Library

Going Global

On Sunday, a few friends and I decided that the Christian Science Center was worth investigating after 2+ years of walking curiously in its shadow. Inside, we found this (above). This enormous glowing globe – house is called the Mapparium. Its a three story painted glass globe that you walk inside. It’s inside the Mary Baker Eddy Library on Mass. Avenue, and it’s preeeetttty awesome. There is a fee to enter the Mapparium, which is bogus, but hey, its a measly four dollars for a unique, thought-provoking experience — more than you’d get out of a Big Mac (also four dollars) from the McDonald’s next door. You enter on a bridge suspended in the earth’s core (super cool). Then a brief light show begins (super cool) during which you examine the foreign cartography of this three-dimensional map made in 1935 (super cool). Like, what is French Indo-China? Oh, and this happens to be super cool: the acoustics of the perfect sphere are quite unique. From the center, your voice is very loud. I happened to be standing in the center. I’ve never felt so powerful, or so entertained. Not to mention somewhat rude. From the edge of the bridge, your voice can be heard very clearly by the person on the other side of the bridge, but not by others in the center, so two can have a secret conversation in plain globe-light. Everything about this place is… well, I think you know how I feel about it. I vote we get one of these at Snell instead of an Alumni Reading Room. No offense, Mom (class of ’82).

Reference Materials Being Moved in Snell Library

Starting this week, the reference materials on the first floor will be moved to the second, third and fourth floors. This means that from now on, Library users will be able to find their reference books either next to the Research Assistance desk on the second floor or in the Stacks and Oversize areas on the third and fourth floors. Because the materials are being divided, it will be best to use NUCAT to find a desired book. Currently, some books have been moved to the Oversize and Stacks areas. On Thursday, relocation of books to the second floor is expected to begin. This operation means that out of date materials are being removed. However, some materials are being transferred to our online collections. We ask that nobody remove any of the paper slips from the reference books during this time, as they are vital to the relocation. All books are expected to be relocated by the early fall. Please contact Lesley Milner at l.milner@neu.edu if you have any questions. The great movement begins!

Our own Discovery channel

In response to user requests for an easy-to-use integrated search option, Northeastern University Libraries are pleased to provide Discovery, a single interface by EBSCOhost that allows several databases and Northeastern’s catalog to be searched at one time. This search tool is a ‘one stop shop’ for users to begin their research. Northeastern will explore the impact of the tool over the course of the academic year. Northeastern University Associate Dean for Scholarly Resources, Amira Aaron, says, “We wanted to provide a more streamlined way for our community to discover information in multiple resources, including our local repositories and open access content. Northeastern students know EBSCOhost and by introducing Discovery we are able to provide additional content and include our catalog, all within a familiar environment which means an easy transition for students, faculty and staff.” Northeastern will work with EBSCO in the next several months to add its digital archive and local digitized content to Discovery, providing even more content from the single search interface – creating a truly custom collection. The ability to pull these additional resources together was another reason for selecting a unified tool. Aaron says, “A unified tool will provide our users with as much content as possible from our discovery service and eliminate multiple silos of information, while improving access to our rich collection of electronic resources.”

Shout out to Huntington News

Please see this recent news item from the Huntington News on our 24/7 service. Thanks to Jenna Duncan for getting this put up. Also see this editorial (which I was informed of by way of a comment) on the Northeastern Facilities Department, which praises the 24/7 service, if cautiously. http://huntnewsnu.com/2010/07/husky-happenings-11/ http://huntnewsnu.com/2010/07/editorial-if-the-university-operated-more-like-facilities/ I’m glad to see that we’re getting press, even over the summer. -Damon G

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.)