Library News

Happy Birthday Houdini

Many of you may have noticed today that Google is honoring the 137th birthday of Harry Houdini! So, in the spirit of the great illusionist, I thought I would see what we could uncover on the subject. Here’s what I discovered: Born as Erik Weisz, Houdini immigrated from Hungary when he was four years old. His most famous tricks involved making mind-boggling escapes from potato sacks dangling from bridges or glass cases filled with water. One of his most famous tricks is known as Metamorphosis. Houdini would be tied into a sack and locked into a trunk, a curtain would close and when it would reopen, Houdini would be on the stage and his assistant would be in the trunk. All of these facts, and many more can be found by searching “Harry Houdini” in the journal/article discovery search on the library’s website. Or search NuCat for books and resources on Houdini.

Did You Know Snell Has Laptop Locks?

Laptop locks are now available for use on ten of the group study tables outside of the InfoCommons on the first floor of Snell Library. Hooks are located on the corner edge of each table and locks can be signed out at the Circulation Desk for up to three hours (one renewal allowed per usage). For more information please contact the Circulation Desk on the 1st floor of Snell Library at 617.373.8778.

How Has the NIH Public Access Policy Affected You?

Heather Joseph at SPARC writes, “It’s hard to believe, but April 7, 2011 will mark the 3rd Anniversary of the implementation of the policy opening up access to articles reporting on the results of NIH-funded research.” (Read more about the NIH Public Access Policy here.) SPARC is gathering stories from authors as well as readers about how having wider access to taxpayer-funded research has affected them. Joseph continues:
The policy has shown tremendous signs of success. PubMed Central now contains more than 2 million full text articles reporting on the latest NIH-funded research, and nearly a half million individuals access these articles each day. With this new wealth of information now available, we’d like to know what your experience has been with it. Specifically, we’d like to hear: 1. How have you been using the database? 2. Have you used the articles to help inform yourself about new developments in a specific area? 3. Has the availability of these articles through PubMed Central helped you advance your research in ways that would not have occurred if they were not available? 4. Have articles that you have authored appeared in PubMed Central as a result of the policy? 5. Have you been contacted by other researchers who have found your work in the database, or vice versa? 6. Have you taken any of the articles to your doctor or other health care provider? 7. Has your healthcare provider used this database as a resource? (if you don’t know, please ask her/him!) 8. Has the availability of the articles in PMC had an impact on how you (or anyone in your community) manage your health care? We’ve heard from people who have used the latest research in various ways, and the stories are extremely powerful. If you have one, please share it! It will help us to not only ensure that PubMed Central remains open as an important public resource, but also to make the case to open up additional publicly funded databases from HHS and other federal agencies as well.
If you’d like to contribute your story about PubMed Central and the NIH Public Access Policy, you can e-mail Heather Joseph directly at heather@arl.org. (Source: http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/issues/nih/nih_action/callforstories.shtml)

Deborah Davidson's Visit Makes Us "Consider Books"

Earlier this semester a couple of coworkers and I participated on the planning committee for a campus visit by artist, curator, and educator Deborah Davidson, through the NU Humanities Center’s Artists and Practitioners in Residence Program. This week I was pleased to see those plans come to fruition, as the campus and Snell Library saw a successful series of events with Ms. Davidson, who has an interest in the book as subject and object in her artwork. On Tuesday morning, the lobby of Snell Library played host to a book-making event led by Davidson, in which participants could fold a piece of paper into a book form and then decorate/fill it however they chose, with a wide variety of art supplies she provided. The event was well-attended and participants really seemed to enjoy themselves. I myself channeled my inner 10-year-old and covered a few pages with smiley stickers and paper cutout hearts. For a great account of this event, including photos, see the nice writeup from news@Northeastern. On Wednesday at noon, an audience at Snell Library was treated to a “Meet the Artist” presentation by Davidson, in which she discussed her interest in making and thinking about books, and how books as art can both reveal and conceal themes and ideas. She focused on her book, Voices, which was part of a long-term project in which she used the book form to investigate her family history and its intersection with larger historical and cultural issues. She showed photos from exhibitions of her work and answered questions from attendees about her process and directions she may take with her future artwork. By the way, she has curated an art exhibit that is currently on display at NU’s Gallery 360 — I encourage you to go check it out to see some of Davidson’s work as well as that of other artists. Snell Library was delighted to host multiple events as part of Davidson’s residency on campus, and my colleagues and I certainly enjoyed this opportunity to look at and think about books in a way quite different from what’s required by our day-to-day jobs. We look forward to future collaborations with the NU Humanities Center!

5 Ways to Maximize Your Creativity

Last week, creativity and brain expert Dr. Shelley Carson visited Snell Library. She shared these five tips for maximizing your creativity. 1. Continue to actively learn and gather information throughout your life. 2. Turn off the automatic ‘censor’ in your brain (e.g. “that won’t work because…”). 3. Carry around a notepad or recorder– breakthroughs often happen in the strangest of places, when your censors are turned down. 4. Read about and hang out with other creative people 5. Don’t be afraid of failure. Creative people fail. Dr. Carson’s book, Your Creative Brain, is available for checkout at Snell Library. Thank you, Dr. Carson, for encouraging us all to be engaged explorers of the Universe.