Spring 2021 Library Services: Online, In-Person, & In-Between [Updated Fri., Feb. 26]

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Your Durham Tech librarians are here for you, virtually and in-person at the Main Campus and Orange County Campus Libraries.

A very important reminder: If you’re coming anywhere on any of the Durham Tech campuses, you need to wear an effective face covering over both your nose and mouth the entire time you’re on campus. Masks are available at the Library desk and other locations on campus for those who need them. 

Durham Tech Library Spring 2021 Schedule for March 1-5. Virtual library services are available from 8:30-5:00 Monday through Friday. The Main Campus Library plans to be open Monday through Thursday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. The Orange County Campus Library plans to be open Monday from 12:30 to 5:00. Appointments are preferred for both campuses. To make an appointment, email the general library email account (library@durhamtech.edu) or call 919-536-7211 extension 1631. Before coming to campus, everyone should complete the Durham Tech Daily Check-In form to get the current code word. Face coverings over the nose and mouth are required the entire time you are on campus. Hours may change. Please check the library homepage or call the library before coming to campus. Updates will be posted and sent out to the college community. Library chat (ChatStaff) is staffed by Durham Tech Librarians Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Library staff are available through email as well. Students, faculty, and staff may request appointments at the Northern Durham Center, Orange County Campus, and Main Campus at alternate times through the library email account (library@durhamtech.edu). We will try our best to work with you

We want to encourage you to stay online if you are able. The Center for Academic Excellence has awesome tutoring available for technology help and you can always chat with or email your librarians. Need a computer, Chromebook, or internet at home? Check out the Computer and Internet Assistance page to get started requesting help. 

If you feel sick, have been tested for COVID and are waiting for the results, or have been exposed to COVID, please stay home. Give us a call (919-536-7211, extension 1631) or send us an email (library@durhamtech.edu) to see how we can help you remotely. 

Welcome to the Durham Tech Library.

If you do need to come to campus when we are open, you will be required to complete the Durham Tech Daily Check-In form to get the daily code word. When you arrive in the library, you will be required to check in at the library desk with a photo ID (student ID preferred) for contact tracing and you will give the daily code word and have your temperature checked. Quick trips are encouraged.

We are currently operating at a 25 person maximum capacity, and our downstairs areas are closed (study areas, downstairs computer lab, and book stacks). If the Library is at maximum capacity, you’ll be asked to wait outside until someone leaves. When health conditions improve, the maximum occupancy will increase. 

Well, what can you do and what can we help you with through virtual and in-person library services? 

Read more ABOUT LIBRARY SERVICES

What We’re Reading: All We Can Save

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This book. This book, y’all. 

This book gave me a big hug. It cuddled me close and told me that everything is not going to be alright. But it also gave me hope that some things can be okay if we’re willing to work hard to make it that way.

It changed my life. Not in a hyperbolic way. In the way that it shifted my thinking so much that it will have an influence on my actions for the rest of my life. 

All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis cover
Let this book hug you too.
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What You Could Be Watching: The Hayti Heritage Film Festival

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The Hayti Heritage Film Festival, created in 1994 to create and celebrate a “Black film ecosystem in the South” and normally held in Durham at St. Joseph’s United AME Church, is mostly virtual this year. 

Hayti Heritage Film Festival-- The Hero's Journey: Call to Action, March 1-6, 2021

Now in its 27th year, the films are centered around the theme of “The Hero’s Journey,” and has a combination of films and panels, running from Monday, March 1 to Saturday, March 6. While most films will be screened online, there will be a few drive-in movies. 

Check out the schedule to purchase tickets or passes. 

The Hayti Heritage Foundation hosts events throughout the year, including walking tours of both Black Wall Street and the Hayti neighborhood (by appointment). For more information about historic Durham, including the Hayti neighborhood, keep reading. 

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Open Educational Resources in North Carolina Higher Education

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March 1-5, 2021 is Open Education Week! 

North Carolina, like many states, is moving towards making Open Educational Resources a valid alternative to traditional publisher-controlled teaching resources. 

Open Education Week 2021, showing an O with a graduation cap

Today’s blog post will acquaint you with some of the things NC has been doing with OER and hopefully get you thinking about how you might use them to customize your course content (and make life simpler for students!). 

Check it out! 

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What We’re Reading Online for Black History Month

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Dogwood Digital Library

The Durham Tech Library is a member of the Dogwood Digital Library, a collection of online ebooks and audiobooks through the Overdrive/Libby app. Durham Tech faculty, staff, and students can check out books using their Durham Tech username and password, just like they can access databases off-campus. Ebooks and audiobooks check out for 21 days and can be read on your phone, tablet, or computer. 

Check out some of our staff recommendations that celebrate Black authors and experiences for Black History Month. 

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What We’re Reading: The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

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the vanished birds by simon jimenez
Available at the Orange County Campus (PS 3610 .I54 V36 2020)

Title: The Vanished Birds
Author: Simon Jimenez
Genre: science fiction; fantasy; dystopia; literary fiction
Read Great Things 2021 Categories: A book about or set in space; A book about family; A book that takes place outside the continental United States; and A book suggested by a Durham Tech Librarian

My own category: A book about travel, longing, and trying to find beauty in something that’s broken

This book was read by Meredith Lewis, the [mostly] Orange County Campus Librarian. 

Earth has been ruined, so space habitation and travel to various colonies is the norm. The only problem is that it takes so long, so those who have to make the journey find themselves literally out-of-time with anyone they leave behind. A genius scientist, a lonely spaceship captain, and a boy who falls from the sky all converge in a story about ethics of technological development, love, and family. I also need to tell you that I found the writing particularly beautiful. 

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