events

February 23-27 Is Fair Use Week!

        What is fair use? It’s a right granted to us that allows us to use copyrighted materials without permission from the copyright holder, under certain circumstances. The central purpose of the doctrine of fair use is to encourage creative expression and innovation through the transformative use of intellectual property. Fair use is not unusual—quite the contrary: it’s applied every day, in a variety of circumstances. Have you quoted an author in a paper for class? That’s fair use! Have you watched “The Daily Show,” or “South Park”? You’ve enjoyed the humor of parody that fair use allows! Have you DVRed those shows to watch later (or do you remember the dark ages of recording TV shows on your VCR)? Even though you’re technically making a copy, that kind of copying is also fair use. But fair use is sometimes mischaracterized as being too difficult to determine and thus advised against out of fear of infringement. So, the organizers of Fair Use Week hope to increase awareness and understanding of fair use, and emphasize its importance to the creation of new knowledge. There are several online events taking place as part of Fair Use Week:
  • On Tuesday, February 24, from 2:00-3:00, Kevin Smith of Duke University will be presenting a webcast on fair use.
  • On Wednesday, February 25, from 3:00-4:00, Brandon Butler of American University will be hosting a “tweetchat” on Twitter about fair use and audiovisual materials, at the hashtag #videofairuse.
  • Several videos about fair use are scheduled to be released next week.
You can read more about Fair Use Week—why it’s important and what it all means—at this link: http://fairuseweek.org/. I also recommend checking out the Fair Use Week Tumblr, organized by Kyle Courtney at Harvard University. He and his colleagues are posting interesting stories and snippets about Fair Use Week. You can follow @FairUseWeek on Twitter.  (And, if you haven’t seen it, we have a page about fair use on our library website.) Finally, check out this great infographic that has been created about fair use! (click for full image)  

Snell Library Welcomes the Emma Lazarus Exhibit and Opening Program!

Come join Snell Library in opening the Emma Lazarus: Voice of Liberty, Voice of Conscience Public Exhibit on October 27th. The exhibit will run until December 16 on the first floor of Snell Library and will illustrate the fascinating life of Emma Lazarus. Through her poetry, criticism, and advocacy for the poor, immigrants, and refugees, Emma Lazarus has left a lasting impression. The exhibit was created to recognize her influence, her life, and especially her poetry.

To kick off the exhibit, there will be an Emma Lazarus Opening Program and Panel Discussion, Issues of Immigration in Today’s America, on Thursday, October 27, 2011 from 6-8PM at the Snell Library Lobby. Moderated by NU’s Ruderman Professor of Jewish Studies, Lori Lefkovitz, the program and discussion will feature Silvia Dominguez, Northeastern University Assistant Professor of Sociology; Kitty Dukakis, social activist, author, and wife of former Governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis; Barbara Gottschalk, Executive Vice President of Seeds of Peace; and Ragini Shah, Associate Clinical Professor of Law at Suffolk University.

Admission is free, and a reception will follow after the discussion. Hope to see all you Huskies there! For more information about the exhibit and related programs click here! For information on other Meet the Author programs and events, click here!  

Welcome Snell Library Co-ops!

This week four Northeastern co-ops have started working at Snell Library to assist in various departments through the summer and fall semesters. Here is a little bit about each of them: Kelsey Strout, Marketing & Events Co-op “My name is Kelsey Strout and I am a middler in the Art and Design program at Northeastern. I traded a small town in New Jersey for the big and beautiful city of Boston. I have had a passion for art my entire life and feel most comfortable when partaking in creative activities. I am working toward a BA in Art and Design and a minor in Business Administration with the hopes of becoming an event designer after graduating. In my spare time, I enjoy drawing, babysitting, going to the beach and baking.” Will Macowski, Graphic Design Co-op “I’m a fourth year Graphic Design major going for a minor in Sociology. Outside of my studies, I enjoy the fine arts and love to draw and sculpt. I’ve recently ventured into the realm of tattooing and frequently transform my living room into a makeshift tattoo parlor.” William Bratches, University Archives Co-op “My name is William Bratches, and I am a middler majoring in history with two minors in business and political science. Although Boston is now home, I am originally from a small town on the Connecticut shoreline. Besides history, I enjoy music, running, reading, cooking, biking, and recently picked up tailoring!” Mike Helly, DMDS Co-op Co-op student Mike Helly is a graphic design major at Northeastern University. Web design and book layout are the areas of design that he finds most interesting. In his free time Mike enjoys to skateboard, play basketball, and listen to hip hop. Welcome new co-ops and best of luck within each of your positions! We are so happy to have you 🙂

A Week Full of Events!

As many of you may know, this month is filled with an assortment of fun and exciting events. We are headed into the second week of March with four programs you won’t want to miss! We hope to see you at one, or all of the events this coming week! If you have any questions on these or other upcoming programs at the library please contact k.forsberg@neu.edu. Tuesday, March 15th @8:30am – Breakfast with Artist Deborah Davidson To kick off the Northeastern University Humanities Center’s Artists and Practitioners in Residence Program, featuring Deborah Davidson, we will be serving a complimentary breakfast for attendees to meet and mingle with the artist. Breakfast will be served in the Alumni Reading Room on the first floor of Snell Library. To attend please R.S.V.P. to nin.shah@neu.edu. Tuesday, March 15th @10am- Book Making Workshop with Deborah Davidson Following the breakfast, Deborah Davidson will be leading an informal book binding workshop in the lobby of Snell for those interested in seeing how a hand bound book is made. This event is open to everyone so drop in between classes or during your study break! Tuesday, March 15th @12pm- Meet the Analysts: Baseball Prospectus 2011 Join us in 90 Snell Library for a look into this year’s coming baseball season! The analysts of Baseball Prospectuss have insights into over 60 different players, their teams, and their managers. Wear or bring your favorite team’s baseball cap! Wednesday, March 16th @12pm- Considering Books: A Talk with Deborah Davidson Come by 90 Snell Library to hear Deborah Davidson talk about her interest in making and thinking about books. Her focus will be on the book Voices, a 27’ scroll, which is included in the exhibition, What is Contained: The Book As Subject and Object, now open in Gallery 360. Wednesday, March 16th @6pm- Meet the Artist: Patrick Rothfuss Fantasy fiction writer Patrick Rothfuss will visit campus for a talk and book signing of his latest publication, The Wise Man’s Fear. This program will be in 200 Richards Hall and books will be made available for purchase. We will also have copies of The Name of the Wind for purchase.

Northeastern Meets Micah Nathan

Yesterday was the first Meet the Author Talk of the semester, and it was awesome! Losing Graceland’s Micah Nathan gave an excellent reading and candidly answered all of our inquiring questions about the novel, his personal life, and his writing processes. The audience was pleasantly surprised when we were treated to more than a few amusing anecdotes from his life. Frankly, he should try comedy on the side. You can read more about Losing Graceland on Amazon or on his website where Micah says Northeastern “rivaled any bookstore/assembly/book expo I’ve ever attended.” And he wants to use our poster design as a potential new book cover! “…a graphic design major put together the poster. If fate deems the book goes into a second printing, I will lobby for this being the cover. Or at least a cover for some version. How is it she managed to combine the Elvis vibe with my narrow head?” I know I’m looking forward to the next event, and I hope to see everyone there!