Join us for Wearable Art (& Books for Modifying Clothes!)

Wearable art! Plus, books to keep you fashionable after the free craft events this week!

It’s Wearable Art Week for Durham Tech Libraries: We’re hosting two crafternoons on two different campuses for students and staff to make wearable art, either with provided tote bags or with shirts or shoes from home that could use a vibrant paint brush or two to look funky and fresh. Why throw an old shirt away when you could dazzle it up with some of our fabric paint?

The first Crafternoon will take place on Orange County Campus on September 27th at 11:30 AM. A second one will be held for students at Main Campus on September 28th at 1:00 PM. Find out more on the school’s event page.

If you need inspiration or want to take the practice further and start modifying or mending more clothes at home, we have some books for you. Ditch that mall trip you’ve been putting off and click continue to see the list:

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App-ly Yourself! Digital Apps for Exploring Durham Tech Libraries

Apps to explore durham tech libraries

While students and staff can explore the library’s website and its many resources on their smartphones and tablets, dedicated standalone apps for these devices can still offer a great deal of flexibility. Users may already be familiar with Libby, which grants Durham Tech users access to the wonderful Dogwood Digital Library collection, which offers popular fiction and non-fiction books. This post highlights a few other apps that provide unique ways of accessing academic materials while on the go.

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What We’re Watching: Born on the Fourth of July

Title: Born on the Fourth of July

Directed by Oliver Stone

Genre: War, Biopic, Available via DVD at Durham Tech Library

This movie was reviewed by Kyle Minton, Reference Librarian.


Why did you choose to watch this film?

I watched this the day before the 4th of July, primarily because of the holiday and I had not seen it before. It is notable for being part of Oliver Stone’s trilogy regarding the Vietnam War, which includes Platoon (1986) and Heaven and Earth (1993). The movie won Stone (who served in Vietnam as an Infantryman) his second Academy Award for Best Director and is based on a memoir written by Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic, who is portrayed by Tom Cruise in the film. The film follows a dramatized depiction of Kovic’s journey through military recruitment, active deployment and the war injury that paralyzes him below his chest. The film’s climax follows Kovic’s depression regarding his injury and adjustment to civilian life as the war rages on, until Kovic finds new vigor in participating in anti-war demonstrations with other Vietnam War veterans.

In addition to the DVD, Durham Tech Library has an eBook of the memoir available for users.

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New Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. Collection Books

Dr. Phail Wynn, Jr. at the college’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Dr. Phail Wynn, Jr. at the college’s 50th anniversary celebration.

2022 marks the 15th year of the Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. Collection at Durham Tech Library’s Main Campus. After retiring, Dr. Phail Wynn Jr., president of Durham Tech from 1980 to 2007, made a great investment in Durham Tech Libraries to create a new, special collection: The Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. Collection.

The Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. Collection touches upon social responsibility and civic engagement, including topics such as ecology and environmental studies, fighting poverty, cultural awareness, appreciating diversity, global citizenship, teaching tolerance, and promoting world peace.

We continue the development of this very special collection with brand new materials every year.

Today, we highlight a few new beautiful additions to the collection, including the gorgeously illustrated The Atlas of a Changing Climate and new resources on personal sustainability in titles like Can I Recycle This? and Simply Sustainable.

Generous users can always contribute to the legacy of Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. by donating to the Dr. Wynn Jr. Memorial Funds, which includes The Dr. Phail Wynn, Jr. Library Endowment, or by coming into the library and checking out a new book from the collection!

a large satellite image of the united states, a map of hurricane sandy is visible as it runs into the east coast
A vibrant, illustrated page detailing the breadth of Hurricane Sandy from the book The Atlas of a Changing Climate, now available in the Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. collection

Keep reading to see our full selection of new Dr. Phail Wynn Jr. Collection titles!

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New Books at Main Campus: Read about Recipes, Engaging Students, & More!

Library staff were so pleased to see Altarius Moody in The New York Times boosting Durham Tech’s Culinary Arts Program. To celebrate Durham Tech’s appearance in national culinary news, this week we’ve highlighted a few of our excellent new recipe books available for checkout.

(Psst, did you know we have a terrific research guide for Culinary Arts if you need to brush up on some cooking techniques? It has videos, the history of specific ingredients, and other culinary resources!)

Don’t forget to check out the article either through the NYT website or for free through our database access of NYT articles!

Altarius Moody, center, who runs the culinary arts program at Durham Technical Community College in North Carolina, said the aim is to meet students where they are, even if they have families and full-time jobs.
Altarius Moody, as photographed in the New York Times by Veasey Conway.

After you’ve read about Durham Tech’s culinary accomplishments, swing by the library to check out exciting titles like Leah Thomas’ The Intersectional Environmentalist, or try a new recipe from the New Native Kitchen: Celebrating Modern Recipes of the American Indian cookbook.

Keep reading to see our selection of new books.

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Explore the stage with our live theater database Digital Theater+

Durham Tech Libraries recently added a very exciting new database resource: Digital Theater+!

When Durham Tech students and instructors use Digital Theater+, they can explore high quality videos of award-winning plays, dig into the history of various genres of theater, and enjoy a Spotify-like curation of stories by theme. It’s an all-encompassing theatrical experience*.

*Stage fright not included.

Continue reading to see what the fuss is all about!

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New Books: Celebrating Women’s History Month

Women’s History Month was enshrined in law as an annual, month-long celebration on March 12, 1987, noting that “despite these contributions [by women], the role of American women in history has been consistently overlooked and undervalued in the body of American history.”

Who reading this can say they’ve done their studies and can score an A+ on NCpedia’s Quiz of North Carolina Women’s History? I like to brush up on my knowledge with their excellent Women’s History materials.

This year, however, Durham Tech got an up-and-close brush with Women’s History. The first woman Vice President, Kamala Harris, visited the school’s apprenticeship program and gave Durham Tech the opportunity to showcase its economic opportunities for students.

We see you asking, and the answer is yes: Durham Tech Library does have a copy of the Vice President’s memoir and her children’s book available for checking out!

Vice President Kamala visited Durham Tech’s Apprenticeship Program

Continue this celebratory spirit with the library’s resources from the comfort of your own home. Students and staff can start with Film-On-Demand’s “Women In Science Series” to keep in theme with the Vice President’s visit. For those seeking women’s history non-fiction ebooks, our Digital Dogwood Library offers a massive list of options.

Keep reading to see a gallery of new physical books available at the library to continue celebrating Women’s History Month! This week we’re highlighting the history of immigrant women and food, a vivid collection of interviews with women over 50, and so much more:

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New Books: Mushroom Guides, Pollinator gardens, Birding & More!

Say goodbye to those chilly evenings, readers, it’s Springtime! We’re celebrating the arrival of warmer weather and buzzing insects with a few new additions to our catalog.

Maybe you’ve heard about mushroom foraging and want to give identification a try, or you’ve spotted a few colorfully feathered friends that you’d like to identify. Are you starting to plan your garden? We’ve got books for all of that over at our Main Campus Library.

Keep reading to see a colorful gallery of these new additions to our catalog.

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Say goodbye to those chilly evenings, readers, it’s Springtime! We’re celebrating the arrival of warmer weather and buzzing insects with a few new additions to our catalog.

Maybe you’ve heard about mushroom foraging and want to give identification a try, or you’ve spotted a few colorfully feathered friends that you’d like to identify. Are you starting to plan your garden? We’ve got books for all of that over at our Main Campus Library.

Keep reading to see a colorful gallery of these new additions to our catalog.

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New Books Courtesy of the Durham Tech Foundation: Jazz, Law, and NC History

When generous individuals choose to give to Durham Tech Foundation, they directly support efforts to lift students up and help instructors succeed in the school’s academic mission. This collective support can build to something as momentous as the recent announcement about Durham Tech’s Housing Initiative.

Today, we’d like to highlight a recent gift from our foundation in honor of two long-serving Foundation Board Members, Judge Willis P. Whichard and vocalist and writer Lois Deloatch, in recognition of their volunteer leadership. Students and staff alike can check out these exciting new books, such as Ted Gioia’s comprehensive The History Of Jazz and the state-history resource North Carolina’s Revolutionary Founders.

Continue reading to see more about this recent addition to Durham Tech Libraries and get links to the books through the library.

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Celebrate Black History Month With These 9 Streaming Documentaries

We don’t like to boast around here, but with the arrival of Black History Month, we want to shout from the rooftops about Durham Tech Libraries’ robust collection of documentary films about famous Black activists, artists, athletes.

Have you seen a movie about New York slam poets?

How about a survey of the history of Black Feminism?

Click “Continue Reading” to see what films we’re talking about!

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