Off Campus Database Access

To our returning students: to access our databases at home or elsewhere off-campus, you no longer need to sign up for an account at the Ritz Library reference desk. The old system has been replaced by MyDCC:

1. Log in to your MyDCC account (firstname.lastname and your password).
2. Click on the grey Library tab at the upper left portion of the page.
3. Find the section titled "How do I find information for research projects?"
4. Click on Off Campus Database Access.

You will see a page resembling the page found on the computers in the Reference Area. Simply choose the database you wish to use.

If you have not been notified about your MyDCC account, call 1-866-334-9179, the number is toll-free. You must have your student ID card with you, they will ask for the student number from it.

Did you know...?

For every paper that you write, you need to provide accurate verifiable sources. Those sources must be correctly cited in your paper in order to receive credit. The DCC library has put together comprehensive citation tools that you can use for your bibliography.

Two of the most common formats for Works Cited pages are: MLA and APA. The style that you choose depends upon the requirements of your professor.

From our website, you can also access Citation Generators, which are online tools that you can use to correctly generate your information. For example, KnightCite can be used to easily create a bibliographic entry for any type of media item: books, periodicals and multimedia such as cartoons and DVDs, including more obscure citations such advertisements, maps, and songs. It's a simple form-driven website that allows you to enter all available information and then generates the appropriate citation for that information.

Remember to select which citation style you need before starting.

Feel free to ask the Reference Librarians questions about using the citation guides and code generators or make use of the help available in the Writing Center.

Looking for the taxonomy of an Animal??

Use the links below to get information on the full taxonomy of an animal and the origins of its scientific name:

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia
HINT! Search by the animal's name. The scientific name of the animal will appear in between quotation marks in the document.

NCBI Taxonomy Browser
National Center for Biotechnology Information Web site. HINT! Look at the "lineage" section to trace the taxonomy.

A Mammalian Lexicon
Michigan State University site which gives the meanings of the roots of taxonomic terms

Greek & Latin Roots
Meanings of Greek and Latin wordroots with the focus on their use in taxonomy

Have you heard of LibraryThing?

If you're an avid reader, but can never seem to keep track of what you've read or what you might like to recommend, check out http://www.librarything.com/.

LibraryThing is a website which allows users to create an account and catalog up to 200 entries free of charge. You can check out the catalogs of other users, tag items, see how others tag the same items, get book recommendations, join discussion groups and much more.

It's an easy-to-use utility that allows you to conveniently catalog books or audio books that you are reading and listening to. It allows you to go back and reference those books at a later date. You are able to summarize your entries and/or rank them if you so choose, thereby allowing you to make recommendations to friends, family, or anyone interested.

Did you know...?

If Microsoft Office 2007 has been installed on your PC, you may be experiencing a small, but irritating lack of mouse scrolling wheel capability.

Fortunately, after talking (in real time!) to one of the college's computer buffs, I found out how to restore the scrolling function to your mouse, there’s several steps involved, so read them over carefully:

First, make sure all Office programs, Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint, Word, are closed.

• Click on Start
• Click Settings
• Click Control Panel
• Click on Mouse, you’ll get a small window titled Mouse Properties
• Click on the tab marked Wheel at the top
• Click the button marked Exceptions
• Click the button marked Add
• Click on Browse
  

Now comes the tricky part, so read these steps carefully:

1. Click the down arrow at the top, you’ll most likely see the words “My Computer”
2. Double click on the “IBM (C)” drive
3. Double click “Program Files”
4. Double click “Microsoft Office”
5. Double click “Office 12”
6. Double click on “OUTLOOK.EXE”
7. Click on Open
   

At this point, you can choose the other Office applications you’d like to have the mouse scrolling work in, so repeat the process from step #1, & the window should go automatically to Office 12 again. Add the following:

• WINWORD.EXE
• EXCEL.EXE
  
• POWERPT.EXE
  

Click OK for all the small windows & try out those individual programs, the mouse should work now.

Is life del.icio.us?

del.icio.us

Have you heard of del.icio.us? If not, you might be interested to learn about social bookmarking. Social bookmarking allows you to log onto any computer anywhere and get all of your bookmarks or favorites. It's easy enough to use, and no matter where you go, you can be connected to all of your favorite sites.

del.icio.us utilizes tags to keep track of your bookmarks. An entry may have more than one tag associated with it. A tag is a word which describes your bookmark and it allows you freedom to organize your websites in any fashion that you'd like.

You can also connect to what friends or others are doing through various options on del.icio.us - putting the social in "social bookmarking".

Creating an account is simple: click on the register button, enter a username and password, and you're ready to go. If you want, you can download extensions for your browser so that a tag and delicious button appears on your toolbar.

Did you know…?

You can have all your MyDCC emails auto-forwarded to a personal email account.

Step One: Log into your MyDCC and click the email button on the upper right.

Step Two: In the window that just opened click the options tab (on top, third from left).

Step Three: Select the “auto forward” feature from the list.

Final step: Type the email address you’d like your Suny Dutchess emails to be automatically forwarded to and then click the OK button on the right.

Journeys to the Hispanic World

Behold the Blue Footed Boobies from Espanola Island.

Observe yellow cola from the Incas.

Catch sight of coins purchased from Costa Rica.

Appreciate the beautiful clothes and pottery from Peru.

Look at photos taken by students on the Galapagos Islands.

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

Visit the Francis U. & Mary F. Ritz Library

Display case in Front Lobby

3rd floor - Hudson Hall