Take a Lynda.com course over break!

Looking for something to do over your semester break?  How about taking a class with Lynda!  Lynda.com has just announced several new classes that are available this winter.  As a member of the Columbia College Chicago community, you have free access to over 60,000 training classes and videos offered at Lynda.com.

Here are just a few of these new classes - visit Lynda.Com to see all of the classes offered.

Up and Running with iCloud

In this course, author Christopher Breen shows you the basics of using iCloud on Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and iCloud.com. Discover how to access and synchronize your mail, calendars, contacts, documents, apps, and music—keeping your data backed up but still in arm´s reach. The course also shows how to share photos, upgrade your music library to 256 kbps AAC, and keep your notes, bookmarks, and reminders in sync.  

Gmail for Power Users

In this course, Susan Metz shows how to personalize email, manage multiple accounts, and be more productive with the Google email service. The course offers tips and tricks for customizing Gmail to suit your needs; working efficiently with shortcuts; taking advantage of labels; integrating with Calendar, Google Docs, and social media; using voice and video chat; implementing time management in Gmail; and much more.  This course was updated on Dec 03, 2012. 

InDesign Secrets

In this series, David Blatner and Anne-Marie Concepción, co-hosts of the web´s top resource for InDesign tips and tricks, InDesignSecrets.com, share some hidden and sometimes surprising workflow tips that will make working in InDesign more efficient and more fun. The course covers built-in timesaving features such as Quick Apply and auto-expanding text, but also little–known tricks, such as using the eyedropper to copy and paste character and paragraph text attributes and making accurate selections by selecting through or even into objects.  New techniques will be added to the collection every other week, so check back early and often. Find more tips and tricks at indesignsecrets.com.  This course was updated on Dec 06, 2012.

Sharing Photos with Instagram

With the Instagram mobile app and photo-sharing service, you can use your Android or iOS device to snap a photo, apply creative filter effects, and then share it with millions of Instagram users—and on Facebook and Twitter, too. In this course, Justin Seeley details the ins and outs of the Instagram app and sharing service. The course contains tips on shooting photos using the Instagram app and also describes how to edit and enhance photos taken with Instagram or imported from another app.  Justin then details the process of posting photos to Instagram and adding descriptive tags, captions, and location information. The final chapter offers insights on building a community of followers and on enhancing your Instagram experience with additional apps and services.

Deke's Techniques

Deke´s Techniques is a collection of short Photoshop and Illustrator projects and creative effects that can be completed in ten minutes or less. The series is taught by computer graphics guru Deke McClelland, and presented in his signature step–by–step style. The intent is to reveal how various Photoshop and Illustrator features can be combined and leveraged in real–world examples so that they can be applied to creative projects right away.  New techniques will be added to the collection each week. Exercise files accompany the course.  This course was updated on Dec 11, 2012.

Library Hours: Week of Dec. 17 - 21

The Library will be open this week during the following hours:  Monday Dec.17 - Thursday Dec.20, 2012 from 8:00am - 5:00pm

Columbia College Chicago will be closed Friday, Dec. 21, 2012 through Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 for the Holiday Break.  

The Library will reopen on Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 8:00am.

Free Coffee in the Library During Finals Week!

Studying late for finals?  Working on that last project before the end of the semester?  Need a little pick me up?

Stop by the Library for free coffee during finals week to help get you through those long hours before Holiday Break!

When and where, you ask?

Monday December 10th - Thursday December 13th, 2012 from 6:00-9:00pm at the Coffee Cart (first floor), courtesy of your friends here at the Library!

Good luck on finals and safe travels!

The Giving Tree - Helping Chicago Children in Need

The Center for Community Arts Partnerships (CCAP) and the Columbia College Chicago Library have partnered to bring the Columbia community an opportunity to give a gift to child in need. 

The Giving Tree provides an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff from Columbia College Chicago to purchase a gift for a student at one of Columbia's partner elementary schools. View a video about The Giving Tree program here.

The tree will be located across from the Circulation desk in the Library beginning Friday, November 30th. It will contain ornaments representing each child in need, and the gift that they would like for the holiday season. 

 

Students, faculty and staff can then select a child's gift by pulling the corresponding ornament off the tree, and check out their ornament at the Library Circulation desk. Ornament holders will then purchase the gift noted on the ornament, and bring the ornament and wrapped gift to the Library Circulation Desk by 8pm on December 12th*. Gifts will be delivered to students at a holiday party on their last day of school before break. 

Please address all Giving Tree questions to givingtree@ccap.colum.edu.

GoPrint Cards (aka, OMNIPRINT) now available in the Library

GoPrint Vending Machine

GoPrint Station

The Library is now able to provide print cards for purchase.  The OMNIPRINT CARD  is available via the GoPrint Vending Machine on the first floor of the Library near the staircase. This service is available to ALL library visitors.

The initial purchase of the card requires $1.00; 50 cents is deducted for the card, and the remaining credit is for future print use.  Print cards can have more credits added with paper cash; coins are not accepted by the card dispenser. Each printed page costs 10 cents.

 

Omniprint Card

Unless you plan to do a lot of printing, we suggest that you add only enough money for immediate printing needs or to keep a small amount of credit on your print card in case it is lost or stolen.  If either happens, you will need to purchase a new card.

The OMINIPRINT CARD works only on the first floor black and white printer, and all print jobs are retrieved on the first floor  If you have questions, the Access Services Staff will be able to assist you.

Please note that the OMNIPRINT CARD is not for use with copiers.

Final Fridays Begin Friday 11/30/12

The Columbia College Chicago Library will be offering extended hours on the last three Fridays of the Fall 2012 Semester.  We will be open until 8:00pm on the following Fridays:

• Friday, November 30, 2012
• Friday, December 7, 2012
• Friday, December 14, 2012

For assistance or more information, visit us in person at 624 S. Michigan, call us at 312-369-7900 or online at www.lib.colum.edu.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 11/25

Each year, November 25th marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.  Adopted as Resolution 54/134 by the United Nations in 1999, the date is used to highlight international commitments towards the prevention of and end to gender-based violence. For 2012, United Nations Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet calls on all heads of state and government to make new commitments and take strong national action to protect women and girls. To watch her statement, it can be found here.

The date honors the memory of three sisters, Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa Mirabal from the Dominican Republic, who were killed on November 25th, 1960 for their political activism against the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. These young women, known as "Las Mariposas" (The Butterflies) sacrificed their lives for freedom and democracy and became a symbol of the crisis of violence against women in Latin America. A fourth sister, Dede Mirabal who remains in the Dominican Republic, works to keep the memory of her sisters alive at the Museo Hermanas Mirabal near the city of Salcedo.

Visit the Library to find more information regarding the Mirabal sisters. One suggested resource is Code Name: Butterflies,  a 2008 documentary about the lives of  Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa and Dede Mirabal now available in the library audiovisual collection.  Shot in the Dominican Republic, the film features interviews by family, friends and fellow activists who worked with them during the Trujillo era. See the trailer below:

The Mirabal sisters are also the subjects of In the Time of the Butterflies, a fictionalized account of their lives written by noted author, Julia Alvarez.  In the Time of the Butterflies is the featured book for the The Big Read at Columbia College Chicago in spring 2013.  More information will be available in early February 2013.

Library awarded first Faculty & Staff Excellence Award

Photo by Dominic Rossetti

The Columbia College Chicago Library has been awarded the first Faculty & Staff Excellence Award from the Office of Alumni Relations.  

The Library was nominated by Cynthia Vargas, Associate Director of Alumni Events & Programs.  Cynthia stated, "There was no question for me who deserved this the most and who I wanted to nominate.  All of you have been essential and wonderful to work with over the years.  Your continued partnership and the willingness to showcase alumni work is much appreciated".

The award was presented at the Alumni Weekend Alumni & Student Luncheon on Saturday, September 29th, 2012.  Accepted on behalf of the Library staff were Library Dean Jan Chindlund, Head of College Archives, Heidi Marshall and Head of Marketing, Outreach and Special Initiatives, Kim Hale.

Art in the Library Reception 11/15 5-7pm

Art in the Library Opening & Reception

Thursday, November 15, 2012, 5:00-7:00pm
Columbia College Chicago Library
624 S. Michigan Ave.
3rd Floor North

Join us - Thursday, November 15, 2012 from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. for the Art in the Library Opening and Reception for the Fall 2012 Exhibition in 3rd floor north.

Presenting the work of Columbia College Chicago students, faculty, staff and alumni, the Art in the Library program exhibits works in all forms of visual arts, including sculpture, painting, drawings, and paper and book arts. Exhibitions by different artists are shown quarterly on a rotating basis.

Light refreshments will be served.

Vision. Sound. Movement.
The Art in the Library program at Columbia College Chicago provides an open, supportive and inviting setting to showcase the talent and creativity of our own community of artists. Since its inception in 2002, Art in the Library has offered library visitors the opportunity to experience the rich cultural diversity and progressive attitudes which thrive in the Columbia environment.

The Art in the Library Committee welcomes all Columbia College Chicago artists to submit work for consideration.

Please visit the Art in the Library website for more information including submission guidelines, artwork forms, and examples of current and former exhibits.

Lynda.Com and Safari Tech Books

Lynda.com

     AND

 Safari Tech Books

Lynda.Com and Safari Tech Books - a winning combination!  Lynda.com has just announced several new classes that are available this Fall.  As a member of the Columbia College Chicago community, you have free access to over 60,000 training classes and videos offered at Lynda.com.  So take a class with Lynda and then follow up by browsing some of the 15,000 online Tech Books available in the eBook Database, Safari Tech Books.

Here are some of the new classes being offered at Linda.com:

InDesign Secrets  with David Blatner and Anne-Marie Concepcion

In this series, David Blatner and Anne-Marie Concepción, co-hosts of the web’s top resource for InDesign tips and tricks, InDesignSecrets.com, share some hidden and sometimes surprising workflow tips that will make working in InDesign more efficient and more fun. The course covers built-in timesaving features such as Quick Apply and auto-expanding text, but also little-known tricks, such as using the eyedropper to copy and paste character and paragraph text attributes and making accurate selections by selecting through or even into objects.  This course was updated on Oct 25, 2012.  duration: 6h 11m

InDesign for Web Design  with Michael Murphy

InDesign offers unique advantages for kick-starting a website design, such as its unmatched typographic control, pixel-perfect positioning, and fluid, intuitive layout environment. InDesign offers designers who want to quickly create webpage prototypes a powerful toolset with robust text and object styles, page grid features, and interactivity—and none of the limitations of Photoshop, complexities of Dreamweaver, or burdens of hand-coding HTML and CSS. This course shows aspiring web designers how to set up documents for the web, utilize web fonts for maximum compatibility, design a navigation bar, and even mimic CSS with InDesign styles. The final chapter shows how to export your mockups as HTML, CSS, PDF, SWF, and web-optimized images that can be shown to clients or quickly published to the web. duration: 5h 7m

InDesign FX  with Mike Rankin

InDesign FX is a collection of self-contained effects projects designed to be completed in ten minutes or less. Taught by expert Mike Rankin, the series explores every aspect of InDesign’s graphic effects capabilities through real-world examples, all without relying on Photoshop or Illustrator. The intent is to reveal the quick, practical, and sometimes surprising application of InDesign effects to creative projects. This course was updated on Oct 18, 2012.  duration: 5h 18m

Now follow up with some easy to access reference materials at Safari Tech Books:

Adobe InDesign CS6 On Demand

Digital Publishing with Adobe InDesign CS6

InDesign CS6 Visual Quickstart Guide

Real World Adobe InDesign CS6

Click here for more information about Safari Tech Books at Columbia

Jan Chindlund named Dean of the Library

 

Jan Chindlund has been promoted to Dean of the Library at Columbia College Chicago. Since coming to Columbia as Library Director in 2007, Chindlund has managed the Library and promoted a strong culture of service to students, faculty, and staff. She has also served on numerous college-wide committees, including the academic team of the Blueprint | Prioritization process. Prior to coming to Columbia, Chindlund served as head librarian and group project manager for McDonald’s Global Business Research Information Center, which she established. 

Dean Chindlund holds a master's degree in Library Science from Dominican University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science, and an MBA with a concentration in Innovation and Technology from Benedictine University.

Chindlund has published and spoken widely on a range of subjects. Among her many individual awards and honors, she has received eight team awards, and is known as an outstanding collaborator and Library leader.

"Columbia is fortunate to have Jan at the helm of the Library and as a college-wide citizen," said Louise Love, vice president for Academic Affairs and interim provost. "Her leadership will be especially crucial as the Library plans its move to a state-of-the-art facility in the Johnson Building."

New Electronic Resources in the Library

The Library has recently added some exciting new resources to its electronic collection.  Here are some of the new tools you can use in your online information gathering:

SimplyMap is an award-winning, web-based mapping application that changes the way you use and interact with complex data. SimplyMap enables non-technical and advanced users to quickly create professional thematic maps and reports using powerful demographic, business, and marketing data.  SimplyMap has all the data you need to answer key research questions, make sound business decisions, and understand the socio-demographic and economic conditions of any geographic area in the United States. The database currently offers more than 75,000 data variables related to demographics, employment, housing, market segments, businesses, consumer spending, brand preferences, and public health.

For more information about how to use SimplyMap, click here:  SimplyMap Research Guide

State Stats is a new database from CQ Press that delivers a dynamic and engaging user experience that is unmatched in other resources. Featuring data from more than 80 different government and non-government sources and backed by a rich collection of more than 2,000 current and historical data series on popular topics of research interest, State Stats uniquely allows users to discover, view, and export key information measures for the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

State Stats makes research easy by providing in one place annual measures dating back more than 15 years. Data series are displayed in a clear and consistent format with detailed source information. Numerous topics are covered in categories including: Agriculture; Crime and Law Enforcement; Defense; Demographic; Economics; Education; Employment and Labor; Geography, Energy, and the Environment; Health and Medicine; Social Welfare; Taxes and Government Finance; Teaching and Education; Transportation.

For more information about how to use State Stats, click here: StateStats Research Guide

The Vast: Academic Video Online database from Alexander Street Press currently provides faculty with over 13,000 video titles from a wide range of disciplines, with new titles being added on a regular basis.  By 2013 VAST expects to have over 20,000 films available for faculty and students.

Faculty can easily provide links to high-quality video in their syllabus and embed links or video clips in their Moodle class.  Disciplines covered in VAAST include:  American History; Area Studies; Art and Architecture; Business and Economics; Counseling and Therapy; dance; Education; Ethnic Studies; Ethnograph; Health; Law & Criminal Justice; Opera; Politics and Current Affairs; Psychology; Religion & Philosophy; Science; Theatre; Women  Gender Studies; World History; World Language & Literature.

For more information about how to use the VAST: Academic Video Online Database click here:  VAST Research Guide

Tips for Chicago voters

Whether you're a first time voter this November, or you've been voting in Chicago for years, we have some tips to help you navigate the Chicago polls this election season.

Where and when

The Chicago Board of Elections offers a quick online tool where you can find your voter registration status, polling place, sample ballot and more:

ChicagoElections.com

Enter your street address and last-name to get a map to your polling place, and a sample ballot for your district.

The Board of Elections site also provides a full list of early voting locations and hours.

Sample ballots

Chicago is divided into 50 distinct legislative districts, referred to as city wards. The ward you live in determines which ballot you will see on election day.

To preview a sample ballot from your ward, click on the Sample Ballot tab after finding your voter registration status and polling place on the Board of Elections site:

Download the PDF sample ballot to see exactly which candidates and ballot measures you'll be voting for this election season.

Vetting the candidates

Now that you know who the candidates in your district are, where can you find trust-worthy, non-partisan information about them?

Here are two librarian-approved websites that are a good place to start researching candidates and issues:

• Project Vote Smart
  This volunteer-driven citizens organization offers access bio's, voting records, interest group ratings, and campaign finance info for every candidate and elected official from President to local government.
  
  Project Vote Smart also provides an issues overview that lists and details bills and measures currently on the ballot in Illinois.
  
  
• FactCheck.org
  This project from the Annenberg Public Policy Center checks and reports the factual accuracy of whatever candidates say in their tv ads, debates, speeches, and in the news.
  
  

So many judges, so little time

If you've voted in Chicago before, you're probably already dreading that long list of judges on the ballot.

In the upcoming election, nearly 60 judges are running for retention or re-election. So, how do you know which judges deserve your vote?

Several organizations in Illinois rate and evaluate judges. You can find these evaluations and other information about judicial elections at:

VoteForJudges.org

The Committee to Elect Qualified Judges also offers a judicial voting guide formatted for your phone:
mobilejudges.com

Go Vote!

Now you have all the information you need to head to the polls with confidence.

Don't be afraid to print out sample ballots and judicial voting guides and bring them with you into the voting booth.

And, whatever you do, DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!

Parent Weekend Brunch @ the Library, 10/13/12

Each year, Columbia College Chicago hosts Parent Weekend, an opportunity for our students and their families to come together and experience our campus.  The Library has hosted a Parent Weekend Brunch for the past several years, and it is always exciting to see everyone when they visit!

Below are photographs taken during the brunch which included stretching exercises with graduate students from the Dance Movement Therapy and Counseling Department as well as readings by students and alumni from the Fiction Writing Department. For more photos, check out the Parent Weekend 2012 Flickr Page here. 
 
Photos by Alexis Ellers, BA, Photography, 2008.