Library News Blog
The Lloyd Sealy Library is now providing reference help via texting! Text us at 646-256-5199 every weekday, 8:30 am to 6 pm. We offer extended texting hours on Wednesdays until 10 pm.
And the Library now has a mobile website at http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/m/ where you can check library hours, connect to EBSCOhost's mobile site (for searching Academic Search Complete, PsycInfo and other datbases), listen to our audio library tour, or watch our Sealy Library video on your iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry or other mobile device.
Posted Monday, December 7, 2009 - 12:02pm
The library is running a trial of Early English Books Online (EEBO), which contains about 100,000 of over 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640) and Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700) and their revised editions, as well as the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661) collection and the Early English Books Tract Supplement. EEBO contains virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700. Subject areas covered include: English literature, history, philosophy, linguistics, theology, music, fine arts, education, mathematics, and science.
As we must always be selective in making resource purchases, those that are strongly supported by faculty and students stand a better chance of being purchased in the future. So please take the time to look at this collection and get back to me with any comments. This trial will make the collection available until December 31. Please send any comments to Nancy Egan, the Electronic Resources Librarian at negan@jjay.cuny.edu.
Posted Wednesday, December 2, 2009 - 10:36am
The Library is featuring trials of two new databases: Global Issues in Context—issues and countries form the core of this dynamic database, containing a wealth of resources, including scholarly and news sources, maps and videos, which explain the historical and contemporary conditions necessary to understand global issues, conflicts and events. GreenR (Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources)—offers authoritative content on the development of emerging green technologies and discusses issues on the environment, sustainability and more.GREENR is interactive and current, allowing users to navigate issues, organization and country portals. It's a one-stop site dedicated to studying sustainability and the environment.
Please email any comments to Nancy Egan at negan@jjay.cuny.edu.
Posted Monday, November 16, 2009 - 10:43am
EBSCOhost, the vendor for Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO, and others of our most popular databases, now provides an interface specifically for mobile devices like iPhones, Blackberries, and some Palm devices. Access any of the EBSCOhost databases through the separate mobile device page and select the database you want to search. Then search for articles (and in many cases read them) from anywhere you and your mobile device can access the Internet.
Posted Monday, November 9, 2009 - 1:35pm
The Lloyd Sealy Library will be open its regular hours this weekend, despite the bed bug treatment of other areas of Haaren Hall.
Saturday, Oct. 10 open 10am-6pm
Sunday, Oct. 11 open noon-5pm
Monday, Oct. 12, Columbus Day, closed
Posted Thursday, October 8, 2009 - 10:58am
We welcome our New Reference/Freshman Services librarian Marta Bladek, and congratulate her on successfully defending her English dissertation at the CUNY Graduate Center the day before she started!
Thanks to the Chancellor's Textbook Initiative, the Library now has a textbook collection of over 360 distinct titles, many in multiple copies. All volumes in the textbook collection are being cataloged and listed in the library catalog, CUNY+, and shelved behind the Reserve Desk on the lower floor of the Library. Textbooks can be borrowed for up to 3 hours, for use within the Library.
Check out the blog entries below for news about the Library’s “film noir” video tour and our experimental federated search (more news about that to come later!).
Posted Friday, September 4, 2009 - 2:14pm
Our exciting new movie!
Written and produced by Karen Okamoto. Directed, shot and edited by Amala Lane . Starring Jiaying Wang. Featuring Bethany Davis, Quantae D. Davis, Imran Siddiqui, Kathleen Collins, Larry Sullivan. And introducing Kimberly Teets, Paulo Pinho, Vivian Lake. Camera assistants: Anoah Levine, Dan Gallagher. Special effects by Dan Gallagher.
This has been a collaboration between the Lloyd Sealy Library and the Audio Visual Services of John Jay College.
Posted Thursday, August 27, 2009 - 3:53pm
Listen to Chief Librarian & Associate Dean Larry Sullivan talk about the library’s recently acquired Fraud and Swindles Collection, which includes an unpublished manuscript tell-all biography by William McMasters, Charles Ponzi’s press agent. Broadcast in a segment entitled ‘Books on Crooks’ on CUNY radio.
Posted Wednesday, July 29, 2009 - 9:22am
Do you want to search across all our databases? Or all databases for a subject area, e.g criminal justice or history? Try our new 360 Federated Search !
How federated search works:
A Federated Search searches across multiple library databases in one go. In the default basic search option, our federated search looks in the title field of each article (magazine, journal and newspaper articles) for the words you type in the search box. You can use the advanced search to search within the fulltext of the article, or in the subject headings, or in any other fields. The searching by subject enables searching across databases that specialize in certain disciplines, e.g. all our history databases, or all our criminal justice databases.
Is federated search a substitute for searching individual databases?
No, we don't think so! But it’s a good starting point. Individual databases allow you to control your search far more than federated search does. If you use only the federated search, you may miss important articles.
Do you like federated search?
Email your thoughts to libinfo at jjay dot cuny dot edu
Posted Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - 1:23pm
/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Any of the 3,200 examples in our Trial Transcripts Collection is sure to be an interesting read, including the few we have so far digitized. In May, 2009 Newsday reporter Anthony DeStefano came in to the Lloyd Sealy Library to read one interesting transcript in which the defendants are charged and convicted of kidnapping and murder of 5 year old Joseph Varotta. Further research shows that they were linked by newspaper accounts to the famous "Black Hand".
DeStefano's article in Newsday today reports on the case based on his Transcript Research, but also mentions the New York Times reporting on the story. As with most transcripts, the crime, investigation, trial and aftermath is further illuminated by these articles, as well as the fact that consistency in spelling of names was not a priority at that time. As DeStefano reports, research in the New York Times online archives or New York Times Historical File shows that the case was not over when the trial ended, and it's no surprise that it still resonates today:
Jun 24, 1921. VAROTTA'S LIFE MENACED.; Black Hand Letter Is Sant to Father of Murdered Boy.
Jun 25, 1921 KIDNAPPING BEFORE JURY.; First-Degree Indictments Are Asked Against Five Varotta Suspects.
Aug 6, 1921. Varotta Murder Trial Tuesday.
Aug 19, 1921. DENIES VAROTTA CHARGES.; Raffaele Repudiates Confession in Kidnapping Case.
Apr 17, 1922. ...Varotta Kidnapping Recalled. (bottom of article)
Apr 17, 1922. VEROTTA GETS NEW BLACK HAND THREAT; Warned Against Carving Details of Crime on Monument to His Murdered Son.
Jun 16, 1922. WOMAN FRIES EGGS TO TRAIL MARINO; Mrs. Nicoletti, Police Aid, Says He Promised Return of Boy Afterward Slain.
Jun 26, 1922. VAROTTA GETS ONLY $500; Father of Kidnapped and Drowned Boy Settles $25,000 Award.
Nov 30, 1922. PUTS OFF DEATH SENTENCES; Governor Reprieves Two Until March --One Is Varotta Boy Slayer.
Posted Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 3:11pm