Congratulations to our colleagues who have received PSC-CUNY Research Awards under cycle 41. The range of research interests of CUNY library faculty is reflected in the many panels that granted awards: the Library Panel, the Art History Panel, the Urban Studies Panel, and the Creative Writing Panel.
Ballmer, Amy (Assistant Professor, Library, Graduate Center; Library Panel)
Indexing the Artist Journal
The artist journal differs from the art journal in that it is created by or in collaboration with artists from the scene it documents, rather than critics and scholars. In an art journal, the artist is commented upon, in an artist journal it is the artist doing the commenting. While online and print indexes such as the Bibliography of the History of Art, Art Full Text and Art Bibliographies Modern index hundreds of art journals, important artist journals remain unindexed and therefore unknown or inaccessible to researchers. My project aims to improve knowledge of and access to these invaluable journals. I intend to research and index selected American and European artist journals from the 1960s and 1970s. The index I create will be published in both print and electronic formats and will guide researchers to the artworks, artist projects, interviews, and documentation present in these artist journals. This resource will also include information about the journals’ histories, creators, publishers and the journals’ place in the larger story of modern and contemporary art. My intention is to open new avenues of scholarship and, in a broad sense, advocate for the historical value of these unique journals
Bonous-Smit, Barbara (Associate Professor, Library, Queensborough Community College; Library Panel)
Directory of Numismatic Libraries
This project, a study and directory of numismatic libraries in the United States and around the world, will include the names, locations, history, research holdings, policies, organization of the holdings, and other relevant information about these libraries. The information for the numismatic libraries directory will be gathered via online and e-mail surveys created by the author and sent to each library. The names of the libraries to be surveyed will be taken from various sources.
Brown, Robin (Assistant Professor, Library, Borough of Manhattan Community College; Library Panel)
Research Trip to the American Library Association Archives in Urbana, IL
Collins, Kathleen (Assistant Professor, Library, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; Library Panel)
See It Now” and “All in the Family”: Two edutainment bibliographies
Georgas, Helen (Assistant Professor, Library, Brooklyn College; Library Panel)
Google vs. The Library: A Comparison of Undergraduate Preferences and Perceptions When Doing Research Using Google and Federated Searching
Google has long asserted its dominance as a search tool for undergraduates. It's fast, it's easy, and it provides "good enough" results. In the last few years, federated searching has been implemented by libraries as an alternative to Google for more easily searching across multiple electronic resources. The purpose of this study is to compare undergraduate search results, preferences, and perceptions when searching for research resources using both Google and
a federated search tool.
Kaser, James (Professor, Library, College of Staten Island; Library Panel)
New Orleans in Fiction
Klein, Stephen (Higher Education Officer, Library, Graduate School; Library Panel)
Usability Testing of and Academic Research Library Website
The pace of new technology implemented within academic library websites may have outpaced the transparent usability of search systems. Although results might not be authoritatively reliable, Google’s great strength lay in its simplicity. Regretfully, many academic library website designs lack Google’s simplicity and require librarians and patrons to attempt to keep pace with solving the complex browsing puzzle of search offerings. A plethora of search options are available within academic library websites; with the traditional OPAC, research sites now contain e-journal finders and databases. In addition to these virtual search options, which mimic real world analogs, are embedded URL resolvers, such as SFX, which have the potential to further confuse users about the search process if not presented within the context of library instruction and reliable documentation. Using usability testing software and allowing for a “Think Aloud,” I would like to record how anonymous users use the Mina Rees Library Website, and attempt to find some patterns to inform better implementation, redesign and instruction
Ma, Jin (Assistant Professor, Library, Baruch College; Library Panel)
User Tagging versus Indexing: An Examination of Tagging Practices for Scholarly Articles
Marcus, Sara (Assistant Professor, Library, Queensborough Community College; Library Panel)
Ubergeek Wil Wheaton: A Bibliographic Essay
This project will produce a bibliographic essay discussing the author, blogger, actor, and techno-guru Wil Wheaton in relation to geek culture and Web 2.0. This essay will include literary criticism of selected writings and works in other media by Wheaton. This project is of importance to those involved in the Geek Culture as Wheaton himself is an important person in the Geek Culture. Wheaton is a self-proclaimed geek, who runs Linux, enjoys programming, and playing lots of computer games (Loli-Queru, 2002). Wheaton is proud of his geekdom, and in his writings and podcasts shares his experiences from a decidedly geeky point of view (Erica, 2009).
Mohan, Kannan (Associate Professor, Computer Information Systems, Baruch College) & Michael Waldman (Associate Professor, Library, Baruch College; Library Panel)
Examining Media Richness in Using Electronic Books and Electronic Book Readers
Nagra, Kanu (Assistant Professor, Library, Borough of Manhattan Community College; Library Panel)
E-metrics: An Annotated Bibliography
The goal of the project is to perform an in-depth study of e-metrics in libraries. The purpose is to prepare a book length annotated bibliography and literature guide to the English language E-metrics literature for libraries. The project will be very beneficial to library professionals interested in increasing their knowledge in e-metrics. It will fill a gap by creating an e-metrics bibliography. The bibliography will cover all the aspects related to e-metrics in chronological order in different categories. It will be comprehensive and will include various surveys, studies, history of topics, definitions, data types, diverse interface environments, emerging technology’s information applications, vendor reports, technicalities, preparations, networked resources and services, measurement methods, standards , and projects/efforts done so far nationally and internationally for e-metrics. The investigator will participate in the Association of Research Libraries’ upcoming conference related to e-metrics in Baltimore, Maryland, in October 2010 to keep the research work updated and current with latest developments in the field.
Regalado, Mariana (Associate Professor, Library, Brooklyn College) & Maura Smale (Assistant Professor, Library, NYC College of Technology; Library Panel)
The Scholarly Habits of Undergraduate Students at CUNY, Phase II
This project uses qualitative, ethnographic methods to examine the information-seeking and scholarly behavior patterns of undergraduate students across multiple campuses at the City University of New York (CUNY).This research expands and builds on an ongoing project begun in Spring 2009 at New York City College of Technology (City Tech) and Brooklyn College. In the second year of this study we examine undergraduate research methods at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) and the City College of New York (CCNY), and conduct focus groups with undergraduates and faculty at City Tech and Brooklyn College. This expanded project represents an important contribution to recent qualitative studies of undergraduates, which have largely focused on students at residential campuses. Phase II of this study will allow us to explore the broad diversity of the undergraduate experience in the urban, public, commuter colleges that make up the CUNY system.
Tang, Jennifer (Assistant Professor, Library, Hostos Community College; Creative Writing Panel)
Running with Chopsticks: A Memoir of My Mother's Mental Illness
The project involves the completion of a memoir that deals with Asian-American mental illness.
Shen, Zuwang (Assistant Professor, Library, Bronx Community College; Library Panel)
Consumer Welfare, Consumer Activism and Consumer Protection in China
Tan, Wendy (Associate Professor, Library, Hunter College)
American First Ladies as Goodwill Ambassadors During Their White House Years: Based on the Collections in Libraries
