Library News

“Scanner Scouts” are in the building

To celebrate the new school year and the new scanning stations, students from the Library Marketing & Advancement office and members of the SGA have teamed up as “Scanner Scouts.” Scouts will roam the floors of the Library looking for students using the new scanners. Students seen using the scanning machines will be offered a free Northeastern USB drive (like the one pictured below) and get their picture taken and uploaded to the library’s social media sites. So don’t miss out on this awesome promotion! It’s only going on this week, so hurry over to the library and get caught using a scanner!

More about the scanning stations: Located on floors 1-4 of the Library, these environmentally-friendly scanners are a green alternative to our old copy machines. They help save trees and reduce paper-use by allowing students to save the scanned image to their NU email, USB flash drive, or Google Docs account. If you still need a paper copy of the scanned document, they can print it out using the printers at the library. And the best part? The scanners are absolutely free! So go green and try one of the scanning stations today!

Fall author lineup has something for everyone

I’ve just received the lineup of authors coming to Snell Library this fall to speak about their books.  It arrived in my email and my snail mail on the same day, which seemed fortuitous somehow.  Of course the first thing I did was scan to see if I had read any of the books (nope, not yet) or even heard of any of the authors (yes!). What struck me as I examined the list was the terrific variety we have to offer.  Whether you’re interested in history, women’s studies, sports, journalism, marketing, politics, law, or just a few good fiction reads, there’s an author coming to speak at Snell that you’ll be interested in hearing from! Independence book cover The season opens with John Ferling’s Independence: The Stuggle to Set America Free on 9/14 (you can never read enough about the Declaration of Independence, right?) followed by Peter F. Stevens on 9/21, reading from The Twilight Riders: The Last Charge of the 26th Cavalry, another history book, this one about World War II. Lou Imbriano, former Chief Marketing Officer for the New England Patriots, talks about his new book Winning the Customer, which covers revenue-building marketing strategies from a top NFL CMO on 9/22.  And Martin Henn will present Under the Color of Law about counterterrorism law and policy on 10/19, a timely topic in this 10th anniversary year of the Al-Qa’ida attacks. Braver headshotInterested in fiction? If so, meet Gary Braver, who reads from his new suspense novel, Tunnel Vision, on 10/26. This novel has won advance praise from none other than Ray Bradbury! Braver may be better known to you as Gary Goshgarian, longtime professor of English at Northeastern. Read more about why he writes under a pen name here.   Cohn book cover There’s a trifecta of authors coming to discuss the role and status of women this fall: Joumana Haddad, author of I Killed Scheherazade: Confessions of an Angry Arab Woman comes to Snell on 10/20, sports journalist Linda Cohn, author of Cohn-Head: A No-Holds-Barred Account of Breaking into the Boys Club on 10/22, and Dr. Emily Fox Kales, author of Body Shots: Hollywood and the Culture of Eating Disorders on 11/16. Vega Capping off the season is a very special event: An Evening with Al Vega (11/17), hosted by acclaimed WGBH music announcer Ron Della Chiesa and Leonard Brown of Northeastern’s Department of African American Studies and Music. Jazz pianist Al Vega, who attended Northeastern in the 1940s, will perform with his trio, and Prof. Brown will present his book about Vega, Boston’s Jazz Legend: the Al Vega Story.  This event is open to Northeastern University faculty, staff and students. Join your friends and colleagues in meeting Snell’s visiting authors this fall!

Gearing up for Welcome Week

Yes, it’s that time of year! Welcome Week is upon us. The bulk of Welcome Week events begin next week on September 6th and the Library will be welcoming new students to Northeastern’s campus as well as saying “hello again!” to students who are back to start another academic year. The first day of classes is September 7th, but all week Northeastern has scheduled activities for newly enrolled NU students. For a complete list of planned events visit Northeastern’s Welcome Week site. The Library is excited about participating in the activities! We have some plans in store so that students, new and old, can acquaint (or reacquaint) themselves with the Library and our services. Here is an overview: ClubSnell: Live and In Person. Starting on Tuesday, September 6th and through Friday, September 9th, Snell Library will have a Welcome Week booth out on our front patio from 11am-1pm. Come and stop by with questions or for more information about research assistance, circulation and resources, text a librarian, or study spaces! We’ll also have information about work study positions and upcoming events. Check-In! While you’re here, come in and explore the building. Check-in using foursquare to participate in our foursquare contests each day (starting Tuesday, September 6th) for the chance to win some neat prizes. For more information read our foursquare contest instructions. Library Tours. Stop by Snell Library for a short, 20-minute introduction to the Library and get a preview of how we can help you with your research. Tours are scheduled for Wednesday, September 7th from 1:30-1:50 and 3:00-3:20pm; Thursday, September 8th from 4:30-4:50pm; and Friday, September 9th from 11:45-12:05pm and 2:00-2:20pm. Tours will meet in Snell Library Lobby. We are looking forward to seeing everyone back on campus! For more information about NU Libraries visit www.lib.neu.edu. You can also follow us on Facebook @Northeastern University Libraries and on Twitter @ClubSnell.

NU Archives Receives Grant to Digitize Boston Chinese Community Records

The Northeastern University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections Department recently received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Library Services and Technology Act administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. The award will go towards a project to digitize the entire Chinese Progressive Association collection comprising 12 cubic feet of historical material, including documents, posters, photographs, negatives, and audio and videotapes, dating from 1976-2006. Some of the images in the collection document rallies and protests, like the photo below, against the expansion of Tufts New England Medical Center in Chinatown. They also depict photos of celebrations in honor of Chinese holidays like Chinese New Year. To read more about the Chinese Progressive Association, the IMLS grant, and the collection read our published media advisory or visit the NU Archives and Special Collections website.

Protest against the New England Medical Center's proposal for a garage on Parcel C, ca. 1990.

Maria Carpenter to become Director of Somerville Public Library

Today I am saying goodbye to a friend and colleague, Maria Carpenter.  Maria is leaving Northeastern to become Director of Somerville Public Library.  Today is her last day at Snell. Maria arrived here 10 years ago as a reference and instruction librarian.  As soon as we met her we knew she was the one we wanted to hire for the position.  It was clear that her first priority as a librarian was attentive, compassionate communication between librarians and library users.  Her role has expanded over the years and as our Director of Advancement, Marketing and Communications (a position she created), she has become the ear and the voice of the library, coordinating all communications, from the suggestion box to press releases to Meet the Author programs. As the Library Web Manager, I have always looked to Maria for support and guidance.  She’s been able to give me advice on big picture communication priorities, and she’s been able to read over a sentence and tell me if the tone is right.  She’s happy to experiment with any technology that might help the library communicate, including Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter, and she was the force behind the creation of this blog. Above all, Maria has always been a great bridge for me.  I think that’s because she makes a point of going outside the library.  She attends NU events and professional conferences, audits classes and has dinners with alumni.  Everywhere she goes, she listens to what people say about Snell Library and brings their perspectives back to me and my colleagues, asking us to look up from our books and our laptops and engage with what’s going on at Northeastern and beyond. Not content with the relentless pace of her professional library activities, Maria’s recently begun to take an interest in yoga, and has found it so satisfying that she’s become an instructor.  One of the things I will miss is being able to attend the occasional noon yoga class she leads for her friends in the seminar room at Snell, once again, getting us to lift our heads up from our laptops and stretch a little. In fact, stretching is what I expect Maria to continue to do, in who-knows-what unexpected directions, when she takes the reins at Somerville Public Library.  Back here at Snell, I shall follow her career with interest, and I hope that once in a while she’ll meet me for a Mark N Stormy at Highland Kitchen, so we can continue talking about the future of books, libraries and communities as we’ve been doing for the past ten years. Goodbye, Maria, and always when you stretch, don’t forget to breathe! To view the official press release of Maria’s departure, visit the Northeastern University Libraries’ News & Events page.