Databases to Use this Summer!

As summer break begins, accessing a Hewes Library Database may be the furthest thing from your mind.  However, here are 5 reasons why you might want to access some of the Library’s databases during the summer months.

1. You’d like to listen to some music besides the titles currently on your I-pod.  If you would like to listen to some different music, try the database Music Online.  This database has a wide variety of music available ranging from classical to World Music.  While most of the collection cannot be downloaded there are free downloads of classical and world music that change weekly.  Included in the collection American song are tunes from singers including Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby, and from composers Oscar Hammerstein, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and others.  The world music collection has music from various countries and cultural groups; Afro-Cuban, Jamaican, Greek and many others.  You’re sure to find something interesting to listen to in this collection.
2. You’d like to watch something other than Netflix and what’s at the local Cinema.   The VAST database from Alexander Street Press contains thousands of videos.  There are numerous stage and screen dramatizations of plays found under the “performance” tab.  Some of the types of films are movies of historical plays such as Andersonville, the classic film Birth of a Nation and films of many Shakespeare plays.  Also included are a large number of dance and opera performances and PBS documentaries.  
3. You want to learn more about your grandparents.   The Ancestry.com database contains many historical records that can be searched by name.  There are birth, death, census and marriage records, along with the ship manifests from some of many ships of immigrants that came to the United States from Europe and other places in the 19^th century.  It is fairly easy to use and can return some interesting results.
4. You want to do some research on or for prospective employers.  If you have been lucky enough to land an internship with a business for the summer, you can impress your bosses by your insight into the industry you are working in by using the database Business Insights Global.  For instance, you have an internship at Caterpillar Inc. in Peoria for the summer.  Just looking up the company name (Caterpillar Inc.) takes you to a page with information on their business history, strategy, brands, current legal issues, number of employees, overall profits and much other information.  It also has a listing of their major competitors.  This database also lets you create charts and diagrams comparing various statistics and is updated regularly.  So get creative and let your business sense shine and impress your boss!
5. You want to learn enough Spanish to order in a restaurant during your family vacation in Mexico or you’re not sure whether or not to take that course in Ancient Greek in the fall.  Mango Languages is a database that will allow you to do all of these things or to investigate many other languages.   You do not need to create a log-in or profile to use it.  Just click on “courses” and you can begin any of the language courses offered by Mango.  If English is not your first language, you can work on improving your ability in English by choosing one of the English learning courses offered for speakers of Spanish, French, Russian, Greek, Vietnamese or several other languages.  The database also has a translate feature where you can translate from one language to another.  It will translate individual words or the full-text of something written in another language.  So, baw się dobrze with a new language this summer!

How do I access these databases from my location?  When you attempt to connect to any of our databases from off-campus, a window will pop-up asking for your login and password.  Use the same login and password that you use while on-campus.   This will allow you to access all of our databases from remote locations.  For more information on remote access, check here.

Have a great summer and hope to see you all again in the fall!