Reference at Newman Library

New Database: Health Poll Database

We now have access to a second database from the Roper Center called Health Poll Database. Here is their description of it:

The Health Poll database is the most comprehensive database for health-related U.S. survey questions, covering eighty years of national polling. Searchable questions and results, demographic crosstabs, and trends are available on every topic related to health, from social determinants and influences on health to insurance, costs and health-care utilization.

Access to this database is available on and off campus via links found on the following pages of the library website:

Please share news about this new resource with faculty and students you work with.

New Database Subscription: African American Newspapers (Readex)

We now have access to a great collection of primary sources that offers newspaper articles from hundreds of papers from 1827-1998. Links to this database can be found on these pages:

Please share the news of this with faculty and students you work with.

Updates to the Technology Loan Service Page

Jeff Lynch and I just finished updating the Technology Loan Service page on the library website so that it reflects current policies and inventory. Here are some notable changes:

  • Chromebooks are now featured on the page
  • Loan periods have been simplified (there used to be a lot of loan periods for the laptops)
  • We’ve put more of a spotlight on how some items have semester-long loan periods while others have shorter ones
  • New FAQ about returning items sent by mail during the period when the library was closed during the pandemic

Study Rooms Page Is Updated

With guidance from Access Services (especially Jeffrey Lynch), Arthur Downing, and Joseph Hartnett, I’ve updated the Study Rooms page so that the current COVID-era policies are integrated into the page instead of being tacked on at the top of the page:

  • No reservations (first-come, first-served only)
  • Keys checked out for 2 hours
  • Rooms have no minimum number of users (this is to allow more people to use the rooms for things like taking online courses and job interviews)
  • CUNY SPS students can check out keys for any room just as Baruch students can (although there is one room set aside for them that will get used first for CUNY SPS students needing a room)

This week I hope to have the “STUDY ROOMS” box on the home page updated so that it no longer links to the defunct room reservation system.

Service and Policy Updates on the Library Website for Fall 2022

This fall, you’ll want to look on relevant library web pages for the latest policies regarding library services instead of going to a semester-specific post on the library news blog. I am working with lots of different folks to draft those page revisions and will be publishing the updates in the coming days.

One notable change that is already live on the site is that Baruch alumni can now come into our library again. Please note that proof of vaccination status will be required and the protocols of the CUNY visitor policy will apply. See the current Alumni page for details. [NOTE: This policy just changed again. Baruch alumni will not have access this fall.]

Another notable change is that the login page for remote access to databases and licensed content has changed so that all Baruch and CUNY SPS users will enter their CUNY Login. There is no longer an option for those users to enter a Baruch username and password or an SPS-issued username and password. I have updated the Logging in to Library Resources page to reflect this change.

We are nearly done testing the remote login for the O’Reilly database that will also begin using the CUNY Login (remote access has long been handled not through our proxy server but instead a SAML connection). As soon as we make the switch from Baruch username/password to CUNY Login, I’ll post that here on the blog.

If you see any website content that doesn’t accurately reflect how we are currently offering services and resources, please let me know. The next pages to see updates will be the Study Rooms and the Technology Loan Services ones.

Browsing Headlines in Factiva

Last year, Factiva moved the feature that let you browse the daily headlines for major publications from its own standalone page (“News Pages”) to a box on the “Home” page. When you first click into Factiva, you land in the “Search” page. To view the “Newsstand,” click the “Home” navigation option at the top and then scroll down the page.

Instructions for how to get to this handy display has been updated on the following research guides:

Three Ways to Get a List of Subsidiaries

A recent reference question forced me to re-learn how to find a list of subsidiary companies and their addresses. In the past, Corporate Affiliations was my go-to for this question, but now that that database is defunct, I had to look for other options. Here are three to try out:

Business Insights: Global

Once you find the detail page on a company, look for the “View Company Hierarchy” icon:

Screenshot of sample company detail page in Business Insights: Global

Reference Solutions

Look for the “Corporate Tree” icon on a company detail page:

Screenshot of company detail page in Reference Solutions

Uniworld Online

Thanks to Harold Gee for reminding me of this database! This one offers the most search options, info, and functionality (e.g., you can download results in an Excel file and have the foreign and domestic subsidiaries broken out separately).

Screenshot of Uniworld Online

UPDATE: See the comments to this blog post for more options, including “Corporate Affiliations” within the Nexis Uni database.

New Content in HeinOnline on LGBTQ+ Rights

HeinOnline just expanded our access to include a collection of legal and historical materials that surrounding the efforts in the United States to define and defend LGBTQ+ rights:

LGBTQ+ Rights charts the gay rights movement in America, showing the civil rights codified into law in the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as the inequalities that still exist today. Topics covered include the Defense of Marriage Act, the AIDS crisis, military service by gay and transgender service members, “bathroom bills,” and more. A separate subcollection presents historical texts whose views some readers may find offensive today, showing the prejudicial beliefs that permeated society and helped formed the laws of their time.

Over the years, HeinOnline has been adding all kinds of topical legal materials and government documents that offer a historical perspective on key issues in American history. When you first go to HeinOnline, you can drill down to one of these specific collections by selecting from the dropdown menu in the search bar or by clicking the collection from the list lower down on the page:

HeinOnline landing page listing collections.

Please share news of this new collection with faculty in relevant departments.

New Database: Chicago Defender

We now have access to the Chicago Defender on ProQuest’s Historical Newspapers platform. Coverage for this important newspaper goes from 1909-2010. As is the case with other newspapers that we have on this platform (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Amsterdam News), coverage includes not just the articles but also ads and all the images in the articles and ads.

A link to the database may be found on the A-Z databases page and selected subject database pages (News, Black Studies, and History).

Although you can look up a journal record for the Chicago Defender in OneSearch, you won’t be able to find articles from it there. Instead, you’ll need to connect to the database itself and search within it. This is due to limitations in way that Ex Libris has made this collection available within Primo (our OneSearch system).

Please let faculty in relevant departments know about this valuable new resource.