Learning Commons News & Much More!

Leeward Community College

Meet Libby!

February 20, 2024 by Eileen Sakamoto | 0 comments

The Libby app allows faculty, staff and students to access online magazines, eBooks, and audiobooks from our OverDrive collection on their phones and tablets. 

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OverDrive

You can browse thousands of popular fiction and non-fiction ebooks, magazines, and audiobooks on OverDrive! To locate OverDrive, go to the Research menu tab on the library’s homepage then click the Full A-Z Databases List option to view a list of databases in alphabetical order. 

To browse OverDrive, log in using your UH credentials. 

Download Libby for reading on the go!

Once you’ve found something to borrow, go to the app store on your phone or tablet and download the Libby app. After downloading Libby, add Leeward Community College as your library and log in with your UH credentials. 

If you have a public library card in Hawaiʻi, you can also add Hawaii State Public Library System to access their OverDrive collection!

Please contact us at lcccirc@hawaii.edu if you have any questions. Happy reading!

Website Feature: Library Research Center

February 2, 2024 by Ralph Toyama | 0 comments

Over the winter break, we made an adjustment to our library homepage to more prominently feature our Library Research Center page. It’s designed to present our research and information resources in a way that accommodates people with different levels of search experience and familiarity with our resources. Key features include:

  • Quick links to our most popular databases at the top
  • Simple searching & advanced searching with the Primo multi-database search system
  • Guidance for novice searchers
  • Links to in-depth information about our resources, and strategies for specific information needs

To make Library Research Center easier to find, we made it one of the six prominent links on the library homepage. This new link replaces the “Research Databases” link to our A-Z Databases page.

homepage with the new link circled

A-Z Databases lists the 100+ databases and online publications we have access to. It has filters and a search function to help find useful databases. We did find that some students misunderstood the nature of the page, assuming it to be a topical search tool rather than a database-finding tool. This sometimes led to erroneous conclusions about the availability of materials on their research topic. Hopefully the more descriptive labels for our other links to A-Z Databases, which can be found in places including the Library Research Center page and in the “Research” menu that appears at the top of almost every library web page, will help reduce confusion.

Library Research Center page with the See the full list of databases: A-Z Databases link highlighted
The Library Research Center and A-Z Databases pages are easily reachable from the menu.
Website research submenu with first two links circled.

New Docuseek Videos

September 12, 2023 by Cheryl | 0 comments

New videos from Docuseek image with screenshots of 5 videos.

Docuseek continues to add interesting new documentaries to its streaming platform. One of our awesome library student assistants, Izumi Watt, selected and summarized five of these new titles below.

This film combines four short documentaries highlighting stories of immigrants to America from Korea, Cambodia, China, and Japan. The films are: A Portrait of Us, directed by Sarah Park; Conversations at the Register by Brandon Soun and Lan Nguyen; What Remains by Ginger Yifan Chen; and Sincerely Miné Okubo, directed by Yuka Murakami.

The phrase “Matter Out of Place” refers to any object or impact not native to the immediate environment. Nikolaus Geyrhalter, the director, travels all over the world to put a spotlight on various examples of matter out of place. The documentary focuses on the expanding problem of human-made refuse and the endless struggle to control it.

Directed by Eric Khoo, this film shares the life and creations of Yoshihiro Tatsumi, inspired by his book A Drifting Life and five of his iconic stories. Tatsumi’s works follow his experiences with high and low moments in life. His artistic style of gekiga (dramatic pictures) transformed the manga landscape in the mid-1900s.

The Pretendians, directed by Paul Kemp with Drew Hayden Taylor, discusses indigenous identity and appropriation of the rights of native people in Canada and the United States. Drew Hayden Taylor, an Anishinaabe author from Curve Lake First Nations, visits gift shops, universities, and reservation gas stations to investigate instances of fraud related to falsely claimed indigenous identity by “Pretend Indians.”

The Apollonia is a schooner, a type of sailing ship with two or more masts. She is captained by Sam Merrett as the crew ships freight up and down the Hudson River. Windshipped, directed by Jon Bowermaster, follows the ship and crew as they revive an age-old method of moving products to cities along the banks of the river. This practice of sail freight attracts businesses interested in sustainable and carbon neutral options for shipping their products.

We hope you find these videos as interesting and informative as we did!

As a reminder, all current Leeward CC faculty, staff and students are welcome to use our streaming video services. When accessing our electronic resources from off campus, you may be prompted to log in with your UH credentials first.

New ProQuest Historical Newspapers

July 27, 2023 by Cheryl | 0 comments

Collage of partial screenshots of 3 ProQuest Historical Newspapers.

As the old saying goes, history tends to repeat itself. Maybe as a farce. Or perhaps only if you failed to learn from it the first time.

In any case, we now have additional resources to help us unravel this mystery! Through a UH system-wide license, the Leeward CC community has gained access to 3 historical newspaper archives from ProQuest: The Wall Street Journal (1889-2011), Los Angeles Times (1881-2014), and The New York Times (1851-2019).

To get started, visit our A-Z Databases page and find your newspaper in the alphabetical list, or search for it in our Primo library catalog. If you are off campus, you may be prompted to enter your UH username and password before being granted access. Once you are in the database, it is easy to search the full text, or browse by issue date. You may view and download articles or full pages in PDF format.

Our coverage of the Los Angeles Times goes all the way back to the very first issue in 1881. Here’s an interesting article from January 17, 1960 about the impact of a writers’ guild strike on the television and film industries:

Writers Guild Strike Spreads to Film Studios

The New York Times archive dates back to antebellum times, so you’re sure to strike a goldmine of history. This article from February 23, 1947 details Hawaiʻi’s reopening to tourism after the trauma of World War II:

A Welcome to Hawaii: Vacationers Return to the Crowded Islands

The Wall Street Journal has been an important source for business and financial news for over 130 years. Our coverage goes back to the beginning, but you can also find more recent articles, such as this February 9, 2001 story about Barbie’s big break:

Barbie Learns Ballet and Launches a Movie Career

Wait a second . . . an impactful writers’ strike? Hawaiʻi’s reopening to tourism, following a major worldwide crisis? A Barbie movie? Maybe it IS true that history repeats itself!

If history isn’t your thing, don’t forget that we also have recent newspaper coverage (including stories from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser) through ProQuest US West Newsstream. In addition, all current Leeward faculty, staff and students are welcome to sign up for a free New York Times group pass. Once registered, you will have access to news, Cooking, and Wirecutter product reviews on NYTimes.com for one year (renewable).

Past or present, weʻve got you covered!


The Big Library Read: A Very Typical Family

July 13, 2023 by Cheryl | 0 comments

Screenshot of cover art for A Very Typical Family.

The Big Library Read, hosted by OverDrive, comes but thrice a year. If you’ve been wanting to join in on the fun, you’re in luck! The summer Big Library Read is happening NOW, July 13-27, 2023.

Billed as “the first global ebook club,” the Big Library Read offers one title, free of charge, to OverDrive users around the world. This summer’s selection is A Very Typical Family by Sierra Godfrey.

About the book

Cover photo of A Very Typical Family.

Natalie Walker is the reason her older brother and sister went to prison over 15 years ago. She fled California shortly after that fateful night and hasn’t spoken to anyone in her family since. Now, on the same day her boyfriend steals her dream job out from under her, Natalie receives a letter from a lawyer saying her estranged mother has died and left the family’s historic Santa Cruz house to her. Sort of. The only way for Natalie and her siblings to inherit is for all three adult children to come back and claim it—together.

Written with delightfully dark humor and characters you can’t help but cheer for, A Very Typical Family is an uplifting family drama that will have you reveling in the power of second chances.

Accessing the book on OverDrive

Ready to read? Just click on these direct links to access A Very Typical Family on OverDrive:

If this is your first time using OverDrive, you’re in for a treat! More than 500 ebooks and 4,700 magazines are available for your reading pleasure. We also have a small (but growing) selection of audiobooks–perfect for making those long commutes a little more bearable.

OverDrive screenshot.

For reading on the go, be sure to check out OverDrive’s mobile app, Libby. Borrow ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines, then read/listen to them right from the app. You may also manage your loans, even across different OverDrive library collections (such as the Hawaii State Public Library System’s). Click on the graphic below for a video introduction to Libby.

Libby promotional graphic.

A discussion board for A Very Typical Family is available, but beware of spoilers! Happy reading!

Streaming Video Updates

June 21, 2023 by Cheryl | 0 comments

Picture of a movie theater screen with text: streaming video updates.

Seen any good movies lately? Crowds may be flocking to the theaters for live-action Disney mermaids and high-jumping Nintendo characters, but the library provides you with the best in academic video streaming from the comfort of your own home . . . or maybe even from the beach, weather permitting!

Kanopy, Docuseek, Academic Video Online, Feature Films for Education, and Swank Digital Campus are among our major streaming film platforms. We introduced you to all of these (and more) in a series of blog posts last summer. Perhaps you may recall, from the post on electronic resource access models, that some of our platforms regularly add and remove titles from their collections. Today’s post will give you content updates from two such platforms: Kanopy and Docuseek.

Kanopy Additions and Removals

Picture of a film strip with text: New update Kanopy.

There’s been a lot of activity on Kanopy, one of our largest streaming services.

Additions 😊

Removals 😢

If you notice that a film you need for your class has been (or is scheduled to be) removed from Kanopy, please contact your librarian subject liaison or the Reference Desk. It is possible we may be able to acquire it in another way, or help you explore other options.

Docuseek New Additions

Picture of a movie marquee with text: New Films on Docuseek.

More than 100 new titles have been added to our Docuseek platform recently. The titles below, with vendor-supplied descriptions, are just a handful of the newly available documentaries.

Filmmaker and philanthropist Abigail Disney grapples with America’s profound inequality crisis. The story begins in 2018, after Abigail encounters workers at the company that bears her name struggling to put food on the table. Could she, a descendent, with no role in the multinational conglomerate, use her famous last name to help pressure Disney and other American corporations to treat low-wage workers more humanely?

A chronicle of resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), WE ARE UNARMED bears witness to this historic event from the first week of September 2016 to forced evacuation on February 23rd, 2017. Award-winning filmmaker Gwendolen Cates goes behind the scenes with three Lakota women who play central roles – Kelly Morgan, the tribal archaeologist, Phyllis Young, the longtime activist who became the movement spokesperson and strategist, and Holy Elk Lafferty, the young camp leader.

ZERO GRAVITY follows a diverse group of middle school students from San Jose, CA, who compete in a nationwide tournament to code satellites aboard the International Space Station. Their mission: compete with teams across the country to write the most strategic code for surveying satellites, known as SPHERES. These satellites will help map out a GPS system to successfully orbit Mars in the future, opening the door to infinite opportunities and exploration on the Red Planet.

A story about the challenge of keeping Dolpo’s ancient culture alive as the area becomes less isolated. It centers on Pema’s parents’ expectation that Pema will return to Dolpo when he completes his education, marry a Dolpapa woman, and manage the family’s land. As the only son, this is his role in Dolpo’s traditional culture. Pema is torn between his duty to the family and his desire to live the modern life that he now prefers.

Town Destroyer explores the ways we look at art and history at a time of racial reckoning. The story focuses on a dispute over historic murals depicting the life of George Washington: slaveowner, general, land speculator, President, and a man Seneca leaders called “Town Destroyer” after he ordered their villages destroyed during the Revolutionary War.


As a reminder, all current Leeward CC faculty, staff and students are welcome to use our streaming video services. When accessing our electronic resources from off campus, you may be prompted to log in with your UH credentials first.

There are countless hidden gems waiting to be discovered. Let us know what you find!

New Ebooks on JSTOR

May 9, 2023 by Cheryl | 0 comments

Images of book covers from new JSTOR ebooks.

More good news for ebook lovers! We have recently gained access to 8,000+ titles on JSTOR, including more than 1,000 from University of Hawaiʻi Press! A few notable titles are pictured below.




Cover image of Night is a Sharkskin Drum.

Night is a Sharkskin Drum

Haunani-Kay Trask


Cover image of Kanaka Oiwi Methodologies: Moolelo and Metaphor.

Kanaka ʻŌiwi Methodologies: Moʻolelo and Metaphor

Katrina-Ann R. Kapā‘anaokalāokeola Nākoa Oliveira




Unlike many other database platforms, JSTOR puts no restrictions on the number of simultaneous users or the amount of material that may be downloaded and/or printed from each licensed ebook.

Our JSTOR ebooks are included in our Library Catalog (Primo), but exploring the JSTOR platform directly may also be helpful, since book chapters and journal articles are integrated and cross-searchable.

To access JSTOR, start at our A-Z Databases page and select JSTOR from the list. As with all of our electronic resources, access is available to current Leeward faculty, staff, and students. If you are off campus, you may be prompted to enter your UH login credentials first.

Screenshot of JSTOR home page showing Leeward CC access indication and search terms in search box.

If you see the “Access provided by Leeward Community College” message at the top of the page, you are ready to discover our licensed content on JSTOR. To get started, enter your search terms in the box. If you are looking for a specific book title or author, you may select the appropriate option show in the drop-down menu.

Screenshot of JSTOR search results page showing filters for "Content I can access" and "Book Chapters."

The filters in the left sidebar allow you to refine your search results. Although we have more than 8,000 licensed ebooks on JSTOR, we do NOT have access to every title on the platform, so it is a good idea to keep the “Content I can access” button checked. To filter for book content (not journals), select the “Book Chapters” box.

This 7-minute video offers helpful tips for searching JSTOR.

For more information on JSTOR, including working with items of interest and using the Text Analyzer tool, please see this earlier blog post.


New Hawaiʻi-Pacific Ebooks!

May 2, 2023 by Cheryl | 0 comments

Cover shots of various new ebooks.

We are excited to provide new electronic access to some treasured Hawaiʻi-Pacific titles!




Cover image of Fragments of Hawaiian History.

Fragments of Hawaiian History

John Papa ʻĪʻī


Cover image of Ruling Chiefs of Hawaiʻi.

Ruling Chiefs of Hawaiʻi

Samuel Kamakau



Other new additions:

Tales of the Menehune
Mary Kawena Pukui

Hawaiʻi Island Legends: Pele, Pīkoi, and Others
Mary Kawena Pukui

Arts and Crafts of Hawaiʻi
Peter Henry Buck

Folktales of Hawaiʻi = He Mau Kaʻao Hawaiʻi
Mary Kawena Pukui

He Moʻolelo Kaʻao o Kamapuaʻa = [A Legendary Tradition of Kamapuaʻa, the Hawaiian Pig-God]
Lilikalā Kame’eleihiwa

The Works of the People of Old = Na Hana a ka Po’e Kahiko
Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau

Ka Poʻe Kahiko = The People of Old
Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau

Tales and Traditions of the People of Old = Nā Moʻolelo o ka Poʻe Kahiko
Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau

Please note that most of these ebooks are limited to one simultaneous user, so if another person is currently accessing the book, you may need to check back a little later.

As with all of our electronic resources, access is available to current Leeward faculty, staff, and students. If you are off campus, you may be prompted to enter your UH login credentials first.

Arstor Trial Thru May 1

April 4, 2023 by Cheryl | 0 comments

From now until May 1, Leeward CC faculty, staff and students are invited to explore Artstor’s vast collection of more than 2 million high-quality images, hosted on the familiar JSTOR platform!

Artstor contains multidisciplinary images contributed by museums, libraries, photo archives, artists, and more, all cleared for use in non-commercial education and research.

To access Artstor, start at our A-Z Databases page and select Artstor from the list. If you are off campus, you may be prompted to enter your UH login first.

Screenshot of Youtube video on searching Artstor
Click on the image above for a brief video on searching Artstor.

If you would like to give feedback on Artstor, please fill out the survey

 


 

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