Category Archives: Our Collections

Pride Films

Pride films available on Swank

June is Pride Month; celebrate with STC Library

A list of films for Pride Month: Woman on Fire, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Deep in Vogue, Moon Manor, and Wig.Celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride Month with some great films from Swank available to watch with your South Texas College account.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – Three transgender performers well known for their lavish costumes and lip-synching in Sydney travel across the Australian Outback in their ramshackle bus, “Priscilla,” on their way to a gig at a casino.

Angels in America – New York City, 1985. A gay couple’s relationship is rocked by the revelation that one has AIDS; a young man named Joe Pitts is offered a job by conservative icon Roy Cohn–who also learns he has AIDS.

Before Night Falls – Javier Bardem stars as Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas, whose political views and homosexuality landed him in jail under Castro’s repressive regime.

But I’m a Cheerleader – When her parents suspect that she’s a lesbian, a high-school student (Natasha Lyonne) is sent to a sexual-rehabilitation camp.

Deep in Vogue – Deep in Vogue celebrates the colorful, queer, emotional and political stories of Northern Vogue and its people. Synonymous with the black, gay ballrooms of 1980s New York this documentary asks why we need Vogue in Manchester now more than ever.

Do I Sound Gay? – A look at the stereotype of the “gay voice” examines its connotations in modern society.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post – Cameron, a high-school track athlete, is forced to attend a Christian gay conversion therapy center after her legal guardian discovers she is a lesbian. But Cameron finds camaraderie and solidarity with the other gay teens there and learns how to survive in an intolerant world.

Moon Manor – With advancing Alzheimer’s and a determination to do things his way, Jimmy’s decided to throw himself a fabulous FUNeral before his intentional death, showing his estranged brother, salt-of-the earth caretaker, sharp-witted death doula, a novice obituary writer, a cosmic being, and the guests at his FUNeral — that sometimes the art of living just may be the art of dying.

Moonlight – The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.

Stonewall – A gay runaway in the 1960s finds a sympathetic community at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. In time, harassment from the police galvanizes his political conscience.

Suited – A look at a tailoring company in Brooklyn that provides custom attire for LGBTQ clients features profiles of the owners and the diverse community they serve.

Tell It To The Bees – A female doctor pursues a romantic relationship with the mother of her young patient in 1950s Britain. The latter is evicted from her rural home; they all risk social ostracization when the doctor allows the two of them to live with her and her bee colonies.

Wig: A New York Drag Story – This feature documentary offers a vibrant cultural history of drag and the annual outdoor festival that came to epitomize it: Wigstock. Drawing on unfiltered access to some of New York’s most famed drag artists – tenured veterans and talented newcomers alike – Wig follows legendary drag queen Lady Bunny as she aims to resurrect Wigstock for a new generation.

Woman on Fire – Woman on Fire follows Brooke Guinan, the first openly transgender firefighter in New York City. A character-driven documentary, the film follows Brooke as she sets out to challenge perceptions of what it means to be transgender in America today.

 

Explore Today’s Science

Database Spotlight

Database Spotlight


Today’s Science
features thousands of original articles written by scientists and science journalists in easy-to-understand language, based on the most current peer-reviewed journal articles. The in-depth coverage spans important advances in biology, chemistry, environmental science, space, physics, and technology. An extensive backfile illustrates how one scientific advance leads to another; the stories focus on the questions scientists ask themselves and, in doing so, reinforce science educators’ traditional emphasis on the scientific method.

What does Today’s Science provide?

  • Video News Briefs: bite-size science info that uses real-world examples to teach applied science
  • Research Topics: summaries of key topics to jump-start research; plus, a complete, hyperlinked Topic Index
  • Discussion questions: designed to encourage critical thinking about each article
  • Pop-up glossary: putting 7,000+ important science terms at students’ fingertips, promoting science literacy
  • Educator & student tools: writing and research tips for students and educators

You can access Databases page.
Contributed by Librarian, Ana Naumann.


Explore History Study Center

Database Spotlight

Database Spotlight


History Study Center
is an online resource providing a vast collection of digitized primary and secondary sources for the study of history. It is suitable for a wide range of uses, from students looking for quick and reliable facts on a historical topic, to examining hard-to-find primary source texts. History Study Center covers global history from ancient times to the present day. Contents include reference books, essays, journal articles, historical newspaper and magazine articles, maps, rare books, government documents, transcripts of historical speeches, images and video clips. It provides over 40,000 documents and articles, with over 50 reference works, 3,000 images and links to 2,000 Web sites.

What does History Study Center provide?

  • Study Units: selected material on over five hundred historical topics. More about Study Units
  • Historical Documents: hundreds of primary source texts from historical sourcebooks. Sourcebook details for reference articles, maps and historical documents.
  • Maps and Reference: thousands of maps, articles and biographies from historical atlases and encyclopedias. Sourcebook details for reference articles, maps and historical documents.
    Also included are Topic Overviews, essay-length introductions to historical themes and texts. More about topic overviews
  • Multimedia: images and video clips, all captioned to provide historical context, plus links to selected Web sites of interest to historians. More about Multimedia Collections
  • Journals: Full text articles from over 70 journals relevant to history. Journal details

You can access History Study Center from this blog post or from our Databases page.
Contributed by Librarian, Ana Naumann.


Explore Home Improvement Reference Center

Database Spotlight

Database Spotlight


Home Improvement Reference Center
is a full text database designed for use in public and school libraries. Content contained in the database will focus on home improvement and home repair. The main navigation will direct researchers to high-quality repair information. Thousands of repairs will be available in the areas of outdoor projects, electrical projects, remodeling projects, plumbing projects, wood projects, decorating projects and maintenance. In addition to the repair information, other magazines and reference books focusing on home improvement will be included in the database. The intent of this new product is to provide full text articles that show instructions, tips, and suggestions for a variety of home improvement projects.

What does Home Improvement Reference Center provide?

  • Step by step instructions are provided in high-quality PDF files
  • Magazine and reference books are included
  • Conduct keyword search or browse project categories
  • Set up a personal account through STC and save your searches
  • Set up search alerts: new search results can be sent as an automatic email notification

You can access Home Improvement Reference Center from this blog post or from our Databases page.
Contributed by Librarian, Ana Naumann.


Explore Artstor

Database Spotlight

Database Spotlight


Artstor
provides faculty and students with a complete image resource that supports study across disciplines. The Artstor Digital Library provides straightforward access to curated images from reliable sources that have been rights-cleared for use in education and research. You are free to use them in classroom instruction and handouts, presentations, student assignments, and other noncommercial educational and scholarly activities. It’s easy to find related material, which makes the difficult task of building context and finding comparisons much simpler. Faculty can also ensure their students are working with the appropriate images by sharing their course material in image groups.

What does Artstor provide?

  • Approximately 300 collections composed of over 2.5 million images (and growing)
  • Images come with high-quality metadata from the collection catalogers, curators, institutions, and artists
  • Artstor LibGuides tailored for librarians, faculty, higher ed, and secondary school students to get started–or become experts–using the Artstor Digital Library
  • Curriculum Guides include selected images for teaching courses curated by experts in their field with a course syllabus outlining topics and themes, a set of images for each theme, and a description of how the images can be used in that course
  • 22 Subject Guides highlight collections, search strategies and search terms to help users across disciplines find relevant content in the Artstor Digital Library

You can access Artstor from this blog post or from our Databases page.
Contributed by Librarian, Ana Naumann.


Explore OverDrive

Database Spotlight

Database Spotlight


OverDrive
is the leading digital reading platform for libraries and schools worldwide. They deliver the industry’s largest catalog of eBooks, audiobooks and other digital media to a growing network of 50,000 libraries and schools in 78 countries. OverDrive is compatible with every major device on the market, which allows you to enjoy titles from the library’s digital collection.

What does Libby by OverDrive provide?

  • Enjoy eBooks and audiobooks on your personal device
  • Receive the same experience on all devices
  • Customizable browsing options to find books faster
  • Support for eBook highlights and annotations
  • Custom lists for tagging books you love and want to read
  • Direct support for everyone provided by OverDrive

You can access OverDrive from this blog post or from our Databases page.
Contributed by Librarian, Ana Naumann.


Explore JoVE

Database Spotlight

Database Spotlight


JoVE
produces and provides science videos to help improve scientific research and education. Scientists, educators and students at a wide range of universities, colleges, hospitals and biopharmaceutical companies worldwide use JoVE for their research, teaching and learning. JoVE films videos at the world’s top scientific institutions showcasing cutting-edge experiments enabling efficient learning. The JoVE educational videos empower effective teaching of science concepts and laboratory methods in undergraduate and graduate courses at universities and colleges.

What does JoVE  provide?

  • Produces thousands of new videos every year
  • Videos enable quick in-depth comprehension of complex STEM subjects
  • Helps increase student engagement and learning outcomes
  • Supports innovative teaching initiatives (i.e., flipped classroom)
  • First and only peer-reviewed scientific video journal
  • Publishes more than 100 new videos each month

You can access JoVE from this blog post or from our Databases page.
Contributed by Librarian, Ana Naumann.


Database Spotlight for AtoZ Food America

Explore AtoZ Food America

Database Spotlight

Database Spotlight

 
AtoZ Food America contains recipes in all course categories (appetizers, soups, salads, breads, main courses, side dishes, desserts, snacks, and beverages) for six US regions, all 50 states, and 33 ethnic cuisines. This database covers food culture with articles such as Classic Dishes, State Foods, Top Agricultural Products, Special Occasion Foods, Ethnic and Geographic Influences, Special Ingredients, and Food Trivia. AtoZ Food America is mobile friendly and will automatically adapt to the screen size of any desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

What does AtoZ Food America provide?

  • Contains over 2,500 Recipes
  • Ability to create a Personal Recipe Book
  • Students can use AtoZ Food America to find information on food culture and recipes for report writing
  • Access to classic recipes for every region, state, and ethnic cuisine
  • Culinary schools use AtoZ Food America as a research tool for both recipes and food culture

You can access AtoZ Food America from this blog post or from our Databases page.
Contributed by Librarian, Ana Naumann.


Explore Credo Reference

Database Spotlight

Database Spotlight

 
We currently find ourselves in an era of unprecedented access to information; however, successfully navigating this ocean of data requires a strong foundation of information literacy skills. Credo Reference is an information skills solutions provider that serves libraries worldwide.

Credo Reference is an information skills solutions provider that serves libraries worldwide. We build platforms and instructional materials that enable the flexible configuration of content, technology, and services for the purpose of connecting learners, faculty and teachers, librarians, and publishers. Credo promotes knowledge building, problem-solving and critical thinking to give people the information skills necessary for success throughout their academic, professional, and personal lives.

What does Credo Reference provide?

  • More than 3.8 million full-text articles from 133 publishers.
  • Quick research tutorials
  • Mind Maps available for most topics to assist with finding related topics
  • Large collection of images and maps
  • Easy to use citation tools, and read aloud functionality

You can access Credo Reference from this blog post or from our Databases page.
Contributed by Librarian, Sabrina De Anda.


Explore Science Direct

Database Spotlight

Database Spotlight

 
Have you explored Science Direct yet? Science Direct has a vast collection of journals and eBooks in the sciences and humanities field. Built on the widest range of trusted, high-quality, interdisciplinary research, ScienceDirect helps you find answers to your most pressing research questions, stay on top of your field and gain in-depth insights into trending research topics as you take your next steps in discovery. ScienceDirect provides access to more than 16 million articles, 2,500 journals, 250 full open access journals, 39,000 books and 330,000 topic pages to help researchers discover more insights, achieve more breakthroughs and move their research forward.

When researchers encounter unknown terms and concepts, they require contextual knowledge to move forward. ScienceDirect Topics help researchers on the path to discovery by connecting them to key topics and critical context sources that are vital to their understanding. ScienceDirect Topics combines cutting-edge technology with essential content to enhance the research process. They make it simpler for researchers to explore comprehensive and credible interdisciplinary research and knowledge.

What does Science Direct provide?

  • More than 2,500 peer-reviewed technical, health and scientific journals spanning 24 scientific disciplines
  • Reading History keeps track of your most recent viewed articles
  • Enhanced PDF article viewing that shows outlines, citations, recommendations, in-article references and author links
  • Refine your search by using subdomain for better results
  • Over 1.2 million articles on ScienceDirect are open access

You can access Science Direct from this blog post or from our Databases page.
Contributed by Library Specialist, Michael Gutierrez.