Use NIH RePORTER to learn about grant-funded research at Northeastern

Did you know you can easily find out about research at Northeastern that’s being funded by the National Institutes of Health? The NIH RePORTER is “an electronic tool that allows users to search a repository of NIH-funded research projects and access publications and patents resulting from NIH funding.” It’s a component of NIH’s RePORT service (Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools), and it “satisfies a legislative mandate included in the NIH Reform Act of 2006 to provide the public with an electronic system to search NIH research projects using a variety of codes, including public health area of interest, and provide information on publications and patents resulting from NIH-funded research.” RePORTER shows that there are currently 96 active projects at Northeastern being funded by the NIH, from award years 2009 through 2011: Since 1987, Northeastern University researchers have worked on 1,023 NIH-funded projects: NIH RePORTER gives details of each funded project, including the award amount, the principal investigator(s), the project abstract and keywords, and any related projects or subprojects. It links each project to its published results in PubMedCentral as well as any related patents. As well as being able to search by institution, you can also search by investigator name, topic, geographic location, and specific funding agency, institute or center within NIH. If you create a free account you can receive weekly e-mailed alerts on your saved search queries (RSS is not yet available, but I hope it will be soon.) I highly recommend this resource for anyone who wants to learn more about health sciences research being conducted at Northeastern.

New Summer Reading Suggestion!

Here is an additional summer reading suggestion to add to your lists. The Help written by Kathryn Stockett currently holds the number one spot on The New York Times Best Sellers List for combined print & e-book fiction. Publisher’s Weekly provides the following description: “What perfect timing for this optimistic, uplifting debut novel (and maiden publication of Amy Einhorn’s new imprint) set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver. Eugenia Skeeter Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by writing about what disturbs you. The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club set relies and mistrusts enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who’s raised 17 children, and Aibileen’s best friend Minny, who’s found herself unemployed more than a few times after mouthing off to her white employers. The book Skeeter puts together based on their stories is scathing and shocking, bringing pride and hope to the black community, while giving Skeeter the courage to break down her personal boundaries and pursue her dreams. Assured and layered, full of heart and history, this one has bestseller written all over it.” This title may sound familiar, as it has just been made into a movie which stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard and Octavia L. Spencer and opens on August 10th.

Find out what all the fuss is about by reserving Snell Library’s copy today or get more information on Amazon.com.

Data Management and Curation at Northeastern

Northeastern University Libraries is embarking on a program to help researchers at the University write data management plans in grant applications, help people store and create metadata for their research, and, eventually, help them publish their datasets with all the appropriate metadata to the appropriate audiences. What is the use of this? In a lot of ways, it is a way to make research more efficient, and thus, in the long run, cheaper. Researchers regularly create data from experiments and observations. In an academic environment, they then use that data to test hypotheses and generate new ideas. The results are published, and humanity gains new knowledge. (I realize that I’m simplifying the process considerably.) But what happens to the data that had been collected? The researchers that create it obviously use it for further inquiries, but much of the time, the data is stored somewhere and forgotten. People have been slowly realizing that there may be more knowledge that can be combed out of the “old” data. Perhaps it can be combined with data from another source, or multiple other sources, and new questions can be answered using it. In fact, funding agencies, such as the National Science Foundation, are starting to require that grant applications include a Data Management Plan, which should explain how the researchers on the grant will:
share with other researchers, at no more than incremental cost and within a reasonable time, the primary data, samples, physical collections and other supporting materials created or gathered in the course of work under NSF grants.
I will be working with the staff at Northeastern University Libraries and the researchers at Northeastern to make sure that Northeastern can become a leader in data management and curation.

Snell Library’s Suggested Summer Reading

Staff members of Snell Library have some great suggestions of titles for you to add to your Summer Reading List. For more information on these titles, stop by the display case on the first floor in Snell Library’s main stairwell. Enjoy! Comfort Me With Apples: More Adventures At The Table, by Ruth Reichl – Suggested by Anita Bennett, Research & Instruction Staff Supervisor The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak – Suggested by Rebecca Bailey, Librarian, Research & Instruction The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins – Suggested by Ernesto Valencia, Systems Librarian Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand – Suggested by Nina Shah, Advancement/Marketing/Events Assistant Bicycle Diaries, by David Byrne – Suggested by Jessie Contour, Graphic Design Co-op, Spring/Summer 1 2011

Northeastern Hosts First Farmer’s Market on Campus

July 20, 2011 marked the (much anticipated) first ever farmer’s market at Northeastern! Due to issues involving city permits, the event had to be postponed for many weeks; however, it was well worth the wait! Heaven’s Harvest Farm, located in New Braintree, MA, is a certified organic farm, partnered with six other farms in the surrounding Massachusetts area. Heaven’s Harvest Farm provided fresh picked, organic products including Asian greens, lettuces, sweet potatoes, tomatos, eggplant, broccoli, spinach, sweet corn, berries, apples, herbs, pears and peaches (to name a few). They also had eggs and cheese! The market was held in Centennial Circle, between Ryder Hall and Ruggles Station, from 12pm to 6pm and it was such a hit that much of the produce was gone by 4pm. The Farmer’s Market will be on campus every Wednesday until late fall, so if you missed out on this week, you still have plenty of other opportunities. I recommend getting there early so you don’t miss out on their selection of produce!