February Workshops in the Recording Studios: Learn Podcasting, Video Recording, Sound Design, and More

Looking for a place to record your podcast or video project? Need to develop your media production chops? What is good sound design? The expert staff in the Library’s Recording Studios can teach you how in our multi-part workshop series beginning February 4. Click each flyer to enlarge:
 
Flyer describing Intro to Snell Studios workshops Flyer describing Intro to Podcasting workshops
 
Flyer describing Intro to Video Recording workshops Flyer describing Intro to Sound Design workshops
 
Use the links below to register for a workshop. Each workshop is offered on multiple dates—click on “Show More Dates” for each workshop to see when it will be offered!

Register:

Questions? Please contact Isaac Schutz, the Recording Studios’ Co-op, at i.schutz@northeastern.edu or 617-373-2465.
 
Students record video in the Snell Library Recording Studios        

New Year’s Resolution to Improve Your Citation Management Skills? We’ve Got You Covered

Start your 2019 research off on the right foot with our January series of workshops and webinars! Learn the basics or focus on specific tools to help you manage citations for yourself or your research group.

Registration is now open for ten different workshops. Choose from EndNote, RefWorks, Zotero, or Mendeley, or a session that introduces all of them to help you choose one.

What exactly is citation management? you may be asking.   

Summed up, it’s a clever way to create an automatic list of references (aka bibliography). Instead of spending hours typing and arranging your reference list, you can export book and article information into a program that will autoformat it. You’ll decide on your citation style, decide on placement of your in-text references in the text, and then proofread and edit. It’s generally much quicker than entering all the information by hand into your document.

Building a shared citation library for a group project or with research collaborators? Online citation management tools can help you do that, too.

Librarians at Snell Library are available—by phone, email, in person, and by video chat—to help you use these tools. Sign up for a workshop today!

A New Look for the 4th Floor

Have you been up to the 4th floor of Snell Library since the spring semester started? We’ve made some changes! Over the winter break, we refreshed all the furniture on the fourth floor, and some of the 3rd floor furniture as well. This is part of a continuing program of improvements to the library in response to changing user needs.

What’s Changed, and Why?

Much of the furniture previously on the 4th floor was in the building when it opened in 1990, and it showed. It was time to replace it with more modern furniture that can meet the needs of our current student body. For example, we’ve heard feedback from students that you wanted more standing-level workspaces, so you’ll see more of those on the 4th floor. A lot of the new furniture also has built-in power — none of the previous furniture had power. We’ve arranged the furniture to maximize access to power, although we’re still working on getting everything connected to the electricity. Snell Library sees more than 2 million visits a year — so, getting furniture that can withstand high usage as well as be cleaned or repaired easily was really important, too.

Zones for Quiet Study

Before this academic year, the 3rd floor was designated as a quiet study floor, and the 4th floor was a silent study floor. Last year, we freed up quite a bit of space in the building by moving some of our books to off-site storage and consolidating the remaining collection on the 3rd floor. As a result, the entire 4th floor is currently able to be used for study space. Even on the 3rd floor, there is more floor space now dedicated to seating.  The 3rd and 4th floors are now both considered quiet study floors, and the 4th floor is configured in zones that accommodate both quiet group study and silent individual study. So, there are places for study buddies to sit together, where it’s okay to whisper or talk quietly, as well as areas for you to work in solitude.

More Seats

When you come up to the 4th floor, it might look like there’s a lot of open space. Why not fill all that space in with furniture, so even more students can study? First, the fire code limits how many seats we can have on a floor, in order to keep occupancy at a safe level. Even if we didn’t have that limitation, keeping the furniture spaced out helps keep volume level reasonable for everyone using the floor. With the furniture replacement, there are more seats on the 4th floor now than there were even last semester! We’ve increased seating by about 10 percent. And there’s now a wider array of functionality for a variety of uses.

Tell Us What You Think!

We’re planning to observe how the new furniture is used, as well as soliciting constructive feedback from students. We can use that information to rearrange furniture into configurations that might work better for folks. Beyond that, we’re always open to student input, and we definitely consider it seriously when planning any building or service changes. We want Snell Library to be an environment that is shaped by its users, from first-year students to faculty. Send us your feedback!

Jazz Enthusiasts—Listen to Vinyl/LP Recordings in the Library

Have you ever held a vinyl recording in your hand, used a turntable to play music? The opportunity is now yours! More than 100 treasures from Snell Library’s Solomon Jazz Collection and a new turntable are available in Snell Library’ Media Creation Studio 203, outside the Recording Studios.

Donated to Snell Library by former trustee Bernard Solomon, these recordings span a range of genres including bebop, Dixieland, ragtime, and swing. Recording artists include Lester Young, Louis Armstrong, Rosemary Clooney, Fats Waller, Count Basie and Duke Ellington to name a few.

The complete list is here:  https://bit.ly/2zTaXeQ

To listen to these records, book a reservation on LibCal for up to 3 hours. https://northeastern.libcal.com/reserve/AVS

The records are on two shelves adjacent to the turntable and arranged in call number order.If you need assistance using the turntable, please see someone in the Recording Studios. The Solomon Jazz records cannot be checked out or leave the room.



For more information about this collection, please contact Debra Mandel: d.mandel@northeastern.edu        

Things to look at instead of your computer screen when you need a break

During finals week, it is important to remember to be kind to yourselves and give yourself a break every now and then. If you need a break from studying and from your all the variety of screens you’ve been staring at, come on down to the Archive and Special collections and look at some interesting books and photographs housed in our collections. We are located in the basement of Snell Library, Room 92. We are open Monday-Friday 8:30-5:00 so if you aren’t able to visit us during finals week, we’re always happy to have visitors!
  • Missing the warm spring days and the colorful flowers that accompany them? Take a look through our copy of Select Flower Arrangements of Moribana and Heikwa. This book is bound in green silk printed with branches and has an accordion style opening.
  • Need to see that there is life outside of finals? Our collection of photographs from The Theater Offensive shows colorful play performers and parties from this Boston based queer performance group.
  • If you’re just wanting to look at pretty and colorful pictures of building ornamentation, we have that too! In The Grammar of Ornament you can flip through this large volume exploring the different building designs from all over the world and all in full color.
  • In the mood for some frollicking animals? Come down and look at our copy of Chôjū Giga. These Japanese scrolls date from the 16th century and have been reproduced in a fold-out book. With scenes of frogs, mice, and monkeys, you are sure to forget (even if only for a little while) about the stresses of finals.
  • And speaking of de-stressing, we have another fold out book with Japanese artwork, titled Sesshu’s Long Scroll: A Zen Landscape Journey. This pocket-sized book with a printing from beloved Japanese artist Sesshu and is filled with Japanese landscapes throughout the seasons.
  • If you celebrate Christmas and are wanting to get into the spirit, we’ve got you covered.  You can look through pictures from our Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción records of past Christmas talent shows and events. We also have a beautifully illustrated poem by Sophie Jewett titled The Least of Christmas Carols.
  • Feeling nostalgic? Our collection of Northeastern Yearbooks allow you to go back in time and look into the lives of previous students. Fun Fact: this fall was the 75th anniversary of the first enrollment of women at NU. We have photographs of these women when they first enrolled as well as photographs from their 50th anniversary in 1993. If you’re interested in going even further back, we have a collection of photographs from African American photographer Charles H. Bruce who photographed various scenes around the Boston area in the early 1900s.
  • Traveling over the holidays? Or just wish you were? We have a multiple travel books and maps with illustrations that make you feel like you are there.  We have adventure memoirs from Rockwell Kent from his travels in Alaska as well as the Strait of Magellan in South America. If you’re looking for someplace warm to explore, we have The Golden Octopus: Legends of the South Seas filled with colorful illustrations of the Pacific islands. We also have maps of London and Paris from the 19th and 20th centuries that could help you plan your next trip across the Atlantic. The Paris guide even has a map of all the bus routes! (accuracy not guaranteed).
 
  • And finally, we have pictures of dogs, but not just any dogs. From 1920s-1970s, Northeastern University had its very own husky as a mascot. There were five dogs who were crowned King Husky and attended various events on campus throughout their tenure.
Good luck on finals week and have a wonderful break!