DC Library's Open Labs Start November 12th...

Do you have students who need help finding peer-reviewed articles?

Do you have students who need help formatting a paper? Properly citing an article or creating a Works Cited/Reference page?

Send them to the DC Library!

Our Open Labs start next week! Open Lab is a place for students to come and get assistance with a librarian. We open up LB 153 and work with the students on everything from finding resources, formatting a paper, to creating a PowerPoint. In the past, we have worked with instructors to identify their students who came in for the extra help; if you are interested in that service, please contact any DC Librarian.

The dates and times for November are:

 More dates will be announced in the near future. Check back or call the DC Library for more information.

Joe, Marianne, Lisa and Theresa

206-7267

DC Library is Hosting 3 Great Displays!!

The DC Library is hosting three great displays!

1) Student created Day of the Dead altars are throughout the Library
2) Veteran's display at the AH entry
3) Native American display on the "monolith" near LB 153

Come and "check them out"! 

Your DC Librarians,
Joe, Marianne, Lisa and Theresa

Tell your Students...Academic Success Workshops in the Library!

The DC Learning Commons and Library is hosting a series of workshops...Academic Success Workshops!

They will be held in the Library's Learning Studio. 

Please post this to your class. If you would like handouts, just call the Library (7267) and we can bring some by for you to hand out.  

And of course, if you have questions, just call or stop by the Library or Learning Commons.

Theresa Stanley
DC Library Director 
tcstanley@pima.edu

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Academic Success Workshops!!

·      PowerPoint Pointers & Microsoft Word Tricks

[Oct 14, Oct 15: 12:30pm-1:30pm]

This workshop will answer students’ questions about how to create a dynamic, impressive presentation for classes or for their careers. In addition, students will learn how to use Microsoft Word more effectively, with tips on how to format papers and assignments.

·      Research Techniques

[Sept 30, Oct 1, 7 & 8: 12:30pm-1:30pm]

This workshop will focus on using PCC Library’s Discovery Megasearch and Research Guides to conduct scholarly research for your classes.

·      The Study Cycle

[Oct. 17: 4:00pm-5:00pm]

The study cycle is a method of studying that takes the monotony out of studying. This workshop will teach you how to organize information in a way that is easy to remember, so that you can perform better on exams. It is a great way to learn material that you really want to retain.

·      Strategic Reading

[Nov. 7: 4:00pm-5:00pm]

Research indicates that effective or expert readers are strategic. A strategy is a plan selected by the reader to accomplish a particular goal or to complete a given task. This workshop will help students become expert readers. Expert reading skills can help strengthen students’ learning capabilities. It can lead to career success in any field.

·      Citations

[Oct. 24: 12:30pm-1:30pm]

This workshop will go into detail about how to use MLA Style and APA Style citations for student essays and reports.

Workshops will be held in the Library’s LB 153.

Questions? Just call the DC Learning Commons at 206-7311

or the DC Library at 206-7267.
[If students have missed any of these and are interested in another session, please let us know; if there is enough interest we can repeat the sessions.]

Meet Our New Librarians!!

The DC Library would like to introduce our new librarians - Marianne Harris and Lisa Hodgkins. You may remember Marianne from last year, as she was one of our Administrative Appointments.

Marianne (right) is a Tucson native, Pima grad, and loves the work she does as a librarian at the Downtown Campus.  If you ask her, she’ll tell you all those quotes you’ve heard and read about the benefits of finding your heart’s work are true.  In addition to doing the magic librarians do, she and her husband are now full-fledged “dog people” thanks to “Maibe”, their adorable 3-year old lab.

Lisa (left) has been a librarian in academic, public and corporate settings.  She was the Librarian for the London office of Condé Nast Magazines as well as a Faculty Liaison Librarian at Buckinghamshire New University in England.  Before coming to Pima, Lisa was working as the librarian and archivist for the Postal History Foundation in Tucson, and recently published a children’s book entitled “Camille Carries the Mail” to benefit the Foundation. 

Marianne can be reached at 206-7086 or mharris12@pima.edu. Lisa can be reached at 206-7250 or lhodgkins@pima.edu. Of course, you can stop by the library to talk with them (or Joe and Theresa) or call us at 206-7267. We are here to help you and your students with all of your research and information needs.

Fall Book Sale...

The DC Library's Fall Book Sale is next week in the Amethyst Room!

• Tuesday, September 10th, from 10am - 5pm
• Wednesday, September 11th, from 10am - 4pm

Prices are very reasonable: 

• $ .50 for pocket paperback
• $1.00 for softcover
• $2.00 for hardcover
• $3.00 for audiobooks

 All proceeds benefit the DC Library!!

and it is never too late to donate items...call 206-7267 or come by the library. We can even meet you at your car with a book cart! Donation receipts for tax purposes is available. 
(We take donations all year long, so if you miss this one, we have another sale in the spring.)

Happy Fall Semester...

The DC Library would like to welcome everyone back and wish all a great Fall semester! We hope everyone had a great summer - maybe time to travel and relax!

We have a lot going on at the library. To note just a few...

- - Library Sessions. Be sure to schedule your library sessions. The Fall semester is typically our busiest time. We will make every effort to get you your preferred day and time. Come by the library or call us at 206-7267. These sessions can be in the library's learning studio or in your classroom. We can take the entire class time or just 10-15 minutes to introduce the library to your students.



-- Research Guides! If you have a research guide and want it updated to reflect your current assignment, just let us know. These are great for our Writing Intensive Courses! Don't know what a Research Guide is - check them out at http://libguides.pima.edu/home - we can customize them to your courses.


-- Open Lab is returning! The DC Library has an Open Lab each semester that allows students to come in and work with a librarian nearby. This is great for students needing help finding resources, citing resources in a paper, working on a Works Cited/Reference page. We will announce the dates in mid-September. If you want to give (extra) credit/points to students who attend, we are glad to submit names or sign slips.


- - New Items! As always, new items came in throughout the summer, so come and check them out!  On a similar note, if you have an item that you would like to have the library add to its collection, that would supplement your course(s), please send us the name, author and year published and we will make every attempt to order it. It takes about 2 weeks (!) for new items to arrive. Also, if you let me know, I will be glad to send you an email when something comes in in your discipline; email me at tcstanley@pima.edu


As always, the library is here for your students and you. If there is anything we can do for you, just let us know!

The DC Library Team
206-7267

Technology available in the Library!!

The iPad and Laptop carts will be located in the DC Library starting July 1st! 

 Available will be:

• 2 carts of 30 iPads each

• 1 cart of 30 laptops

• 1 cart of 16 laptops

Don't need that many? No problem! We will have smaller rolling cases for smaller amounts.

Don't want to push the cart to your classroom? No problem! Just sent a service request requesting the cart be delivered to your classroom and they will be delivered at the requested time !! 

Just contact the DC Library (206-7267) or email me (tcstanley@pima.edu) to make your reservation. You can even reserve them for the semester!! 

For more information, contact Theresa (206-7267) or any librarian at the DC Library.

Have time this summer...learn a new language!

With Summer Session in full swing and students working hard on their papers having found those valuable library resources, I have time to peruse some library journals I neglected during the semester. One has a list of online resources to help you learn a language, or at the very least, be able to assist you when traveling.

Here is the list and if you are traveling, be safe.

BBC Languages -  "Courses and phrases, audio and video, vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, activities and tests" on French, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, Chinese and 33 other languages!

 Deursche Welle, Learn German - This course is set up in levels (and includes a placement test if you are unsure which level you should start at) with each level covering not only a different level of mastery but also different topics. There is also a news section to help you work on reading German. Very nice site!

 Russia Today, Learn Russian - On this site if you register with a login/password you can bookmark where you stop, and it keeps track of your progress. You can do the lessons without logging in but clicking at the links at the top: Lessons, Alphabet, Phonetics, Vocab, Tests, Grammar Tables and Topics.

 Miraflores - under "More Resources" you will find many public domain books in Spanish. You can search for a title or author. (For example,  they have the complete works of   Mark Twain.)  

Like a Spaniard: The Unofficial Guide to Spanish Language, Culture and Living - slang and idioms for Dining like a Spaniard, Speaking like a Spaniard, Traveling like a  Spaniard. Just click on the topics in the left margin.

News in Slow Spanish - these podcasts are spoken in more simplified Spanish and at a slower pace. 

 LinguesTV - learn Spanish while watching TV! Can turn subtitles on or off. Can choose from different levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced).

WebTV - another Spanish language TV style of learning, but more focus on sports, art, celebrities.

Slangopedia - For Italian, this website has common terms/phrases (aka: slang). Completely searchable.

Word Reference.com - If while learning your new language you need a dictionary, this is a great place! Also helpful for conjugating verbs!!

Have a Safe and Restful Summer!

The DC Library Team wants to wish everyone a safe and restful summer! (If you are teaching a summer session or two, we hope you find time to sit around a pool and sip some ice tea or perhaps chill out someplace cooler than Tucson.)

The DC Library will be open throughout the summer (8am - 7pm Monday-Thursday, 8am - 5pm Fridays) so feel free to stop by and grab a book or two. We will continue to receive new items. Be sure to check our virtual bookshelf on the left for just a sampling of our new items.

When you start thinking about the Fall, remember to schedule your library sessions! You can bring your class to our learning studio for some hands on time or we can come to your class for a quick orientation or bring a laptop cart for more active learning...or both! We can do the library orientation early in the semester to introduce the library and our resources to your students in your classroom and then do a second session closer to when they will start their research process in our learning studio.

You can schedule the sessions in person, via email or on the phone. Just let us know how we can assist you and your students in their learning process.

Have a great summer!
The DC Library Team
Joe, Marianne, Ellen, Susan, Veronica, Ira and Theresa
206-7267

All images used in the DC Library blog are from the PCC image database, Image Quest.

Summer Reading...

Before you head out for some much deserved rest and relaxation, stop by the DC Library for some summer reading material.

We just got in some new audio books, fiction and other best sellers and of course, many non-fiction titles. (To see just a small sampling of our newer non-fiction titles, check out our "bookshelf" to the right.) 

Remember, full-time Pima employees can check out items for 6 months! (Adjuncts also have 6 months or the end of the semester they are contracted for, whichever comes first.) and if you get done with your item before you return, you can drop it off at any PCC Library.