Happy Library Card Sign-Up Month!

Image by Emma Larson-Whittaker

September is an important month for lots of reasons. It’s the end of summer, the start of the school year, and time to pull out all your sweaters from storage. But did you know it is also Library Card Sign-Up Month?

There are so many resources you have access to with a public library card! You can check out books, read magazines and newspapers in comfy library chairs, attend events for all ages, and so much more. If you don’t have a library card, you can sign up for the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, or the Queens Public Library.

All you need to do once you fill out the online form is visit your nearest library location with proof of address. Then you’ll get your library card! Many locations often have fun card designs too! My Brooklyn Public Library Card has illustrations from Where the Wild Things Are on it, and there are often limited-time-only card designs available!

In addition to the in-person opportunities libraries offer, did you know there are also tons of online perks that come with a library card?

One of the coolest, and my personal favorite advantages of having a library card offered by most public libraries is the Libby app. This free app gives you access to audiobooks, ebooks, and magazines completely for free! It’s also available for both Apple and Android products.

Like a physical library book, you “check out” ebooks and audiobooks for a few weeks at a time, with the option to renew the materials. Sometimes you also might have to wait for an ebook or audiobook to be returned before you can check it out.

With magazines on Libby, you don’t have to wait! You’ll have access to the publications whenever you want them! You have options like The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Bon Appetit, and National Geographic, and you can subscribe so you receive an alert when the newest issue is available.

So what are you waiting for? Get your library card today!

[Post by Emma Larson-Whittaker, Library and Outreach Assistant, Starrett City]

Bates Visual Guide to Physical Examination

Photo via Pexels by Thirdman

Touro University Libraries has recently added Bates Visual Guide to Physical Examination to our database collection. This database is of great value to our Health Sciences students, particularly our students in our Physician Assistant program. Students and faculty in other disciplines may also benefit from the database either for their professional studies or for their personal interest.

Bates Visual Guide to Physical Examination contains video content that teaches students how to conduct a full body examination, communicate effectively with patients, and view symptom specific case studies. The videos are in depth and are a total of 8 hours. There are 3 video tabs that are available for viewing.

The first video tab contains the Physical Examination videos. These videos focus on conducting an examination on each body system. There are also videos on conducting an overall head-to-toe assessment for infants, children, as well as adults and seniors. For each body system, users can either view the videos in small chapters or play the entire video series.

The second video tab contains the Communication and Interpersonal Skills videos. This section focuses on how to have effective dialogue with patients. These videos concentrate on topics like active listening, guided questioning, empathetic responses, nonverbal communication, and interactions with various patient populations. Health Science students find these videos particularly useful since having open and honest dialogue with a patient is crucial for health professionals to be able to perform their job well.

Lastly, the third video tab is OSCE Clinical Skills videos. These videos give students case studies to watch and follow along with. These case studies involve patient history taking as well as performing physical assessments of a patient based on the symptoms they present. The case studies will present diagnostic considerations, diagnostic workup, and summary. These videos present the most accurate real world scenario that most health science professionals will encounter in their practice

To find Bates Visual Guide to Physical Examination, go to the Touro Library homepage and Log In with your TouroOne credentials to use all the library services. After logging in, click on the link that says Databases and you will be redirected to the Find Articles page. Choose Bates Visual Guide to Physical Examination from the list of databases on the page. This will bring you to the Bates database. Please feel free to contact a librarian if you have any questions.

[Post by by Annette Carr, edited by Emma Larson-Whittaker]

Library Resources at Your Fingertips!

Photo from fauxels on Pexels

Through the Touro Library website, you have access to many research tools. No matter whether you prefer to learn via articles or videos, we have options for you. All of these resources can be found under the “Find” banner at the top of the Touro Library home page, or via the Databases pages. Simply select from the dropdown list. For further information, visit this LibGuide on online learning or reach out to a librarian.

Shanah tovah: Happy Rosh Hashana!

“Feast of Trumpets” by Aleksander Gierymski, 1884 – Hasidic Jews performing tashlikh on Rosh Hashanah (CC0 image via Wikimedia Commons)

[This post was written in 2014 and has been updated for publication in 2023]

Rosh Hashanah begins this year at sundown, September 15^th, and ends at sundown, September 17^th. It’s almost time for apples and honey! This sweet treat is one of many customs that symbolize the wish for a sweet new year.

Rosh Hashanah is the first of the autumnal Jewish holidays known as the High Holy Days.  It is a two-day holiday due to the nature of the Jewish calendar, which follows the lunar cycle and is dependent on observation of the new moon. Difficulty determining when the moon actually appeared meant that the Jews of ancient Israel observed both possible days after the end of the previous month. Religious Jews continue this practice today.

The Hebrew term “Rosh Hashanah” translates as “the head of the year” or “the first of the year.” Historically, it is believed that this time period is the anniversary of the creation of the world and of the first man and woman. Rosh Hashanah is a time of both joy and solemnity, as Jews all over the world celebrate the beginning of a new year and stand in judgment for the previous one. No work is permitted during the holiday; the majority of the day is spent in synagogue reciting special prayers.

A shofar (CC BY-SA 2.5 image by Olve Utne)

The most essential and iconic tradition of Rosh Hashanah is the sounding of the shofar. A shofar is a trumpet made from an animal horn, traditionally a ram’s. Its call sounds like a plaintive cry, meant to awaken the Jewish people to repentance and remind them that G-d is their king.

photo byIgal Ness via unsplash.

Symbolic foods are consumed throughout the holiday, representing the good things we hope for in the coming year. I have already mentioned apples and honey, sometimes eaten with round loaves of challah bread, symbolizing fullness and completion.  A pomegranate is said to contain 613 seeds, the same as the full number of commandments, and according to tradition, it is eaten to symbolize the hope that our “merits increase as the seeds of the pomegranate.” Other symbolic foods include the head of a fish or lamb, dates, and gourds.

One last tradition is saying the prayer of Tashlich on the first afternoon of Rosh Hashanah. This involves turning out our pockets at a body of water, preferably one with fish in it. This is symbolic of casting off our sins and mistakes for the fish to carry away.

Rosh Hashanah / New Year greeting card: A Pansy with a face bears the Hebrew inscription for a happy New Year. [Center for Jewish History, NYC]

To find out more, the library has many resources, including A Companion to the Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur Machzor, by A.L. Rubinstein and The High Holy Days: A Commentary on the Prayerbook of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, by Herman Kieval).

As the traditional greeting goes, “L’shanah tovah tikatev v’taihatem.” May we be inscribed and sealed for a good year!

[Contributed by: Toby Krausz, Judaica Librarian, Midtown; further editing by Emma Larson-Whittaker, Starrett City)

A Brief History of Labor Day

Illustration of the first Labor Day parade in New York City. Via Wikimedia Commons.

On June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland declared Labor Day a national holiday, to be celebrated on the first Monday in September. Since then, we have celebrated the long weekend with cookouts, parades, and more. But do you know how it came to be a holiday?

In the late nineteenth century, labor unions began advocating for workers’ rights. The Industrial Revolution had created a market for cheap labor in dangerous environments, often for very low wages. It was due to these labor unions that Labor Day became a holiday.

In 1881, Peter J. Maguire, a union leader in New York City, proposed the first Labor Day. Some 10,000 workers turned out for a parade in the city on September 5 of that year. Over the next 13 years, 23 states had adopted Labor Day as a state holiday.

The proposal for the first Labor Day suggested a parade to celebrate “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” in the community. It also put forward a festival for the enjoyment of workers and their families, just as we do today.

Have a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend!

[Post by Emma Larson-Whittaker, Library and Outreach Assistant, Starrett City]