June 19th marks the historic holiday known as Juneteenth when in 1865 a Union general spread news in Texas of that enslaved Africans were free. North Carolina recognized Juneteenth as a state holiday in 2007, but the holiday was not federally recognized until President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act on June 17, 2021. Did you know the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources offers a Juneteenth website? It offers comprehensive historical resources on African
March 1-5, 2021 is Open Education Week! North Carolina, like many states, is moving towards making Open Educational Resources a valid alternative to traditional publisher-controlled teaching resources. Today’s blog post will acquaint you with some of the things NC has been doing with OER and hopefully get you thinking about how you might use them to customize your course content (and make life simpler for students!). Check it out! Let me insert a shameless plug for Durham Tech’s OER Team – a
Next week (April 4-10) is both Durham County Library's Library Fest and National Library Week. How exciting! Keep reading for more info and drawing info! Durham Tech is a supporter of Durham Public Library's Library Fest, and our librarian podcaster Courtney Bippley has done interviews with THREE (!) of the featured presenters at Library Fest for Out Loud in the Library: author Tayari Jones, artist Volkan Alkanoglu, and illustrator Gordon C. James. Keep your eyes (and ears) open for those
Tune into yourself with books that will help you with your self-care goals through the Read Great Things 2021 Challenge. Self-care can be about taking care of yourself in many ways: emotionally, spiritually, creatively, physically, or mentally. Keep reading for some suggestions based on what your own self-care goals might look like, including some suggestions contributed by your Durham Tech community. If your self-care goal is to care for your body, mind, and spirit: If your self-care goal is to
Are you using your phone to access your online coursework? Do you need a laptop for the upcoming semester? Do you know a student who needs one? As we all know, students who don't have access to the technology they need to do their school work are at a disadvantage in their classes. A smartphone is useful, but it's hard to complete a lot of coursework on a phone. And typing papers? No good. The Library has partnered with Durham Tech Student Engagement to loan laptops to student for the Fall
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
Monday, August 16 is the start of the fall semester. Are you ready? Check the Library and College website for up-to-date hours. The Main Campus and Orange County Campus Libraries will open with our fall hours on August 16. The Northern Durham Center will begin fall hours on Monday, August 23. Hours are subject to change, but changes will be posted online if needed. What's new or back for the fall semester? Well, classes are back in person (still online, too!) and everyone must wear a mask while
Have you been using the library's textbook reserves? Do you need some additional study resources for one of your classes (whether you're the teacher or the student)? Check out these [temporarily] free textbook and study resources from various publishers and one from the Internet Archive. The Durham Tech campus bookstore is partnering with Red Shelf for e-access to many of our textbooks. Be sure to create an account using your Durham Tech email address. Cengage is offering extended trial access
It's nearing the end of Black History Month, so while our blog post topics may broaden, we'd like to leave you with some books by Black Americans that have made an impact on the Durham Tech community to read beyond just February because Black history is American history all year long. Keep reading for Durham Tech's favorite reads by Black American authors--fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, environmental justice, social justice, criminal justice, economics, fantasy, and finance--, and for a
I mean, it's not a holiday or anything, but today is when North Carolina early voting sites open, including one on Durham Tech's Main Campus ( in the Newton building, room 4-141, accessed from the back parking lot--near the construction classrooms) for Durham County voters. Early voting begins Thursday, Oct. 15 and ends on Saturday, Oct. 31. I voted today at he Newton Building and it took me about an hour to vote-- while it wasn't ridiculously busy like some of the news from other states, the