3 New Databases!

The content just keeps on coming here at the Library @ Mohawk! Check out the 3 new databases we’ve just added to our collections! You can access each of these from the A-Z list of databases and from the Electronic Books page on TheBRAIN.

History Reference Center – this  full text history reference database features full text from more than 1,620 reference books, encyclopedias and non-fiction books, 150 leading history periodicals, historical documents, biographies, photos, maps and videos! Check out the timeline feature – you can search by a period of time in history! Woo hoo!

screenshot of timeline search menu

CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics - the latest version of the handbook, complete with a search function and clickable table of contents is now online! Soon, you will be able to access it from home as well! You can even search the handbook by chemical structure! Just download the Marvin Sketch Java Applet from ChemAxon and then draw your structure query! Does it get any better? No way!

ASM Handbooks – this resource features the complete content of twenty ASM (American Society of Metals) Handbook volumes plus two ASM Desk Editions!  It is the primary source of information on materials with coverage including ferrous and non-ferrous metals, forming, casting, machining, heat treatment, welding, corrosion, properties and selection as well as information on composites.  How exciting is that?!

History Reference Centre and ASM Handbooks are now available from offsite – just log in with your MoCoMotion username and password when prompted. CRC will be available from offsite soon!

Getting ready for the Job Fair – Company Research

Next week’s Business and Engineering Technology Career Fair will bring many employers to campus looking for the best students.  Dress for success AND make sure you know enough about companies of interest to have a good chat about how you can contribute!  If you do your homework, you’ll be sure to impress!

Here’s a checklist of some possible company research sources:

1. Corporate web site – always a good place to start. Many companies have useful information like company history, key employee profiles, and corporate reports posted online. Keep in mind that the  public page for many companies is their commercial or e-commerce site – look for a link to their corporate page for the best data.

2. Newspaper and magazine articles – The Library@ Mohawk  has some great databases specializing in business information.  You can use them like Google to find newspaper, magazine and trade journal articles that mention your company.  For Canadian companies, your best bet is CBCA (Canadian Business and Current Affairs).  For multinational companies, try Business Source Premier.   It  includes Datamonitor Reports which provide detailed company information including company overview, key facts, history, key employees, and more. Just click on Company Profiles in the blue bar at the top of the search screen to access these reports.

3. Reference books – Yes, Virginia…books still exist!  Some business publishers  haven’t discovered online and there are still some tremendously helpful company research resources in print.  The Reference collection at the Library @ Fennell includes some excellent business directories and sources on industry statistics. Visit the Information Desk and we will help you get started.

4. BRAINlinks – Library staff have handpicked some of the most useful sites for business research. Check out these links for great local content.

5. Google Finance – enter a stock code or company name and get current market data, financials, key stats, news items, and more.

Need help with your company research? Just Ask Us!

February is Heart Month!

Happy Heart Month, BRAIN_blog readers! The Library can help you get informed during this annual month of thinking about our thumpers. We offer a wealth of health-related info – not just for students in the field but also for anyone who is curious about their general health! Check out the following for the straight goods – top-notch quality resources available 24×7, online*:

Health Source – Consumer – this resource contains hundreds of health-related journals, magazines, pamphlets and reference books geared toward the lay person as well as a comprehensive Medical Dictionary (located in the top navigation bar). Just enter your search words and you’ll get loads of great articles on your topic!

Health and Wellness Resource Centre -like Health Source – Consumer, this resource contains loads of health magazines and journals,  pamphlets galore and even videos!

SMART imagebase (Scientific and Medical Art) – want to see what your heart looks like? The real one, not the one on Valentine’s Day cards? Take a peak into this comprehensive imagebase that is crammed full of scientific photos and videos.

For even more health info, check out the Health Sciences page on TheBRAIN!

*To log in to these resources from offsite, just use your MoCoMotion username and password.

A month of music!

Get rid of those winter blahs by visiting the e-Library @ Mohawk at Fennell campus during Wednesday Common Hour for the month of February! Each Wednesday Common Hour during February, students and faculty from the Mohawk Music Department will mesmerize you with their smooth, cool vibes! Grab a coffee and sit back and relax by the fireplace – while listening to the jazzy sounds of Mohawk’s own! See you there!

[Special thanks to the fab musicans at Mohawk's Music Dept. for allowing us to share these photos! These were taken during recent concerts in the e-Library.]

Keep track of all those resources!

Ever wonder how to keep track of all the books, websites, journal articles, etc. that you are amassing for your assignments? One way to keep track of the books and videos is to use “bookbags”!  Bookbags are available through the Library catalogue. Bookbags allow you to create lists of items, label them and then return to them later. This is helpful when you don’t have time to actually go to the shelf and grab the item or when you want to save the book/video information to create your bibliography or Works Cited list later. Here’s how to use “bookbags”:

• log in to the catalogue by clicking My Account [ see the steps ]
• click the My Bookbags link (far right)
• click Create a New Bookbag
• enter the name of the bookbag
• you can also choose to share your bookbag(s) from this screen

or

• perform a search and find an item to add
• click the More Actions dropdown menu (far right of screen)
• click Add to bookbag (if you already have a bookbag) or Create a new bookbag (you need to be logged in to your account to see these options.)

Watch this video for the full scoop or download this handy dandy help sheet!

 

more about “How to use bookbags at the Library@Mo…“, posted with vodpod

Don’t come into the Library if you don’t want to!

Of course, we’d love to see you and hope you do pop in for a visit! But if you don’t feel like it – we have options for you! One option is to use e-books (a.k.a. electronic books)! E-books are books that are completely online – the whole thing, start to finish! And you know what that means – you can use the books at home and don’t need to step foot in the Library! Most e-books even offer you the ability of placing online bookmarks and notes, jumping from the table of contents directly to a chapter, searching for words within the whole book, and more! (But no, you can’t print out the whole book start to finish – although you can print out individual pages if needed.)  E-books are especially handy when you need to consult a few pages or a paragraph, for example when looking up quick facts or answers.

The Library@Mohawk offers several electronic books on TheBRAIN, and the collection continues to grow. To find them – click the “Find Information” tab and then choose “Electronic Books”. It’s that easy!  Another way to find them is to choose your program area from the “Find by Program” box on TheBRAIN homepage – then choose the “Electronic Book Databases” link! Remember that when you are off-campus, you will need to login with your MoCoMotion username and password. More info on accessing from home…

Here is just a sampling of some of the e-books available:

Safari Tech and Business Books is a collection of hundreds of e-books on the topics ofcomputer science, I.T. and business. You will not believe what’s in here! Tell me you didn’t already spend a fortune on software manuals and Twitter for Dummies. A HUGE selection from O’Reilly Media, Pearson and untold numbers of others await you. The number of licensed users per institution is limited, so if you can’t get an item you want, try a bit later.  Search a specific title or keyword search the whole collection at once. Links are everywhere – you’ll find just what interests you in a snap!

Books@Ovid provides content from 8 hardcore nursing texts that are SO popular, SO indispensable to health science students that they are often rated “R” – for Reserve and Reference collections, and often it’s hard to get your hands on a copy ( i.e. Lippincott’s 2009 Nursing Drug Guide). But here they’re all yours, FREE!

STAT!Ref is a fabulous resource of 12 key nursing reference texts including Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. View these the easy way – saves you heaving that 5 kg tome into your bookbag and later trying to jam the two of you onto a crowded bus! It’s fun to use -click the TITLES tab at the top to make your book selection or simply key your terms into the search box.  Instantly, it searches across all titles, highlighting your terms. Try the STAT!Notes and email link functions – they are brilliant. Just let your mouse do the clicking to expand or collapse nicely mapped out TOCs to easily jump to specific content.

NetLibrary contains hundreds of e-books on a huge variety of topics from business to science to arts. And the fun thing about NetLibrary is that it also contains fiction and audiobooks! Got an MP3 player and need some distraction? Download up to 10 netLibrary audiobooks and get distracted! These books can be played on a wide variety of players , including the iPhone and iPod.

Need more info? Check out the e-books How To page.

Test prep help for the RN exam

No need to get stressed over the upcoming exam…the Library @ IAHS can help you study!  Some great NEW resources have just arrived.

Mosby’s comprehensive review for the Canadian RN exam - we have three copies of this first ever Canadian edition!

Mosby’s prep guide for the Canadian RN exam – we have three copies of this one too!

We know these are going to be hot items.  Use the links above to see if copies are currently available or to place a hold.

As an alternative, we’ve also purchased Davis’s NCLEX-RN® Success in e-book format.  Login with your Mocomotion user id and password to use it from home.

Good luck! We know you’ll ace the exam!

Welcome Back!

Don’t get left out in the cold! You’re not alone!

The Library is here to help you succeed! To welcome you back, here are some quick library help reminders!

We’re help to help – just ask! You can reach us by email (braintogo@mohawkcollege.ca), chat (click the green askON button on the left side of the homepage), phone or in person!

But where? When? Check out our locations and hours when we are here, just waiting for you to come on in!

Don’t have time to drop by? (We’ll miss you!) Access our resources from home! You’ll just need to log in with your MoCoMotion username and password – and then you’ll have access to all kinds of materials!  Not sure where to start? Start with your program area!

Prefer self-serve? Try our How To page for handy guides & tutorials!  But we hope you’ll get in touch if you need us – we’re here to help!

Show your support with an e-postcard!

Send a postcard!

We have  special request for you, our faithful library users! This month, we are part of a campaign to show support for the Knowledge Ontario initiative! The Knowledge Ontario initiative makes possible such useful services as the askON chat service and some online research databases - not just to us at Mohawk College – but to libraries, museums and cultural institutions across Ontario! Now we need to show the funders of this great service just how much it means to us! And you can help – by taking 1 minute to send in an electronic postcard with a sentence or two about how useful these services are to you! That’s it! More info…

Happy New Year from the Library!

Happy 2010, blog readers! Hope you had a relaxing holiday! Just a couple of reminders from your favourite library:

- the online study room booking system is now available! Look for the blue icon on the left side of TheBRAIN homepage. Log in with your library account and book a room at Fennell or IAHS for 2 hours – right from your computer!

- our regular hours resume the week of Jan. 11th.  Our hours for this week are posted on TheBRAIN.

We look forward to helping you connect, learn & succeed in 2010!