influence, which, along with all other Routledge Behavioral Health Journals, is fully available for free through the end of the month.

So it really is true what Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote: “In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.”

And now it is proven.

Research Help in the Distance Age

January 30th, 2013

Whether you’re taking art history or zoology, research projects are daunting. There are so many skills to master at once—many students don’t know where to begin. That’s why Library Services is offering a series of 10 synchronous webinars, each targeting a different aspect of the research process.

Whether you want to learn how to narrow your research topic, evaluate the sources you’ve found, use library databases, or conduct research on your smartphone, we’ve got you covered with 30-minute, interactive, online webinars, each taught by a DCCC librarian. Peruse the whole list here, and register for whatever you like.

Bonus: Attendance at 3 webinars gets you a Certificate of Information Literacy to post on your office wall. Frame not included.

 

Research Help 24/7

January 28th, 2013

Library Services is revamping its reference chat service!

Live Reference Chat button

Click the link for research help 24/7!

Research help is available from academic librarians 24/7.

When a DCCC librarian is staffing the reference chat service, the ‘online’ version of the chat button will appear:

When DCCC librarians are offline, the chat button will link to Ask Here PA, a 24/7 reference chat service staffed by academic librarians.

Look for the chat service on our library webpages and Library Guides, in delaGATE and WebStudy (coming soon!), and in research databases.

Love’s Labour’s Lost

January 23rd, 2013

Are you going to see College production of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost next week? We hear it’s going to be great.

We know Shakespeare can be intimidating, but it’s so much fun to see live. And if you know the plot beforehand, you’re golden.

Don’t know the plot? We can help you with that. Just head on over to Bloom’s Literary Reference Online, an excellent resource that’s free to current DCCC students and faculty. Just type “Love’s Labour’s Lost” (spelling counts!) into the search box and click the Overviews and Synopses tab in the result. That first article in the list is a scene-by-scene synopsis. Give it a quick read before you go, so when you get there you can get even more out of the magic that is live performance.

See a free student matinee next Tuesday and Wednesday (January 29th and 30th) at 2pm. Information about all other performances here.

 

NEW Learning Commons opens today!

January 14th, 2013

The Learning Commons — a single facility housing Library Services, Tutoring and Writing Services, Supplemental Instruction, and technology — opens today!  This collaborative academic study space provides a new place for students, faculty, and staff to further the educational mission of the College together in innovative ways.