Top Ten Tuesday – Top 10 Study Tips

The last week of school! Can you believe it?

Here is a Top Ten list to help you through finals. From the College Lifestyle Blog – Top 10 Study Tips.

1. Find a quiet area and ditch the distractions.
   

2. Love your libraries.
   

3. Make a schedule and stick with it until it becomes your routine.
   

4. Set aside an hour or two each morning to study.
   

5. Review your notes before and after class.
   

6. Take a quick break after every 60 minutes of studying.
   

7. Avoid "all-nighters."
   

8. Snack healthy.
   

9. Study in groups.
   

10. Don't stress about studying.

Read the entire post to find out how each of these can help you study for finals.
GOOD LUCK on your exams!

Meebo Me!

Have you ever wanted to IM (instant message) a librarian here at the Dick Smith Library? Well, now you can!

We are testing Meebo to see if and how an IM service would be used with the library. In one click, wirh no registration or download required (unless the computer you are using does not already have Flash 7.0 or later installed), you can start typing in the chat window below to talk with me, the librarian!



1. If you need help, you can check to see if I am online here, and send me an instant message with this widgit.

2. Click on "edit nickname" near the bottom and type in your first name (if you like).

3. In the box where it says "Type here and hit enter to send a private message," type your question and hit the Enter key. No one but me will see your message, it will not show up here on the blog!

If I am online, I’ll try to reply right away. Give me a couple moments, as I usually have lots of windows open! If I’m not available (offline, away, sleeping, etc.), you can leave me a message with your e-mail address, and I will reply. Don’t refresh the window or navigate away or the session is lost.

Give this trial service a try, and let us know what you think of it in the comments!

Questions at Semester's End

When a semester ends, questions often appear on the horizon:
~ Is finishing my degree worth the time and expense?
~ Should I consider getting a masters degree?
~ Should I change my major before next semester?
~ When I finally graduate, will I be able to find a job?

Many resources are available to help you find answers to these questions:

• Career Services (254-968-9078) offers useful resources:
  -- My Plan @ Career Services (http://tarleton.myplan.com/) offers assessment tests to help you determine your career interests and "best fits" in career choices.
  -- Tarleton Connection http://www.tarleton.edu/connection/ offers job postings for full or part-time employment opportunities both on and off campus.

• Tarleton Libraries (254-968-9249) also offer helpful resources:
  -- Databases like Business Source Complete and Business & Company Resource Center let you find articles about specific companies and industries, industry and career trends, current events, legal news, and more.
  -- Legal databases like Lexis-Nexis Academic and Westlaw Campus let you look up court cases, business news, company financial reports, and industry reports.
  -- Current periodicals (in the databases and on the library shelves) can help you keep up with trends in your field, current research, job postings, conferences, etc.

• The United States government also offers useful information:
  -- The Bureau of Labor Statistics offers the Occupational Outlook Handbook, which lets you learn about careers available in various fields, job descriptions and requirements, salary expectations, and job markets for each state.

Congratulations on finishing another semester! Remember that answers are sometimes just a mouse click or phone call away.

Social Networks & Privacy

Much has been said and written about social networking (Facebook, blogs, MySpace, etc.) regarding privacy concerns (personal safety, identity theft, etc.). Lately, these conversations have focused on another topic -- the effects that online activities can have on employment (current and future).

Several campus venues have been used to inform the Tarleton community about these effects. For example, Career Services in the Division of Student Life has offered workshops, seminars, and presentations about "cleaning up digital dirt."

The articles listed below provide more information about this timely topic. Take a look.

• How Blogging and Social Networking Can Impact Your Job Search


• Employers Are Viewing Your Profile on Social Networking Sites
  
• Employers Using Facebook for Background Checking: Is It Legal?
  
• How to Use Facebook Without Losing Your Job Over It

Think before you party....drink?

College parties that boast drinking games or sexualized themes or costumes may encourage students to drink to a particularly excessive degree, a new study suggests. Instead of surveys, research assistants actually went to dozens of college parties and witnessed the goings-on themselves. They also conducted breath-tests on party-goers for blood alcohol concentrations. What they found was that students who played drinking games tended to imbibe more, as did women at "theme" parties -- especially those with sexualized themes.

Read more at:
http://wwwPublish Post.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSHAR96733820080109

Those with degrees still enroll!

These days, thousands of people who enroll in community college programs already have four-year degrees — or more — in hand. Almost 11,000 students pursuing an associate's degree or a diploma in the N.C. Community College System in 2006 had a bachelor's degree. More than 2,500 students had a master's degree or higher. The reason for pursuing another degree is usually related to job marketability.

Read more at:http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070625/NEWSREC0101/70624001

Diplomas Count

A new report published in Education Week looks at the skills required to get jobs in every state and concludes that, at both the state and national level, people need to complete at least some college to earn a decent wage.

The report bases such findings on an analysis of data from two sources: a U.S. Department of Labor database that classifies jobs based on the education, training, and experience that they require, and U.S. Census Bureau statistics showing how many people work in various types of jobs and how much they earn.

"At both national and state levels, our research shows that a high-school diploma alone is not sufficient for students to access the jobs that will provide a real future and to thrive in our economy," said Christopher B. Swanson, who conducted the analysis as director of a research center affiliated with the newspaper.

In other findings, the report estimates that about 30 percent of ninth graders fail to graduate from high school with their peers four years later. For black males, the four-year graduation rate is 46 percent; for Hispanic males, it's 52 percent.

Based on an examination of state policies, the report says that just 11 states define what students should know and be able to do to be prepared for credit-bearing courses in college, and 14 states are working on a definition. Twenty-two states require high schools to administer exit examinations, while three others plan to do so. The number of states basing their exit exams on standards set at the 10th-grade level or higher has risen from six in 2002 to 18 in 2007. —Peter Schmidt

Read the entire article at http://www.edweek.org/ew/toc/2007/06/12/index.html

100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know

Just fun with words

Press Release

100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know by Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries (Editor)
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BOSTON, MA — The editors of the American Heritage® dictionaries have compiled a list of 100 words they recommend every high school graduate should know.

"The words we suggest," says senior editor Steven Kleinedler, "are not meant to be exhaustive but are a benchmark against which graduates and their parents can measure themselves. If you are able to use these words correctly, you are likely to have a superior command of the language."

The following is the entire list of 100 words:

• abjure
• abrogate
• abstemious
• acumen
• antebellum
• auspicious
• belie
• bellicose
• bowdlerize
• chicanery
• chromosome
• churlish
• circumlocution
• circumnavigate
• deciduous
• deleterious
• diffident
• enervate
• enfranchise
• epiphany
• equinox
• euro
• evanescent
• expurgate
• facetious
• fatuous
• feckless
• fiduciary
• filibuster
• gamete
• gauche
• gerrymander
• hegemony
• hemoglobin
• homogeneous
• hubris
• hypotenuse
• impeach
• incognito
• incontrovertible
• inculcate
• infrastructure
• interpolate
• irony
• jejune
• kinetic
• kowtow
• laissez faire
• lexicon
• loquacious
• lugubrious
• metamorphosis
• mitosis
• moiety
• nanotechnology
• nihilis
• mnomenclature
• nonsectarian
• notarize
• obsequious
• oligarchy
• omnipotent
• orthography
• oxidize
• parabola
• paradigm
• parameter
• pecuniary
• photosynthesis
• plagiarize
• plasma
• polymer
• precipitous
• quasar
• quotidian
• recapitulate
• reciprocal
• reparation
• respiration
• sanguine
• soliloquy
• subjugate
• suffragist
• supercilious
• tautology
• taxonomy
• tectonic
• tempestuous
• thermodynamics
• totalitarian
• unctuous
• usurp
• vacuous
• vehement
• vortex
• winnow
• wrought
• xenophobe
• yeoman

Life After College - Are you ready?

You've had graduation day visualized in the back of your mind since freshman year and now you find it quickly approaching. Amidst the excitement and enthusiasm also comes a frenzy of emotions that borderline on hysteria. Don't panic. You're not alone -- and you're not going crazy. (more)

Read more at Colleges.com, U Magazine