February is Black History Month!
Black History Month
In celebration of Black History Month, the SCC Library is proud to showcase just a few of the many items in our collection that explore Black history:
 African experience |
The African American Experience: Black History and Culture through Speeches, Letters, Editorials, Poems, Songs, and Stories, Edited by Kai Wright |
 Through My Eyes |
Through My Eyes, by Ruby Bridges |
 New Day in Babylon |
New Day in Babylon: the Black Power Movement and American Culture, 1965-1975, by William L. Van Deburg |
 Africana Woman |
Africana Woman: Her Story through Time, by Cynthia Jacobs Carter |
|
|
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History: The Black Experience in the Americas, Edited by Colin A. Palmer |
Journals that explore Black history:
For an excellent interactive timeline that chronicles important developments and milestones in Black history, please see the Black History Timeline from History.com. Be sure to check out the associated video clips! Here are just a few of the featured topics that are included in the timeline:
1619: Slavery in America
1793: Cotton is King
1831: Abolitionism and the Underground Railroad
1896: Separate but Equal
1909: NAACP Founded
1954: Brown v. Board of Education
1964: Civil Rights Act
1995: Million Man March
2009: Barack Obama Becomes President
Finally, don’t forget to check out the many items on display near the circulation desk that pay tribute to Black History Month.
~KT
Changes
changes
Some of you may have noticed the changes made to the Scottsdale Community College Library web site since the beginning of the year. Here’s a rundown of the changes.
- Entire site was redesigned – Fewer total web pages
- Fewer links on home page – users can locate the needed resources in fewer clicks
- Users can visit ONE web page to see a comprehensive list of ALL of our databases (journals, magazines and newspapers)
- Users can visit ONE web page to see a comprehensive list of ALL of our online encyclopedias
- Links to online Databases and Encyclopedias include a brief description to help users locate the resource that will work best for their needs
- A new chat feature that will allow users to chat directly with a SCC Library Faculty Member (located on the home page)
- Easy access to our redesigned Library Research Guides section
- Users now have direct access to our growing Library Answers (FAQs) feature
- Scottsdale Community College faculty have access to an updated faculty services page
- Faculty members still have access to our Instruction Request Form
Please let us know if you have any comments, questions or concerns about the new design. You can email us at: scc.library@sccmail.maricopa.edu
Thank you.
~RG
Vegemite Sandwich
Vegemite
Yesterday we were fortunate enough to enjoy a holiday party that included a great group of people, a variety of good food, and more than one dancing chicken?! (Perhaps, we’ll cover that in a future blog post).
One of the food items we sampled was a vegemite sandwich. Anyway, while we were eating an interesting question was brought up…
What is the history of vegemite?
Here’s what we found…
Vegemite is a nutritious concentrated yeast extract used as spread.
Vegemite is made from brewers yeast which is processed, concentrated and refined. The resultant dark coloured spread is an extremely rich source of vitamin B, being four to five times more concentrated than yeast, the natural source of the vitamin B complex.
Vegemite was developed in 1922 by food technologist Dr Cyril P. Callister for the Fred Walker Company, a Melbourne-based manufacturer and distributor of processed food products. (The company was later bought by Kraft.) The spread was released the following year under the brand name Vegemite, but made little market impact. It was relaunched in 1928 under the new brand name Pawill, a word play on the name of a rival spread – ‘if Marmite…then Pawill’. Public acceptance, however, remained slow. Walker returned to the original name and with a vigorous promotion campaign eventually set Vegemite on the road to success.
(Source: History Reference Center)
Interested in a good recipe that features vegemite?
Vegemite on Toast (Appetizer)
One of the easiest recipes around, it simply constitutes toasted bread with a Vegemite spread. This condiment is quite salty, so just use a small amount of Vegemite (or the more liquid, but similar, Marmite) and spread very thinly over toast with a generous amount of butter. Melted cheese, tomatoes, and eggs are common accompaniments.
Recipe Serving: Serves 1
Ingredients
2 slices bread
1/8 tsp (.5 g) Vegemite
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) butter
Instructions
Toast your favorite type of bread (white bread is traditional), butter it generously, and spread a thin layer of Vegemite on it. Cut into wedges and eat.
(Source: Global Road Warrior)
And of course, you can always visit the official vegemite web site, for more information on vegemite. (If you want to evaluate this web site, use our Evaluating Web Resources guide.)
~RG
Research Award for 2009-2010
Research Award for 2009-2010
You have worked hard all semester on your research papers and projects and deserve a reward! Submit your paper/project to the SCC Library Research Award Contest and you may win one of the three prizes.
Visit http://library.scottsdalecc.edu/researchaward for more information.
Deadline is April 26, 2010, but you can submit the research paper/project you completed for Fall 2009 courses now.
This day in history (12.07.1941)
USS Arizona
At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a ferocious assault. The surprise attack struck a critical blow against the U.S. Pacific fleet and drew the United States irrevocably into World War II. (www.history.com)
The SCC Library has many items available that will provide more details about this day in history. A few are listed here…
Conspiracy theories in American history : an encyclopedia
Reference E179 .C66 2003
Great events from history. The 20th century, 1941-1970
Reference D421 .G6295 2008
Encyclopedia of world history
Reference D21 .E5775 2008
Battleship Arizona : an illustrated history
VA65.A6 S75 1991
The world at war (DVD set)
D743 .W67 2004
The way it was : Pearl Harbor–the original photographs
D767.92 .G65 1991
December 7, 1941 : the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
D767.92 .P7215 1988
Pearl Harbor : the verdict of history
D767.92 .P722 1986
Infamy : Pearl Harbor and its aftermath
D767.92 .T63 1982
The road to Pearl Harbor–1941
D755.3 .C64
At dawn we slept : the untold story of Pearl Harbor
D767.92 .P72
~RG
International Education Week – November 16-20
- International Education Week
Photo by vanhookc
International Education Week is a celebration of the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education promotes programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States.
The SCC Library is proud to honor the winners of the fifth annual SCC “Picture My World” Photo Contest, a competition which advances our mission of promoting cross-cultural exchange and global understanding. Come see the wonderful student photographs on display by the checkout counter! This contest was sponsored by SCC International Education Programs & the SCC International Education Committee.
For a list of additional activities that are being hosted by SCC this week in celebration of International Education Week, please see this link.
~KT
International Education Week 2009
International Education Week 2009
GET READY TO TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD!
The Department of State and the Department of Education are pleased to partner with the National Geographic Society, which has provided questions from previous National Geographic Bee competitions for this year’s Global IQ Quiz. Check it out!
Was that fun and educational? Just think of what else you can do to help our graduates be knowledgeable about the world. And do it during…
International Education Week 2009
…a week to get your students excited about doing an education abroad program, take pride in our international students on campus, learn something new about the world’s cultures and languages, and celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.
~RG
VETERANS DAY Wednesday, November 11
VETERANS DAY Wednesday, November 11
VETERANS DAY Wednesday, November 11
We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.
~Cynthia Ozick
Photo by David Paul Ohmer
In honor of all those who have served our country:
This Veterans Day, the SCC Library would like to showcase two helpful and informative guides that were created by our librarians, Jenny Vargas and Danielle Carlock, to assist United States Veterans and their families:
Veterans’ Services Guide: This guide includes library materials for veterans, a link to veteran services at SCC, a list of local veteran organizations, web resources for veterans, and more.
Guide to Resources for Severely Wounded OIF/OEF Military Personnel : This guide to resources on the web was written for wounded Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom military personnel and veterans, their families, and healthcare providers. It includes annotated links to resources on burn injuries, eye injuries, limb loss, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), spinal cord injuries, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), hearing loss, and more.
Additionally, we would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone about the SCC Veterans Day Celebration that will be taking place on campus on Tuesday, November 10 (11 a.m.-12 p.m.) on the lawn west of the Student Center. Veterans, families, students, faculty/staff, and the community are all invited to join together for this patriotic event.
A dedication of the SCC Vets Lounge will be held in the Student Center Building, Cafeteria, at 12:15 following the Veterans Day Ceremony. The Vets Lounge is the first to be dedicated on an MCCD campus.
~KT
Got Topics?
Yesterday as I was setting up for an ENG 101 library instruction session, I had an illuminating conversation with a student who had arrived early. He was working on one of the classroom computers and was sighing and grumbling prolifically.
“Can I help you with anything?” I asked.
“I’m just having trouble finding a topic for my paper,” he replied. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“Life would be unbearable without suffering,” I reassured him.
He shot me a sideways glance.
“Just kidding,” I winked. “Give me a minute, and I’ll show you something that I think will help.”
CQ Researcher as a Topic Finder
My first thought was to demo CQ Researcher’s “Browse by Topic” feature. I’m not sure why this popped into my head, but once I showed it to the student, and observed his delighted reaction, I knew I was onto something.
I have always considered CQ Researcher to be an excellent database to utilize in the beginning stages of research, but have never used it quite this way before. The following short screencast will demonstrate the utility and ease in which students can use CQ Researcher as a topic finding tool:
http://tinyurl.com/cq-researcher-tutorial
~KT
Google is in the news…again.
In a recent issue of BusinessWeek there is another article about Google.
The article discusses the challenges currently faced by the search engine. The executives and engineers at Google are not relaxing and have their work ahead of them if they are going to maintain their significant share of the search engine market. Several competitors have made recent improvements to their services which could cut into the market share of Google. Bing, facebook, twitter and aardvark to name a few are developing strategies to compete with the search giant from Mountain View, California.
One of the many tools that Google has developed, and hope will keep users coming back to the site, is Google Squared.
According to Google, Google Squared is a search tool that helps you quickly build a collection of facts from the Web, for any topic you specify.
If you are curious about which roller coasters are the fastest, tallest, and longest in the world just type roller coasters into the search box and click Square it to see your results. The results are displayed in a series of rows and columns….or *squares*.
Try it….some example searches include…
As always, we would like to hear from the users of the library (and the readers of our new blog). Please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions, comments or concerns.
View our contact information on the SCC Library web site…
~RG
