REFERENCE &
READER
SERVICES
The Library offers reference and reader services to members and non-members. The reference desk is staffed from 11-4 Monday through Saturday. Most questions can be answered the same day.
More in-depth research assistance can be arranged by appointment; call the desk (212-288-6900 x202) or email reference@nysoclib.org.
The reference services staff includes Mark Bartlett, Jane Goldstein, Endang Hertanto, Janet Howard, Steve McGuirl, Laura O’Keefe, Patrick Rayner, Carrie Silberman, Diane Srebnick, Brandi Tambasco and Carolyn Waters.
Reference Material:
Reference materials include dictionaries, encyclopedias, bibliographies, directories, almanacs, yearbooks, indexes, atlases, local phonebooks, concordances, histories of the New York Society Library, and electronic resources.
The physical reference materials are primarily available on the ground floor (in the Circulation area and in the Reference Room) and in the Large Study Room on the fifth floor. Other reference materials and older editions of reference titles can be found in the stacks.
Members have access to all floors; non-members can consult the catalogs and request titles to be retrieved for viewing in the Reference Room.
The Online Catalog:
Most of the Library's collection can now be found in the online catalog which was first made available in June 1998. There are now nine online catalog workstations located throughout the Library: three in the Reference Room, two in the Children's Library, two on the fifth floor beside the Large Study Room, and one on stack 1.
A special Kids Catalog has been designed to help children find materials in the Children’s Library. Kids can search for materials by typing in subject, author, or title keywords or by clicking on pictures arranged by subject.
The Library is continuing its multiyear project to add catalog records for the portion of the collection (primarily rare books and older periodicals) not included in the initial migration to the online catalog. The Library is committed to adding its complete holdings to the online catalog.
The Card Catalog:
The Library suspended the maintenance of its physical card catalog as of July 1, 2000 in order to concentrate its efforts on the online catalog and other electronic activities. The Reference Room houses the historic card catalog. It primarily contains author and title entry cards for materials cataloged before 1989, and subject access is limited. Some rare book, periodicals (inactive titles), and archival material are not yet included in the online catalog.
A shelflist on the forth floor provides staff-only access to all rare books, Special Collections, and other research and archival collections in the Library, including the Goodhue Collection manuscripts.
Please ask at the Reference Desk or email reference@nysoclib.org for clarification on the card catalog or shelflist.
Electronic Resources:
The Library is pleased to offer remote and in-house access to eleven electronic resources. The Library’s electronic resource subscriptions include full-text access to scholarly and popular magazine and newspaper articles, online dictionaries and other reference works, and indexes to American Book Prices and Books in Print. Access is limited to current Library members.
If you are a current member of the library and wish to access these databases from home, you will need to know your membership name and barcode. Ask for your barcode at the Circulation Desk or contact Ingrid Richter (Head of Systems) at systems@nysoclib.org for more information.
Internet Access:
The Library offers its members Internet access at five online catalog workstations: two in the Children's Library (third floor), two on the fifth floor, and one on stack 1. Internet access is not available to non-members.
Members are asked to limit their sessions to thirty minutes if others are waiting to use the workstation and print no more than ten pages at one time.
Referral Card Program:
The Library is a member of the Metropolitan New York Library Council, which provides its members with access to collections at other member libraries. For materials that are not available at NYSL or at the New York public libraries, members of NYSL may ask at the Reference Desk for a subject or title referral card that will provide entry to over 250 academic, public, school, and special libraries in the Metro New York City area.
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