Page Hall also bedecked with fall colors in the foreground.

Photo credit: Morris Stilson

Posted by Elaine Lasda Bergman at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now that your papers, assignments, and large research projects are coming due, you might need to spend more time using library resources and services. Sometimes knowing even where to start can be overwhelming, and sometimes you've had luck in the past but this time your searching seems to be fruitless.

Have no fear! Librarians are happy to help with your research project, we can help find the most relevant search terms in a given database and teach you advanced searching strategies, as well as help you set up database "alerts" to keep apprised of new publicatons on your topic of interest. We will be glad to set up a time to meet with you on a one-to-one basis for extended assistance with that important project.

Contact a subject bibliographer today to set up an appointment:

Criminal Justice: Mary Jane Brustman: email: mbrustman@uamail.albany.edu, phone: 442-3540
Information Studies: Deborah Bernnard: email: dbernnard@uamail.albany.edu, phone: 442-3699
Public Administration and Policy: Dick Irving: email: diriving@uamail.albany.edu, phone: 442-3698
Social Welfare/Gerontology: Elaine Bergman email: ebergman@uamail.albany.edu, phone: 442-3695

Posted by Elaine Lasda Bergman at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the key players in the advisement and development of the federal budget is the Congressional Budget Office. Located on the fourth floor of the Ford House Office Building in Washington, D.C., the CBO was created with the enactment of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act in 1974. The agency began operations the following year.

According to the “Who We Are” section of the Congressional Budget Office website:

CBO produces policy analyses, cost estimates of legislation, and budget and economic projections that serve as a basis for the Congress's decisions about spending and taxes. Every piece of legislation affecting the use of the nation's resources undergoes CBO's scrutiny. The agency is a public-sector think tank that employs an elite, multidisciplinary staff of professional analysts--public-policy and budget experts, economists, and other critical thinkers who enjoy challenges--at levels ranging from undergraduate and graduate interns to researchers with doctorates and substantial experience.

One interesting feature of the Congressional Budget Office website is that the current Director of the CBO, Douglas W. Elmendorf, maintains a blog covering pertinent topics and issues. His recent post, titled “Health Care Reform and the Federal Budget” provides a unique perspective on the debate of health care reform and how the Congressional Budget Office factors into the discussion. The CBO also has a Panel of Health Advisers, which consists of experts in health care. This Panel of Health Advisers examines current research in health policy and advises the CBO on its analysis of health care issues.

There are several resources available in the Dewey Graduate Library on the topic of Congressional budgeting:

Schick, Allen. (2007) The Federal Budget: politics, policy, process. Washington, D.C. Brookings Institution Press.
Dewey Library / HJ 2051 S3424 2007

Fisher, Patrick. (2005) Congressional budgeting : a representational perspective. Lanham, Md. University Press of America.
Dewey Library / HJ 2051 F484 2005

Le Loup, Lance T. (2005) Parties, rules, and the evolution of congressional budgeting. Columbus, OH : The Ohio State University Press.
Dewey Library / HJ 2051 L45 2005

If you have any questions about researching the Congressional Budget Office, the federal budget process, or any related topic, please contact our Bibliographer for Political Science, Public Administration & Policy, and Law, Richard Irving. He can be reached by calling 442-3698 or by email at: rirving@uamail.albany.edu.

Posted by Elaine Lasda Bergman at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is still time to take a workshop here at Dewey! These workshops can help you become familiar with library resources and services, database searching techniques, and other tips and tricks to help make your library research more efficient. We have several sections of Nonprofit Organizations- Resources offered this week.

Tuesday, November 3:
10:00am: Evidence Based Practice

Wednesday, November 4:
4:30pm: Nonprofit Organizations- Resources

Thursday, November 5:
2:00pm: Nonprofit Organizations- Resources

Friday, November 6:
10:00am: Nonprofit Organizations, Resources

Register for a class using the online registration form, by calling 442-3691, by emailing dewclass@albany.edu, or dropping by in person at the Reference Desk.

Posted by Elaine Lasda Bergman at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The new landscaping makes for a colorful foreground with Draper Hall as a backdrop.

Photo credit: Morris Stilson

Posted by Elaine Lasda Bergman at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back in the day, there were very few library resources and services you could access without actually coming to the library. Sure, you could call the reference desk, or bring a book home once you checked it out, but for the most part, you had to be at the library to make use of it.

Times have changed -- every year there are more ways you can access library resources and services without actually entering the building. You can now do research, renew books, and perform many other library related tasks from wherever you are, whenever you feel like it!

Here are just a few of the ways you can use the library when you're not actually at the library:

• Get articles and more online. Each year, more and more of the library's resources become available online -- not just databases, but journal articles, books, images, music and more! So long as you access the resource through the library website and log in with your NetID and password, you will have access to almost all of our online resources.


• Renew books, check on fines, holds and recalls. Using your "My Minerva" account, you can renew books or check the status of your library account from anywhere, at any time. Simply go to Minerva, the library catalog, and log in to your My Minerva acount in the upper right hand corner. Once logged in you will be able to see all books you have checked out, their due dates and other information. With one click, renew all of your books!


• Request print books and articles. If you are based at the downtown campus, our UA Delivery service allows you to request that books from the uptown campus be delivered to the Dewey Library, saving you a trip. Even better than that, if we have a journal article that is only in print, you don't need to come to the library to photocopy it. Make a UA Delivery request for the article and we will scan the article and email it to you in PDF form. If you make these requests late at night, they will be filled the next day!


• Ask A Librarian! Sure, we love it when you come to the reference desk to ask us a question, but if you can't get to the library, there are many ways to contact a librarian for assistance: phone, e-mail, instant message, and text message. If it's the middle of the night, send us an e-mail and we'll answer it the next morning!

With all these great ways to access the library from home, we hope you'll still drop by sometimes just to say hello!

Posted by Elaine Lasda Bergman at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nationally recognized – and fascinating-- research in criminal justice takes place in…..DRAPER HALL!! The School of Criminal Justice is home to the Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center. The center was founded in 1972 by Professor Michael Hindelang of the University at Albany's School of Criminal Justice. In 1982, after his untimely death, it was renamed the Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center.

Major projects at the center focus on incarceration and life outcomes, juries in capital cases, the Capital Punishment Research Initiative (with associated archives at the University Libraries), adolescent work and crime, reintegrating institutionalized youth, intergenerational transmission of antisocial behavior, collaborative crime analysis with New York State cities and localities, information for evidence based practice with youth and their families, and utilization of criminal justice statistics. The last project produces the Sourcebook Online, the key national source for criminal justice statistics. In the past 30 years, the center has provided the opportunity for more than 100 graduate students to participate in research and has awarded fellowships to doctoral students.

Research from the Hindelang center may be used directly in policy decision-making or disseminated through publications and colloquia. Many of these publications are available at Dewey Library (Hint: Ask for assistance at the Reference Desk).

If you are interested in more help with Criminal Justice Research, contact Mary Jane Brustman, our Criminal Justice Bibliographer. She can be contacted by email at mbrustman@uamail.albany.edu, or by phone 442-3540.

Posted by Elaine Lasda Bergman at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)