Author: Junior Tidal

Mara (she/her) joined the City Tech Library as an Adjunct Reference & Instruction Librarian in the fall of 2022.

In a nutshell, what do you do at the City Tech Library?
I primarily provide reference assistance to City Tech students.

What is your academic and library background?
I hold a BA in French and Francophone studies from UCLA and an MA in European and Mediterranean studies from NYU and am a first year doctoral student in Cultural Anthropology at the Graduate Center, CUNY. I received my library science degree from the Palmer School at LIU.

What were your first impressions of life at City Tech? Were there any surprises?
I’m very happy to be at City Tech! The best part of working at the Ursula B. Schwerin Library has been interacting with City Tech students. I especially enjoy helping students find appropriate library resources (books, articles, etc.) for their research projects and assignments.

What are some of your favorite City Tech library resources?
The libguides and databases.

What else would you like City Tech students and faculty to know about you?
I speak French and have lived, worked, and studied in France (Paris, Lyon, Marseille). Marseille is the site of my doctoral work and I plan to return to conduct dissertation research.

Available only to City Tech faculty and students, the library has procured a digital copy of Reckonings, directed by Roberta Grossman. The documentary details Germany’s reparations to Jewish people after the Holocaust. The film features interviews with survivors. scholars, and dignities, which led to the Luxembourg Agreements of 1952.

Viewers can access the film through AVON, using their CUNYfirst credentials to view the film.

View the trailer below.

For more information, contact Prof. Junior Tidal.

We are excited to announce a new way to login to access your interlibrary loan account!

You will now login using your CUNY login as you already do for other library resources – this eliminates the need for an additional login, so will make the whole process much smoother and is one less login for everyone to remember.  

You will not lose any of the information from previous requests as your old information will be merged with your CUNY login information.  

When you come to the Interlibrary Loan,  you should just see a button that says “Login to Illiad.” It should redirect you to login with your CUNY login.  

Do let us know if you hit any snags or if you have any questions.

Email: interlibraryloan@citytech.cuny.edu

Phone:  718-260-5792

Betsy Fagin (she/they) joined the City Tech Library as an Adjunct Reference & Instruction Librarian in the fall of 2022.

In a nutshell, what do you do at the City Tech Library?

I provide reference services and teach in-person library instruction classes at City Tech.

What is your academic and library background?

Academically, I earned my Masters in Library Science at the University of Maryland and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College. I’ve worked in academic and public libraries since my days as an undergraduate at Vassar College as well as in specialized libraries like Poets House and the National Art Library at the V&A Museum in London.

What made you want to become a librarian? Was there any event or person that influenced you?

I was very lucky to have a number of wonderful librarians in my life when I was younger who encouraged my curiosity and creativity. Libraries have always been places of exploration and discovery for me, spaces that can open worlds of possibility not only in the imagination, but in practical, material ways as well. I’ve always loved libraries.

What were your first impressions of life at City Tech? Were there any surprises?

After a few years of pandemic, it’s been a pleasant surprise to see how popular and how heavily used the library is.

What are some of your favorite City Tech library resources?

So far some of my favorite resources are the displays. I’m a big fan of browsing as a means to discovery and the rotating displays are a great way to find new things. The Banned Books Week display that’s up now highlights some of the targets of censorship and offers an opportunity to raise people’s awareness around the ways that open communication and access to information can create common ground and support mutual understanding.

What books, tv, films, and/or music are you currently listening to?

I’ve got a pile of books I’m reading with a few more on hold for me at my local public library. I just got my hands on Simone White’s “or, on being the other woman” and am very excited to dig into it.

What else would you like City Tech students and faculty to know about you?

In addition to my work in libraries, I’m also a poet (find some of my stuff in the library!) and a yoga and meditation practitioner/teacher.

The Ursula C. Schwerin Library is conducting a participatory web design research study. If you are 18 or older and interested, please fill out the survey here: https://citytech-cuny.libwizard.com/f/participatoryWeb

Selected participants will receive a $20 gift certificate to the City Tech bookstore for participating. 

For more information or questions, please contact Prof. Junior Tidal at jtidal@citytech.cuny.edu.

City Tech is celebrating National HSI Week (September 12-18) and Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) with a series of events, including a library showcase. More information can be found here.

Did you know you can stream films through the library’s film platforms?

The library has subscriptions to three main streaming platforms, Academic Video Online (AVON), Kanopy, and Swank to support coursework. These platforms have a variety of documentaries, major theatrical releases, independent films, and more!

AVON has a variety of films, but it’s strengths include news clips and historical footage.

Kanopy has a wide collection of PBS content, independent films, and documentaries.

Swank is largely theatrical releases.

These resources can also be accessed using the “Collection Discovery” tab in the library catalog (OneSearch), which will prominently display available films to the City Tech community.

For more information, users can consult the Kanopy and Swank research guides.

For other questions, film requests, or more, you can contact Prof. Junior Tidal, Web Services & Multimedia Librarian.

Please be advised that due to Con Edison’s scheduled power shutdown in Downtown Brooklyn at 2:00 PM, all in-person classes will be cancelled and the college will be closed after 2:00 PM today. 

All essential personnel will remain on duty as scheduled. 

The College will reopen for business and classes will resume on Thursday, July 21, 2022.

Update 7.12.22: The shutdown will begin at 10AM not 2PM as initially posted.

Please note that the library website will be available during the shutdown.

The College network will be brought offline Friday, July 15 at 10:00 AM in preparation for an anticipated emergency electrical shut down for the Namm Building.

The expectation is to have network services restored in the evening on Saturday July 16, 2022.

All City Tech network services will be unavailable

Internet
College servers
WiFi
Exchange E-mail, Webmail
Network drives
College websites
VPN

CUNY systems such as CUNYfirst, Degreeworks, Blackboard, etc. would still be accessible from off-campus.

Enjoy the holiday weekend.