Delgado Librarian Publishes Article

Prepared by Andrew Lopez

One of Delgado's City Park Reference Librarians, Jude Morrissey, has just had an article published in Codex: Journal of the Louisiana Chapter of the ACRL (Association of College & Research Libraries).

A screenshot from the journal's website

Jude's article, "Global Issues and Local Action: The Rights to Intellectual Freedom and Information Access, and What that Means for US Libraries," considers intellectual freedom and information access as rights that enable democratic growth, and how librarians might get involved to help foster them.

In her article, she discusses a wide range of issues, including the social movements in Egypt, the historical importance of gossip and so-called idle chatter, her experiences living in Thailand, and some ideas about what libraries and librarians can do to support the American Library Association's agenda for defending intellectual freedom and access to information.

One exciting aspect of her article is the sources she bases it on. Looking through Jude's list of citations, one can see she did a great amount of research, synthesizing news articles and stories from newspapers, radio stations, television news, in addition to using books and journals; precisely the sorts of information one can find with the assistance of one's library and a decent internet connection!

Please stay tuned for more information about Jude's upcoming L.I.N.K. presentation "All a-Twitter: Integrating Twitter into Academic Life" to be offered this Fall through the Office of Faculty & Staff Development.

City Park Reference Services

Prepared by Jude Morrissey 

Study desks and books in the Reference Room (Bldg. 10, Rm. 132/3)

 If you haven't been by yet this semester, come visit the reference side of the City Park library! There aren't cookies, but there are lots of great reasons to drop in. So, what can reference services do for you?

Well, if you're working on a paper or presentation, we have excellent resources. We have several thousand books you can use, and they are organized by subject to make it easier to find the information you need. Whether you are writing a paper on nursing as a career or French cuisine, we have you covered.We also have lots of electronic databases, which you can use on and off campus, including Credo Reference, Gale Virtual Reference Library, and Oxford Reference Online - all wonderful resources for beginning your research.

Probably the greatest resource we can offer is our librarians! Any time you have a question or need help accessing information, the reference librarians are ready to give you a hand. We have online guides for several subjects - including the research process, so you aren't trying to find information the day before an assignment is due or accidentally plagiarizing someone's work.  You can come in to see us, call us on the phone, email or even chat with us online. You may even have classes with us - teachers can (and often do) ask us to lead sessions discussing resources and other library information.

Jessie, a DCC student, and library patron

Need some place for your group to meet? You can work on group projects/presentations or study for tests, midterms, or finals in one of our group study rooms. And, of course, reference resources can be used for extracurricular interests, as well. Perhaps you just want to know more about junk food, identify that pretty bird you saw on campus, or read about man-made catastrophes. We have plenty of information. And maybe, like Jessie, you just appreciate a quiet place to hang out between classes.

Whatever your reasons, we're glad to see you!

Charity School of Nursing Library

CSN Diploma from 1899

Prepared by Regina Gillam

Did you know Delgado has a nursing program?  Last week I visited the Charity School of Nursing (CSN) library.  I spoke with librarian Sharon Robinson and she educated me about the history of the school.   The Charity School of Nursing first opened its doors in 1894 and was operated by the Daughters of Charity, an order of nuns. Then and now the school offers a two year associate degree program.   Delgado offers two degrees in Nursing: Practical Nursing (PN) and Registered Nurse (RN). 

CSN Library

During my visit to the library Ms. Robinson also told me about the library space as well as the history of the school itself.  She said that famous painter Alexander J. Drysdale, gifted two of his paintings to the school after receiving treatment from nurses at Charity Hospital.  The restored paintings can be seen hanging in the library lobby area across from the circulation desk.  There are other artifacts from the school’s past in display cases in the library corridor.  The library itself has a large open space with a reference section, a serials section, a circulation section and a computer section.   The library also has two new group study rooms called Nightingale 1 and 2. 

Nursing instruments

Though the school was originally operated through Charity Hospital (CHNO), it was turned over to Delgado Community College in 1990.  There have been several advancements in nursing since the school first opened its doors.  Ms. Robinson stated that to keep the nursing curriculum relevant and on top of new developments, several changes have been made to the program over the years.  She states that CSN instructors are currently looking into changing the program of study to further maintain the schools high standards of excellence.

New Group Study Room in Construction

The CSN Library is located at 450 South Claiborne Ave. on the third floor of the Charity School of Nursing at Delgado building. The Semester Hours are Monday-Friday 8am- 5pm.

Among the many useful resources available to nursing students through the library are:

• The Journal of Practical Nursing (JPN)
• Nursing Made Incredibly Easy
• CINAHL Plus [research database]

For more information about the fascinating and rich history of Charity School or Nursing, take a look at this overview.

Football season is back!

Prepared by Jaleesa DeLavallade

The preseason began with the Saints and Cardinals participating in the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.  The Saints won 17-10. The first regular season game will be September 5 with the defending Super Bowl champions the New York Giants vs. the Dallas Cowboys. This season Super Bowl XLVII will be in New Orleans.  According to the NFL’s Super Bowl site, New Orleans is tied with the Miami area for hosting the most Super Bowls with 10 each.  Also, no team has ever reached the Super Bowl when it is hosted in their city.

The library subscribes to the Times-Picayune, which is delivered daily, so you can come and read the Sports section after game days and we also have access to Sports Illustrated through the databases.

SOME BOOKS THE LIBRARY HAS ON FOOTBALL

America's game : the epic story of how pro football captured a nation by Michael MacCambridge

Home team : coaching the Saints and New Orleans back to life by Sean Payton

Pigskin : the early years of pro football by Robert Peterson

Badasses : the legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders by  Peter Richmond

Illustrated history of pro football by Robert Smith

The Complete super bowl book

If you don’t know much about football you can get information from the library’s reference databases.

Here are Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia’s and Gale Virtual Reference Library’s entries on ‘American Football’.

You can also search the Biography Resource Center Database to see if it provides information on your favorite players. Here is the article on Drew Brees. Soon, the library will be getting Brees’ book Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity.

Interested in sports at Delgado? Go the Delgado Athletics site.

The images in this blog came from NOLA.com: http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2011/07/saints_lombardi_trophy_super_b.html