Hot debate over drying your hands at Snell

Ever wash your hands and have no paper towels left? Leaving you to shake them as fast as you can, rub them on your clothes, or hold them awkwardly away from your body while they air dry? Of course that never happens at Northeastern, because of our great Facilities branch, but at Snell Library it will never, ever happen. In conjunction with sustainable initiatives around Northeastern, you will find warm-air dryers slowly replacing paper towel dispensers in all Snell Library bathrooms. In addition to reducing litter and solid waste, the warm-air dryers require minimal maintenance (no refilling) which will help save time and money in Snell. We’d love to hear your input, do you like warm-air dryers, or prefer plain old paper towels? Me personally, I like the warm-air dryers. The sustainability and savings aspect is all well and good but the real benefit of those is being able to do this:

Welcome Nina Shah!

Please join me in welcoming Nina Shah, our newest addition to the Northeastern University Libraries’ Advancement and Marketing team. Nina started on Monday, September 20th in her role as the Library’s Advancement, Marketing, and Communications Assistant. She brings two years of professional marketing experience to Northeastern through her previous position as a Marketing Analyst for EnerNOC Inc., an energy management firm in downtown Boston. Prior to EnerNOC, Nina received her business degree from Villanova University where she majored in Marketing and minored in International Business. She has a diverse background in marketing including event and tradeshow planning and execution, customer service and retention, budgeting and fundraising, corporate branding, and market research. She loves to travel, experience new cultures, and eat delicious food. She also enjoys the outdoors, especially hiking, kayaking, camping, biking and swimming. Nina is looking forward to meeting other members of the Northeastern community and is enjoying diving into her new role!

‘The Town’ Comes Home

Everyone in Boston seems to be buzzing about The Town, and while I haven’t had the chance to see it yet, what with classes in full swing, I have to agree that it looks pretty fantastic. But, seeing as I’m a usual skeptic before watching movies longer than an hour and a half, I did a little research first. After seeing that Ben Affleck’s previous foray into directing (Gone Baby Gone, Oct 2007) was hailed by many critics and received a 7.5 out of 10 on metacritic.com, I decided to watch the trailer for The Town, and really see what this thing is about. For those who don’t know yet, The Town is set in Charlestown and the North End, and seems to be a mix of the Bourne movies with less mystery, and more of an inlaid plot conflict, with Affleck’s character falling in love with the hostage taken from a robbery, who has no idea of his true identity. The film has had a great opening weekend, grossing over 23 million dollars. (You can read reviews here.) The Town also stars Chris Cooper (American Beauty, Capote), whose wife, Marianne Leone, will be visiting Snell Library for a Meet the Author event on November 3. She’ll be discussing her book, Knowing Jesse, about the couple’s son who passed away in 2005 due to complications from cerebral palsy.

Multi-task to Music: Listen to Fabulous Jazz and Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month

NU Libraries subscribes to wonderful online music services, easily accessed from our Video and Sound page. Here are some “hot off the press” destinations for your wandering mind: Jazz Music Library Update: Alexander Street Press just added 850 Blue Note label recordings to their Jazz Music Library. Blue Note, founded in 1939 and sold to EMI in 2006, includes diverse styles associated with “hard bop” jazz. To access these recordings and musician biographies, go to the Jazz Music Library. You can search by Blue Note. The new content includes releases by Benny Goodman, Buddy Rich, Bobby McFerrin, Nancy Wilson, Cassandra Wilson, Wynton Marsalis, Louis Prima, Nigel Kennedy, Bernadette Peters, and more. Great recordings include: * Duke Ellington Live at the Blue Note * The Complete Imperial Sessions: Sonny Criss * The Rudy van Gelder Edition CDs of Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, Walter Davis Jr, Andrew Hill, Dexter Gordon, and more * Benny Green Live at the Village Vanguard * David Axelrod at Capitol Records (1966-1970) * The Complete Capitol Recordings of Art Tatum * The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Herbie Nichols * Kenny Burrell 75th Birthday Bash Live All of the new tracks run at both 192kbps and 320kbps bitrates. Smithsonian Global Sound Update: New Free Download! Smithsonian Global Sound, another marvelous listening service, features music from around the world. As part of a new bi-weekly tradition, Alexander Street and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings offer a free music download. September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month. Join in the celebration with a free download of “Paraguarí” performed by harp master Marcelo Rojas from the 2009 Smithsonian Folkways album Maiteí América: Harps of Paraguay. “Paraguarí” from Maiteí América: Harps of Paraguay (SFW40578) This track is owned by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and is available, free of charge, for a limited time only. Be sure to join their mailing list for regular email updates every time a new track becomes available. Stay tuned for more music updates!

Class of 2015: View Library Tips from an Upperclassman

With the first full week of Fall classes complete, I would like to welcome the Freshman class of 2015. If they haven’t already, they will shortly find Snell Library to be their second home, literally. Let’s all put aside the fact that this class is spoiled by having the new 24/7 policy of the Library that we all fought for. It will help them adjust to those long nights spent doing projects last minute. (Do the rest of you Upperclassmen remember when we could get away with that?) So come on in, put the cell phone on mute, and plug those headphones in, because it will be a year of hard work with plenty of fun in between. I have listed below a few resources/events that may help those last minute panics. NUCAT is your resource to find any type of print/media that is in Northeastern’s libraries. Here is a list of upcoming news and events. Come check out the Meet The Author talks listed here. Need to find a peer-reviewed article by 8 AM and “Googling” isn’t accepted by your Prof.? The Library has you covered. Welcome new faces and be sure to check out all the Library has to offer. Feel free to ask any Library staff or students around you if you are confused about anything. My best advice to you is to explore the opportunities you have here at Northeastern and get involved. The Library is always looking for new ideas and new writers (so comment away right here)!.