COM Library

October 23rd is National Horror Movie Day.  Why not take a break from studying and watch one of these favorite thrillers with your friends.  Bring your COM ID to the circulation desk and take one home today! Want more horror movie options?  Try one of the hundreds of horror films streaming online through hoopla.  Use your COM ID to register for access once and enjoy five monthly checkouts.  Take a look at the hoopla horror titles available.  More information on hoopla is available in the library's hoopla guide. http://dlvr.it/TNqC9l

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When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows ... by Steven Pinker From one of the world's most celebrated intellectuals, a brilliantly insightful work that explains how we think about each other's thoughts about each other's thoughts, ad infinitum. It sounds impossible, but Steven Pinker shows that we do it all the time. This awareness, which we experience as something that is public or "out there," is called common knowledge, and it has a momentous impact on our social, political, and economic lives. Common knowledge is necessary for coordination, for making arbitrary but complementary choices like driving on the right, using paper currency, and coalescing behind a political leader or movement. It's also necessary for social coordination: everything from rendezvousing at a time and place to speaking the same language to forming enduring relationships of friendship, romance, or authority. Humans have a sixth sense for common knowledge, and we create it...

Curiosity Stream offers something for every inquisitive mind! Hundreds of high-quality documentaries on science, history, nature, and tech documentaries. Available now through COM Library's Academic Videos Online (AVON) Stream them on AVON now!  Want more on AVON? Try the How to Use AVON guide.  http://dlvr.it/TNjXfW

I bet you think you know how to evaluate information.  Just for giggles, ask yourself these questions: * Do you know how to tell if that article you found in a Google search is college appropriate? * Do you know how to tell if something is scholarly or not? * Is everything you read in the library's databases considered scholarly?  Is it all peer reviewed? * Do you have to cite a table you copied/pasted into your PowerPoint presentation? * What do you look for to determine if something is fake news or not? * Is all news media trustworthy and considered factual? If you don't know the answer to one or more of these questions, consider coming by to check out the books on display for Information Literacy Awareness month.  The library will be featuring both physical books and eBooks on this topic through October 31st.  For more information, check out these library guides: Media Bias, Find Your Sources, College Level Research, Propaganda, Fake Ne...

How can AI enabled databases make your research easier? It depends on the database, but AI features in databases can: * Help with brainstorming your question. * Provide summaries and key takeaways of books and articles.  * Get direct links to sources that answer your research question.  * Find more sources that are likely to support your topic. * Save your question so you an access it again. You can learn how to use our AI enabled databases step by step using our brand new guide!  https://libguides.com.edu/DatabaseAI /> Good to Know  Several database require that you create a free account and be logged in to use the AI features:  * Ask Chron * JSTOR * OneSearch * ScienceDirect   http://dlvr.it/TNfbWm

Just on time for National Cookbooks Month! Our latest guide is Cookbooks & Recipes. Get cookbooks, recipes, books from chefs that include recipes and watch how it's done videos. Here are a few examples of what you can find in the guide. Some resources must be accessed on campus or login with your COM account to access campus. * The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (eBook) * Texas Eats: the new lone star heritage cookbook, with more than 200 recipes (print book) * Try Thai Tonight Series (Season 1-5) (stream it on AVON) * How to Make Martha Stewart's Chicken Pot Pies (YouTube)   http://dlvr.it/TNf8QP

The issue of book banning is making headlines again now that school is back in session. Supporters of book challenges argue that schools should not expose children to sex, violence, drug use, race, or other topics they deem inappropriate for certain age levels. They argue that pulling books out of the school library is not book banning because students can get these books outside of school. Opponents of book challenges argue that removing books from schools is censorship and un-American. They say that reading controversial books and discussing controversial topics promotes critical thinking, encourages empathy, and provides a wider understanding of the world. What do you think?  Should certain books ever be banned in school? Watch the debate on Films on Demand (49:40). With 27 documented viewpoints, the library's Opposing Viewpoints database is a great place to get more information on what people think about this hot topic.   For more articles, videos and books/eBoo...

October is American Archives Month. Check out our collection of classic periodicals and streaming media. Read full text, full image top magazines: The Atlantic, Ebony, Jet, Life, The Nation, National Geographic, Newsweek, Time and Vanity Fair, or Texas newspapers El Paso Times and The Austin American Statesman. Stream archival films and newsreels from Films on Demand and AVON. Go to the Archives Collection.  Featured from the Collection * The Awakening of the Negro by Booker T. Washington, The Atlantic 1896 * Troubles of Mitchell (Stock market Crash), Time 1929 * Evolution of the speakeasy, Vanity Fair 1932 * The McCarthy Method, The Nation, 1950 * THE KING PLAN FOR FREEDOM: Protest leader M. L. King, Jr., stresses eight points to speed equality fight, Ebony 1956 * Apollo’s Great Leap for the Moon, Life 1969 * 'My God! They're Killing US' (Kent State), Newsweek 1970 * America’s New Beginning: Barack Obama Sworn In 44th President, Jet...

Did you know the library has a "library of things" that we can check-out to persons with a COM ID? The next time it's pouring rain outside, duck into the library and check out an umbrella to get around campus. Did your phone die and you forget your phone charger at home?  While in the library, check-out a phone charger to charge it. Math homework require a graphing calculator you don't have with you today?  Do your homework in the library and check one out from us. We have what you need to succeed!  We are here to help. Read more about COM library here. http://dlvr.it/TNYFSJ

Kicking off Academic Success Month, COM Library will be hosting the session, Leveraging AI in Library Databases to Make Your Research Easier. You'll find out how to use database AI to:  * Get summaries and key takeaways of books and articles  * Get direct links to sources that answer your research question * Help with brainstorming  your questions A light meal will be provided.  * Tuesday, October 14, 2025 12:30pm-1:15pm, ICB 121  Meanwhile, here is the companion guide if you'd like to get started now: How to Use Library Database AI.  http://dlvr.it/TNXYG0

Classic Banned Books Interestingly, many books that are now considered classics have been banned in the past and some continue to be banned or challenged today. We've compiled a few lists of these books so you can see why these classics were banned or challenged. You can also check out the print or eBook versions of many of these books and decide for yourself... * Award Winning Books That Have Been Banned or Challenged This list has books that have won major awards such as the Pulitzer Prize or the Nobel Prize that have been banned like The Color Purple by Alice Walker, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.  * Modern Library's 100 Best Novels These are books chosen as the best novels published since 1900. This includes novels like The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell * More Banned Classics There are even more classics...

The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. COM Library has a wealth of resources on education, prevention and treatment for this disease.  Dr. Love's Breast Book offers people a deeper understanding of how to make the best possible choices for their individual situations.  The Breast Cancer Book, written collaboratively by an experienced oncologist, a surgeon and a breast cancer survivor shares patient stories and strives to inform and give hope to those struggling with the disease. The library databases also contain articles, eBooks and videos on breast cancer.  A good example, Breast Cancer Prevention: A Mother's Gift is a short, award winning video that serves to educate on prevention and early detection. The Gale Health and Wellness database makes it easy to find different sources in its breast cancer topic center with magazine articles, academic journals articles, videos and news articles on this disease.  In October, we think pink and join those wh...

October is Information Literacy Awareness Month. COM Library has a great collection of critical thinking and information literacy guides to help you evaluate your sources! Topics include citation, media bias, evaluating sources, fake news, plagiarism, tips for using sources in a paper and more.  * Bias * Cite Your Sources * College Level Research * Conspiracy Theories * Copyright & Fair Use for Students * Critical Thinking * Evaluate Your Sources * Fake News, Disinformation & Misinformation * Find Your Sources * How to Search a Database * Library Jargon * Media Bias * Plagiarism * Propaganda * Research Tutorial * Urban Legends * Your Research Assignment * Tips for Finding & Using Opinion, Pro & Con Sources * Tips for Using Sources in Your Paper or Presentation See all Critical Thinking & Information Literacy news. http://dlvr.it/TNQnRS

Dark fiction is a genre of literature that is characterized by frightening or menacing concepts.  Literature that includes themes of gothic or horror, monsters (vampires & zombies), otherworldly science fiction or civilizations in moral decay, are all considered to be in the dark fiction genre. If you don't regularly read dark fiction but are interested in the concept, there are some great literary examples on display now in the library on the first floor pyramids.  Both eBooks and physical books are available to consider.  Come by today and take a look.  Warning: these books can include violence and/or graphic depictions and may not be for everyone. Do you want a broader selection of books to choose from?  Consider the Books and eBooks listed in our dark side guides. http://dlvr.it/TNPTG9