2016

2016 Call for Proposals: The DRS Project Toolkit

DRS Call for Proposals   The Digital Scholarship Group (DSG) is now accepting proposals for the next round of DRS Project Toolkit development. The DRS Project Toolkit is a user-friendly set of tools for building digital projects and publications using the Digital Repository Service (DRS). With the DRS Project Toolkit users can create exhibits, galleries, and playlists that draw digital materials dynamically from the DRS. Development for DRS Project Toolkit will be a collaborative endeavor and a great opportunity to experiment with publishing your project’s materials. If you have a project idea, we’d love to hear from you! Just answer a few questions about your project to apply. Examples of successful projects from the pilot phase of the DRS Project Toolkit include: Accepted projects will partner with the DSG and DRS teams to use the DRS Project Toolkit to securely store their project materials in the DRS and create a customized WordPress site to publish those materials on the web. If you have questions, the DSG staff are glad to meet and discuss project proposals before the deadline; please contact us at DSG@neu.edu to set up a meeting. Please visit the DRS Resources page for more information about the DRS. If you don’t think the DRS Project Toolkit is right for your project, but you are still interested in securely storing project files in the DRS, contact Library-Repository-Team@neu.edu.

Happy 50th to the Boston Phoenix!

March 2, 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the birth of the Boston Phoenix! In 1965, the paper began as “Boston After Dark,” a four-page insert in the Harvard Business School’s newspaper The Harbus News. On March 2, 1966, Boston After Dark became a free, independent newspaper – “Boston’s only complete entertainment weekly.”   The paper featured event, music, theatre, and film listings and reviews. Theatre reviews were penned by Larry Stark, a prominent local journalist who later was nicknamed “Boston’s dean of theatre critics.” The first issue features a review of “The Subject Was Roses” at the Wilbur Theatre in which he writes about its long run as “perhaps the cast is a little tired by now, but the script was a little tired to start with.” BAD 19660302_1 In 1972, Boston After Dark acquired the Cambridge Phoenix and was reborn the Boston Phoenix. It became an invaluable source of reporting on not just Boston’s arts and culture but major local subjects—from school desegregation to LGBTQ issues to Occupy Boston. Over its 47 year run, the paper received multiple awards in journalism from the New England Press Association, the Penny-Missouri Newspaper Awards, and the American Bar Association Gavel Awards. The Boston Phoenix Collection can be viewed at Northeastern University’s Archives and Special Collections. The first issue can be viewed or downloaded in Northeastern University’s Digital Repository Service.

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.