Why RefDesk.com is my homepage !

Refdesk ...

• ranks number one at google in search results (out of over 300 million sites) on key word reference.
• is free.
• offers free Daily Mailings of the 'Site-of-the-Day' and the 'Thought-of-the-Day.'
• Daily listings of Current Events topics and History Today.
• publishes no pop-up or pop-under ads.
• provides links to Anti Pop-Up Ads and Anti SPAM Tools.
• links to no adult-related, sexually explicit sites, and is 100% family-friendly.
• publishes an Advertising Policy.
• is more than 99% content, with a bare minimum of graphics and ads.
• has over 20,000 selected links on more than 500 pages .
• checks and validates, twice yearly, links on top 200 pages.
• has a strictly enforced Privacy Policy and collects no 'cookies'.
• has Site Inclusion Criteria for accepting new sites.
• selected by PC World Magazine as '2004: Best Reference and News Resource,' PC Magazine as '2003: Top 100 Web Sites,' Yahoo! Internet Life magazine as 'Best Reference Directory' for both 2001 and 2002, along with numerous other awards.
• is Colin Powell's 'Favorite Site'.
• averages over one million daily page views.
• Disclaimer on Advertisments And External Links

It's the next best thing to having a Reference Library at your fingertips ! Take their site tour. Mission : "Refdesk has three goals: (1) fast access, (2) intuitive and easy navigation and (3) comprehensive content, rationally indexed. The prevailing philosophy here is: simplicity. "Simplicity is the natural result of profound thought." And, very difficult to achieve." But they have. this is definitely a site to bookmark for future use !

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What do you learn at a Database Workshop ?

TCC Library currently provides over 80 databases online for students, faculty and staff.

• Each database utilizes special features and provides unique shortcuts.
• Some databases collect specific types of resources, like newspaper articles, or magazines
• Other databases may collect a wide variety of resources including encyclopedias, government publications, articles and pamphlets
• Many databases concentrate on specific subject areas, for example
• Art
• Business
• Contemporary Women's Issues
• Criminal Justice
• e-Books
• Health & Medicine
• Literature
• Others are general databases that cover a wide range of topics, including
• Academic Search
• InfoTrac
• OmniFile
• Many databases provide full-text access to thousands of publications not available on the WWW !
• All TCC Library databases are available 24/7 online via your TCC ID card at LINCCWeb Library Information Network for Community Colleges
• TCC Library also has an online guide to finding articles and choosing databases

In a Database Workshop, we'll look at a selection of database families, explore search strategies designed to improve your research results, examine the kinds of resources found in these programs, and highlight the latest improvements !

Interested ?

Database Workshops are offered during Fall 2005 semester in
September, October and November
with sessions on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at various times -

visit Library Workshops for a complete listing of dates, times and locations

no pre-registration is required, and promptness is appreciated !

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