If you want to learn on the go or don't want to depend on internet access, the Virginia Tech Libraries have a large collection of language learning compact disks that you can check out. Some parts are missing.
These links will show you their disk numbers numbers and check-out status.
These audio CDs are shelved on the fifth floor of Newman Library between the Folio (oversize) books and the "C" stairwell. Audio disks are shelved in simple numerical order (like the DVDs on second floor), not by call number or subject.
Many public libraries offer entry-level online language-learning tools like Mango Languages and Transparent Language (among others) to residents with appropriate library cards. (Virginia Tech students qualify for cards at the Blacksburg library and other branches of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library District [MFRL] no matter where their homes are.)
Check with your local and/or hometown public library about resources it makes available to its members.
Sometimes called the "first drafts of history," journalistic sources such as newspapers and broadcast transcripts are important as primary sources for historical research and cultural analysis. They can be the best available sources for descriptions and interpretations of recent events, because it typically takes two years after an event for peer-reviewed publications about it to appear. Don't overlook interviews of scholars and other authorities in news stories nor commentaries by academics in editorial/opinion sections. Deadlines mean the news reporters cannot get "all the facts" right in a single story, so look for follow-up stories and for multiple, independent sources to validate claims. Note, too, that the convention that journalism is supposed to be objective, unbiased, and balanced is only about a century old, it is more deeply rooted in the US than elsewhere; and is contested as a professional and/or social value.
This guide identifies the VT Libraries' principal collections of recent and historical news sources, both from the US and abroad; general-purpose databases that provide significant news content alongside academic articles; directories of free online news archives; and Tech's streaming video collections, which offer historical, documentary and dramatic works.
Assume that the big search box on the the library homepage (aka VT Discovery Search, aka Primo) will not identify most of the news articles that the Tech library buys. Get familiar with these platforms:
These are your best options for finding classroom-legal versions of programs originally offered on consumer-oriented streaming platforms like Netflix or Amazon, whose licenses exclude library use. This list highlights streaming sources that provide content most directly related to historical and social science inquiry. It is not an exhaustive directory to all our library's video providers.
Though covering many things, events, and people, these collections are curated within boundaries such as topic, creator, or medium. Free sources may become unavailable at any time.