This site – National Hispanic Heritage Month – acts as a portal to numerous relevant sites from the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Park Service, and the National Gallery of Art, all focused on the continuing presence and legacy of Hispanic Americans in every aspect of this country’s life.
Archive for Web Sites
How Emojis Have Evolved
The Emojipedia contains all emojis, their histories, and how they look across the various platforms.
Online African Studies Journals
There are two sites I wish to recommend; both feature lengthy runs of English-language titles in various disciplines: Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (along with links to other valuable resources) and the African e-Journals Project.
Library Closure on Friday, May 19, 2017
Due to upgrade work, the Library will be closed on Friday, May 19. In addition, there will be no access to the Library’s databases from 6pm, Thursday, May 18 until 6pm, Friday, May 19. We are regret the inconvenience.
Street Conditions in New York City
Do you want to find out how good or bad streets are in the city? Where parking signs are located? Is the street in question part of capital construction in the upcoming years? These questions can be answered at the NYC DOT Map. We looked at our ancestral home in Brooklyn and found that the information contained in this interactive map is a fair reflection of the present conditions of streets in the immediate area.
Useful EdTech Tools
50 Educational Technology Tools Every Teacher Should Know About pretty much says it all. The sites are broken into the following categories: social learning; learning; lesson planning and tools; and useful tools.
Online Anthropology Resources
This is by no means an extensive list and is primarily focused on North America. It does, however, some great jumping-off points for further research. Herewith:
AATA Online (from the Getty Institute. Contains over 130,000 abstracts of literature dealing with material culture); American Museum of Natural History. Scientific Publications (especially its Bulletin and Memoirs); Anthropological Index Online (Covers hundreds of journals. Hosted by the Royal Anthropological Institute and the British Museum); Anthropology Explorer (An anthropology dictionary); Anthropological Resources on the Internet (from the American Anthropological Association); Bibliography of Alfred L. Kroeber (over 500+ citations); Smithsonian: ((Online Anthropology Databases (Portals into its vast collections.)
Also, do not forget to look at Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, especially Anthropology, History and American Indians: Essays in Honor of William Curtis Sturtevant (Contribution #44). Another valuable resource is its Bureau of American Ethnology; many of its publications are both groundbreaking and of historical importance. Look at the 200 volumes of the Bulletin (#200 is an index to the entire series); and peruse its Annual Reports from 1879 to 1964)). A wonderful, systematic listing of the contents of the Bulletin, Annual Report, and Contributions to Notth American Ethnology (with links) is available here.
Reference Bibliography of Franz Boas (Yale. Works by and about him); and Wenner-Gren Symposia (online access from 2010 – . This foundation is a major supporter of anthropological research, funding Current Anthropology.)
Online Geological Sources (with an Emphasis on New Jersey)
Association of American State Geologists (includes directory to all state geological offices, many of which have free online publications); International Union of Geological Sciences; Biodiversity Heritage Library ( a consortial project of major scientific organizations that has digitized thousands of relevant volumes); Encyclopedia of Earth (an online, free, peer-viewed site); Mineral Industry of New Jersey; New Jersey Digital Environmental Library; New Jersey Geological Survey; and United States Geological Survey (visit the “publications warehouse“). And don’t forget to check out their Minerals Yearbook (earlier volumes – 1932 – 1993 Yearbooks – are also available.)
Country Cultural Information
There are several sites worth visiting to glean cultural information about various countries. While Canadian in perspective, Multicultural Canada provides a great deal of data on hundreds of ethnic groups/cultures; the details cover economic life, kinship and family, culture, religion, education, and intergroup relations. Every entry is supplemented by a well thought-out bibliography. Another Canadian site that should be looked at is Country Insights from the Centre for Intercultural Learning; dozens of countries and their cultures are examined. Countries and Their Cultures offers profiles including folklore, rites of passage, living conditions, and social problems inter alia. The Cultural Orientation Resource Center focuses on refugee populations, explaining their cultural background. Ethnomed is based out of Seattle and addresses the health and cultural concerns of the minority communities there. The CIRRIE, SUNY Buffalo, has developed a 13-volume series – The Rehabilitation Provider’s Guide to Cultures of the Foreign-Born – examining the cultural beliefs of major ethnic groups/cultures.
United Nations Online Resources
This is but a brief introduction to the plethora of online documentation provided by the United Nations. These links will serve as a jumping-off point for further research. All UN documents are numbered. A guide to the system is available from the Dag Hammarskjold Library. Online access to UN documents is available in two ways: Official Documents of the United Nations presents full-text official documentation from 1993 to the present. It also includes resolutions from the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Trusteeship Council, and the Economic and Social Council from 1946 to the present; and UNBISNET which is the catalog of the Dag Hammarskjold Library in New York and the UN Library in Geneva. It links to many full-text documents. It also allows access to voting records and speeches before the UN (most of Nelson Mandela’s speeches are available online from this portal.) The UN publishes many valuable reference sources; among those freely available online are: Yearbook of the United Nations. The entire run from 1946 is available online; you can search by multiple points. It provides a detailed summary on the UN’s activities. Demographic Yearbook, available online from 1948 to the present. Landmark General Assembly Documents which presents verbatim documents from the first plenary meetings. Population and Vital Statistics Report which contains demographic information on countries, published twice a year and available online since 2006. Statistical Yearbook which has dozens of tables on 200+ countries for the past few years. The UN Chronicle (the magazine of the UN) and UN Pulse, an alerting service from the DH Library with hyperlinked documents. Other links of interest are: UN WebTV (live and archived videos) and the United Nations Handbook (50th ed., 2012-13. Published annually by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.)
Welcome to the 2011/2012 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.
The Library will be closed from Saturday, 9/3 through Monday 9/5, and Thursday, 11/24 through Sunday, 11/27; we’ll have extended hours for exams on Thursday 12/15 through Wednesday 12/21 staying open until 11pm. A more detailed calendar is 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. 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.
Translations of pre-1700 Women Authors
This site, Other Women’s Voices, guides the reader to sites providing substantial English translations of approximately 125 women authors ranging from 2300BCE to around 1700. The translations are in modern English which adds to this site’s utility, and each entry is accompanied by biographical information. You can search chronologically or alphabetically. Obviously a labor of love.
Everything You Wanted to Know about the Bailouts/Stimulus Package
Thanks to the Columbia Journalism Review, we have a comprehensive guide to sites which deal with the current economic crisis. From government blogs to newspaper special sections, this guide – Bailout!Stimulus! – Your Essential Guide is just that. We highly recommend it.
Global Economy in Crisis
Such is the title of this Council on Foreign Relations site. Included here are interviews, “must reads,” and “essential documents.” This is a worthwhile site, aggregating many of the most important writings/reports on this topic.
Biographies of Scientists
This posting was triggered by the recent announcement that the papers and most of the writings of Charles Darwin are now available online. This site contains not only his personal writings but most, if not all, of his published work along with a treasure trove of information about him. Where else can we find accurate online information on scientists? Every academic library worthy of the name has the basic print sources which include the Dictionary of Scientific Biography and its supplement – the New Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Most good libraries also have at least one biography database; for instance, Guarini has Biography Collection Complete and Biography Reference Bank for its students and faculty. Are there other electronic resources which can be used by everyone? The answer is yes! Biographical Memoirs are brief biographies of deceased members of the National Academy of Sciences. Published since 1877, there are over 900 memoirs extant, with the vast majority available electroncially. Among those profiled are Gabriel Almond, Thomas Edison, and Glenn Seaborg. The National Library of Medicine hosts Profiles in Science which highlights leaders in 20th century biomedical research. Here you will find biographical information along with representational papers(article, documents, notes, etc) of such luminaries as Barbara McClintock and Paul Berg. Eric Weisstein’s World of Scientific Biography contains over 1,000 entries of varying lengths which can be searched via gender/minority/historical periods/branch of science/prize winners. The Galileo Project features 631 detailed biographies of the scientific community during the 16th and 17th centuries. Biographies can be searched by discipline/patronage/birthplace/religion/means of support. Infoplease presents Notable Scientists arranged by discipline; the biographies are culled from the 6th edition of the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Contemporary scientists are profiled at the Hall of Science site where biographies, interviews(both audio and video versions), and photo galleries are available. The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences provides biographical information(including patents held) as well as delineating women scientists and those who were awarded the first science PhDs. Mathematicians can be found at the MacTutor History of Mathematics site where one can search by chronological period or gender; included are interactive birthplace maps. Biographies of Women Mathematicians is replete with information with additional fillips such as a listing of the women PhDs prior to 1930 and comprehensive list of other sites to visit for both math and science biographies. Invent Now Hall of Fame includes standard biographical information along with the impact of each invention; here you can also search alphabetically by the invention name. Along the same lines, you can profit from visiting the Inventor of the Week and its archive page where you can search by inventor or field. The History of Biology site has some biographies of interest; physicists and astronomers are at this PBS site; the Center for the History of Physics has many online interviews available; and Biographies of Famous Chemists should not be overlooked. And lastly, the Nobel Prize page is a most valuable place to find biographies, interviews, and documentaries on the current and past award winners in the different subject fields.
2008 Tax Forms
“What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin.” -Mark Twain, from Mark Twain: Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches & Essays, 1891-1910. (Library of America, 1992) p.947. As unpalatable as it is, it is time to think about that annual tradition of emptying your pockets. To at least provide some solace, here are relevant sites to download 2008 tax forms along with instructions: New Jersey; New York State(which includes NYC personal income tax); other New York City forms; and Pennsylvania. Columbia University provides a good tax resources page. A listing of tax forms for other areas of the country is also available.
Atlantic Slave Trade Database
This remarkable site details over 35,000 voyages carrying millions of slaves across the Atlantic. Where possible, the ship’s name, its captain, year of voyage, and the number of slaves each trip carried are enumerated. As an example, the ship Pastora de Lima captained by Manoel Jose Dias set sail from Rio de Janeiro on August 4, 1816 bound for Mozambique where 404 slaves were embarked. The ship returned and arrived at Bahia, Brazil after a round-trip voyage of 165 days. Of the 404 slaves, 114 died during the passage, a 28.2% mortality rate. For some slave runs, there are breakdowns according to sex and age. Embedded within this site is the “African Names Database” which identifies 67,000 slaves by name and supplies addditional information; i.e., age, height, sex, voyage ID, etc. Accompanying all this, there are also informative essays, web resources, and lesson plans geared for grades 6-12. There are so many excellent online resources on slavery available; here are some of the best: The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record (over 1200 images arranged according to subject); Documents on Slavery(Avalon Project); The African American: A Journey from Slavery to Freedom(with an extensive subject-arranged bibliography); Samuel J May Anti-Slavery Collection(from Cornell University with hundreds of digital texts); Slavery in the United States(from the always dependable Spartacus Educational); The Antislavery Literature Project(arranged by type; i.e. poetry, travel accounts, etc); Born in Slavery(contains 2300 first-hand accounts of slavery) and the Frederick Douglass Papers(both from the Library of Congress); Documenting the American South; and Slavery(Encyclopaedia Britannica). Do you want to know how many slaves were held in New Jersey between 1790 and 1860 according to the census? Or what county in New Jersey accounted for most of the slaves? Try the Historical Census Browser. Hundreds of books on this topic can be read here. The American Anti-Slavery Society was foremost in decrying this “peculiar institution”; you may read their literature here.
Make me a grave wher’er you will,
In a lowly plain, or a loft hill;
Make it among earth’s humblest graves,
But not in a land where men are slaves.
Frances Harper. Bury Me in a Free Land.(1845)
Government Bailout of Auto Companies
As the CEOs of the Big Three proceed to Washington(this time in fuel-efficient hybrids) to appear before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, they have already submitted their business plans which provide for restructuring and divestiture. The New York Times has an excellent section on the bailout, including a very lucid historical overview. Other resources include: Congress Eyes Big Three Automakers’ Plans(NPR); Federal Loans to the Auto Industry Under the Energy Independence and Security Act(CRS); Auto Bailout Gains Little Traction(CQ Politics); [Speaker of the House] Pelosi, [Senate Majority Leader] Reid Call on [Treasury Secretary] Paulson to Use Authority to Provide Aid to Auto Industry (letter); Impact on the U.S. Economy of a Major Contraction of the Detroit Three Automakers(Center for Automotive Research); Say No to the Auto Bailout(Cato Institute); Offer the Big Three Automakers a Helping Hand, with Conditions(Brookings); Auto Bailout(U S News and World Report); Detroit’s Downfall(CNN); Detroit in Crisis(wsj.com); Americans Divided on Aid to Big Three Automakers(Gallup); and 61% Oppose Auto Bailout(CNN).
State Government Finances
Ever wonder where your state gets its revenue from, or how it disburses those funds? What is the total debt that your state carries? How are the lottery funds in your state administered and how much of that money is used? How heavy is the income tax burden in your state? These and other pressing questions can be found at the State Government Finances site from the US Census Bureau. You can tailor-make reports highlighting your state or pull up all fifty states for an across-the-board view. The tables go back to 1992.
European Digital Library Opens 11/20, Closes 11/20
So great was the anticipation for Europeana, the name for the European Digital Library, that when it was opened yesterday more than 10 million hits per hour crashed the site. A planned repository of millions of texts, images, sound, and film, Europeana will become a resource of the first order when it is finally back up. Over 1000 institutions from the European Union have contributed digitized collections to this vast multilingual undertaking. A nice review of the project is found here. Europeana is slated to go back up in mid-December. In the meantime, check out our de facto national library, the Library of Congress and its digital treasures.
Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library Blog 