How fortunate we are to have library databases that give us authoritative information on virtually any research question or problem within a few clicks of our computer keyboards.
From journal articles and periodical research to streaming video and music on demand, Collin College can give you access to databases and materials on virtually any subject. Just check out the “Sources for Papers and Projects” window in CougarWeb and search by the media type you are looking for. The databases are grouped by subject category and alphabetically by title, and they are available on and off campus with just your CougarWeb login.
Want to watch filmed theatrical performances of “The Iceman Cometh” written by Eugene O’Neill or the complete works of Shakespeare in streaming video on your mobile phone? Try Theater in Video or BBC Shakespeare.
In the mood for some music? Visit Smithsonian Global Sound, build a personal playlist and add your favorite songs from any of the following categories; American Folk, Blues, Bluegrass, Old Time Country, American Indian, World, Jazz, Classical & Broadway, Spoken Word & Sounds, and Children.
Prefer only classical music? Try Classical Music Library and enjoy streaming music with background information and images.
African American Song documents the history of African American music in a database containing over 16,000 tracks of great historical recordings from the first half of the 20th Century. American Song is a history database containing 50,000 tracks from America’s past, including those from American Indians, Miners, America’s wars, the Civil Rights Era and much more.
If you are interested in dance, check out Dance in Video – Browse by titles, people, performers, genres or choreographers. Give “History and Structure of Hip Hop” a watch.
Does your psychology class include a unit on the human senses? Visit a Films on Demand streaming video titled, “The Human Body: How it Works-The Nervous System and the Senses.”
Need some high-quality images for an educational presentation or project? Enter the wonderful world of ARTstor. You can browse by geography, classification or collection. This database contains an ever-expanding selection of high resolution images from museums, libraries and private collections all over the world. There are 7,265 images from our very own Dallas Museum of Art. There are also maps, charts, graphs and manuscript illuminations, along with categories like science & technology, graphic design, garden & landscape, fashion, and costume & jewelry. You can also check out Oxford Art Online or Art Full Text for information about art or artists.
It’s 3 a.m., the library is closed and you need a book for a project due the next day. What to do? Simply click on the Ebook Collection (EBSCO Host) or Ebook Central (ProQuest) for books on any topic and Safari for more than 6,900 titles arranged in categories including business, engineering, math & science and digital media. There are 29 electronic book collections available. These are full text digitized books available 24 hours a day.
Are you taking an education class and need information about children’s books? Go to the TeachingBooks.net. Find lesson plans, book guides, author interviews and more.
Try Health Reference Center Academic to get information about any disease or condition. Or take a health check with Medline Plus.
Need to brush up on your computer skills or take an occupational practice test? Find a job or internship? Study for the THEA, CLEP, TOEFL, SAT, ASVAB, GRE or an AP test/College Placement exams? Login to the Learning Express Library for these and a wealth of tutorials in science, math, reading, writing, public speaking, resume writing and other topics.
Login to LexisNexis and get newspapers from all over the world, company profiles, TV & radio transcripts, obituaries, and federal and state court cases. Business Source Complete also gives you company histories, company financials and SWOT reports. Collin College has the Wall Street Journal online with coverage from 1984 to the present. Want older newspaper articles? Try the New York Times Historical and read articles going back to 1851.
And we haven’t even gotten to our wonderful social sciences, physical sciences, and applied sciences databases!
They are all right there in the databases. Call any library reference desk if you have questions or problems logging into these great resources. Their contact numbers are: Central Park Campus reference desk, 972.548.6869; Spring Creek Campus reference desk, 972.881.5985; Preston Ridge Campus reference desk, 972.377.1570. Say goodbye to Wikipedia, Google and other less informative websites for research. You have all you need right here at Collin College.
Submitted by Terri Karlseng, Preston Ridge Campus reference librarian