Voting Tuesday in Texas

Here are some good links about the voting tomorrow:

https://team.sos.state.tx.us/voterws/viw/faces/SearchSelectionPolling.jsp

There are a large number of state constitutional amendments so it helps to have them translated into plain language. I like The League of Women Voters for that.

http://www.lwvtexas.org/2009VG/2009CAVG[FINAL].pdf

Why vote? It's one of the obligations of living in a democracy, you need to participate to make it work.

Halloween in the Library

It's Halloween. I had a great idea for a costume but just didn't have time to put it together, maybe next year. If you stop by the library today, we have a treat for you.

So, what's new?

Safari has a new release with some nice enhancements. Don't forget that Safari Books Online has more than 7,785 books on technology, creative professional and business topics. You can use their sophisticated search functionality to locate a specific book or to find the best content available across several books on a given topic. You can get to Safari from the library web page. If you are off campus, you will need the log-in and password which is available in the library if you show us your valid AI Dallas student ID card. We don't give the passwords out over the phone.

Omnimusic

Last week, students were having problems with downloading from Omnimusic in the Audio lab in the culinary building. It turns out the right version of Quicktime wasn't on those computers. I believe this has been corrected. As always, let us know if you have any problems with any of our services.

Speaking of Problems...

In the last couple of weeks, students had trouble getting to the library webpage from their laptops. It turns out there is some kind of problem with putting www in front of the web address. Don't do it and you should be fine. aidlrc.aiiresources.com is the way to go.

We did 11 College Orientation tours this week. It was a bit of a beating but completely worth it if the students learn to use the vast resources in the library.

Registration is coming up! Don't wait until the last minute!! Here are some reasons to register as soon as you can:

1. Better selection of classes and times


2. Late fee kicks in at a certain point


3. Easier to arrange for classes with your friends


4. Saves the advisors and school directors from tracking you down


5. Save a tree, don't make them send you paper reminders


6. If you have to make arrangements at work or for childcare, then the sooner you know your schedule, the better


7. The early bird gets the worm


8. If you sign up for a class, you might be the one that keeps them from dropping the class for lack of interest


9. Shorter lines


10. The first step to breaking the procrastination habit!!

Library News 10/21/2009

I haven't been to see Where the Wild Things Are yet, I will soon. I was sure that someone would come and ask us what the library has on Spike Jonze who directed the movie. Since no one has asked, here is a preemptive list:

DVD VP 196

The work of director Spike Jonze [videorecording] : a collection of music videos, short films, documentaries and rarities

Side A: Music videos: California (Wax), Sure Shot (Beastie boys), Drop (The Pharcyde), Cannonball (The Breeders), Sabotage (Beastie Boys), Da funk (Daft Punk), Whjat's up Fatlip? (Fatlip), Undone (Weezer), Praise you (Fatboy slim), Sky's the limit (Notorious B.I.G.), Weapon of Choice (Fatboy Slim), Buddy Holly (Weezer), Elektrobank (The Chemical Brothers), It's oh so quiet (Bjork), Feel the Pain (Dinosaur Jr. If I only had a brain (MC 900ft Jesus) -- The interviews -- Making of drop with the Pharcyde -- audio commentaries. Side B: Rarities: How they get there, Mark Paints, Oasis video that never happened, Rockafella Skank, The woods -- Documentaries: What's up Fatlip, Amarillo by Morning, Torrance Rises.

We also have these movies:

DVD VP 014

Being John Malkovich

DVD VP 1262

The Fall

Dave Eggers was one of the writers for the screenplay, we have an anthology that he edited, which means he help select the stories in it.

PS 645 .B47 2002

The best American nonrequired reading, 2002

For more on Maurice Sendak, who wrote Where the Wild Things Are, we have these books-

NC 975.5 .S44 K87 2003

The art of Maurice Sendak : 1980 to the present

and a book that Mr. Sendak put together:

NC 1850 .S44 A4

Posters / by Maurice Sendak

Hey, if you look to your right (unless you are getting this in email), you will see that the library has a Facebook page, as Mr. Rogers used to sing, it's such a good feeling , the feeling you know that we're friends.

Library News 10/14/2009

We are nearly to the end of our food drive. Today we delivered 82 food items to the student food pantry. Here is a picture, courtesy of Kari Doyle.

The criteria for stuff that was icky caused some debate among the library staff.

I turned my nose up at canned new potatoes while several people said they were delicious.

Cristina questioned the jelly but I said all the peanut butter that we received really needed some jelly to go with it. I half expected Joe to steal it before it got to the food pantry. Now we know what to get him for Christmas.

There were a lot of cans of corn and really enormous cans of tuna along with some Vienna sausages that I have my doubts about.

Don't forget that you can pay your fines with food until Sunday.

Food for Fines

Canned Food Drive

From Oct. 1 through Oct. 16, students may exchange one can or jar of food* (at least 10 oz.) for each dollar of library fines**. All food collected by the library will be donated to the Student Food Pantry.

Bring your food to the library for credit on your fines.

The most needed food items are:

Tuna           Pastas           Spaghetti sauce
   Individual meals   Canned soup
 Canned corn                Peanut butter
                           
                           


*The library reserves the right to refuse any items that are too weird or icky for student consumption.
**This offer does not apply to lost materials, cash or check will be accepted for those costs.

Industry Information--Plunkett's

If you are looking for an overview of an industry, you should see the Plunkett research guides in our Reference collection. We also have their books on advertising, e-commerce, apparel, entertainment and food. Here is what Plunkett has to say about their Retail almanac.

Plunkett's retail industry almanac 2009 : the only comprehensive guide to the retail industry

Ref HF 5429 .P586 2009

"This exciting new book covers competitive intelligence, market research and business analysis--everything you need to know about the retail business, including:

1. Analysis of major retailing and retail store business trends and markets.

2. Historical retail industry statistics and tables.
3. Profiles of major chain store and specialty store operators, such as The Gap, Barnes & Noble, Intimate Brands and many, many more.

4. Profiles of food retailers of all types, from convenience store operators like 7-11 to giant supermarket chains like Albertsons and HEB.

5. Emerging technologies, including self checkout and RFID (radio frequency ID tag).

6. Profiles and trends of top department store chains, including Dillards, Saks, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus.

7. Profiles and trends of leading discount store and warehouse club operators, like Wal-Mart, Costco and Target.

8. A discussion of trends in e-commerce and Internet-based retailing, including synergies of “bricks and clicks.”

9. A discussion of trends and profiles of leading companies in such non-store retailing and direct-marketing areas as consumer catalogs, party-based sales, multi-level marketing, television shopping and mail order.

10. Retail opportunities in China.

11. Entertainment and travel-based retail opportunities.

12. Distribution centers and logistics.

13. Retail mergers, acquisitions and private equity.

You'll find a complete overview, industry analysis and market research report in one superb, value-priced package. This book also includes statistical tables, a retail industry glossary, retail industry contacts and thorough indexes. The corporate profile section of the book includes our proprietary, in-depth profiles of the 500 leading companies in all facets of retailing, retail technologies and retail support services. "

Library News 09/19/2009

The quarter is drawing to a close. It's the last day of week 10. A sad time for us due to the tragic loss of a student.

Stylesight has added streaming video of runway fashion shows along with clips of vintage fashions going back to the 1950s. Plus the new feature has a screen grab so you can capture shots from the video.

We are continuing to put out lots of new DVDs. A couple that you might want to check out are the Stash DVDs. We have the best of 2007, Music Videos and Motion Graphics. You might think the 2007 disk is old but check out this description:

Available for the first time on disk, this superlative collection delivers 40 of the most inspired and spectacular commercials, music videos, virals, broadcast designs, game cinematics and short films of 2007.

Stash best of 2007 / DVD GE 1215-1216
Motion graphics. DVD MM 1252-1253
Music videos. DVD VP 1250-1251

Don't forget that we subscribe to Stash and you can view the DVD magazine in the library.