Thursday, December 18, 2008

Fast Facts - United States Population

Projected population of the United States on January 1, 2009:

306,095,000

"U.S. POPClock Projection," retrieved November 11, 2008, U.S. Census Bureau, population Division, Washington, D.C., www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Achieving the Dream to Go Green

In today fashion world, green is another black. The same is extended for graphic design and interior design. The technology specialists are in the same shoe by articulating “to go digital and get green.”
Navigation capabilities and other virtualization features are going through their paces to contests, pages, search, and list of Web links. In addition, they share the info by sending an e-mail to an associate with a thumbnail or reach a direct link to the current page.

In today’s world, working digital means working smarter, faster, and greener.
The high latitude needs new attitudes. So far, we are enjoying the digital drive. I hope, you will enjoy it, too.

“High latitudes
Need new attitudes!

I hope you enjoy
The digital drive!

Just, get green
And go digital!”

Green Means Digital

Peace and joy
At the holiday’s ride!
I hope you enjoy
The digital drive!

Just, get green,
Don’t be mean!
Let’s go digital
Green is seasonal!

High latitudes
Need new attitudes!
Girls and boys,
Everybody enjoys

Eco-friendly toys
Making a lot of noise.
They dominate and employ
The growing digital ploy.

December 2008 © Ida Tomshinsky

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

New Books for LRC

The LRC continue to obtain new books for the new programs. Last quarter the emphases were made on Health Information Management program. This quarter the new books arrived for Visual Communication program. The goal is to build a core collection. The picks were followed from recommendation bibliography list that was introduced by the national LRC Advisory Committee:
1. The Big Book of Design Ideas 3
2. Digital Media Tools
3. Graphic Design Solutions: 3rd/Ed
4. Graphic Design: The New Basics
5. Graphic Design that Works: Secrets for Successful Logo, Magazines...
6.AIGA Professional Practices in Graphic Design: 2nd/Ed

We fulfilled Mr. Pino's request for CEET/ECET program: "Digital and Analog Communication Systems" by Leo Couch: 7th/Ed.-2006.
In addition, we purchased the new reference book for the CDD school. It was Mr. Victores request: "Architectural Graphic Standards": Student/Ed by Ramsey.

Monday, December 15, 2008

December Activities

There are two main activities at the LRC. Both are concentrated on spotlighting the Virtual Library. Professor Javier Sanchez Rodriguez adopted the poster idea to advertise "Ask-A-Librarian" feature for the class project in Photoshop CS3, and professor Silvio Sanchez will use this blog "to spice up it" with his students in the Media Graphic Production course.

Richard Perez is a Multimedia student and a work-study student in the LRC. Last Friday, he used his creativity and humor to merge the Virtual Library's interface design with Google interface. What he did not know that the Googleganger phenomenon was reported by Newsweek magazine in October 2007. The term "Googleganger" is now being used to refer to a "virtual double" that exists only on the Internet. (Nextspace, N0. 10, 2008, p. 9.)

My point is that our online library is based on academic resources to support educational programs. "To google" information is all right, but the information you find on Google is not always on academic level. There are commercial, recreational, exploration type, and other sort of information. The Google Scholastic database is more direct and includes information and library resources from major national universities. We are living in a digital age in the 21st century. It is easy to focus on conversion of analog materials into digital formats, such as Google's mass book digitization project. You can visit http://books.google.com/ and see that Google has reached a groundbreaking agreement with authors and publishers. The books.google.com includes divisions for fiction, non-fiction, random subjects, and magazines.

Our students who are born in late eighties or in nineteen ninety represent the "Google Generation." They study, work and play on the Web. They spend more time online than offline. The good news are that we are not very far away. Our staff and faculty members are using digital tools as well - from PCs and laptops to cell phones, digital cameras, and other devices. We are connected to one another and to the Web on a daily working day base.

Once again, the ITT Technical Institutes' Virtual Library proved itself to be at the edge of the technology. When your library resources are at the tips of your fingers and available 24/7, the role of the Learning Recourse Center is changing to a crossover between information educational center, meeting point, hangout spot and place of leisure.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

2008’s Top 10 Business Books Posted

2008’s Top 10 Business Books Posted
by Business Week Magazine Editors

1. Charles R. Morris “The Trillion Dollar Meltdown”
2. Alice Schroeder “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life”
3. Charles E. Ellis "The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs”
4. Diarmuid Jeffreys “Hell’s Cartel: I. G. Fargen and Making of Hitler’s War Machine”
5. Dan Ariely “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions”
6. Michael Heller “The Gridlock Economy: How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets, Stops Innovation, and Costs Lives”
7. A. G. Lafley and Ram Charan “The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation”
8. Thomas L. Friedman “Hot Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution-and How It Can Renew America”
9. Leslie T. Chang “Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China”
10. Malcolm Gradwell “Outliers: The Story of Success”

Monday, December 8, 2008

LRC in Review: Top Library Story 2008

The 2008 year will be remembered as the year of change. On September 30, the LRC had been packed and prepared to move to the new location. The books were placed to store in the faculty lounge room together with other faculty materials. Later on, the LRC’s boxes moved to the student lounge room. The students were limited to access the traditional library collection. Meantime, bingo, students and faculty were using the online digital resources at the famous ITT Technical Institute’s Virtual Library. We did not cut much-needed support, did not reduce the hours, or close library's doors. The good Samaritans put the computer network back in use. Sometimes, you have to suffer a little bit, to make things run better in the future. We patiently waited for the construction work to be continued and to turn our Learning Resource Center into spectacular place, “the Empire" of the local campus. The quotation belongs to the campus Director, Mr. R. Hayward.

Then, October passed, and November passed, too. The Fall Quarter 2008 came to the end and its finals, too. On December 1, the first day of Winter Quarter, the construction workers came to work on the LRC renovation and the Student Internet Café. The remodeling will have the great ramification on both the learning center and education.

No secret, that the library has been helping people for a long time. Positioning ourselves as means of providing help in confusing information world, digital and otherwise, is another big win. The up-to-date LRC will have a powerful chance to demonstrate to our students and faculty members the library resources and services. The LRC will facilitate its use in a new environment for many years to come.

After all, the value of any library is in return.

Bibliotheca

Bibliotheca

The old traditional bibliotheca
Has a thunderous sound as echo.

The new airflow
Brought the hope of nouveau.

The new alma mater
Is a Mecca for info and supra.

The traditional library is not expired.
Nowadays, it is wired.

Sometimes, it is wireless,
Nevertheless, it will be worthless.

The complete transformation
Throughout virtualization

Created the renovation
Of facts and information.

Library science captains
Moving to new destinations.

2008 © IT

Let's Use the "Ask-A-Librarian" Services

There are top ten reasons to "Ask a Librarian":

1. We’re available 24/7 – whether it's 2 am or 2 pm.
2. We work with users wherever they are...at school, at home, at work…anywhere.
3. Responses can be in real-time through chat or usually within a few hours through e-mail.
4. We provide step-by-step instructions to utilize Virtual Library resources.
5. We can help students, faculty, or staff develop search strategies for various resources.
6. We post Frequently Asked Reference Questions and answers on the Virtual Library's AAL page.
7. We offer suggestions for sources of information that may help users find answers they need.
8. During chat sessions, librarians demonstrate on-screen how and where to search.
9. We provide users with either a transcript of a chat session or an e-mail reply for future reference.
10. It's an information maze out there, and; with "Ask a Librarian", you are not alone.

Ask a Librarian Chat service provided by Tutor.com Librarians.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Brief Memo: Requests for General Education

List of LRC Acquisition for WQ'08:
December

Professor V. Pino requested a book for the LRC's Library Collection -
  1. "Brief Calculus" by R. Larson: 8th/Ed. - 2007. $126.36

This could be a new addition for the acquisition list for the Winter Quarter 2008 (WQ'08.)

In addition, we should add the following books:

  1. "Gray's Anatomy" by Henry Gray 2007 $29.98
  2. "A Guide to Matlab: for Beginners and Experienced Users" by Brian R. Hunt 2006 $27.98

Professor Robert Powell requested for the LRC audio-visual collection-

1. "The Best of the First 48": DVD Set $19.99

Books for CJ Library Collection:

1. "The Color of Guilt and Innocence: Racial Profiling and Police Practices in America" by Steve Holbert and Lisa Rose $34.30

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Style Guide

"The Chicago Manual of Style" advises the following
style of writing in the Style Guide
  • a.m., p.m. -lowercase with periods
  • DVD-capitalize
  • e-mail-hyphenate
  • home page-two words
  • Internet-capitalize
  • intranet-lowercase
  • numbers-spell out numbers from one to one hundred, round numbers, and numbers at the beginning of a sentence, numerals in an address, with percentages, money and dates
  • online-one word, lowercase, do not hyphenate
  • percentages-use the numeral, followed by the word percent (e.g., 50 percent)
  • URL-capitalize
  • Web site, Web page -each is two words. Web is capitalized
  • World Wide Web-three words, capitalize. Use the Web on second reference

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

ACRL 14th National Conference Has a Call for the "3Es"

The Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) 14th National Conference pushing the edge: explore, engage, extend. The ACRL calls for the 3Big Es. It would be great to have a little break from everyday e-mails and techno-clutter! It could be very rewarding to experience something quite rare: to meet other librarians, in person, and have this special face-to face time with colleagues of the same profession. In addition, to attend targeting programs and exciting speakers would be wonderful, too! The workshop, conferences and meetings are for learning!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Eco-Friendly Practice

The implementation of the "LRC Digital Newsletter" is one of the modern eco-friendly practices.
The FREE virtual access saves money, time, paper, and reduces the meeting's ecological footprint by communicating online. Eco-friendly practice means a combo of social networking and transportation needs at any place and at any time - 24/7.

The newsletter has more then one possibilities
  • to explore new ideas
  • to engage in new learning
  • to extend collective vision of the future of the LRC and the traditional academic/or research library

Monday, December 1, 2008

The Winter Quarter 2008 Arrived and Is On!

The Winter Quarter 2008 (WQ'08) arrived on December 1st of this year.
For this moment, the main goal is to get LRC users on board to use the LRC Digital Newsletter.
If the objective is the student adoption to the LRC novelty, it doesn't matter how many faculty have embraced the technology.
Even a tiny percentage of faculty using a technology can still impact a huge percentage of students.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

American Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am very thankful for great happenings in the LRC. Thanks to the "Good Samaritans "that put the computer networking back together, students continue to use the LRC's multimedia. Thanks to the faculty members that assigned variety of topics for information research, our students brushed up the Virtual Library's browsing skills. This quarter, the extended appreciation went to the CNS/ISS program, in general, and, particularly, to two instructors - Mr. Vince Sanchez and Eddy Ruiz. They are the champions of the FQ'08 Virtual Library usage!

"American Thanksgiving"

Yellow, red, and crimson
Are the colors of fall.
As usual, we gather
Together
At our Thanksgiving’s tables
For pumpkins and apples.
And then there is more
In celebration
The miracles of fall:
Songs and poems presentations
Beside cookies and pies preparation.
The Mayflower’s history
Tells the pilgrims’ story.
Fall foliage
Is appreciated by person of any age.
A crunchy apple,
And yellow maple
Make autumn awesome!
Yellow, red and crimson…
I cannot stop thinking -
It is time to start giving
Like Johnny Appleseed.
We all can start to proceed.
Do not be afraid
To get aid!
Roll up your sleeves
And lead volunteers
To contribute to activities
In our communities!
There are time and talents
To help others
On Thanksgiving Days
In many different ways;
And then it will be more -
The help will come from every door.


2006 © Ida Tomshinsky

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

2008-2009 Goals and Objectives

LEARNING RESOURCE CENTER (LRC)
2008-2009 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES



1. Providing Information Literacy for General Educational and Professional Academic Programs

by recognizing the value of ongoing assimilation for study and learning process
by preserving the knowledge in the field
by targeting the “literacy challenge” in navigating throughout the assortment of digital resources at the Virtual Library to individuals with limited functional literacy or informational skills
by develop partnership with faculty members in reinforcing the value of information literacy
by using variety of instructional methods and emerging modern technologies for keeping current in the field
by integrating information literacy exercises into classroom time presentations


2. Normalizing the Access Services in the New Remodeled Facility for LRC

by settling in the new remodeled facility
by providing equitable access service to information and library services educational resources in a variety of formats, for students, and for faculty members
by continuing build the Library Collection on campus with emphases to new growing programs and up-dating the established programs
by creating inter-departmental connections and initiatives
by recognizing that value is in return


3. Providing Advocacy for Learning Resource Center (LRC) and the Profession

by variety of cultural and educational outreach programs and activities
by making the library experience always positive and rewarding
by raising the customer service bar
by considering the LRC the “third place” after home and work before the class start
by continuing education for professional development
by better interdepartmental communication

For This Student - It is Multimedia All the Way!

Library
Story


For Oneika Williams, the ITT Technical Institute’s Multimedia Program was a logical and carefully chosen field of study. After graduating a local high school in Miami, she decided to go to another side of the country to Hawaiian University. She was majoring in Computer Programming. She studied basic Japanese and Korean languages.

Oneika always were coming to school more early before the class start and spent a lot of time in the LRC. The peace of mind was also important for Oneika, who is comfortable by fact that “the library provides students with a gathering place that is computerized and supports their interest in gaming and programming.

One day, the Dean, Dr. K., invited Oneika to work for the LRC as a work-study student. As most of young adults’ students, Oneika likes computer games because they include the elements of computer programming. She always has a book with her for reading. She reads historical novels, biographies, nonfiction documentary stories on Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome civilizations. Oneika Williams not only likes to read, she also likes to write. She was writing novels since middle school time. Recently, she participated in the International Novel Contest that is held every year in November.

For her capstone project, she decided to do a project on Anime. She already started the early research by preparing herself for a successful final project. By now, it is her secret, and we will learn about it later on.

For Oneika, the Multimedia and LRC are two for one experience all the way!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Virtual Library Meets Information Literacy

The ITT Technical Institute offers an assortment of digital resources at the Virtual Library (VL) for students and faculty members. To get connected to e-books, databases and other electronic resources take the "literacy challange." All you need to do is pick a category to start your adventure! If you ready to hit the road, do not forget to check with your librarian who can help you navigate your journey.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Third Millennium Library

Third Millennium Library

The 21st century modern library
Is both wordy and worldly
Because of the bookshelves of books
And website Internet
That allows easily and fast outlooks
To connect,
To modern concepts and ideas,
To understand different topics
That helps users to get the extras
From basic fundamentals to classics –
In history and mathematics,
Culture and ethics.
Every moment that spends in the library
Enhances the books’ lovers daily boundary
Of science and business,
News frontiers and economics,
Novels, poems, novellas,
Architectural sketches,
Caricatures and other bellas
We are enjoying,
Let us have a fantastic beginning!
We are rethinking
The daring journey of reading!
In the “De la Libra”
“L” stands for Lea
So, see yah,
At the Libreria!

2008 © Ida Tomshinsky

Welcome

Welcome to the "LRC Digital Newsletter!"

The mission of this blog is to advertise Learning Resources Center (LRC) resources and services on-site and virtually in the LRC blog to feel connected to the LRC place and focus on human connection with student-faculty body.

I believe that the "LRC Digital Newsletter" will become a librarian voice in social networking environment.

After all, we will focus on usage technology for information literacy in the LRC of the 21st century.

Ida Tomshinsky
LRC
Librarian