Spotlight on online resources for International Women’s Day

The library has a wide variety of online resources that celebrate the contributions of women and gender diverse people, and that look at the issues that impact women’s lives. Looking for material to add to your syllabus, sources to cite in your assignments, or just a good read? Check out some of these databases! If you’re off campus, you’ll be prompted to log in with your CUNY login when you click on any of the links below.

Women and Social Movements in the United States,1600-2000 includes primary and secondary sources that help us understand women’s history in the United States, and specifically the contributions that women have made to social movements. It also includes book, film, and website reviews, notes from the archives, and teaching tools. In addition to regular search tools, you can browse this collection by person or social movement. And, explore curated sets of primary sources that can support your research or teaching, such Writings by Black Women Suffragists, 1831-1965, which includes more than 1,900 items written by about 150 Black women suffragists.

North American Women’s Drama contains 1,517 plays by 330 playwrights. Written by women in the United States and Canada from Colonial times to the present, many of these works are rare, hard to find, or out of print. Almost a quarter of the collection consists of previously unpublished plays. 

Gale OneFile: Contemporary Women’s Issues provides information on issues that impact women around the globe. I love how Gale OneFile includes a topic finder that helps visualize connections between material included in my search results; clicking on “topic finder” on the home screen takes me to a search box that will provide me with a visual depiction of my search results, for example from this search for “maternal health”:

This image shows the results of a topic finder search for "maternal health" in the database Gale OneFile: Contemporary Women’s Issues. Colored bubles represent different sub-topics, including child health, mental health, medical care, maternal mortality, weekly new research, pregnant women, and public health.

Gale OneFile: Gender Studies includes material about gender studies, family and marital issues, and more. This database also provides the visually-based topic finder; this time, I started my search instead with the Subject Guides and searched for “health,” which helped me find subject guides for Personal Care Products and Wellness Programs. There’s so much to explore in these databases.

Students! The Library is Hiring for the Spring ’23 Semester

The library is looking for students interested in becoming College Assistants for the FSpring 2023 semester. Interested students should email Administrative Specialist, Suraya Choudhury  or stop by the library during open hours to fill out an application. See below for more information about the position.

Job Title: Library College Assistant – Hourly
Location: NYC College of Technology
Full/Part Time: Part-Time
Regular/Temporary: Regular
Contract Title: College Assistant
FLSA: Non-Exempt
Closing Date: Open until filled
Availability: 10-15 hours per week; daytime, evenings, and weekends

Campus Specific Information
The Ursula C. Schwerin Library at New York City College of Technology has positions available for College Assistants in the following operational units: Circulation Services, Multimedia Lab, Periodicals and Internet Lab.

General Duties
– Perform technical operations in areas including library circulation, collection processing, and maintenance
– Manage routine workflows during evening and weekend hours including the circulation cash register
– Provide service to library users in person and by phone: answer questions, enforce policies
– Uses online system to perform various tasks in both circulation and technical services
– Assist students with computer use, printing, scanners, and other technical support needs

Preferred Qualifications
– Must be prompt and responsible
– Prior work experience in a library is a plus
– Ability to multitask and follow complex instructions
– Demonstrated success working both individually and in collaborative environments –
– Excellent judgment and professionalism
– Strong interpersonal skills
– Knowledge of Microsoft Office

Compensation
$15.61 per hour

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.

This thumbnail image for this video collection shows a number of still images from videos in the collection, along with the title "Caribbean Studies in Video: The Banyan Archive"

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:

Wakanda Forever! Tár! New Films in Swank for Spring 2023

There are numerous new films for the spring 2023 semester through the library’s electronic resource, Swank, including recent theatrical releases, Oscar nominees (like Everywhere, Everything, All At Once), and timely documentaries. City Tech students and faculty can access Swank on or off-campus using your CUNYfirst credentials.

Below are some highlights. For more information about these films, Swank, or other streaming films available to the City Tech community, reach out to Prof. Junior Tidal.

Continue reading “Wakanda Forever! Tár! New Films in Swank for Spring 2023”

International Mother Language Day Performance Tuesday 2/21 @ 1PM Rm. L-632

As a space dedicated to language, the Writing Center looks forward to celebrating International Mother Language Day on Tuesday, Feb. 21st from 1pm-3pm in Library Building Room 632. This day marks the importance of multilingual education and the value of  bringing more languages into public life. To celebrate, we will have a line-up of performances/readings in mother languages  by students, faculty, and staff, as well as  time for attendees to share if they are inspired to do so. Refreshments will be provided. If you would like to perform, please reach out to writingcenter@citytech.cuny.edu.  

At the City Tech Writing Center, we want to celebrate the linguistic diversity that currently inhabits our campus with more than 85 different languages spoken. Languages contain ways of knowing and being that express visions of the world from a particular community. By celebrating our Mother Tongues, we contribute to building inclusive knowledge societies and preserving cultural heritage that might otherwise be lost. 

Free Cece screening & Filmmaker Q&A Thursday, Feb. 23 @ 12:45

“FREE CECE” SCREENING + FILMMAKER Q&A

Free Cece flyer

Through a Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative grant, the African American Studies and Gender & Sexuality Studies programs are sponsoring a screening of Free Cece at the Academic Complex. There will be a question and answer event with the filmmaker along with refreshments. RSVP using the link below.

WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023, from 12:45 p.m. to 3 p.m.

WHERE: The Theater at City Tech, Academic Complex, 285 Jay St., Brooklyn, NY 11201.

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-cece-screening-filmmaker-qa-tickets-526745819927

What’s New in the Library Spring 2023 Edition!

Welcome to a new semester! And welcome (or welcome back) to everyone who is returning to in-person classes or new to City Tech. 

Need a book, a quiet place to study or work on a project, or research help? Come visit us on the 4th floor of the Library building Mondays-Thursdays from 9-8pm and Fridays from 9-7pm.  

Learning or teaching online? We’ve still got you covered.

Get virtual help 24X7

Off campus or up late working on a project and need help? Just Ask us! 

You can chat with CUNY Librarians on weekdays and librarians from other institutions on evenings and weekends. 

Access Library Resources from Off-Campus

Use CUNY login credentials to access library databases, research articles, movies, and ebooks from off campus. 

Use these same credentials to login to “My Library Account” on the library website. If your preferred name isn’t associated with your library account, you can change that! 

Longer Book Loans and More Renewals!

As of January 31st, students can now borrow books from any CUNY library for 8 weeks plus 4 renewals. If you have City Tech books on loan from before January 31st please email us at: NYCCTCirculation@citytech.cuny.edu and ask for a loan extension.

All books can be returned in the library or dropped in the Library Book Drop Box located inside 300 Jay Street entrance past the turnstiles on the left side.

Course Reserves

You can place textbooks and required readings for your courses in the Library’s Reserve Collection for your students to use in the library.

Please place your requests as soon as possible as we purchase on a first-come, first-served basis. Request materials to be placed on reserve using this form

Questions?  Email us: NYCCTCirculation@citytech.cuny.edu 

Need Something We Don’t Have?

Interlibrary Loan has expanded its services! Faculty, staff, and now students can request books not available at CUNY through ILL. We are also continuing to fill article and individual book chapter requests and deliver them electronically. ILL is great for scholarly research and course assignments.

Your CUNY login is connected to your ILL account, so you’ll have one less password to remember!

Questions? Email us: interlibraryloan@citytech.cuny.edu

Library Instruction Offerings 

Are you assigning papers or projects that require library research? You can request a library instruction session for your in-person or online synchronous class. 

Are you teaching asynchronously or want your students to learn research skills at their own pace? Share the library’s tutorials and research guides with your students. The library is automatically embedded in Blackboard courses and you can add library widgets to your OpenLab site. 

Contact your library subject specialist to find out more about subject-specific resources and support for your asynchronous class.

For general questions about library instruction, contact Prof. Rachel Jones, library instruction coordinator.

Open Educational Resources

Identify open and free resources to support teaching, browse your colleagues’ contributions, and much more via the OER at City Tech site

Follow our blog for New & Noteworthy OER available in your discipline.

Questions about assigning OER and other zero-cost resources, creating, and sharing your OER with a wider audience? Contact Cailean Cooney at ccooney@citytech.cuny.edu. You can also request a tailored workshop by filling out this form

Featured Eresources 

The library gives access to–and is constantly updating–our collections of streaming video. Take a look at what we have available through Kanopy, Swank, and AVON.

One of our favorite databases is Statista; check out their constantly updating topic pages on issues like sustainability, social media, and more.

Don’t forget to use your City Tech email to sign up for (or renew) your free access to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal!

Laptop Loans 

In coordination and with support from the ASAP program, the library is offering a limited number of PC laptops for 7 day loan to all City Tech students. Visit the Multimedia Resource Center on the 4th floor to check one out. 

Media Browsing 

The Multimedia Resource Center (MRC) is piloting an open browsing program. Students can enter the back staff area and browse the library’s collection of VHS cassettes, DVDs, Blu-Rays, and vinyl records. For more information, contact Prof. Junior Tidal.

Support for Scholarly Publishing 

Did you know that City Tech just hit 1000 items contributed to CUNY Academic Works? Not only that, but City Tech added the most items to the Publications and Research series in Academic Works for 2021-22 of all CUNY campuses. Find out what the 1000th contribution was on our blog.

The library can support your research! We offer a workshop series––stay tuned for an updated post or check the faculty workshop calendar in a few weeks for more information on this semester’s offerings. In addition to our Scholarly Publishing Clinic, a monthly office hour for virtual consultations on the first Tuesday of the month at 3 PM, consultations are available on demand. Contact Monica Berger at mberger@citytech.cuny.edu. Learn more about how the library supports scholarly publishing.

And, we’re so excited to see all the scholarly publications coming out of City Tech Library; your library faculty are hard at work on research. Read more on our blog.

Don’t Be a Stranger

Have questions about library resources and services but not sure how to reach us? Want to make sure you get the latest updates about changing policies, new resources, and digital tools available through the library? 

Subscribe to the Library Buzz blog to get the latest in your inbox or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @citytechlibrary. 

 

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 is a poster for the film Everything Everywhere All At Once.

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)

The NYCCT Archives

New York City Community College Arts & Sciences newspaper Vol. 34, No. 5

City Tech’s Ursula Schwerin Library houses our university’s physical institutional archives. We maintain a collection of historical materials from City Tech and its previous permutations as an educational institution: the New York Trade School, Voorhees Technical Institute, and the New York City Community College. Materials in the archive include student records, administrative memos, correspondence, yearbooks, photographs, videocassettes, ephemera, and regalia. The Vogel Ophthalmology Collection is also housed in the archives.

New York City Community College Arts & Sciences newspaper Vol. 33, No. 7

This list of material doesn’t accurately capture how unique a place the archives truly is. In addition to technical equipment from courses in heating installation and technical drafting, we also have materials that capture social and political events on campus like our collection of student newspapers which highlight the power of student organizing and collaboration. In the 1960s, student groups like the Modern Jazz Club hosted concerts and events that modern music lovers would pay dearly to see – legends like Nina Simone performed in the former Klitgord Auditorium (students paid as little as $1.50!). Shirley Chisholm, a CUNY Brooklyn College alumna and the first Black female Presidential candidate,  gave what was surely a rousing speech on our campus.

Festival of the Arts Fall 1968 & Spring 1969 Concert Series

Each time I receive a request from a researcher, family member hoping to find evidence of their relative’s time here on campus, or former student seeking information on a class on their transcript I am carried back through time. Flipping through our collection of materials – photographs of old Brooklyn and campus life in the 70s, course materials from the 90s, newspapers spanning decades, committee agendas and meeting minutes – is transformative. I am  always so pleased when I am able to find a yearbook photo or course description to help the person in need. And I am never happier then when I come across evidence that a notable historical figure once stalked these familiar halls.

Fun tidbits of City Tech history will be featured in the monthly City Tech Communications Newsletter. To find out more about what’s in our – your – archival collection, schedule a visit. Perhaps you’ll uncover the perfect piece to be featured next?

To arrange a visit, consult our visitation policy and complete the Archives Use Form. And check out our library research guide for additional information.