Why You Should Start Using Citation Management Software

Would you like to learn how to create a bibliography or “works cited” page in a matter of seconds? Are you wondering how best to keep track of all the citations you copy and paste for all the articles and books you use? Do you wish you could just plug in a footnote while you’re writing in Word or Google Docs, and have it automatically format correctly? Are you interested in finding ways to store (and maybe even share) the citations and documents you’re accumulating in your research? Citation management software allows you accomplish all these things!
  • download citations (and attach PDFs) from various websites and databases,
  • store the citations in folders, and optionally share them,
  • create properly formatted footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies using APA, ASCE, Chicago, MLA, and dozens of other styles painlessly in your word processor.
There are many commercial products out there for you to choose from, but at Northeastern we support Endnote, Refworks, and Zotero. Next week, the library offers several workshops and a drop in session to help you get started and answer questions.  Choose the right software for your needs, install or register your account, learn how to upload citations, and “cite while you write” in Word and Google Docs.           Workshop dates and times Getting Started with Endnote Monday, October 30 10:30-11:15 422 Snell Library Register Getting Started with Zotero Tuesday, October 31 9:15-10:00 422 Snell Library Register Getting Started with Refworks Wednesday, November 1 9:15-10:00 422 Snell Library Register Getting Started with Refworks (ONLINE) Thursday, November 2 noon-12:45 Register DROP IN Citation Help Friday, November 3 9:30-11:30 CoLab D, Level 1 Snell Library (near Argo Tea) (no registration necessary) Please join us!

Open Access Week is 10 Years Old!

The theme of this year’s International Open Access Week, “Open in order to…”, highlights the multitude of reasons why Open Access is important to researchers, students, funders, patients, and everyone else who benefits from increased sharing of knowledge. This year marks the 10th celebration of International Open Access Week, held during the last full week of October to advocate for fewer barriers between people and the information they need. At Snell Library, we support Open Access in lots of ways. In 2016, our staff adopted an open access policy for our published research and presentations – you can find them in our Digital Repository Service. These materials have been viewed almost 2,000 times and have been downloaded by readers more than 1,000 times! If you’re a researcher at Northeastern and would like to get started using the DRS to make your work more accessible to readers around the world, it’s easy. Also of interest to researchers: we’ve recently updated the page on our website about Open Access, and it now includes a list of publishers that offer Northeastern-affiliated authors a discount on the article processing charges for publishing open-access with them. Snell Library also supports Open Access journal publishing on campus through Open Journal Systems (OJS). We currently work with four journals being published at Northeastern – including NU Writing, which recently moved over to our OJS system from the platform it was previously using. NU Writing just released their first issue using OJS! And, we support Open Access publishing and sharing through our memberships in initiatives such as the Digital Commonwealth, the Digital Public Library of America, HathiTrust, Knowledge Unlatched, and SCOAP³. In October 2008, we celebrated the first international Open Access Day at Snell Library. Since then, as the Open Access movement has grown, we’ve expanded our programming as well – first, with Open Access Week, and then in the past two years with Open Access Month in October. This year, we’re expanding the concept even more – we want to highlight openness in research, teaching, scholarship, and creativity throughout the academic year. After all, at this point, open access is something that we should be acknowledging as an established facet of the scholarly ecosystem, rather than a special topic that only gets attention once a year. So, stay tuned for open access–related news and events to come. Banner image and poster openly licensed by SPARC, CC BY 4.0

Now’s Your Chance to Meet the Press!

Eleanor Roosevelt is seated at a table on the Meet the Press set. She is smiling at a man standing behind her. Host Ned Brooks is seated next to them.

September 16, 1956: Eleanor Roosevelt is seated at a table on the Meet the Press set in New York City. She is smiling at a man standing behind her. Host Ned Brooks is seated next to them.

Meet the Press has been on television longer than any other program in history. The show premiered in 1947, and it’s been a cornerstone of the American cultural and political landscape ever since. It’s the first show to ever conduct a live interview via satellite (in 1965, with British Prime Minister Harold Wilson) and the first live network news show to ever host a sitting president (Gerald Ford, in 1975). Since Ford, every American president has dropped by Meet the Press at least once. Now, all of this history, much of which has been unseen since its original television broadcast, is just a few clicks away. Over the summer, Snell Library acquired access to the full surviving run of Meet the Press, from 1947 to today, through Alexander Street Press. That’s almost 1500 hours—or 62.5 days—of video available to you for free, dating back to 1957. You can watch Eleanor Roosevelt talk politics in the 1950s; see Martin Luther King, Jr. discuss the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s; hear Dan Rostenkowski describe Reaganomics in the 1980s; or watch Ross Perot’s presidential campaign unfold in the 1990s. Many episodes include detailed transcripts and closed captioning. Meet the Press is available from our A-Z Databases list. You can also click here for direct access. If you are off campus, you may be asked to sign in with your NEU ID and password.

Interlibrary Loan: Getting Materials You Need From Across The Globe

  Have you ever found the absolutely perfect resource for your research, only to discover that it somehow falls outside of Snell Library’s collection of over half a million print- and e-books (each!) and hundred thousand e-journals? Found a title that Snell owns, but a classmate got to it first? Need a scanned chapter quickly, but not the whole book? Don’t worry, Interlibrary Loan has you covered! Currently enrolled students, faculty, and staff are able to borrow items free of charge from participating libraries across the country, including physical books, DVDs, music, and electronic copies of articles and book chapters. It’s as easy as identifying the item you need, either through the Snell’s own Scholar OneSearch, through WorldCat (the world’s largest online library catalog), or by manually entering your request through ILLiad, Interlibrary Loan’s management system. First time users will need to register an account, but the process only takes a few minutes. After submission, we’ll get to work finding the item, and patrons can track the status of their requests via their ILLiad account. Articles and book chapters generally arrive within 1-2 days, and while physical loan delivery times can vary (depending on availability and the lending institution’s location), titles typically arrive within 2-10 business days. Loan periods are generally 4-8 weeks. Check out our FAQ here, but do not hesitate to contact us at ill@northeastern.edu, or 617-373-8276. We look forward to helping you fulfill your research needs!

Back to School and Back to Club Snell

We know you had a busy summer and so did we. Check out what’s new in the library this fall semester.   gif of husky playing in leaves 1. We’re working to keep your library clean.  24/7 study can be a messy business, that’s why we worked with our partners at ABM to establish a nightly cleaning schedule for Club Snell.  Tuesday through Friday, each floor gets a whole night dedicated to cleaning. 2. You can now find textbooks easier than ever. Your professor can put your textbooks on reserve in the library. To find out if they did search on the library homepage or ask your professor. 3. Did you ever ask yourself, why are the Club Snell elevators were so dark?  No? Well we did! That’s why over the summer we replaced the drab old lights with high efficiency LED lights. 4. Ever forget you husky card but still want to get into the Library?  Too busy to commit your HuskyID to memory?  Well we installed a hand scanner just for you!  Register with Student Services to take advantage of this exciting pilot program. 5. Club Snell is the latest building to install an All-Gender Restroom and Lactation Room.  Both rooms were built on the 4th floor. 6. Get a jump start on your coursework by talking to your subject specialist. We have a specialist for everything you could need help with, from architecture to engineering, even 3D printing and video production. If you can’t stop into the library you can always search our FAQ or reach us 24/7. 7. Booking a room has never been easier. Northeastern’s space booking system got an update this Summer and it’s so easy you can book a room waiting in line at Rebecca’s.   As always, keep an eye on our calendar for workshops, film screenings, and fun activities (did someone say therapy dogs?)