Library News Blog
Liza Linton, Omar Rivera, Avis Leary, Marilyn Rivera, Michelle Dutton, and Debra Spivey: essential library professionals
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The urban legend has it that if you work in a library you are a librarian. The Lloyd G. Sealy Library is an academic department, and librarians have faculty status. While librarians at the Lloyd Sealy Library help patrons at the reference desk, teach classes, create websites, evaluate and acquire books and databases, there are other professionals who contribute daily to the smooth operation of the Library. Although the Library Technical Services staff--office assistants, college office assistants, bookkeeper, work-study students, and others--do not often have direct contact with students or faculty in other departments, the Library could not function without them. I have interviewed some of the staff in the Technical Services to give you better idea about their backgrounds, current responsibilities and the indispensable role they play in the Library. I am very fortunate to work with these amazing people!
Michelle Dutton has been working in the Library’s Technical Services for more than 30 years! She is a John Jay College alumna and has worked with many library chiefs and librarians. Her knowledge of library online systems is unparalleled. She has trained dozens of office assistants and college workstudy students about book processing and cataloging. Michelle is extremely patient and is not afraid of any big projects, whether it is an avalanche of textbooks for Reserve in August-September or the relocation of all personal reserve copies in the matter of several weeks. Given her expertise, Ms. Dutton is our go-to person when a librarian cataloger is not available (and we haven’t had a full-time cataloger for more than two years). Ms. Dutton single-handedly catalogs and processes DVDs for the Media Department. She is also the main assistant for the Collection Development librarian and is involved in everything that concerns new purchases and problems with correcting bibliographic information regarding monographs, gifts and deletions in the library online systems. As far as working for the Library goes, she has always “liked a good book, so what a better place to work in.” We know, Michelle, and appreciate your great job. Come and admire the plants that she keeps in the Technical Services alive and happy!
Avis Leary, our bookkeeper, has been working in the library since 2001. A graduate of BMCC and Baruch College, she had worked in the Business Offices at BMCC and John Jay College as an accountant staff before joining the Library. Ms. Leary is responsible for receiving and paying all the Library bills on time, ordering reports and media, dealing with the vendors and the Business Office. She works with many librarians (Collection Development, Serials, Electronic Resources, Interlibrary Loan and Technology) to make sure the budgets and payments are kept in order. Ms. Leary enjoys going to the theater with her coworkers. If you are ever on Jeopardy and need help, your first call should be to Avis (no kidding, one day she will definitely be on TV).
For the past two years, Marilyn Rivera has been assisting Serials and Collection Development Librarians. She received her undergraduate degree from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Ponce Campus and is now in her last semester at Lehman College pursuing a Master’s Degree in Spanish Literature. Prior to starting at John Jay College, Ms. Rivera worked at Queens College (Computer Science Department) and the Bronx Community College (the Registrar’s Office and the Admissions). Even though she misses direct contact with students, she realizes the importance of her job in the Library. “As a graduate student I know and understand the importance of having the books, articles, and all the materials needed for homework and research.” Ms. Rivera handles the periodicals and books that need to be bound. She also copy catalogs the gifts and processes discards. Here is why she likes her job: “I get to know new titles to read. When I process a book or material, I like to leaf through and see what is about. I have learned a lot of new titles to read during my leisure time. I really love what I am doing, and the only I would like to change is the salary. We do a very important job for our students and we help them achieve their success.” Marilyn enjoys conversations about poetry or history of Puerto Rico. As a mother of four, she is also an expert on child rearing!
Liza Linton, who joined the Library less than two years ago, assists librarians with a variety of tasks: media reservations, interlibrary loan searches and processing, and checking the license agreements for hundreds of electronic databases to which the Library subscribes. Liza works with many librarians and maintains different spreadsheets with Library statistics. She is a whiz at CUNYFirst and has acquired knowledge of many library-specific online tools, such as ILLiad and ALEPH. Ms. Linton also serves as an assistant liaison to the College’s Office of Space and Planning and Buildings and Grounds Department. She has a Bachelor’s of Arts from Hunter College and a Master’s of Arts from the School of Professional Studies Graduate Center. Before coming to John Jay College, she worked at CUNY’s New York City College of Technology in the Office of the Dean of Professional Studies. Ms. Linton considers her job to be an “essential part of the Library. It might be seen as taking care of the little stuff … I am currently helping with organizing the repair and replacement of broken chairs throughout the library. How significant are chairs in a library? They are absolutely as essential/necessary as books.” Liza is an avid world traveler, always happy to talk about the places she visited and plans to go.
Debra Spivey has been working at John Jay College for 30 years and knows literally everyone, including administrators, laborers and custodian staff. She joined the Technical Services in 2013. Ms. Spivey attended classes at BMCC and lives by her mantra “Respect others for who and what they are, no matter what.” She deals with processing of new monographic acquisitions and gifts. Her job includes many steps: entering the items in the library online system ALEPH, applying stamps and security tapes, creating spine labels, producing protective covers, etc. In addition, Ms. Spivey takes care of all the discards and keeps statistics on new acquisitions, discarded materials, and gifts. She also makes sure all the steps are completed before delivering the books to their right locations in the Library. Ms. Spivey can be sometimes seen at the Circulation and Reserve desks when coverage is needed. Here is what she thinks about the importance of her job: “Receiving, processing, fixing books etc. for students to get that education they need to enter the real world, they need me. Books are the key of life. Knowledge is power. Books give life and great experiences for the future and past. Academic power comes from Books.” If you are in need of a great laugh, come and ask for Debbie. She has the most cheerful personality.
J. Omar Rivera has been taking care of the printed serials collection for the last two years. He studied photography and the recording arts at a trade school. Mr. Rivera is not new to the world of print media: he used to work in a bookstore prior to joining the Library. He considers his duties “indispensable. Serials need consistent attention and maintenance in order for the Library to function properly.” Mr. Rivera enjoys working at the Library for its welcoming environment. He is an avid reader and appreciates being surrounded by his favorite things: books! What would he like to change about his job? “Only that I’m not here as much as I could be. If there was more work, I would gladly jump at the opportunity.” Omar is very efficient, quick, and precise, and really likes good chocolate.
Maria Kiriakova
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Read more from the Fall 2016 issue of Classified Information, the Library newsletter
Posted Tuesday, November 22, 2016 - 3:54pm
As Janice retires, we wish her all the best! Congratulations, Janice!
From the John Jay Library...
Janice Dunham graced the Sealy Library for over thirty years with her expertise, consummate librarianship, scholarly writing skills, her outstanding knowledge of new technology trends, which immensely aided our students and faculty in their research efforts, and her service to the library, college and profession. Janice made the library oh so accessible and friendly to our clientele. I will greatly miss her and her excellent advice. I know that I wouldn’t have made it into my 22nd year without her. —Larry Sullivan
Janice’s joy of life is infectious and inspiring. Spirited and upbeat, she was always able to manage the many stresses of public service. The library users who came to Janice to complain always felt their concern was heard and addressed. And those whom Janice helped with research questions would return time and time again. What I’ll miss is not just Janice’s way of working with the public, but also her deep knowledge of John Jay’s institutional history. She once told me she passed another offer and decided on John Jay because she liked how low-rise the surrounding area was. 10th and 11th avenues were low-rise once? How will we remember things like this without Janice around? —Marta Bladek
The positive regard that students, faculty and administrators have for the Library is in no small part due to Janice serving as its “face.” Always kind, cheerful, and diplomatic, Janice’s face is one that brightens a doorway. I greatly value her deep knowledge of librarianship (esp. legal research), CUNY, birds and literature and will miss her elegant manners and quaint use of language (“druthers” and “nincompoop” come to mind). She will enjoy retirement as she enjoys work and life—to its max. —Kathleen Collins
Janice has been a patient and perceptive guide in the Library. She handled tough reference questions with panache, she can walk anyone through the maze of legal information, and she demonstrated joy and brilliance in supporting the diverse research interests of a diverse institution. I am grateful for Janice’s guidance and leadership, and I will miss her cheerful presence in the library very much. —Robin Davis
For me, Janice is the public face of our Library. She skillfully deals with many issues that arise in the Library: reference, teaching, circulation, space, personnel and fiscal management, and thousands more. Janice has a rare quality of bridging generational gaps among librarians. And who is going now to make macaroni and cheese for the department parties and take all the pictures? —Maria Kiriakova
Janice has always been that librarian who puts the needs of our students as her top priority. I am so honored to have been able to work with her for the past four years. She has been one of the most supportive and kind people I’ve worked with throughout my career at John Jay. —Geng Lin
According to the Archives, Janice started in the Library September, 1985. That is approximately 7,000 days of supporting research and in service to the John Jay College and CUNY Community, which does not include the many other years and days in service to our profession! She deserves many more days and years of rest and relaxation. Congratulations, and I will miss her every day. —Ellen Belcher
Janice has always been a strong advocate for the diverse needs and interests of our patrons. I will miss her insights into user services, her sense of humor, and her warm and friendly presence in the library. —Karen Okamoto
There have been so many happy and memorable moments that I’ve shared with Janice over the years that it would be difficult to pick just one to mention here. Instead I would like to say that it has been an honor to have had the opportunity to work with Janice and to know her as well. I want to wish her all the best as she embarks on a new and exciting part of her life. Janice, all the best! —Mark Zubarev
From other CUNY libraries...
I have known Janice for many years from serving on the ERAC and Public Services committees. I frequently consulted with her on issues that were brought up at these committees. In addition I loved her sharp wit and perky personality. She was a tribute to her profession. —Barbara Linton, Reference Librarian, BMCC Library
Janice is curious, adventurous, even-handed, not easily rattled, fun to talk to and great to laugh with. All qualities that made her a great librarian but also a wonderful person to know. My adjunct days at John Jay were the better for her being there, and I have always been happy to include her as friend in the circle of CUNY librarians. —Catherine Stern, Reference Librarian, LaGuardia Community College
From the John Jay community...
Janice has been a friend and a wonderful Librarian to my students. Over the 21 plus years I have known her, she has helped me countless times with the grace that is distinctive to her. All of us at John Jay will miss her kindness, caring, and expertise. Good luck with her new chapter in her life. —Effie Cochran, English Department
Janice is a relentless advocate for preserving protocols and voicing the spirit of how our governance policies are interpreted. I will truly miss her recollections of our institutional history as we get ready to welcome a new college President. Janice you will be sorely missed at John Jay. All the best in your new life called retirement. —Rulisa Galloway-Perry, Chief of Staff
I’ll remember Janice for her good humor and camaraderie in the pool locker room! I would hope to run into her there and it was always a great pleasure when I did - and yes, we’ve branched out to meet other places as well. —Laura Greenberg, Professor Emerita, Department of Art and Music
Janice’s warmth and kindness, and her intelligence and efficiency as a colleague--always quick to foresee where you are going, where there might be a problem, and offer the solution pronto! —Elizabeth Hegeman, Department of Anthropology
Janice is one of the wise people I’ve turned to for advice over the years. She’s been one of the most important members of the Faculty Senate, whether at the beginning, serving as the Library faculty’s representative, or representing the faculty at large, or serving on the Executive Committee, as she has done for many years. People know to trust her, to listen to her, to ask her for help, to ask her for advice. We all know we will get her full interest and her support. Her smile and infectious laugh are irresistible and ceaselessly comforting. She is one of the people I love the most at John Jay. —Karen Kaplowitz, English Department, Former Faculty Senate President
I served on many committees with Janice, and I always appreciated her “voice of reason” and her ongoing good nature and cheer that could light up the room. She is also the most wonderful team player to work with, able to appreciate other points of view and come up with solutions we could agree to. And of course it’s Janice’s love of travel and adventure that is such a delight to hear about. She brings joy to our lives. —Sondra Leftoff, Professor Emerita, Department of Psychology
Janice was one of those people at Jay I just kept running into: in the pool seriously working out, at college council meetings speaking truth to power in her wry New England way to vocally press for the needs of the library, and of course in the library answering any question and patiently helping me master some befuddling new technology. She is a bright spirit: engaging, warm and funny. —Mary Ann McLure, Department of Philosophy
Janice, Your wisdom and common sense will be missed on the Senate and, more personally, I will miss having you around. I hope you will not be a stranger after retiring. —Francis Sheehan, Department of Sciences
Janice is a wonderful kind person who helped me out 8 years ago when I was new to the US educational life. She loves to laugh and was able to make me happy even when I was distressed about my life and study, a wonderful counselor :-) Miss you much, miss your Christmas party and hope to see you again soon. —Thiti Mahacharoen, Ph.D. Graduate Center and John Jay alum
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Read more from the Fall 2016 issue of Classified Information, the Library newsletter
Posted Tuesday, November 22, 2016 - 3:48pm
NYC councilmember Elizabeth Crowley bestows a citation on Robert Shumate, joined by Charles Jennings, Director of the Christian Regenhard Center; Elizabeth Hovey, History Dept.; and Ellen Belcher, Library. Photo from the Christian Regenhard Center for Emergency Response Studies, via Twitter.
Hovey Memorial Lecture
The Lloyd Sealy Library co-sponsored a lecture from Robert Shumate on October 19, 2016. Beginning as a Maine State Trooper, Shumate (second from left) went on to develop and install the first online police computing systems in 1964, launching modern computer-aided dispatch and records management. He led the formation of the IJIS Institute, devoted to public safety information sharing. Shumate came to John Jay to honor his late protégé, 911 pioneer Scott Hovey. The Library’s Special Collections acquired Hovey’s professional papers.
Supermax Prisons Book Talk
Dr. Keramet Reiter is an assistant professor at the University of California, Irvine, and a graduate alumna of John Jay. On November 10, 2016, Dr. Reiter presented a book talk on her latest monograph, 23/7: Pelican Bay Prison and The Rise of Long-Term Solitary Confinement. The Library co-sponsored this Sociology Book Talk and has acquired 23/7, soon available in the Stacks.
John Timoney oral history highlighted
John F. Timoney (1948-2016) rose through the ranks of the New York Police Department to become Chief of Department and then First Deputy Commissioner under Police Commissioner Bill Bratton (1994-1996). He was later Police Commissioner in Philadelphia and Chief of Police in Miami. Chief Timoney was also a John Jay College alumnus, graduating in 1974 with a degree in History. In 2010, I sat with John Timoney for an oral history interview, during which he discussed his career in the NYPD and the transformation of the department under Bratton, especially the introduction of Compstat. You can read the oral history interview in the Library’s Digital Collections. --Jeffrey Kroessler
Timoney’s 2010 memoir, Beat Cop to Top Cop: A Tale of Three Cities, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press, is available at the Library in the Stacks, HV7911 .T563 A3 2010.
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Read more from the Fall 2016 issue of Classified Information, the Library newsletter
Posted Tuesday, November 22, 2016 - 3:40pm
Ellen Belcher and Karina Croucher published a book chapter “Exchanges of Identity in Prehistoric Anatolian Figurines” in the Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (9th ICAANE). It can be read on Academic Works. Her article on “Identifying Female in the Halaf: Prehistoric Agency and Modern Interpretations” appeared in the Journal of Archaeological Method & Theory, 23(3). She also prepared an exhibit from the Scott Hovey Papers and appeared on the panel of the first annual Hovey Memorial Lecture on October 19.
Kathleen Collins’s book, Dr. Joyce Brothers: The Founding Mother of TV Psychology, was published by Rowman & Littlefield in September.
Robin Davis earned her MA degree in Computational Linguistics in May from the Graduate Center upon completing her thesis, “Nondescript: A web tool for subverting authorship attribution,” available in Academic Works and on GitHub. She also presented “Die Hard: Saving the Web for Scholars” as the closing remarks of the Eastern New York ACRL Conference at Skidmore College in May. She published two “Internet Connection” columns in Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian 35(1) and 35(2).
Jeffrey Kroessler presented on the history of Sunnyside Gardens at the AIA New York State Design Conference in September. In October, he gave a talk about the preservation of Sunnyside at “Preservation in the US: 50 Years On” at Salve Regina University. He reviewed Politics across the Hudson: the Tappan Zee Megaproject by Philip Mark Plotch for Planning Perspectives, and his article on “The Limits of Liberal Planning: the Lindsay Administration’s Failed Plan to Control Development on Staten Island” appeared in Journal of Planning History. After the bombing in Chelsea in September he published “Anarchists, Puerto Ricans, Croatians Too: Nearly Everyone’s Attacked NYC” in the Daily Beast.
Karen Okamoto recently published articles on open government data: “Introducing open government data” appeared in The Reference Librarian and “What is being done with open government data?” in Webology.
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Read more from the Fall 2016 issue of Classified Information, the Library newsletter
Posted Tuesday, November 22, 2016 - 3:28pm
Admirers of Roman antiquities know Giovanni Batista Piranesi (1720–1778) for his Vedute (Views) of the ruins of this mighty empire that ruled much of the known world in ancient times. We, in the criminal justice field, however, look to his Carceri d’invenzione (Imaginary Prisons) for an almost surrealist, Kafkaesque view of the dread and terror of incarceration. Michel Foucault, in his flawed but seminal work on prisons, presented a view of the power and control of these institutions that became oh-so-fashionable among scholars. Piranesi, however, anticipated Foucault’s theory by over 150 years with his graphic fantastic descriptions of the horror of these monstrous, fantasy prisons. Opiumeater Thomas De Quincy aptly described the Carceri in 1820: prisons “representing vast Gothic halls, on the floor of which stood all sorts of engines and machinery, wheels, cables, pulleys, levers, catapults … expressive of enormous power put forth, and resistance overcome.”
Piranesi began his etchings of prisons in 1745 with a first slate of fourteen prints. In 1761 he reworked the etchings and added two new images. He finished with sixteen numbered plates, each 15” X 21.” These deeply disturbing views highlight the horror and vast fantastic spaces of prisons.
Piranesi’s prison etchings inspired the writer Aldous Huxley (Brave New World, a book often referenced but rarely read) and Jean Adhemar of the Bibliothèque nationale de France to write an essay and critical analysis of the sixteen prints in the Trianon Press’s edition of the work published in 1949. Trianon issued 212 copies signed by Huxley, with twelve of them “hors commerce” lettered A to L. The Sealy Library was fortunate to acquire one of the 12 special copies, the “G” issue, of this outstanding work. We have found only two from the regular edition in American libraries, and seven in foreign libraries. The Sealy Library’s special copy is the only one in an institution.
We greatly await the opening of our new Special Collections and Rare Book Room, expected by the end of the year, which will provide the housing our unique materials deserve.
Larry E. Sullivan
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Read more from the Fall 2016 issue of Classified Information, the Library newsletter
Posted Tuesday, November 22, 2016 - 3:19pm
CUNY-Wide Library Amnesty Program
Return your overdue library books without paying a fine!
To receive amnesty on library fines, all of the following must apply to you:
- You return the book between Nov. 14–23, 2016
- The book is from the Stacks (circulating) and in good condition
- The book has an overdue fine only (no recall fines)
If you qualify, any fines that have accrued for the book you return Nov. 14–23 will be forgiven.
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If any of the following apply to you, you are not eligible for library amnesty.
- You have already returned the item before Nov. 14 and have a fine on your account
- You have a recall fine on your account (the book is overdue and another patron has requested it)
- You have lost or damaged the book
- The book is a Reserves book
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For additional information, ask the Circulation Desk in the Library in person or by phone: (212) 237-8000
Posted Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - 11:53am
Supermax Prisons: A Book Talk with Dr. Keramet Reiter
Thursday, November 10, 2016 • 1:40–2:55pm
New Building Student Dining Hall East
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Dr. Keramet Reiter is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society and at the School of Law at the University of California, Irvine. She received her JD and PhD in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from the University of California, Berkeley and a master's degree in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York. She studies prisons, prisoners' rights, and the impact of prison and punishment policy on individuals, communities, and legal systems.
Her latest book is titled 23/7: Pelican Bay Prison and The Rise of Long-Term Solitary Confinement. Originally meant to be brief and exceptional, solitary confinement in U.S. prisons has become long-term and common. Prisoners in solitary spend twenty-three hours a day in featureless cells, with no visitors or human contact for years on end. They are held entirely at administrators' discretion, with no judges or juries involved. In 23/7, legal scholar Keramet Reiter tells the history of an original "supermax," California's Pelican Bay State Prison, where extreme conditions sparked statewide hunger strikes in 2011 and 2013-—the latter involving nearly 30,000 prisoners. Reiter describes how the Pelican Bay prison was created—with literally no legislative oversight—as a panicked response to the perceived rise of black radicalism in California prisons in the 1970s. Through stories of gang bosses, small-time parolees, and others, she portrays the arbitrary manner in which prisoners are chosen for solitary confinement, held for years, and routinely released directly onto the streets. Here we see the social costs and mental havoc of years in isolation. The product of fifteen years of research in and about prisons, this book is instant required reading on a topic that increasingly commands national attention.
After the book talk, there will be a book raffle. Dr. Reiter will be available for book signing.
Refreshments will be served at this event.
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Sociology Talk presented by the Department of Sociology. Co-sponsored by Lloyd Sealy Library.
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Information about this talk comes courtesy of the Dept. of Sociology.
Posted Thursday, November 3, 2016 - 11:46am
Graduate students,
Do you need one-on-one help with your research project or assistance finding appropriate resources for an assignment? Would you like to improve your research skills? If yes, then drop into one of the Library’s Walk-in Research Clinics and get the help you need just when you need it most.
FALL 2016 DATES
Tuesday Nov. 1 5-6 pm Lloyd Sealy Library Classroom
Tuesday Nov. 8 5-6 pm Lloyd Sealy Library Classroom
Thursday Nov. 10 5-6 pm Lloyd Sealy Library Conference Room
Wednesday Nov. 16 5-6 pm Lloyd Sealy Library Classroom
Thursday Nov. 17 4:30-5:30 pm Lloyd Sealy Library Classroom
NO RSVP NECESSARY
For more information, contact Graduate Studies Librarian,
Kathleen Collins, at kcollins@jjay.cuny.edu.
Posted Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 1:08pm
October 24 - 30, 2016 | Everywhere
This week we showcase Open Access publishing with an exhibit in the Library’s Niederhoffer Lounge. Please do visit our physical exhibit, and/or our online Library guides on Open Access . Find out how John Jay professors are sharing and preserving their research outputs on CUNY’s institutional repository Academic Works.
Maureen Richards & Ellen Sexton
Posted Monday, October 17, 2016 - 3:18pm
