Author Archives: Durham Tech Library

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back! Spring 2022 Library Services

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It’s a new semester and your 3 branch campus libraries and 9 library staff members are ready to help you succeed!

Masking is required on all Durham Tech campuses and in all Durham Tech Libraries. To encourage continued masking, food is no longer allowed to be eaten in the Main Campus Library. Masks may be removed briefly while actively drinking from beverage containers with lids, but should be put back on immediately.

BEFORE arriving at any Durham Tech campus, be sure to assess your health.  If you are experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19 or have been in contact with someone experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, do not come to campus. Contact your supervisor or instructor and the Public Health team at (919-536-7200, ext. 5510) or email covid19@durhamtech.edu.

This applies to anyone who visits any Durham Tech campus and may have been exposed to COVID-19 and/or may be experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19. Exposure to COVID-19 must be reported whether it happened on a Durham Tech campus or not. Report possible exposure and/or if you are experiencing COVID-19-related symptoms by completing the Contact Tracing Form. 

Okay, back to library business.

Your campus libraries are open for studying, printing, book and DVD checkouts, and research assistance.

All Durham Tech Campus Libraries: Main Campus (left), Northern Durham Center (top right), Orange County Campus (bottom right)

Your online library (our library website!) is always open for research, research assistance, ebook and audiobook checkout, streaming video access, chat services, and more! To access databases and other digital resources off-campus, authenticate or log in with your Durham Tech username and password (same as for Sakai or Self-Service).

Scrolling through the options on the Durham Tech Library website, including research, collections, hours, etc.

How can we help?

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Winter Break and Looking Forward to 2022

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The end of the semester is upon us!

The last day the Durham Tech Library will be open and Durham Tech Library staff will be available is Friday, December 17. All Durham Tech Libraries will be closed Monday and Tuesday, December 20-21 and the College will be closed from Wednesday, December 22 through Monday, January 3. The Libraries will reopen starting on Tuesday, January 4 and your library staff will be back and ready to help.

Have a Chromebook to return? If you miss us in December, plan on bringing it back when we return in January. Unless explicitly arranged, you need to put that Chromebook in the hands of a Durham Tech Library staff member. Do not put it in the book return! If you are taking classes again next semester, email us at library@durhamtech.edu to renew. Need some help with your Chromebook? Check out our Tech Tools Chromebook Help page. Need to borrow a Chromebook for the Spring semester? Check out that Chromebook Help page for more details.

Have a book to return? That can go in any of our campus book returns. We’ll check them in when we get back in January if you return them while we’re closed.

Have a rental textbook to return? Take it to the Bookstore on Main Campus in the Wynn Building (Building 10) or follow mailing instructions to make sure you get credit.

Need a book to read over break? Stop in while we’re open or check out our Dogwood Digital Collection to read or listen to our ebooks and audiobooks using the Libby app. Search for ‘Dogwood Digital’ in Libby and log in using your Durham Tech username and password (just like Sakai or Self-Service).

Want to know what you should start reading for the Read Great Things 2022 Challenge? Hold your horses, buddy. Those categories will be released January 1, 2022. Subscribe to the blog for notifications. Have you already completed the 2021 Challenge and SPRINT, filled out your form(s), and collected your prizes? If so, good for you! If not, what are you waiting for? You’ve got 16 whole days!

Need advising help? While our college locations are closed to in-person visits December 22 – January 3, Durham Tech will have admissions representatives available for enrollment, transcripts, and advising-related questions through our email at betterskills@durhamtech.edu or by calling an enrollment specialists at 919-536-7200 ext. 1125, 1149, or 1815. Your assigned librarian advisors will be back January 4 to answer questions if you can wait.

We’re looking forward to working with you in the Spring semester! Have a nice break!

Library Hours for the Thanksgiving Holiday

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Need to use the Durham Tech Libraries next week? Well, our hours will temporarily change.

The College will be closed Wednesday, November 24 through Sunday, November 28. No classes or events will be held.

The Main Campus Library will be open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Monday and Tuesday, November 22 and 23.

The Northern Durham Center Library will be closed. Contact your librarians if you need help during this time.

The Orange County Campus will be open for access on Monday and Tuesday from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with librarian services available from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.

Library chat will be available when your librarians are not available (with the exception of Thursday, November 25).

Last Crafternoon of the Fall: Granular Wax Candle Making!

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It’s getting dark early and a candle sure does make the evenings more cozy, so why not make your own candle at our final Crafternoon of the Fall 2021 semester?

Wax candle from previous Crafternoon event.

Choose your favorite colors and layer your own personalize candle using granulated wax.

Join us in the Orange County Campus lobby on Wednesday, November 17 from 11:00 to 1:00 or in the Main Campus Library large group study area (downstairs) on Thursday, November 18 from 1:00 to 3:00.

All supplies are provided. Students, faculty, and staff are all welcome to participate.

Keep an eye out for our Crafternoons next semester– we’ll be felting, making string art, and painting totes.

For questions about the Main Campus Crafternoon, reach out to library @ durhamtech.edu. For questions about the Orange County Campus Crafternoon, reach out to Meredith Lewis (lewisma @ durhamtech.edu).

Technical Difficulties: Please Resubscribe!

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We’ve been having some technical difficulties with our blog, but it seems like we’re back up and running.

Unfortunately, if you previously subscribed to the blog to get automatic notifications, you’re no longer on our list (because there isn’t a list anymore).

Want to get notifications of new posts? Enter your email address in the box to the right and then confirm.

Do Your Own Research! (But how?)

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It’s officially fall. There’s a chill in the air and jackets are starting to be worn outside (and not just in overly air conditioned buildings). 

It’s also research assignment season. 

Research: Asking the right questions

Whether you’re working towards your last research assignment of the semester, starting your first big research paper, or somewhere in between, we can help! Keep reading for some tips and tricks from your Durham Tech Librarians about researching and keeping your sources organized (which will make writing your paper easier in the long run).

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What We Read (and REALLY liked): Naomi Novik’s Scholmance Series

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 At 14, children with magic are transported from their homes into The Scholomance until they “graduate” at 17, but many will not make it out alive due to mal (magic creatures) attacks and other accidents (and a few murders). While some students display an affinity for languages or alchemy, El has an affinity for dark magic and mass destruction and is having enough trouble with the challenge of not going dark (no matter what her grandmother’s prophecy says), but finding friends and a way out without dying is challenge enough. 

These books were read (and enjoyed!) by Courtney Bippley, Main Campus Reference Librarian and podcaster, and Meredith Lewis, the (mostly) Orange County Campus Librarian. 

Title: The Scholomance Series (A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate)

Author: Naomi Novik

Genre: Fantasy, YA-ish, So-You-Want-to-Go-to-Magic-School

Format: Print, but the audiobook narrator is great, too! 

Read Great Things 2021 Challenge Categories: A book that takes place outside the continental United States; A book about social justice or equity; A book recommended by a Durham Tech Library staff member

Read Great Things 2021 Sprint Category: No categories! It’s a book, so it counts! 1 (or 2) of 3 books read after Sept. 1, 2021. 

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Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day by Learning More

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In 2017, the state of North Carolina proclaimed the second Monday in October as Indigenous People’s Day and in 2021, the president of the United States acknowledged Indigenous Peoples’ Day for the first time with an official proclamation. 

What is Indigenous Peoples’ Day? 

An alternative to Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day is “a celebration … to bring acknowledgment to the Native population”  and remove the focus from Columbus, a man who caused great harm to Native populations. 

Instead, “It can be a day of reflection of our history in the United States, the role Native people have played in it, the impacts that history has had on native people and communities, and also a day to gain some understanding of the diversity of Indigenous peoples,” according to Mandy Van Heuvelen, the cultural interpreter coordinator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

Want to learn more about Indigenous peoples’ history, culture, and diverse experiences?

Check out a some of the books available through the Durham Tech Library collections.

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Explore our Specialty Databases: ScienceDirect

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Researching scientific and medical topics can sometimes be daunting.

Sometimes you want to go to a big lots-of-topics-in-one database like ProQuest Central or search everything available in the Durham Tech digital and physical collection all at once using the Search Library option, but other times you want to go directly to a database that caters to the subject at hand.

Science Direct database logo

ScienceDirect is one of our specialty databases containing primarily ebooks and peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles about scientific and medical topics, including open-access resources.

You can access it directly by going to the Articles, Journals, and Databases box on the Library’s homepage and using the link provided. Off-campus users will then login using their Durham Tech username and password (the same as Sakai and Self-Service). 

Read on to learn how ScienceDirect and make your scientific and medical research easier! 

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It’s Banned Books Week!

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Wait. Why would you celebrate banning books? 

Books Unite Us, Censorship Divides Us. Banned Books Week, Sept. 26-Oct. 2, 2021. bannedbooksweek.org

It’s actually the opposite. Banned Books Week draws attention to books that have been challenged for removal in library and school collections and draws attention to historical banning or removal of texts. Celebrating Banned Books Week reminds us of the power of words. 

Click through to read more about Banned Books Week, including the books that were most frequently challenged in 2020. 

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