ArtPrize is Coming!

“ArtPrize is an open, independently-organized international art competition which takes place for 19 days.”  It’s a great opportunity for GRCC students and faculty to enjoy all kinds of art – and many faculty use ArtPrize viewing as an assignment writing prompt.  This year, ArtPrize runs from September 19 through October 7.  Be sure to add ArtPrize viewing time to your GRCC time planner and check out the ArtPrize map!

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Save the Date – Learning Center Open House!

The Library & Learning Commons, Media Technologies, the Woodrick Center for Equity & Inclusion, and Academic Support & Tutoring Services invite EVERYONE to join us for a free lunch, entertainment, and prizes at the Learning Center Open House.  Mark your calendar for Tuesday, November 13th from 11:30 – 1:30 for our 3rd annual Learning Center Open House. More details to follow!

Marijuana Ballot Proposal Panel Planned

GRCC Student Life offers a Marijuana Ballot Proposal Panel for students, faculty and staff on Wednesday, September 19 from 3-4 in the Multipurpose Room on the 2nd floor in the Student Center. A panel of experts will lead a discussion of the marijuana legalization ballot proposal on Sept. 19 as part of GRCC’s Civic Engagement Week.  Panel members are:

• Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker.
• Sandy Dettmann, addiction medicine specialist and director of the Dettmann Center.
• Paul Farage, a Grand Rapids Junior College alumnus and owner of the Society of Healing Arts Institute.
• Joslin Monahan, a lawyer and volunteer with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Here’s the full language for the proposal on the November ballot, and here is the truncated ballot version.

Read about the different viewpoints that surround this controversial issue in some of the library’s databases:

• Points of View – Legalization of Marijuana
• Opposing Viewpoints – Marijuana
• Congressional Quarterly CQ Researcher – Marijuana

Off-campus or wireless users will be prompted to logon with last name and 7-digit Raider number.  For more about registering to vote, and other proposals on the November ballot – check the Voting Subject Guide.

Love to Read?

GRCC’s Library contains a great collection focused on resources for instructional use. But, if you’re like many of us, sometimes you just want to read something “fun.”  Did you know that you can request leisure reading titles to be delivered from other Michigan libraries to GRCC for your use? For free?

Here’s how:

1. Start at GRCC’s RaiderSearch Catalog and run a [Title] search for the book,  video, or CD  you want.
2. If GRCC does not own the book, then click the [Search MelCat] icon which runs the same search in the statewide MeLCat Catalog.
3. Select your title from the MeL screen and click [Get this for me] and follow the screen prompts. You’ll be asked to logon with your last name and 7-digit Raider Number.
4. We’ll contact you when the title arrives from the lending library. When you’re done, drop it back at GRCC’s Library and we’ll return it!

It’s easy… free to GRCC… and, it will expand your reading options astronomically!

Imminent Database Changes – Important Stuff!

GRCC has benefited from access to MeL online databases – paid for through state and federal taxes. Every 5 years, a MeL committee reviews database offerings and, this year, MAJOR changes were made.  On October 1, GRCC will lose access to most of the former MeL databases (Academic OneFile, General OneFile, etc.) but will have access to a wide variety of new-to-us databases from EBSCO a recognized leader in academic databases.

What this means for our students? Over the next 8 weeks, you will see regular changes to the recommended databases listed on Subject Guides as well as the Databases pages.  Other than that, you will likely see more resources in full-text online.

What this means for faculty?  Here is a crosswalk list of potential usability between the old MeL and the new MeL. If you use permalinks from LLC content to Blackboard, speak with your liaison librarian before the end of September about whether your current permalinks will still be in an accessible database, and, what your options are for continued access to expiring MeL content. Your Liason Librarian can help change out permalinks if you provide Blackboard access.  And, even if we’re losing online access to some journals, it’s likely still available legally with our Copyright Clearance Center RightFind Annual License.  Finally, you may also want to take a look at ProQuest Central databases – we’ve added LOTS of databases to our ProQuest license. You’ll love it!