Library Blog - Focus on a Topic

Explore the powerful stories of influential women throughout history! This documentary about the trajectory of an African-American girl wonder whose mathematical genius would catapult astronauts into space. Born in 1918, Johnson graduated high school at the age of 14, college at 18, and went on to a career with NASA where she broke race and gender barriers. Johnson not only succeeded in a white, male-dominated field, she excelled. In July of 1920, all eyes were on Nashville, Tennessee as anti-

Have you ever desperately needed the 3-D printed hands of Abraham Lincoln or a mammoth skeleton, but just couldn't find the right file? Good news, everyone-- the Smithsonian has released over 2.8 million images (high resolution, 2- and 3-D) from across its 19 museums and institutions into the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license, meaning they are available for anyone to "copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking

Yesterday I announced that this is Open Education Week and described the characteristics that make a work "open." I mentioned that Open Educational Resources (OER) in their digital form don't cost anything and that print versions of OER textbooks are available at far less cost than commercial textbooks. Why is this important? Let's talk about students' needs. According to The Hope Center, staggering numbers of U.S. college students are food or housing insecure. Students often have to make

Happy Open Education Week 2020! Open Education is a movement that promotes using free educational tools--such as textbooks--that instructors have the right to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. These five permissions are known as "The 5 Rs" of Open Educational Resources (OER). Be on the lookout for more posts about Open Education this week. Today, we will start with an overview of what makes a resource "open." What do the 5 Rs mean? Why are the 5 Rs important? There is no financial

Hello, all you wonderful people out there! June is Audiobook Month, and I'm here to tell you why you should consider audiobooks if you don't already listen to them and where to find more audiobooks if you do. Audiobook listening is on the rise. People listen to them to make a commute more pleasant, to distract themselves from folding laundry, or hear an author read their book the way they meant it to be heard. Also, it's easy and fun! Let's get something out of the way. There are people out

Media literacy is a topic that comes up often these days. But, what does it actually mean? What counts as media? What does it entail? How can we teach students the skills needed to digest media critically? There is a Crash Course for that! Click through the embedded video below or find the full playlist here. Crash Course is a YouTube channel that was started by John Green and his brother Hank Green. (Yes, it's that John Green.) These educational videos are free to watch, though if you are

Durham Tech Library is celebrating the authors and writings that reflect the lives and experiences of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community this month. We have a display of books on the lower level of the library. [caption id="attachment_4295" align="aligncenter" width="3024"] Image from www.dclibrary.org[/caption] Explore the library’s guide to LGBTQ resources for books, ebooks, DVDs, streaming video, and recommended websites: http://durhamtech.libguides.com/LGBTQ Pick up a

The library has many new books by diverse poets. You can find these on a table at the back of the library on the upper level and on a display rack on the lower level. To learn more about National Poetry month events and to sign up to receive poems in your email inbox, visit the Academy of American Poets. [gallery type="rectangular" size="medium" ids="4115,4123,4113,4116,4117,4122,4118,4114,4121,4119,4112,4111,4120"] Reading a book of poetry or a book written in verse qualifies for Durham Tech's

Watch the film above, from Ken Burns’s powerful documentary on the women’s suffrage movement, which presents the early years of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and their alliance in the struggle for women’s rights. Visit Films on Demand or click the titles below for more films and clips to celebrate Women's History Month. Films or shorter film segments can be easily embedded into Sakai course sites. Visit our display window outside of the library and our display rack downstairs for

Watch the film above, an interview with inspirational Congressman John Lewis, or those below and visit Films on Demand for more films and clips to celebrate and honor Black History Month. Films or shorter film segments can be easily embedded into Sakai course sites. Visit our display window outside of the library for lots of books and DVD resources available for checkout. Famous Americans: Famous African-Americans Features Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X