Lynda.Com and Safari Tech Books Online - A Winning Combination

Did you know that Columbia College students, faculty and staff have access to over 2,500 courses and 116,000 individual videos available from lynda.com absolutely free of charge?  And you have access to over 27,291 e-Books available through Safari Books Online?  So learn new technology, get answers to tricky homework questions or just browse for fun all from the comfort of your home, dorm room or commuter pod.

To access classes at lynda.com simply go to the Columbia College Access Lynda Page.  Students can log in using their OASIS ID.  Faculty and staff log in with the Network ID.  Safari Tech Books can be accessed here .

Some of the new classes available for you to try at lynda.com include:

Job Hunting Online:  Find your next job online! First, get clear on your objectives, and then discover how to use popular job hunting and networking sites such as LinkedIn, CareerBuilder, Monster, Simply Hired, and Glassdoor to locate jobs. Discover how to take advantage of each site's tools for job hunters and learn how to interact with hiring managers and recruiters.  Then take a quick workshop on applying for a job—from finding the ad to researching the company, tailoring your resume and cover letter, and submitting the application.
Safari Tech Books:  Job Hunting 3.0,  Ultimate Job Search

Shooting with the IPhone 5s:  The iPhone has become one of the most popular cameras in the world, and the iPhone 5s offers the best image quality of any iPhone to date. It is also filled with advanced features: two flashes, built-in high dynamic range (HDR) imaging, a burst mode, and a video mode that shoots 120 frames per second slow motion.  In this course, photographer, author, and educator Ben Long explores the iPhone 5s as a serious photographic instrument, using its built-in features as well as a hand-selected collection of accessories and apps that will extend your iPhone power. He details the basics of shooting with the iPhone, and then delves into more advanced camera capabilities such as panoramas, HDR, and video. Ben also explores workflow issues, including editing, sharing, and printing photos and transferring them to a computer.
Safari Tech Books: Capturing Better Photos and Video with your iPhone, iPhone Photography and Video for Dummies

Songwriting in Pro Tools:  Everyone writes songs in their own way. Some start with a melody or a beat, some start with a lyric. Whatever your starting point, you need to get your ideas down quickly, and then polish them into demos worth presenting to partners, producers, and record labels. Pro Tools can help. It's one of the programs professional musicians and songwriters turn to for writing, recording, and mixing songs. In this short course, David Franz takes you from an initial seed-idea to a great sounding demo song, showing you how to find the best tempo, meter, and key; add in vocals, drums, and hooks; and put together a dynamic mix using effects like EQ, compression, and reverb and delay. These 10 simple steps can guide anyone with an idea and a little musical ability through the process of capturing a song idea before the inspiration fades.
Safari Tech Books:  Pro Tools 101, Pro Tools for Dummies

Check out these classes and much more at lynda.com and Safari Tech Books!

Happy 450th Birthday William Shakespeare!

William Shakespeare was born (baptized April 26, 1564) and died (April 23, 1616) in the month of April.

Do you need books that analyze and interpret Shakespeare's work?  Looking for copy of one (or all) of his plays or sonnets? Have a hankering to watch a film adaptation of one of the bard's classics?  The library has you covered!

Follow CCC Library's board Shakespeare on Pinterest.

Follow CCC Library's board Shakespeare Film Adaptations on Pinterest.

We've also rounded up some infographics to help you understand the plots, characters and skewering insults! (Personal favorite: "he has not so much brain as ear-wax" - Troilus & Cressida)

Shakespeare Characters A-Z

Anatomy of a Scene PBS - A Midsummer Night's Dream 

Infographic of the tragedies.  (Spoiler alert: everybody dies.)

A Grand Taxonomy of Shakespearean Insults

There are many more Shakespearean resources out there - including 50 everyday phrases attributed to the Bard and 45 Hamlets from stage and screen.  And with that, "give me now leave, to leave thee." - Twelfth Night. 

And the winner is...

The World
United States Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day in 1970 and it grew to the point where the United Nations adopted a consensus resolution designating April 22nd as the International Mother Earth Day. As an item on the international calendar, events are held worldwide to demonstrate and promote support for environmental protection.

Today more than half of the world's population lives in cities. As the urban population grows and effects of climate change worsen, our cities have to evolve.

It’s time for us to invest in efficiency and renewable energy, rebuild our cities and towns, and begin to solve the climate crisis. Over the next two years, with a focus on Earth Day 2014, the Green Cities campaign will mobilize a global movement to accelerate this transition. If you care about taking care of the planet, join the call for a new era of green cities.

Around the City
Although we are buried in white and gray snow for a good portion of a year, Chicago has been in the "green city" game for quite a while.

Were you one of the many who turned the lights off  during last month's Earth Hour City Challenge? Well, kudos to you! Chicago beat out 60 other cities and was named the 2014 Earth Hour Capital of the United States by the World Wildlife Fund. This was a year-long competition among cities to promote renewable energy and prepare for climate change. We will now go forward and compete over the next year for the title of Global Earth Hour Capital. Get the skinny on Rahm's plan at  Sustainable Chicago 2015

You're all invited to Party for the Planet at Brookfield Zoo! It will feature plantings, an eco expo, and a live music performance.

Can't add another thing to tomorrow's "to-do" list? You're in luck as the City of Chicago kicks off its celebration big time on Thursday, April 24th. Look for events in Grant/Millennium Park and Navy Pier.

Like to really get your hands dirty?  Volunteer to help clean up your neighborhood this Saturday, April 26th from 9am - 12pm!  Put yourself on a team at   Parks and Preserves


At Columbia


Columbia College Chicago is a finalist in the 2014 Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards, an annual competition among US colleges and universities that are signatories of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).


Have fun and support the cause. For instance, you could win a bike in the Bike 2 Campus Campaign which hits streets tomorrow!

Or be on a College Green Team...I think Academics is right up your alley!


Review all of our great Campus Initiatives ...be part of the solution.


Well, got to run...er, bike!

A Little Library Humor

It's National Library Week! And if there is one thing librarians don't shy away from it's poking fun at ourselves. So take a minute to celebrate with us by checking out some library humor...

What I Really Do
(http://mashable.com/2012/02/15/what-i-really-do-meme/)

The Lives and Deaths of Academic Library Staplers

(http://deadstaplers.tumblr.com/)

Librarian Shaming

(http://bit.ly/1p42wUM)

Hey girl. I like the library too. 

(http://librarianheygirl.tumblr.com/)

And, finally...

I like big books and I cannot lie.

Celebrate National Library Week!

This week is National Library Week, an annual celebration of libraries and library staff across the nation.  First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to support, promote and recognize the contributions and impact that libraries have on the communities they serve.  Libraries provide key resources as budgets are reduced, speaking out forcefully against book-banning attempts and advocating for free access to digital content in libraries.

Celebrate National Library Week with us!  Here's how....

Lives change @ your library is the theme for National Library Week 2014.  Do you have a story about how the library has impacted your life? Share what your library means to you and you could win a Kindle Fire.

1. Tweet about how a library has changed or made an impact upon your life using the hashtag #LivesChange and #NLW14. Need more thatn 140 characters?   Add your story to the @ your library story collection.

2. Snap a library selfie that tells your library story with this bubble prop. Send a copy of your photo to khale@colum.edu, and we will post to our Facebook page!

 

To be entered in the grand-prize drawing your text or photo library story must be posted to Twitter, Facebook or Flickr using the hashtags #LivesChange and #NLW14 or added to the @ your library story collection between 9:00 a.m. CDT Monday, April 14 and and noon CDT on Friday, April 18, 2014.

Celebrate National Poetry Month

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.  - T. S. Eliot, "The Waste Land"

April is National Poetry Month.  We've compiled some resources to inspire you to celebrate.

• Visit our Pinterest Board featuring just a fraction of the poetry books and anthologies we own in the Library.

Follow CCC Library's board Poetry on Pinterest.

• In addition to books of poetry, we also have a plethora of resources for writing poetry. Take a look...

Follow CCC Library's board Writing Poetry on Pinterest.

• Poets.org is a treasure trove of information including full poems, biographies and selected bibliographies for poets, audio and videos, information on writing and reading poetry, and resources for educators. The site also includes 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month:

A sampling of ideas from Poets.org

• Poetry Out Loud  - sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation - is a contest that encourages youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation.  Students master public speaking skills, building self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage.  Piloted in Washington, DC and Chicago in 2006, the program has grown to involve millions of students across the country.

• The Poetry Foundation - browse poems and poets, listen to audio and podcasts, download the poetry app, and learn about all aspects of poetry on their website.  
  

• Favorite Poem Project - Founded by Robert Pinsky, 39th Poet Laureate of the United States in 1997, the Favorite Poem Project invited Americans to submit their favorite poems.  An anthology, suggestions for hosting local events and videos of individual Americans reading and speaking personally about poems they love are included on the site.

• Poetry of America - Library of Congress - The “Poetry of America” initiative is part of the Poetry and Literature Center’s 75th Anniversary celebration. Through two features, “Poetry of American Identity” and “Poetry of American History,” this initiative explores how poetry connects to the following themes: immigration and migration, work and industry, social change, and peace and war. 

  

  From the Library of Congress - Poetry of America resource

No matter your interests, you can find a poem on it. Try browsing Poets.org or the Poetry Foundation for any number of poems on apples to zebras and everything in between. Including basketball...

I seemed to watch myself go up      effortlessly for the basket,      and saw the ball drop through the net.
- Ray Fleming "One on One in Basketball"