Tag: Newsletter: Spring 2014

Prof. Wood speaking at his retirement party, May 22

Interviewed by Prof. Ian Beilin

IB: In our first issue of Library Liaison last spring, you talked about some of the ways that City Tech Library has changed over the last twenty-five years. On the occasion of your retirement, could you reflect on how City Tech itself has changed? What do you think are the most significant changes for the library?
 
DW: First the college: Forty years ago there was a greater emphasis on service at the college, usually implying significant leadership, but there was less of an emphasis on scholarship and/or distinction within one’s field. Today, I don’t think service has taken a back seat, at least not for most of us, but scholarship and professional development, aided and abetted by reductions in classroom faculty workload (not to mention adherence to CUNY standards) now takes up more of our time.
About thirty years ago the college developed its first baccalaureate degree, in hospitality management, and soon after we became officially a senior college authorized to offer such degrees once they were vetted and approved. At the time, when all we offered were associate degrees, many faculty voiced strong opposition. I’m happy to say that overall City Tech is less political today than it once was. It’s not pure as the driven snow – academics have too many small things to quarrel over!-  but it’s much better than it was.
Now the library. Our new physical library, opened twenty-seven years ago, and our services generally evolved independently of new developments in academic and library technology. Many librarians, perhaps most, assumed that things would always roll along smoothly, and that our field would remain somewhat stodgy.
Soon after, CUNY Central acquired, adopted, and adapted our first integrated library system (ILS). Not so many years later the Internet and other new technologies arrived. It’s been a blur of constant change ever since. Because of this, our need for folks with technical expertise and understanding is a constant.
Among our most significant changes were: going from three full time librarian catalogers and two support cataloging staff to one librarian doing this (and cataloging is only one aspect of her job) and one COA; going from no webmasters to one, a faculty librarian; going from one full-time person providing bibliographic instruction in one-shot sessions, to a host of librarians teaching students and faculty, not only in one-shot sessions but also in our three-credit course, workshops, and elsewhere; going from one librarian who spent perhaps one quarter of his time acquiring and cataloging pamphlet materials on just about every topic imaginable to none; expanding our emphasis on books to include a significant budget for periodicals, huge databases and ebooks.
Additionally, soon after our new library opened in 1987 we began to make improvements, and they keep on coming: for example, a fully electronic classroom, a screening room, a flexible modular learning space, a small Internet lab, and the relocation of our reference desk to the middle of our lower level.
Finally, we have seen CUNY Central go from taking a largely benign or hands-off position with respect to CUNY’s loose federation of librarians to one that’s relatively hands-on. It has become more supportive but concomitantly more demanding.
 
IB: Inevitably, perhaps, retirees get asked about their proudest accomplishments. In a variation of this question, what do you suppose you might look back with the most satisfaction once you’ve descended the stairs from the fourth floor of the Atrium for the last time?
DW: These aren’t my accomplishments but I’m very proud that during my time as library department chair and Chief Librarian, library faculty have:

• Taken on challenging leadership positions within the library and elsewhere. Many have altered their career paths.
• Led important college-wide efforts, chairing important College Council committees including the curriculum, buildings and grounds, and personnel committees as well as serving on search, promotion, and tech fee committees. They have also assumed major leadership roles developing and administrating grants such as Title V from the U.S. Department of Education for The Living Lab and Open Lab, grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, etc.
• Led CUNY-wide efforts, often working with CUNY Office of Library Services personnel, on projects involving assessment, electronic resources, systems, circulation, and so on.
• Been involved with the Library Association of CUNY (LACUNY) holding offices including president, running the annual LACUNY Institute, editing its journal, building its website, etc.
• Been involved with the CUNY Faculty Senate, such as chairmanships of important committees.
• Received recognition for their scholarly work which ranges from a biography of a Chinese-American artist to a lengthy database on rock and roll, to work on the Civil War and Teddy Roosevelt, to an anthropological investigation of student study and library habits, to creating websites and PDAs, to working on library services to the Spanish speaking, to working on the historical mapping of commercial and other developments, and more!

In addition to these library faculty accomplishments, in terms of the college generally, I’ve tried to convince people that the best procedures, typically Robert’s Rules, produce the most democratic results, most always the best results.
Thirty-five years ago, with a small committee, I helped turn a few sheets of paper into common procedures for curriculum development at the college. This effort has been streamlined ever since and will continue to be. Thirty-three years ago, the curriculum committee held a forum on curriculum development at the college. We had an overflow audience with fifty-seven faculty attending. Afterwards, some of us actually developed curricula. As chair of the curriculum committee around 1980, I was a minor player in developing, vetting, and seeing to approval our first baccalaureate, a Bachelor of Technology in hospitality management.
I’m also happy to have worked with many faculty across the entire college, many in my last 20 years here, and I hope that I helped guide some of them down the path of meaningful college service.
 
IB: While your piece last year focused primarily on things that have changed in the library and libraries in general, could you identify the things that haven’t changed, and which you believe will remain for a long time to come?
DW: These things haven’t changed: Most librarians maintain a service mentality, sometimes to a fault. Our students come first. We pay close attention to building and maintaining solid book collections but now much less so than in the past. Facilities college-wide are inadequate but things are looking up!.
IB: What advice would you give to the next Chief of City Tech Library?
DW: Be prepared. Retire three months earlier: these last months have been hard! City Tech is where your bread is buttered, not the Office of Library Services or the Graduate Center. If you’re not bringing it back to City Tech, why are you doing it?
Pay most of your attention to being department chair. Keep the chief librarian part on the back burner.
Make time for your own scholarship or interests that may benefit the library only indirectly. As much as you can, credit everything good the library does to named library faculty or staff. Keep meetings brief, focused, and half-way fun!
 

 

Facilitated by Prof. Maura Smale, Coordinator of Information Literacy and Library Instruction
 
Many faculty know that the City Tech Library offers course-related research and information literacy instruction for students. Though one session in the library is required for each English Composition I (ENG 1101) course, research instruction is available to all departments in the college, not just the English Department.
 
How do discipline faculty and library faculty collaborate to help students learn how to find, evaluate, and use information in their research? To learn more, we spoke with several faculty members in the library and in departments across the college who work together to strengthen students’ research skills and information literacy.
 
 

Prof. Noemi Rodriguez, Health Services Administration, and Prof. Joan Grassano, Subject Specialist for Health Services Administration and other Allied Health departments

 
Q: Tell us a little bit about your collaboration with Joan for research and library instruction for your students. Which course have you included library instruction in? What are your goals or objectives for students who are working on a research assignment in that course?
A: The course I teach is Health Services Management I (HSA 3510), and the goals of my research assignment are for students to:

• Skillfully use library databases and other internet sources to find credible sources that address students’ individual research topics
• Evaluate and analyze the issues of health care (cost, access, quality) using the latest reports, research studies, and statistics
• Differentiate between peer reviewed journal articles and grey literature, and utilize information from both types of sources to create solid arguments that support students’ thesis statements

 
Q: Why do you collaborate with Joan in this course?
A: It is crucial for students to understand the role of the library when doing their research for credible and relevant sources. While there is much information available on the web and students use the web all of the time, they struggle to identify credible and appropriate information that is acceptable in the academic realm. Research that begins in the library often generates sources and subsequently, arguments that are of a scholarly caliber. Joan provides a breadth of sources via the City Tech library databases and credible organizations (foundations, universities, and government). This is done in a clear and step-by-step process that students can replicate on their own. The information she shares is always updated and related to the topics we cover in class.
 
Q: What has been the most valuable aspect of your collaboration with Joan?
A: Joan helps students understand that the City Tech Library and librarians are an essential resource for their academic work. The subject guide page for HSA is invaluable and well maintained, an excellent resource for students as well as professors. As a result of these sessions, the students are able to apply what they learned with Joan to various course assignments that enforce information literacy skills. Students have followed up with Joan when in need of help with their HSA 3510 research assignment, and they have expressed the usefulness of her session whether it was their first time in the library or they were returning students.
 
Q: Tell us a little bit about your collaboration with Noemi for student instruction. What are your areas of expertise in the library? What are your goals for working with students?
A: My areas of specialization in the library are nursing and many of the health professions, including health services administration. Working collaboratively with Noemi has helped me gain a deeper understanding of the HSA program and the information needs of its students. Our collaboration has had an impact on my decisions in building the library’s collections as well as on the content of the HSA 3510 library/information literacy session. My goals in working with students are to increase their awareness of library resources and services and to help them master the information seeking and evaluation skills necessary to be successful in their coursework at City Tech and in their future careers.
 
Q: What kinds of resources and strategies do you share with students in Noemi’s course?
A: As a result of our collaboration, the content of the HSA 3510 library/information literacy session has evolved. Initially, the focus was on using library databases to find peer-reviewed journal articles. Now I also emphasize the importance of grey literature in health services administration and health policy research. In addition to highlighting key periodical databases, I introduce Noemi’s students to the New York Academy of Medicine’s Grey Literature Report, a tool for finding research-level grey literature on a wide range of topics of interest to the health services administrator. I also teach strategies for effective searching, including building a search vocabulary and using Boolean connectors to narrow/expand search results.
 
Q: What has been the most valuable aspect of your collaboration with Noemi?
A: When HSA 3510 students see that Noemi and I have collaborated on their library/information literacy session, they realize that the library is not just a physical place, but also a department of faculty that plays an important role in their education at City Tech. I am always pleased to have current and former HSA 3510 students seek out me and my colleagues for additional guidance at the Reference Desk and in one-on-one research consultations, which can be scheduled through the library website.
 
 

Prof. Ashwin Satyanarayana, Computer Systems Technology, and Prof. Junior Tidal, Subject Specialist for Computer Systems Technology and other Engineering Technology departments

 
Q: Tell us a little bit about your collaboration with Junior for research and library instruction for your students. Which course have you included library instruction in? What are your goals or objectives for students who are working on a research assignment in that course?
A: I have been collaborating with Junior since Fall 2012 on CST 1100: Introduction to Computer Systems and CST 1204: Database Systems Fundamentals. Both are introductory courses where students use library resources to write a research article on specific topics that are given to them such as “data mining,” “artificial intelligence,” “cloud computing,” etc. The research article is their final project and students are required to cite resources from journal and conference articles. Junior introduces the library website and teaches the students how to find relevant articles and books from the City Tech library website. Since he has a background in website design, his way of presenting this topic is very helpful and students are very responsive and attentive.
 
Q: Why do you collaborate with Junior in this course?
A: Junior is the subject specialist for Computer Systems Technology, and the library instructor for classes in the Computer Systems Technology department. He has a good background in website design which helps in the introductory courses in which I collaborate with him. He introduces strategies that students can use to perform research on computer related topics.
 
Q: What has been the most valuable aspect of your collaboration with Junior?
A: The most valuable aspect of working with Junior is that he brings in his unique strengths in computer science and we both work together to produce an efficient way of introducing concepts of library research to students, something neither of us could do by ourselves. The unique strength of Junior is that his interest in website design and other related computer science concepts.
 
Q: Tell us a little bit about your collaboration with Ashwin for student instruction. What are your areas of expertise in the library? What are your goals for working with students?
A: I am the subject specialist for the Computer Engineering Technology, Computer Systems Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Telecommunications Technology Departments. My areas of expertise are telecommunications technologies, web development, and database design. Ashwin has brought several of his CST 1100 and CST 1204 students for library research workshops, where I show students how to find information related to these fields using the library’s resources. Some of the goals that I have are to not only to show students the wide variety of resources that the library gives them access to, but to question the validity of these resources as well. I encourage students to question everything they read, even if it is touted as a reliable and accurate source.
Q: What kinds of resources and strategies do you share with students in Ashwin’s course?
A: I encourage students to first come up with a question as an initial research strategy. Once they come up with a question for their technology-based research, they can develop appropriate search terms to find more information. I also mention that a simple Google search won’t do, and that it’s important to use the many different library resources we have available. We also discuss the merits and dangers of using Wikipedia as a research tool.
 
Q: What has been the most valuable aspect of your collaboration with Ashwin?
A: Ashwin’s enthusiasm for student research is a valuable aspect of our collaboration. Most importantly, Ashwin is easy to communicate with and provides me with research topics that his classes are working on. This helps me find the appropriate resources for his students and meeting their research needs.
 
 

Profs. Peter Spellane and Prof. Jay Deiner, Chemistry, and Prof. Songqian Lu, Subject Specialist for Chemistry and the Natural Sciences

 
Q: Tell us a little bit about your collaboration with Songqian for research and library instruction for your students. Which course have you included library instruction in? What are your goals or objectives for students who are working on a research assignment in that course?
A: The course that I (Peter) teach that includes library instruction is CHEM 2323 Organic Chemistry II. I began to include library instruction recently after observing Prof. Jay Deiner’s revisions and updates to the CHEM 3412 Instrumental Methods of Analysis course, which include a session with Songqian to offer research guidance to students. We realized that higher levels of independence in the research project are required for the upper level chemistry courses, and I saw the benefits of library instruction for students in CHEM 3412. In CHEM 2323 students begin their research in the library session then present their research in the next class, explaining where they found their information and what search methods they used.
 
Q: Why do you collaborate with Songqian in this course?
A: I was surprised by how little students in Organic Chemistry II knew about online research, including using library databases and accessing resources from off campus. They are unaware of limitations of only using the open web for their research. Many students have only had library instruction in their ENG 1101 course, and some students who have transferred from elsewhere have never had library instruction. Songqian is a wonderful teacher; she explains the chemistry resources to students, what databases are, how the chemical literature is systematically organized, and how searches are thoughtfully done. She also helps them focus their efforts as they do their own searches and gives them feedback during the session.
 
Q: What has been the most valuable aspect of your collaboration with Songqian?
A: Databases and resources are changing all the time, and each time my class has a library instruction session with Songqian, I learn something I didn’t know. We appreciate the opportunity that our department has in having Songqian as our subject specialist to help students learn to access the library’s collection of chemistry resources. Jay also points out the “metamessage” of research instruction: students know it’s important if you devote a full class period to it. It reinforces that this level of research is really what we expect, this is what scientists do.
 
Jay also notes that the Chemistry Department requires the library’s course, LIB 1201 Research & Documentation for the Information Age, for their AS students. With the addition of that course, he finds that students can start at a higher level in CHEM 3142 because they’ve already learned about the foundational information literacy topics. The LIB 1201 requirement has really been a useful course for the AS students.
 
Q: Tell us a little bit about your collaboration with Peter for student instruction. What are your areas of expertise in the library? What are your goals for working with students?
A: I have worked a couple of times with Peter and his Organic Chemistry II classes, CHEM 2323. As one of the library faculty subject specialists, I work on collection assessment and development, reference consultation, and introductions to library resources for classes with research projects on sciences, which includes Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Physics. My goals for working with students are to make them aware of the availability of the rich library resources and services, and to help students learn how to use them.
 
Q: What kinds of resources and strategies do you share with students in Peter’s course?
A: On the assumption that maybe not every student in Peter’s course has had basic library instruction before coming to the class, I decided to introduce library resources and services in general first, and then focus on the specific chemistry research topics that Peter provided. I divided my session into two parts: Part I is a library resources and services overview, and Part II covering selected library databases (3-4 databases total) and chemistry research with specific examples.
 
Q: What has been the most valuable aspect of your collaboration with Peter?
A: Peter’s sample chemistry topic enabled me to target my teaching to the specific area relevant to students, and increased in-class efficiency and effectiveness. Students were able to find appropriate journal articles for their research topics in the hands-on session right after my introduction. I also appreciated the opportunity to directly communicate with both faculty members and students in the Chemistry Department.
 
If you’d like to collaborate with a library faculty member on research and information literacy instruction for your class, please get in touch! Contact your department or discipline’s subject specialist  or Prof. Maura Smale, Coordinator of Information Literacy and Library Instruction (msmale@citytech.cuny.edu or 718-260-5748).

By Prof. Junior Tidal
One of my responsibilities as Multimedia & Web Services Librarian at City Tech is overseeing the numerous media collections that we have. I recently weeded numerous broken VHS cassettes, 3.5-inch floppy discs, incompatible CD-ROMs from the 1990s, audio cassettes, and 8mm and 16mm reel to reel films. Most interesting to me is that we still keep our vinyl collection. What distinguishes this particular format from those that have been removed from the collection is that this format still circulates.

 
From spoken-word to jazz, from country to rock, from foreign language to instruction to operas, the City Tech Library’s vinyl collection spans over 3000 recordings in various genres. When I first arrived at City Tech I was awe struck at not only the collection, but that it still circulates. It was also in very, very, poor shape. The stacks of vinyl in the media collection were not well organized. They suffered from many problems, some of which we are still working on eight years later. Logistical problems include call numbers not in the correct order, damaged items still on the shelves, and a lack of space. Over the course of a few years, several college assistants and I sorted and cleaned the shelves. We re-arranged the LPs in their correct order and discarded unnecessary duplicates and broken records.
Besides the physical problems we encountered, Monica Berger, City Tech Library’s cataloger, found numerous inconsistencies with the catalog records of many media items. Previous librarians and staff had erroneously created minimal records of materials. Currently, we are reviewing these materials to ensure a proper consistency among all LPs. This is important so that students and faculty have a proper access point and can find what they are looking for.
Of the numerous audio formats in the library’s collection, including audio cassettes and CDs, vinyl circulates the most. There have been no requests for audio cassettes for some time, so last year we weeded our collection. CDs have not circulated in over six years, as students turn more towards MP3 formats and streaming media. These materials, like our LPs, can be borrowed for a week. But only the vinyl leaves the library doors.
As an avid record collector, I am very pleased to see this. I’m even more delighted when I see students checking out vinyl and not knowing how to use it. I feel that people have a greater appreciation of music when they can hold the material in their hands, touch the LP jackets and inner sleeves, and have something tangible that they can feel. This can’t be done with a web page, an eBook, or with Spotify (credit jamila). As libraries move towards new electronic models of distribution, something is being lost. At City Tech Library, vinyl has outlived the 8-track, the cassette, and the CD. I strongly believe that it will survive the Internet stream as well.

Brooklyn College Prof. Moustafa Bayoumi discussing his book How Does it Feel to be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America in December.
 
By Prof. Ian Beilin
From December to May, City Tech Library held six book discussions on readings selected supported by two grants we received last year on the theme of “Muslim Journeys” from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.
Our first event, part of the “Muslim Journeys Bookshelf” grant, featured a visit from Brooklyn College Professor of English Moustafa Bayoumi to discuss his book How Does it Feel  to be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America. More than forty students, faculty and staff gathered to talk about the book with its author, and also to share perceptions, reflections, experiences and responses.
Later in December the library initiated its series of discussions supported by the second grant,  “Let’s Talk About It: Muslim Journeys,” with the theme “American Stories” tracing the experiences of Muslims in America from the 18^th century to the present. New York University Professor of History Michael Gomez gave a fascinating presentation on the background and context of the story told in Terry Alford’s Prince Among Slaves, about a Muslim west African prince who was sold into slavery and toiled as a slave in Mississippi before regaining his freedom toward the end of his life.
For the remaining four “American Stories” books, two professors from City Tech’s neighbor St. Francis College led spirited and thoughtful discussions of challenging and important books. Professor of English Ghazala Afzal talked about the earlier history of Muslims in the United States through selected readings from The Columbia Sourcebook of Muslims in the United States (credit akhtar). She also led our discussion of the final book in the series, G. Willow Wilson’s memoir about her conversion to Islam, The Butterfly Mosque.
St. Francis Professor of Sociology Jaskiran Mathur led very well attended sessions discussing Eboo Patel’s Acts of Faith, about an American Muslim’s successful struggle to create and interfaith movement toward understanding and progress after 9/11. She also talked about Leila Ahmed’s A Quiet Revolution, on the resurgence of the veil among Muslim women worldwide, with a large group of students and faculty (pictured below).

St. Francis College Professor of Sociology Jaskiran Mathur discussing Leila Ahmed’s A Quiet Revolution on April 30.

City Tech Professor of African-American Studies Dionne Bennett discussing the film Slavery by Another Name with students and faculty on February 26.
 
By Prof. Ian Beilin
In the summer of 2013 City Tech Library received a grant co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Gilder-Lehrman Institute for American History entitled “Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle.” The grant provided support for a discussion series centered around four documentary films tracing the history of the civil rights movement in American history.
In the fall City Tech Adjunct Assistant Professor of English Prithi Kanakamedala led a fascinating discussion about the history of slavery and freedom in Brooklyn during colonial times and the early republic, as well as a discussion of the film The Abolitionists.
In the spring City Tech Assistant Professor of African-American Studies Dionne Bennett gave compelling introductions to and led lively discussions about the films Slavery by Another Name and Freedom Riders. Attending students and faculty alike were enthralled and moved by the films and the subjects with which they dealt. Prof. Bennett’s brilliant framing of the issues highlighted the vital importance of the civil rights movement for contemporary American society.
And in April Syracuse University Professor of Law Kevin Noble Maillard visited City Tech to discuss the film The Loving Story, the history of the landmark case that it documents, and the film’s contemporary relevance. Prof. Maillard also prompted attendees to think about the ways that the Loving case remains relevant in today’s legal and political landscape, and he challenged them to think about the ways that the case touches upon their own lives.
 

Syracuse University Professor of Law Kevin Noble Maillard discussing the film The Loving Story on May 5.

By Professor Maura Smale
The City Tech Library, in partnership with the Faculty Commons, is pleased to offer faculty workshops by request.While our drop-in faculty workshops are popular, we understand that it can sometimes be difficult to fit a workshop into our busy schedules.
Any City Tech faculty or staff member may request a workshop from our menu of choices below. Workshops will be held for a minimum of 5 faculty or staff members at a mutually convenient date and time, and can be scheduled in one of the library’s electronic classrooms or another location.Workshops are open to allCity Tech faculty and staff!
To arrange for a faculty workshop by request, please contact Prof. Maura Smale, Information Literacy Librarian, at msmale@citytech.cuny.edu, or 718-260-5748.
For the full menu of workshop topics, please click here: Faculty Workshops By Request

By Prof. Monica Berger
 
The New York Times Academic Pass, as provided by CUNY’s Office of Library Services, is now available to all City Tech students, faculty and staff. Essentially, the Academic Pass works like any subscription to the New York Times Digital except it does not include the tablet app. We have created a link to the New York Times Academic Pass on our library database page that links to additional documentation.
Get started by going to nytimes.com/passes. Click on “Register” to create a NYTimes.com account using your school email address. At the bottom of the Welcome page, click “Continue.” Look for an email from the NY Times asking you to confirm your email address, which should arrive within 15 minutes. Click on the link in the confirmation email. If you don’t get the confirmation email, check your spam filter.  If you still do not receive it, send an email from your City Tech email account to edu@nytimes.com.
If you already have a subscription (or have registered) with NYTimes Digital and you used your City Tech email on that subscription, you should change the email address on that subscription (to any email address that does not have a City Tech domain)  and then use your City Tech email to get the academic pass. If you already have an annual subscription to the New York Times with your City Tech  (or other CUNY) email address, you can cancel it and receive a refund. If you need more help, contact the NY Times customer service at 1-800-698-4637 directly to do this, or if you subscribed through iTunes, follow the instructions here http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/qa-canceling-a-digital-subscription/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0. If you already have a monthly subscription, the New York Times will not issue a refund for that month if you choose to cancel the individual subscription.
Your Academic Pass includes access to The New York Times via the NYTimes smartphone apps (credit akhtar). To download your smartphone app, visit:  nytimes.com/mobile.
If you are having problems accessing your Academic Pass, see the NYTimes.com Academic Passes Troubleshooting Guide www.nytimes.com/content/help/account/purchases/group/academic-pass-troubleshooting.html.

Many students struggle to format articles, books, and other resources in their works cited or bibliographies correctly. The City Tech Library provides access to EasyBib, an online citation tool that helps students cite all types of sources correctly as well as take notes and create outlines for research assignments. Many students have used EasyBib without an account, which allows users to create MLA-formatted citations only. The Pro version of EasyBib provided through the library is ad-free and offers many more features than the free version, including the following:

• APA, Chicago and MLA citation styles
• Formatting of footnotes and parenthetical references
• Evaluation of online media for reliability, quality, and bias
• Virtual notecards and dynamic outlining
• Save and share bibliographies, notes, and outlines for multiple projects
• Integration with Google Drive’s (formerly Google Docs) productivity suite for papers and presentations

EasyBib provides templates for citing fifty-nine different media types, including digital images, content from websites, government publications, emails, and interviews, in addition to books, articles and other conventional media. To cite websites and other online media, students paste in the URL of the source they wish to cite. EasyBib’s autocite feature then creates the citation and prompts users to edit any field that is blank or incorrect. Students may paste in the title of a magazine, journal, or newspaper article or a DOI to generate a citation for an article, or paste in an ISBN to generate a citation for a book. EasyBib also evaluates websites for credibility and demonstrates the criteria of a credible site by drawing attention to authorship, accuracy, completeness, bias, and the presence of citations or references.
With an EasyBib account, students can log in from any computer to compile and format citations, organize their notes and outline their research projects using the Notebook feature. Bibliographies can be exported to Microsoft Word, Google Drive, and cloud storage (credit jamila). EasyBib also offers a smartphone app for iOS and Android that permits scanning of ISBNs and barcodes of print books and periodicals and enables sharing and emailing of the citations generated thereby; download for free from Google Play or iTunes. Tutorials for EasyBib are available here: http://content.easybib.com/.
For more information about how to help your students use EasyBib for their research assignments, contact Prof. Anne Leonard, Instruction and Reference Librarian, at aleonard@citytech.cuny.edu.