MIT Libraries News

is live in the stream (http://twitter.com/MIT_TechTV). Follow for quick updates, links to good videos and anything else that may be going on with MIT TechTV.

Hayden Library — Humanities & Science — will stay open 24 hours a day during Finals

from Thursday May 14th at 8am to Friday, May 22nd at 7pm.

Overnight hours are for the MIT community only.

Please join authors@mit and the Humanities Library as Nicholas Ashford speaks on his book Environmental Law, Policy and Economics:  Reclaiming the Environmental Agenda.  Professor Ashford will show how environmental law cases have led to important legal, economic, and scientific developments, and how use of the law can stimulate technological change and industrial transformation.

“Ashford and Caldart have produced an extraordinary book sweeping across the scientific complexity, legal underpinnings, economic logic, and policy challenges of environmental protection…this book offers an indispensable foundation for those seeking to understand society¹s approach to environmental challenges.”

—Daniel C. Esty, Yale Law School

“Environmental Law, Policy, and Economics” is published by the MIT Press.

Nicholas Ashford is Professor of Technology and Director of the Technology and Law Program at MIT.

The book is co-authored by Charles C. Caldart, Director of Litigation of the National Environmental Law Center and a Lecturer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT.

Where: MIT E51-145

When: Friday May 15th, 2009, 12:00-1:00 p.m.

The event is free and wheelchair accessible.

For more information, call call 253-5249, or email authors@mit.edu. See the MIT Press Bookstore’s “Events” page for a list of upcoming events.

Need a break from your studies?

Enjoy free drinks & snacks at our two Food for Thought events this week:

• Barker Library (10-500) lobby, Tuesday May 12th, 2:30-4pm

• Hayden Library (14S-100) lobby, Thursday May 14th, 2:30-4pm

German-Turkish poet and essayist Zafer Senocak will read from his book “Tursprachen/Door Languages.” The reading will be in both German and English, with translation provided by his translator Elizabeth Ochlkers Wright.

• When: Thursday April 2nd, 5pm
• Where: the MIT Humanities Library Reading Room (14S-200)

Want to find a thiller, romance, or drama available at the MIT Libraries? Or you want to find movies about aliens, politics, or vampires? Try our list of Humanities Library DVDs in Delicious! Three students teamed up on a project to tag the Humanities Library’s DVD collection in del.icio.us to make searching for films more flexible and fun.

Help us tag our DVD collection! We invite you to participate in further tagging this collection by going to delicious.com/mitlibdvds and sign in with user name: mitlibdvds, password: films2008. The only tag all of these DVDs have in common is “MIT-DVD,” so the collection may be retrieved as a whole. The rest is up to you!

Let us know what you think… Give us feedback.

No, Cookie Monster, not “Cookie Mobile”…Bookmobile, with our usual assortment of great books and CDs from the Humanities Library and the Lewis Music Library. But, since we are being sponsored by the letter “S,” there may be something there for you. Read on:

• “S” is for “SERENDIPITY” and “SCIENCE LIBRARY”

We will have a selection of books from the Science Library’s new “Serendipity” Collection.

• “S” is for “SPRING BREAK” and “SPECIAL LOAN” for CDs and DVDs
  

The Lewis Music Library is offering a special, longer loan period for CDs and DVDs over spring break 2009. Music compact discs and DVDs borrowed Wednesday, March 18 through Friday, March 27 will be due Monday, March 30 (by closing, 10pm). That’s more than a week, instead of the usual 3 days! Limit of 5, no renewals.

• “S” is for “SURVEY” and “SNACK!”

Fill out a survey, get a snack (who knows…maybe a cookie).

So come check us out in Lobby 10 this Friday, March 20th, between 11AM and 2PM.

	click on images to view larger pdf

• Date: Sunday, March 15th, 2009
• Exhibit: 2PM – 5PM
• Talk: 3PM
• Where: Hayden Memorial Library (building 14S),
• Food: Light refreshments will be served

Quilt collector Heather Korostoff Murray introduces us to African-American improvisational quilts: the unique qualities of these extraordinary textiles, their possible African connections, and the stories behind their creators. The exhibit will feature twenty-five quilts from her collection, illustrating the key characteristics of the genre. Her slides come from quilt scholar and curator Eli Leon’s extensive collection. Leon has generously provided the slides to edify Murray’s audience about this special province of African-American quilt making. Murray’s talk will focus on the lives and work of eight significant African-American improvisational quilt makers, including striking examples from Leon’s collection.

Murray’s interests include the quilt makers themselves – their stories, inspirations and astonishing talents. Her talk incorporates the technical side of the quilts, as well as anecdotes of their inspiration.

Heather Korostoff Murray, Bio
Heather Korostoff Murray, a native Philadelphian and long-time admirer of traditional Bucks County quilts, stumbled upon her first African-American improvisational quilt while exploring online. This experience launched a passion for the genre that has quickly led to a considerable collection, and a desire to learn more about these spectacular textiles and their makers. She finds these distinctive quilts to have an almost palpable depth and melodic eloquence.

Sponsored by the MIT Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, MIT Humanities Library and the Program in Women’s and Gender Studies

Take a break over the long weekend with something from the Humanities and Lewis Music Library’s collections, including books, DVDs and CDs. Come by at 1 PM to watch the Ballroom Dance Club liven up the bookmobile with a few dances!

• Date: Friday February 13th, 2009
• Time: 11AM – 2PM
• Where: Stata Center (building 32), Information Intersection — Student Street
• Cost: FREE!!!

All screenings from 7:30 PM – 10 PM:

Anime, Technology, and Metropolis (Rintaro)
Tuesday, January 27
Brief discussion with Ian Condry.
4-231

3-D Digital Special Effects
Wednesday, January 28
Brief discussion with Violeta Ivanova.
4-237

Pre-1923 Experimental Short Films
Thursday, January 29
Brief discussion with event organizers.
4-231

Food will be provided at all events.  We invite you to tag and search our film collection at:

delicious.com/mitlibdvds

Username: mitlibdvds
Password: films2008

The Humanities Library regrets that it will be unable to present the IAP session Finding and Using Historical Newspapers, originally scheduled for January 29th, due to unforeseen circumstances.  We are sorry to disappoint those who may have been looking forward to the event, and we apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.

click on above image to download as an 8 1/2 x 11 pdf poster

The Humanities Library will be hosting three events this IAP:

Friday Jan. 16th:
Take a Break at the Bookmobile:
Check out a great selection of books from the Humanities Library, and CDs from the Lewis Music Library.
11am to 2pm
Lobby 10

Tuesday Jan. 27th, Wednesday Jan. 28th, Thursday Jan. 29th:
Special Effects at the Movies
Patsy Baudoin, Christine Hazlett, Jonathan Chapman, Katie Stanchak
We will view three films with historically innovative special effects.  Free food will be available.
7:30pm to 10pm
Tuesday’s and Thursday’s event will be held in 4-231.  Wednesday’s event will be held in 4-237.

Thurday Jan. 29th:
Finding and Using Historical Newspapers
Michelle Baildon
Whether for research or for fun, reading historical newspapers gives us a fascinating view of the past. This hands-on workshop will show you how to find and use newspapers (online and otherwise) going back as far as the 17th century. Focus will be on U.S. papers, though international papers will also be covered.
Thurs 1/29 – 11:30am to 12:30pm
DIRC (14N-132).
No advance sign-up.

Hayden Library — Humanities & Science — will stay open 24 hours a day during Finals

from Wednesday, Dec. 10th at 8am to Friday, Dec. 19th at 7pm.

Overnight hours are for the MIT community only.

Check out a great selection of books from the Humanities Library, with a special emphasis on gaming and music, at our next Bookmobile event Wednesday, December 10th.  There will also be a rocking sampling of cd’s from the Lewis Music Library.  Then bop your way up to the Barker Library Media Room for a special Rock Band gaming event!

Details (see previous blog posting for more Rock Band event details):

• Date: Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
• Time: 11AM – 6PM (Bookmobile:  11-2, Rock Band Event: 3-6)
• Where: Bookmobile in Lobby 10, Rock Band event in the Barker Library Media Room (10-500)
  
• Cost: FREE!!!

Gobble up some delicious new offerings from the Humanities Library and the Lewis Music Library’s collections, including books, DVDs and CDs.

Details:

• Date: Tuesday November 25th, 2008
• Time: 11AM – 2PM
• Where: Lobby 10
• Cost: FREE!!!

If you need a new recipe or perhaps an old classic, we probably have it in one of the cookbooks currently on display in the Humanities Library Browsery (14S-200).  Come take a look!

Please join authors@mit and the Humanities Library in celebrating the publication of Digital Apollo, the newest book by MIT’s David Mindell. “Digital Apollo” tells the story of how human pilots and automated systems worked together to achieve the ultimate in flight—the lunar landings of NASA’s Apollo program.

“Digital Apollo is an excellent and unique historical account of the lengthy and often pitched struggle of designers, engineers, and pilots to successfully integrate man and complex computer systems for the Apollo lunar landings. It brings back fond memories.”
—Edgar Mitchell, Sc.D.; Captain, USN (retired) Lunar Module Pilot, Apollo 14

About the book:
As Apollo 11’s Lunar Module descended toward the moon under automatic control, a program alarm in the guidance computer’s software nearly caused a mission abort. Neil Armstrong responded by switching off the automatic mode and taking direct control. He stopped monitoring the computer and began flying the spacecraft, relying on skill to land it and earning praise for a triumph of human over machine.

In “Digital Apollo”, engineer-historian David Mindell takes this famous moment as a starting point for an exploration of the relationship between humans and computers in the Apollo program. In each of the six Apollo landings, the astronaut in command seized control from the computer and landed with his hand on the stick. Mindell recounts the story of astronauts’ desire to control their spacecraft in parallel with the history of the Apollo Guidance Computer. From the early days of aviation through the birth of spaceflight, test pilots and astronauts sought to be more than “spam in a can” despite the automatic controls, digital computers, and software developed by engineers. Digital Apollo examines the design and execution of each of the six Apollo moon landings, drawing on transcripts and data telemetry from the flights, astronaut interviews, and NASA’s extensive archives.

Mindell’s exploration of how human pilots and automated systems worked together to achieve the ultimate in flight–a lunar landing–traces and reframes the debate over the future of humans and automation in space. The results have implications for any venture in which human roles seem threatened by automated systems, whether it is the work at our desktops or the future of exploration.

“Digital Apollo” is published by the MIT Press, 2008.

Visit the Digital Apollo website for more information about the book!

David A. Mindell is Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing, Professor of Engineering Systems, and Director of the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. He is the author of “Between Human and Machine: Feedback, Control, and Computing before Cybernetics” and “War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor.”

Where: MIT 32-155, Stata Center

When: Thursday November 13th, 6:00pm

The event is free and wheelchair accessible.

For more information, call call 253-5249, or email authors@mit.edu. See the MIT Press Bookstore’s “Events” page for a list of upcoming events.

The Humanities Library wishes to encourage everyone to exercise their civic duty and vote on Tuesday, November 4th.  MIT students who are currently living in dorms vote at Kresge Auditorium.

Vera Multi-Search – Vera had a makeover!
The new Vera Multi-Search will still help you find electronic journals, databases, and e-books, and now it will also help you search for articles within journals, conference proceedings, etc.  See the FAQ page for more information.

New LibGuides
We’ve adopted a new system of creating guides to help you find information related to your research.

PDF delivery from the Library Storage Annex
Looking for a journal article, conference proceeding, technical report or book chapter that’s in the Library Storage Annex?  Use the “Request PDF” button in the Barton catalog record to get PDF delivery to your desktop.  This service is free to members of the MIT community with an Illiad account.

Manage Your Research Data More Effectively
The Libraries have a new resource to help you in managing research data that you produce. Check out the guide to Data Management and Publishing.

Printing, Copying and Scanning Improvements
Hayden, Barker, Dewey and Rotch Libraries are moving to TechCASH with new copiers and scanners. You’ll now be able to use TechCASH (MIT ID) to pay at copiers, print for free (MIT community only) through Athena printers, and make color scans that you can email or save to your USB drive. See the Printing FAQ and the TechCASH FAQ for more information.

And coming soon…
Look for an expanded Libraries presence in Stellar including a link to the MIT Libraries Quick Start!