ECC Archives: understand our college by visiting our past

Renner Learning Resource Center in the mid-1970s

Renner Learning Resource Center in the mid-1970s

Where can you find aerial photos of campus, past faculty pictures, retro fashions, and a picture of the ECC Dating Game, circa 1976? The ECC College Archives, of course!  Elgin Community College has a large archive collection, part of which is available to you online. Items are added continually, and the Archives are accessed thousands of times each year.

Use the BROWSE feature to go through the entire online collection, or search by title, subject or a key word.  You can even sign up for an RSS feed so you are alerted when new photos are added! For more information, see the Archives website. Please consult with the Archival Librarian, Armando Trejo (814-214-7141) to make arrangements for the materials to be retrieved from storage. Archive materials may only be used in the library.

Library Open Until Midnight for Late Night Study Hours!

ECC Library will remain open until midnight on Monday, May 13th!

And while you are pulling that late night study session or finishing up that research paper, be sure to take a break and enjoy an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at 10:00 pm  in the Community Room, courtesy of the Division of Teaching, Learning and Student Development!

Nursing and health resources at your fingertips!

Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

ECC Library offers several database options to explore health related topics, both for nursing students and for the general public.  These databases will often contain the full text of articles, so you can read the entire article from your computer, tablet, or smartphone (our mobile site can be found here.)  Here is a listing of our nursing databases:

If you have any questions or need assistance using these databases, please contact the Reference Librarians at libref@elgin.edu or 847-214-7354.

The Graveyard Book: Book review of the sound recording

Cover courtesy of Amazon.com

The Graveyard Book
By Neil Gaiman
Books on CD – Fic G141gr  (also available in print in children’s section as Fic G141g)

*Winner of the Audio Publishers Association Audie Award, Newbery Medal, and the ALA Best Book for Young Adults

Nobody Owens, who, as his unusual name would suggest, is anything but ordinary. Just a toddler, the boy escapes his home after his family is gruesomely murdered and wanders into a nearby graveyard. Sensing a need to protect him, the ghosts who reside there adopt the boy and name him Nobody. Being a live boy in a graveyard full of spirits has its advantages, like the skills of fading and dream walking, usually reserved for spirits, but which Bod (as everyone calls him) eventually discovers. And while Bod is busy growing up, his family’s murderer searches the real world for the boy that eluded him.

I was happily surprised when I began listening to this audio book and heard the narrator was the author himself, Neil Gaiman.  Gaiman’s deep but soft voice enhances the charming dread that is the overall tone of The Graveyard Book.  And being the author, he is able to give the correct inflection to humorous asides that lighten the mood during even the scariest moments.  This is what makes The Graveyard Book, one of my favorite Gaiman novels. While technically written for children and young adults, the book is just creepy enough to keep adults entertained, but between Bod’s pluck and his ghost guardians’ absurdity Gaiman manages to take the edge off the terror.

I appreciated that each disc ends at a chapter break, which makes better transition if a reader can’t get to the next disc right away.  The audio book also contains music at the beginning and end of each disc signaling the need to switch discs without the jarring interruption of repeating the first track. The somewhat jaunty yet scary music chosen for this, also added to the overall feel of the book as well.

ECC library also has the print edition of The Graveyard Book, which includes beautiful illustrations by Dave McKean, in the children’s collection for anyone wanting to read along with the audio book.

Reviewed by Heather Murray, Reference Librarian

Do you know how to cite?

Photo courtesy of by Phil Wolff via Creative Commons

Photo courtesy of  Phil Wolff via Creative Commons

It’s that time of year! Papers are due, and works cited/bibliography become the challenge of your week.  Make it easier by checking out the options below.

Don’t forget that you can get personalized citation help from the ECC Librarians. We are available during all of our library hours (many nights until 10 p.m.) and have experience in the various formats.  Contact us by email, chat, text, phone, and in person.

Free quiet: library study rooms

One of the library's many study rooms

One of the library’s many study rooms

Need a peaceful, quiet study space?  Want to work on a group project?  The library’s study rooms are the answer!

Study rooms:

  • Are checked out on your library account at the library’s Circulation Desk on the first floor;
  • Cannot be reserved: they are first come, first served, for two hour increments (you and the key must stay in the library during your 2 hour check-out period);
  • May contain flat screens that can be hooked up to a laptop;
  • On the first floor contain large whiteboards.  Other rooms may have small whiteboards;
  • Come in various sizes, so rooms can accommodate as few as 1-2 people, and up to 10 people.

The library’s study rooms have proven to be very popular since the library opened last year.  Contact the Circulation Desk for more information or come to the library to check one out!

Library Catalog and Website Down for Scheduled Maintenance

ImageECC Library’s catalog and website will be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance this Thursday, April 25, 2013. Access will be restored on Friday, April 26th.

During the maintenance, the following library resources will still be available:

Please consider bookmarking this blog post so that you can easily access these resources.

For assistance, you can always contact us:

Reference Desk, libref@elgin.edu, (874) 214-7354

Circulation Desk, circdesk@elgin.edu, (847) 214-7337