Research in CC Science Labs

 “With NSF Support, Research Moves Into Science Labs of 2-Year Colleges”

Click HERE to read article.

 This article is from  The Chronicle of Higher Education, the main news service for the U.S. academic world.  It is available to the RCC community through library subscription.  The main link is at Chronicle of Higher Education. 

• Go to Home tab for this week’s edition. 
• Go to the News tab and choose Community Colleges for CC updates. 
• Go to the Facts & Figures tab for loads of data from the Almanac of Higher Education.  
• Use the Search the Chronicle field to search all Chronicle content since 1998.   To sign up for the free online Community College newsletter, use Create a Free Account (at top of screen) and follow directions.  Lots more.

Try this:

• Create a recurring appointment  in MS Outlook to remind yourself on Monday when a new issue comes out.  Paste the Chronicle of Higher Education link into the appointment when you set it up and simply click to access.  If you will be accessing from home, type your library barcode number in the appointment so you don’t have to look it up every time.

Contact library staff if any problems.

You Can Now Download Ebrary Ebooks

When the RCC library got 21,000 ebrary ebooks two years ago, users asked “Can I download ebrary books?”  The answer was NO.

The answer now is YES.  You can now download an ebrary ebook to another devise and read it without being connected to the Internet.   You can download to devises like iPhone or iPad or to an ereader like Nook.  (The only major ereader not supported is Kindle.)

By the way, by “download” we do not mean download-and-KEEP.  When downloaded, the ebook will stay on your devise for two weeks, after which it dissapears.  If you still need it, download again.  You can have ten books downloaded and available at the same time. 

The first step is to get a free copy of Adobe Digital Editions where the downloaded books can be read.  Follow these directions below from Adobe.  If you have questions, contact library staff.

Downloading Entire Documents for use with Adobe Digital Editions

You may download up to 10 entire documents at a time using Adobe Digital Editions, a free software program for Windows and Mac.

To install and activate Adobe Digital Editions:

1. Download Adobe Digital Editions.
2. Follow the instructions for installation and activation.

To download an entire document to your computer:

1. Click on the Download button in the search results or QuickView. You may be prompted to sign in.
2. Select the option to Download the entire document.
3. Click OK.
4. Choose whether to Open with Adobe Digital Editions or Save file to open later.
5. Click OK.

You may open the document with Adobe Digital Editions and utilize features including organizing the library, using bookshelves, transferring documents to supported devices, navigating documents, searching text, creating bookmarks, printing, returning the document early, and more. Note: Any notes or highlights created in Adobe Digital Editions won’t be synced with your online bookshelf.

To transfer document(s) to an eReader:

1. Connect your supported device to your computer and launch Adobe Digital Editions. You may be prompted to create or enter your Adobe ID.
2. Adobe Digital Editions automatically detects your device and may offer to authorize the device with your Adobe ID.
3. The device now appears as a new bookshelf in the library. Drag and drop the downloaded document(s) you wish to transfer.

To transfer document(s) to an iOS device (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad):

1. Download a compatible reading app (such as Bluefire Reader) from the App Store onto your iOS device.
2. Connect your device to your computer, open iTunes, and sync your device.
3. Click on the Apps tab and scroll down to File Sharing.
4. Click on Add, navigate to your My Digital Editions folder, and select the PDF file(s) of the document(s) you’d like to transfer. Make sure you don’t select the .acsm file(s).
5. Re-sync your device.

You should now be able to read the document on your iOS device. You may need to authorize the device with your Adobe ID.

To return a document early:

1. In Adobe Digital Editions, click on the arrow icon on the document you wish to return early.
2. Select Returned Borrowed Item.
3. Click OK.
4. You may also wish to Delete Item from your library by clicking on the same arrow.

Documents that are downloaded using Adobe Digital Editions automatically expire at the end of the pre-designated period and are rendered unusable.

AIDS Display and New Research Guides

To mark World AIDS Day on December 1, the library mounted a book display on AIDS awareness near the circulation desk.  This display will be up for the rest of the month.

Library staff members have also created two online research guides mirroring students’ interest in and concern for the current economic realities.  The first is on the Global Economic Recession at http://rcclibrary.wikispaces.com/GlobalEconomicRecession.  It features good resources to find the causes, data and prospects for recovery.

The second research guide is Economic Inequality at http://rcclibrary.wikispaces.com/Economic_Inequality.  The growing inequality between the top 1 percent of the population and the bottom 99 is the widest since the 1920′s.

The library online research guides are one of the most used library resources accessed over 71,000 times in the last 10 months.  Here is the link to all of them:  http://www.rcc.mass.edu/Lib/Eresources/Guides.html.

If you are in the neighborhood, stop in for a look at the festive library holiday tree. 

NetAnatomy

The library has as added NetAnatomy, a new database to support the RCC curriculum.  NetAnatomy is designed to teach human anatomy to students of the health professions, including undergraduate medical, health sciences, and nursing students.  It will be particularly helpful in the Radiology program and faculty and students in Anatomy & Physiology sections may find it helpful.  NetAnatomy was selected by Scientific American as a top science and technology web site. 

To access NetAnatomy:

• Go to library website: www.rcc.mass.edu/lib
• Select Articles
• Select Subject List
• Select Health/Nursing
• Select NetAnatomy

Additions to Faculty/Staff Publications list

At the beginning of September 2011, the RCC Faculty and Staff Publication list, containing some 360 items, was released to the RCC Community.  There has been a surprising interest in this list.  Additional items, for the faculty and staff listed below, were added throughout the rest of September.  RCC, like all community colleges, emphasizes teaching.  However, some faculty and staff do research and/or publish too.  This list seeks to recognize these efforts and also to encourage collaboration among the like minded.

Rosalind Agwu-Igbani

Anthony Aiya-oba

Wode Alade

Joan Ashlock

Theresa Brewer

Andemariam Gebremichael

Gimba Hassan

Mark Kjellman

Aggrey Mbere

Brenda Mercomes

Mekonnen Meshesha

Edmond J. Moussally

Mike Nduaguba

Stacey Olson

Tom Reeves

John D. Savage

Kimberly Stieglitz

Hugh Stringer

Royal Tucker

Georgia Weetman

To see items for these individuals or to see the whole list, click right here.  (The list is also available from the Faculty Services link on the library website www.rcc.mass.edu/lib.)  When possible, live links to documents are provided.  If you would like to add to the list, contact Autumn Haag, who is in charge of this effort, at ahaag@rcc.mass.edu.

Use Streaming Video in Class

When the library added thousands of steaming video titles to the college in September 2010, there were chronic slowdowns when playing these videos on campus, especially during heavy use time.  Use in the classroom was problematic.  (There was never a problem of access from off campus.)  Now that IT has doubled internet connection capacity from 20 Mbps to 40 Mbps, the problem of slowdowns appears to have ended.  Library staff have checked accessibility at all times of the day.  You should now feel safe in showing a streaming video or video clip in a classroom where there is adequate hardware hookup without fear.  Inform library staff if you have any problems, stating room number and time of occurrence.

600 New Streaming Videos

The library has added 600 new streaming videos in the brand new subjects of:

• Careers & Job Search, and
• Guidance & Counseling

If you work with students around these issues, be sure to browse these videos to watch yourself and to refer to others.

Under Careers & Job Search, find films in these sub-catagories:

• Career Exploration (77 films)
• Career Fields (196 films)
• Job Search Skills (65 films)
• Job Success Skills (44 films)

Under Guidance & Counseling, find films in these sub-catagories:

• Academic Success (68 films)
• Character Education (80 films)
• Mental Health (68 films)
• Substance Abuse (89 films)

To access the library’s streaming videos, do this:

• Go to the library web page, www.rcc.mass.edu/lib
• Select Streaming Videos
• Find the new subjects under View By Subject.  Or search by title or segment.

Need help?  Ask library staff.

New Color Printer

Students have been asking for a COLOR PRINTER for about two years to add color pictures, color graphs and color charts to research papers and to print out color work for art projects.  In conjunction with the IT Department, the library now has such a printer in the library student computer area.  The cost is 50 cents per 8 1/2 x 11 page to encourage use for academic work.  Students select the color printer as one of the print options in the document that they are using.  Printing is through the Pharos system, the same system used by the regular black ink printer.  Students are reminded that 50 cents is being deducted from their Pharos printing account.

85 African American Streaming Videos

For African American History Month (or anytime) follow these directions to find 85 streaming videos on African American topics.

Go to the RCC library website www.rcc.mass.edu/lib

• Select Streaming Videos
• Under View By Subject, select Humanities & Social Sciences
• Under Sociology select African American Studies.

Here’s a sample:

Made in Chicago: The Making of Barack Obama

It was in Chicago, Barack Obama’s adopted hometown, that the 24-year-old future President of the United States began a personal and political odyssey that would take him all the way to the White House. In this program, many of the people who have known Obama best since his arrival in Chicago offer their insights. Obama’s work as a community organizer, his achievements at Harvard Law School, the writing of Dreams from My Father, his brief stints as a law professor at The University of Chicago and as a civil rights lawyer, and his meteoric political career are all discussed. The program ends with Obama’s victory in the 2008 primaries and his speech on the issue of race in the wake of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s controversial “God Damn America” sermon. Additional portions of Obama oratory are included throughout. Not available in French-speaking Canada. (51 minutes)

Share Streaming Videos

It’s easy to share the library’s Films on Demand streaming videos with others or to assign them to students.

1.  Go to the library web page www.rcc.mass.edu/lib.  Select Streaming Videos to open Films on Demand.

2.  Find a video that you are interested in and open it up so that the large picture for the title is on the upper left of the page.

3.  Under the picture, look for a question mark (?) in a red circle with these words next to it:  “Title URL (Copy and paste this link in a browser).”

4.  Copy and paste the link in the box under the words Title URL to an email or online location like Moodle.

If your recipient is on campus, when they click on the the link that you send them, it will open the video title.  If your recipient is off campus, they will be prompted to enter their library bar code number and then the video will open.

To repeat:  Use the link called Title URL for inserting a Films on Demand video in Moodle or an email.  Do not use any other link, for example the link at the top of the Films on Demand page.  It will not work from home. 

If problems, a library staff member will be glad to help.