Students at the Library

This post is not about students who use the library. We all know that tons of students find us useful. This post is about students who work here; some have for many semesters, others have begun only recently. Most are work study students, several are co-ops. Below are their profiles, with pictures. (Co-op Jordan Hellman, 2013) (Graphic Design Co-op Steve Olimpio, 2013) (Work Study student Kristin Richardson, 2011) (Erin Beach, Resource Sharing) (Vicky Lucas, part time worker, circulation) (Joyce Lin, DMDS co-op) If there is anybody I missed who wishes to be profiled, please let me know. I’m sure there are. (Unfortunately for my ego, I can’t profile myself. No longer a student.)

Cinephilia of The Hub

Being a film fanatic, I want to express my appreciation of  The Hub’s numerous books on cinema. Each time I wander back there, I see a new book on film. A few weeks ago I sat down and read Akira Kurosawa: master of cinema, compiled by the film historian Peter Cowie, and today I skimmed through a scholarly book on portrayals of  immigration in World Cinema. I also was glad to see that David Thomson’s The Moment of Psycho is available, which allowed me to include it in the summer reading exhibit I recently put together with Krissy. There is a large book on Fellini’s films called Fellini: The Films, which is similar to the Kurosawa book in size, reliance on pictures and biographical structure. There are certainly more. I found these books mainly because I was looking for them. (The Kurosawa and Fellini books noticeably tower above the dinky paperbacks, though.) But at the same time, they are so well-organized they are unmissable. Most of the film books seem to be placed in the middle row of the Hub’s shelves. This makes them much easier to find than the section on the third floor for books on films, because in that section they are mixed in with VHS’s and DVD’s. Whenever I look at a book on movies, with only a few exceptions, I feel as if I am one of the last people to be doing such a thing. I feel as though nobody takes criticism seriously anymore, and even movies are not taken seriously in the traditional sense. These sentiments can be backed up with other data and observation, but that’s for a different piece. This motivates me to find out more about them. But I don’t feel this way in the Hub; I figure, if this is a newly created space, popular with students, then perhaps students wanted more film books? Or maybe just the professors? Whatever the case, it is a pleasant surprise. But I might still be the only one who actually reads them for pleasure.

University of California vs. Nature Publishing Group

Have you heard about the confrontation between Nature Publishing Group and the University of California faculty and library? If not, or if you want more information, read on! In short, The Nature Publishing Group (NPG) (which publishes Nature along with many other journals) wanted to renegotiate its contract with the University of California system, with a price increase amounting to about 400% (or over one million dollars). The University not only resisted such an increase, but some faculty there have organized a boycott of Nature journals (PDF): no submitting papers, no peer review, no editorial boards, and so on. In other words, withholding their mostly-free labor in the face of this price increase. Since then, NPG has responded and UC/California Digital Library has responded to that response (PDF). (Text borrowed from Steve Lawson, with his permission.) This is a topic that touches on a lot of different aspects of scholarly communication — faculty as authors, the peer review process, journal prices… I welcome discussion, and will post updates as they come. More reading on the subject: Bidwell, Allie. 14 June 2010. UC Librarians Urge Professors To Boycott Publishing Company. The Daily Californian. http://www.dailycal.org/article/109651/uc_librarians_urge_professors_to_boycott_publishin Howard, Jennifer. 8 June 2010. U. of California Tries Just Saying No to Rising Journal Costs. Chronicle of Higher Education. http://0-chronicle.com.ilsprod.lib.neu.edu/article/U-of-California-Tries-Just/65823/ Oder, Norman. 24 June 2010. UC Libraries, Nature Publishing Group in Heated Dispute Over Pricing; Boycott Possible. Library Journal. http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/885271-264/uc_libraries_nature_publishing_group.html.csp Smith, Richard. 10 June 2010. University of California takes on Nature Publishing Group. BMJ Group Blogs. http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2010/06/10/richard-smith-university-of-california-takes-on-nature-publishing-group/

Construction begins for a new Alumni Reading Room

Beginning July 23rd, the first floor of Snell Library will undergo construction to create an Alumni Reading Room. This room has been made possible by a generous gift from Dr. and Mrs. Eugene M. Reppucci, Jr., in honor of Dr. Reppucci’s late mother, Anna Reppucci. The room will open this fall. It will be situated to the right of the Library main entrance, facing Snell Engineering. The primary purpose of the room is to provide a welcoming space for Northeastern alumni to relax, read, use their laptops, conduct research, and meet while on campus. Graduate students who have received their baccalaureates from Northeastern are also welcome to use the space.  Additionally, the Library is pleased to offer the room to current students who would like to schedule a Student Group meeting or event. Students can book the room through the Office of Student Affairs. Study tables and seating previously located in the Reading Room space are being redeployed to other areas of the Library. “We are delighted to offer alumni and student groups what promises to be a beautiful new space. At the same time, we continue to provide students the same amount of seating during the day and additional two floors of seating in the late and early hours, with the advent of all floor 24 hour access that begins July 5,” said Lesley Milner, Associate Dean, User Services. For updates, please see Snell Library’s blog Snell Snippets at https://librarynews.northeastern.edu.

Announcing All Floor 24/7

Students who have experienced frustration over a lack of time or places to study need fear no more. We are pleased to announce that beginning the evening of July 5th, Snell Library will be open twenty-four hours a day while classes are in session for current students, faculty and staff. For over a year, as a direct result of student demand, the first floor of the Library has been open 24×7. This access has proved a huge success with students. Based on this success, by expanding 24×7 access to all floors, the Library will better serve students who need to stay up late studying and who can also access a wider variety of resources than those available on the first floor. Associate Dean for User Services, Lesley Milner said, “The Library has worked closely with student government, student employees at Snell Library, and frequent library users, to get their input to create optimal library hours and study space, for which there is always demand. For students, the resounding response was anytime, day and night, and as much space as possible.  Dean of Libraries, Will Wakeling shared, “We want to give students what they need to succeed in their academic careers— and of course we are delighted that students want 24 hour access to the Snell library building, which complements our suite of online library research tools and resources.” For security purposes students, faculty, and staff are required to present and carry with them a valid Northeastern ID at all times. The public and alumni are welcome to use the Library during previously regularly scheduled hours. Funding for All Floor 24×7 has been provided by the Office of the Provost. See http://www.lib.neu.edu for more information about hours and usage of Snell Library. For questions about this change please contact Lesley Milner at l.milner@neu.edu. A new era has dawned.