Library Open on Election Day

November 2nd is election day and all Coastal Carolina classes are cancelled. However, the library will remain open 24 hours. Come take advantage of our 24 hour operation on Tuesday and if you have questions about where you can vote on election day - ask a librarian. :)

image from: flickr user ightee

Flip Cams at the Library!

Did you know that Flip Video Cameras are available at the Kimbel Library for checkout? They are one of the simplest shoot and share video cameras available. Flip Cams are able to record at least 30-60 minutes of action, including nearby sound, depending on the model. Simple edits to videos are possible and still pictures can even be extracted from videos taken with Flip Cams.

A picture is worth a thousand words professors! Be more productive and efficient with a Flip Cam in the classroom. Science labs, foreign language exercises, personal introductions in a distance learning situation and documenting experiences are just a few classroom uses of a Flip Cam.

The TEAL Center will be offering a Flip Cam session to faculty and staff on November 10, from 1:30 to 2:30. Go to http://www.coastal.edu/teal/training to sign up!

Vending Machines Now Available in Kimbel Library!

A drink machine has been installed on the first floor of Kimbel Library and will be available for that necessary late night caffeine fix. A snack machine will also be available as early as next week; and a machine offering basic supplies such as pens, pencils, aspirin, highlighters, notecards etc... will be open in the coming weeks. We are very excited about these new additions to Kimbel Library. VEND AWAY!

Happy Chantoberfest!

Chontoberfest is Coastal's theme for homecoming this year. Each year, offices across campus compete in a decoration contest and this year, Kimbel Library is in it to win it! Check out our Chantoberfest display near the main entrance of the library. Go Chants!!

Does the Library Have Textbooks?

Clever students will always pursue the answer to this question at some point during their attendance at Coastal Carolina University. Here is the answer: Yes and no.

Kimbel Library holds textbooks under certain conditions:
Some CCU Faculty members will choose to place the textbook for their course(s) on reserve at the library for their students to use. These textbooks are held in the "Course Reserve" area behind the KL Circulation Desk on the first floor. Course Reserves can be checked out for 3 hours at a time and can only be used in Kimbel Library.

Education majors who are specializing in primary or secondary education can find the textbooks their students will use in the "Media Textbook" area on the second floor.

Now for the "no" answer:
Kimbel Library doesn't have ALL textbooks for each course taken at CCU. The best way to find out if the library has a book that you need is to search our online catalog by the title of the book or search the author’s last name. If you find a book that isn’t on course reserve, it is probably going to be in the Main Stacks on the 2nd floor.

But before you get your hopes up, keep in mind that if we DO have textbooks that courses are using, they are usually difficult to find since the majority of CCU students also had your clever idea.

New Media Research Guides

Are you taking art or English; education or Spanish? If you are, then this blog’s for you. There are some new Research Guides in the library. The typical Guide is something you’re introduced to in library instruction. It fast tracks your research. These Guides are different. No databases or e-books. Instead, they introduce you to the library’s DVDs and young adult novels and children’s books and puppets (yes, puppets!). On the library’s home page, simple clicks of the mouse on the Research Guides’ “Subject” tab and then on the subject “Media Collection” get you to your destination.

So, if you’re taking English 102, the Literature DVDs Guide’s pages highlight the biographies of authors, as well as the novels, plays, poetry and short stories on DVD that are available for checkout. You’ll find everything from Oedipus the King to Hamlet to Death of a Salesman. And that’s just the drama! All DVDs are especially valuable to visual learners.

And speaking of visual learners…. With the Art DVDs Guide you’ll learn about artists , mediums, movements, periods and techniques. You’ll view the art of Dali and Lichtenstein, as well as the crafts of tattooing and quilting. The Guide also includes titles on long term loan from the National Gallery of Art, like The Art of Romare Bearden.

Are you taking Spanish? Do you need some extra credit? A source just might be found in one of the largest collections of Latin American and Spanish cinema in the Southeast. Watch Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem in their first movie together, Jamon, Jamon. Discover the films of Luis Bunuel, one of the most celebrated avant-garde directors of the twentieth century. Find these and hundreds of more DVDs and videotapes ready of extra credit viewing listed in the Spanish Language DVDs Guide.

If you’re an educator in the making, not one, not two, but three guides are for you. The Education DVDs Guide offers “hot topics” titles about bullying and literacy stations and corridors of shame, as well as additional pages featuring Movies about Teachers for EDUC 111 students; Diversity for EDUC 215 students, and Movies about People with Disabilities for EDLD 370 students. Are you looking for a good book (for an eight-year-old, that is)? The Juvenile Book Lists Guide includes everything that’s sure to please from fairy tales to chapter books. Oh, and if you’re in the market for a puppet to help you tell the tale, check out the Puppets page in the Resources for Education Majors Guide. When it’s time for a practicum or internship, select your teacher’s edition of a K-12 textbook from our Horry County’s Adopted Textbooks Guide.

So,…classes are done for the day and you’re in the mood for a good read that’s not from a textbook. Check out the library’s award-winning young adult titles listed by subject in the YA & Children’s Lit Book Lists Guide. Curl up with a book by Laurie Halse Anderson or Neil Gaiman or Jon Krakauer or Stephenie Meyer.