2019 – Page 2 – Mary and Jeff Bell Library Blog

Getting Help from a Librarian

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:November 8, 2019
Post category:Library Hacks Service for You

Whether it’s finding an article, knowing where to start your research project, or finding new paths to search when you’re stuck, your librarians are here to help! How can a librarian help? Librarians can help with anything from simple questions about accessing research materials, to developing better search strategies, to helping you evaluate the sources you find. Here are some examples of how librarians can assist: Guiding you on choosing a topic and identifying keywords to use in a searchRecommending the…

A Better You, One Video Game at a Time!

Post author:Trisha Hernandez
Post published:November 5, 2019
Post category:Library Randomness News @ Your Library Things to Do

"Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!" - Super Mario Bros. Ohhhh Toadstool, you innocent yet still somewhat annoying bit of fungus you. While your pile up acrobatics were impressive, your "princess is in another castle" comments were frustrating. If you haven't figured it out yet, we're talking video games this post. While I would never claim to be the best, I have been a fan of video games since I could hold that rectangular Nintendo controller…

Fun Facts About the Mary and Jeff Bell Library

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:November 1, 2019
Post category:Books & More Service for You Things to Do

Do you ever wonder how many items the library has available for use? Or would you like to know how many people come into the library a year? Here are some interesting statistics from 2018-2019! During a normal week in the Fall and Spring semesters the library is open 108 hours. Although our highest usage is during the middle of the day, we do have plenty of early birds and night owls who take advantage of our extended hours. The…

Spooky Stories for Your Halloween Delight!!

Post author:Trisha Hernandez
Post published:October 29, 2019
Post category:Library Randomness

Guys, it’s Halloween!!! Real talk time: I loooove Halloween!! You know all those memes you see coming through your social media feed about people excited about Halloween’s approach? That’s me to a “T”. I have always enjoyed a good scary story or horror movie. I recall being a wee one around the age of 8, sitting at the top center of my parents bed (away from edges because of all of the unknowns that may be lurking under the bed…

Let’s Create

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:October 25, 2019
Post category:Service for You We Made This

The I-Create Lab was created so students and the community can have a creative space for projects and collaboration. The I-Create lab has many useful tools for this to be possible. In the lab students and the community can create to their heart's content. The star of the lab are the 3D printers. It costs just 7 cents per gram for students and 10 cents for community users to create any character, figure or design they desire. The second crowd favorite…

Open Access Week is October 21-27!

Post author:Alexa Hight
Post published:October 22, 2019
Post category:News @ Your Library Things to Do Today's Special

What is Open Access? Open access (OA) refers to information that is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. This can include journals, books, databases, and more. Why did the open access movement begin? There are several reasons, like most things, one is due to cost. Between 1986 and 2011, serial expenditures rose 402% (see graph). For four decades, subscription prices have risen significantly faster than inflation and library budgets. Another reason for the open access movement…

Alston Cobourn takes count of the Hector P. Garcia archive collection in the special collections and archive storage room.

Some of The Lesser Known Collections held by TAMU-CC Special Collections and Archives

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:October 18, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes Service for You

We have wonderful resources here in the Special Collections and Archives Department at Bell Library. There are the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Papers, Dr. Clotilde P. Garcia Papers, the Dan E. Kilgore Collection, the wonderful Fuentes home films, the Blucher maps of surveyors of Corpus Christi back in the day, a photo collection from Doc McGregor and the Galvan family music collection. Besides these stellar, awesome collections, we have just as interesting and unique smaller collections that continue to tell the stories of Corpus Christi’s historical, cultural, and commercial development.…

Science Fiction Genre Trends

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:October 15, 2019
Post category:Books & More

It’s never been cooler to be a fan of science fiction. Fans of the genre are enjoying a renaissance of film, television, and books. But what exactly makes something science fiction? Science fiction tells stories built within science and technology of the future. These stories involve partially true/partially fictitious laws or theories of science. It’s important, however, that they be believable because otherwise they would veer more into the fantasy genre. There is frequently a fine line between science fiction,…

Do Islanders still read books?

Post author:Derrik Hiatt
Post published:October 11, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes Books & More Service for You

The question In a recent librarians’ meeting, a question came up about the way the library buys books. The Bell Library, like many academic libraries, has traditionally purchased books through two main methods—title-by-title selection, and auto-shipments from a book vendor, based on a profile we set up with them. This second method, called an “approval plan,” would be sort of like setting up your Amazon account to automatically send you any new books that match your interests. The question that…

Opening the Classroom: Using Open Educational Practices to Reimagine Teaching and Learning

Post author:Lisa Louis
Post published:October 8, 2019
Post category:Books & More Library Hacks Service for You

Have you heard of "open educational resources" or "OER"? These are educational materials that are available for free via the Internet which can be used, reused, remixed, and redistributed by anyone who wants to learn or teach.1 We often hear about OER in the context of textbook affordability. Students these days pay a lot of money for the textbooks which are produced by for-profit publishers. Studies have shown that many students are forced to choose between paying for textbooks and…