Volume 11, Number 1 Fall 1998

       During the mid-August lull, when most of academia was quietly awaiting the autumnal influx of students, the Library received a phone call from a law firm in West Virginia, urgently requesting an article desperately needed to buttress a case about to go to court.  It turned out that the Sealy Library had the only recorded copy of the journal cited.  Our crack staff quickly retrieved the article and faxed it off, and we trust the litigators resolved the issue to somebody's satisfaction.  Their legal proceedings would not have been as complete without our library's participation.  Also in August, a local museum requested the loan of several items it wished to include in an exhibition on the history of the New York Police Department.  The curator knew her business when she came researching at Sealy Library.

       These are just two recent examples among many that demonstrate once again the uniqueness, depth, and breadth of our library collections.  It is heartening to receive concrete evidence of our recognition as the most comprehensive library in the criminal justice field.

       This reputation would not be as well deserved without our efforts to stay on the cutting edge of electronic resources for research.  To this end, we have added electronic databases to our collections and acquired new computers, allowing us to double the number of our Internet connections. 

       In sum, I am happy to report that the academic year began well. I am also very pleased to welcome our newest librarian, Maria Kiriakova.  With graduate degrees in Library Science and German, Maria will work as a reference librarian, teach library instruction classes, and help in the development of our international collections. 
 

       As increasing numbers of resources become accessible in electronic formats, libraries are struggling to find ways to inform their users about what is available.  The card catalog traditionally performed the function of describing and indexing all (or almost all) of the materials in libraries, but now that so many of the sources are available from a distance electronically, the catalog -- even the online catalog -- is not quite up to the task.  In the near future, Web-based library catalogs will do a better job of guiding users to the sources they need. For the present, the Sealy Library is trying to alert our users to our electronic sources in two places.

       First, the public-access computers in the Library all display lists of our electronic indexes, abstracts, and full-text sources, both CD-ROMs and WWW links.  Indexes and abstracts of particular note are: America History and Life; Philosopher’s Index; Psychological Abstracts, now back to 1887; a direct link to the LRC Fire Service and Emergency Management Index on the Web; and a link to the Child Abuse and Neglect Index on the Web.

       Among the full-text sources listed on the public workstations are: the Encarta Encylopedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica, the NYPD Patrol Guide, the most recent edition of Politics in America; and SIRS Researcher--full texts of articles on social issues from newspapers and magazines.

       The second place of alert is the Library’s web site, which  contains a page of Internet Information Sources.  This page describes the most significant sources available on the Internet in the College’s mission fields.  At present over 250 links are listed, broadly divided into the following categories: criminal justice agencies, criminal justice statistics, criminal justice issues, corrections, international criminal justice, comprehensive criminal justice sites, government, law, forensic science, fire science, and domestic violence.

       Among the items listed are: the Bureau of Justice Statistics pages with full texts of their statictical reports on law enforcement, the judicial system, and expenditure and employment; Uniform Crime Reports, 1995-1997; a report on higher education vs. corrections funding in New York State; Editor and Publisher Media INFO Links, providing links to online newspapers, magazines, radio and TV sources internationally; Oyez, oyez, oyez, a site providing RealAudio of oral arguments and decisions of the Supreme Court; Municipal Codes Online; MEDLINE; FIREDOC, an index of technical papers in fire science; and Fire in the United States, 1986-1995.
 

       A collection development project was launched last year to build a database of resources for the acquisition of English language materials on criminal justice from Eastern Europe.  Twenty-five professional institutions from Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Latvia, Poland, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, and Yugoslavia were contacted.

       Some of these contacts have already borne fruit.  We received KrimDok, a CD-ROM database from the Institute of Criminology of the University of Tuebingen, Germany, which contains about 28,000 citations in German relating to the literature published since 1990 in the field of criminology.  We have started to receive Revija za kriminalistiko in kriminologijo, a publication of the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as an exchange for the Journal of Criminal Justice Ethics. Revija has summaries of its articles in English.  It is hoped that the budget will allow us to subscribe to two Russian periodicals in English -- Human Rights Quarterly and Russian Executive & Legislative Newsletters, as well as to the Estonian Pravovye akty Estonii. Foreign legal periodicals in Spanish, French and German are presently available in the library.

       One might assume that the Internet is the best source for information on international criminology.  However, very few of the original legal documents from Eastern Europe have official translations on the Web, except for texts of the Constitutions.  For now, those who are interested in Russian law, can read Russian, and have Cyrillic fonts on their computers can check out the INFOBASE-INFORIS website at http://black. inforis.nnov.su/infobase/www.exe/a/90/?node=1.
 

       Faculty and students often look for facts or significant opinion that will bolster their assertions in their writing assignments.  Polling The Nations may help.  It’s a collection of answers to polls taken during the years 1986 -1997 from national and international polling organizations.  The database can be searched by a single word, by adjoining words, or by Boolean logic.  Results give the number of polls and the actual answers and percentages from those polls, as well as sample size and the date of the poll.  Pollsters include Gallup, NBC, newspapers, universities, the General Social Survey, and government sources. Polling The Nations is available from most of the library PCs.
 

       As in past semesters, the library is offering two types of classes in information systems this fall.  Classes given for courses with a substantial term paper requirement are held in the library classroom and address the relevant databases for that assignment. They are offered through November 6th and may be scheduled with Tony Simpson; early booking is recommended.

       “Mini-classes” are open to the entire John Jay community and meet at the reference desk.  The classes last about 30 minutes and give a short introduction to a specific database or electronic format.  No registration is required.  Classes are offered every Monday and Thursday at 11:00, 3:30, and 5:30.  A sign at the entrance to the library announces which databases will be demonstrated at upcoming open classes.
 

.....in which faculty share their thoughts on a favorite book.

Kathryn Wylie Marques: Violence and the Sacred, by Rene Girard.  (1977).

       “This controversial and provocative work by a famous literary critic has deeply informed my thinking on the connection between religion, theatre and human violence.” 

Richard Lovely: A Practical Guide to the Unix System, by Mark Sobell.  (1995). 

       “This well-crafted book has been a valued and faithful companion since I began to explore the world of Unix a few years ago.  It hits just the right tone for an academic user in offering both insight and guidance on using Unix.  How did I find it?  I spent a couple of hours in a nice easy chair at Barnes and Noble browsing through several dozen rival guides until I settled on this one as the pick of the litter.  Although super bookstores generally dismay me, this is something you cannot do on amazon.com or anywhere else!”

Yahya Affinnih: Mixing Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Research, edited by Julia Brannen. (1992).

       “This book brings out the best of both methods. Without taking a position that one is better, it shows that they complement one another and that each has a role to play in social research.  The interesting thing is that it actually shows the reader how to test an hypothesis and how both methods can be used to validate an hypothesis, because each one taps a certain set of questions.  The examples are empirical, actual social research questions.  It is a small book which uses clear,  simple language, not “cloud nine” language, but it goes to the core of the philosophical differences between quantitative and qualitative research.  It would be excellent reading for both faculty and students.”
 

       Keeping abreast of all the latest research  in an academic field is now a cinch.  For $25 a year, a service called Carl Uncover will automatically e-mail the tables of contents from your chosen list of journals upon their publication. Alternatively, you can set up a research profile so that you will be notified of any new articles or books that pertain to your research subject as soon as they are published.  If a desired article is not available at this library, you may e-mail a request for it to our Interlibrary Loan department.  For assistance with opening a Carl Uncover account or developing a research profile, contact Nancy Egan.
 

       The Lloyd Sealy Library has purchased a twenty minute video that serves as a basic introduction to library research.  Entitled Navigating the Sea of Information, it’s a quick tour through the thought processes and some of the basic tools that a student will need to complete a research paper.  For some students, the video may serve as a refresher, but for those tackling the initial college research paper, the video will need to be supplemented by classroom instruction.  The actors are typical college students, and the video includes a few laughs along the way.  It’s produced by the University of Pittsburgh.  Navigating The Sea of Information is in the Library Reserve Room and may be viewed on the Library’s VCR.
 

       Last Spring, with the assistance of Bill Heffernan from the Law and Police Science department, Ellen Sexton and Bonnie Nelson of the library set up a pilot electronic reserves project.  Files were created of the readings for the CRJ 793 comprehensive exam review class, using a scanner and Adobe Acrobat software. The files were linked to a web page listing the class readings, which was accessible to anyone with a computer connected to the World Wide Web. Students connecting from off campus used a password to access the class readings from the web page.

       At the end of the semester, the students were surveyed for their assessments.  Of the 24 students who completed the survey, half had accessed the electronic reserves system rather than using the printed materials at the Reserve Desk. Students who accessed the material from off campus locations experienced some problems with slow load times and long waits while the material printed out. Despite this, all of the students who had used the system were pleased with the service and said it should be continued.  We are currently exploring the legal and fiscal implications of expanding the program.
 

       Brown, M. (1997). The channeling zone: American spirituality in an anxious age.  Cambridge: Harvard. BF 1286 .B76 1997

       Lawrence, B. (1998). Shattering the myth: Islam beyond violence. Princeton: Princeton Univ.  BP 163 .L34 1998

       McKnight, J. (1997) Straight science?: homosexuality, evolution and adaptation.  New York: Routledge, 1997.  RC 558 .M45 1997

       Marion, D. (1997) The jurisprudence of Justice William J. Brennan, jr.: the law and politics of “libertarian dignity.”  Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.  KF 8745 .B68 M37 1997

       Nolan, J. (1998) The therapeutic state: justifying government at century’s end. New York: NYU. JA 75.7 .N65 1998

       Palmer, M., Bonvicino, R., Ascher, N. (1997). Nothing the sun could not explain: 20 contemporary Brazilian poets. Los Angeles: Sun & Moon. PQ 9663 .E5 N67 1997

       Rosoff, S. (1998) Profit without honor: white-collar crime and the looting of America. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1998.  HV 6769 .R667 1998

       Shuy, R. (1998) The language of confession, interrogation and deception. Thousand Oaks: Sage. HV 8073 .S437 1998

       Zebrowski, E. (1997) Perils of a restless planet: scientific perspectives on natural disasters.  Cambridge: Cambridge U. Press.  GB 5014 .Z43 1997
 

Monday - Thursday.......................................9am - 10pm
Friday..............................................................9am - 5pm
Saturday, starting 9/26....................................11am - 4pm
“           ” starting 11/7....................................10am - 6pm
“           ” 12/12 & 12/19................................10am - 8pm
Sunday, starting 10/18....................................11am - 4pm
“           ” 12/13 & 12/20................................11am - 8pm
Monday, 11/12.......................................................closed
Thursday - Sunday 11/26-29..................................closed
Friday, 12/18...................................................9am - 8pm
Wednesday, 12/23...........................................9am - 8pm
Thursday - Sunday, 12/24-27.................................closed
 

Larry Sullivan, Chief Librarian, 8265, lesjj@cunyvm
Marvie Brooks, Reference, 8261, mbbjj@cunyvm (on leave, Fall 98)
Jane Davenport, Collection Development, 8236, jwdjj@cunyvm
Janice Dunham, Associate Librarian for Public Services, 8256, janjj@cunyvm
Nancy Egan, Reference, Interlibrary Loan, 8269, nanjj@cunyvm
Dolores Grande, Serials, 8235, dmgjj@cunyvm
Marlene Kandel, Cataloger, Coordinator for Technical Services, 8237, mkkjj@cunyvm
Katherine Killoran, Reference, Circulation, 8263, kbkjj@cunyvm
Maria Kiriakova, Reference, Collection Development, 8260, mvkjj@cunyvm
Bonnie Nelson, Associate Librarian for Information Systems, 8267, brnjj@cunyvm
Ellen Sexton, Reference, Reserve, 8258, easjj@cunyvm
Antony Simpson, Reference, Library Instruction, 8242, aes@inx.net
Jane Theile, Executive Assistant to the Chief, 8238, jltjj@cunyvm
Tara Bremer, Systems Adjunct; Jane Dorfman, Nancy Farrell, Lory Gallo, Eileen Gatti, Catherine Stern, Reference Adjuncts
 

Dee Dee Aikens: Interlibrary Loan, 8257
Dawn Battle: Cataloging, 8230
Saundra Dancy: Circulation, 8224
Michelle Dutton: Acquisitions, 8230
Anne Kovac, Juana Polanco: Serials, 8230
 

Circulation: 8225
Reference: 8246
 

Editor: Jane Davenport