Kelly Hand

Crowded Skies

In the Collection, In the Headlines / By / February 21, 2023

Recently the US government has been shooting down some high-flying, unknown objects. The first object was recovered and can be studied for identification. The searches for the other three objects have been abandoned due to weather and terrain, eliminating the possibility of identifying the purposes and origins of the objects. As it turns out, chances are pretty good that the most recent objects were legitimate research balloons. There are thousands of balloons in the sky right now. The US National Weather Service alone launches around 60,000 balloons per year. NASA uses balloons to study the atmosphere. Many other research organizations launch high-flying balloons all over the world as well.

Below you’ll find a glimpse of a graphic the New York Times recently published that gives an idea of the sizes and altitudes of various objects in the skies. You can view the full size graphic on the New York Times website. Spy Balloons. U.F.O.s. What Else Is Up There? And the New York Times article, A Rising Awareness That Balloons Are Everywhere In Our Skies gives more information about the numbers and various types of balloons being used.

If you haven’t yet signed up for your free subscription to the New York Times, you can do that right here, using your MVCC email address. To find out more about meteorology and how all these balloons might be being used, check out these books from the library collection.

Is This The Last Time We Fall Back?

In the Collection, In the Headlines / By / November 3, 2022

At 2am this coming Sunday morning we fall back one hour as Daylight Saving Time comes to an end once again. Is this the last time? It’s possible, but probably not.

If there’s one thing that most Americans seem to be in agreement about, it’s that they don’t want to change clocks twice per year. Both physical and mental health suffer as our bodies adjust. There is a difference of opinion though on whether we should stick with DST all the time, or use Standard Time all of the time. There are compelling arguments on both sides. Many businesses see increased profits with more daylight in the evening. There is also evidence of a decrease in accidents and crime. Sleep experts, on the other hand, tell us that our bodies are at their best when the sun is highest in the sky at midday. This is more in line with Standard Time. So, while a majority would like to stop changing clocks, we can’t agree on which system to make permanent.

In March of this year, the US Senate picked a side and unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which is set to take effect in November of 2023 and make Daylight Saving Time permanent. This means that we would spring forward in March of 2023 and then just stay on that time, never having to switch back and forth again. In order for this to happen, the US House must also pass the act before it gets sent to the White House for signing. The act is stuck for now, with the House of Representatives not taking any action on the measure. So this could be the last time we fall back, but only time will tell.

Find out more about the history of timekeeping with these books from the library collection.

What To Read — After Class

About Our Library, In the Collection, Readers' Advisory / By / September 6, 2022

Do you ever find yourself looking for something good to read that is not related to your studies, but just for fun? Check out the After Class collection in the library. The After Class collection is located on the main level, in the lounge area at the front of the library. Here you’ll find a mixture of current fiction and non-fiction books, many of them bestsellers. It’s a great place to browse when you’re just looking for something entertaining to read. Relax with your book in the library, or check it out with your MVCC ID card. A few titles from the current collection are shown above. To find out more about these titles, or to see all the books in the collection click here.

The Number 1 Way to Fight Climate Change

One Book: All We Can Save / By / May 2, 2022

We’ve been talking about climate change a lot this year, as we highlight issues from this year’s One Book One College selection All We Can Save. It’s a book that addresses the seriousness of our situation, but it’s also a book of inspiration. There are many people, from all walks of life, doing great work toward tackling the problem.

For those of us that are encouraged to act, we’ve learned about various things that we can do. We can make green energy choices in our homes and modes of transportation. We can make climate friendly food choices. We can buy less stuff. We can plant trees, or tackle something like my latest project, which is building a butterfly garden in my backyard.

All of these things are vitally important. But in all honesty, they are not enough. The problem is so much bigger than what we as individuals can do. The problem of climate change is systemic and the real change that needs to happen is at the government and corporate level. This means that the number one thing that we can do to fight climate change is to apply pressure, and not let leaders look away from the problem. With our actions, our dollars, or our votes we can support the groups that are doing this kind of work, like the authors featured in All We Can Save.

“It is time to stop focusing on what government can do and start recognizing the critical role we all play in making government do its job.” Gina McCarthy, “Public Service for Public Health“, All We Can Save

Here are a couple of great discussions about the need to keep talking about climate change to help bring about the systemic change that we need.

New York Times Podcast

Got Climate Doom? Here’s What You Can Do To Actually Make a Difference

TEDTalk

Here are a number of organizations that are doing this work.

Sunrise Movement 

350.org

Environmental Voter Project

Drawdown

Climate Power

Fridays for Future

Evergreen Action

Earthday.org

Sierra Club Beyond Coal

Greenpeace

And to leave you with a just a bit more inspiration from Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Sean Paul and many, many more artists–Love Song to the Earth.

Moraine Valley Authors’ Display

Authors / By / March 7, 2022

Each year the MVCC Library is pleased to display the published works of Moraine Valley Community College faculty and staff. Please enjoy this virtual display of all of the hard work and creativity of this year’s participants. Featured are works produced anytime during 2021 including articles, books, conference presentations, music, poetry, and short stories. We are delighted to showcase all of this amazing work!

Beyond Academic Search Complete

E-Resources / By / March 3, 2022

The MVCC Library databases are a tremendous resource. They provide free access to thousands of magazines, newspapers, academic journals, reference materials, and even videos that are not available through Google or other search engines. Academic Search Complete is often a go-to database for library users. It’s the one that is being searched if you use the Articles search box on the library homepage.

Academic Search Complete is pretty great and it covers all subject areas. But sometimes when searching, it can be helpful to use a more specialized database. This is where the All Databases page on the library website comes in handy. Here you will find an A to Z list of all of the library’s ~100 databases. You’ll also be able to use the subject groupings of databases.

So, if you’re researching currents events, or sports information, or films, you may want to use the News databases. This way you’ll be searching only newspapers. If you’re looking into something like management practices at McDonalds, you could go into the Business grouping and select Business Source Premier. Or if you’re working on a feasibility study or a business plan, Reference Solutions is going to give lots of information about potential competitors and clients. The blurbs for these databases help you choose the best one for your research need.

By now you might be thinking that this is getting a little complicated. There are so many different databases, you must need to be an expert to know how to search them all. Not at all. Business Source Premier for example, works just like Academic Search Complete, as do many of the library’s databases. Plus, to help you get started using various databases, librarians have created help guides for many of the library’s databases. Just look for the link at the end of the database description.

Are you interested in a database guide that we haven’t created yet? Let us know and we’ll make one!

Ask a Librarian

Agriculture and Climate Change

In the Collection, One Book: All We Can Save / By / February 1, 2022

The One Book One College selection this year, All We Can Save, takes a look at the threat of climate change. When we think about climate change, we often focus on energy use. That is important, but it’s not the whole picture. A huge contributor to the problem is agriculture. It’s a triple threat. Plowing releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Fertilizing is a source of nitrous oxide. Cattle release methane. All of these together amount to about a third of all the greenhouse gases leading to human-caused changes in climate.

The food choices that we make matter a lot. And big changes need to happen in the agriculture industry. The New York Times released the first video today that is part of a series called “We’re Cooked.” Part 1, “Meet the People Getting Paid to Kill Our Planet,” takes a hard look at the agricultural lobby in the US. You can watch all of the videos as they are released here. And don’t forget to sign up for your free subscription to the New York Times through the MVCC Library.

To find out more about food and climate change, check out these titles from the MVCC Library.

Chicago–The Candy Capital of the World

History, In the Collection, Local News and Info / By / October 25, 2021

Halloween is almost here. Getting to dress up in costumes is only part of the holiday fun. Because let’s face it, Halloween is also about the candy. Did you know that a lot of the candy that fills trick-or-treaters’ buckets has a history in Chicago?

Tootsie Rolls, M&Ms, Snickers, Brach’s, Wrigley, Lemonheads, Red Hots, Baby Ruths, Butterfingers, Jolly Ranchers, Milk Duds, Cracker Jack, the list goes on and on. These candies and many more are Chicago products. Even Hershey owes its start to Chicago, since it was at the1893 Chicago World’s Fair that Milton Hershey got the idea to start his own chocolate company. Chicago has long been known as the Candy Capital of the World, having been throughout most of its history the producer of one third of all the candy made in the United States.

Learn more about Chicago’s delicious history in the book Chicago’s Sweet Candy History, by Leslie Goddard. You can also find more histories of candy here in the MVCC Library collection.

Frida Kahlo Exhibit

Celebrating Latino Americans, In the Collection, Local News and Info / By / September 27, 2021

The Frida Kahlo exhibit that spent the summer at nearby College of DuPage was impressive and drew visitors from all 50 states and 42 countries. In case you were unable to enjoy the event in person, or would like to revisit some of what you experienced, this virtual tour is a great way to connect with the exhibit. Through exhibit photos and narrative, the curator walks us through Frida’s difficult life and then helps the viewer engage with a few of the paintings on display. We also see reproductions of Frida Kahlo’s garden and house. Frida Kahlo Timeless Virtual Tour

To engage even further with the life and works of the artist, check out the MVCC Library’s collection on Frida Kahlo.

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