MCC Library Newsletter

Search Texas libraries while also searching TexShare online databases
with the Library of Texas (LoT)

This particular link (LoT) is only open to our MCC patrons (faculty, staff and students); however, if you go to your local library, you can also have access to the Library of Texas.

Also, if you go directly to http://libraryoftexas.org/ from your home computer,  you will be able to search participating Texas library catalogs simultaneously.

Library of Texas is provided through the Texas State Library to provide to Texas residents the opportunity to search TexShare databases in one interface as well as Texas library catalogs.  Related to this service is the TexShare Card allowing you to borrow materials from participating Texas libraries.

The library has acquired three new electronic resources beginning January 2008.

1. Oxford English Dictionary Online: The OED is recognized as the authority on the evolution of the English language. The contents of the OED provides the meaning, history, and pronunciation of more than half a million words in past and current use. The online version provides access to the 2nd edition of the OED plus contents of the additions published between 1993 and 1997 and quarterly revisions. For more information about the benefits of the online OED, visit the publisher’s FAQs. You will find links to this database in the following locations on the library web site: 1) Where Do I Start? Encyclopedias & Reference, 2) A-Z List of Article & Research Databases, and 3) Databases by Type: Encyclopedias & Reference.

2 . Cambridge Collections Online, including The Cambridge Companions to Literature and Classics and The Cambridge Companions to Philosophy, Religion and Culture. You will find links to this database in the following locations: 1) A-Z List of Article & Research Databases, 2) Databases by Subject: Literature & Humanities, Literary Biography and Religion and Philosophy and 3) Databases by Type: Electronic Books.

Descriptions from the publisher’s site: “The Cambridge Companions to Literature and Classics collection offers over 1500 comprehensive and accessible essays on major authors, periods and genres, written by experts and designed for student readers. For
the author Companions each writer is placed in literary and historical context; their major works are analysed, either in separate chapters or grouped according to theme, and their influence on later writers assessed. The generic and topical Companions cover periods of English literature such as Old English or the Victorian Novel, and literary
genres such as Modernism or Greek Tragedy, giving the student vital contextual information about political, social, religious and artistic relationships. The Companions to Classical Civilisation examine key periods and aspects of the civilisations of ancient Greece and Rome.”

“The Cambridge Companions series offers specially-commissioned collections of essays which are intended to serve as reference works for an inter-disciplinary audience of students and non-specialists. Addressing topics and figures ranging from Plato through Kant to Habermas, and philosophical movements such as the Scottish Enlightenment and German Idealism, this online collection contains over 1000 downloadable essays taken from the Cambridge Companions to Philosophy, Religion and Culture (more than 100 volumes).”

3. Acceda Noticias (Newsbank): Provides online access to the complete full-text of more than 50 Spanish-language newspapers, newswires, magazines, and transcripts from major US cities and Spanish-speaking countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Spain. All content was written originally in Spanish, rather than translated from other languages. You will find links to this database in the following locations: 1) A-Z List of Article & Research Databases, 2) Databases by Subject: Languages, and 3) Resources by Subject: Spanish Language Resources.

The MCC Library’s Internet Sites by Subject are hosted on an ad-free wikispaces site at http://mccintsub.wikispaces.com. 

You can search the MCC librarian collected and recommended internet sites or browse the subject areas listed: Quick Reference, Search the Internet, Free Article Databases, Multimedia Sites, News and Weather, Periodicals on the WWW, Texas, Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Biography, Business, Computers and the Internet, Education, Fashion and Cosmetology, Fine Arts, Geography and History, Government, Health Sciences, Nursing and Consumer Health, Humanities, Law, Science and Mathematics, and Social Sciences.

NewsBanks’s Full Text Texas Newspapers includes all major Texas newspapers in a searchable full text database:

Waco Tribune-Herald (TX)  (12/10/1999-Current)

Abilene Reporter-News (TX)  (5/21/2003-Current, selected coverage from 12/12/2002)

Amarillo Globe-News (TX)  (6/20/2002-Current)

Arlington Morning News (TX)  (4/1/1996-1/12/2003, 1/1/2000-4/3/2001 unavailable)

Austin American-Statesman (TX)  (1989-Current)

Beaumont Enterprise, The (TX)  (2001-Current)

Corpus Christi Caller-Times (TX)  (4/20/1993-Current)

Dallas Morning News, The (TX)  (1984-Current)

El Paso Times (TX)  (1/1/1999-Current)

Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX)  (1991-Current)

Graham Leader (TX)  (11/04/02-Current)

Houston Chronicle (TX)  (1985-Current)

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX)  (6/6/2003-Current)

Midland Reporter-Telegram (TX)  (3/10/2001-Current)

Plainview Daily Herald (TX)  (5/3/1996-Current)

Quick DFW (Dallas, TX)  (11/10/2003-Current)

San Antonio Express-News (TX)  (1990-Current)

Victoria Advocate, The (TX)  (1999-Current)

To get to this database, go to the Library Home page and select NewsBank (TX) from the drop down labeled “Quick Links.”

At the beginning of the semester, our MCC librarians presented a session at MCC’s Professional Development Day.  The presentation, entitled “30 Databases in 30 Minutes,” gave a quick look at 30 of our online databases.  Click on this link to view the handout from the presentation.  The powerpoint files will also be posted to the library’s website soon.

Not sure where to start? If you need articles from newspapers, magazines or journals on a topic, try using the Databases by Subject page on the library website. This page lists our article and research databases according to broad subjects, including: General, News and Newspapers, Business, Education, Science, Social Sciences and more. If your topic does not fit into any of these broad categories, a good place to start is in a general database. For additional help on selecting a database, view the page entitled Database Descriptions.

Have you ever wondered if the MCC Library has access to the electronic version of a magazine, journal or newspaper? Have you ever found a result in one database that did not include the full-text? Was there a “Journal Linker” option provided? Both Journal Linker and E-Journal Portal are ways to find out if one of our library’s electronic databases includes the online full-text of the periodical title you are seeking. Additionally, the E-Journal Portal will tell you if MCC has the print version in its library. Please view this handout for additional instructions.

This databases covers a wide variety of subject areas, including Current Events, History, Literature and. SRC Gold provides access to online reference books, periodicals and newspapers, primary documents, and multimedia. The database includes biographies, essays, and overviews, full-text articles from magazines, primary documents, photographs, maps, and graphics, and video and audio clips. Results are returned by document type and indicate Reading Levels.

To access Student Resource Center GOLD, go the library homepage, select “Databases by Title,” and scroll down to find the title of the database.

The MCC Library has access to approximately 28,274 NetLibrary electronic books. Electronic books can be found through the NetLibrary search screen or through the Online Catalog. E-Books can be checked out by MCC students, faculty and staff for 24 hours after creating a free account. To create a free NetLibrary account, access NetLibrary from the library homepage or from the Databases by Title page. Please view our new tutorial (Flash) to learn more about NetLibrary.