Tech Tips

Mobile Apps for Study and Research Part 1

Today we begin a three-part post on mobile apps of interest to the John Tyler community. When using your smartphone or tablet, mobile apps can be an advantage for studying and researching when you aren't near a computer.  Mobile apps are specifically designed to view on a smartphone or tablet; they usually have a clean design and larger text, making the site easier to operate on a small screen. All of these apps are free to download.  Some may require registration. Recommended Mobile Apps for John Tyler Students Blackboard Mobile Learn: This app…continue reading →

What were you doing in 1940?

    After a 72-year embargo the US Census department released the 1940 census data April 2, 2012. Hosted by Archives.com  and the "first-ever on-line release” the site promptly crashed shortly after going live, unable to handle the 37 million hits in the first hours. Bolstered by new servers, the curious can now search records for favorite family members. Want to know if Great-grandpa was really a World War I veteran or Grandma’s family really came from Russia? As of this writing the data has not been indexed by name, but if you…continue reading →

TED Talks now on Films on Demand

The streaming video subscription service newly added to the John Tyler roster of databases Films on Demand, recently included more than 200 of the popular TEDTalks with more to come. TED, according to the website, is “a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.” Begun in 1984 TED stands for the intersection of Technology, Entertainment, and Design. The 1100+ TEDTalks range from funny to inspirational and from persuasive to informative. Films on Demand can be found on the library database page and may be access with your MyTyler login. Do you need any more…continue reading →

Learning the Internet Way

Take a spin around the information superhighway and just look at all the stuff you can learn. One lesser known source of culture, education, and entertainment is Talks at Google. In 2005 Google began inviting authors to speak to Google employees at their Mountain View, California corporate headquarters. Now expanded to all the Google offices and including chefs, musicians, filmmakers and “innovators capturing the popular and intellectual zeitgeist of the day.” Google graciously shares these chats on its subsidiary, YouTube. Some of the speakers featured are: Tina Fey author of BossyPants talking with…continue reading →

E-Reading Euphoria

Are you now the proud owner of an electronic reader? Are you looking for a source of free books to download to your reader? Look no further than the John Tyler Community College Library website! college essays for sale To make your downloading experience even easier I created this “recipe” for adding books to my Barnes and Noble Nook. See if it will work for you. Starting at the John Tyler Community College Library website I found the green bar that says “Find Articles.” I clicked the green bar then clicked “databases.” Under…continue reading →