Tallahassee Community College Library in Tallahassee Florida
is a multifaceted resource serving our students, faculty and our community,
on campus and online !

Monday, January 28, 2013

Books for Understanding: Scholarship beyond the Headlines

Books for Understanding: Scholarship beyond the Headlines, from the Association of American University Presses.
This free Web site provides lists of university press books on topics of current interest. The lists are divided into six groups--International, United States, Public Policy and Civics, Nature and Science, Religion, and Art and Literature--and organized internally by subtopics. Examples of topics include Ronald Reagan (under United States), Hurricane Katrina (under Nature and Science), and U.S. Poets Laureate (under Art and Literature). Since university press books are highly respected sources of scholarly, peer-reviewed information, these lists can be valuable to researchers (students and professors) and to collection development librarians. This site could reassure students that the books they have chosen are scholarly and lead them away from Googled sources and newspaper articles to more reputable information. Each book listed is reliably linked to pertinent information at a specific university press site. This resource is easy to use and the information clearly presented. Some librarians or professors might want to link to relevant lists through a research guide or course management software. RSS and e-mail alerts for new lists are available. Libraries and instructors seeking book data in alternative formats such as text files may contact the site's project manager. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general audience. -- J. E. Sheets, Baylor University Reviewed in ACRL's June, 2011 CHOICE.

Friday, January 25, 2013

365: Chemistry for Life

365: Chemistry for Life, from the American Chemical Society. http://iyc2011.acs.org/
The American Chemical Society (ACS) created 365: Chemistry for Life as part of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry (IYC) for public outreach on the role of chemistry in everyday life. The site features an interactive calendar with topics of the day. Each entry provides a brief example of chemistry in a historical context with additional material for further reading, such as the history of women in chemistry or the science behind self-darkening eyeglasses. Content is excerpted from various ACS journals and other relevant Web sites and organizations. Daily topics that include environmental, energy, materials, and health issues alternate; a drop-down topic index allows site visitors to select a specific area of interest. Users may e-mail stories or share them via social networking tools. The monthly IYC Virtual Journal highlights the "many ways in which chemistry improves everyday life for people around the world." The site also encourages student chemistry organizations to engage in science-related events and share results. The Take Action! Section features Community Outreach Activities, Planning Resources and Ideas, and IYC Worldwide Events. The outreach section offers suggestions for helping teachers and students organize events that highlight science topics, including Water in the Environment, Alternative Energy, Materials, and Health. Links include teaching plans, puzzles, career profiles of chemists, online resources for K-12, and presentations for instruction and independent student discovery. Overall, a useful resource for raising an awareness of the importance of chemistry. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates, general audiences, and primary and secondary school teachers and their students. -- M. C. Brown, University of California, Irvine  Reviewed in the July 2011 issue of ACRL's CHOICE.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

American Dental Association


The American Dental Association (ADA) website provides quality oral health content for both consumers and professionals. Under Public Resources, users will find Oral Health Topics, a section that covers diseases (e.g., Caries), symptoms (Dry Mouth), treatments (Tooth Extractions), and other miscellaneous topics (Oral Piercing) related to oral health. Entries are written in straightforward language and suitable for laypeople. Educational videos are scattered throughout the site. An ADA for Kids section includes animation sequences on brushing, flossing, and other special topics. In addition to membership and practice  management information, the ADA offers professionals an evidence-based dentistry portal http://ebd.ada.org/  that highlights systematic reviews of interest to dental practitioners, supplementing some with critical summaries written by trained reviewers. The reviews are organized by topic and link out to PubMed and Google Scholar. The portal also features ADA clinical recommendations, which dental professionals can use to support diagnostic and treatment decisions. This mix of professional and consumer content, plus the credibility of the organization behind it, sets this site apart. Despite the strength of the content, the site comes across as sparse at times. For instance, some Oral Health Topics lack consumer content but still list specific topics such as Claim Form in the consumer portion of the site. When users click on one of these topics, the resulting "no information" page is unhelpful. This navigation issue is compounded by the site's search feature, which occasionally leads to seeming dead ends. The second result of a search on "bruxism," for instance, links to the Dentist Version--a section that has no meaningful content. Users must click on the Patient Version for useful information on the topic. Despite these minor glitches, this is a well-designed site of value to anyone interested in oral health. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels. -- M. P. MacEachern, University of Michigan Reviewed in July 2012 ACRL's CHOICE.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Arab American National Museum

The Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, is dedicated to increasing understanding of the Arab culture. It is a project of ACCESS, a nonprofit human services organization that was established to help Arab immigrants; it is the largest such organization in the US today. This free, dedicated website offers a database of objects in the museum's collections, many with images. Under Browse Permanent Collection, a search of the keyword "mosque" returned 33 records, including information on such varied objects as a carpet, a bottle, and a door from the first mosque in North Dakota, along with pamphlets, personal papers, tickets, and receipts. A small online gallery is available. The site is updated as new events are announced or items are added to the collections.
The museum's library collects documents, family histories, and resources about Arab Americans, and its online catalog is searchable. Four booklets are available for download, as are bibliographies. Some of the museum records contain images. The Education link lists lesson plans to help teachers present Arab culture and history. The site's multimedia elements include podcasts, oral histories, and slide shows of the current exhibits in the museum. Some publications are available for purchase (as are a wide variety of items in a museum store). The ACCESS organization also presents an annual book award.. . .  Who will use this site? Anyone interested in getting a peek at the culture of Arab America. Those interested in undertaking in-depth research will need to explore elsewhere. Summing Up: Recommended. General audience. -- L. K. Miller, Western Kentucky University Jan ACRL's Choice

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Bomb Sight: Mapping the WW2 bomb census


The Bomb Sight project is mapping the London WW2 bomb census between 7/10/1940 and 06/06/1941. Previously available only by viewing in the Reading Room at The National Archives, Bomb Sight is making the maps available to citizen researchers, academics and students. They will be able to explore where the bombs fell and to discover memories and photographs from the period.

The project has scanned original 1940s bomb census maps , geo-referenced the maps and digitally captured the geographical locations of all the falling bombs recorded on the original map. The data has then been  integrated into 2 different types of applications  . .

Frequently Asked Questions

How did you select which data to map?

To develop a manageable set of data we had to select from a vast array of archive information. This blog post describes the process of narrowing the focus by selecting a time period, a region and a sub-set of maps.

The Bomb Sight is using the Bomb Census Maps as the primary data in the tools we are developing. The maps are part of an extensive array of material collected during the Bomb Census Survey 1940 to 1945, organised by the Ministry of Home Security. The records are held in The National Archive (TNA), and we are using the maps with a non-commercial education licence.


Due to the sheer volume of records, photos, documents and information collected during the Bomb Census Survey – the project had to carefully select data to prevent information overload which might mean we miss our completion deadlines. For this reason we spent some time before Christmas at the Archives with one of TNA’s map archivists Andrew Janes. The image shows a snapshot of the types of documents collected during the bomb census. The array of information had the purpose of providing the government with a complete picture of air raid patterns, types of weapon used and the damage caused (TNA, 2011).

How Did You Select a Time Period to Use?

To select a manageable data set we first decided to restrict the time period of the project to the period of the most intensive bombing known as The Blitz. The word ‘Blitz‘ is derived from the from the German term ‘Blitzkrieg’ (lightning war) and is associated with a period of continued aerial bombing by the Germans on Britain (Imperial War Museum, 2011). The Blitz started on the 7th September 1940 and continued until the spring of the following year. The maps in the archive do not completely align with the time period of the blitz so there is a slight mismatch but the reporting period we are investigating is between October 7th 1940 and June 1941 as this is the period in which data were collected.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Rare color photos from the 1930s-40s

1930s-40s in Color !
These vivid color photos from the Great Depression and World War II capture an era generally seen only in black-and-white. Photographers working for the United States Farm Security Administration (FSA) and later the Office of War Information (OWI) created the images between 1939 and 1944.

We [Flicker] invite your tags and comments! Also, more identification information. (The current titles come from the agency's original documentation, which was sometimes incomplete.)

The FSA/OWI pictures depict life in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, with a focus on rural areas and farm labor, as well as aspects of World War II mobilization, including factories, railroads, aviation training, and women working.

The original images are color transparencies ranging in size from 35 mm. to 4x5 inches. They complement the better-known black-and-white FSA/OWI photographs, made during the same period.

The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division preserves the original photographs and offers the digital copies to ensure their wide availability.

For more information about the collection and to see the approximately 171,000 black-and-white photos, visit: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/f sac/

Original story at CBS News, 63 images, and HuffingtonPost.com 

Friday, January 11, 2013

Forbes: The World's 100 Most Powerful Women

The World's 100 Most Powerful Women
From CEOs and heads of state to early adopter entrepreneurs, celebrity role models, billionaire activists and philanthropists who are healing the world, Forbes ranks the women who matter most. View complete list. Methodology.
Check out more lists from Forbes

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

5 College Savings Tips for Adults Returning to School


5 College Savings Tips for Adults Returning to School

Parents should consider starting 529 plans for themselves if college or grad school is in their future.

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Best of 2012 !

What was great about 2012 ? here's a few items you may be interested in . . . Music, Movies, Books and News ! 

Top Music: 

RollingStone's 50 Best Songs of 2012
MTV's 10 Best Songs of 2012
Billboard's 20 Best Songs of 2012, Critics' Pick
Top100Songs.com - 100 Songs of 2012 

Top Movies:

CNN: The 10 Best Movies of 2012
Hollywood.com's Ultimate Top 10 Movies of 2012
NewYorker's Best Movies of 2012
Box Office Mojo: 2012 Domestic Grosses all movies released in 2012

Top Books:

GoodReads 2012 Choice Awards
NewYork Times Top Books for 2012
Amazon Top 100 Adult Print Books  of 2012
Amazon Top 100 Kids & Teens Print Books of 2012

Top News Stories:

USAToday Top 10 News Stories of 2012
Bing's Top 9 News Stories of 2012
Google's Top 10 Trending News Stories of 2012

Other Top 2012 Lists:

50 Best Wesites 2012, from Time TechLand
Best of 2012 Apps for Smartphones and Tablets
CNN: Danger Meets Discovery: Top 10 Science Stories
CNN: The 10 Best Video Games of 2012
CNN Readers Pick the Top Celebs of 2012
CNN Readers Pick the Best TV Shows of 2012
CNN Readers Pick the Best of 2012: Movies and Music
CNN: The 12 Lessons of 2012

Best of Tallahassee: from Day Spas to Fish Markets