Reference at Newman Library

Author: Stephen Francoeur

Catalog Records That Say “Please Check Shelf”

With the permission of Michael Waldman, I’m publishing here the email that he shared internally today.

There was a recent change in how Aleph handles records that have an Item Status of “Missing” and “Lost”. In the past, in the Catalog, the record was displayed as “Lost”. This was a status that Circulation would add after extensive searching. However at this time many items that were “Missing” (i.e., not fully searched) have been changed to “Lost”.

At this time however, these records are showing “Please check shelf”. I encourage you to send me any such record that you encounter for further investigation, but it is likely that the book is not available (or immediately available) and the patron should be directed to another resource.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

New Encyclopedia: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication

We now have access to one encyclopedia on Oxford’s newish platform, Oxford Research Encyclopedias. This encyclopedia of communication includes nearly 500 entries.

Links to this encyclopedia can be found on the following pages:

At the moment, there isn’t a way to search for entries to it in OneSearch.

For background on the encyclopedia, Oxford University Press offers this video:

New Database: Safari

We now subscribe to Safari, a collection of over 40,000 ebooks in information technology. This database includes all titles published by O’Reilly Media as well as titles from a number of other publishers. The collection also includes videos and a small number of case studies.

To use Safari, you’ll need to use the link on the A-Z database list (there is also a link on the ebooks databases page). Logging in to Safari from on or off campus requires a Baruch or CUNY SPS email address. Once the user provides that email, they are in. If a user wants to be able to use the iOS or Android app and read ebooks offline, they will need to set up an account with Safari using their Baruch or CUNY SPS email address and a password of their own choosing.

The vendor hopes to have their content indexed in the coming months by Ex Libris so records for each ebook can be found in the Primo discovery service (OneSearch here at CUNY).

Three New Database Trials from Gale

Through November 23, we have on and off campus access to the following three trials, all of which are linked to on the Trials tab of the databases page.

Gale Interactive: Chemistry

Vendor description: Users can manipulate and explore the periodic table, molecules, and other 3D models, allowing students to better visualize and understand concepts in chemistry. Reference and periodical content provide additional context for further understanding.

Gale Interactive: Human Anatomy

Vendor description: Users can manipulate and explore 3D models, allowing students to better visualize and understand human anatomy. Reference and periodical content provide additional context for further understanding.

Gale Small Business Builder

Note that you will have to create your own account to use the product. Look for the orange “Get Started” button in the center of the home page.

Vendor description: Gale Small Business Builder helps patrons interested in planning and optimizing their businesses or nonprofits. Built for aspiring entrepreneurs and those with existing small businesses, it provides a step-by-step process supported by a rich variety of recognized tools that enable users to produce complete business plans and other documents essential for gaining access to capital and growing their enterprise.

Please share these with relevant faculty and encourage them to use the feedback form linked to on the database trials page.