1. Brush Up On Black History With Acclaimed Documentaries

You might start with 2022's Making Black America, a four-part series by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., which explores the formal and informal networks upon which Black Americans have established tight-knit communities. "This is the story of the making of Black America," says Gates, "and how, in the making, a people did more than survive the onslaught of enslavement and segregation. They redefined America and its cultural gifts to the world."

The series features discussions with prominent Black intellectuals and cultural leaders, including Charles M. Blow, Angela Davis, André Holland, Fab 5 Freddie, and Killer Mike.

"They redefined America and its cultural gifts to the world." - Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

HBO's Black Art: In the Absence of Light, reveals how Black artists have created some of America's most impactful and meaningful art over the past two centuries, despite being shut out of the mainstream art world. The story is told through a variety of Black voices: contemporary artists, curators, teachers, and art historians. We even get a glimpse into the creative processes of artists like Faith Ringgold, Fred Wilson, Jordan Casteel, and Kerry James Marshall. 

Black Art: In the Absence of Light, Making Black America, and thousands of other titles are available to the Daytona State College community through the library's subscription to Films On Demand. Just log in with your DSC credentials and you're good to go!

2. Or, Take a Deep Dive with Historical Documents

If you're into old newspapers, archives, and primary sources, then you should check out Black Life in America. This comprehensive digital newspaper archive draws from 9,000 news sources, including 400 Black publications, to bring you an "expansive window into over 300 years of African American history."

Best of all, curated searches are broken down into eras, from Arrival in America, through Reconstruction and Jim Crow, to the Civil Rights Movement, and into the 21st century. Each era offers a host of pertinent sub-topics, such as Notable People, Laws and Legislation, Society and Culture, and Reflections on Modern Events. Whether you have a specific project in mind, or just want to browse possible research topics, this is your go-to for Black history in the US press.

3. Read Books by Black Writers

Don't know where to start? Try Books and Authors, which recommends titles based on your interests. Are you into YA fantasy fiction? Check out the Akata Witch series. Or maybe you want to read compelling novels about well-developed Black characters set in a distant time and place - Books and Authors can find that for you too. Expect award-winning titles by literary greats like Colson Whitehead, James McBride, and Yaa Gyasi, just to name a few.

You can also look up the last book you really loved, and Books and Authors will suggest several "read-a-likes" - related books that you'll probably also enjoy. If you liked The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, for example, Books and Authors will show you twenty other YA titles with similar themes.

Using the Author Search tool, you can even search specifically for Black authors. Under "Ethnicity," click "African-American," then search, and voila! Literally thousands of Black authors. 

Though Books and Authors won't take you directly to the text, you can get all the information you need to do a Quick Search of the library catalog. Or, just send us the details and we'll find it for you!

Did you knew about the Assignment Scheduler?

This is a tool provided for free by the Library that allows you to organize your time when doing your research assignments.  

So how it works? Just enter the date your assignment was given and the due date and follow the instructions given by the Scheduler. It's that easy*.

You will also notice that the scheduler will have useful links to InfoGuides related to a day's goal or links to get in touch with the Library**. 

Now that you know about the Assignment Scheduler why you don't go ahead and check it out?

*You still have to follow through and meet those deadlines. =)

**Of course you have to click on the link or get in touch with the Librarians using our chat, email or visiting the Library to get the best out of those links on the scheduler ;)

A new Academic Year

Is that time of the year again. Fall classes are starting and you are starting to get research assignments, you need to study for a quiz or test, or just simply need some quite place to get your bearings. For all these needs and more the Library is here to help you. Our physical space is located on the third floor of the Daytona Gale Lemerand Student Center.

This year we have a few changes from the last time were fully open (remember those days before COVID?). One of this changes is that now, library visitors  must sign in when entering to the Library. You can ask one of our friendly Assistants to sign you in, or you can use the QR code found on the same desk or the information board at the entrance.

A new way to find resources

Another important change this academic year brings is a brand-new catalog.

The new catalog is more intuitive and robust than the previous interaction. There are a few things to keep in mind with the new catalog: 

• Your old URLs to resources in the catalog will no longer work. If you have the title of the document and the author email us and we will get back at you with the new URL
• To logging to your Library Account, you will use your Single Sign-On credentials. You no longer need to keep a different account to keep track of your Library loans.

We have a short video explaining the sign-in process and we invite you to check it out and to subscribe to our YouTube channel, so you get notifications when we release our latest tutorial videos.

When is the last time you looked something up in a print reference book?  If you are under 25, chances are the answer is likely to be never.  That age is a good tipping point since Google began in September 1998, Wikipedia made their first edit in January 2001, and by the time today's 25 year old began kindergarten, access to "information" had become ubiquitous. As a librarian, who's mission for the last three decades has been to help people find answers (or at least better questions), I can state unequivocally that this has been a good thing.  I do not pine for the pre-digital days.  However, when something is gained, something is lost and what has been lost is the world of print reference books.  In this post and several to follow, I would like to bid farewell to some my print companions that made my job easier and more interesting over the years.

Sitting in my office in the library, I can look out at the beginning of my library's reference collection.  Even without my glasses I can identify the gold lettering on black binding of the Encyclopaedia (sic) Britannica.  The Britannica was first published in 1768, back during the Enlightenment, when the idea that you could cram everything worth knowing into a few volumes seemed doable.  So they did it, and continued doing it for the next 242 years.  The set I am looking at now is the 15th edition, printed in 2010*.  It is the last print edition that will ever be published.  Of course, the Britannica continues to exist online, with both a free and paid version and in many ways it is superior to print edition, with continuous updating, advanced search capability, and linking to external sources.  But it is not the same.

Like many parents in the last century, mine purchased a home set of the Britannica.  I can remember how its weight eventually bowed the cheap, particle board shelves that came with the set.  My brother and I used it as the foundation for many a school project. While this practice might have irked our teachers, "don't just copy your report out of the encyclopedia!", the information in the Britannica was solid, objective, and reliable - traits sorely lacking in much of today's online information.  We might not have been stretching our academic muscles to their fullest, but we were absorbing some basic facts that helped us better understand the topic. And this is the real beauty of encyclopedias, both general and subject. They provide the overview, the outline, the key that can help you unlock more complex sources. Yes, the older editions of Britannica can be faulted for their Western-centric viewpoint, but it was one of those shared cultural authorities, like the old network news programs, that pretty much everyone accepted as true and accurate.  You didn't argue with the Britannica...at least until you were in college. 

What has also been lost is the physical act of looking something up in an encyclopedia.  Just pulling one of the heavy, gilt edged volumes off the shelf makes you feel like you are doing something meaningful. It makes learning tangible.  The 15th edition of the Britannica is actually divided into two parts, a Micropaedia for short factual articles (wagon train), and a Macropaedia for more in-depth articles (American Peoples, Native).  One result of this arrangement is that even though each section is alphabetical, you really need to use the index volumes to find anything and understanding how to use an index (controlled vocabulary in the online world) is one of the great unheralded skills of research.  There is also the serendipity factor.  Running your finger down the entries in an index or leafing through a random volume is a treasure hunt. 

Copies of the Britannica can still be purchased online and in used book shops.  You can even download the famous 1911 edition from Gutenberg.org.  I'm sure our library set's days are numbered.  It is already 10 years out of date and even if a newer edition became available, like the card catalog, it is a tool who's time has passed.  But if you are visiting the DSC Library in Daytona or DeLand, you might want to wander over to the Reference Section, find the books with gold lettering on the black binding, pull a volume off the shelf and spend a few minutes paging through it.  You won't be disappointed.   

For more information on the Britannica, check out this article from the online version here. 

* There is "new" half sized set called the Global Edition published in India, but it is not officially sanctioned by Britannica.

Daytona State College Library has put together basic searching tutorials for our most popular databases. The goal is to provide you a quick overview of the database and a basic search. They can be found on our YouTube page and even have their own playlist. Let us know what you think and be on the lookout for more to come! 

Database Tutorial Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUZESwwMNNU&list=PLFRtOuTn_o0AvIEKAMqdi3QCpJMwuNVhV 

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

― Neil Gaiman, Coraline

Today is the National Tell a Fairy Tale Day and hand here in the Daytona State College Library, we have a few Fairy Tale books we recommend you read:

The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by Jacob Grimm; Wilhelm Grimm; Jack Zipes (Editor); Andrea Dezsö (Illustrator)

ISBN: 9781400851898

Publication Date: 2014

The original western Fairy Tales compilation. Most of us got our first dose of Fairy Tales from Disney. But Disney studio got a great deal of their ideas from Grimm's stories. Keep it mind, some of the protagonists of these stories don't live happy ever after. 

 

 

Best-Loved Folktales of the World by Joanna Cole; Jill Karla Schwarz

ISBN: 9780385189491

Publication Date: 1983

This collection of over two hundred folk and fairy tales from all over the world is the only edition that encompasses all cultures. Arranged geographically by region--West and East Europe, British Isles, Scandinavia, and Northern Europe, Middle East, Asia, the Pacific, Africa, North America, the Carribean and West Indies, and Central and South America--and lovingly selected from the personal favorites of folklorists and writers, this book is a major anthology in its field. Gathered together in this wide-ranging collection are familiar classics like "Snow-White" and "Sleeping Beauty," and stories that equal them from all major cultures. Together they offer magic, adventure, laughter, reflection, vivid images, and a throng of colorful characters. More important, they offer insight into the oral traditions of different cultures and deal with universal human dilemmas that span differences of age, culture, and geography.

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare; Paul Werstine (Editor); Barbara A. Mowat (Editor)

ISBN: 9780671722791

Publication Date: 1993

Shakespeare takes on Fairy Tales. One of the classics.

 

 

 

 

 

What's your favorite Fairy Tale?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I write novels in my spare time, and I’ve read a lot of books about how to write. But if I was going to choose just one as a manual for the rest of my writing, it would be On Writing by Stephen King. Obviously he’s a hugely successful writer, but his rules for writing are simple. 1. Read as much as you write. If you write four hours a day, you should be reading four hours a day, too. 2. Avoid passive tense and adverbs as often as you can. 3. Write whatever you want as long as you tell the truth. 4. Stories make themselves. Plotting and spontaneous creation are incompatible. (I have definitely found this to be true.) 5. Practice, practice, practice. There is plenty more excellent advice in this relatively short book. (Oops, there’s an adverb…) If you’re a writer of any sort, even just an aspiring one, you should read On Writing.

On Writing by Stephen King

Call Number: PS3561 .I483 Z475 2000

ISBN: 9780684853529

Publication Date: 2000-10-03

"If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write."In 1999, Stephen King began to write about his craft -- and his life. By midyear, a widely reported accident jeopardized the survival of both. And in his months of recovery, the link between writing and living became more crucial than ever.Rarely has a book on writing been so clear, so useful, and so revealing.

If you are looking for guidance on how to manage money and set lifelong financial goals Andrew O. Smith book Financial Literacy for Millennials: A Practical Guide to Managing Your Financial Life for Teens, College Students and Young Adults is the book for you. I recommend this book because it provides relatable scenarios and outcomes of how one’s choices about money can affect them over a lifespan. Smith covers topics from Financial Planning, Careers, Savings and Banking, Budgeting to Retirement planning.

Great read for young people to learn the consequences of financial decision-making and its effect on your future.