Good news, we now have electronic access to the New York Review of Books. NYRB started in 1963. I’ve found articles going as far back as 1969, not sure if there’s anything earlier in this electronic archive. If you search Journal Finder for the New York Times Book Review and for the Times Literary Supplement, you will find links to both.
Perhaps not unexpectedly, many of us in the library are great consumers of media: books, music, movies, etc. We’ve decided to introduce a new blog feature in which different staff members recommend three items they are currently or recently consuming. We call it “Shopping List for the Hungry Mind” and new posts should be appearing on a weekly basis.
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READING: Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions by Gary Klein. Quote: “The analytical methods are not the ideal: they are the fallback for those without enough experience to know what to do.” p. 103
WATCHING: Six Feet Under television series. Tough love, but I don’t think I’ve found a more accessible way to the big questions. This is what I wanted philosophy to be– but didn’t find it there.
LISTENING: The music group Mascott, led by New York city-based songstress Kendall Jane Mead. Words with rich textures wrapped in pretty pop melodies.
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READING: The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time by Jeffrey Sachs. Harvard economist Sachs makes a convincing argument that the end of the most desperate, life-threatening type of poverty is possible within our lifetimes. Sachs details the basic infrastructures necessary for communities to pull themselves out of abject poverty, and provides details of how the wealthy nations of the world could easily fund this effort without much sacrifice. Reading this left me with two questions. First, will we do it? And second, how can we not at least try?
WATCHING: Happy Feet and March of the Penguins. Charming entertainment with a serious message about the environment.
LISTENING: Liadov’s piano music. Absolutely lovely by a lesser-known Russian composer.
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READING: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night- time, by Mark Haddon (ISBN 0385509456). Haddon convincingly writes the narrative voice of an autistic teenager so that the world is seen through his eyes.
WATCHING: Letters From Iwo Jima, directed by Clint Eastwood. Powerful movie of the pivotal battle, told from the Japanese point of view.
LISTENING: Chamber music by Francis Poulenc, performed by Ensemble Wien-Berlin (Deutsche Grammophon, 427 639-2). If ever there was music that could be described as tongue-in-cheek, this is it. Has tender, poignant moments interspersed with vaudevillian raucousness.
In the past year Paley Library has added to its film collection a number of fine documentaries of interest to Criminal Justice, ranging in topic from careers, to prisoner reentry, to crime in the news. Refer below for a complete list; all film descriptions are taken from the Diamond catalog records. Documentaries should be requested at the Circulation Desk in Tuttleman and can be checked out for 7 days or put on reserve for a class.
Careers in criminal justice / a production of Meridian Education Corporation. Monmouth Junction, N.J.: Meridian Education Corp., [c2002]. Provides an overview of a career in the field of criminal justice, including officers, investigators and special agents.
Corrections / produced, directed and written by Ashley Hunt. New York : Third World Newsreel, [2001]. An examination of the efficacy and ethics of prison privatization in the United States and of the prison industries that profit from the burgeoning prison population. Features visits to the corporate headquarters of leading correctional corporations, prison trade shows, and testimony from leading experts and ordinary people, presenting diverse views of this new American “growth industry.”
Crime in the cities: public safety at risk. Princeton, NJ : Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2005. Analyzes the question of why urban crime is on the rise in some wealthy countries and down in others. Uses data mapping to find tell-tale patterns in Japan and the United States to shed light on deteriorating conditions and peak times of criminal activity.
Cult of the suicide bomber / Many Rivers Films; produced and directed by David Batty, Kevin Toolis. New York, NY : Disinformation Company, 2006. Learn the secret history of the suicide bomber, from the child martyrs of the Iran-Iraq war, the truck bombers in southern Lebanon, to the young men and women who now strap explosives to their bodies, with former CIA agent Robert Baer.
Deadline / Big Mouth Productions presents a film by Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnson. [United States] : Home Vision Entertainment, c2004. What would you do if you discovered that 13 people slated for execution had been found innocent? That was exactly the question that Illinois Governor George Ryan faced in his final days in office. He alone was left to decide whether 167 death row inmates should live or die. In the riveting countdown to Ryan’s decision, Deadline details the gripping drama of the state’s clemency hearings. Documented as the events unfolded, Deadline is a compelling look inside America’s prisons, highlighting one man’s unlikely and historic actions against the system.
Doing time: life inside the big house / Video Verite presents ; a film by Alan and Susan Raymond. New York : New Video Group, 2006. Hard-edged look at life inside the walls of Lewisburg, a maximum security federal penitentiary where rehabilitation and parole have all but been abandoned. With access to the entire prison, the filmmaker captured the stories of corrections officers as well as the inmates, including drug lords, “lifers,” with no possibility of parole, and prisoners convicted of leading prison riots.
Gladiator days: anatomy of a prison murder / Home Box Office presents ; a Blowback Productions Film ; producers, Alan Levin, Marc Levin and Daphne Pinkerson ; director, Marc Levin. [United States] : HBO Video, [2003] Violent crime in prison is an everyday reality. Captured by Utah State Prison surveillance cameras, the documentary shows how white supremacist Troy Kell stabbed black inmate Lonnie Blackmon 67 times while his accomplice Eric Daniels helped hold down the victim. All the while, prison guards watched from the sidelines waiting for the SWAT team to arrive.
Glen Mills gang: arrested without locks and bars / a film by Peter Schran ; produced by MIGRA-Film ; developed with the support of the MEDIA-Programme of the European Union. Princeton, NJ : Films for the Humanities, c2002. “Filmed over the course of a year, this documentary goes inside Glen Mills Schools in Pennsylvania, a “boarding school” alternative to prison for about 1,000 young members of street gangs convicted of crimes.:–Container.
High risk offender / directed by Barry Greenwald ; producer Barry Greenwald ; NFB producer Gerry Flahive. New York : First Run/Icarus Films, c1998. Follows seven offenders at a parol unit in Toronto over a ten month period. Most are considered high risk to re-offend and are under intensive parole supervision.
Juvenile sex offenders: voices unheard / a presentation of Films for the Humanities & Sciences ; [presented by] B Productions ; a film by Beth B. ; producer/director, Beth B. ; produced in co-production with the Banff Centre for the Arts. Princeton, N.J. : Films of the Humanities & Sciences, c1998. This program goes to a lock-down and into the community to develop a profile of juvenile sex offenders and to study the work of organizations attempting to reintegrate offenders into society. Visits Starr Commonwealth, an open facility, Plainfield Juvenile Correctional Facility, Wood Youth Center and others as offenders talk about their backgrounds and their crimes. As viewers we sit in on group therapy and listen. Clips throughout the film acquaint us with offenders who have been abused themselves as children and many of whom use sex like a drug. And we listen as therapists discuss trying to teach offenders internal controls and empathy with their victims and a Prevention Plan to prevent recidivism.
Omar & Pete / a film by Tod Lending ; produced by Nomadic Pictures Ltd. ; producer and director, Tod Lending. [New York?] : Docurama : Distributed in the U.S. by New Video, c2005. Examines the struggles of William “Pete” Duncan and Leon “Omar” Mason, two men who have spent the majority of their years in and out prison, to go straight once and for all.
Paradise lost: the child murders at Robin Hood Hills / Creative Thinking International, Ltd., Gotham Entertainment Group ; Home Box Office presents a Hand-To-Mouth production ; a film by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky; directed, produced and edited by Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky. New York, NY : New Video Group, 2005. Examines the brutal slayings of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, and the investigation, arrest and trial of the three teenagers (the West Memphis Three) whose only crime seems to have been that they dressed in black, listened to heavy metal music, and were fascinated with the Wicca religion.
Shakespeare behind bars / produced by Philomath Films ; in association with the Independent Television Service and the BBC ; Hank Rogerson, director and writer ; Jilann Spitzmiller, producer. Los Angeles, CA : Shout! Factory, c2006. Convicted felons at Kentucky’s Luther Luckett Correctional Complex rehearse for the Shakespearean production, The Tempest, as part of the Shakespeare Behind Bars Program. The play’s underlying theme of forgiveness parallels themes of transformation and redemption in the lives of the prisoners.
Unequal justice: the case for Johnny Lee Wilson / produced by Maria T. Rodriguez and Lisa Sonneborn ; directed by Lisa Sonneborn. [Philadelphia, Pa.] : Institute on Disabilities/UAP at Temple University, College of Education, 1995, c1994. In 1986, a 19-year-old man with mental retardation named Johnny Lee Wilson was picked up for questioning about the murder of an elderly woman in his hometown of Aurora, Missouri. Wilson unknowingly waived the Miranda rights which entitled him to legal representation and, after six hours of interrogation, signed a confession that he could barely read. Under threat of the death penalty, Wilson was advised to waive his right to trial and accept life imprisonment. He did this and, despite the fact that no physical evidence existed to link him to the crime, Wilson was incarcerated for nine years, seven of them after an inmate in a Kansas prison admitted that he was the perpetrator. This documentary examines this controversial case from a disabilities perspective.
If you have questions about the above list, or would like to recommend a future purchase, please contact the subject specialist for Criminal Justice.
Gregory McKinney – 215-204-4581
Subject Specialist for Criminal Justice
Reference and Instructional Services
Temple University Libraries
Temple University
Today I want to mention some sources for economic (and social) statistics. The only advice I’d give for using economic statistics is to try to find a statistic from multiple sources because they can be reported so differently depending on source. Historical Statistics of the United States I really like this source. Covers recent few decades as well as past centuries. Statistics are easy to find and easy to use. International Financial Statistics Online Statistics from the International Monetary Fund Source OECD Development sources from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development World Development Indicators Online Statistics from the World Bank
“10 Ways to Do Scholarly Research in Your Pajamas” Feb. 20th (Tuesday), 21st (Wednesday), 22nd (Thursday) at 1pm in Tech Center Green Lab Room 205A (Part of a continuing series of presentations by libraries, to be held in the Tech Center.) Pizza delivery? Take out Chinese? Now you can get your research to go. Temple University Libraries offer thousands of online resources and services. Join the librarian to learn how to make the library come to you! Take out menu provided. -Derik Badman
Sage is one of the academic and professional market’s major social science publishers. Sage eReference is a collection of 45 online encyclopedias. Here’s a complete list of titles. Accessible from the All Databases list. Other Reference Databases Don’t forget about our other reference databases. You’ve never had it so good. Gale Virtual Reference Library; Oxford Reference Online; xreferplus. Accessible from the All Databases list. Philosophy Compass and Religion Compass These are very new review journals in philosophy, religion, and other areas. Access via Journal Finder. Each article is a broad review of a particular topic with a discussion of the literature. They are supposed to be current and very relevant. Review journals have become very big in the sciences where new literature comes out at a crushing pace. These two for philosophy and religion are great tools for faculty that are approaching a new field, for graduate students who are studying for exams and dissertations, and for advanced undergraduates. Take a look and let me know what you think. —Fred Rowland
Did you know that the Temple University Libraries offer access to hundreds of thousands of full-text electronic books? Through agreements with multiple eBook providers, University faculty, staff and students can access this content through the library catalog or the dedicated “eBooks” page within the library web site.
One of our premier eBook providers, NetLibrary, offers a free eBook each month, and this month’s choice is especially significant for Temple University. In honor of Black History Month, NetLibrary’s free eBook for February 2007 is A Companion to African-American Studies.
The book’s editors are Temple’s own Lewis R. Gordon and Jane Anna Gordon. Lewis R. Gordon is the Laura Carnell University Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Director of Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought and the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies, at Temple University. He is the author of Her Majesty’s Other Children (1997), Existentia Africana: Understanding Africana Existential Thought (2000) and of anthologies that include the co-edited Not Only the Master’s Tools (2005).
Jane Anna Gordon teaches in the Department of Political Science and is Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought and the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies at Temple University. She is the author of Why They Couldn’t Wait: A Critique of the Black-Jewish Conflict Over Community Control in Ocean-Hill Brownsville, 1967-1971 (2001) and co-editor (with Lewis R. Gordon) of Not only the Master’s Tools: Theoretical Explorations in African-American Studies (2005).
The Gordons’ new volume chronicles the challenges that African-American Studies programs confronted in an effort to achieve acceptance in colleges and universities throughout the nation. Now, academia takes these programs for granted, but this collection of original essays by expert scholars reflects on the pitched battles to establish African-American studies as a bona fide academic discipline. The Gordons, in their Introduction: On Working through a Most Difficult Terrain, let the reader know that it was not always so easy to set up African-American Studies programs:
“The academic ‘field’ [African American studies] according to some proponents, ‘discipline’ according to others, has gone through a variety of conceptual transformations as it moved from ‘Black Studies’ to ‘Afro-American Studies’ ‘African-American Studies’ and now ‘African Studies’. During this decades long process it has met scholarly prejudice from all quarters of the university/college hierarchies.”
Now the Gordons bring together an elite group of scholars to continue their exploration of issues of ethnicity, identity, and racial politics. The publication ofA Companion to African-American Studies in electronic format is an opportunity for the Temple University community to discover the world of electronic books.
If you need additional information about any of our electronic books please drop in or use our Ask A Librarian service.
Al Vara, Reference Librarian and Subject Specialist for African-American Studies
Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian for Research and Instructional Services
When you are doing your research, don’t forget about Temple’s business databases. Although they might sound like unlikely sources, there are some good reasons to keep them in mind: 1) they are absolutely HUGE databases; 2) they are international so you will find info from and about places all around the world; and 3) businesses have penetrated just about every aspect of our lives (not a good thing). Below I’ve listed the two most important general business databases. Most business schools of any stature have these two. I’ve also linked some articles so you can get a sense of the stuff you might find. Business Source Premier: over 2800 full-text scholarly journals. ABI Inform: indexes over 4000 titles, 3000 in full-text, including the Wall Street Journal. —Fred Rowland
See how to directly export records from Google Scholar into Refworks: http://librariancentral.blogspot.com/2007/02/out-of-cite.html. One more good reason to use Refworks. —Fred Rowland
Feb. 6th, 7th, 8th at 1pm in Tech Center Green Lab Room 205A Part of a continuing series of presentations by libraries, to be held in the Tech Center. You work too hard! Sharpen your research skills to cut down on time and get better results. Temple Libraries have the resources you need right at your fingertips. Join a Temple University Librarian for this session covering basic time saving tips about using library resources. -Derik Badman