By Q. Joan Xu, Assistant Professor, Data Services and Business Librarian and Eric Silberberg, Assistant Professor, Instructional Design & Education Librarian
The Queens College Library is pleased to present the Data Services Workshop Series, offering free, hands-on training sessions designed to enhance your data knowledge, management, and analysis skills. These free workshops are open to the entire QC community and will cover business data resources, data analysis with R, building AI tools with Python, and research data management.
Workshop 1: Data Resources for Business Research
This workshop will introduce essential business data resources that support and empower business research and entrepreneurship. Topics include data-driven and data-informed approaches and competitive analysis. Led by Qiong Xu, Data Services and Business Librarian.
This workshop will introduce the basics of using R and RStudio to analyze data for research. No prior programming experience is required; having knowledge and experience with another statistical software package (such as SPSS or SAS) will be helpful. Topics include R packages and syntax; RStudio Interface; Data importing, exploring, analysis, and saving. Led by Qiong Xu, Data Services and Business Librarian.
Workshop 3: Build Your Own AI Tools with Python and Gemini
In this workshop you’ll learn how to use Google Gemini Flash 1.5 language model and Python to create custom AI tools. Beginner experience with Python is required. Topics include Gemini API calls and prompt engineering. Led by Eric Silberberg, Instructional Design and Education Librarian.
Workshop 4: Introduction to Research Data Management (RDM)
This workshop will cover the basics of research data management (RDM) for data sharing and publication. Topics include benefits of RDM, Data storage & sharing strategies. Led by Qiong Xu, Data Services and Business Librarian.
As a current student in the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, working in the Queens College Library to process the Helen Marshall Papers over the past 5 months has been an invaluable learning experience for which I am incredibly grateful. Helen Marie Marshall (1929–2017) was an American politician and community organizer who served in the various elected positions of New York State Assemblymember, New York City Councilmember, and Queens Borough President between the 1980s and mid-2010s.
This collection has proven to be robust in scope and diverse in content, covering a wide range of historical events, social issues, and political eras throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. While the magnitude of this project posed practical challenges of adequately preserving, arranging, and describing the records, its vastness also provided amazing opportunities to view these archival traces of Marshall’s life and legacy from a variety of angles.
I am honored to share the completed finding aid for the Helen Marshall Papers with the Queens College community and beyond. The collection can be accessed by emailing Special Collections and Archives at QC.archives@qc.cuny.edu to schedule an appointment. You can also learn more about the collection by registering for the “Virtual Show and Tell” taking place online on September 19 from 4-5pm.
Young Helen MarshallYoung Helen Marshall
Composed of 35.75 linear feet of records produced between the 1920s and 2014, the Helen Marshall Papers document Marshall’s role as a community activist and elected official in New York City and State politics. The collection includes correspondence, project files, subject files, certificates, campaign ephemera, photographs, and audiovisual reels. Additionally, the Helen Marshall Papers include personal materials that chronicle the immigration story of Marshall’s Guyanese family. Overall, this collection reflects Marshall’s principal concerns of racial justice, women’s rights, public libraries and parks, health care, and senior citizens.
Helen Marshall’s mother’s British Guiana passport
Amid the ongoing social injustice of municipal budget cuts to libraries and universities, Marshall’s legacy of activism in defense of institutions that provide public access to information and education inspires hope and resilience for the present-day struggle. As a co-founder and first director of the Langston Hughes Library in 1969 prior to her political career, Marshall was a strong advocate for public libraries throughout her life. This collection contains project files, correspondence, and photographs related to Marshall’s role in securing more funding for public libraries to enhance access to community resources in Queens and New York City at large. Similarly, this collection reflects Marshall’s career-long crusade to increase funding, equity, and inclusion among CUNY institutions. Marshall’s background as a public school teacher and Queens College alumna with a B.A. in education made supporting higher education through CUNY one of her top priorities.
Helen Marshall’s Queens College notebook
It has been a privilege to gain hands-on archival processing experience under the supervision of Annie Tummino, Head of Special Collection and Archives at Queens College Library (QCL). I would like to thank Annie for the time and expert guidance she shared with me to help complete this project, as well as archives staff members Caitlin Colban-Waldron and Reign McConnell for their advice and encouragement. I also extend my appreciation to the Documentary Heritage and Preservation Services for New York (DHPSNY) for providing the generous grant that allowed me to complete this project, as well as the entire staff and administration of QCL for their support of my professional development.
GIANNA N. FRACCALVIERI is a current graduate student pursuing a dual degree in Library Science and History with an Advanced Certificate in Archives at the Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies (GSLIS). From January to June 2024, Gianna processed the Helen Marshall Papers as a Project Archivist at Queens College Special Collections and Archives. Gianna has been working in public and academic libraries across Queens and Long Island since 2021, and she aspires to work in archives full-time after graduating in the spring.
This project (Arranging and Describing the Helen Marshall Papers) was made possible in part by a grant from the Documentary Heritage Program of the New York State Archives, a program of the State Education Department.
The QC Music Library would like to announce the return of the BOOK SALE to the Aaron Copland School of Music (ACSM). Items for sale will include Books, Scores, CDs, and more. The sale is CASH ONLY.
Location: ACSM Atrium
Date: Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Time: 10am – 4pm
Please contact the Music Library if you have any questions about the event: musiclibrary@qc.cuny.edu.
The Library mourns the loss of Arthur “Ben” Chitty, Higher Education Associate, who served as long-time Library Systems Officer, and PSC-CUNY union activist.
From Simone Yearwood, Interim Dean, School of Arts and Humanities:
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Arthur Ben Chitty on Sunday, February 11. Shortly before his retirement in Summer 2023, Ben was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Ben began working at Queens College in 1984 as an assistant professor in the Paul Klapper Library. With the opening of the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library in 1988, he transitioned to an administrative role as the library systems officer (HEO), where he remained until his retirement. Throughout his tenure, he took on various responsibilities including acting acquisitions librarian and acting head of technical services. Before his retirement, he served as the assistant to the chief librarian for special projects, focusing on the assessment of the college’s Federal Depository Library Program. He previously taught as an adjunct at the Queens College Graduate School of Library & Information Studies.
Ben was a champion in promoting health and safety practices and contract enforcement. He worked tirelessly and was a staunch advocate for the PSC and DC37 unions. He played a key role in organizing the Queens College Unions Joint Committee on Quality of Work Life, the sole cross-union committee in the City University, which convened monthly for over a decade. Alongside his wife Priscilla Murolo, he co-authored From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend: A Short Illustrated History of Labor in the United States. Ben’s activism extended beyond academia. He was involved in the antiwar veteran’s movement since his discharge from the US Navy in 1969, initially with Vietnam Veterans Against the War and then with Veterans for Peace, advocating for peace and social justice. He leaves behind his wife, two stepsons, and two grandchildren. Information on his memorial service will be forthcoming.
by: Gianna Fraccalvieri, QCL Information Assistant
Please join us in honoring Black History Month this February by viewing a selection of books celebrating the lives and work of various Black American artists, displayed on the main level of the Queens College Library (Rosenthal, 3rd floor). Curated by Amanda Lea Perez, our Substitute Visual & Performing Arts-Art Librarian, this cultural awareness collection seeks to emphasize the diverse history and ongoing influence of Black American artists in the world of visual and performing arts.
Some of the featured artists include Kara Walker, famous for her silhouetted figures among other multimedia works of art; Jean-Michel Basquiat, known for his neo-expressionist drawings, paintings, and graffiti street art; Faith Ringgold, renowned for her multimedia sculptures, performance art, paintings, and art education; and William Pope.L, remembered for his “interventionist public art,” performances, and much more. Other Black American artists including Lorna Simpson, Theaster Gates, and Charles White are highlighted in this selection, as well as scholarly sources analyzing the lasting impact these individuals had on the arts in the United States and beyond.
Seeking to “improve the representation of Contemporary Black artists in the QC collection,” Amanda has recently ordered more books that will soon be available to browse in the Art Collection (Rosenthal, 6th floor). Some of these new acquisitions include Amy Sherald: The World We Make,Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks, and Simone Leigh, among others. To further explore your interests, please browse the print books on display, use OneSearch to find related e-books and academic articles, meet with a research librarian in the Research Office (Rm. 344) and, of course, visit Amanda in the Art Collection!
Display curated by Amanda Lea Perez, Substitute Visual & Performing Arts-Art Librarian / Blog post written by Gianna Fraccalvieri, Information Assistant
As the new Art Librarian at the Queens College Library for the spring semester, I look forward to assisting you with your art research needs! The Art Collection on the sixth floor of the Benjamin S. Rosenthal building contains printed books, exhibition catalogs, art pamphlets, periodicals, and rare books, as well as digital resources with access to ebooks and art-centric databases. Databases such as Artstor provide access to visual reproductions of many works of art, but part of the experience of being an art student requires seeing art in person, which is why we at the QCL have put together an art resource information board on the sixth floor, which highlights upcoming Art exhibitions in New York City. Additionally, we have provided information on how to acquire complimentary admission to New York Institutions.
Students will find the new art book display and art information resource board as they exit the elevators on the sixth floor of the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library Art Collection. Photographs by Amanda Lea Perez/Queens College Library.
Poster designs for museum exhibitions include the Africa & Byzantium exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Maria Prymachenko: Glory to Ukraine at the Ukrainian Museum, and An Atlas of Es Devlin at Cooper Hewitt. Photographs by Amanda Lea Perez/Queens College Library.
Spring 2024 Art Exhibitions
Bard Graduate Center Gallery (February 23 – July 7, 2024): Work by the 20th-century artist Sonia Delaunay will be on view at the Bard Graduate Center Gallery from February 23 – July 7, 2024. Admission is free all day on the first Friday of each month. You can read about Sonia Delaunay at Queens College in the Art Stacks on Level 6.
Brooklyn Museum (February 10 – July 7, 2024): The dynamic duo of New York musicians turned art collectors Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz will be exhibiting artwork from their personal collection at the Brooklyn Museum. Works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gordon Parks, Lorna Simpson, and Kehinde Wiley will be on view from February 10 – July 7, 2024. Admission is free on the first Saturday of every month from 5–11 pm; free tickets are also available through Culture Pass.
Cooper Hewitt (until August 11, 2024): Cooper Hewitt is exhibiting An Atlas of Es Devlin until August 11, 2024. Es Devlin is a contemporary visual artist and stage designer who crosses the boundaries into a variety of art mediums, including immersive projection-mapped sculptures. Es Devlin’s first monograph is available at Queens College Library, thanks to the generous donation through the Professor Libby Tannenbaum Memorial Endowed Fund for Art Library Acquisitions.
Museum of Modern Art (March 31 – July 20, 2024): Work by the artist Käthe Kollwitz will be on display at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) from March 31 to July 20, 2024. Books about Kollwitz can be found in the Art Stacks on Level 6. CUNY students receive free admission to MoMA.
New Museum (until March 3, 2024): Contemporary artist Judy Chicago’s retrospective Herstory is on view at the New Museum until March 3, 2024. The Art Collection contains many books about Judy Chicago. Discounted tickets are available to CUNY students; free tickets are available on Culture Pass.
Noguchi Museum (March 20 – July 28, 2024): A retrospective by the artist Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within will be displayed from March 20, 2024 – July 28, 2024, at the Noguchi Museum. Admission to the museum is free on the first Friday of every month.
MoMA PS1 (April 4 – September 2, 2024): The retrospective by the artist Pacita Abad is on view at MoMA PS1 from April 4 – September 2, 2024. Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies will also be on view until September 2, 2024. Thanks to the generous donation through the Professor Libby Tannenbaum Memorial Endowed Fund for Art Library Acquisitions, new monographs from Pacita Abad and Melissa Cody have been added to the Art Collection. CUNY students receive free admission to MoMA PS1.
Ukrainian Museum (until April 7, 2024): Folkart by the Ukrainian artist Maria Prymachenko is on view at the Ukrainian Museum until April 7, 2024. Free admission to the Ukrainian Museum is available on Culture Pass. The exhibition catalog is available in the sixth-floor Art Collection.
From left: Art Deco: Commercializing the Avant-Garde at the Poster House (Free for CUNY students), and An Atlas of Es Devlin, an immersive projection-mapped exhibition at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (Pay What You Wish from 5 pm-6 pm). Photographs by Amanda Lea Perez/Queens College Library.
Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library Art Collection wishes Queens College art students an inspiring spring semester; if you have any questions or need assistance while you navigate the Art World, stop by room 603.
by: Gianna Fraccalvieri, QCL Information Assistant
January 2024 is National Hobby Month! As we step into a new year and semester, consider picking up an old pastime or trying something new to enjoy the countless personal and professional rewards that hobbies can offer you. If you’re looking for a place to start, please visit the book display dedicated to the historical and current practice of popular hobbies in the U.S. located on the main level of the Queens College Library (Rosenthal 3rd floor).
This month’s cultural awareness collection seeks to provide a variety of hobby-related resources, from step-by-step guides to detailed histories and scholarly analyses of the social and emotional impacts of different leisurely ventures. Some of the activities highlighted in this display include cooking and baking, video gaming, reading and writing, DIY crafting, caring for plants and pets, physical fitness, fashion design and cosplay, stargazing, and much more! To further explore your interests, please browse the print books and E-Books on display, use OneSearch to find related sources, and meet with a librarian for in-depth inquiries.
Queens College Library (Rosenthal 3rd floor) book display of historical and current practices of popular hobbies.
Recent research has linked the perception of a positive work-life balance with the regular practice of hobbies among a sample of undergraduate students, suggesting that carving out time to enjoy personal interests outside of school and work could help reduce overall stress. Additionally, other articles report that having hobbies can enhance levels of productivity, creativity, and originality among scholars and professionals by encouraging more divergent thought processes throughout our daily responsibilities.
For more information about how to pursue your recreational interests as a member of the Queens College community, please review the following resources:
by: Gianna Fraccalvieri, QCL Information Assistant
On December 10th, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was published by the United Nations General Assembly to officially define and defend the inherent rights of all human beings for the first time in history. In honor of this milestone, the world celebrated the 75th anniversary of Human Rights Day on Sunday, December 10th, 2023. Please help us raise awareness for Universal Human Rights Month (UHRM) this December by visiting the book display on the main level of the Queens College Library (Rosenthal 3rd floor).
Highlighting the 2023 UHRM theme of “Freedom, Equality and Justice for All,” the books on display include works across the fields of history, political science, anthropology, sociology, gender studies, economics, and more to provide a multilayered perspective on universal human rights issues. Feel free to browse the physical books on display as this month’s cultural awareness installment, use OneSearch to find related E-Books, or meet with a librarian to discuss further research options.
As a major achievement in international and multicultural collaboration, the UDHR has been translated into more than 500 languages and influenced the formation of over 70 human rights treaties. To learn more about this legacy and how to get involved in universal human rights advocacy efforts, please visit the following links:
This November, please join us in observing National Family Caregivers Month (NFCM) by viewing the book display located on the main level of the Queens College Library (Rosenthal 3rd floor). According to the Caregiver Action Network (CAN), which is the non-profit organization responsible for organizing NFCM, there are “more than 90 million Americans who care for loved ones with chronic conditions, disabilities, disease, or the frailties of old age.” To learn more about the challenges across diverse caregiving experiences, and to explore supportive resources for caregivers and their families, please browse the books on display, search for E-books online via OneSearch, or request a research appointment with a librarian.
Queens College Library’s Book Display for National Family Caregivers Month
As this month’s edition of the Library’s cultural awareness book displays, this collection acknowledges the 2023 NFCM theme of #CaregiversConnect by elevating educational resources, shared stories, and support networks across a variety of caregiving situations. Organized support services, such as those offered through the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL), may alleviate some of the emotional, practical, and financial pressures experienced by family caregivers throughout their honorable efforts to help their loved ones.
For more information about how you can get involved in supporting the NFCM 2023 #CaregiversConnect campaign, please consult the following resources:
by: Gianna Fraccalvieri, QCL Information Assistant
Queens College Library Halloween Display – Rosenthal 3rd fl.
As Tuesday, October 31st approaches, we invite you to stop by the main floor of the Queens College Library (Rosenthal 3rd floor) to view this year’s Halloween book display! If you are interested in learning more about the history of Halloween, horror fiction and film, and similar topics, please come in to browse the physical collection. You can also peruse related E-books online via OneSearch, explore our digital and streaming resources, and meet with a librarian to discuss more in-depth research questions.
Children’s Books
Additionally, a selection of Children’s books is available if you are looking to entertain the younger loved ones in your life with age-appropriate stories this Halloween. This collection is part of the Library’s cultural awareness book displays for October 2023, as well as our display for Italian American Heritage Month. Feel free to ask about the displays at the Information Desk.
Events
Upcoming Halloween-related events on campus include the screening of the Japanese horror film:
The Ring on Tuesday, October 31st from 5:00pm – 8:00pm
The film will be shown in Queens Hall 120, presented by the Japanese Studies program. For more information, contact joshua.rogers@qc.cuny.edu.
Display and blog post created by Gianna Fraccalvieri, an Information Assistant at Queens College Library and MLS/MA student at Queens College GSLIS.
