Hopefully, if you’re reading this blog, you’re a fan of the Mary and Jeff Bell Library. Our library here at TAMU-CC is an important resource for your academic work. It’s also a great place to study, look at terrific art exhibits, hop on a computer and get those assignments done, or grab a print job on your way to class. But there’s another library that is also very important: our local public library. What’s public about a public library? It’s…
I don’t know if you’ve recognized the pattern yet, but once a month, we write a blog post connected to our Popular Reading Collection. Back in May, I wrote a post on our large collection of Stephen King novels. With the release of the movie Doctor Sleep, I figured you all deserve a part 2. As a fan of just about anything horror related (and of Ewan McGregor), I naturally went to see Doctor Sleep shortly after it came out. For fans of the book,…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
Have you ever had the pleasure of reading a novel and instantly relating to the main character? As you progress through the story, questions like, “How would I handle that situation” feel natural to navigate, and moments intended to elicit an empathetic response are that much more impactful. There is much to be said about the connection a reader can make when they identify themselves in a novel. While this can be achieved based on common human behaviors – if…
In the 2018-2019 Academic Year, Interlibrary Loan (ILL) filled just shy of 10,000 requests! To put this in perspective, this is almost double the number of requests filled just 5 years ago in 2013-2014. And we did it all with less staff! That said, we thought it would be fun to share with you the year's most borrowed journals and books, as requested by TAMU-CC students, faculty, and staff, then follow up with a few observations. Top 11 most borrowed…
Maybe you have heard this one before…books are the gateway to learning and knowledge. Ultra-successful people are the perfect example of this. Warren Buffett believes the key to success is reading. Bill Gates reads about 50 books a year. Elon Musk says he learned to build rockets by reading books. Books can not only help us gain knowledge about our field of study, but, and maybe equally important, they can also be a gateway to improving ourselves. Many different types of books…
Have you ever started doing a spring or summer or fall or winter or some other time cleaning and come across books you haven’t seen or used in years? Have you ever wondered what to do with books you no longer want or need? Believe it or not, there are several wonderful options available for these books if they are in good condition, i.e. all the pages are there and readable, no mold or mildew, and the binding is…