Library News

Policy Making Begins at Home

Update: Stephen Flynn, founding co-director of Northeastern’s George J. Costas Research Institute for Homeland Security, testified before Congress on Tuesday this week about cyber security concerns. Policy making isn’t always an “inside the beltway phenomenon” or the exclusive preserve of Washington insiders. Northeastern faculty and staff are frequent visitors to Congressional hearing rooms, providing expert testimony on topics as diverse as hate crimes, tobacco regulation, airline mergers, autism, the economic downturn, and human trafficking. In 2008, President Joseph Aoun welcomed Senator Ted Kennedy, invited witnesses, and members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to NU for a hearing on access to higher education. Ensuring Access to College in a Turbulent Economy provides a verbatim record of these proceedings. Other recent hearings with a local connection include: Mitchell Report: Illegal Use of Steroids in Major League Baseball – Includes testimony of former Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens and his colleague, New York Yankees player Andy Pettitte. Digging Up the Facts: Inspecting the Big Dig – More on the project Bostonians love to hate: water leaks, shoddy building materials, and cost overruns. Learning from the States: Individual State Experiences with Healthcare Reform Coverage Initiatives – The Commonwealth’s flagship program for universal healthcare coverage, now much in the spotlight in the 2012 Presidential election. Ten Years after 9/11: Assessing Airport Security and Preventing a Future Terrorist Attack – This hearing was held in Boston since two of the affected flights originated at Logan International Airport. The NU Library provides access to historic and contemporary U.S. Government documents in online and print formats. Key collections include:
  • Proquest Digital Hearings: Congressional hearings from 1824 to present
  • FDsys: The government site for authenticated, permanent access to important document series, including the Congressional Record (1994 to present), Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, Compilation of Presidential Documents, federal budget, Statutes at Large, United States Code, etc.
  • HeinOnline: Historical and contemporary government documents, including Foreign Relations of the United States, treaties, Presidential Papers, and the Congressional Record and its predecessors.
  • U.S. Congressional Serial Set and American State Papers: Rich collection of primary source materials from Congress and other government agencies.  The set includes an historical map collection.
Consult the Federal Government Subject Guide for information about additional government publications.

History Through Biography

Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn  The award winning American National Biography Online and Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (for British history) are now available through NU Libraries. Within these resources, you are able to search by person, subject, date, or location. For example, you can find major artists who lived in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Results include lengthy biographical entries and links to related people and themes. The American National Biography Online includes the Oxford Companion to United States History so that you can quickly link from a noted figure to article on topics related to that figure. For more on the Library’s resources in History, please see the Subject Guide.

Playing in the Sun with ‘Tag, Toss & Run’

Author Paul Tukey

Author Paul Tukey presents his book "Tag, Toss & Run"

We all enjoyed a great afternoon playing lawn games from organic lawn care advocate Paul Tukey’s book, Tag, Toss & Run: 40 Classic Lawn Games. Thank you to everyone who participated in our final Meet the Author Series talk of the semester and Field Day on Tuesday! Starting the afternoon off with his presentation on organic lawn care and Tag, Toss, & Run, Paul enlightened us on the dangers of society’s use of regular lawn care and the much better benefits of using organic lawn care techniques. He reminded us that before people needed their lawns to be perfect, with no weeds and completely green grass, families and their children were playing outside on their lawns without any problems. It wasn’t until a need for the “perfect” lawn that parents began to stop their children from playing outside due to all of the dangerous chemicals from the weed sprays and fertilizers that were being used to grow the “perfect” lawn. Fewer children are now going outside to play, missing out on fun and the exercise that comes with playing outside. Paul challenged and encouraged us to know what is being sprayed on our own lawns, and also to get outside to play more.
Field day lawn games on Centennial Commons

Student groups lead lawn games following Tukey's presentation

Emphasizing this challenge, Paul invited us to join him for an afternoon of play out in Centennial Commons where student groups, including NUHOC, Tri Sigma, BGE and the Vietnamese Student Association, as well as those from NU Sport in Society, were hosting lawn games from Tukey’s book. Enjoying the sun, students were able to play games such as Volley Ball, Ladder Toss, Badminton, Molkky, Sepak Takraw and more. Hitting the ball over the net, scoring points in Molkky and tossing a Frisbee around, students and faculty met Paul’s challenge and for an afternoon, got outside to have a fun game-filled day under the sun.

We Need to Know What You Need to Study

Crowded study space in Snell

UPDATE 5/1/12: We have closed the survey data collection, thank you to everyone who shared their experience on this survey! If you are interested in the results of the survey, please watch this space, or contact me directly, at t.urell@neu.edu. — Do you come in to study in Snell but you can’t find a place to sit? Is your favorite group study room always booked? Need more power outlets? We want to know! This spring the Library will be asking for your help in collecting information about how study space is configured in Snell. We’re conducting a quick survey about study habits, preferences for space and furniture, and we will use the information to shape Library development over the next few years. Please take a few minutes to let us know what space and furniture you use, what you would like to see more of, and any other feedback or suggestions you have about study space in Snell. The survey shouldn’t take more than five minutes, your responses will remain anonymous, and each response will help us shape the Library’s study space. If you would prefer to fill out a paper version of the same survey, copies are available at the Circulation (1st floor) and Research Assistance (2nd floor) desks in the Library. Questions? Send me an email at t.urell[at]neu.edu Thanks for your help in creating a better Library!

Preserving HOPE

Poder Latino AIDS/HIV training session, ca. 1995 The Library’s Archives and Special Collections Department is happy to announce our newest social justice collection, the historical records of HOPE, the Hispanic Office of Planning and Evaluation, Inc.. HOPE was a community-based organization established in 1971 to offer services and programs to benefit Massachusetts’ Hispanic/Latino residents. A wonderful addition to the Archives, the HOPE collection furthers our mission to collect and preserve the records of the Boston-area social justice organizations that serve under-represented communities. HOPE was a leader in creating innovative programs and services. In the mid-1970s, HOPE Talent Search was established to assist low-income youths in Boston and surrounding communities to stay in school, complete high school, and seek advanced or post-secondary education. During the 1990s, HOPE established Poder Latino (Latin Youth Power), a program to train Latino youth as peer educators about health promotion and disease prevention with particular emphasis on sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS/HIV. Another innovative program, PLENA (Padres Latinos Educando Nuestros Adolescentes/Latino Parents Educating Our Youth), trained volunteers to educate their own parents and family members on health issues. In 1995, HOPE established the Pedro Zamora Center, a peer center offering support services to Latinos and family members living with AIDS/HIV. HOPE promoted civic engagement and leadership development through its HOPE “Proyecto PLAN” Community Leadership Development and HOPE YouthPLAN and CommUNITYPLAN programs.  It also operated a computer-learning center and offered training classes to the community. HOPE worked closely with schools, cities, state-run organizations, and local non-profits until its closing in 2011. To learn more about HOPE’s contents or if you’re interested in our other social justice collections, please visit the Archives website.