Computer Basics Classes

prepared by Regina Gillam

Do you need to brush up on your computer skills or are they non-existent?  If either is the case, you should come to the free computer basics classes at the library.  

The Delgado Community College Library and the Adult Education (GED) Program are hosting FREE Basic Computer Classes.  The seminars are presented every Friday from 1- 3 in the library classroom.  The library classroom is located in building 10, room 134.  

The next class will be held on February 22^nd and will focus on learning about email.  Each class covers a different topic.  

 
 Topics that have been covered in previous seminars include: “keyboarding and computer terminology,” “Working with Windows” and “Microsoft office”.  All classes are two hours long.  The first hour of the class consists of instruction on the selected topic.  The second hour of the class is the hands-on portion where students get to practice what they've learned. The classes are on a first-come, first-served basis and pre-registration is not required.

The more things change, the more they stay the same - as evidenced by the fact that 27 years ago Delgado was providing computer-literacy education, just as we are now.

 

Fall in Love...With a Good Book!

Prepared by Jude Morrissey

The Black Brunswicker by John Everett Millais

 With Valentine's Day just around the corner, we recommend reading a book on Romance! Our Popular Reading Collection includes several books to choose from. Some are traditional "damsel in distress meets sexy hero" romance novels while others are fiction from other genres where romance plays a significant role. Still others are non-fiction accounts of people looking for true love. 



Here's a list of likely titles:
 

• Sweet Tooth: A Novel by Ian McEwan
• The Address Book by Sophie Calle 
• The Night Circus: A Novel by Erin Morgenstern
• Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews
• If I Can't Have You by Mary B. Morrison
• This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz
  
• Lady Elect by Nikita Lynnette Nichols
• Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Flaw Less by Shana Johnson Burton
• The Inn at Rose Harbor: A Novel by Debbie Macomber
• The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan  

You can find descriptions of each of these books in one of the City Park hall displays. 

City Park Hall Display

Of course, if Romance is not your thing, there are many other genres to choose from in the collection. If you'd like some help finding a good book to read in your spare time, just Ask A Librarian! 

How Time Flies!

Prepared by Cynthia DuBois and Jude Morrissey

It's a new year and a new semester at Delgado Community College!

You can still find information displayed on various Holiday customs. For instance, in Belize, the traditional Mayan Deer Dance is still performed, celebrating the connection between humanity and Nature; meanwhile, children in Norway wait for Julenisse to bring them presents.

As we say goodbye to 2012, you can look back at some of the events that mattered most to New Orleans.

Another display features the various calendars of history. See how ancient civilizations tracked the days and months!




And, of course, if these topics interest you, we have more resources for you to check out!

Music Appreciation: Beethoven

Prepared by Andrew Lopez

Students in the music appreciation course write a research paper on a composer of their choosing. There is no better way to approach a writing assignment than to do some background reading on your topic. And there is no better way to do some background reading on a topic than to use the library.

The library has an extensive collection of resources - articles, audio, books, catalogs, databases, etc. - which are perfect for this assignment. What follows is a brief, selective showcase of some of the types of sources that are available for research in the area of music appreciation, using Ludwig van Beethoven as an example.

Many classical and contemporary composers, musicians, and artists are known well enough that information about them is amply represented across media.

For background information, one should consult these sources:

• Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians: this reference book includes a 5 page sketch of Beethoven's life and work, with 5 additional pages of musical works and sources for additional information listed
• Biography in Context: this biographical database has a good overview of Beethoven's life and accomplishments, with hundreds of other contents, including popular and scholarly articles on Beethoven from books and periodicals, and links to recent news and radio broadcasts on him
• Encyclopedia Britannica: this core reference book has an excellent 6 page overview of the life and work of Beethoven, with 2 additional pages listing key sources for further reading
• Gale Virtual Reference Library: this reference database provides access to Beethoven entries in a number of different encyclopedias

For additional information, one should consult these sources:

• Credo Reference: this discovery service provides access to many different encyclopedia entries on Beethoven, as well as articles, books, and images from elsewhere in the Delgado collections
• The Oxford History of Western Music: this reference book includes a 40 page entry on Beethoven's life and work, with many dozens of additional pages focusing exclusively on his individual compositions, including a 15 page overview of the Fifth Symphony
• Oxford Music Online: with content from Grove Music, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, and The Oxford Companion to Music, this databse contains extensive information on the life and work of Beethoven
• Naxos Music Library: offers a brief overview of Beethoven's musical output, and provides access to hundreds of streaming audio files of his works
• EBSCO Discovery Service: this expansive discovery database searches across library collections, providing access to hundreds of thousands of documents, including print books on Beethoven, ebooks on Beethoven, articles on him, and more

The Delgado Library has an outstanding collection of books in print that should not be overlooked. There are more than 100 books in the library catalog on Beethoven, which include outstanding information on his life, his letters, his art, and his music. Please search in the catalog for books, and please check them out.

If you need assistance with anything mentioned or alluded to on this page, please come to the library. We are ready to help!

Registration Documents

Here are some common documents that should help ease the registraton process

1. Advising contacts by division (City Park)
2. City Park campus map with services listed by building
3. Directional tips for registration issues
4. Email address locator tips
5. Important dates
6. Override form
7. Payment plan information
8. Trial schedule form
9. Username & Password format for LOLA
10. Username & Password cards to help one remember their new LOLA login info

Dine on Literature

prepared by Cynthia DuBois and Jude Morrissey

City Park Wall Display - From Menus from History

November's display is already getting attention around campus! Food has been a central part of human life for as long as we've existed - and not just for sustenance. We eat to live, but, in many ways, we also live to eat. Food is integral to our celebrations at feasts and festivals; we also incorporate food into our mourning, at wakes and by bringing meals to the families of the deceased. Romantic dinners, wedding showers, baby showers, birthday parties, quinceañeras, bar and bat mitzvahs - food has been incorporated into the most important aspects of our lives.

This month, we celebrate food in literature. Come see our displays at the City Park and Westbank campuses. You can also check out our LibGuide for more information: look through books detailing interesting facts like menus from history - including what was served on the Titanic, check out food-related websites, find a novel in which food is as important as any of the main characters, and much more. Whatever flavor of information you're looking for, we can help you satisfy your hunger!

Menus from History (Image: WorldCat)

Tweeting through Class

prepared by Jude Morrissey

Twitter

On Friday, November 9, 2012, Reference Librarian Jude Morrissey presented "All a-Twitter: Integrating Twitter into Academic Life" as part of the L.I.N.K. lecture series for faculty and staff professional development.

The presentation centered around what skills students can learn from using social media in the classroom, how the use of social media can benefit student-teacher interactions, and why Twitter is a particularly useful social media platform for community building, class communication, and educational opportunities. The growing use of social media by organizations outside higher education - including as a commercial tool and as a way to research employees and prospective hires - was noted.Various methods of integrating Twitter into classes - ranging from instructor accounts to foster less stressful communication avenues with students to the possibility of building Twitter-based assignments - were also discussed. Some possible problems, especially lack of student access to devices (such as computers and smartphones) and the quick evolution of social media platforms, were additionally considered.

For those interested in learning more about social media in and out of the classroom, a bibliography for further reading has been provided.

You can find Delgado Library on Twitter and Facebook. The library has also created several useful YouTube videos.