Reports on the Nominating Process, National Conventions, and Voter Identification, from the Congressional Research Service

The Republican National Convention this July in Cleveland may or may not turn into a brawl, but those who wish to be well supplied with information - in order to have a good understanding as the events unfold - may wish to look at the following report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS):

"The Presidential Nominating Process and the National Party Conventions, 2016: Frequently Asked Questions." This report provides "answers to frequently asked questions about the Presidential nominating process, including how delegates to the national conventions are chosen, differences between a caucus and a primary, national party rules changes for 2016, and information on national conventions."

The Sawyer Library recently began a subscription to a collection of CRS Reports through the vendor ProQuest. This collection may be found by starting at the Sawyer Library home page (http://www.suffolk.edu/sawlib/) > Databases by Subject > Social Sciences > Political Science > Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports.

The Congressional Research Service produces reports specifically for use by Congress. They are known for being nonpartisan reports, which typically include analysis, pro/con viewpoints, and statistics.

In preparation for Professor Rachael Cobb's upcoming talk in the Poetry Center, "Voting Rights and the 2016 Presidential Election," attendees may wish to view the following two reports from CRS:

"Voter Identification Requirements: Background and Legal Issues" updated November 03, 2014 and updated November 10, 2014.

New Database: Films on Demand

Films on Demand (FOD) is a comprehensive collection of high-quality educational videos. The Sawyer Library has unlimited access to over 17,000 videos covering a wide range of topics. Featured producers include American Experience, BBC, Films for the Humanities and Science, Ken Burns, Frontline, PBS, NOVA, Meridian, Royal Opera House, TED, and much more.

Individual segments subdivide each video creating separate shorter units. Films may be searched by title or by keywords in segments. In addition, the user may browse titles alphabetically or browse or search within subject areas. Films on Demand offers closed captioning in many videos.

Users can create custom playlists of selected clips and share them or embed playlist URLs in Blackboard or syllabi. In addition, users can create personal accounts and save films or segments in folders for easy access and organization.

All films have public performance rights and no copyright infringement worries. Proper citation formats are provided with each video so that students can cite correctly.

New Online Resource: Oxford Islamic Studies Online

Oxford Islamic Studies Online is comprised of "over 5,000 A–Z reference entries, chapters from scholarly and introductory works, Qur'anic materials, primary sources, images, maps, and timelines." Core content titles include:

• The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics
• The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World
• The Oxford History of Islam
• Two versions of the Qur'an:
  • M.A.S. Abdel Haleem's The Qur'an, a prose translation
  • The Koran Interpreted, a verse translation by A.J. Arberry
• Hanna Kassis' Concordance of the Qur'an

Frank Wedekind and his play "Spring's Awakening"

In coordination with this year's Pioneer Performance Series production of Spring Awakening, the musical, (based on a 19th century German play by Frank Wedekind), and Professor Jay Rosellini's presentation about the original work and Wedekind’s legacy in drama history, the Sawyer Library is highlighting items in the Library's collection related to the play and its German author.

The contemporary production:

• Spring Awakening
  Book and lyrics by Steven Sater ; music by Duncan Sheik. Online access via eBrary.


• Spring Awakening : In the Flesh
  Written by David Cote ; principal photography by Doug Hamilton and Joan Marcus.

The English translation of Wedekind's play:

• Spring's Awakening: Tragedy of Childhood
  By Frank Wedekind; English version and ten notes by Eric Bentley

The original play:

• Frühlings Erwachen : eine Kindertragödie
  Frank Wedekind ; mit einem Nachwort von Georg Hensel

Biography and criticism of Frank Wedekind (1864-1918):

• Frank Wedekind
  By Sol Gittleman


• Frank Wedekind
  by Alan Best

• Twentieth-Century German Dramatists, 1889-1918
  Access book at Gale's Dictionary of Literary Biography Online


• The Playwright & Historical Change; Dramatic Strategies in Brecht, Hauptmann, Kaiser & Wedekind
  By Leroy R. Shaw

German literature and culture:

• The Cambridge Companion to
  Modern German Culture
  View full text via Cambridge Online

Reviews of performances, and articles about the play, from
the New York Times, spanning from 1908 to 2008.

All are available online to Suffolk University students and staff, via
the Historic New York Times database.

• Isherwood, Charles. "Injecting Real Youth into a Youthful show." New York Times (1923-Current file): 1. Sep 15 2008. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• BELLAFANTE, GINIA. "Sex, Repressed and Unleashed." New York Times (1923-Current file): 2. Feb 09 2007. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• Isherwood, Charles. "THEATER REVIEW: A Rock 'n' Roll Heartbeat for German Schoolboys of the 19th Century." New York Times (1923-Current file): 1. Jun 16 2006. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• SISARIO, BEN. "Duncan Sheik." New York Times (1923-Current file): 1. Feb 26 2006. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• Gussow, MEL. "Stage: Juilliard Players do 'Spring Awakening'." New York Times (1923-Current file): 40. Dec 19 1977. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• Funke, LEWIS. "Theater: Wedekind's 'the Awakening of Spring': Sex-Education Sermon at Pocket Theater 1891 Play Conveys Air of a Museum Piece." New York Times (1923-Current file): 50. May 13 1964. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• Gelb, ARTHUR. "Theatre: Dated Sermon: 'Spring's Awakening'Is an Essay on Sex." New York Times (1923-Current file): 30. Oct 10 1955. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• "COURT BARS SEX PLAY: Justice Erlanger Finds "The Awakening of Spring" Unfit for Public." New York Times (1857-1922): 13. May 03 1917. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• "THE AWAKENING OF SPRING": A Tragedy of Childhood by the German Playwright, Frank Wedekind." New York Times (1857-1922): 1. Oct 01 1910. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.


• Special Cable to THE NEW,YORK TIMES. "CHILD ACTORS SEEN IN GERMAN SEX PLAY." New York Times (1857-1922): 9. Oct 29 1908. ProQuest. Web. 8 Jan. 2015.

Please excuse our dust and noise ...

The Sawyer Library is in the process of removing books and bound periodicals from the collection to make way for more seating for students.

We apologize for the dust and noise that this effort creates.

New Database: Women's Periodicals of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century, 1733-1844

Sawyer Library's third recent acquisition of historic content is Ebsco's Women's Periodicals of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century, 1733-1844.

It is described as being "one of three collections containing women's-related periodicals that span the 18th through the 19th century and represent a broad range of subjects and places of publication. This series draws heavily from the Colonial through the Jacksonian Era, spanning roughly from the 1730's-1840's. Because almost all of the women's periodicals by nature covered many topics, the titles included in this collection highlight radically changing perceptions of womanhood and ideas about the role of women over time. Some representative titles are:

• the Lady's Monthly Museum or Polite Repository of Amusment and Instruction,
• the Ladies' Companion,
• the Lady's Book
• and Margret Fuller's Transcendentalist publication, the Dial."

New Database: 'Scientific Periodicals, 1771-1901'

In addition to the periodical database discussed below, the Sawyer Library has also added the Ebsco database 'Scientific Periodicals, 1771-1901.' Ebsco's database description states:

"The Scientific Periodicals, 1771-1901 collection contains publications related chiefly to the hard sciences: mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, physics, geology (including mining), and the like. It also contains a few social sciences titles and literary magazines with science content." Titles include:

• The Anthropological Journal
• Astronomical Notices
• The American Chemist
• The American Journal of Microscopy and Popular Science
• The Canadian Naturalist and Geologist
• Popular Science Monthly.

This database is a nice complement to JSTOR, which also includes journals in the sciences, in some cases with coverage going back as far as the mid 1800's.

New Database: 'Current Events and History Periodicals, 1691-1912 '

The Sawyer Library has recently added an online collection of periodicals which cover the period 1691-1912. The vendor, Ebsco, describes the collection as follow:

"The Current Events and History Periodicals 1691-1912 collection consists primarily of publications about the current events of the 18th and 19th centuries. These include regular reports on economics and government affairs, with titles such as:

• the New England Post Office Record,
• the Political State of Great Britain,
• and the Social Science Review.

Also strongly represented in this collection is as group of periodicals dedicated to local news and interests, including:

• Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society,
• Collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
• Mad River Valley Pioneer,
• and Bowen's Boston News Letter.

In addition, there are many titles that take the country's history as their main subject:

• Lexington and Concord Centennial 1775,
• Stars and Stripes in Rebellion,
• The Scorpion: A Journal Devoted to the Interests of the Privateersman,
• the Historical Family Library,
• the Picture Gallery of the New and Old Worlds,
• and the Antiquarian and General Review,

to name but a few."

Students who are looking for contemporaneous accounts of events from that time period may find something of use here.

New Database: The World Bank eLibrary

The Sawyer Library has recently added a subscription to the The World Bank eLibrary.

"The eLibrary offers full-text access to the complete backlist of all books, working papers, and journal articles published by the World Bank since the 1990s."

Topics covered by the eLibrary include "more than 20 disciplines related to poverty, development, and social science including economic and human development, agriculture, infrastructure, health, education, climate change, natural resources, and regional integration."

New Database: The Chronicle of Higher Education

Sawyer Library has recently added a subscription to the The Chronicle of Higher Education website. It is available to all current Suffolk University students, faculty, and staff, from the Sawyer Library web page (with authentication via a current Suffolk ID number, when off campus).

From the center widget box on the Sawyer Library home page > select the Databases Tab > then either choose the A-Z list, or select: Social Sciences > Education.

The Chronicle is the #1 source of news and information within the world of higher education.

OneSearch

The Sawyer Library has recently contracted with EBSCO's Discovery Service, to offer a 'OneSearch' option to identify library resources. As described by EBSCO, the OneSearch function strives to provide:

• "A fast, single search of your [library's] collection
• Comprehensive content
• Highly-refined relevancy ranking
• Elaborate indexing (subject headings, etc.)
• The inclusion of high-end indexes
• Enhanced catalog treatment & handling of repositories
• A full-featured discovery layer user experience
• Instant access to full text (whenever available)."

Google has been the ultimate catalyst for libraries to re-visit their methods of presenting their resources. Traditionally, content has been organized by subject (business, literature, social sciences, etc.), and to a certain extent format (books vs. articles; print vs. online). A 'Google-like' single search interface, such as OneSearch, intermingles all of the above, and then displays a variety of limiters along the margin of the screen, to enable users to narrow down their results.

"OneSearch" is the default option in the center widget box of the Sawyer Library homepage. (The 'classic' online catalog, and the periodical databases are all still available as before.) Since there is a good deal of behind-the-scenes effort that must go into to making such a system function seamlessly, we currently have our OneSearch labeled as being in 'beta.' Afterall, Google, having been founded in 1998, has a 16 year headstart.

Help Us Choose Books for the Sawyer Library

Patron Driven Acquisition - Help Us Buy Books

 

Sawyer Library has initiated a Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA) program with eBrary titles.  These new titles are listed below.  A PDA program means books are purchased only if they are used.

If you are interested in reading any of these books, open one and print a page or two or view it for at least 10 minutes, and we will purchase the book.  

Simply search the title in the Suffolk University catalog.

Childism : Confronting Prejudice Against Children

Rise of Female Kings in Europe, 1300-1800

Sudan and Darfur, and Darfur : What Everyone Needs to Know

Sex and the Office : A History of Gender, Power, and Desire

Fandom Unbound : Otaku Culture in a Connected World

Women in Business : Navigating Career Success

Millennials and the Workplace : Challenges for Architecting the Organizations of Tomorrow

Politics of Crowds

Strangers at the Gates

Population History of the United States

Last Season of Innocence : The Teen Experience in the 1960's

Generational Use of New Media

Facing Fear : The History of an Emotion in Global Perspective

Buy It Now : Lessons from EBay

Humanity : A Moral History of the Twentieth Century, Second Edition

State and the Stork : The Population Debate and Policy Making in US History

Drugs for Life : How Pharmaceutical Companies Define Our Health

Bloomberg Financial : Wealth Regeneration at Retirement : Planning for a Lifetime of Leadership

Climate Change and Human Mobility

Pay : Why People Earn What They Earn and What You Can Do Now to Make More

Aging and the Art of Living

Unlikely Secret Agent

Social Innovation : Blurring Boundaries to Reconfigure Markets

Managing Corporate Social Responsibility : A Communication Approach

Leaderless Economy : Why the World Economic System Fell Apart and How to Fix It

Demography of Roman Italy

Foreign Intervention in Africa

Peasants, Citizens and Soldiers

Global Crisis : War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century

Do Good Well : Your Guide to Leadership, Action, and Social Innovation

TRIOS : Occupy : Three Inquiries in Disobedience

Au Pair (2nd Edition)

Global Political Hot Spots : Congo (2nd Edition)

Excess : Anti-consumerism in the West

Human Capitalism : How Economic Growth Has Made Us Smarter - and More Unequal

Children and the Internet

Cosmopolitanism and Culture

Liberalization in Aviation : Competition, Cooperation and Public Policy

Creating a New Civilization through Social Entrepreneurship

Population, Fear, and Uncertainty : The Global Spread of Fertility Decline (2nd Edition)

After the Death of Childhood

Timewatch : The Social Analysis of Time

Evolutionary Psychology : A Clinical Introduction

Society under Siege

Immigrant Women Workers in the Neoliberal Age

Ringtone Dialectic : Economy and Cultural Form

Third Industrial Revolution in Global Business

Mass Flourishing : How Grassroots Innovation Created Jobs, Challenge, and Change

Identity, Citizenship, and Violence in Two Sudans : Reimagining a Common Future

Protestantism and Progress : A Historical Study of the Relation of Protestantism to the Modern World

Communities and Networks : Using Social Network Analysis to Rethink Urban and Community Studies

Fangasm : Supernatural Fangirls

Information Society : Issues and Illusions

New Cold War History : Visions of Freedom : Havana, Washington, Pretoria, and the Struggle for Southern Africa, 1976-1991

Short History of the Twentieth Century

MIT Press Essential Knowledge : Memes in Digital Culture

Empire of the Air : Aviation and the American Ascendancy

Transport and Society : Strategies for Sustainable Mobilities : Opportunities and Challenges

Digital Politics in Western Democracies : A Comparative Study

What Everyone Needs to Know : Economic Development : What Everyone Needs to Know

Fan CULTure : Essays on Participatory Fandom in the 21st Century

Cultural Politics of Media and Popular Culture : Media and the Rhetoric of Body Perfection : Cosmetic Surgery, Weight Loss and Beauty in Popular Culture

Collaborative Media : Production, Consumption, and Design Interventions

Social Movements in Global Politics

Financial Management Association Survey and Synthesis : Too Much Is Not Enough : Incentives in Executive Compensation

Consuming Work : Youth Labor in America

TechnoFeminism

Where the Negroes Are Masters : An African Port in the Era of the Slave Trade

Will the Middle East Implode?

Modern Intellectual and Political History of the Middle East : Raging Against the Machine : Political Opposition Under Authoritarianism in Egypt

Wasted Lives : Modernity and Its Outcasts

In 100 Years : Leading Economists Predict the Future

Global Development Crisis

Twentieth-Century Europe : A Brief History (3rd Edition)

Beyond Sustainability : A Thriving Environment

Violent Accounts : Understanding the Psychology of Perpetrators Through South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Ain't Got No Home : America's Great Migrations and the Making of an Interracial Left

Protest Inc. : The Corporatization of Activism

People, Planet and Profit : Socio-Economic Perspectives of CSR

Connecting the Greater West Series : Working Women into the Borderlands

Modern African Writing Series : 491 Days : Prisoner Number 1323/69

Operation Paper Cut

In case you haven't heard about the (University wide) changes in printing - the University has instituted "Operation Paper Cut."

This change impacts all print stations in the library.

It also requires both new and returning students to install the Paper Cut software, and (re-)install the wireless printers on to their own laptops.

Below is a link to instructions regarding the laptops. (Don't panic - Monday - Friday, during regular business hours, staff will be on hand to assist with this procedure.)

Connecting Wirelessly to the Library's Printers, Under the New Paper Cut System

Meebo Instant Messaging

What is Meebo?

While reading the Mildred F. Sawyer Library Blog, you may have noticed the box on the right side of the page that reads “SawLib.LiveHelp." The Reference staff is now offering a means for the Suffolk University community to ask a question using Meebo, which is an instant messaging system. Simply go to the library blog page and type a question. You are automatically signed-in to Meeboquest. When you send us a message, we will try to answer immediately. In addition to our telephone and email services, Meebo is another way for our patrons to obtain reference service.

If Librarians are not currently available...

If reference librarians are not available, the Meebo box will read "Away,"
"e-mail us instead." In this case, please email your question to sawlib@suffolk.edu or call 617-573-8532. Occasionally Meebo accidently logs us out, and the message in Meebo box reads,"leave a message." The Meebo system does not, however, actually leave us messages, therefore it is important to use email or phone as your alternative means of reaching us.

What kind of questions may I ask?

We will attempt to answer all of your questions about library resources and
services. Any question you might ask at the Reference Desk is appropriate.
In order to answer your questions fully, you may be asked to email the
librarian or to schedule a research consultation.

[FIND Meebo on the Mildred F. Sawyer Blog Page]

Sawyer Library Expands Weekend Hours

Thanks to University funding of additional staff hours, the Mildred F. Sawyer Library is happy to announce that we have expanded our weekend hours. We are opening earlier and closing later on both Saturday and Sunday to allow students to better utilize our library facilities and services. Hours on Saturday will now be 8am to 8pm. And on Sunday our hours will now be 11am to 11pm.

To check on our regular hours and any planned changes, please check this Library hours page.

Since hours can change during holidays, breaks, inter-sessions, and major national holidays, it never hurts to consult this page as you do your research planning. Keep in mind, especially during the coldest and stormiest days of winter, that if the University closes because of inclement weather, the library will close, as well.

Because our hours page is part of a University webpage server which only updates once daily (at best), if there are any weather changes, your best bet is simply to pay attention to notices you receive from the University notification system or information found on the University homepage or closure announcements that can be found on most local TV stations.

With more hours to serve you, we look forward to seeing you at the library this Spring Semester!

Library News: Magnificent Map Presented to the Library

If you've visited the Poetry Center or Paul's Copy Center office on the Library's 3rd floor recently, perhaps you have seen the large, magnificent map that now resides on the wall opposite the group study tables on 3. If not, please do come by and take a look. It is a fascinating piece of cartographic history!

It is a centuries-old map of Africa. And here are a few details:

Nova Africae Geographica Et Hydrographica Descriptio
Blaeu-Jaillot Wall Map of Africa [Paris, 1669]

46 ¼ x 66 inches; 16 sheets (including text & title) joined & mounted on new linen, encased in a fine Dutch-style archival frame.

This Blaeu-Jaillot map is very rare and exceptionally well-preserved. It stands as the visually richest map of Africa produced during the Golden Age of Mapmaking. It is the first edition of the Paris plates. Alexis-Hubert Jaillot faithfully re-engraved Willem Blaeu’s map of 1608 capturing all the verve and visual drama of its Dutch model, but rendering it more accessible and readable by providing the text panels in both French and Latin and by translating place names into French. Particularly striking are the illustrations of ships engaged in battle or confronting sea monsters or monstrous seas. Notable is the variation in the conventional Neptune depiction of the sea-god, as well as the cartouche with a European woman flanked by two African women, and a border displaying contemporary depictions of costumes and centers of trade. The interior of the image of Africa teems with images of wildlife of all kinds.

This is an amazing historical document, and it is the very generous gift of Dr. Gerald Rizzo, the founder of the AFRITERRA Foundation, which is a a non-profit cartographic library and archive assembling and preserving the original rare maps of Africa.

For more on the Afriterra Foundation and and the Afriterra Collection, visit their website, where you will find many other digitized maps of Africa for armchair exploration!