Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Fair Trade Event Tomorrow!

Chestnut Hill College is dedicated to issues of social justice and stewardship of the Earth. The Mission of the college is to provide holistic education that includes, "...service to one another and to the global community, and concern for the Earth."

The Fair Trade Event -- 1-5 p.m. in the St. Joe's Rotunda -- gives us all a chance to put our money where our hearts are. If you don't find everything you need there, here are some links to high-interest, low-impact gift alternatives:

  • Ten Thousand Villages Fairly traded handicrafts from around the world. 8331 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118.

  • Handcrafting Justice A fair trade partnership working with women struggling for economic justice and independence in developing countries. 8540 Verree Rd. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111

  • Joe Coffee Bar Fair trade, shade grown, organic and estate coffees. 1100 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA

  • Heifer International Giving a life sustaining gift of farm animals as a gift in the name of someone on your gift-giving list.

  • Equal Exchange Coffee Organic, gourmet coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, and chocolate bars produced by democratically run farmer co-ops in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

  • Fair Trade Federation List of members with on-line catalogs.

  • Thanksgiving Coffee Company Another fair trade coffee company.

  • Kokopelli's Green Market Environmentally friendly products and fast delivery!
If you like another fair and environmentally friendly place, let us know!

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Holiday Shopping Tips for College Students (and Everyone Else!)

Tip #1 Consumer Reports is getting the message out with full-page newspaper ads telling consumers NOT to fall for the extended warranty sales pitch. Read the article, Extended Warranty Hooey in the August 2006 issue at the Library (page 70), or right here to find out why.

Tip #2 Save time shopping:
  • Shop on Mondays or Tuesdays, preferably before noon
  • Make a list, and don't get sidetracked by that extra cute thing for someone already checked off
  • Shop on the Internet (see the next tip!)
Tip #3 Tips for on-line shopping safety from the Federal Trade Commission. (Here are the highlights):
  • Order only on a secure server
  • Know who you're dealing with
  • Check delivery dates
  • Check shipping and handling fees
  • Keep receipts & website printouts
And of course, since shopping on-line is the fastest, easiest way to compare prices, do it and get the best deal you can!

With all the spare time you save shopping early and/or on-line, you'll have time to work on this:

Crossword Puzzle
ACROSS
1. Nickname for the Internet
4. Vendors
6. Federal agency charged with protecting consumer rights
7. First letters of most web addresses
8. Santa's gift delivery method
11. Gadget clicked on the computer
12. A consumer transaction
13. Web location of a business, organization or person
14. Computer symbol
19. Federal _____ Commission
20. Symbol often used to identify that a server is secure during online transmissions
21. Personal information to protect during online transactions
23. Time of celebration
26. Activity done under mistletoe
27. On a computer
28. Trickery
29. Santa's Work____
DOWN
2. Kind of tree gifts are placed under
3. Safest type of card to use to pay for online purchases
5. Software required to access the Internet
9. North Pole workers
10. Encryption often used to transmit financial information online
13. Red-garbed man who brings holiday gifts
15. Holiday song
16. Common delivery method for online purchases
17. Kind of vendor to buy from
18. Method of paying with money when items are delivered
21. Identification used to access a computer or network
22. Person to protect online transmissions from
24. Snoozing
25. A present

Puzzle Solution

But don't forget to study for those exams!

Monday, November 27, 2006

Word of the Day



Firedrake: A creature of Teutonic mythology; usually represented as breathing fire and having a reptilian body and sometimes wings.

Decidedly not a Griffin!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Senior Seminar Help!


We received this blog comment:

“Make sure to put lots of

information on stereotypes

of African Americans in the media

on the blog. I need my senior

seminar to be perfect!”

You’ve come to the right place!

(Any other requests?)


Stereotyping in the Media

Articles:

  • Using EBSCOhost’s Sociology databases, you can see a big difference between entering the phrase media stereotyping (which returns only a few, mostly about stereotyping women) and entering these individual search terms in separate boxes:

media
stereotype

  • To search within the 1,180 hits (this number changes as new resources are added), click on term in left hand menu called "STEREOTYPES (Social psychology)" and see that now you have about a hundred well-targeted hits.

The huge term ( media and stereotype ) and DE "STEREOTYPES (Social psychology) in mass media" will be sitting in your first search box.

  • Add an additional search term to the second search box to narrow your focus, like: African American or black

Do separate searches, or type black OR African American in the second box to combine the search.

(Note: African Americans returns only half the results as African American (not plural). Keep it simple for the best results.)

If your topic is about another stereotyped group of people, adjust your search terms accordingly. Remember to look for synonyms.

Books:

  • Select SEPCHEcat from the FirstSearch databases list.
  • Search for media stereotype. (To narrow further add black OR African American or another stereotyped group.)
  • Add another term to narrow your results further.
  • If the book is available at Logue Library, you will see the Chestnut Hill College logo next to it.
  • If it is not at Logue Library, you can click the Libraries: All SEPCHE Libraries: link to see which SEPCHE library owns the book. You can then travel to that library and check it out, just like you would here.
  • If you can’t get to the SEPCHE library, Interlibrary Loan is available.
  • To broaden your search to libraries worldwide, change the database you are searching to WorldCat.

E-Books:

  • Go to NetLibrary and search for media stereotype.
  • Add another term to narrow your results further.
  • When you find a book of interest, click on it and then browse by chapters listed in the left menu, or use the search box to find specific ideas inside the book.
  • Click the link at the top of the NetLibrary home page to "create a free account" while you are on campus, so that you can use NetLibrary from any Internet connection.
Good luck and . . don't forget to cite your sources!


Monday, November 13, 2006

Art & Literature Students: Check out this Gallery!


Did you see the link included in a comment to the Melville post? It links to the website for the Rosenbach Museum & Library.

Maurice Sendak fans, take note: This beloved author & illustrator is featured in a permanent installation. The Maurice Sendak Gallery combines the artist's notes with interviews and works from the collection to demonstrate the challenges of creating a picture book.

This exhibition is a must see! Among Sandak's awards are the 1964 Caldecott Book Medal for the illustrations in Where the Wild Things Are and the 1970 International Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustrations.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Weekly Brain Teaser - This week: Herman Melville

Most people know that Herman Melville was the author of "Moby-Dick" (often spelled as two separate words) but there was a lot more to the man than this. See if you can answer these questions about Herman Melville and his work.

(Compliments of Xreferplus)

  • Questions:
    1. In which American city was Herman Melville born?
    2. What was the name of the captain in "Moby-Dick" who led the voyage to kill the white sperm whale?
    3. Was Melville's "Billy Budd" published before or after his death?
    4. What is the opening sentence of "Moby-Dick"?
    5. Name one of the five novels which Melville published before "Moby-Dick".
    6. To which English port did Melville sail in 1839?
    7. Where did Melville work from 1866 to 1885?
    8. Which British composer wrote an opera, first performed in 1951, called "Billy Budd" which was based on Melville's book of the same title?
    9. Herman Melville dedicated his "Moby-Dick" to which other writer?
    10. Which islands are the setting for Melville's novel "Typee"?

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Newsflash! Citation Machine Upgrade


As of today, the Landmark’s Son of Citation Machine now includes Chicago Style! Now you can cite sources in all of your subjects using Son of Citation Machine.

Question and Answer


You need quick statistical information, or just advice concerning a complex research question. How will you answer your questions? We’ve been trying out a couple of new on-line reference resources that will help get you the right information fast.

  • We've already introcuded you to AskHerePA, a 24/7 chat reference service. It's staffed by reference librarians at all times, so if you have a question any time of the day or night, log in and ask away!
  • Also new to us is XReferPlus The world's largest online reference collection, containing full-text content — 1.8 million entries and 40 million cross-reference links — covering every subject imaginable, from music to law to business and more, plus language dictionaries, conversion guides, and computer jargon. Check it out!

These are two brand-new references resources, available for the Chestnut Hill College community to use on or off campus. Let us know how they work for you.

XReferPlus has Entertainment Value!

Oh, yawn, you say? Reference books? Well, who wouldn't love to look through "Rawson's Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk"?

This dictionary takes the phrase you're looking for, defines it, and shows how it has been used.

For example, under "highly confidential (or sensitive) source" it says:

  • "A hidden microphone or wiretap, a bug; FBI-ese, from the long (1924-72) reign of J. Edgar Hoover as director of the Bureau. Such bugs often were emplaced during illegal black bag jobs, with the result that information from them had to be reported discreetly. For example, an agent might say that a *highly placed sensitive source of known reliability* was contacted and furnished items of personality (New York Times, 9/23/80)."
and

  • "Inanimate highly confidential sources, used in technical surveillance, should not be confused with the animate though usually cold-blooded confidential informant or source and source of information, i.e., an informer, a.k.a. informant. "

Wait, what is a "black bag job?" Hmmmnn... it says here:

  • "An illegal entry by a government employee, typically a member of the FBI or CIA, in order to gain information or to install a highly confidential source (a bug). "

This definition goes on for quite a while, and says it might be obsolete by now, but hey, for when you're watching those old movies, right???

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Coming up on Crunch Time


What’s not to love about November? The Autumn sky, crisp air, Thanksgiving holiday.... And those research paper deadlines!
  • Check the Links on the left for direct access to EBSCOhost and FirstSearch databases.
  • Click here for some tips on writing a good paper.

Don’t forget to cite your sources!

Here are the two most popular methods reported by users of Logue Library:

  • The Landmark Citation Machine – Now called “Son of Citation Machine.” This is the fill-in-the-blank-and-click-submit citation generator for APA and MLA styles.
  • The Duke University Libraries “Works Cited” page, which shows examples of APA and MLA, as well as the Chicago Style, used by the CHC History Department.

Concerned about Plagiarism?

  • Check here for some “dos” and “don’ts.”
  • If your professor requires it, submit your paper to TurnItIn.com.