Library News

A Dana Hall School Intern’s View of the Archives

A student sits in front of a computer while holding a white cassette tape
Ava Scharf is a student at Dana Hall who interned at the Northeastern University Archives & Special Collections this month.

For the past two weeks, the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections has had the pleasure of working with Ava Scharf, who is finishing her senior year at Dana Hall School and chose to do her senior internship at the local archive.

During her time with us, Ava has met with archives and library staff, shadowed meetings and reading room interactions, reorganized and tidied the Bromfield Street Educational Foundation’s Prison Newsletter collection after a semester of class uses, and inventoried tapes from the OutWrite conferences. After graduating from Dana Hall, Ava will join Northeastern as a first-year Husky this fall.

Before Ava heads off to enjoy her summer before her first year at Northeastern, she kindly agreed to answer some questions about her time working with us this May.

What surprised you about working in the archives?
How much recent stuff there was. A lot of the stuff here was more recent. It was fun to see the newspaper and the handwritten papers from people who are still alive. I thought that in archives, there would be more books, but being able to see all the handwritten notes and papers that are loose portray more about everyday life than a book does. I felt humbled by trying to read some of the cursive.

What was an item/record in the collections that you liked seeing?
I really enjoyed seeing the Fenway Alliance records. I really thought I would like seeing the board meeting stuff, but I ended up liking seeing the everyday life sort of things. I liked seeing the art project adding door knobs to lampposts they planned.

I really enjoyed looking at the prison newsletters. I’ve never seen anything like that before. I really enjoyed getting my hands on something and seeing what was going on in prison at the time. I really like the Dragon Prayer Book — it was so small and so cute — and the artists’ books, especially the miniature ones.

Honestly, I really liked looking at everything here! Who wouldn’t want to look at mini art books?

How would you explain your time at the archives to family and friends?
A lot of online paperwork. It’s a lot of organizing. It’s kind of similar to being a library page at Dana Hall, which is nice. There’s a lot more specific jobs than I thought there were! Archivists are split into subcategories and there’s a lot of communication and talking between those subcategories that I didn’t know existed. At one level, it was what I expected: you have old papers, and I saw old papers! I would honestly say it is really a mix of history, reading, and organizational skills. And cursive…lots and lots of cursive.

Any advice for new first years (like yourself this fall) who want to use the archives?
Aimlessly wander through the archives’ papers. With the artists’ books, I was less terrified of breaking them after handling one. Getting experience early on and learning how to use the archives and booking an appointment and being here makes it much easier. If you come in and you research something for fun versus when you are stressed and writing a paper, it is going to be helpful. Venture down here at least once so you get a feel for things. And you can’t bring your drinks in here. No coffee! Also, start early: there are so many boxes to go through!

A Decade of the Digital Repository Service

Northeastern University Library’s institutional repository, the Digital Repository Service, is celebrating 10 years of caring for the university’s scholarly, archival, and administrative high-value materials. From day one, the mission of the DRS has been to provide a long-term, sustainable home for the born digital and digitized content being produced by members of the Northeastern community.

More than just a technical system, the DRS is a service provided by the library to help solve a common problem for faculty, staff, students, researchers, and project teams: where can I store the digital output from my work? The DRS allows these projects developed at Northeastern to be maintained and shared with a wider audience. In addition to maintaining the DRS system, services provided by DRS staff include running training sessions, answering questions, consulting, and depositing files for users.

Side-by-side depiction of two versions of the Digital Repository Service homepage
The 2012 DRS prototype and the 2025 version.

Originally developed as a prototype in 2011, the system was created by a library team — three developers, the repository manager, a Northeastern co-op, and a library administrator — with the goal of constructing a completely realized system ready for production. The first version was ready to be used fully by the Northeastern community in June 2015.

The DRS was launched with some rough edges, which were slowly smoothed into the system users are familiar with today. We have received tremendous response from users about the usefulness of the system, as well as thoughtful and constructive feedback about how the system can be improved (e.g. faster page load times, better search functionality, and more control over files, among others).

The DRS homepage displayed on a laptop screen with a hand typing on the computer's keyboard
The DRS, as it appeared in 2015.

We have done our best to grow with the university community as its needs shift by increasing support for datasets, loading large batches of files on behalf of users and project teams, and tripling our original storage capacity, but there is always more to be done to meet the needs of our users.

The shape of the content stored in the DRS has shifted over the years, as well. Initially just for theses and dissertations, university photographs, and archival material, the DRS now fully supports various types of project materials for digital humanities research, datasets for researchers in various disciplines, oral histories, and many others.

Since its launch, DRS content has been viewed, downloaded, or streamed more than 1.1 million times, and we’ve had more than 13,000 members of the Northeastern community sign into the system. The DRS averages approximately 2,000 unique visitors and 4,000 views, downloads, and streams a day.

Screenshot of a DRS display of a research poster titled "Investigating and addressing the needs of research support staff"
The DRS provides a home for and access to research and projects by members of the Northeastern community.

The success of the system can be attributed to the combined efforts of staff in many library departments, including development and system administration from Library Technology Services and Digital Infrastructures; outreach and faculty support from Research and Instruction; data management support from Research Data Services; issue triage and metadata collaboration with Resource and Discovery Services; and continual support and advocacy from library administration. And, of course, Digital Production Services, the department primarily responsible for maintaining the system and supporting the service through digital production, metadata maintenance, and user support.

The DRS is not the first system of its kind supported by the library. It adopted its first repository system in the early 2000s, followed by IRis in 2007. The library’s commitment to maintaining the scholarly output of the university was formed during those early years, a commitment we have refined and strengthened over the more than 20 years of dedicated support for faculty, staff, and students working to help fulfill the university’s mission. It’s been a great pleasure to support the Northeastern community in this way, and we look forward to the next 10 years and beyond.

Reading Challenge Update: April Winner and May Preview

Paws, the Northeastern husky mascot, sits on a yellow couch in Snell Library holding a copy of Ready Player One and giving a thumb's up

Happy May! Spring has sprung in Boston, and students are gearing up to leave campus for the summer. Congratulations to the Class of 2025 as they celebrate commencement, and congratulations to everyone who participated in the April Reading Challenge! Our winner this month is Kayla Bolling, who takes home a custom Northeastern University Library poster.

To be eligible for the prize drawing, make sure to read a book that fits the month’s theme and then tell us about it. In April, we asked you to read a book recommended by a librarian. Here are some of the librarian-approved titles readers enjoyed this month! (Comments may have been edited for length or clarity.)

What You Read in April

Cover of Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Read the e-book

“This was recommended to me by a librarian at Seattle Public Library in the ‘healing fiction’ category, a genre that first emerged in Korea and Japan. It’s set in a tiny Tokyo café where people sit in a chair that can travel back in time, but only for the time it takes for a cup of coffee to turn cold. This book is a deeply immersive journey into the desire to hold on to the past.” — Jyoti

Cover of Parable of the Sower

Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F.W. Olin Library | Read the e-book | Listen to the audiobook

“Really interesting and topical. It’s amazing how much prescience Butler had. Lauren’s religion of Earthseed has a lot of great values I think people should internalize nowadays. Essential read in a lot of ways, particularly in a climate-challenged world.” — Nobel

Cover of Legendborn

Legendborn, Tracy Deonn
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F.W. Olin Library

“I was blown away by how this book handles complex topics like America’s history with slavery, intergenerational trauma, and the erasure of Black people’s stories all while exploring its supernatural elements. I recommend this book to anyone who loves modern takes on old legends. I’m currently reading through the sequel, Bloodmarked, and I’m excited to finish the trilogy!” — Nina

Cover of Gwen & Art are Not in Love

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love, Lex Croucher
Find it at Snell Library | Listen to the audiobook

“Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher is a charming tale that artfully combines queer romance, the warmth of found family, political intrigue, and a healthy dose of humor. Overall, Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is about accepting yourself, fighting for happiness, and discovering that real love is worth pursuing. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys medieval settings, found family stories, or queer romance. And last but not least, anyone who believes that self-love is truly worth it will find this book rewarding.” — Ankita

Suggested Reads for April

In honor of those readers who may be heading home for the summer break, your May challenge is to read a book about your hometown or local area. This can be your actual hometown, an adopted hometown, or wherever you’re spending your summer!

We’ve put together a selection of titles in Libby focused on some of the (many!) geographic regions represented at Northeastern. You can also stop by the Snell Library lobby from 1 – 3 p.m. on May 14 and May 15 to browse print books and pick up Reading Challenge swag.

If you’re from the Boston area…

Cover of Rough Sleepers

Rough Sleepers, Tracy Kidder
Find it at Snell Library | Read the e-book | Listen to the audiobook

Harvard Medical School graduate and Massachusetts General Hospital resident Jim O’Connell is asked to spend a year developing a program to provide free healthcare to homeless Bostonians. The work changes the course of Jim’s life.


Cover of Wild Swans

If you’re from mainland China…

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, Jung Chang
Find it at F.W. Olin Library | Read the e-book

Jung Chang traces her life, her mother’s life, and her grandmother’s life in this true family epic spanning a century in China.

Cover of Mutual Interest

If you’re from New York City…

Mutual Interest, Olivia Wolfgang-Smith
Read the e-book | Listen to the audiobook

In the early 20th century, desperate to escape their stifling hometown and live as authentically as their time period allows, a lesbian and a gay man form a marriage of convenience. In New York City, Oscar and Vivian find love and success — but their secrets may not be as safe as they hope.

Cover of Palo Alto

If you’re from Northern California…

Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World, Malcolm Harris
Find it at F.W. Olin Library | Read the e-book

Malcolm Harris dives into the history and mythology of Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, dating from the first white settlers to the outsize — and disastrous — grip of Silicon Valley and its corporate denizens on global industry, economy, and politics.

Cover of The Museum of Failures

If you’re from Mumbai, India…

The Museum of Failures, Thrity Umrigar
Listen to the audiobook

Successful mid-30s executive Remy Wadia has returned to India, specifically Bombay, for the first time since he left to attend college in the United States. He’s there to adopt a baby, but he’s also reunited with the mother he’s resented for years, who is now gravely ill. Remy’s homecoming will dig up long-buried family secrets.

Cover of Mad Honey

If you’re from New Hampshire…

Mad Honey, Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
Read the e-book

Olivia thought she had escaped her small New Hampshire hometown forever, but a rift in her marriage sends her and her teenage son back to her childhood home. When a local teen, who was new to town, is found dead, and Olivia’s son Asher is the prime suspect, Olivia is forced to realize that she may not know her own child as well as she thought.

Cover of Bad City

If you’re from Los Angeles…

Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels, Paul Pringle
Listen to the audiobook

In 2016, Los Angeles Times reporter Paul Pringle receives a tip about a drug overdose at a posh hotel and expects it to be a quick investigation. Instead he uncovers a deep web of secrets, conspiracies, and cover-ups implicating not just the University of Southern California, but the newsroom of the Los Angeles Times itself.

Whatever you read, make sure to tell us about it to enter the May prize drawing. Good luck, and happy reading!

Unlocking the Library Resources at the Seattle Campus: Your Guide to Research and Leisure Reading

This blog post specifically mentions the Seattle campus; however, all services and programs below are available to all Northeastern community members at all global campuses and online. Other campus-specific portals are available here.

Hi, my name is Jason Wu, and I’m the Library Ambassador on the Seattle campus. As a Husky in Seattle, I know making the most of the right resources can significantly enhance your academic journey. Today, I’m excited to share a few tips on how to explore the Northeastern library website for both research and leisure reading.

Note: Although we don’t have a physical library on campus at this time, there is a bookshelf on the 3rd floor of the 225 Building where you’re welcome to read and enjoy a selection of books.

Step 1: Seattle Campus Library Portal

Silhouette of the Seattle skyline

The Seattle Campus Library Portal is your gateway to research resources curated by expert librarians. This portal provides subject-specific guides tailored to the programs offered at the Seattle campus. The portal also provides convenient links to:

Pro Tip: The Seattle Public Library – Central Library is a fantastic space for studying and borrowing books. If you’d like to get an SPL library card, your Husky Card serves as a valid ID for registration.

Two smiling people sit at a table covered with library handouts, candy, and computers with library content on the screens.
Jason Wu and Text Mining Specialist Lawrence Evalyn host an informational table on the Seattle campus.

Step 2: Research Subject Guides

Research can be overwhelming, but the Research Subject Guides simplify the process by providing tailored tools and resources for a variety of disciplines.

How to Access Research Subject Guides:

  1. Visit the Seattle Campus Library Portal.
  2. Select your area of interest — Choose the subject relevant to your studies. For example, the Computer Science Guide provides specialized resources for technology-focused programs.

These guides are designed to give you quick access to key databases, research tips, and citation tools — ensuring you have everything you need to succeed.

Step 3: Accessing Library Resources

No matter your major, the Northeastern University Library provides access to a wealth of academic resources.

For example, Computer Science students can take advantage of IEEE Xplore, a comprehensive digital library for engineering and technology research.

How to Access IEEE Xplore:

  1. Go to the Computer Science Guide on the library portal.
  2. Click on the IEEE Xplore link under the “Key Resources” section.
  3. Select “Auth. via Northeastern” and log in with your Northeastern credentials for full access.
Screenshot of the IEEE Xplore homepage

This process applies to many other subject-specific databases as well, so be sure to explore what’s available in your field!

Bonus: Enhance Access with LibKey Nomad

A student sits at a laptop in Snell Library. They are wearing headphones and writing in a notebook
Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

The library offers so many resources that it’s easy to miss some of them. That’s where LibKey Nomad comes in!

LibKey Nomad is a browser extension that streamlines access to full-text scholarly articles. Instead of navigating through multiple platforms, it helps you retrieve PDFs with just one click.

How to Install and Use LibKey Nomad:

  1. Download the extension — Visit the LibKey Nomad download page and select your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, etc.).
  2. Set up the extension — Choose “Northeastern University” as your institution.
  3. Start browsing — As you search for articles online, LibKey Nomad will provide instant links to PDFs or library access options.

This tool saves time and ensures you never miss an important research paper!

Step 4: Citing Your Sources

Proper citation is essential in academic writing. Northeastern’s library provides guides and tools to help you manage references effectively:

  • Citation Guides — Visit the Cite Sources page for instructions on different citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).
  • Citation Management Tools — Tools like EndNote, Zotero, and Mendeley help organize and format your references effortlessly.

Using these resources ensures your work is properly cited and avoids accidental plagiarism.

Step 5: Leisure Reading — Join the Reading Challenge!

Logo for the Northeastern University Library Reading Challenge 2025. A cartoon of husky ears behind a purple and teal book

After a long day of studying, why not unwind with a good book?

You’re invited to join the Reading Challenge 2025, where Huskies can explore new books, audiobooks, and e-books together for a chance to win prizes!

Check out Libby, a fantastic app that connects you to an extensive collection of e-books and audiobooks. It’s the perfect way to discover new reads without leaving your couch.

Step 6: Ask a Librarian!

A student and a librarian sit in front of a laptop in Snell Library and talk

Still have questions about library resources? Don’t worry—librarians are here to help!

Here’s how you can reach out:

  • FAQs — Check the library’s Frequently Asked Questions for quick answers.
  • Chat with a librarian — Available 24/7 for real-time assistance.
  • Email support — Get detailed help by sending an email inquiry.

Don’t hesitate to use these services — librarians are happy to assist you with your research and resource needs!

The Northeastern University Library website offers everything you need, from specialized research guides to leisure reading options. By following these steps, you’ll unlock a treasure trove of resources that will support both your academic success and personal growth.

So go ahead, explore the library, and make the most of these fantastic tools!

Celebrating more than 30 years of the Women Writers Project

On March 27, as part of a month-long celebration of Women’s History Month, the Women Writers Project hosted a screen of Always in Progress: Three Decades of the Women Writers Project, a documentary by John Melson.

Screenshot of a person with glasses speaking in front of a bookshelf. The person is identified as Julia Flanders, Director of the Women Writers Project & Professor of the Practice, Northeastern University
Julia Flanders, Director of the Women Writers Project, speaks in the Always in Progress documentary.

Work on this documentary began in 2018 as part of the WWP’s celebrations of the project’s 30th anniversary. This milestone marked an opportunity to reflect on the WWP’s decades of work bringing texts by pre-Victorian women writers out of the archive to make them accessible to a wide audience of teachers, students, and scholars. The documentary shares highlights from the WWP’s years at Brown University, where the project was founded in 1988, and Northeastern, where the project moved in 2013. We were delighted to have in the audience present and past members of the WWP community, including students, staff, and advisors—it was exciting to see familiar faces and remember the many important contributions people have made over the years.

The documentary outlines the WWP’s long history as a project focused on early women’s writing and text encoding, and includes insights from current and past staff and students about representing texts using the Text Encoding Initiative markup language and publishing them on the Women Writers Online digital interface. The film also follows WWP staff and students as they work on several initiatives, including the Women Writers Vector Toolkit exploratory interface; the Women Writers in Review collection of periodical reviews; the Women Writers: Intertextual Networks interactive bibliography; and the Women Writers in Context scholarly exhibit series. Several scholars and experts in the digital humanities, including Dean of the Library Dan Cohen, also speak about the impact of long-term projects like the WWP on digital scholarship and discuss what the project can teach us about the history of the digital humanities.

Three people sit in an office setting chatting
Elizabeth Adams, Julia Flanders, and Carole Mah working in the early days of the Women Writers Project.

The documentary was made possible with support from the Northeastern University Humanities Center, the NULab for Digital Humanities and Computational Social Science, and the Northeastern University Library. It was directed by John Melson, with camera and sound by Melson and Colleen Nugent. To learn more about the WWP, see the project’s Welcome page.