Month: January 2009

Back of the Class: Week 1

The depth of my originality sticks to “of the” ilk.

This is the first of at least weekly posts about the class I’m now taking at JCCC, and more specifically, what the library can offer in expanding the value of the class.

I’m currently enrolled in an Interior Design class, and the very first day, we went to the library to learn about several databases which can assist you.  Due to the generality of “first days”, today’s post is quite general as well.

Most of the information covered in the librarian presentation is available on this LibGuide. In addition to the LibGuide, keep in mind that we still get products.  Take, for example, this gem:

Opportunities in Interior Design and Decorating Careers is a book that was added just today that came across the New Item RSS feed. Much like other disciplines taught at JCCC, we’re constantly developing the collection for users with up-to-date and relevant materials.  Unfortunately, we take a pass on purchasing textbooks, but nobody’s perfect.

Plug In Your Car for the Book of the Day

Long ago, I lived next to a high school shop teacher.  The only cool thing about that was that he loved to tinker, and did so with electric vehicles.  His first was an uncomfortable folding chair welded to a flat platform on 4 wheels.  Under the chair sat a car battery, and buttons rested under the natural spot to rest your feet, one button on each side.  When you pressed both buttons, you went straight.  Just the right, you’d turn right, and left turned you left.  It was a pretty neat toy for his son, and he didn’t have to buy a Power Wheels.

Build Your Own Electric Vehicle by Seth Leitman is a big more complicated than welding a chair down.  This book goes through the steps of creating your own electric engine, converting a gas-powered vehicle to support an electric engine, and also weighs pros and cons (such as safety vs. vehicle weight and speed) in trying to get your vehicle greener.  Of course, I don’t know if my shop-teacher neighbor was really concerned about going green (the guy had two trucks and an SUV), but were I into mechanics, it would probably be fun to convert a vehicle just to say I did.

Your Book of the Day is Down in the Water

So our system for adding new books to the catalog is back on track, and our catalogers (cataloggers?  I think those are lumberjack librarians…) have added about seventy new books for me to peruse.  So today’s book, we’ll go with something timely.

plane

Ah, yes.  Flight and American Airports.  Luckily, one of the many books that’s been waiting to reach you patrons is Terminal chaos : why US air travel is broken and how to fix it by George L. Donohue (and friends).

They’re seasoned veterans in the commercial flight industry, and take the time to break down the problems of increased flight demand, safety concerns, lost luggage, and airplane safety.  Moreover, our complacency with the lack of safety.  Yes, the plane landed in water last week.  Yay.  For real.  Good.  I’m happy, and you should be, too.  However, no one seems to be letting go of the feel good side of the story and realize that you don’t have to take this.  Lazy legislation and complacency from the public have left airlines a lot more dangerous than they should be, and this book shows how this can be addressed, and in a timely manner nonetheless.  Hopefully, before March, as I’ve got a plane to catch.

Yes We Can… Update the Blog

Happy Inauguration Day! Just a quick technical update from the library’s digital projects. One of our systems has been down for a couple weeks, preventing a feed of new books from coming in our RSS feed.  Since there’s been no new arrivals, we haven’t had any Books of the Day to write about.

Also, since class started on a Wednesday last week, our new project, based on a Tuesday class, hasn’t happened yet.  But! after tonight, I should have some experiences to share about what I learn and what the library can do to reinforce my experience.

Either way, exciting stuff, and sorry for the delays!  We’re not gone, we’re just slow recovering from the holidays.

We Return: Book of the Day

As you’re all busy, for sure, with new activities in a new year, I’m sure we haven’t been too awfully missed.  But! we are back, and the first Book of the Day for 2009 is: After the Taliban: Nation-Building in Afghanistan by James F. Dobbins, a former ambassador for the USA to the European Union.

I don’t think its much of a secret that the United States isn’t all that popular in a lot of places due to the last 8 years and decisions the government has made in regards to war in other nations.  Dobbins discusses his role in re-establishing a government once the Taliban was taken out of power in Afghanistan.  Why is the opinion of Dobbins important?  He’s a guy who has helped rebuild Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo, and he’s not afraid to tell you how the U.S. War cabinet shot itself in the foot (figuratively, not like Plaxico Burress) and broke down over Afghan issues. It is a straight forward account of a man doing his job.  It just so happens that his job affects at least two nations and all of their members.