The E-Journal Portal – Your Stress-Buster!

Do these situations sound familiar?

1. You have printed out the perfect article to use in your assignment. But…you didn’t write down all the information for your bibliography and can’t remember where you found it!
2. Your instructor has given you a list of articles as required reading to be read before the final exam. Time is tight and now you have to locate them all!
3. While researching for an assignment, you come across a reference to an article that sounds like the perfect source for your paper. But now what? How do you get your hands on it?

The E-Journal Portal is your go-to for all of the above, and any other time that you need to track down a particular article.  To get to the portal:

-> start at TheBRAIN

-> Access the QuickLinks menu in the left sidebar

-> Choose E-Journal portal.

-> Choose onsite or remote access, depending on where you are.

-> Enter the title of the journal or magazine you are looking for.

-> Click on a database link to get to that journal.

Need help with learning to use the E-Journal Portal? Access a short video tour or AskUs!

Find historical photos in Flickr Commons

Horseshoe Falls from above, Niagara, ON, 1869, William Notman

You have probably heard of Flickr, and you may have used the popular photo-sharing site to post personal pics, find Creative Commons licensed photos, or just to browse for inspiration.

Now there’s another great reason to use Flickr – the Flickr Commons.   Flickr Commons is “an exciting collaborative project that aims to give users access to the amazing collections of public photo archives around the world.” There are 27 participating institutions so far, including the Smithsonian Institution,  George Eastman House, and the Library of Congress.

One of the greatest things about the Commons is that the institutions sharing their collections have declared them to have no known copyright restrictions. This means that the photos are free to use in your assignments and class presentations.

Take some time to browse these awesome collections. Check out photos of classic Chrysler/Dodge autos,  portraits of great artists, or scientists and inventors.  The Commons is also great for a bit of armchair travelling…..explore Montreal, California and Oregon, visit French Castles , the Panama Canal or The Moon without leaving your computer!

Study rooms…going fast!

Need a place to study with a group? Practice a presentation? View a video?

The Library @ Fennell has study/viewing rooms available on the second floor. The rooms are only available to students.

The booking binder is located at the circulation desk. You may book a room months in advance.
Rooms may be booked for a maximum of 2 hours per person/group per day and will only be held for 15 minutes past the start of the booking.

Viewing rooms C, G, H:
Include TV and VCR, Table, 8 chairs, and a white board.
Study rooms D, E, F:
Include a table, 8 chairs, a podium, and a white board.

The rooms are very popular during the busiest times of the semester, so book ahead to avoid disappointment and watch for online room booking …coming soon!

How to get culturally competent

It’s International Education Week and what better time to explore all of the cultures represented at Mohawk.  Check out the displays in the Library @ Fennell and the e-library, then settle in to one of our great e-books.

Part of the Stat!Ref e-book collection, the Guide to culturally competent health care is the perfect resource to help you figure out a classmate, client or patient. From communication norms to family roles and organization to workplace issues to spirituality, this e-book provides loads of useful information on people from over 25 different heritage groups.  Check it out for assignments or use it to enhance your personal interactions.  Peace and love!

Need a breather? Visit the Library! Take a break already!

Need a break from studying? Want to rest your eyes on some light reading?
The Library @ Fennell’s collection includes Popular Fiction and Magazines for your recreational reading pleasure.

The Fiction collection, located near the Info desk and the stairs, boasts a variety of popular and classical authors.

Authors include: Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Dan Brown, Stephen King, Robert Ludlum,  James Patterson and more!

Titles include: Life of Pi, Gossip girl, Revolutionary road, A Million little pieces and more!

Popular Magazines are located near the windows in a section of the library.  Grab a trashy magazine (well, sort of) from the shelf and take a break from all the scholarly stuff – there is a wide collection and comfy chairs to read them in.

The collection includes: Canadian Living, Chatelaine, Consumer Reports, Glamour, Macleans, Men’s Health, People, Rolling Stone, Shape,  Today’s Parent and many more!

Ahhh, much better, no?

Lest We Forget

Today, we honour and remember those who served our country and recognize our troops currently protecting our freedoms. To learn more about our veterans and troops, you may wish to visit the following resources:

Veterans’ Week 2009 Website (from the Canadian Dept of National Defence) & Veterans’ Week 2009:  How Will You Remember?
View videos and photos about our veterans and troops, send letters to the troops and learn about our military history.

Website of National Defence and Canadian Forces
Read news relating to our troops as well as reports regarding our deployments around the world.

Canada At War: A Guide to Library and Archives Canada’s Websites Recalling the Canadian War Experience
From Libraries & Archives Canada, a comprehensive guide to resources on Canada’s war experience. Many primary source documents and photos are included.

Display at Library@IAHS for Remembrance Day

A picture is worth a 1,000 words

SMART imagebase

Looking for a cool medical pic for your PowerPoint, poster or handout?  Check out the Library’s  SMART Imagebase! SMART (Scientific And Medical Art) contains over 18,000 detailed pictures and animations showing human anatomy and physiology, surgery, diseases, and other health science topics.

SMART also comes in handy if you need to see how a particular physiological phenomenon, surgery or other health process works. Check out one of the animations! They are short, clear and can explain a complicated process or procedure in mere minutes.

Are you spooked by statistics?

Halloween is over but we know students still find statistics pretty spooky! Let the library staff de-mystify them for you.

Tip #1 – it’s not always necessary to re-invent the wheel.  Sometimes you can find great stats buried in a book or magazine article on your topic. Look there first.

Tip #2 – if you do need to go straight to the source, check out the  QuickLinks box on TheBRAIN. Choose Quick Reference > Statistics. Here you’ll find Statistics Canada – the mother of all crunched numbers – offering data profiling population, income, how much beer we drink and many other important aspects of Canadian life! Try The Daily…it’s an electronic bulletin covering up-to-the-minute social and economic info and is very easy to search. E-STAT is another great pick. Its interactive tool with the very strange name (CANSIM)  lets you customize your stats search and create tables, graphs and charts too!

Tip #3 – let the library staff protect you from those spooky statistics…just ask for help!

New – Express Computers – Get ‘er done real quick!

Each campus Library now has 2 Express Computers available for your quick (5 minute) tasks! Need to quickly print a document, check email, look up an item in the catalogue, check for course announcements? Just hop on the Express computer and get ‘er done!  Soon you will be able to book a meeting room right from the Express Computer too!

Small print…
- Library@Brantford has 3 Express Computers.
- Priority will be given to staff assisting students – otherwise, Express Computers are open to all.
- Please limit Express Computer usage to 5 minutes at a time.

Controversy on TheBRAIN!

Need to develop persuasive arguments on a variety of controversial and current issues?

Check out our Points of View Reference Centre Database!

Points of View is chock full of essays that present multiple sides of a current issue (such as gun control, euthanasia, abortion, etc.) The database provides overviews, arguments, opposing arguments, and a critical thinking guide.

All kinds of media are included in the database: essays, leading political magazines, newspapers, radio & TV news transcripts, primary source documents and reference books.

As well, this database contains the Video Encyclopedia of the 20th Century, providing a searchable collection of some of the most important social, political, and cultural moments of the 20th century.

The Points of View database can be accessed from the list of databases found on TheBRAIN.