Humanities & Social Sciences Library

Looking up words and phrases that you are unfamiliar with in the New York Times became a little easier with a new double click context-sensitive reference check feature.
The online version of the NYT allows readers to double click on words and phrases to check up dictionary or encyclopedia entries in reference titles such as the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language or the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia published by Columbia University Press.

For example, in the article below, you can figure out the pronunciation of Montaigne or look up who Proust is in just a few clicks.  Seems that hardcopies of the Library’s reference books would be gathering dust on the shelves as more reference sources join forces with the electronic mass media to provide readers with easy and free access to authoritative information.

Read It? No, but You Can Skim a Few Pages and Fake It
By ALAN RIDING
Published: February 24, 2007

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Posted by: Wong Oi May

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A recent article from the New York Times reported that Middlebury students are no longer allowed to use Wikipedia as a citation source for their assignments. The college highlighted the fact that Wikipedia entries are submitted by volunteers and as such, the credibility of entries cannot really be validated.

Nonetheless, the article also mentioned that a Columbia professor asked his graduate students to create a Wikipedia-based Japanese bibliography project and post entries using resources like libraries, reference books and newspapers. It seems that new ideas for student projects now include Wikipedia postings, YouTube postings and blogs for course projects.

A History Department Bans Citing Wikipedia as a Research Source
Noam Cohen
New York Times, 21 Feb 2007

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Posted by Wong Oi May

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By Stan Gibilisco Call number : QA276.12G446       Check the availability of this title Now anyone with an interest in mastering statistics can do so — without formal training, unlimited time, or a private tutor. In Statistics Demystified, best-selling science and math writer Stan Gibilisco provides an effective, anxiety-soothing, and totally painless way to learn or review statistics fundamentals. If you want to build or refresh your understanding of statistics, here’s a fast and entertaining self-teaching course that’s specially designed to reduce anxiety. Get ready to: * Absorb statistics jargon and notation * Figure odds in games of chance and other situations using probability principles * Understand randomness and uncertainty * Discover the right ways to obtain data and mine it for meaning * Create and interpret tables and graphs * Take a “final exam” and grade it yourself!

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Dear Professor Lan and Students of HC342

Happy Valentine Day!

Please download the powerpoint file from here

how to do research – part 1.ppt

Instructional 140207 (Upload 2)1.ppt

Instructional 140207 (upload 3).ppt

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A report in the International Herald Tribune titled “France takes the plunge into globalized education was published on Feb 12th 2007. France, long known for cultural insularity, has begun to see foreign students differently. Their image has changed from being “fashionable academic accessories” to “necessities for survival”.

The foreign student is apparently finding new value as a way of promoting competition within academic institutions. Foreign students studying in France, for example, have commented on the interesting, analytical style of French journalism. The desired end result is a more well-rounded individual as international students share their experiences in their home countries with other students. This policy to increase cultural diversity has spread quickly.

This is in line with the increasing drive for tertiary student exchange programmes in Singapore. As with other countries, there seems to be a global trend towards a more itnernational undergraduate population. Heightening competition by increasing the number of foreign students is certainly beneficial to society as a whole. However, the individual student might not welcome such increased competition as readily.

Do the ends justify the means in this case?  

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By Robert Temple, 1998 Call number : DS721.T286 @ Library 2, Openshelf book     Check the availability of this title In addition to the commonly known inventions such as gunpowder, the ancient Chinese were the first to discover how to manufacture of steel from cast iron, paper, paper money, wheelbarrow,  porcelain, biological pest control, circadian rhythms in the human body, Pascal’s triangle, magnetism, kite …

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By Kent and Kyle Healy, 2005 Call number : HQ796.H434 @ Library 2      Check the availability of this title If you are looking for an easy-to-read personal development book, this is IT.What was not taught in school that may prepare you for the real world? The authors suggest some of these lessons are : How to control your attitude so you can control your life How to conquer peer pressure and other tense situations How to set goals to get exactly what you want How to manage your money The tactics to getting the job you desire

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