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Select the “Learn How” tab at the top of the library homepage and choose the “mla/apa citations” link for CC Library guides, Citation creation tools, APA websites and MLA websites.

What is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

Still confused? Just visit the How NaNoWriMo Works page!

October is National Information Literacy Month

By Presidential Proclamation:

"Though we may know how to find the information we need, we must also know how to evaluate it. Over the past decade, we have seen a crisis of authenticity emerge. We now live in a world where anyone can publish an opinion or perspective, whether true or not, and have the opinion amplified within the information marketplace. At the same time, Americans have unprecedented access to the diverse and independent sources of information, as well as institutions such as libraries and universities, that can help separate truth from fiction and signal from noise."

Contact us today for help using information resources, or to schedule an information literacy workshop for your class.

Have a question? Ask your librarian online.

Students, faculty and staff at Centralia College can now receive assistance from reference librarians at Kirk Library even if they cannot visit the library in person. And the librarians are available anytime of the day or night.

Anyone who needs help finding information may submit questions through a link on the library's web site. Questions are answered by librarians at Kirk Library or by any librarian participating in our worldwide network of reference librarians.

The service is very easy to use. All you do is click on the "Ask a Librarian!" button, and you're on your way!

Give it a try today!

New database: World Conflicts Today

We are proud to announce the acquisition of a new database that we hope will come in handy. World Conflicts Today provides detailed information about current military conflicts throughout the world and includes timelines, origin of the conflict, key groups involved, implications, statistics, and more.

Biologists use Google to "destroy" ecosystems

By applying PageRank, the search algorithm that powers the world famous search engine Google, to the food chain of an ecosystem, Biologists have found a way to predict which species may be the most essential to the balance of that ecosystem. By virtually "destroying" the ecosystem by removing certain species from the food chain and observing simulated results, scientists are able to rank species by their importance, according to an article published in Wired magazine.

J.D. Salinger vs. Resurrected Caulfield

Reclusive author J.D. Salinger, now 90, has emerged from the shadows to attempt to stop the publication of an unauthorized sequel to his classic novel The Catcher in the Rye. An author writing under the nom de plume "J.D. California" has penned 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, which features "Mr. C," presumably Holden Caulfield, the resurrected slacker protagonist of the earlier work. The sequel has already been published in Britain. Salinger has filed a lawsuit to keep 60 Years Later from going to press here in the U.S.