May is Mental Health Awareness Month
The Moraine Valley Library has a large selection of mental health related resources. I have curated a small selection of books and e-books into a Mental Health Awareness virtual display.
E-Resources
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Economy and Economics
Written by Eileen Davenport
Inflation. Interest rates. Monetary policy. Rate hikes. The Fed. The FOMC. Cryptocurrency. What exactly do these words mean, and how will it affect you? These are some of the terms that many people use, but not everyone understands. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has websites that outline and explain these concepts with brief papers on how these ideas affect the economy. Open Vault explains economics in general terms, adding context to the market concepts that affect our lives every day.
Designed for teachers but useful for anyone with an interest in the subject, Econ Lowdown has resources on personal finance and economics. The lesson plans are designed for K-college teachers, but clear definitions and real-world applications make the content here useful for anyone who wants to learn more. You can learn at your own pace, and keep up-to-date with the latest updates on timely topics through the monthly Page One Economics newsletter.
INFLATION
INFLATION
Saving money during times of inflation
What is inflation?
Definition: Persistent increases in the general level of prices. It can be seen as a devaluing of the worth of money. (From The Penguin Dictionary of Economics)
Simply stated: Everything costs more! Here are some cost saving tips from your MVCC library:
Entertainment Savings:
FREE ebooks, comics, music, eaudiobooks, movies and TV shows! Download Hoopla – log in with your MVCC connect info.
FREE streaming access to a collection of feature films- JAWS, Black Panther, Reservoir Dogs & more! Download SWANK Digital Campus – Log in with your MVCC connect info.
Hulu’s Student Discount – $1.99/ month for College students with ID.
Health/Fitness Savings:
Moraine Valley FitRec Membership for Full-time students (12+credit hours) FREE.
Part-time students (1-11 Credit hours) $60/semester.
Discover more ways to reduce expenses- borrow these books from your MVCC library (always free!)
What’s My Topic?
Is it time to start thinking about a topic for your paper or your speech? You might want to look at SIRS Researcher to get some ideas. SIRS Researcher is one database available through the Library website. In SIRS Researcher, you can browse topics and categories.
You may find a topic that you have always been interested in or you may find a topic you don’t know much about. It’s easy to browse.
SIRS Researcher has thousands of full-text articles exploring social, scientific, health, historic, business, economic, political, and global issues. The articles come from newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, books, and government documents.
We also have a Help Guide for SIRS Researcher.
If you need help with this database or any database, Ask a Librarian!
Zotero Research Assistant
Chances are you have at least one research assignment to do this semester. Have you ever wished there was a tool to help keep all your research together? Well, there is, and it’s called Zotero. Not only will Zotero save all your sources together in one place, but it can also connect to Microsoft Word and Google Docs to create citations and bibliographies for you. Best of all, it’s free and easy to use! For more information and instructions on how to use it, you can go to our Zotero Research Guide.
Beyond Academic Search Complete
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!
Comic Convention Companion
This season is full of great pop culture events. New York Comic Con was last month, San Diego Comic Con will be in-person next week, and Chicago’s own C2E2 will be in-person in December. So many awesome shows!
Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones attending this year, or maybe you feel the time isn’t right. Either way, the library has graphic novels, cosplay resources, artists, and more to connect you with the pop culture community!
Check out some of the resources below in our Comic Convention Companion, and visit the library in the near future to see some of our staff’s best graphic novel and manga recommendations for your holiday break! Click the image below to view the collection:
Jane Austen July
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a student in possession of a summer break, must be in want of a reading challenge.
Okay, maybe not, but if you are looking for a month-long reading challenge and you enjoy a little early 19th century English literature, look no further than Jane Austen July!
Hosted by three Booktubers: Blatantly Bookish, Books and Things, and Spinster’s Library, the challenge has a Goodreads group, read-alongs, and a Bingo card that readers can complete.
The hosts have created 7 challenges, all of which can be completed with materials from MVCC Library!
- Read one of Jane Austen’s Six Novels
- Read something by Jane Austen that is not one of her main six novels
- Read a non fiction work about Jane Austen or her time period, The Late Georgian or Regency Era
- Read a modern retelling of a Jane Austen book
- Read a Book by a contemporary of Jane Austen (Some examples are Walter Scott, Mary Shelley, and more)
- Watch a direct screen adaptation of a Jane Austen Book.
- Watch a modern screen adaptation of a Jane Austen Book. (Some examples are Bride and Prejudice and Clueless)
I propose an 8th challenge: Read an article from a peer-reviewed Jane Austen academic journal!
Will you be partaking in this Regency read-a-thon?
Be Ready For Tornadoes
Late last night, Naperville residents had about 3 minutes between hearing their local emergency sirens and the formation of a huge tornado with winds possibly over 100 mph. Residents in Naperville, Woodridge, and Darien suffered damage to their homes and communities. A few individuals ended up in the hospital and many lost their homes. Trees damaged power lines and many lost power. Tornadoes don’t leave a lot of time for you to react, so the best way to deal with them is to prepare ahead of time.
While this event didn’t impact the MVCC campus directly, tornadoes can affect any community. Here are some resources that will help you be ready in case the next disaster is in your area:
Tornado Preparedness Resources:
5 Things to Know When the Tornado Siren Blares (Alternative link)
Tornado Preparedness and Safety
Illinois Severe Weather Preparedness Guide
Get Emergency Alerts on Your Phone
Apps and Social Media for Monitoring Severe Weather:
- NOAA Weather Radio (iOS)(Android)
- FEMA (iOS)(Android)
- National Weather Service Chicago (Twitter)(Facebook)
Want to help?
Suburban Chicago Tornado: How to Help Storm Damage Victims
Information about Volunteering, Donations, and Food Pantries