Library and Information Science Commons^™

Lacuny Cataloging Roundtable Meeting Minutes, March 2014, Lacuny

Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Deiro Collection Finding Aid, Graduate Center Library, Cuny

Finding Aids

The Deiro Collection at the City University of New York Graduate Center's Mina Rees Library is an archival collection of materials related to the professional and personal lives of Guido Deiro (1886-1950), Pietro Deiro Sr. (1888-1954) and Pietro “Lee” Deiro Jr. (1913-1999).

Immigrating from Italy to the United States in the early 1900's, the Deiro brothers Guido and Pietro, made enduring contributions to the popularization of the Piano Accordion in the 20th Century. As masters of the instrument, the Deiro's achieved headliner status on the vaudeville theatre circuit. Both composed, arranged and recorded an impressive repertoire of accordion music. Pietro …

Requests About Explosives And Illicit Drugs: A New Paradigm, Philip Barnett Ph.D.

Publications and Research

Addresses what reference librarians should do when patrons ask for information about explosives or dangerous drugs. Explores how reference librarians can possibly deter people from dangerous, unmediated searches by proactively providing information and actual examples on the dangers and risks of making and using these materials.

Two Tech Services Wikis @ Cuny, Monica Berger

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Center For The Study Of Free Reed Instruments Collection, 1947-2011 Finding Aid, Graduate Center Library, Cuny

Finding Aids

The Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments Collection is an archival collection at the City University of New York Graduate Center’s Mina Rees Library which contains materials donated by Professor Allan W. Atlas, related to free-reed instruments and the International Concertina Association.

Open Access, Jill Cirasella

Publications and Research

This article describes some problems with the traditional system of scholarly journal publishing and explains how scholars can make their works open access, or freely available online. It also discusses some of the benefits of open access, as well as some of the challenges to achieving widespread openness.

Out With The Old, In With The New: Best Practices For Replacing Library Signage, Mark Aaron Polger, Amy F. Stempler

Publications and Research

Signage is an essential way of communicating with users and is a vital way to alert patrons to important information, news, upcoming events, policies, and directions. Literature on library signage has emphasized the importance of consistency and clarity, to avoid clutter and contradictory messaging, and the need for buy-in from library staff, faculty and patrons. However, few scholarly studies address user preferences in signage. This article fills the void between theory and practice, and offers step-by-step details for revamping signage, specifically in an academic library. At the heart of the authors’ thesis is that library signs are living documents. Libraries …

Markdown For Librarians And Academics, Steven Ovadia

Publications and Research

The article offers information related to Markdown, a flexible markup language that allows text to be easily converted to different formats and has implications as a way to make academic content mroe shareable.

Glis 709 Revisited, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

The author describes a 2012 follow-up research project, where he revisited and re-implemented a survey project that had originally been done in 1992.

Engaging With Research And Resources In Music History Courses, Jennifer Oates

Publications and Research

With the ever-expanding sea of resources available to students today, it is now more important than ever to teach students how to navigate, assess, and interpret resources. Given the ease of access to information, students tend to seek out the path of least resistance, most often a Google search and/or Wikipedia. Their unfamiliarity with print resources, such as thematic catalogues, means they are missing out on significant music scholarship that is not available online or through Google. Today’s students have grown up searching the internet. The single-search approach of a web search leaves many students confused by terms like …

Lacuny Interlibrary Loan Roundtable Meeting Minutes, March 2014, Lacuny

Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Engaging Academics And Reimagining Scholarly Communication For The Public Good: A Report, Jessie Daniels, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

JustPublics@365 began as a discussion about how an interdisciplinary group of scholars at the Graduate Center, CUNY (located at 365 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan) might be able to bring their work together to foster greater social justice by sharing it in the public sphere.

We live in an era in which inequality is rampant. Media reports on inequality often gain little traction in a 24-hour news cycle dominated by the trivial. Activists work to address inequality in a myriad of ways, online and on the ground, but often lack connections to research or media that could further their cause. Key …

Discovering Jewish Studies Collections In Academic Libraries: A Practical Guide, Izabella Taler

Publications and Research

The U.S. colleges and universities offering non-sectarian educational programs in Jewish Studies rely on the support of their academic libraries for research materials and library services. For college libraries which use Library of Congress Classification scheme, it is a common practice to integrate "studies" resources into their general library collections. Since Jewish Studies sources span a vast number of subjects within all major disciplines, shelving integration leads to the dispersion of all relevant sources and such dispersion in turn leads to a variety of problems for library professionals and library users. For collection development librarians the problems range from lack …

School Librarians And The Common Core: How They Can Help Teachers And Students Through The New Standards, Enito Mock

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The author addresses the critical role school libraries play in student academic achievement. He also addresses the role school librarians could play in successfully implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Historically being left out of education reforms such as No Child Left Behind in 2001, school media specialists now have the opportunity to shine and show off their unique skill set in curriculum design, information literacy, and research. In collaborating with teachers to carry out lesson plans focused on the CCSS, school librarians can teach students essential skills such as critical thinking, brainstorming, and writing/reading techniques. In discussing why …

Review Of The Book The Swastika’S Darkening Shadow: Voices Before The Holocaust, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Review of the book The swastika’s darkening shadow: Voices before the Holocaust.

Lacuny Emerging Technologies Committee Meeting Minutes, January 2014, Lacuny

Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Disciplinarity And Trandisciplinarity In The Study Of Knowledge, Jay H. Bernstein

Publications and Research

Scholarly inquiry about the nature and significance of knowledge has been shaped by disciplinary traditions and priorities that define “knowledge” differently and result in disconnected literatures. In the mid to late twentieth century, library science educator Jesse Shera sought to bridge the conceptual gap between epistemological and sociological approaches to knowledge in proposing a new discipline he called social epistemology. Around the same time, long-term projects by the economist Fritz Machlup and the physical chemist turned philosopher of science Michael Polanyi did not merely combine existing disciplinary approaches but transcended conventional frameworks for conceptualizing knowledge. These scholars can be viewed …

Library Patron Privacy In 2014 - Honoring The Legacy Of Zoia Horn, Sarah Lamdan

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

A Room Of Her Own: The Woman's Library, A Footnote To New York City Library History, Sandra Roff

Publications and Research

The revolutionary idea of a library for working women in New York City can be traced to 1830, but it remained dormant for twenty-eight years until a group of prominent New Yorkers revived the cause. In 1858 an address by Henry Ward Beecher and other influential citizens reviewed the benefits of such a library, and after two years of planning the women's library became a reality. New York City was unique in providing a library just for women; however, financial support dwindled, and it was forced to be taken over by the Women's Protective Union by 1870.

American Indians In Feature Films: Beyond The Big Screen, Daisy V. Domínguez

Publications and Research

This article examines whether library collections represent the breadth of portrayals of American Indians in feature film and provides collection development resources for developing and strengthening feature film collections by and about American Indians.

Neoliberalism And Library & Information Science: Using Karl Polanyi’S Fictitious Commodity As An Alternative To Neoliberal Conceptions Of Information, Jonathan Cope

Publications and Research

This paper examines the Library & Information Science (LIS) and Knowledge Organization (KO) literature on neoliberalism and argues that insufficient attention has been paid to the neoliberal conception of information’s relationship to the market. After an examination of the LIS and KO literature on neoliberalism, the key claims of neoliberalism with regards to information and markets are scrutinized and the role of the Internet is discussed. Karl Polanyi’s concept of the fictitious commodity is used to examine the ways in which markets are embedded within society and to provide an alternative to neoliberalism.

Linux For Academics, Part Ii: The Advantages Of Free And Open-Source Software, Steven Ovadia

Publications and Research

The article discusses the Linux free and open-source operating system and methods for installing software within it, including office and statistical software.

Transferring Cataloging Legacies Into Descriptive Metadata Creation In Digital Projects: Catalogers’ Perspective, Junli Diao, Mirtha A. Hernández

Publications and Research

With the emergence of digital collections in libraries, museums, and other cultural institutions, catalogers are redefining their roles by participating in digital projects, creating, maintaining, and developing non-traditional metadata records. This article provides a discussion on how catalogers are ensuring that the cataloging legacies of quality control, authority control, and creative cataloging become important components in the creation of descriptive metadata for digital projects.

Bibframe, Europeana And Dpla: The Future Of Open Cultural Heritage?, Laura Brown, Ellie Horowitz, Emory Johnson, Meredith Powers, Sarah Quick

Publications and Research

This paper offers an in-depth look at current issues and challenges faced by libraries, archives, and cultural heritage institutions, including current trends in metadata harvesting, public access, and institutional interoperability to develop a deep understanding of the current practice and way forward for cultural heritage information access.

Lilac: Planted At Cuny Ten Years Ago And Still Blooming, Galina Letnikova

Publications and Research

CUNY’s Library Information Literacy Advisory Committee (LILAC) will celebrate its tenth anniversary in February 2015. A decade ago twenty librarians from all CUNY libraries came together to review the mission of a new professional committee and establish its charge. Since then the committee members have been working hard and have succeeded in integrating information literacy across the City University curriculum. They have been creating information literacy tutorials and assessment tools, providing support to all CUNY librarians by coordinating and running professional development meetings, seminars, and conferences. This CUNY-wide professional organization, its structure, achievements, and ongoing work deserve to serve as …

Google Vs. The Library (Part Ii): Student Search Patterns And Behaviors When Using Google And A Federated Search Tool, Helen Georgas

Publications and Research

This study examines the information-seeking behavior of undergraduate students within a research context. Student searches were recorded while the participants used Google and a library (federated) search tool to find sources (one book, two articles, and one other source of their choosing) for a selected topic. The undergraduates in this study believed themselves to be skilled researchers, but their search queries and behaviors did not support this belief. Students did not examine their topics to identify keywords and related terms. They relied heavily on the language presented to them via the list of research topics and performed natural language or …

Scaling Up: Growing Effective Eportfolio Initiatives, Bret Eynon, Laura M. Gambino, Judit Torok

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Holocaust Denial Literature Twenty Years Later: A Follow-Up Investigation Of Public Librarians' Attitudes Regarding Acquisition And Access, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

This study was undertaken to learn about public librarians' attitudes and opinions concerning the sometimes conflicting issues of intellectual freedom, collection balance, and controversial materials, and whether those attitudes and opinions have changed over twenty years. The investigation focused on Holocaust denial literature, a body of work which ranges from minimizing the Holocaust to outright denying that it happened. Public librarians in Nassau County, New York, were surveyed, and the results were compared with a similar survey from 1992. The results indicate that librarians are even more open to Holocaust denial literature than they were twenty years ago and, regardless …

Cuny Librarians And Faculty Status: Past, Present, And Future, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Librarians in the City University of New York system have held faculty ranks since 1965, but their faculty status dates back two decades further. How did they achieve faculty status and faculty ranks? What role did their professional association (LACCNY, later known as LACUNY) play? Is their status secure?

Controlling Our Vocabulary: Language Consistency In A Library Context, Mark Aaron Polger

Publications and Research

As a result of his experience as an interim academic web/systems librarian, Mark Aaron Polger embarked on a study of consistency of terminology in a library context, looking at usage across three media - promotional material, signage and websites. In this article, after reviewing the literature, he reports the results of his study, points out its limitations, and suggests ways in which the work could be taken forward.