Have you meebo'd?

Overwhelmed with open dialog boxes on your desktop? Using multiple Instant Messenger (IM tools? Have accounts with AIM, Yahoo! and MSN? If so, then you may be interested in the free communication tool called meebo. Meebo pulls together all of your IM accounts and allows you to be online with everyone you know at the same time. It's simple and easy to use. Just access http://www.meebo.com/ and create a meebo account. When you create an account, it will ask you to add in your IM ids. Once you do, meebo runs and you can see in your IM list all of your contacts on all networks. What's neat is that you don't have to download yet another piece of software to your PC and you can be connected from any computer at any time!

Meebo connects the following IM programs together: Yahoo! AIM, MSN, Google Talk, Jabber and ICQ. It offers audio and video chat, widgets for webpages, group chat, games, iPhone and iPod connectivity as well as other options. Click here for more info on meebo services.


At the Ritz Library, you can now access a librarian through the meebo link on the blog page.

Citation tool with a twist

Zotero is an interesting and comprehensive citation management tool. Unlike citation generators which format a citations for you, zotero works off the principle of capturing and storing data in a filing system as you find usable research sources. It allows you to attach notes to your data, tag your data, and keep track of documents as you work with them. You can also link to web pages and attach files to the citation information. Little "sticky" notes can even be created.

Ever wonder how to cite a youTube source? Zotero can help. Found a great source of books in a catalog and you want to store the list? Zotero can help. Need to review podcast information? Zotero can help. Database, artwork, radiocasts, film, blog entry, bills - zotero can help.

Getting started is a bit confusing, but there are videos online that can help. To utilize zotero, you must be running Firefox. Zotero is a Firefox extension and can be downloaded from here. From the zotero website itself, click on ztour to get a glimpse of how to use the tool. Also, youTube has more than one helpful video posted on zotero. Try this link here.

When it's time to create your bibliography, zotero can be used with document management software such as MS-Word or Google docs to build your citations. Additional plug-ins may be necessary. Accessed web pages can be archived through the "create new item from current page" icon which will capture a screen shot of the page you were looking at. So take a look at zotero, and give it a try. You may find it to be a very helpful citation management tool.

Book Glutton

Back in October, we mentioned some websites that allow for free online reading of older or out-of-copyright books. Book Glutton is another opportunity to access books online. What makes Book Glutton so interesting though is their added functionality. Book Glutton allows you to read a book online, but also chat about the book while you are reading it with other readers. You are able to mark a section of text and comment on that section, thereby promoting intelligent discussion about a text.

You can access Book Glutton's catalog of materials without logging in, but you are unable to access the talk and mark functions without creating an account. Creating an account is free, and you are able to update your profile with a photo and other relevant information, if so desired. Follow the "FIND a BOOK" link to search through the catalog of materials by author, title or group. A group is a book discussion group - individuals gathered together online to talk about the books they are reading as they are being read. You can create your own group, or you can request an invitation to join someone else's existing group. When you are done reading a work, you are able to bookmark the text, so that you can return to the place that you left off at the next time you go online. Hit the "JUMP into the READER" button to resume your place in the book.

The talk and mark panels can be found to the left and the right of the reader pane. There is also a help button which explains how to use these tasks. If you like your print to be a bit larger than normal, especially while reading online, you can do so at the click of an icon, and the forward and back buttons take you where you would like to go in the book.

Book Glutton is fairly simple and easy to use, plus if you are an author or have permission to publish someone else's work, you can upload your title to the site. Try it out and see what you think!

Looking for infomation on arts & artists?

The Grove Dictionary of Art database is easily the best place for students at DCC to research paintings, sculpture and architecture. Recently revamped and renamed, it’s now Oxford Art Online and not only looks quite a bit different, but also includes some great new features.

The most important change is that there is now a “Biographies” link on the main page that goes to an alphabetical index of entries for individual artists. There’s also link to a section called “learning resources” that has overviews of important art movements, as well as some MOMA based lesson plans. Best of all, there's also a button to format citations from the database.

To use Oxford Art Online, go to MyDCC and look for the "Library" tab. Then click on "Off Campus Database Access." On that page, Oxford Art Online is listed under "Art".

STD

When you give the give the gift of love,

Make sure it is wrapped properly.

April is STD Awareness Month!

Visit the Francis U. and Mary F. Ritz Library
Display Case

3rd Floor, Hudson Hall