New books at the PCC Cascade library!

Hello, everybody - I wanted to spread the word about some new reference books we've gotten in at the PCC Cascade library recently. Stop by and check them out!

Visual Dictionary of Firefighters' Tools and Resources

This one's especially for students in PCC's Fire Protection Technology program. Do you need help keeping all the new equipment you're learning about straight? This handy dictionary covers all the major equipment used in structural firefighting, rescue operations, and wildland firefighting. Each entry is accompanied by photographs and illustrations to help you visualize and identify the equipment. The author, Phillip L. Queen, is a firefighter, fire services consultant and long time fire-services instructor, both privately and at colleges across the country.

Queen, P. L. (2007). Visual Dictionary of Firefighters' Tools and Resources. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning.

College Student's Guide to Merit and Other No-Need Funding, 2008-2010

Are you worried about finding money to continue your education (here at PCC or elsewhere)? It's true that going to college isn't cheap, but the College Student's Guide to Merit and Other No-Need Funding provides a great starting point for finding ways to pay for it. This book focuses especially on "No-Need" funding – scholarships that aren't based on your financial status. The directory covers programs open to currently-enrolled or returning college students. All the scholarships included offer at least $1000 per year and where the awards are "portable" – i.e. they can be used at any school.

Come by and take a look at this book (and our other scholarship guides) and get started on paying for your education.

Schlachter, G. A. & Weber, R. D. (Eds.). (2007). College Student's Guide to Merit and Other No-Need Funding, 2008-2010. El Dorado Hills, CA: Reference Service Press

Voices from the Margins: An annotated bibliography of fiction on disabilities and differences for young people

What does it mean to be different in our culture?

What does it mean to have a disability?

Fiction is a powerful way to explore these types of questions. Voices from the Margins lists selected fiction about differences and disabilities written for and about young people. The book includes 200 works published since 1990 that discuss issues of physical and mental handicaps, race, and basic issues of popularity and fitting in. The bibliography includes picture books, contemporary realistic fiction, historical fiction, mysteries, fantasy works and poetry. Whether you live with a disability or just feel "different" from other people, this book is a good source of fiction that deals with these topic in a realistic and positive way.

This book is also highly recommended for those who work or live with children with special needs.

Ward, M. (2002). Voices from the Margins: An annotated bibliography of fiction on disabilities and differences for young people. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Oxford New Concise World Atlas

Atlases still work much better in the old paper and ink form than they do on a computer. Something about the large format pages and colorful maps just can't be satisfactorily replaced by an electronic map database.

If you want to experience the joy of a new atlas first-hand, we invite you to stop by the library to see the new Oxford New Concise World Atlas, with 128 beautiful full-color maps of the world. This atlas is fully updated and includes a special section on geographical hot-spots (Kashmir, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Near East and Sudan). There is also a wonderful "Earth in Space" section with essays and photographs chronicling the beginnings of the universe through the evolution of the human world today.

And, of course, the Oxford New Concise World Atlas is also a useful reference book. The high-quality maps are both readable and detailed and there is a index of over 55,000 place names and geographical features to make sure you can find what you're looking for.

Oxford New Concise World Atlas. New York: Oxford University Press.