Library Blog - focus on a topic

Have you heard of Open Educational Resources (OER)? Maybe you've heard they're "free textbooks." Maybe you've heard that replacing commercial textbooks with open textbooks improves students' success and retention rates. Maybe you've heard that instructors can edit OER, mix them together, or otherwise modify them to align with your learning outcomes. Maybe you know someone right here at Durham Tech who is already teaching using OER. Expanding OER adoption can be an important tool in furthering

This year, Wednesday, Oct. 20 is International Pronouns Day. It seeks to make respecting, sharing, and educating about personal pronouns commonplace. https://youtu.be/qN65MSbjdOM Blair Imani. Smarter in Seconds: Pronouns, What are pronouns? (30 sec.) The language we use to speak to and about others matters. Using gender-inclusive language and a person’s correct name and pronouns demonstrates kindness, respect, and inclusivity. People can make assumptions based on a person’s name or appearance

The World Federation for Mental Health established October 10 as World Mental Health Day to raise awareness and support of mental health and reduce stigma. This year’s theme is “Mental Health in an Unequal World.” Mental health and well-being are central to the way we live, work, study, connect with others, and contribute to our communities. It’s especially important to address and uplift mental health during these unpredictable and overwhelming times that continually expose and enact the

On September 28, the MacArthur Foundation announced the recipients of the 2021 Fellowship Grant (sometimes referred to as the “Genius” grant) and a Durham Tech alum is among the 25 individuals "who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction." https://youtu.be/h0soupdEngo Awardees receive an unrestricted $625,000 to further their pursuits. Read on to learn more about the fascinating research from the Durham Tech alum

National Hispanic Heritage Month is from September 15 to October 15 and uplifts the contributions of Hispanic Americans and celebrates their heritages. Check out the Main Campus Library's downstairs display featuring some of our awesome books and DVDs. As with all our displays, all items are available for checkout. Keep reading the check out details about the books and DVDs on display and for additional Durham Tech collections celebrating Spanish language and Hispanic heritages. We also have a

It's been twenty years since September 11, 2001. The Northern Durham Center Library currently has a 9/11 Remembrance display. As with all our displays, all books are available for checkout. Keep reading for more information about these items. Some of these books are on loan from the Main Campus Library, but will be available for pickup at the Northern Durham Center Library until Oct. 4. You can put a hold on them through our catalog or contact the library to request a book for pickup at any of

It's Shark Week! Did you watch Shark Week on the Discovery Channel with family and friends in years past? I did! Millions of people tuned in every year to learn about these fearsome predators. And yet, many people are still very afraid of sharks, to the point that society has turned a blind eye to the fact that their populations are at risk. Even the writer of Jaws regrets convincing people they are scary, when really, they are one of the ocean's most amazing and important creatures. Want to

There should be another word for cookbooks that are only recipes for baked desserts. Bakebooks? Dessertbooks? Bakertbooks? We can workshop it later. Regardless of what they are called, the library has them! I used one to make a pie on Memorial Day and it did not disappoint. The recipe came from Pie Every Day: Recipes and Slices of Life by Pat Willard. Click through to the rest of the post to see how my pie turned out! Now don't worry. If you aren't a "pie person" you'll still find plenty of

April is Financial Literacy Month! What's that? April is almost over? Better late than never! Sometimes the most useful pieces of financial literacy are how to negotiate initial salary or pay raises, how to get that public service loan forgiveness, how to reduce medical bills (ask for that bill to be itemized), and other things that involve more than teaching someone how to open a checking account. See below for resources Durham Tech and the library offer for helping you handle your money. Allow

Thanks to everyone who sent me your favorite poem! This year's poetry month bookmarks contain some nature poems, some poems about peeking at other people's houses (consensually), an ode to James Baldwin, and several more. Click through to download previous years' and 2021's Durham Tech Library Poetry Month bookmarks, which include Joy Harjo's “Ah, Ah,” Danez Smith's “little prayer,” Kay Ryan's “Sharks’ Teeth,” Stanley Kunitz's “Halley’s Comet,” Rita Dove's “My Mother Enters the Work Force,” Karl