This profile is part of a series of interviews chronicling the experiences of researchers who use The New York Public Library's collections for the development of their work. The 'Working from Home' edition focuses on how researchers, through the challenges created by COVID-19, continue to use the Library’s resources remotely.

Jonathan Goldman is an associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology, the author of Modernism Is the Literature of Celebrity and editor of Joyce and the Law. He has published widely about 20th-century literature and culture, music, cinema, and comics. 

What research are you working on?

I am researching and writing about New York City in 1920 for my website "NYC 1920: 100 Years Ago Today (When We Became Modern)" which features daily posts about the cultural life of NYC in 1920. I am director of the website, which addresses politics, technology, food, transportation, real estate, race and racism, women's rights, and more. It offers archival materials related to New York City in the year 1920, posted throughout the year 2020, representing events large and small that correspond to the 1920 calendar. Panoramic in scope but local in focus, it includes articles and headlines from New York newspapers and magazines, and sound, image and video files and links, all telling the story of one year in the life of the city.

What resources are you using for your research?

I have greatly used/will use the Library’s prints & photographs database, the Digital Collections, the map division, the menus collection, and more.

What tabs do you currently have open on your computer?

Library of Congress Digital Collections, Newspapers.com, Chronicling America, and this 1920 photograph of West 92nd Street from the NYPL Digital Collections.

Have you discovered a great online resource you've never used before? 

The NYPL menus!

What's your working from home setup?

I have an office nook in a corner of the living room, created out of bookcases. I have two young children in the house, so almost all my work gets done at night after their bedtimes.

What research tools could you not live without?

Since I stopped being able to use microfilm, Newspapers.com has been particularly indispensable.

What's your favorite distraction or snack when working from home?

Endless amounts of coffee and seltzer from the home seltzer maker.

Are you using NYPL Library collections to research from home? We’d love to hear about your work! Not familiar with our online collections? Whether you'd like a quick introduction to our newspapers, journals, or e-books, or if you need help with something more specific, our online consultations take advantage of screen-sharing technology so we can show you exactly how and where to find things and recommend titles relevant to your work.

Just let us know what you need help with and we'll be in touch to schedule a time.