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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2013

City University of New York (CUNY)

Urban Library Journal

Articles 1 - 14 of 14

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Teaching The Skills To Question: A Credit-Course Approach To Critical Information Literacy, Ian Beilin, Anne E. Leonard Dec 2013

Teaching The Skills To Question: A Credit-Course Approach To Critical Information Literacy, Ian Beilin, Anne E. Leonard

Urban Library Journal

Critical Information Literacy does not dispense with teaching ‘rules’ (of grammar, citation, research, writing, etc.), but also places these elements within larger frameworks of critical dialogue, creative thinking and learning, and political and historical inquiry. All of these elements together empower students far more than a mastering of the rules and techniques of research. “Research and Documentation for the Information Age” is the critical information literacy course currently offered by the Library department at New York City College of Technology. With the luxury of three credits, we emphasize integration of library skills into all facets of assignments rather than presenting …


Grinding The Gears: Academic Librarians And Civic Responsibility, Lisa Sloniowski, Mita Williams, Patti Ryan Dec 2013

Grinding The Gears: Academic Librarians And Civic Responsibility, Lisa Sloniowski, Mita Williams, Patti Ryan

Urban Library Journal

Corporate encroachments are transforming universities into edu-factories which are designed to produce servants of the state rather than engaged citizens. Academic librarians have a duty to resist the machineries of the institution. This panel will survey the revolutionary potential inherent in the open source movement, feminist porn collections, and critical information literacy.


Rebuilding Post War Europe: New York And Digital Archives As Reconstitutive Fabric, Anthony Cocciolo Dec 2013

Rebuilding Post War Europe: New York And Digital Archives As Reconstitutive Fabric, Anthony Cocciolo

Urban Library Journal

This project explores four digital initiatives that document and make available to the public information related to American, German, and Jewish relationships before, during, and after World War II. The goal of these projects is to make primary source information available to the public using digital technology, in effect, creating an educational infrastructure for enhancing understanding among these groups. These four projects will be treated as cases, with the guiding question being: what infrastructures are needed to create a contemporary, educational, primary source-based digital platform? The goal of this study is to highlight those infrastructure elements that are instrumental in …


Sustaining Scholarship: Librarians And The Political Economy Of Print, Emily Drabinski Dec 2013

Sustaining Scholarship: Librarians And The Political Economy Of Print, Emily Drabinski

Urban Library Journal

As workers in the knowledge industry, librarians have particular insight into the implications of the tectonic shifts wrought by the decline of print. Drawing on work to make the journal Radical Teacher open access, this paper discusses how librarians can mobilize our insider knowledge to transform our communities of practice.


Radical Cataloging: From Words To Action, Heather Lember, Suzanne Lipkin, Richard Jung Lee Dec 2013

Radical Cataloging: From Words To Action, Heather Lember, Suzanne Lipkin, Richard Jung Lee

Urban Library Journal

Radical cataloging seeks to give a voice to people and concepts that are difficult to access through library subject searches. This article will explore four areas of radical cataloging: cataloging rules and the inequities and hierarchical problems inherent in classification itself, the use of cataloging to further a cause, the challenges of language in subject headings; and cataloging efforts around unconventional collections, such as zines.


Radical Purpose: The Critical Reference Dialogue At A Progressive Urban College, Kate Adler Dec 2013

Radical Purpose: The Critical Reference Dialogue At A Progressive Urban College, Kate Adler

Urban Library Journal

Abstract: Metropolitan College of New York pioneered “Purpose-Centered Education,” a pedagogical model that blends theory and practice in students’ jobs and lives to produce graduates with a guiding vision of social justice. This paper explores critical information literacy and the reference dialog in the context of the Purpose-Centered Education.


The Value Of Community Ethnography In Public Library Crisis Preparation, Jessica Lingel Nov 2013

The Value Of Community Ethnography In Public Library Crisis Preparation, Jessica Lingel

Urban Library Journal

In this brief article, I address the usefulness of including community-driven interviews into preparations for disasters. Drawing on Shera’s (1970) highly influential construction of library work as tied to communication, I analyze responses of three library organizations – the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library and the New Jersey Library Association – immediately following Hurricane Sandy. I then turn to a specific role of communication that libraries can offer surrounding communities, providing resources for local community members to conduct interviews among those who have experienced a disaster. By incorporating this kind of responsibility to communicate experiences of a …


Digital Inclusion, Learning, And Access At The Public Library, Melissa Morrone, Shanelle Witt Nov 2013

Digital Inclusion, Learning, And Access At The Public Library, Melissa Morrone, Shanelle Witt

Urban Library Journal

New York City is not an easy place to live. Brooklynites who are just learning about the Internet in 2013—20 years after the development of the World Wide Web—likely have more challenges than simply needing someone to show them how to open up the computer's browser. Brooklyn Public Library has been engaged in a digital inclusion project that brings together issues of ability, access, and learning styles. By giving our patrons skills and confidence to navigate technology both online and off, we are laying the groundwork for them to have a voice in the city.


Libraries, Information, And The Right Of The City 2013 Lacuny Institute Introduction, Jonathan Cope Nov 2013

Libraries, Information, And The Right Of The City 2013 Lacuny Institute Introduction, Jonathan Cope

Urban Library Journal

Introduction to the special issue from the 2013 LACUNY Institute "LIBRARIES, INFORMATION, AND THE RIGHT TO THE CITY"


Out Of Information Poverty: Library Services For Urban Marginalized Immigrants, Lan Shen Nov 2013

Out Of Information Poverty: Library Services For Urban Marginalized Immigrants, Lan Shen

Urban Library Journal

This paper provides an analytical overview of the literature on information poverty and the strategies of reducing such poverty for urban marginalized groups from cultural and structural perspectives. Focusing on the urban immigrants in the United States, this paper discusses their informational needs with respect to literacy skills, technology support, cultural awareness, and information resources. In addition, the paper evaluates the library services demonstrated by the selected urban libraries that supply diversified education programs and civic engagement activities in an attempt to establish a more equitable and harmonious community.


White Screen/White Noise: Racism On The Internet, Rebecca Martin, Heather Mccann, Myrna E. Morales, Stacie M. Williams Nov 2013

White Screen/White Noise: Racism On The Internet, Rebecca Martin, Heather Mccann, Myrna E. Morales, Stacie M. Williams

Urban Library Journal

The Internet is critical for disseminating information, but it does not discriminate against information it carries. Hate speech and racist representations proliferate in social media, online news comment sections and community forums. What can information workers do to counteract those messages? How can critical race consciousness enhance on- and off-line library services? This article attempts to explore how information in the age of rapid technology innovation contributes to structural racism and what librarians and other information professionals can do about it.


Library Research For The 99%: Reaching Out To The Occupy Wall Street Movement, Darcy I. Gervasio, Angela Ecklund, Arieh Ress Nov 2013

Library Research For The 99%: Reaching Out To The Occupy Wall Street Movement, Darcy I. Gervasio, Angela Ecklund, Arieh Ress

Urban Library Journal

This article describes how librarians from three different universities in the greater New York area came together through the myMETRO Researchers Project to reach out to Occupy Wall Street. Using social media and free online tools to partner with Occupy’s environmental subgroup, the authors overcame proprietary roadblocks, copyright challenges, and distrust/skepticism to discover the authentic information needs of activists and compile an annotated bibliography of scholarly research on the real-world impacts of climate change. This successful collaboration is an example of how institutions can be used as contact points through which individuals can affect change on society, and how librarians …


Libraries And The Right To The City: Insights From Democratic Theory Prepared For The 2013 Lacuny Institute: Libraries, Information, And The Right To The City, John Buschman Nov 2013

Libraries And The Right To The City: Insights From Democratic Theory Prepared For The 2013 Lacuny Institute: Libraries, Information, And The Right To The City, John Buschman

Urban Library Journal

David Harvey's right to the city is a productive point to discuss the role of urban libraries and democracy. Harvey's ideas, however, can be further deepened by engaging them with democratic theory. Within Harvey's broader challenge to neoliberalism, democratic theory helps to tie the work of librarianship to a meaningful instantiation of a right to the city through a review of: the concepts (and brief history) of rights the founding theories of rights themselves, the public sphere (a LACUNY Institute framing concept), community, and democratic voice.


Teaching And Learning Los Angeles Through Engagement With Ucla Library Special Collections, Kelly E. Miller, Robert D. Montoya Aug 2013

Teaching And Learning Los Angeles Through Engagement With Ucla Library Special Collections, Kelly E. Miller, Robert D. Montoya

Urban Library Journal

This article presents a case study of how library services and special collections, in particular, can be integrated into undergraduate education by engaging strategically with a high-impact area of the curriculum and concentrating on courses related thematically to collection strengths. The goals of such engagement include enhancing student academic success and increasing the visibility and use of library services and collections. During the academic year 2012-2013, the UCLA Library's Teaching and Learning Services and Library Special Collections partnered with the Division of Undergraduate Education's Freshman Cluster Program to experiment with embedding librarians into instructional teams in order to improve students' …