March 31, 2014

Human Library @ the Highland Lakes Student Center

Participants from the
2013 Human Library event
Have you ever wondered what it is like to be deaf?  What it is like to live with a mental illness?  What it is like to have survived cancer three times?  At the OCC Highland Lakes Campus Diversity Fair on Thursday April 10, the HL Campus Diversity Committee and OCC Libraries will host our sixth Human Library event that allows “readers” to checkout volunteer “books” who represent multiple areas of diversity.  Human Books represent a cross section of society that have been stereotyped.  “Books” are not asked to be experts, but instead asked to be themselves and tell their story in response to questions asked by the “Reader”.  This exercise allowed “Books” and “Readers” alike to meet people from other walks of life that they may not otherwise have had the opportunity to meet.

The Human Library was started several years ago in Denmark to help break down barriers and end prejudice.  The idea was simple: if you meet people from other walks of life, people different than yourself, they become real and no longer belong to a faceless group.  Once people start talking and getting to know one another, it becomes harder to discriminate against others as we realize we are more similar than we are different.  For more information, please go to www.humanlibrary.org.

On Thursday April 10th, at the OCC Highland Lakes Campus Student Center from noon – 3pm, our Human Library will have 13 Human Book titles.  Please come and check them out.

Submitted by Allison McFadden-Keesling
Faculty Librarian
Highland Lakes Campus Library


March 24, 2014

Free Library Success Seminars at Royal Oak and Southfield in April

There are just a handful of free Library Success Seminars left this semester at Royal Oak and Southfield. These sessions cover a variety of topics related to library research. Ask your instructor about extra credit for attending any of these seminars. See the Library Instruction page for more information about future seminars at all OCC campuses.

Royal Oak Campus
(see all Winter 2014 seminars for Royal Oak)
Southfield Campus
(see all Winter 2014 seminars for Southfield)

March 18, 2014

Featured Database - Biography In Context

Are you interested in learning more about people's lives? Has your instructor asked you to write a biography? Then take a look at Biography In Context, a library resource that's authoritative and updated daily. It lets you:
  • Search for people by name, nationality, occupation, or date
  • Find biographies of filmmakers, musicians, scientists, athletes, inventors, and politicians (among others)
  • View biographies, videos, audio, images, and current news articles
  • Use text-to-speech technology to have the biography read to you
  • Share, email, print, translate, save, cite, or download the biography
You can get to this resource from the OCC Libraries homepage. Click the tab for Articles & Databases, choose All Databases, then scroll down to the B's.

Need help using this resource? Check out our YouTube video or ask a librarian for help.

Here are some biographies to get you started:
Submitted by Christine Malmsten
Faculty Librarian
Auburn Hills Campus Library

March 5, 2014

Celebrate Women's History Month

The OCC Womencenter and Libraries invite you to celebrate Women’s History Month through recognizing women who have made significant contributions to our world.

Please visit the OCC Women's History Month Blog and consider submitting a nomination recognizing an extraordinary woman who has made our world a better place through her contribution as an educator, scientist, head-of-state, politician, environmentalist, civil rights advocate and some other significant way.

All members of the OCC community – students, faculty, and staff – are encouraged to participate. Submitted nominations may cover the range of local-to-global and include individuals from any time period.

For more resources related to this initiative, take a look at the OCC Libraries Women in Literature, History, Current Events research guide.