Check out the New Homepage!

Have you heard? Our homepage has a new look! Check out all the great improvements we’ve made! 1.  No more hovering Ever gone to our website on your phone and gotten stuck in the drop-down menus? I can’t be the only one. Now, our menus open when clicked (it used to be on hover) so you won’t be trapped in ‘News & Events’ forever! Menu Screenshot   2. Pretty tiles Our finding aides are much easier to…err…find. The most-used research aides now have fancy tiles right below the search bar, letting you start your research right from the homepage. Don’t know where to start? Check the Subject Guide for your topic! Crafted specifically for the Northeastern community by our subject librarians, Subject Guides offer an overview of over 80 subjects as well as links to relevant resources. Screen Shot 2016-02-29 at 10.18.56 AM 3. news@Snell There’s now a nifty box just for all the happenings coming up in the library! Get the scoop on all our events, from informal office hours to free workshops. Screen Shot 2016-02-29 at 2.33.36 PM 4. Talk to us Lastly, see what this button says? Screen Shot 2016-02-29 at 10.19.53 AM We really mean it! This new homepage is designed to make your library experience more rewarding. Something not working right? Let us know!

Snell’s 2016 Presidential Election Guide is Here!

News and information about the upcoming 2016 Presidential Election is everywhere! It’s practically information overload, and for you, a busy member of the Northeastern community, it’s probably just one other thing to stay on top of or avoid completely. To help make the time leading up to the primaries and election more manageable, Snell Library has created a 2016 Presidential Election Guide. It’s your one-stop-shop for news, voting how-tos, candidate and campaign information, debate analysis and transcripts, important dates, a refresher on the Electoral College system, and more! So much more—in an easy to use and fun (yes, fun) web resource. There’s even a poll to determine which candidate the NU community would like to see elected. Aren’t you curious? Check it out HERE. blog_image And remember: the Massachusetts Primary Election is this Tuesday, March 1st. So get out there and vote if you are a resident of this state! And if you aren’t, remember to vote in your home state’s primary if you haven’t already done so. You have to be registered to vote to do so, and while the deadline for voter registration for the primaries has passed in most places, it’s not too late to become a registered voter and let your voice be heard in the Presidential and/or (the always important) Congressional Election in November. Snell’s 2016 Presidential Election Guide has all the information you need learn how to register, along with where and when to vote.

February 22-26 is Fair Use Week!

ARL-FairUseWeek-White-Logo This week marks the third annual celebration of Fair Use Week—an opportunity for libraries and other advocates to highlight the importance of fair use as a limitation to copyright law. The doctrine of fair use (or fair dealing, as it is known in some other countries) allows for the use of copyrighted materials without permission from the copyright holder. It’s been in the news quite a bit lately, with both the HathiTrust and Google Book Search digitization projects being determined to be fair use, but it’s a part of regular, everyday life as well. Fair use is something worth celebrating! Do you have a question about fair use, or anything else about copyright? Get in touch with me at h.corbett@neu.edu. Fair Use Week on Social Media Fair Use Infographic The Association for Research Libraries has updated their infographic about fair use from last year. The new one, Fair Use in a Day in the Life of a College Student (PDF), is specifically about college students and fair use, and it’s really interesting—students encounter examples of fair use in way more places than in class…like while they’re watching TV, taking a selfie, or enjoying fanfic.

Spring 2016 Neighborhood Matters film and lecture series

Spring 2016 Neighborhood Matters Film and lecture series announced! Neighborhood Matters is a lunchtime series that celebrates the ways in which community groups have shaped the neighborhoods surrounding the Northeastern campus. This series is co-curated by the Northeastern Center for the Arts and the Archives and Special Collections at the Northeastern University Library.

Redlining: stories from the The Boston TV News Digital Library: 1960-2000

Tue, Mar 22, 2016 12:00 pm Snell Library 90
Free & Open to the Public.  Lunch served.
In the United States, redlining is the practice of denying services, either directly or through selectively raising prices, to residents of certain areas based on the racial or ethnic makeups of those areas. The term “redlining” was coined in the late 1960s by John McKnight, a sociologist and community activist. It refers to the practice of marking a red line on a map to delineate the area where banks would not invest. As a consequence of redlining, neighborhoods that banks deemed unfit for investment were left underdeveloped or in disrepair. Join us for a conversation about the history of redlining in Boston, and the community organizing that forced Democratic candidate Michael S. Dukakis to order statewide disclosure of mortgage-lending patterns by zip code, which revealed suspected the discrimination in Boston and lead to the passage in 1977 of the Community Reinvestment Act.
 
Special Guest: Mossik Hacobian
 
For 33 years Mossik Hacobian worked at Urban Edge and he now is Executive Director of Higher Ground Boston. Mr. Hacobian recognized leader in building and maintaining affordable housing in Boston.
 
La Defensa De La Tierra and Villa Victoria (film)
Wed, Apr 06, 2016 12:00 pm Snell Library 90
Free & Open to the Public.  Lunch Served.
In 1968, the city of Boston introduced an urban renewal initiative tht would diplace residents to create new urban spaces. La Defensa De La Tierra and Villa Victoria tells the history of Parcel 19, a plot in the South End. Gathering by the hundreds, Puerto Rican residents protested and won, creating an affordable housing community and social organization for residents. Special Guest: Jovita Fontanez Long time South End activist Jovita Fontanez helped found the South End Community Health Center and was the first Latina elected to the Electoral College of Massachusetts

A History of Boston in 50 Artifacts

Tue, Apr 19, 2016 12:00 pm Snell Library 90 Free & Open to the Public.  Lunch Served
One of the largest civic engineering projects in Boston’s history, the Big Dig uncovered gems illuminating the city’s archeological history. From cannon balls to chinaware, A History of Boston in 50 Artifacts places each artifact found at the site in geographical and historical context, offering a new and enriching look at Boston. Special Guest: Joe Bagley Author and City Archeologist As the City of Boston’s Archeologist since 2011, Joe Bagley is responsible for the below-ground cultural resources in the city.  He is also the Author of “A History of Boston in 50 Artifacts”

Spotlight: Two Newspapers, Two Exposés

The 2015 film Spotlight recently won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Picture and earned six Oscar nominations. The film follows the Boston Globe’s investigation and reporting of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal under Cardinal Bernard Law. The coverage began on January 6, 2002 and is widely credited with helping to uncover the depth of the scandal throughout the U.S. The Globe was awarded a Pulitzer for their reporting on the subject in 2003. But did you know that the story first broke in the Boston Phoenix almost a year earlier? Northeastern University’s Archives and Special Collections is the new home of the Boston Phoenix Collection, which contains over 30 articles and editorials covering the scandal. In particular, the collection includes Kristen Lombardi’s ground-breaking article “Cardinal Sin,” the evocative cover story of the March 23, 2001 issue. CardinalBlogedited1   Lombardi’s “Cardinal Sin” investigated the 25-plaintiff civil lawsuit against Father John Geoghan of the Boston Archdiocese, which additionally named Cardinal Bernard Law, Boston’s archbishop, as a defendant. The article uncovered Geoghan’s history of sexual abuse, his failed treatments, and his numerous reassignments by the Church in an attempt to hide the truth. In addition—through interviews with victims and an insightful evaluation of past abuse cases—Lombardi illustrated that the Church preferred to settle out of court and reassign those accused, offering no real solutions or justice. The Phoenix and Lombardi continued coverage of Cardinal Law and the sex abuse scandal through 2003. A bibliography and links to the articles are located in the Boston Phoenix Collection website archives. In publication from 1965 to 2013, the Phoenix remains an invaluable source of reporting on major Boston subjects—from school desegregation to LGBTQ issues to Occupy Boston—shining a light on the most controversial of topics. The paper has received multiple awards in journalism from the New England Press Association, the Penny-Missouri Newspaper Awards, and the American Bar Association Gavel Awards.