Author: Nora Almeida

Looking for a fact sheet on gun violence and children?  An analysis of racial and ethnic health care disparities in the U.S. male population?  A report examining the impact of the Affordable Care Act on women’s health?  Try The Grey Literature Report, an online publication of the New York Academy of Medicine Library (NYAM). The Grey Literature Report is an invaluable resource for health services research.  Both a current awareness service and a searchable database, The Grey Literature Report helps readers identify and access grey literature documents in the NYAM’s specialty areas of health policy, public health, urban health, global health, prevention, elimination of health disparities, and healthy aging.
What is grey literature? The NYAM Library accepts the definition adopted at the Fourth International Conference of Grey Literature, held in Washington, D.C. in October 1999:  “that which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers” (as cited in “What Is Grey”).   To view the extensive list of organizations (with URLs) that contribute documents to The Grey Literature Report, follow this link.  Document types include, but are not limited to, case studies, conference proceedings, fact sheets, issue briefs, research reports, statistical reports and white papers.
 
The NYAM Library applies a highly selective collection development policy to The Grey Literature Report, a particular strength of this resource.  The Report is limited primarily to research-level documents directed at members of the health care community, including researchers, practitioners, academics, policymakers and students.  Consumer health information is, generally, not selected.
 
Health professions faculty, we encourage you to explore The Grey Literature Report to see what it has to offer you and your students.  Freely accessible on the web at http://www.greylit.org, the Report is issued six times per year.  The database, which contains documents produced from the late 1990s to the present, is also updated on a bimonthly basis.  The NYAM invites readers to register for a free subscription to The Grey Literature Report by completing a supplied form.  If you have any questions about this exciting resource, please contact Prof. Joan Grassano by phone (x5478) or email (jgrassano@citytech.cuny.edu).
 
 
 
 
 

The library’s Information Technology team has undertaken several projects this summer to improve our technical facilities and services for supporting teaching and learning activities. The highlights of the projects are:
New Projectors in the Library Electronic Classroom
With great help from campus Media Services, two new Vivitek projectors have been installed in the Library’s electronic classroom.  The new projectors use advanced DLP ® (Digital Light Processing) technology and can project dazzling digital images from a variety of video sources.
NetOp Upgrade
NetOp, the classroom management software used in all library classrooms, has been upgraded to provide  expanded functionality and is now capable of connecting to student iPads or Android tablets using the app.
 
In Progress
Projection Room Renovation
The renovation of theLibrary’s Projection Room includes:  two 60 inch Sharp television screens and a new podium.  The projection room also received a fresh coat of paint. We are thankful again to campus Media Services for their hard work on the installation.
 
New Library Server 
A powerful new Dell server will enable the library to combine several important services on one piece of equipment. This new sever will provide a more dependable login and printing system, maximize  the system’s ability to respond quickly to unexpected hardware or software failures (making computer use more reliable), and create an automated digital inventory system.
 
Library Computer Services Management System Development
A web-based library computer services management system is under development for management of all public library computers. This system will automate application updates, monitor available network connectivity and/or issues, and wake up computers remotely. The system takes a command-and-control approach which can be easily updated for future needs. The purpose of the system is to improve our computers’ reliability and efficiency for the library’s users.
 
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I was drawn to librarianship because I’m always interested in learning something new. While conversing with other librarians, it occurs to me that a great many of us are generalists, and I’d have to class myself as one, too. But I’ve always loved the history of art and architecture. People’s passions often come alive when they are able to create memories around their interests. I love to travel and experiencing the art and architecture of another place is a big part of what makes travel so exhilarating to me.
 
What book (or other source) would you recommend to others from City Tech Library’s collection, and why?
 
I’m really enthusiastic about our subject guides! They are succinct, easily navigable web pages designed to direct students to a broad scope of resources among different disciplines. Often, it can be difficult to find a springboard when tasked with research because there is so much information to sift through. I find the subject guides especially practical because they steer the student toward developing a research plan, and provide a welcome jumping off point.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I like to be surrounded by as much green as possible in my free time. I frequent the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on a weekly basis and have most recently taken advantage of the CUNY summer schedule to make trips to New England during the extended weekends. As much as I love being in the great outdoors, I am also a huge visual consumer of New York’s cityscape; I try to look up and around me constantly. It’s the best way for me to relax!
 

In January 2013, City Tech Library was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)/American Libraries Association (ALA) grant entitled “Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys.”  The award includes twenty-five books, four DVDs and a one-year subscription to the Oxford Islamic Studies Online database. The grant is intended to help students, faculty, staff, and the public at large explore the great diversity of Islam, Islamic art and culture, and the experiences of Muslims around the world, particularly in the United States. All of City Tech Library’s Muslim Journeys books may be checked out for three weeks – you can find them on display on the stand just to the right after you enter the library (see image). DVDs must be viewed in the Library’s Multimedia Center. The Muslim Journeys website also includes many interesting audiovisual resources.
Subsequently, in May, the library was awarded an additional grant entitled “Let’s Talk About It: Muslim Journeys,” supporting a series of discussions on five books related to a specific theme from the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf. The Library has chosen the theme “American Stories,” which explores the experiences of Muslims in the United States from eighteenth century to the present. We are currently seeking students to participate in these discussions, which will take place over the Fall and Spring semesters, and which will be led by expert scholars. The first twenty-five students to sign up for the series will receive free books. If you know any students who might be interested in participating, please contact Prof. Ian Beilin at ibeilin@citytech.cuny.edu or Prof. Tess Tobin at TTobin@citytech.cuny.edu. In addition, throughout the Fall and Spring semesters, the library will be highlighting books and themes from the “American Stories” selections on its website, blog, Facebook, and Twitter pages.
 
City Tech Library Awarded NEH/Gilder Lehrman Grant, “Created Equal”
 
In July the City Tech Library was awarded a grant to participate in a national initiative entitled “Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle.” The sponsors, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, provide programmatic and material support. The award allows the library to host several programs and screenings discussing the history of the Civil Rights Movement in America. The “Created Equal” programs will foster discussion and are intended to help bridge the deep racial and cultural divides in American civic life.
 
Along with 473 institutions across the country, City Tech Library will screen four documentary films chronicling the history of the Civil Rights Movement. These powerful films, The Abolitionists, Slavery by Another Name, Freedom Riders, and The Loving Story include dramatic scenes of incidents in the 150-year effort to achieve equal rights for all. The films, which were all produced with NEH support, tell remarkable stories of individuals who challenged the social and legal status quo of deeply rooted institutions, from slavery to segregation.  Freedom Riders received an Emmy Award in 2012, and The Loving Story and The Abolitionists have been nominated for Emmys in 2013.
 
 
The Library will be hosting discussion sessions of each film for students with scholars who are experts in African-American Studies. Our discussion of Slavery by Another Name will be led by Professor James Downs of Connecticut College’s Department of History, and author of Sick from Freedom: African-American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction (Oxford University Press, 2013). Professor Kevin Noble Maillard from Syracuse University’s School of Law and co-editor of Loving v. Virginia in a Post-Racial World: Rethinking Race, Sex, and Marriage (Cambridge University Press, 2012), will discuss The Loving Story. The other two discussions will be led by faculty members from City Tech’s African American Studies Department, which is co-sponsoring the Library’s Created Equal events.
 
Additionally, related resources will also be available through the library’s website and social media networks. Library card holders will be able to view the films at any time in the library’s Multimedia Resource Center.
 
Visit Created Equal website for more information about the grant in general. If you or your students would like to participate in the film discussions, please contact Prof. Junior Tidal (jtidal@citytech.cuny.edu) or Prof. Ian Beilin (ibeilin@citytech.cuny.edu).
 
About the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is a nonprofit organization that promotes excellence in the teaching and learning of American history. Programs include publications, teacher seminars, a national Affiliate School Program, traveling exhibitions, and online materials for teachers, students, and the general public. www.gilderlehrman.org.
 
About the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities. NEH grants enrich classroom learning, create and preserve knowledge, and bring ideas to life through public television, radio, museum exhibitions, and programs in libraries and other community places. www.neh.gov.
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Do you have a favorite subject of study or a favorite author (or both)?
I was drawn to librarianship because I’m always interested in learning something new. While conversing with other librarians, it occurs to me that a great many of us are generalists, and I’d have to class myself as one, too. But I’ve always loved the history of art and architecture. People’s passions often come alive when they are able to create memories around their interests. I love to travel and experiencing the art and architecture of another place is a big part of what makes travel so exhilarating to me.
 
What book (or other source) would you recommend to others from City Tech Library’s collection, and why?
 
I’m really enthusiastic about our subject guides! They are succinct, easily navigable web pages designed to direct students to a broad scope of resources among different disciplines. Often, it can be difficult to find a springboard when tasked with research because there is so much information to sift through. I find the subject guides especially practical because they steer the student toward developing a research plan, and provide a welcome jumping off point.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I like to be surrounded by as much green as possible in my free time. I frequent the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on a weekly basis and have most recently taken advantage of the CUNY summer schedule to make trips to New England during the extended weekends. As much as I love being in the great outdoors, I am also a huge visual consumer of New York’s cityscape; I try to look up and around me constantly. It’s the best way for me to relax!
 

Interview by Prof. Ian Beilin
The Ursula C. Schwerin Library is pleased to introduce its newest faculty member, Cailean Cooney.
 
What is your academic and library background?
 
I received my Master of Library and Information Science from Pratt Institute in 2009 with a concentration in metadata/cataloging and management of special collections. I began my career in academic libraries at New York University (NYU) cataloging books in the main collection, Fales Library and Special Collections, and the Stephen Chan Library of Fine Arts of the Institute of Fine Arts. I also worked in NYU’s global processing unit where I was responsible for training and managing college student workers, performing acquisitions functions, and cataloging e-books, CDs, DVDs, and print books for the Abu Dhabi campus.
 
What made you want to become a librarian? Was there any event or person that influenced you?
 
As an undergraduate, I did a semester-long internship at the New York Historical Society. There, I organized and re-housed the photographic archives of the McKim, Mead and White architectural firm. I knew instantly that I had found a home in this environment. As my undergraduate studies progressed, I held internships at other museums. Each project required the application of metadata standards in order to promote access to various special collections. By the time I finished college, I was keen on pursuing a Masters in the field.
 
What will you be doing at City Tech Library?
 
This summer, I’m splitting my time between Technical Services and Circulation. Both work with CUNY’s Integrated Library System, Aleph. I have a lot of experience working in Aleph’s cataloging and acquisitions modules, though I’m a newcomer to the circulation module. For those who are not familiar with an integrated library systems, Aleph is not only the back end of our library’s online catalog, it’s a powerful tool for recording metadata about library resources from the point at which they are ordered, received, cataloged, and labeled by technical services, to the time they are filed in the stacks or requested by a patron.  I’m working with Prof. Nancy Gonzalez and members of the circulation department to learn the ins and outs of City Tech’s circulation policies and procedures to prepare for the Spring semester, when I will be stepping in as the Coordinator of Circulation Service while Prof. Gonzalez takes sabbatical.
I am also coordinating a project with library faculty to identify and de-accession outdated and underutilized materials in order to create more student work space on the Library’s fourth floor.
 
What were your first impressions of life at City Tech? Were there any surprises?
 
I’m really pleased by the collegial and collaborative nature of the library faculty and am looking forward to meeting faculty members in other departments. I was surprised to learn just how labyrinthine the City Tech campus is. Did you know that the Atrium building has no third floor?
 
What are your goals for the next few years as a librarian?
I will be pursuing my second Masters, in Liberal Studies, at the Graduate Center. I start this fall in the digital humanities track. Among many things, I’m interested in the impact of digital platforms on cultural knowledge, specifically relating to the disproportionate amount of digital environments that promote cultural associations as opposed to cultural differences. I’d like to inquire how the structure of cultural platforms influences the terms of cultural production.
Do you have a favorite subject of study or a favorite author (or both)?
I was drawn to librarianship because I’m always interested in learning something new. While conversing with other librarians, it occurs to me that a great many of us are generalists, and I’d have to class myself as one, too. But I’ve always loved the history of art and architecture. People’s passions often come alive when they are able to create memories around their interests. I love to travel and experiencing the art and architecture of another place is a big part of what makes travel so exhilarating to me.
 
What book (or other source) would you recommend to others from City Tech Library’s collection, and why?
 
I’m really enthusiastic about our subject guides! They are succinct, easily navigable web pages designed to direct students to a broad scope of resources among different disciplines. Often, it can be difficult to find a springboard when tasked with research because there is so much information to sift through. I find the subject guides especially practical because they steer the student toward developing a research plan, and provide a welcome jumping off point.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I like to be surrounded by as much green as possible in my free time. I frequent the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on a weekly basis and have most recently taken advantage of the CUNY summer schedule to make trips to New England during the extended weekends. As much as I love being in the great outdoors, I am also a huge visual consumer of New York’s cityscape; I try to look up and around me constantly. It’s the best way for me to relax!