Docuseek Student Picks, Part 1

Docuseek student picks, part 1.

Summer is here! It’s the perfect time to expand your worldview and gain fresh perspectives. Fortunately, the Leeward CC community has access to Docuseek, the premier resource for curious minds. But with more than 3,000 high-quality documentaries to choose from, how do you get started?

We consulted with members of our most important campus community: our students! Please enjoy these film recommendations, personally selected and summarized by our awesome library student assistants.


Kianna’s Picks

Take a trip through the history of the Olympics to learn about the women athletes whose achievements were lost to rigid gender stereotypes during their time. This short film highlights game-changing competitors that were never taken seriously simply due to their gender. The discrimination and scrutiny faced by women in the past persists into the modern world of athletics, additionally impacting women of color and the LGBTQ+ community.

Follow filmmaker Martina Radwan’s touching six year journey, as she guides and mentors three Mongolian children, Baaskaa, Baani, and Nasaa, through their youth in an emotional documentary. From orphans living on the street and being forced into child labor, Martina was the one person who stayed to help equip these kids with skills, education, and values so they could have a chance at success and survival in their merciless world.


Nadia’s Picks

In the first episode of The Perfect Meal series, we dive into the health risks associated with the Western diet and explore the benefits of embracing a Mediterranean way of eating. Through vivid storytelling and expert insights, this episode unveils the impact of highly processed foods and contrasts them with the wholesome, nutrient-rich meals of the Mediterranean. Discover why this age-old diet could be the key to healthier living in a world increasingly overwhelmed by unhealthy food choices.

In this short film, Adonis, the director explores the underground world of bodybuilding, shedding light on the impact of steroid use and the unhealthy body image that dominates modern society. The story follows a group of young men as they navigate their journeys with fitness, self-esteem, and peer pressure. As they delve deeper into the world of extreme bodybuilding, the film emphasizes the physical and psychological consequences of their choices, particularly focusing on how societal expectations and toxic masculinity drive them toward dangerous solutions for self-improvement. The director’s aim is to raise awareness of the harmful effects of steroid use and the societal pressures that contribute to male body insecurities.


Gabby’s Picks

This 93-minute documentary looks into the US housing crisis with its racial inequality and classism. The film interviews those who have experienced being houseless and their feelings on the housing crisis along with their own individual experiences. They share their stories on the hardships and how they can advocate within their own community through this crisis. The film features groups that advocate for affordable housing, one of them being Moms4housing which is an activist group created by three formerly homeless Black women that advocate for housing rights. The film talks about the importance of finding solutions and working together to solve this crisis so that others do not have to go through this forever. The film also emphasizes the history of how people of color and ex-convicts face the brunt of the housing crisis and continue to do so affecting every aspect of their lives.

This 28-minute documentary relates a women’s perspective on abortion from a liberation point of view. The women interviewed in this video reveal their experiences with abortion in America during the time in which it was still illegal to obtain one safely, before the Supreme Court decision of 1973 which made it legal. This first-hand perspective on abortion from the women who got one is the first account made in a documentary in support of abortion rights for women in the US. It gives insight into how the women felt, their headspace when pregnant, and their abortion stories. The video also includes the forced sterilization stories of women of color in a time where the discrimination and genocide of people of color in many areas of the US happened through sterilization. These are their intersectional stories to tell and the inequality of it which all comes down to women being allowed to have the choice.

Many thanks to Kianna, Nadia and Gabby for their summaries. More to come!

As a reminder, our electronic resources are available to all current Leeward CC faculty, staff and students. When accessing our resources from off campus, you may be prompted to log in with your UH credentials first. If you have any questions, please reach out to our friendly librarians at lccref@hawaii.edu.

EBSCO New User Interface Coming Soon!

Screenshot of the new EBSCOhost user interface displayed on a laptop.

The EBSCO databases you know and (hopefully) love are getting a makeover!

This summer, our EBSCO databases will migrate to a brand new user interface. Highlights include:

  • simplified, clean design
  • improved accessibility
  • intuitive filters
  • personalized dashboard
  • AI insights
  • and much more!

EBSCO aims to make the transition to the new user interface as seamless as possible, but some users who have saved items to their personal accounts may want to take action prior to the migration.

If you have a personal MyEBSCO account, any articles and books you have saved to My Folder will migrate to the new user interface, and you do not need to take any action.

Screenshot showing My Folder items that will migrate to the new user interface.

However, if you have created My Custom folders, these will NOT migrate to the new user interface.

Screenshot showing My Custom folder items that will not migrate to the new user interface.

If you want to retain the contents of My Custom folders, these are your options:

  1. Move any articles, ebooks, and saved searches from My Custom folders to My Folder. This guide with video demonstrates how do to this.
  2. Save or export the items from My Custom folders (for use outside EBSCO). Refer to this guide with video.
  3. Take no action. After migration, you should be able to download an Excel file of the contents of My Custom folders.

How do you know if you have items in My Custom folders? Just Sign In to your EBSCOhost account (if you ever created one), then click on the Folder icon to check.

Screenshot showing EBSCOhost login procedure.

Additionally, if you have Search Alerts, you may want to change them to Saved Searches, since Search Alerts will not migrate. Please see this guide for more information.

Look for additional information to come. In the meantime, click on the image below for a brief introduction to the new user interface. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to our friendly librarians at lccref@hawaii.edu.

Screenshot of EBSCO new interface tutorial.

Lā Lei (May Day) at Waiʻanae Moku

Hawaiians Smiling Doing Lei

On May 1st, Waiʻanae Moku celebrated its second annual Lā Lei (May Day) lei making event—a vibrant and joyful gathering that lasted for seven hours. The space overflowed with generous donations of flowers and ti leaf, allowing students and staff to craft countless varieties of beautiful lei.

  Two Hawaiians doing lei kui

More than 40 lei were made for the graduates of Waiʻanae Moku, who were honored at Waiʻanae Moku graduation ceremony taking place the next week. Throughout the day, everyone enjoyed talking story, creating lei, eating ʻono food, and listening to Hawaiian music together.

 Prepped Crown Flowers

Lā Lei at Waiʻanae Moku was first started last year by the immediate past Hawaiian and Pacific Resource Librarian, Annemarie Paikai, and the campus extends heartfelt gratitude to her for beginning what they hope will continue as a cherished annual tradition.

Lei lāʻī in hilo style

Hoʻomaikaʻi to the 2025 Graduates of Waiʻanae Moku Campus!

This year marks the largest graduating class in Waiʻanae Moku’s history, a milestone that fills the campus with immense pride. We are incredibly proud of our graduates and can’t wait to see all the wonderful things they will accomplish in this next chapter of their journeys.

Finals Countdown: Lei Making Workshop

The tutors and the library staff hosted a lei making workshop in the Learning Resource Center (LRC) Thursday, May 8th. Students learned how to make ti leaf lei and eyelash yarn lei. Mahalo Jordan and Faith, our LRC tutors, for leading the workshop!

 Spring 2025 Finals Countdown - Tī Leaf Lei Making Spring 2025 Finals Countdown - Eyelash Yarn Lei Making

Eyelash yarn lei supplies funded by ASUH – Leeward CC.

Learning Commons Closed Summer 2025

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The Learning Commons will close on May 19 to allow units to prepare spaces for construction and relocate 2nd floor services to other locations. Construction work is scheduled to begin on June 2 and be completed by the end of July 2025.

We will share more details on how services will be offered during the two-month closure in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please contact me at waydeo@hawaii.edu with your questions and concerns.

Finals Countdown Activities for May 5-9

Get ready for the home stretch of the semester! The Library & Tutoring will be hosting a few de-stressing activities for students during our Finals Countdown period, May 5-16! Please share our event schedule with your students:

  • May 5-16 (Mon-Fri), 8am – 5pm: FREE snacks* at the Library’s circulation desk
  • May 7 (Wed), 4:15-5pm: Yoga with Natalie Kahn at the Hale Lehua Dance Studio (DA 108), located next to Kīpuka
  • May 8 (Thu), 12-1:30pm: Lei Making Workshop* at the Learning Resource Center, located inside the Library (Registration Required)

*Supplies funded by ASUH – Leeward CC. Validated Leeward CC ID required.

For more information, visit our Finals Countdown page at go.hawaii.edu/yTR

Ebook Central Research Assistant is here!

Cartoon robot pointing to the words Ebook Central Research Assistant shown on a laptop.

Artificial intelligence is making its way into nearly every aspect of our lives, and the library is no exception. Several of our electronic resources are actively incorporating AI tools, with many more to come. Ebook Central, our largest ebook platform, has recently implemented its AI-driven Research Assistant.

Researchers may leverage Ebook Central Research Assistant to quickly assess relevance and identify resources that merit further investigation. The tool also facilitates discovery by offering concepts and additional titles that may be of interest. Ready to check it out?

To get started, navigate to Ebook Central from our A-Z Databases list. If you are currently off campus, you may be prompted to log in with your UH credentials first. With more than 280,000 titles available, you’re sure to find something of interest. Select a title to reach the book detail page, then click on Read Online.

Screenshot of book detail page prompting you to click on Read Online.

The Research Assistant will automatically load in either the left or right sidebar, depending on the format of the selected ebook. Click on Find chapter in table of contents to see the Research Assistant in action.

Screenshot showing how to select a chapter from within an ebook.

The table of contents will load in the sidebar. Select a chapter from the list.

Screenshot showing how to select a chapter from the list within an ebook.

The chapter text will display in the main screen. Now click on the stars icon to re-load the Research Assistant in the sidebar.

Screenshot showing how to click on the stars to open the Research Assistant.

Research Assistant currently offers three functions. The first is to provide a brief “key takeaway” from the chapter. Click on Show key takeaway from this chapter and the Research Assistant tool will generate it.

Screenshot showing how to generate a key takeaway of the chapter.

The second function is to summarize five important concepts from the chapter. Click on Show concepts discussed in this chapter to generate them.

Screenshot showing how to click on the button to generate key concepts for the chapter.

The third function is to display other Ebook Central titles that feature a key concept generated by Research Assistant. Click on the search icon next to any concept to see additional titles that may be relevant.

Screenshot showing how to click on the search icon to find additional titles that discuss the key concept.
Screenshot showing other titles identified as relevant to the key concept.

Ebook Central Research Assistant is still in beta mode, so we can expect it to evolve and change over time. Important notes:

  • Research Assistant may work better in Firefox or Edge rather than Chrome.
  • The tool is not available for all content in Ebook Central; authors/publishers may opt out, and brief chapters may not provide enough material.
  • The tool analyzes text only (no images).
  • Research Assistant operates on the individual book chapter level, NOT across an entire book or across multiple titles.
  • As always, AI-generated content may not be 100% accurate. Additionally, sensitive terms/content may be blocked.

How do YOU feel about the recent proliferation of AI tools? Personally, I’m remembering all those hours I spent in the library stacks flipping through volume after volume, and feeling a bit jealous right now!

Learning Commons Renovation Project Update

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The upcoming phase of the Learning Commons Renovation Project involves retrofitting fire sprinklers on the second and third floors. This work will require the closure of the second floor, where library services are consolidated during the renovation. It will also impact Tutoring Services (Writing Center and LRC) and Disability Services.

The Learning Commons will close on May 19 to allow units to prepare spaces for construction and relocate services to other locations. Construction work is scheduled to begin on June 2 and be completed by the end of July 2025.

We will share more details on how services will be offered during the two-month closure in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please contact me at waydeo@hawaii.edu with your questions and concerns.