Tuesday, October 26, 2010

New agreement provides access to Seattle Public Library resources

Kitsap Regional Library (KRL) and Seattle Public Library (SPL) have a new reciprocal agreement that allows KRL cardholders to have access to the books, materials and online services of Seattle Public Library. Here's the catch: first, you must take your KRL card and picture identification to any branch of Seattle Public Library to apply for the SPL card. Note: Your KRL card itself won't work at Seattle Public Library or for their online resources. You must get a SPL card. Once you obtain the Seattle Public library card you will be able to check out materials and use online resources following Seattle Public Library's policies.

For more information on SPL cards look at their website here:
http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=info_card_serviceareas

Online databases available via the Seattle Public Library cover art, business, economics, law and more...

A few samples are:

Art Full-text & Art Retrospective
Two databases that provide art-related articles from hundreds of periodicals published throughout the world, from 1929-current. Full-text available from 1984 -current.

Lands and Peoples
Find information on the world's countries and their peoples, cultures, histories and current events. Includes maps, flags and photos.

LegalTrac
Articles in law reviews and journals, specialty law and bar association journals and legal newspapers.

Music Index
A subject-author guide to music periodical literature.

Morningstar Investment Research Center
Investment data and reports on more than 30,000 mutual funds, stocks and ETFs. Also includes portfolio management tools.

Value Line
Investment ratings, research, statistics, and forecasts for thousands of stocks and mutual funds.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Ask-A-Librarian Goes Mobile!

Scenario: You're away from home and school, you do not have access to a computer, you suddenly remember you have a paper due that requires you to cite two reputable sources. What can you do?

Answer: Use your smart phone! New, free mobile apps now make it possible for you to use the Washington State Ask-a-Librarian service called "Ask-WA" on your Android or iPhone smart phone. You can ask questions of actual research librarians in real time, 24 hours a day just like you would from your computer!

Even if you get a librarian from another institution, Olympic College librarians always review questions from Olympic College students. Since we are familiar with many of your assignments, we may have additional resources or useful information to add to your original live chat session. To get this kind of "post-chat" follow-up, make sure to provide your email address!

Download the Adroid app here:
http://www.androidpit.com/en/android/market/apps/app/gov.wa.sos.askwa/Ask-WA

Download the iphone app here:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/ask-wa/id384143749

Ask-a-Librarian and get that paper in on time!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Sustainability - New electronic books!

Below are a few of our latest NetLibrary ebooks on climate change and sustainability. Electronic books are accessible remotely with your SID and last name.

To find more ebooks, go to the Library Catalog Advanced Search and select "electronic resource" from the Location drop down box. Enter your topic terms in the search boxes and Voila! Access the full text of books online! A suggested search for this topic is to type the following terms in the first search box, then click search:

sustainable sustainability environment environmental climate green warming

See the LibGuide on Sustainability for even more resources on this topic.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Welcome! Library Services Overview

Welcome to Fall Quarter everyone! Just a quick reminder of the many services and resources we have available for you. Students, did you know you can:


Come explore! Talk with us, we want to help!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

What happened to my database?

Over the next few months you will see some changes to the search screens and/or the results lists in some of our most popular databases, including Proquest, EbscoHost, and ScienceDirect. Most of these changes are intended to result in more intuitive searching for our users, but if you get confused, be sure to Ask A Librarian for help! You can stop by the Information Desk, Phone, Email, or Chat.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

New Hours for Summer Quarter

The Libraries at all three campuses have shortened hours during summer quarter. Click the link above for a complete listing of hours.

Need help when the libraries are closed? Click here to chat with a college Librarian somewhere in the United States, 24/7/365!

Monday, May 10, 2010

New Reference eBooks!

Just in time for those research papers that require you to use some book and/or "reference" resources, the library has purchased a number of new electronic subject encyclopedias that you can use from anywhere!

These new titles can be accessed from our guide to online resources: http://libguides.olympic.edu/databases, and include titles such as, Encyclopedia of Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment, & Recovery, Encyclopedia of Political Theory, Encyclopedia of Medical Decision Making, Encyclopedia of Politics, the Media, and Popular Culture, Star struck: An Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare, and Leadership at the Crossroads.

Need other "reference" titles? Try out our current trial to Reference Universe. Type in your keyword(s) and your results list will tell you which reference books in OUR LIBRARY have entries on your topic! Try it now, from on-campus only (trial ends May 17th): http://refuniv.odyssi.com/

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Out With Winter, In With Spring...

Well, another quarter has flown by. We hope Winter quarter went well for all of you and we look forward to seeing you here in the Library in Spring. The Libraries will be closed from March 19th through the 28th, 2010.

Enjoy your break everyone!

Friday, March 5, 2010

New Electronic Resource: Violence against Women in Families and Relationships

Violence against Women in Families and Relationships is a new electronic resource added to the Olympic College Libraries collections. This research-based, scholarly resource aims to provide a map of the scope and significance of the domestic violence revolution. The work contains four searchable volumes: community-based services (Volume 1), the family (Volume 2), the criminal justice response (Volume 3), and popular culture and the media (Volume 4).

All Olympic College Libraries' electronic resources can be used by students remotely at any time. All that is required is your ID number and last name.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

We have a New Gazeteer for Geographic, Historical, and Cultural Information

Olympic College Libraries have just acquired a subscription to the Columbia Gazeteer of the World. This is a comprehensive encyclopedia of geographical places and features. The entries vary from a brief notation on a small village to an essay on a country or region and can include information on demography; physical geography; political boundaries; agriculture; cultural, historical, and archeological points of interest; transportation lines; longitude, latitude, and elevations; and official local government place-names.

Many entries will have direct relevance for OC students. One example is the entry on Botswana where the entry discusses the San people. This will be useful to OC's Anthropology students. Here are snippets of the entry on Botswana to give you an idea of the kinds of information in this Gazeteer:

"Botswana (bots−WAH−nah), republic (□ 231,804 sq mi/600,372 sq km; 2004 estimated population 1,561,973; 2007 estimated population 1,815,508), S central Africa; • Gaborone. Bordered N by Zambia at a narrow strip, N and W by Namibia, E by Zimbabwe, and E and S by South Africa. ... [more]

Geography
The terrain is mostly an arid plateau (c.3,000 ft/910 m high); in the E are hills. The Kalahari Desert lies in the S and W.

History to 1900
San (Bushmen) were the aboriginal inhabitants of what is now Botswana, but they were supplanted by the Tswana, and they constitute only a small portion of the population today. Beginning in the 1820s, the region was disrupted by the expansion of the Zulu and their offshoot, the Ndebele. ... [more]

People
The country’s people are known as Batswana, which is also the name of the largest tribe (constituting 50% of the total population); other groups living here include the Bakalanga, Bakalagari, Bayei, Basubiya, Hambukushu, Khoi, Ovaherero, San, and a small number of Europeans. ... [more]

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology

This new encylopedia is a significant addition to Olympic College Library's psychology collection. Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology is part of the Library's Net Library e-book collection. To locate this Encyclopedia, go to Net Library and in the search box type "positive psychology".

Today’s positive psychologists have not invented the study of happiness, well being, or strengths although Positive Psychology has become, in the last decade, its own empirically based field of study and provides an umbrella term that brings together isolated lines of theory and research. The coining of the term for the field of study as we know it today can be traced back to Martin E. P. Seligman’s 1998 Presidential Address to the American Psychological Association. Martin Seligman offers the Foreword to this Encyclopedia.

It can be difficult at times when one has a research topic, to recall all the reference sources that might address my topic. By listing some of the subjects included in this reference work I'm hoping it might help you (and me!) identify the Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology as a useful source in research or student assignments.

Selected topics covered in this encyclopedia include (it's a long list but it gives you an idea of the breath of coverage!):

*abnormal psychology, *aesthetic appreciation, *agreeableness, *applied positive psychology, *attachment styles/theory, *cheerfulness, *civic responsibility and virtues, *clinical psychology, *compassion, *consciousness, *constructivism, *coping, *creativity, *cultural pluralism, *curiosity, *learned helplessness model, *emotional approach coping, *emotional intelligence, *empathy, *empirically-supported (evidence-based) interventions, *endorphins, *ethnic identity, *existential psychology, *forgiveness, *entrepreneurial behavior, *gratitude, *happiness, *health psychology, *heart-brain connection, *humility, *intimacy, *joy, *labeling (positive effects), *laughter, *locus of control, *meaning, *meditation/mindfulness, *narrative identity, *neurobiology, *optimism, *organizational psychology, *perseverance, *personal responsibility, *personality, *play/pleasure, *positive ethics, *positive social media, *posttraumatic growth, *psychological adjustment, *psychopathology, *purpose in life, *quality of life, *rehabilitation psychology, *resilience, *respect, *religiousness/religiosity, *school psychology, *self-efficacy, *self-determination, *self-esteem, *serotonin, *smiles/smiling, *social support, *social welfare, *strengths perspective, *successful (positive) aging, *transformational leadership, *utilitarianism, *values, *virtue ethics, *vitality, *well-being, *wisdom.


Posted by Leslie Hassett, Adjunct Library Faculty

Friday, January 29, 2010

Four New Electronic Encyclopedias Now Available

Olympic College Librarians have selected and purchased subscriptions to four new electronic encyclopedias that we feel will be of high value to the studies of OC students. These encyclopedias will likely be useful tools to many assignments given in English classes as well as psychology, history, philosophy, sociology, and more. In fact, the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime has already been used for Jody Delay's English 102 assignment for articles on "Ethnic Cleansing" "Genocide" and "War Crimes". The four encyclopedias are:

Encyclopedia of Journalism
"The encyclopedia...present[s] a current and comprehensive analysis on all aspects of journalism—including the trends, issues, concepts, individuals, institutions, media outlets, and events that go into making journalism a pivotal part of contemporary media." --referenceworld.com

Encyclopedia of Play in Today's Society
450 academic multidisciplinary articles explore the major cultural form of play. Includes fields such as learning theory, game theory, history, psychology/sociology, and education.

Encyclopedia of Race and Crime
Examines historical and contemporary issues involved with race and crime. It covers 14 categories including biographies, cases, concepts and theories, courts, drugs, juveniles, media, police, violence and crime, and specific populations.

Encyclopedia of Gender and Society
"Editor O'Brien (Seattle Univ.) provides readers with a "gender lens" on society, while emphasizing both individual and global aspects of social life."--Choice

Friday, January 8, 2010

Welcome to Winter 2010! Ask Us!

Welcome to 2010 new and returning students! For new students we want you to know we are part of a cooperative reference service where you can ask a question via online chat in real time, 24/7. Some questions will be initially answered by librarians outside of Olympic College, but every question is reviewed by one of us. We make sure your information needs for your classes and assignments are met promptly and to your satisfaction. Remember to "Ask a Librarian"!