For All of You Night Owls

Do you use the library overnight? If so, did you know that library materials are now available for you to check out, even after the circulation desk is closed? Try our new self-service overnight check-out and let us know what you think: http://www.lib.neu.edu/contact_us/ Make sure to hang on to your receipt–it’s the only way security guards will know your items were checked out. Questions? Give us a call at 617-373-8778 or just stop by the circulation desk to say hello.

Are You a Road Warrior?

As you think about traveling this year, whether for Christmas or spring break, take a look at Global Road Warrior, an online web site available as a trial for Northeastern-affiliated users. Global Road Warrior is supposed to help travelers, especially business travelers, know what to expect when they go to unfamiliar countries. It has information about transportation infrastructure, useful foreign phrases, how to dress, what to see. Details like currency conversion (updated daily) and types of electric plugs are also available. It shies away from recommending particular businesses (like hotels and restaurants). So the real question for us is, after all, this information is free on the internet, so is there a special value to paying for this particular site? Does it stand out in the internet crowd? Bottom line: Is Global Road Warrior worth the library paying for it, for Northeastern users? Try it for yourself, between now and January 9, and let us know what you think.

Help Test New Resources: Jewish Studies, Research Methods, Travel

Here at Snell we are always looking for new online research tools that would be useful to the Northeastern community. They are often expensive, however, and so we usually try them out before we buy them. You can always see what’s currently on trial by going to the All Databases and Trials page and clicking on the link that says “check out our current database trials.” (Also, note the evaluation form on that page — be sure to fill that out so we can have your feedback on these resources!) Right now we have some very interesting products on trial. To welcome Dr. Lori Lefkovitz, the new director of Northeastern’s Jewish Studies Program, we have a couple of Jewish Studies resources to sample. The Index to Jewish Periodicals provides access to English-language articles and book reviews on Jewish history, activity, and thought in more than 220 journals devoted to Jewish affairs, with coverage back to 1988. Jewish Studies Source offers a multidisciplinary view into the study of Jewish civilization from its historical origins to the present, drawing across multiple areas of study, and contains much full text (over 350 titles). Both resources are available to try out until the end of 2010. Another new tool you can try is Sage Research Methods Online. This resource provides full text for more than 500 books and several encyclopedias offering relevant research methods content across the social and behavioral sciences, covering quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (it includes the well-known QASS or Little Green Book Series). You can try this until the end of 2010. Finally, an interesting departure from our usual resources: Global Road Warrior. According to its description, this is “a source for practical travel information and intercultural communication. You may want to make use of it to get acclimated to a country’s business culture and etiquette (greetings & courtesies, ethics, meetings, attire), society and culture (gift giving, food, media, time & punctuality) and travel tips (money & banking, transportation, and more) for 200+ countries.” This sounds like it would be great for students heading off to study-abroad programs or international co-op jobs. Global Road Warrior is on trial until January 9, 2011. Remember, when you test out any of the products on trial, be sure to fill out our feedback form letting us know what you thought!

Snell On Your Cell

As usual, Snell is keeping up with the times and mobile technology is an area we wouldn’t want to miss out on. So don’t be surprised if you start seeing some of these little numbers popping up around Snell or elsewhere on campus. If you have a barcode scanner on your smartphone, try this QR code out and let us know what you think! (Of course, you can also access our mobile website at this address: http://www.lib.neu.edu/m)

Rolling Stone Columnist: Matt Taibbi at Snell Library

Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 17th, Rolling Stone columnist Matt Taibbi will be featured in Snell Library’s Meet the Author series with his new book Griftopia. Come for refreshments and a lot of laughs. Matt Taibbi takes a humorous and at times very serious stance on just about all of the big headlines of the news. Notorious for his political comments, Matt wrote Griftopia to report the inside scoop on America’s failing economy and who’s to blame. Come to learn about all of the latest struggles America is facing and some that undoubtedly will be challenges for the future. Want a taste? Check out his blog on True/Slant for a small dose of the excitement about to come. You can purchase a book at the event and even get it signed. Don’t forget to bring your questions and/or rants! This event is sponsored by NU Libraries and the NU Bookstore.