Free Video Lectures from Top Scholars

Check out the Academic Earth web site to view and listen to free lectures from the top scholars at Berkeley, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and Yale. Below is a review of Academic Earth reviewed in the July 2009 issue of Choice Reviews Online:

“Academic Earth, an entrepreneurial effort that is free online, is “an organization founded with the goal of giving everyone on earth access to a world-class education.” Six top-rated universities and their scholars provide more than 1,500 videos of courses and individual guest lectures that take place in the classroom. No registration is required and no credit is given. Optional registration allows users to save favorite lectures and post comments.

Video and audio portions of each lecture are excellent throughout. Users may select lectures/courses by browsing among the 17 discipline areas–from astronomy to religion–and by instructor, institution, or featured course/lecture.

An advanced search feature offers 32 subjects and filters for narrowing a search. Searching and navigation are easy and download-time, to either a PC or an iPod, is fast.  Lectures run from approximately 40 to 90 minutes, and courses are composed of approximately 20 to 45 lectures.

Many lectures feature related materials, including transcripts, PowerPoint slides, assignments, readings, and more. Students can assign grades to each course, and lecture and grade averages are posted. The FAQ file is a good way to start, and a feedback form is readily available for comments and questions.

Similar sites do not compare, including MIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm (CH, Aug’07, 44-6573; course materials only), and Apple’s iTunesU http://www.apple.com/education/mobile-learning/ (individual lectures and short video clips). Academic Earth is more inclusive–offering full lectures, courses, and related materials all in one place.

It would be of great use to students and other Internet users who want to learn more about a topic. Some academic disciplines are missing, e.g., art, sociology, and geology, but new material is regularly added, and most likely this user-friendly site will expand its offerings.

Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates, general audience, and professionals.” 

– B. Anderson, Northern Illinois University

Announcement! New Website

Those of you who view our blog in your favorite RSS reader probably haven’t noticed, but we updated our blog design with a new header.  The new header reflects JSRCC’s colors a little more, and it also reflects our new website design!

We’ve now have our own server, so the URL will change from http://www.reynolds.edu/library to http://library.reynolds.edu. Subsequently, almost every old URL will have a different URL. The new site is live, so feel free to check it out and see some of the enhanced new features; we’d love your feedback and questions. 

As of August 5, 2009, the library website officially change to the new server, so please make sure you update your bookmarks before then. If you have trouble doing this, or locating a page on the new site, please contact us!

Book Clubs

Stephen Colbert finds his own book hilarious

If you’re looking for a forum to discuss your summer reading, or looking for ideas for what to read, Stephen Colbert, of his eponymous Colbert Report on Comedy Central, has started a book club.

While not the most, er, scholarly, of book clubs, it should undoubtedly be entertaining. If Colbert Nation isn’t really your thing, there are other online book clubs at http://onlinebookclub.org/ and of course, Oprah’s book club.

If you’re looking for a local book club, try searching meetup.com; they have at least a few local book clubs , and there’s a group, RVA_Reads on Yahoo!Groups. Henrico Public Library also has book discussions at most of their branches.

Let us know in the comments if you know of other local book clubs; we’d love to add them to the list!

Sign-up for a Free Library Workshop!

      

Sign-up for a free library workshop to improve your: research skills, grades, overvall academic achievement, and lifelong learning. Workshops being offered for the summer semester include:

• Research the Smart Way 
  General introduction to the services and resources available at JSRCC Library. Topics covered include sources for topic ideas and overviews, strategies for searching the library catalog and online databases, how to access licensed library databases from off-campus, how to obtain the full text of an article, and the differences between using Google and licensed library databases.
• MS Word & PowerPoint Basics 
  A quick overview of how to do basic functions in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint 2007, from how-to print & save, to basic formatting issues.  Time will be provided for specific questions.

Click here to register online.  Use can also click on Library Workshops, from the JSRCC Library’s home page.

If you would like further information on the workshops offered this semester, contact the Reference Desk.

All things Tudor

Has the Showtime series, The Tudors, peaked your interest in the history of Tudor England?  Then check out the latest Internet Resources column from the May 2009 issue of ACRL’s College & Research Libraries News.  In recognition of the 500th anniversary of the coronation of King Henry VIII, Michele Frasier-Robinson has put together a collection of web sites dedicated to this significant era in history.

NPR’s Summer Reading List

Looking for something to read while lounging by the pool or beach? National Public Radio has just released their 2009 Summer Reading List, and it has everything from fiction to cookbooks. Happy reading!

Trial Databases

We have some trial databases to share with you! Please feel free to send feedback, either here, or email us. We’d love to hear from you.

Current Trial Databases

• Access World News
• Richmond Times Dispatch
• A to Z Maps Online
• Global Road Warrior
• Credo Reference

Note: the trials are based on IP addresses, so you will have to be on an on-campus computer in order to try the databases.

Poetry: A Cure for the Soul

Poetry: A Cure for the Soul
A poetry display at the Downtown Campus Library with some of our favorite poems.

New PRC Library Suffers Flooding

Library soaking May 7, 2009

What an uproar in the library this morning when security officers opening the building discovered flooding in the library near the reference area. Both levels of the building took on damage. Computers, books, and furniture had to be cleared from the area and the surfaces dried and treated.

We are having finals and would normally strive for quiet study spaces, but it is a very noisy morning. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Flooding downstairs, May 7, 2009

New digital audiobooks, videos, and music!

Over 300 new titles have been added to our OverDrive digital media collection of audiobooks, videos, and music.  These digital resources can be downloaded on your home computer, a compatible portable device or burned to a CD.  Each title will clearly indicate what your downloading options are.  You will need to download the OverDrive Media Console software to play any media from this collection.  Items are checked out to you using your – My JSRCC login.  You can have up to 2 titles checked out at any one time.

For more information or assistance in using media from the OverDrive collection, contact the Reference Desk.  You can also check out our Getting Started Guide or the help information provided on the OverDrive web site.