September 20, 2012

Free Google Power Searcher Course: Starts 9/24

Registration is now open for a free Power Searching course offered by Google. The course starts September 24 and you'll learn how to move beyond basic Googling to take advantage of many special search features.

Register now to complete the course alongside a community of global participants. You'll get support from Google course staff and earn an official Power Searching with Google certificate upon completion.

Learn to get more out of your searches!

September 7, 2012

New e-Resource Helps Identify Leading Sources for Research

Oxford Bibliographies is a new e-Resource available from Marymount College Library that helps researchers quickly identify the most important writings on hundreds of topics.

With all the information that one can quickly find on a topic, one of the biggest challenges researchers face is knowing where to start.  What is considered essential reading, those books and articles that break new ground and are fundamental to understanding the contours of a topic of inquiry?  Oxford Bibliographies is a collection of annotated bibliographies on hundreds of topics in five broad subject areas:  biblical studies, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and education.

The subject areas include a growing list of key topics in their respective fields of study.  Each of these topical entries gives the reader overviews of the topic as well as an understanding of various sub-topics.  Most importantly, the entries provide an annotated bibliography for all aspects of the topic, enabling the researcher to quickly learn which works are considered seminal and why.  Links to the library's catalog make it easy to find the cited works at Marymount or to borrow them from another library.

To begin using Oxford Bibliographies, click here.  Links to the bibliographies are also available from the library's e-Resources guide.

September 5, 2012

One Campus One Book 2012: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Marymount College Library launches its 8th annual campus-wide common reading program, One Campus One Book,with this year's selection "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot.

Chosen as a Best Book of the Year by more than 60 publications, including New York Times, The New Yorker, People, USA Today, O, The Oprah Magazine, NPR, Boston Globe, Financial Times, Los Angeles TimesThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks beautifully tells the story of an episode in the medical profession that had far-reaching consequences.  In 1951, Henrietta Lacks was the unknowing donor of a cell line that is “immortal," the unique ability of her (cancerous) cells to be easily kept alive and grown, making them the medium through which many of the twentieth-century advancements in cell biology are derived.  The polio vaccine, for example, was developed through the use of HeLa cells, as they were named after the woman from which they originated.

The book also covers issues in civil rights, law, privacy, ethics, psychology, sociology, and business. Students and instructors will find many areas to explore, reflect on, and debate.

The college tradition of One Campus One Book invites participants to read and discuss the same book throughout the Fall semester with the purpose of meeting these objectives:

  • To provide a common connection between students, faculty, and staff, beginning when students arrive and lasting into the classroom.
  • To provide an interdisciplinary view of the diversity of our world through literature 
 
  • To provide an opportunity for students to understand their responsibility as engaged learners in an academic community. 
  • To emphasize the importance of critical thinking, reading, and writing in the college setting while challenging students to explore something new and different. 

Use this reading guide to help you reflect on the book and consider important questions raised such as:  Who actually “owns” the cells?  What happens when businesses start to profit in a big way both from the cells and the research they make possible? Do Henrietta Lacks’ descendants have any rights to the cells or the monies they generate?  What are the ethical considerations when working with human subjects?

A campus-wide book discussion is planned for November 16th, so be sure to mark your calendars and be sure to attend and share your own thoughts of the book with campus peers!

You can purchase The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks in the campus bookstore or borrow a copy from the Marymount library.

We look forward to another year of engaging and enlightening discussion!