Northeastern

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)

Parents Weekend Author Talk Coming Up

To some, Parents’ Weekend is a drag… back to that restricted “my-parents-are-watching” mentality. To others, it’s a relief to have some quality family time again, to take away some of the homesickness. Regardless of if you’re happy about it or not, parents are coming in force this weekend and Northeastern has set up some awesome events, like Howie Mandel, to keep you entertained. If your folks can’t make it, you are in luck because you can still enjoy everything Northeastern has to offer this weekend! Snell Library will continue a Parents’ Weekend tradition on Saturday at 11am with another talk from our Meet The Author series. Northeastern Professor Roger Abrams talks about his book Sports Justice and how the law interacts with the business of professional sports. I for sure will not be missing this one, it should be a pretty active discussion. Check out the Facebook page for more info. You can check the full schedule of Parents’ Weekend events in PDF format here.

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:

Citations, Quotations, Notations…Frustrations

Remember when before EasyBib you actually had to know what citation convention you were using and actually format your citation yourself? If you’re like me, of course you don’t, because we grew up in the computer age. Regardless, citations are a crucial function to the scholarly process, and withholding due credit (not citing your sources) or even citing incorrectly is frowned upon to the extent of expulsion for plagiarism. Some of the new features on EasyBib have made this process even easier by automatically citing sources based on article titles, and giving a much wider range of citation formats and documentation options. Unfortunately, you still have to cite within your actual text manually, a process that is known to be arduous and often time consuming…until now (for those of you who didn’t know about this before reading my blog post). Available through on the Self-Service tab of MyNEU, by clicking into Software Downloads you will find the answer to all things citation related. The program named EndNote, aptly puts an End to all of your Note-ation problems (I try to be funny… it usually never works). Straight from EndNote themselves…

“Millions of researchers, scholarly writers, students and librarians use EndNote to search online bibliographic databases, organize their references, images and PDFs in any language, and create bibliographies and figure lists instantly. Instead of spending hours typing bibliographies, or using index cards to organize their references, they do it the easy way—by using EndNote” (Endnote).

See the citation convention I used there? All thanks to EndNote! Some other cool functions include automatic paper formatting, template extensions, online reference searches, customizable export options, and more. So, while EasyBib may be a great tool for citations, the software provided by Northeastern will make sure you aren’t stuck in Snell Library all night.

Attention: who wants to work at Snell?

  Snell Library has recently posted two open positions for hiring. Both are full time positions that all may apply to. Below are descriptions of the positions. 1. Advancement and Marketing Assistant, Northeastern University Libraries Help us to grow! This position assists with advancement and marketing efforts of the University Libraries. Major responsibilities include setting up appointments with donors, making thank you calls, drafting correspondence to donors and alumni, coordinating tasks, communicating with advancement and marketing staff across campus, running database reports, and assisting the department head with priority projects. S/he will also be responsible for payroll and monitoring departmental expenditures and the department budget. In addition s/he will hire, train, and supervise 1-2 coops and 3-6 work study students. Other responsibilities include collaborating with the Programming & Communications committee and managing coop students on marketing and programming projects such as author talks and panel discussions.         Qualifications   This individual must have excellent written and verbal communication skills, very strong interpersonal abilities, a positive attitude, and be detail oriented. S/he should feel comfortable picking up the phone and calling anyone. S/he should be able to prioritize, manage multiple projects, and to meet project deadlines. S/he must be able to work independently and in teams, possess decision-making abilities and problem-solving skills, and effectively supervise others. S/he should be flexible, adaptable, and creative. Eagerness to grow and learn is a plus. Experience with client relations, sales, or advancement experience is preferred. Two+ years computer experience working with databases, word processing programs, and generating reports is necessary. Experience with SalesForce is a plus. Budget experience is preferred. Bachelor’s degree is required. Flexibility in work schedule is required (some evening and weekends). If you have questions about this position at Northeastern, please contact: Maria Taesil Hudson Carpenter Director of Advancement, Marketing & Communications Northeastern University Libraries 617.373.2821 o 857.719.8009 c m.carpenter@neu.edu 2. Digital Library Developer Are you interested in applying your technical skills in an academic environment? Do you think about the future of libraries, scholarly publishing, and digital information management systems?  Do you enjoy working with dedicated colleagues and solving interesting problems?  If so, consider applying to be our Digital Library Developer! As part of a new Digital Library Management department, the Digital Library Developer will develop and maintain the core technical infrastructure for a comprehensive digital library/repository service.  The successful candidate will work closely with colleagues in the Libraries and in Information Services and will play a leading role in designing the primary architecture, workflows and applications for Northeastern’s digital repository service. Typical duties include: working with open-source and commercial applications to develop an OAIS compliant infrastructure that supports the ingestion, storage/preservation, and distribution of digital assets.  The Digital Library Developer will be responsible for designing, developing, testing and deploying new technologies, tools and resources to extend and enhance digital content and services, developing application programming interfaces (APIs) to facilitate multiple submission and access pathways; and collaborating with IS colleagues to implement appropriate identity management and authentication policies. Qualifications Qualifications for this exciting position include: –    Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and four to six years of significant development experience in an object oriented development environment such as Java. –    Strong working knowledge of Java, SQL, XML/XSL. –    Experience with web programming frameworks such as PhP, Rails, or Django. –    Demonstrated experience with Unix, Unix utilities, device handling, data storage, and basic UNIX administration. –    Knowledge of current web development standards and cross platform compatibility and accessibility techniques. –    Experience with Open Source software. –    Excellent oral and written skills. –    Strong interpersonal skills; ability to work successfully in a collaborative environment. –    Experience with IT in a higher education setting desirable. Additional Information Questions about this position or Northeastern’s digital library program should be sent to Patrick Yott at p.yott@neu.edu. To apply for these jobs: If applying from the Careers @ Northeastern site: 1. Click on the ‘Add to My Positions’ button; 2. Click on the ‘View My Positions’ button; 3. Click on the ‘Apply for Positions’ button; 4. Follow the instructions on how to complete ‘The Application Process’. Important: remember that these jobs will be listed under the heading “College/Area: Libraries” If applying from an external job site: 1. Copy the following URL and paste it into a new browser window: https://psoft.neu.edu/psc/neuhrprdpub/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/NEU_HR.NEU_JOBS.GBL 2. Find the position(s) you are interested in applying for and follow the instructions available on the Careers @ Northeastern site. Please contact only the aforementioned staff if you are interested in applying; feel free to refer friends outside of Northeastern who may be qualified/interested. Furthermore, spread this blog post around! -Damon G