All posts by Doug Short

Events

Book Sales Galore!

In the mood to buy some books?  The CPCC Libraries are having book sales at all campus locations during the next two weeks.  Come by and check out our selection – you never know what you may find!

Location                          Dates and Time

Harris Campus Library         10/16-10/18 9am-7pm each day

Central Campus Library       10/17-10/18 10am-3pm each day

Cato Campus Library             10/23 11am-1pm

Harper Campus Library        10/23-10/25 9am-8pm each day

Levine Campus Library         10/23-10/25 8am-6pm and 10/26 8am-4pm

Merancas Campus Library   10/29-11/1  9am-6pm each day

Prices are: $1 for hard cover books and $.50 for paperbacks.

All proceeds from the library book sales are divided between the United Way and the Theresa Thompson Library Scholarship fund.

Events

Library LabWorks

Research paper lacking research?

Library LabWorks! will teach you to use RAND State Statistics and Newsbank – two new databases free to CPCC students.  RAND covers topics like;

  • employment outlooks
  • community & education
  • government finance.

NewsBank provides access to thousands of national and world newspapers…including local papers like The Charlotte Observer, The Charlotte Post and The Mecklenburg Times.

Register today! https://www.cpcc.edu/library/library-labworks

Two 30 minute sessions are available for registration – Wednesday, October 23 & Thursday, October 24th. Both sessions are at 12:30pm in LRC 205.  

Online Resources

New Resources – NewsBank and RAND State Statistics

CPCC Libraries now has access to two new resources: RAND State Statistics and NewsBank.

RAND State Statistics

Need to find out if crimes are on the rise or decline in a specific state or county?  Interested in seeing what programs your tax money is spent on in your hometown?  Want to know about the employment outlook for your career field?  All of these questions and more can be answered by the RAND State Statistics database.  RAND State Statistics contains nearly 80 databases that cover a wide range of categories: business and economics, community, education, energy and environment, government finance, health and population

NewsBank

NewsBank provides access to thousands of newspapers, both nationally and worldwide.  In particular, it provides access to several local newspapers: The Charlotte Observer, The Charlotte Post and The Mecklenburg Times. NewsBank is a perfect source for conducting research on local or state issues.

These resources may be accessed by clicking the highlighted links above or from the Research Databases section of the library website.

Online Resources

International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Ever wanted to learn to talk like a pirate?  Well, you’re in luck!  September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.  And to celebrate the day the way it was meant to be celebrated, Mango Languages offers a language course in Pirate!

Follow these five easy steps to get started speaking Pirate:

  • Go to Mango Languages (if you’re off-campus, you will need to log-in with your CPCC Login at this point)
  • Create an account or simply log-in, if you already have one. (This account is different from your CPCC Login.)
  • After logging in, select Courses from the menu.
  • Choose Pirate from the menu listing of languages.
  • Click Launch to begin learning Pirate!

(And remember, once International Talk Like a Pirate Day is over, you can still use Mango Languages to learn a new language, such as French or Spanish.)

Also, in order to celebrate the day in style, why not check out some of the pirate-related booty that the library has to offer?

Piracy: The Complete History

Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates

Pirates of the Caribbean Movies

Treasure Island

Jean Laffite: Prince of Pirates

The Pirates of Colonial North Carolina

Blackbeard and Other Pirates of the Atlantic Coast

And did you know that you can change your Facebook page to read in Pirate?

To turn your Facebook feed into Pirate, click on “Account Settings” in the upper right navigation bar, then click on “Languages > Edit,” and scroll down to “English (Pirate) – and your Facebook page is translated into Pirate!

Finally, Mango Pirate is also available to library patrons via the Mango Mobile Library Edition smartphone apps.

 

 

On This Date

On This Date: September 18, 1970

September 18, 2012 marks the 42nd anniversary of the death of musician Jimi Hendrix.  Hendrix, noted for his ground-breaking use of the electric guitar, was only 27 years old.  In the years since his death, Hendrix has received numerous awards and recognitions for his music, including receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991, having his album Are You Experienced added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry and being named by Rolling Stone as the greatest guitarist of all time.

If you’d like to find out more about this legendary artist, check out the following resources:

For a full-length biography of Hendrix, check out Biography Resource Center.

To view a copy of the obituary for Hendrix, click here.

Check out a recording of one of Hendrix’s last performances below:

You can also find out more information about Hendrix at the Official Jimi Hendrix Site.

New Materials, Online Resources

New Look and New Resources!

The library’s homepage has a new look.  Swing by http://www.cpcc.edu/library to check it out!  And while you’re there, have a look at a few of our newest resources:

Find It! at CPCC Libraries

Find It! at CPCC Libraries is a new library discovery tool that enables you to search and find materials in the library catalog and many of the databases at the same time. Find It! at CPCC Libraries is powered by EBSCO Discovery Service.

EasyBib

EasyBib is an intuitive information literacy platform that provides citation, note taking, and research tools that are easy-to-use and educational. EasyBib is not only accurate, fast, and comprehensive, but helps educators teach and students learn how to become effective and organized researchers.  CPCC Libraries’ premium subscription provides access to works cited and bibliography formatting for MLA, APA and Chicago/Turabian citation styles.

Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center

Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center features authori­tative, comprehensive content on careers and jobs.  Ferguson’s is broken down into three main sections: Job and Industry Profiles, Job-Hunting and Workplace Skills, and Career and Industry Resources.   It also includes profiles of over 4,000 undergraduate schools, as well as a career interest assessment.

Please feel free to contact Doug Short with any questions or feedback about these resources.

Library Scholarship

Apply Now for the Theresa Thompson Library Scholarship!

The Theresa Thompson Library Scholarship was established to provide financial assistance for currently enrolled students pursuing a two-year degree at the Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC).   It is made possible through library fundraising projects.  The deadline for submitting an application for the Spring Semester 2013 scholarship is Oct. 31st.

To be eligible for the CPCC Library Scholarship, applicants must:

  • be a full-time student, currently enrolled in 12 credit hours or more in an approved degree program leading to a two-year degree
  • have completed at least one full-time semester at CPCC within the past two semesters
  • have a cumulative CPCC GPA of 2.5 or higher. A copy of current transcript must be submitted with application
  • submit a completed application with supporting documents
  • write an original 550 to 750 word essay on how the CPCC libraries have helped you achieve your educational goals thus far
  • submit a letter of recommendation from a CPCC faculty or staff member that you have known within the last two years

For more information about the scholarship program, visit http://www.cpcc.edu/library/scholarship.

Services

Welcome to Fall 2012!

Welcome to an early fall semester!  Hopefully, you had a fantastic summer and are ready to get back into the swing of things.  With the beginning of a new semester, we’d just like to take some time to remind you of a few of the services that the library has to offer, as well as highlight some recent changes.

Books and More!

As always, the library wants to help out with your research and educational needs.  To that end, we provide access to a wide variety of resources, both in print and online.

To find out what books or DVDs are available in the library (or in electronic format), check out the online library catalog.

If you are looking for research articles or educational online videos, have a look at our Research Databases.

Need help using either one of these resources?  Don’t be afraid to Ask a Librarian!  Library staff are available to help in person, over the phone or online.

Study Space?  We Have That!

Need a quiet place to study?  All CPCC campus libraries have dedicated quite study spaces.  Additionally, Central, Cato and Levine campuses have group study rooms available.

Got Fines?  Pay Online!

If you have library fines, you now have more than one option to pay.  In addition to paying in person at any CPCC library, you may now also pay for library fines online.

Faculty Resources

We also offer a number of resources just for faculty.  Be sure to check out our Faculty Resources page to see what we can offer you.

Ch-Ch-Changes

Over the summer, the Central Campus Library experienced a number of changes:

  • The book stacks have all been consolidated to one floor – making it easier to locate materials.  All books that were previously housed on the 2nd floor are now located on the 3rd floor.
  • The space freed up on the 2nd floor has been dedicated to student study space.
  • A Quick Print Station has been added to the 1st Floor.
  • Finally, Victory Coffee on the 1st floor was able to expand their seating area.

Pictures of all these changes are below.

 

Have a great semester!

Friday Factoid

Friday Factoid – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Before getting into today’s factoid, just a reminder that all CPCC libraries will be closed on Fridays from May 11 to July 13.  However, you can still access many of our services through our website.  However, the Friday Factoid will continue during this time…so, on with today’s factoid!

May 11 marks the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.  Known primarily today for hosting the Oscars awards ceremony every year, the Academy was founded by Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM Studios and others involved in the motion picture industry of the time.  While the purpose of the Academy today is to promote the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures, one of its original purposes was to help improve the industry’s image and mediate labor disputes.

The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood.  The ceremony has been held every year since, with the 84 Annual Academy Awards taking place in February 2012.

Some notable Academy Award facts:

  • 1977’s The Turning Point and 1985’s The Color Purple both hold the distinction of being the most nominated films (11 each) to not win a single award.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the most nominated film to win all awards that it was nominated for (11).
  • Actress Linda Hunt, winner of the 1983 Best Supporting Actress award for The Year of Living Dangerously, is the only person to win an award for playing a member of the opposite sex.
  • In 1939, Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to win an Academy Award (Best Supporting Actress) for her portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind.

Interested in watching some Academy Award winning films?  CPCC Libraries carries a number of them.  Check out the list below for titles that you might be interested in.

 

Best Picture Winner Year
All Quiet on the Western Front 1930
Mutiny on the Bounty 1935
How Green Was My Valley 1941
Mrs. Miniver 1942
The Best Years of Our Lives 1946
Hamlet 1948
From Here to Eternity 1953
On the Waterfront 1954
Lawrence of Arabia 1962
A Man for All Seasons 1966
The French Connection 1971
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1975
Ordinary People 1980
Chariots of Fire 1981
Best Picture Winner Year
Out of Africa 1985
Rain Man 1988
The Silence of the Lambs 1991
Schindler’s List 1993
Forrest Gump 1994
Shakespeare in Love 1998
American Beauty 1999
Gladiator 2000
A Beautiful Mind 2001
Chicago 2002
Crash 2005
The Departed 2006
Slumdog Millionaire 2008
The King’s Speech 2010