Our online resources use what is called a federate search engine to search across a select group of databases. This is what you use if you go to our Databases A-Z page and enter a couple of key terms and select either a subject area or a group of databases.  The current federated search engine we are using is going away in December 2010.  In order to plan for the future we are considering doing away with this type of search.  If we did you would have to search each individual databases one at a time.  Please take the poll and let us know what you think.  Thank you.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers – New York Times and The Los Angeles Times

If, as many suspected, the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was given to Obama as less an award for past accomplishments and more a tool to further the ultimate goal of world peace, it was not the first time the prize had been used in this way. The Nobel Peace Prize has often served as a peacemaking tool, though it has stirred controversy in each instance.

After Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 and two Nobel committee members resigned in protest, the Norwegian parliament held a debate to determine whether the principles and organization of the committee should be changed.

In this ProQuest Historical Newspapers activity, learn about the Nobel Committee’s decision in 1973, as well as 1978 and 1994, to award the prize to individuals with violent backgrounds for work on conflicts that were far from resolved.

Then, decide for yourself how the prize winners should be chosen.

In 1973, U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese politburo member Le Duc Tho were jointly awarded the prize for negotiating the Vietnam War cease-fire agreement. The decision was controversial, in part because, as the New York Times noted, “the cease-fire accord that went into effect at the end of January has not yet led to a restoration of peace.”

Indeed, fighting did not cease in Vietnam for another two years. Tho actually declined the prize, becoming the only recipient ever to do so, on the grounds that violence in Vietnam was ongoing at the time. Kissinger accepted the prize, but the Los Angeles Times reported that “hundreds of young demonstrators shouted anti-American slogans and waved pro-Viet Cong banners outside the University of Oslo” when a U.S. ambassador accepted the prize on his behalf.

One critic described the secretary of state as representing “about as naked and brutal an exercise of power as has occurred in human history” for his role in U.S.-led war that “destroyed so much of Southeast Asia.” The prize was so controversial that two of the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee actually resigned in protest of the decision. But the intention of those committee members who supported the decision was clear from their statement, indicating that “It is our hope that all parties in this conflict will feel moral responsibility for lasting peace for the war-stricken peoples of Indochina.” The prize wasn’t meant to congratulate accomplished peace but to inspire it.

The Nobel Committee members again publically disagreed over the decision in 1978 to give the prize to Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin for their work on the Camp David peace accords. However, the committee was even more explicit about their intentions this time: “the Nobel Committee wishes not only to honor actions already performed in the service of peace, but also to encourage further efforts to work out practical solutions which can give reality to those hopes of a lasting peace, as they have been kindled by the framework agreements.”

Further, the Washington Post noted that “Begin’s contributions… are not specified, and his inclusion appears to be related more to the committee’s hopes for the future than its evaluation of the Israeli prime minister’s role up until now.”

The controversy over a former leader of an anti-British terrorist organization (Begin) and a coup plotter and instigator of the 1973 war against Israel (Sadat) winning a prize for peace was matched in 1994, when the Nobel Peace Prize was given to PLO chairman Yasir Arafat, Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres, and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin for their involvement in the Oslo Accords.

In a Christian Science Monitor article that outlines Arafat’s and Rabin’s violent backgrounds, George Moffett notes that “historically, the Nobel committee has overlooked the past in favor of advancing more immediate objectives.” The Committee, from which one member resigned in protest over the decision, made clear in their announcement of the 1994 prize that such was the case: “It is the Committee’s hope that the award will serve as an encouragement to all the Israelis and Palestinians who are endeavoring to establish lasting peace in the region.”

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN AND PALESTINIAN LEADER YASSER ARAFAT
SEAL THE OSLO ACCORDS WITH A HANDSHAKE AT WHITE HOUSE
(© 1993 Getty Images, Inc.)

But lasting peace has remained elusive in the Middle East and elsewhere. In fact, the very actions that earned Sadat and Rabin their Nobel prizes also cost them their lives when they were each assassinated by individuals who thought they had made too many concessions. The extent to which peace can or should be furthered by the Nobel Prize remains an open question.

Activity

After Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 and two Nobel committee members resigned in protest, the Norwegian parliament held a debate to determine whether the principles and organization of the committee should be changed. One proposal suggested that the committee could include individuals from countries other than Norway, for example.

As a class, pretend you are a member of the Norwegian sorting (parliament). With a team of four other students, prepare a proposal that outlines what you think should be the Nobel Committee’s composition and guiding goals:

• How should committee members be chosen and from what pool? How should nominations be gathered?

• What guidelines should assist members in making their final decision?

• Should a potential recipient’s negative past be taken into consideration?

• Should the prize be used as an incentive for future action in addition to a recognition of past accomplishment?

Meet together as a class and have one person from each team present their group’s proposal as convincingly as possible. After all the proposals have been given, open the floor to questions, comments, and objections.

Be prepared to make compromises until the majority of the class—through a vote—can agree on the guidelines that should govern the committee.

President Obama recently promoted the importance of information and media literacy. There  are new AASL Standards for 21st Century Skills for information literacy.

Librarians collaborating with teachers is the key to implementing 21st Century digital information literacy in our schools. Librarians can help teachers move from traditional textbook learning in their classrooms to more effective inquiry-based learning because librarians already have the training and expertise.

This month’s learning activities are designed to help librarians help teachers to learn more about the importance of information literacy, and learn how to implement it in classroom assignments.

Traditional Search Student Learning Activity

Assign students to write a report of at least 150 words (or a PowerPoint presentation of at least seven slides) that cites at least three resources. Students should address at least three of the following essential questions for critical thinking in their reports (you can create or substitute others):

• Why is a lot of the information found on the Internet unreliable?
• How can you tell credible information from false or misleading information on the Internet?
• What benefits do library databases provide for students doing research vs. surfing?
• How can the teacher create assignments that help develop your critical thinking?
• Why is inquiry-based learning replacing textbook learning now and in the future?
• What do you consider to be the most important information literacy skills and why?

Suggested online resources:

SIRS Knowledge Source

It’s new, easy to use and best of all, it’s free. What is it, you ask? It is called Study Guide Zone. The Study Guide Zone was developed to simplify the process and provide you with free, easy-to-understand preparation materials. Whether you are applying for college, looking for a better job, or trying to get into the military, there is something useful for you in the Study Guide Zone.

Can’t use our regular electronic resources because you either do not have a library card or you live outside of the Las Vegas area. No problem, this new site is free for anyone to use and contains all the information you need to better your scores on many of the standardized test that are given today.

Ok, now you want to know how you can access this. Ok, great! Follow these 4 simple steps to get there.

1. Go to our homepage, www.lvccld.org
2. Click on “Infoguides” from the left hand side of the page
3. Click on “Test preparation” under “Education”
4. Then look under “websites” and click on the link for “Study Guide Zone.’

How easy was that? Ok, now you are there, what can you do? There are several things you can do on this site.

Test taking: General information
To begin with, the site provides general information for four different kinds of examination: admission, licensing, vocational, and primary/secondary.

1. Admission exams are those like the SAT or GRE that are taken as part of your application to college or graduate school.
2. Licensing exams, for example the NCLEX and Praxis exams are required for certification in professions like teaching and nursing. Vocational exams are part of the admissions process for professional schools and the military.
3. Vocational exams are the ASVAB and the HOBET examinations.
4. Primary and secondary school exams are those like the FCAT and the THEA that are taken by students in elementary, middle, and high school. Success on secondary exams can be essential to advancing to the next grade or receiving a high school diploma.
Test taking: Test preparation
You don’t need general information, because you are already familiar with the test that you need to take. You just need to practice for the test. Ok, no worries, this is where the Study Guide Zone Test Directory comes in handy.

Simply click on the name of your exam and you will be taken to a page containing detailed information and links to free preparation materials. For many of the exams, this preparation material includes extensive guidebooks covering every aspect of the examination. Isn’t this fantastic?

In addition, many of the exam pages listed in the Test Directory contain links to practice questions composed by test experts. Each set of practice questions is modeled directly on the real exam, so that your preparation can be as authentic as possible.
Study tips
Finally, be sure to check out the “Study Tips” section for some great general advice on taking tests, writing research papers, and getting the most out of your time in the classroom. This section of the Study Guide Zone summarizes the most important education research, and, perhaps more importantly, describes some of the ways you can use the insights of this research to improve your performance.

If you find this information useful, please let us know we would love to hear how we can better serve your needs.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.

The Last Lecture is available as an eBook and an audiobook, so feel free to read along with us and let us know what you think! Please leave your comments.

Here is to being thankful for what we have and to remembering what matters most!

Proving its staying power, less than one month after its release, Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol still tops the list of the most downloaded audiobooks and eBooks. Making its first appearance in the top ten is the newest audiobook title from Romantic Times Career Achievement Award Nominee Nevada Barr; 13 1/2 is a New Orleans suspense novel sure to be a crowd pleaser.

The children’s version of Greg Mortenson’s international bestseller Three Cups of Tea also cracked the top ten on the Juvenile Nonfiction Audiobook list. Those who love this story are surely anticipating the follow-up title by Mortenson; Stones into Schools picks up right where Three Cups of Tea left off, recounting his humanitarian work in Afganhistan. Another consistent force on most downloaded juvenile audiobook and eBook lists are Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series titles. Fans of Edward and Bella will be lining up on Nov. 20 to view the latest movie in this series, New Moon.  Everyone loves great books turned into movies, but we wonder… how long will it take before we can line up to see The Lost Symbol on the big screen?

The Most Downloaded Books from the Library lists are organized by subject and format, and compiled based on activity at more than 9,000 libraries in the OverDrive global network. Look for our link Las Vegas – Clark County in the alphabetical list of libraries who own the item.

from Lindsey Levinsohn

The following eaudio titles have recently been added to our OverDrive – eMedia Catalog. To access go directly to the eMedia Catalog or click on the links below.  The Library Catalog will not have the records for several weeks.

Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist by Liz Kessler

Ford County: Stories by John Grisham

Wrecker: Isaac Bell Series, Book 2 by Clive Cussler

Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi

Breathless by Dean Koontz

Kindred in Death: In Death Series, Book 29 by J.D. Robb

Alex Cross: Alex Cross Series, Book 16 by James Patterson

Wishin’ and Hopin’: A Christmas Story Wally Lamb

Carnegie Cadets: The MySecureCyberspace Game has successfully engaged students around the world with interactive missions that teach lessons about spam email, risky chat room behavior, and unsafe web pages. Today, the Carnegie Cadets are excited to announce the launch of a new mission on cyber bullying! To play, click the Games tab above and scroll down to Cyber Cadets.

The new mission is a Communications Level 2 challenge that dives into the tough ethical topic of how to get along responsibly with others on the Internet. The topic of cyber bullying is a critical lesson for youth, but one that can be difficult to teach. In The MySecureCyberspace Game, cadets learn how to identify bullying, why it’s a danger, and what they can do to handle it. After presenting talks from the characters at the Academy, the new mission pits cadets against a bullying robot to see if they remember how to ward off the bully’s attacks and deal with the situation responsibly.

For Apple users, the Carnegie Cadets are also pleased to announce that this latest version of the game is now compatible with Mac OS 10.5.

Please enjoy the following new features of The MySecureCyberspace Game:

- The newest mission that focuses on cyber bullying
- Three new Gold Badges to earn
- Three new ReQuests to complete and Rare Items to collect
- Three new characters to meet, including cyber villains Elvirus and Ms. Information
- Five new rooms to explore

Carnegie Cadets: The MySecureCyberspace Game is developed and maintained by Carnegie Mellon’s Information Networking Institute and Carnegie Mellon CyLab.