Library News

Attention: Fahrenheit 451 becomes a reality (sort of)

Today, there is an article in the Boston Globe that is implicitly about the general state of libraries. I am not sure if it appears in the newspaper itself, but here is the link to it online: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/05/headmaster_says.html The fact that this article is titled, apparently with no sense of apocalyptic irony, “Headmaster says eliminating books in library is working fine” is both frightening and hilarious. Basically, this private high school in central Massachusetts is trying to digitize the entire library. Several of the quotes from the headmaster of this school are just appalling (even more so considering they didn’t ask for a single librarian’s opinion). Here are two questions to start with: if all library collections are digitized, is there a point to having a building that people go to? And can this digital approach even be called a library anymore? Everybody watch out, because this might be knocking on Northeastern’s door as we speak.

New Exhibit: The Negro Baseball League

Check out the exhibit of The American Negro Baseball League on the first floor. This exhibit was compiled and displayed thanks to our current co-op Krissy Lattanzio. It details the early days of baseball integration (which our home team was famously late on), in mostly color photographs and reproductions from several books. The centerpiece of the exhibit is a quote from Rube Foster, the founder of the Negro Baseball League; “We are the ship, all else the sea.” “We are the Ship” is also the title of a book by writer and painter Kadir Nelson, also quoted in the exhibit. Library goers must be urged to check out this modest but interesting exhibit; this corner of the library, at the bottom of the stairs, is all too often ignored.

About The Arthur S. Goldberg Art Collection

The Arthur S. Goldberg art collection lives on the fourth floor. I am not an art critic. But I still found a few things to appreciate in this collection. What struck me about the artworks in general was not so much the  diversity of style and subject matter, but they way in which they utilized, echoed and sometimes paid direct homage to artists and artistic styles throughout history. Below I will write about two that I particularly liked. Take DeWitt Hardy’s Woman and Chair.  This painting oddly depicts a woman sitting on the floor beside a wooden chair, rather than in it. This deliberate non-conformity to the standards of portraiture is interesting  because it suggests that portraits can possibly be of two things at once, or draw relationships between objects first and people second, rather than the other way around. Purely in terms of subject, the painting can be seen as being about the ideal non-conformist; this pale, thin, spacey-looking woman smoking a cigarette, refusing to sit in the chair inches away from her, or to look beautiful for her portrait. This subject matter along makes the painting DeWitt’s own, but the first– an perhaps most superficial– thing that I thought of when looking at the painting, was the work of Andrew Wyeth. I guarantee everybody that they have seen an Andrew Wyeth painting; Christine’s World, of a girl lying in the middle of a wheat field, gazing at a farmhouse, is his most famous. With its faded colors and lines that emphasize sketching, as well as the subject of a girl, I feel Hardy was consciously influenced by Wyeth in this piece. Another painting with its foot firmly in the history of American painting styles is Robert Cottingham’s series of Barrera- Rosa’s. Each of the three paintings is a nearly photographic (just what Goldberg was looking for, apparently) reproduction of a city block of stores, including a restaurant called Barrera Rosa’s. The first painting, on the left, is a black and white sketch of the scene, giving the impression of a photograph from the late 19th or early 20th century. The second is a sketch of the same scene in brown tones, giving the impression of a negative image. The third and final scene is in color, and suddenly both the scene looks stunningly modern; this “photograph” could have been taken yesterday. In fact, not a single object has changed, and there are only two objects that suggest this could not have  been envisioned prior to the 1990’s; a digital crosswalk signal and a store advertising a payphone outside. The intention, though, is to give an impression of progressing through both photographic history and real history, even though neither history exists in the context of Cottingham’s work. It is a clever trick to play, and  in its repetition and deceptive blandness reminds me of Andy Warhol’s various art experiments. But I’ll take this one over anything he created. (Robert Cottingham’s Barrera-Rosa) These works and many others can be found on the fourth floor of the library. It is my hope that Arthur Goldberg someday donates more works; his collection is impressive and a pleasure to have here.

Try Our New EBSCO Search and Give Us Your Feedback!

You may be familiar with EBSCOhost, the face of many of the library’s article databases. Now we are trying out a new concept in search: the EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS), and we hope you will help us evaluate it. The hallmarks of EDS are speed and simplicity. EDS provides a starting point for your research, an easy keyword search across multiple databases, including the library catalog, article databases and more, returning a list of results that points to articles from academic journals, magazines, newspapers, books, book chapters, video, music and more. With EDS it is easy to see what sources your results are coming from so that you can continue your search in the individual databases if you wish. The EBSCO Discovery Service is a product in progress, and that is why your input is so important. Features will be enhanced and content added as we work with the vendor to develop the service. Please check back as progress continues on the EDS and leave feedback on this blog, or use the feedback form that is linked on the EDS main search page.

DMDS Exhibit Showcases Sierra Smith, Photographer

Come to the DMDS to see the photographs of Sierra Smith, Journalism, ’14. This video highlights most of the photographs in the show. Curated by DMDS co-op Abigail Ochse, Digital Arts, ’12, this exhibit displays an expressive potpourri of vibrant images covering a range of subjects. Regarding her creativity, Sierra Smith wrote: “I don’t know if I’ve been working long enough to develop a style, but my work does tend toward the artistic, rather than the journalistic. It’s often fairly colorful, too. Though I would say I’m pleased with my portfolio, it’s been mostly limited by my camera; I’ve been using the same one for years, and it’s not exactly something a photographer would flaunt. Because of its quality, my work is often narrowed into a single style. However, it also forces me to compensate by looking for things that another photographer with better equipment may not see. While he’s letting the camera dictate his photograph, I’m letting my artistic vision do the honor.” Come see the show in person through the summer. If you are interested in exhibiting your work in the DMDS next fall, please contact Debra Mandel