LibraryBuzz

February 21, 2023February 21, 2023

Spotlight on: Videos from the Banyan Archive

City Tech Library has access to AVON (Academic Video Online), which features over 66,000 titles across subject areas including anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more. We’ve been exploring those lately and wanted to put a spotlight on the Banyan Archive channel.

The Banyan Archive, located in Trinidad & Tobago, has digitized hundreds of hours of film footage spanning decades of events and interviews. You can head straight to their collection at this link. Explore musical performances, dance, documentary, and so much more! Banyan was founded in 1974 and has collected a wealth of video documenting life and culture across the Caribbean.

Excited to explore other video channels on AVON? Here are a few other places to start:

February 14, 2023

Everything Everywhere All At Your Library

Did you know that the library has tons of streaming video available — and not just to help with your homework? As we gear up for Oscars season, you can revisit Everything Everywhere All at Once through the library collections. Click here to head straight to the film! (If you’re off campus, you’ll be asked to log in with your CUNYfirst ID.)

This movie is available for streaming through Swank, one of the library’s streaming video databases; you can explore the rest of our Swank subscription at cityte.ch/swank. Or, explore more streaming video through Kanopy and Academic Video Online (AVON).

February 7, 2023

Spotlight on: Black Thought and Culture

One of the databases that City Tech Library provides access to is Black Thought and Culture, provided by Alexander Street Press. You can head straight there at cityte.ch/bltc; if you’re off campus, you’ll be asked to log in with your CUNYfirst credentials.

Black Thought and Culture is an amazing place to explore primary source materials. Not only can you read hundreds of issues of the Black Panther newspaper, but this database also includes oral histories from the Columbia University Black Panther Project. Browse by content type and select “oral histories,” and then search “Black Panther” within these results.

Or, if you’re looking for material related to a specific place, browse by location to find primary source material related to black thought and culture in that place. Interested in Black history in Denmark? This database has details on Bobby Seale’s receipt of a peace prize from a Danish high school.

Another great browsing option is by title; selecting Crisis from a list of titles brings us to content from the official magazine of the NAACP, including a transcription of W.E.B DuBois’ report on the 1919 Pan African Congress.

January 24, 2023

EResources Spotlight: New Yorker Cartoons

Sure, the library has online access to lots of great comics in the Underground & Independent Comics Collection, but did you know that you can access New Yorker cartoons through Artstor? Check out the Condé Nast collection in the Artstor Digital Library to take a look.

Series of thumbnails of New Yorker cartoons, as displayed through City Tech's institutional subscription to the Artstor Digital Library. — You’ll land at this page to explore New Yorker cartoons when you click the link above; if you’re off campus, you’ll be prompted to use your CUNYfirst login.

As Artstor notes:

The New Yorker‘s cartoons are legendary for their incisive wit and for shedding light on the lives and foibles of the city’s dwellers from the Depression through to the era of “fake news.” The magazine’s cartoonists include renowned figures like, Peter Arno, Roz Chast, Otto Soglow, William Steig, James Thurber, and Gahan Wilson.

Interested in exploring other illustrated and graphic design material through Artstor? Here are a few other collections we love:

Graphic Design Collection (The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
St. Lawrence University: Street Art Graphics
RISD Library Picture Collection: Pulp Fiction Covers

February 23, 2022February 23, 2022

Streaming Video now available in Swank

The library is now able to provide access to streaming video through Swank Digital Campus. Swank partners with major Hollywood studios, documentary providers, independent filmmakers and international film companies to provide a diverse library of films and TV shows. You can explore what’s available for CityTech by visiting cityte.ch/swank.

We’ve selected a list of films to license through Swank based on what’s not available in our onsite Media Library, or through other video databases like Criterion or AVON. Looking for something that you don’t see? Let us know.