PSC Library Newsletter

March

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What’s Newsworthy

March and April will be busy months in the library. The following events are free and open to all.

World Theater Day

The Library and Archive are teaming up with the Drama Club to celebrate World Theater Day on March 27th. The Drama Club invites you to share your love of theater during their meeting in the library classroom from 2:00 - 3:30 pm on the 27th. Join us in performing readings of short acts, plays, and monologues. The Drama Club and Archive will also share a display of historic performances at PSC. The Library's book display will share this theatrical theme.

Lunch ‘n Learn with Rebecca Slagle

image of the Milky Way

This picture of the Milky Way, called, "Off the Balcony," was photographed in Fiji, in 2019 by Rebecca Slagle. To see more, please view her website.

Save the date for a lunch 'n learn lecture with Professor, Visual Communications and Multimedia Arts/Coordinator, Photography, Rebecca (Becky) Slagle. She'll discuss her photography of the night sky on Wednesday, March 27th from 12:30 – 1:30 pm in the library classroom. Classes are encouraged. Please click this link to add this event directly to your calendar.

Library Book Club

image of the cover of Neil deGrasse Tyson's Book Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Includes the and date, time, and information about the event, which is also listed below

To get ready for the solar eclipse on April 8th, the library will host a group reading of Neil deGrasse Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. This event will be held in the library classroom and online on Monday, April 1st, 1:00 – 1:30 pm. We have a print copy, as well as an ebook and an audiobook. Please click this link to add this event directly to your calendar.

Solar Eclipse

image of solar eclipse in totality. Includes the and date, time, and information about the event, which is also listed below

On Monday, April 8 at 11:30 am, the Prairie State College Library, in partnership with the Natural Sciences Department and STEM Club, will host an eclipse viewing event in both the Barnes and Noble Conference Center room 1315, and the Scholar’s Garden. Come to the Conference Center to make pinhole projectors, eat snacks, and hear research by our own STEM Club students. The Scholar’s Garden will have the actual viewing with solar telescopes and glasses. Please join us to witness this amazing celestial event.

Bring your own blanket/chair and classes are welcome. Please click this link to add this event directly to your calendar.

How To Unstick Your Research

By Grace Krause, Circulation Assistant and MSLIS Student

No matter what stage you are in your education or career, the research process can be as frustrating as it is rewarding. If you find yourself stuck on a project, or stuck on how to help someone else, give these tools a try. Remember, as a staff or faculty member, you can always talk to a Librarian at the PSC Library for all kinds of research help! The “Ask a Librarian” button on the website offers in-person, telephone, email, and chat options.

Word Lists

Blank pages are scary. Even when you have a topic, you might not know how to start. Word lists are a tool to get unstuck from blank page mode. Write your topic at the top of a fresh page. Underneath, write every word (or phrase) that comes to mind about your topic. Copy the most relevant words to a new page. For example, if I’m researching why leopards have spots, I might list:

coat color, what is fur made of, cute, hiding, hunting, and genetics

From this list, I might choose: coat color, hiding, and genetics. Now I have some ideas to guide my research.

Reverse Outlines

What happens when you get stuck in the middle of writing a research project? Consider trying a reverse outline! These are different from regular outlines because they focus on what you have already done instead of what you plan to do. Use one to reorganize your thoughts and identify gaps in your research. On a fresh page, write all the major points you are covering in the paper, along with a sentence or two summarizing your evidence. Ask yourself: What might be missing to connect each major point to the next? Would they make more sense in a different order? The answers to these questions will guide your next steps.

The Zero Draft

Academic anxiety can make it hard to organize and write your research project. You might feel like you can’t write it at all unless it’s perfect the first time. To get unstuck from this state, you can try writing a zero draft. A zero draft permits you to write the worst, unfinished, profanity-filled version of your research paper just for you. The purpose of this tool is to get the words and ideas flowing so you have something to work with. You might be surprised how many good ideas come out of a zero draft.

Talk about your research!

Isolation is a frequently unspoken problem in research communities. Finding someone to talk to about your project can help you move past sticky spots in the research process. Talking about your research requires you to reframe it in a way that a non-expert can understand. Often this also leads to a better understanding of your topic. While this can be a trusted peer or professor, typically any person you are comfortable approaching is a good choice. It doesn’t have to be in person either. Virtual methods of communication work just fine.

Something New: Archives Edition

By Alex Altan, College Archivist and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

Prairie State College Archives have some unique collections that represent the development of the institution from the beginning until today. One of the collections includes some oral history interviews. The first Archivist and Historian Dr. Richard Sherman conducted these interviews with former Bloom Community College/PSC presidents, administrators, faculty, and a couple of students. They contain a lot of useful information not only about the history of both institutions but also about the history and development of the community college movement in Illinois. Current PSC Archivist Alex Altan recently digitized these interviews with their transcripts and made them accessible online. Collections can be accessed either through PSC Archives on the Library’s website under online collections or through the following links:

Oral histories: collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/psc_oralhist

Transcripts: collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/psc_ohtrans

In addition, Alex and one of our former colleagues, Kate Nadolski, now the Archives Librarian at Moraine Valley Community College will present their work at the South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society on April 13th at 10:00 AM. They will discuss each institution's respective archival collections, both physical and digital such as photographs, student newsletters, scrapbooks, and founding documents. This presentation is designed to showcase the parallel histories of the South Suburbs and their community colleges, going back to the 1950s. This event is open to the public.

Librarian Water Cooler: Juvenile Section

The PSC Library has a juvenile section (kids’ books for nonlibrarians) to support our Early Childhood Education students, members of the community who have children, and any children who visit the library while their parents work. Anyone with a PSC ID can check these books out and enjoy them. After a stressful week, sometimes one of these books can be just what you need. We encourage you to visit the library’s juvenile section when you need a break or check some out for yourself or the children in your life.

The College is working with a grant from the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) to help our students enroll and thrive in the ECED program. There is a shortage of early childhood educators, a problem this grant hopes to correct. Our collection is just one way we support these students.

In addition, our own children love books, and it won’t surprise you that many of us loved being read to as small children. Shoot, we still love these books as adults! Here are some of our favorites. Hyperlinks indicate that we have that book in the collection.

Valerie:

The Mitten: a Ukrainian Folktale by Jan Brett

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems

Knuffle Bunny Free: an Unexpected Diversion by Mo Willems

No, David! by David Shannon

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd, Illustrator

Charlotte's Web by E.B.White

Joanna:

The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone

Duck Soup: An Easter And Springtime Book For Kids by Jackie Urbanovic

Parts by Tedd Arnold

Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney

Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant

Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley

Old Hat, New Hat by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Russell:

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson

No, David! by David Shannon

We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T Higgins

CJ:

Mr. Wuffles! by David Wiesner

Diane:

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka

Aïda by Leontyne Price

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton

Bill:

Superworm by Julia Donaldson

The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

Duck and Goose by Tad Hills

Dawn:

The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat by Nurit Karlin

Featured eBooks

It has been some time since we featured new ebooks from Libby. While the PSC library has several different ebook vendors, Libby also has an app you can use to read books or stream audiobooks. This app can connect to us, as well as your public library. Enjoy some of our newest titles.