Founded in 1978 at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy focuses on the ever-changing challenges of the diplomatic field. Of interest is its publications page where various books, reports, and briefing papers are freely available; they range from the edited volume titled Diplomacy, Development and Security in the Information Age to a working paper on Sailing Against the Current – China-U.S. Relations in the Next Stage.
Archive for August, 2014
Welcome to the 2014/15 Academic Year!
We at the Library extend best wishes and felicitations to both new and returning students. Please remember that we are here to help you, no matter what your information needs. The regular hours for the Library look like this: Monday-Thursday 7:30am – 10pm; Friday 7:30am – 5pm; Saturday 9am – 5pm; Sunday 11am – 5pm . Changes to the schedule are here.
Here are some handy NJCU sites for you. When you need to contact a department or faculty member, use the university’s online campus directories. To purchase textbooks for your courses and to see if there are used cheaper copies or a rental option, access the bookstore. If you need to consult master course lists or catalogs, you may come to the Library or peruse the latest versions here. And let us not forget the Office of Campus Life. Since parking is at such a premiun around here, familiarize yourself with the parking rules and regulations. For those taking mass transportation, check this NJ Transit site. Cafeteria hours, menus, specials, etc are available at this Gourment Dining site. All students should read the NJCU Student Handbook – the Gothic Guide(2010 draft) – and be familiar with NJCU’s Academic Integrity Policy, Copyright Policy and Related Guidelines, and its Responsible Use of Computing Resources; other student policies should also be consulted. Also, please peruse the award-winning Gothic Magazine, read The Gothic Times (your student newspaper) and keep up with the Gothic Knights sports teams at this official and informative site. Learn about NJCU through this informative historical timeline and visit the accolade-laden Jersey City Past and Present. Make the most of your time here
2015 Federal Court Procedures Online
The following titles that apply to federal courts are now freely accessible online: 2015 Federal Rules of Evidence, 2015 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and 2015 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Each volume contains crosslinks to rules within the other rules books as well as to relevant sections of the U.S. Code.
The Writings of Florence Nightingale
While there does now exist a 16-volume compilation of Nightingale’s writings, this worthy project is not freely accessible online. To remedy that situation, the following sites should be consulted for some of her writings that are available online: many of her publications are listed and linked here at the Online Books Page; she was a prolific letter writer and several sites are repositories – Florence Nightingale Letters at the University of British Columbia, Florence Nightingale Letters Collection at the University of Illinois at Chicago, A Selection of Letters Written by Florence Nightingale at the University of Kansas, and the Digitising Nightingale site from the Florence Nightingale Museum that came online in 2014 and contains over 1900 letters. All of these sites feature transcriptions of the letters for easier reading.
Final Report on Phoenix VA Health Care System Lapses
The document – Review of Alleged Patient Deaths, Patient Wait Times, and Scheduling Practices at the Phoenix VA Health Care System – by the VA Office of Inspector General reveals that “The patient experiences described in this report revealed that access barriers adversely affected the quality of primary and specialty care at the PVAHCS.” (6) Cases are examined and recommendations are made.
A Brief Interview with President Henderson
President Henderson recently met with the editorial board of the Jersey Journal. Here is the result.
Governor Christie Names Nine Members of Pension Panel
Governor Christie has appointed nine individuals to his pension review panel. What is of interest in that two of the members, Thomas Healey and Carl Hess, co-authored a 2012 Harvard paper entitled Underfunded Public Pensions in the United States:The Size of the Problem, the Obstacles to Reform and the Path Forward that has the following recommendations:
- Eliminate legislative end runs around the collective bargaining process (i.e., sweeteners). Benefits would be either negotiated or legislated, but not both.
- Eliminate final-salary plans in favor of final average compensation (FAC), career average or hybrid (e.g., cash balance) designs.
- Reduce/eliminate postretirement cost-of-living adjustments, or make them subject to affordability (possibly conditioned on funded status).
- Tighten up eligibility for heavily subsidized benefits, such as disability and early retirement.
- Tighten up eligibility for overtime hours to reduce opportunities for pension padding.
- Raise the age of eligibility for full retirement benefits. When early retirement is offered, it should be actuarially fair.
- Reduce benefit accruals (i.e., use lower percentages of compensation to calculate benefit accruals).
- Combine pensions with Social Security participation.
- Raise employee contributions (Harvard Kennedy School, News and Events)
Online Primary Sources for American History: Civil War Personal Narratives
Scattered throughout various sites pertaining to the Civil War, one can find personal letters and reminiscences by participants on both sides. A simple search through HathiTrust turns up over 1000 titles for both the Confederate and Union sides. But there are other multi-volume sources that might be missed, depending on one’s search strategy. Herewith are some excellent sites. The Military Order of the Loyal Legions of the United States (MOLLUS), was founded in 1865 and was composed of Union veterans. Between 1887 and 1915 a 70-volume War Papers series (index here) was published under its auspices containing hundreds of first-hand accounts of Union soldiers and sailors. Almost 50% of the above volumes are available at the MOLLUS site with selected excerpts from other tomes. Additional publications from the various states are found here; you can also look at minutes of annual meetings as well. The Confederate side is represented by two series: Confederate Veteran and the Southern Historical Society Papers. The former title is comprised of 40 volumes published between 1893 and 1932; the first 30 volumes are accessible online. A personal name index is available. The latter title was published in 52 volumes between 1876 and 1943; the first 41 volumes are accessible along with an author/subject index for the first 38 volumes. Altogether, these three series provide thousands of eyewitness accounts from both sides of the struggle. Well worth the time.
Resources on the 2014 Ebola Outbreak
The Disaster Information Management Research Center of the National Library of Medicine has issued a comprehensive tool on this newest manifestation of Ebola – Ebola Outbreak 2014 – Information Resources. Ranging from federal and international organizations to journal literature, this guide provides a wide variety of important information sources on this dread disease. Of particular note is the constant updating of the periodical literature; this is not a static resource. Also, please consult this CRS report – The 2014 Ebola Outbreak: International and U.S. Responses.
The Manhattan Project History
This 36-volume history has finally, with certain exceptions, been made available in its entirety online. The work, known as the Manhattan District History, traces the development of the atomic bomb from legislative contacts (volume 4) to the formation of the ALSOS Mission (volume 14). Additional information is at: i09 and the Manhattan Project: An Interactive History.
New Jersey Teacher Salaries, 2013/14
NJ Spotlight presents a lengthy list of school salaries sortable by last name, first name, district, or school name. In addition, it features an interactive map as well as a table listing the average salary by district.
Online British Dissertations
The EThOS system from the British Library is a portal to dissertations generated by 129 British institutions. Currently, over 350,000 dissertations are listed here with over 120,000 freely available online. One must remember that the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database primarily covers United States and Canadian research; to access other work, you need to go to EThOS or Dart-Europe.
Hard-to-Find Facts About New York City
How many pay phones are left in New York City? When people move out of the city, where do they go? Are the city’s affordable housing goals being met? All these questions and more can be answered in New York City by the Numbers from the New York City Independent Budget Office. This blog is arranged both chronologically and by category; free text searching is also available. Every entry is supported by facts and charts, making it easy to digest the data being presented. BTW, there are 11,249 payphones left in the city as of January 2013.
Recent Reports on Unaccompanied Children Crossing the Border
Here are some major reports focusing on this issue: Why Children are Fleeing Central America (Bread for World Institute);Child Migrants to the United States (National Conference on State Legislatures); Nearly 7-in-10 Americans See Unaccompanied Children at Border as Refugees, Not Illegal Immigrants (Public Religion Research Institute); Unaccompanied Children Released to Sponsors By State (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of Refugee Resettlement); Children on the Run UN High Commission on Refugees); White House Weighs Options On Surge In Unaccompanied Children At U.S.- Mexico Border (Diane Rehm Show); and these CRS reports – Unaccompanied Alien Children: Potential Factors Contributing to Recent Immigration, Unaccompanied Alien Children – Legal Issues: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, and Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview.
Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library Blog 