About the Libraries
Related Links
Quick Links
Collections and Services
Brief Updates
Students & Faculty At CT Public Colleges & Universities May Borrow Books From Babbidge
All students and faculty at publicly supported institutions of higher education in Connecticut are now eligible to borrow books from Babbidge Library. Anyone with a current ID from the State University system or the Community/Technical College system may apply for a free Community Borrower card. Borrowing privileges are extended to students on a semester by semester basis; faculty are eligible for a card that is good for one calendar year. For more information see "Circulation Services" at www.lib.uconn.edu or call 860-486-2518.
New Searching Tool: A Database of Databases
The Database of Databases, a new search assistant on the library's home page, organizes and simplifies access to more than 240 networked research databases available to UConn scholars. The database offers search strategies similar to those in HOMER: by Library of Congress subject, by title, or by keyword. To facilitate cross-disciplinary browsing, database titles are further categorized by broad subject groupings such as social sciences, sciences, and humanities. Records in the database provide information to help analyze the content of each resource, describing the types of materials to be found, class of information (bibliographic citations, abstracts, and/or full text), frequency of update, and usage restrictions. For networked titles, access to the database itself is then just a mouse click away. The Database of Databases is one of several finding aids created by Steven Wieda, the library's webmaster/database developer. Others include the Art Auction Catalogue Database; the Latin American Newspapers Database, which catalogs holdings in Special Collections; and the Fulltext Journal Locator.
Remote Access to Restricted Databases
Access to most research databases is freely available to anyone who visits the libraries. Database licensing contracts, however, allow for remote access searching by university faculty, staff, and students only. Researchers who need off-campus access to restricted networked databases have two options. They can obtain Internet access through CTED.NET, an Internet service provider (ISP); or they can apply for a proxy account through the Computer Center. Proxy accounts are free for students, staff, and faculty using commercial ISPs (e.g., AOL or SNET) to access UConn's restricted web-based resources.
Taking New Users By the Hand
One of the library's most popular new web pages is the Library Information Literacy site created for the First Year Experience program. A progression of brief, colorful, and graphically engaging modules introduces new library users to the many collections and services of the UConn Libraries. Along the way, the site outlines simple research strategies, touches on critical issues, and attempts to steer users to the more intellectually sound electronic resources available on the Internet. The learning modules can be used either as a package or individually; in a classroom setting or as independent learning.
Puerto Rican Collection Enhanced By Arroyo Library
The family of the late Alberto Arroyo, a former Ph.D. candidate in the Spanish Department at the University of Connecticut, has donated his personal library of more than 1200 volumes to the Babbidge Library. In July, Darlene Waller, library Latin American specialist, traveled to Puerto Rico to formally accept the collection from the Arroyo family of Aguadilla. The trip was supported by university funds designated for the UConn/University of Puerto Rico Exchange Program and by the UConn Libraries. Assisted by Dr. Victor Torres of the University of Puerto Rico Library and Mr. Ren Grull¢n of Libros de Barlovento, the UConn library's Puerto Rican book vendor, 32 boxes of books and periodicals were packed and mailed to Storrs.
The bulk of the Arroyo collection consists of contemporary Puerto Rican literature published in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as a number of volumes on Puerto Rican history and law. Also included are a variety of Puerto Rican literary journals from the last two decades, including long runs of such titles as Revista del Instituto de Cultura Puertorrique¤a. This collection will significantly augment the library's already strong holdings for Puerto Rico and enhance efforts to build a collection of national importance for Puerto Rican research materials.
Silk Company Records Shed Light On Knowlton Family
Evelyn Guymon of Tucson, Arizona has donated records associated with the HKH Silk Company to Archives and Special Collections. The company was established prior to the 1890s as Hammond, Knowlton and Company by Charles C. Knowlton of the Gurleyville district in Mansfield, and his cousin George Asahel Hammond. By the 1920s, the time period best illustrated in the records, the company had silk manufacturing mills in several locations in Connecticut, including Putnam, New London, and Woodbury, with general offices in Watertown. The collection consists of incoming and copies of outgoing correspondence of Clarence Asahel Hammond-Knowlton, general manager and treasurer of the company in the 1920s and cousin and adopted son of C.C. Knowlton. C.A. Hammond-Knowlton is also an uncle of Ms. Guymon. This collection is valued for the historical information it gives about a prominent family from the immediate area of Mansfield, and about an industry that has deep roots in Connecticut.
Art Auction Catalogue Database Is On the Web
The Art & Design Library is pleased to announce the Internet publication of the Art Auction Catalogue Database. The Art & Design Library collects art auction catalogues as an historical record of the international art market, to provide information about the provenance and scholarship regarding the objects listed in them and, indirectly, to provide access to the images contained in the catalogues. The library's collection is comprised of more than 6,500 catalogues, including a large number from Sotheby's, Christie's, and several other major auction houses in London and Paris. Many catalogues are accompanied by price lists for the objects sold at auction, but recently published catalogues seldom include them. The database is updated twice weekly.
Refugee Case Files Provide New Research Opportunities
Archives & Special Collections has received a gift from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) of more than 4500 case files for clients from Central and South America and the Caribbean (except Cuba) served by the New Jersey Office from 1980 to 1998. The majority of case files are for refugees from Central America, particularly from El Salvador in the wake of the Salvadoran civil war. There are also a number of files on Nicaraguans, who arrived following the Sandinista Revolution. Most case files include at least basic demographic information such as country of origin, date of arrival, age, gender, occupation, education, a copy of client passport or other documentation, and an indication of services that were provided. Many case files include additional information, such as those for Salvadorians, which offer complete copies of their applications for Temporary Protective Status in 1990 and 1991 containing information on date of original arrival (mainly undocumented), point of entry, as well as information on what the client had been doing up to time of contact with the IRC. Some files also include interesting information regarding problems with landlords, successes, and so forth. This collection is a treasure for identifying candidates for oral histories, establishing a control group for study, as well as a variety of other research potentials in such disciplines as psychology, political science, sociology, and history. A searchable database of biographical information which identifies a large portion of the individual cases accompanies the gift. As the collection is processed, a finding aid will be developed to facilitate its use. All researchers requesting access to these materials will be required to sign a "protection of human subjects" confidentiality statement.
Back to the Table Of Contents
This page is maintained by Suzanne Zack