Classes

IAP 2009: All Events for Week Ending Friday, January 16

Posted January 8th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

IAP logo 2009

Check out all of the MIT Libraries IAP events for the week covering Monday, January 12 through Friday, January 16. A complete listing for all of IAP is also available.

Managing Your References: Overview of EndNote, RefWorks and Zotero

Tips and Tricks for Keeping Up With Information: Materials Science & Engineering

Japanese bookbinding

EndNote Basics

Finding Research Datasets: ICPSR and the Harvard-MIT Data Center

Bioinformatics for Beginners

Managing Research Data 101

Introduction to Company and Industry Research for Engineers and Scientists

Basics of Obtaining a Patent

RefWorks Basics

Introduction to SciFinder on the Web

Humanities and Music Library Bookmobile

Keeping Current: Using RSS Feeds to Stay Ahead in Your Research

Please note that some sessions have limited availability or may require advance sign-up requirements. If you have further questions, please see individual listings for appropriate contact information.

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IAP 2009: Patent Searching Fundamentals

Posted January 8th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Slinky patent
While you won’t come out of this session qualified to be a patent attorney, you will be able to successfully find patent references from all over the world and know how to obtain patent text and diagrams. The session will be a hands-on practicum that will help de-mystify the patent literature and expose attendees to key resources for finding patents through free resources available on the web.

WHEN:
Tuesday, January 20, 12 – 1:30pm
Thursday, January 22, 3 – 4:30pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 25 participants.

Contact Darcy Duke with any questions.

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IAP 2009: Personalized Data and Knowledge Management Series

Posted January 7th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Researchers and students at MIT enjoy access to vast amounts of information from a variety of sources and in a variety of formats. Finding, manipulating, organizing and managing the fire-hose quantity of content that comes across your desktop can be a challenge. While we can’t offer you a ‘magic bullet’ solution for this challenge, the MIT Libraries are sponsoring a series of IAP sessions that showcase tools, training and techniques that can help you both find sources for data and to become better custodians of your own content. These sessions are organized into sub-thematic groups and are offered throughout the month. Contact the individual session sponsors if you have any questions.

CITATION MANAGEMENT

DATA, DOCUMENT AND IMAGE MANAGEMENT

BIOINFORMATICS

Think on it!
GIS

Please note that some sessions have limited availability or may require advance sign-up requirements. If you have further questions, please see individual listings for appropriate contact information.

Also browse the entire gamut of offerings by the MIT Libraries.

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IAP 2009: Organic? All-natural? Grass-fed? What Does It All MEAN??

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Cow close-up

Confused by the terms “organic,” “grass-fed,” “all-natural”??

If so, get some clarification with farmers Kim Denney (Chestnut Farms, Hardwick, MA) and Kate Stillman (Stillman Farms, New Braintree, MA).

Their hands-on expertise and witty story-telling will clarify any confusion you may have about economically and environmentally sustainable livestock and vegetable farming.

WHEN: Wednesday, January 21, 1 – 3pm

WHERE: 32-123

Co-sponsored by the Working Group Recycling Committee and the MIT Food Initiative.

Contact Ryan Gray with any questions.

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IAP 2009: Compost with Worms…in Your Apartment!!

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Worm n apple

Are you an apartment-dweller wishing for some backyard space to compost?

Don’t worry, you can compost indoors and start any time of the year!

In this 2-hour workshop, you will learn how to use worms to turn your garbage into “black gold” from the City of Cambridge’s Recycling Director, Randi Mail. Randi will be joined by Ryan Gray, who with Randi’s expertise, learned to compost at home AND at work.

WHEN: Wednesday, January 28, 1 – 3pm

WHERE: 32-144

Please sign up by contacting Ryan Gray.

Co-sponsored by the Working Group Recycling Committee and the MIT Food Initiative.

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IAP 2009: Career Research: Targeting and Researching Employers

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Get a job?

Looking for prospective employers?

Preparing for a job interview?

MIT Libraries can help!

First, we’ll learn how to target potential employers– established companies, start-up firms — by field of interest and by location. Then, we’ll use MIT Libraries’ resources to research potential employers and uncover information that can aid our career decisions and our interview preparations. This will be a hands-on workshop. Attendees are encouraged to bring a laptop if possible, as seating space exceeds the number of available PCs.

WHEN: Friday, January 23, 12:30 – 1:30pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 30 participants.

Contact Alex Caracuzzo with any questions.

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IAP 2009: Biotechnology Patent Fundamentals and Searching

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Biotech patent logo
Come and hear attorney Sonia Guterman of Lawson & Weitzen discuss the distinctive aspects of patents that make them valuable, the role of patents in capital development, along with issues surrounding filing biotech patents. She will be assisted by Drew Lowery, who received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from MIT and is a member of Global Prior Art’s Life Science Team. Drew will discuss and demonstrate alternative ways to search biotech patent art and their suitability. At the end of the talk attendees will have the opportunity to do hands on searching.

WHEN:
Thursday, January 29, 3 – 4:30pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 25 participants.

Contact Darcy Duke with any questions.

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IAP 2009: Basics of Obtaining a Patent

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Better cars!!!

Come and hear patent attorney Sam Pasternak of Choate, Hall and Stewart, and Jack Turner from the MIT Technology Licensing Office discuss the ins and outs of obtaining patents by members of the MIT community. This popular session covers a bit of patent history and a lot about current practices, processes, and issues surrounding obtaining a patent; the focus is on the process used at MIT. A portion of the session is devoted to questions and answers.

If you think you will ever invent something, you need to be here!!

WHEN: Thursday, January 15, 3 – 4:30

WHERE: 1-190

Contact Carol Robinson with questions.

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IAP 2009: Tips and Tricks for Keeping Up With Information: Mechanical Engineering

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Jaguar V8

Are you a Mechanical Engineering grad student getting started on your research? An undergrad doing a UROP in Course 2, or majoring in Course 2? Then this session is for you! Learn about finding, organizing, and keeping up with the literature in mechanical engineering and related fields. This is a hands-on session in a computer classroom, but feel free to bring your own laptop.

WHEN: Wednesday, January 21, 2 – 3pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 30 participants.

Contact Angie Locknar with any questions.

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IAP 2009: Tips and Tricks for Keeping Up With Information: Materials Science & Engineering

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Silver Lake black balls

Are you a Materials Science and Engineering grad student getting started on your research? An undergrad doing a UROP in Course 3, or majoring in Course 3? Then this session is for you! Learn about finding, organizing, and keeping up with the literature in materials science and related fields. This is a hands-on session in a computer classroom, but feel free to bring your own laptop.

WHEN: Tuesday, January 13, 2 – 3pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 35 participants.

Contact Angie Locknar with any questions.

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IAP 2009: Keeping Current: Using RSS Feeds to Stay Ahead in Your Research

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

RSS

What’s an RSS feed? How can I use it to keep up with new information in my field? We’ll show you how RSS and other current awareness tools can help you stay up to date!

This will be a hands-on session on Windows PCs. You are also welcome to bring your own laptop.

WHEN: Friday, January 16, 4 – 5pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 25 participants.

Contact Darcy Duke with any questions.

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IAP 2009: Introduction to SciFinder on the Web

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Scifinder logo

If you are a researcher in chemistry, or chemistry related subjects like chemical engineering, materials science, environmental science, biological sciences, etc., then you should know about SciFinder, the most comprehensive chemical information database.

This hands-on workshop will teach you the basics of SciFinder on the web!

WHEN: Friday, January 16, 11 – 12pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 20 participants.

Contact Erja Kajosalo with any questions.

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IAP 2009: Introduction to Company and Industry Research for Engineers and Scientists

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Sherlock

You may be a skilled investigator on the topic of science or engineering, but what do you know about business research? This session will introduce you to library-supported databases that cover company and industry information. We will use hands-on exercises to demonstrate strategies for researching two key components of a business plan: competitors and industry trends.

WHEN: Thursday, January 15, 1 – 2pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 25 participants.

Contact Stephanie Hartman with any questions.

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IAP 2009: Going Beyond Google Scholar: Using the Web of Science and Other Citation Searching Resources to Discover Articles

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Google Scholar logo Web of Science logo

The Web of Science has changed its search interface substantially in 2008. Learn about the new citation analysis and report features which enable you to quickly find relevant articles. Also learn about other Web sites that provide citation searching, a powerful tool in finding information for research.

WHEN:
Thursday, January 22, 5 – 6pm
Tuesday, January 27, 5 – 6pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

There is no advanced sign-up or limit to this session.

Contact Michael Noga with any questions.

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IAP 2009: Finding Research Datasets: ICPSR and the Harvard-MIT Data Center

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

ICPSR logo

Need data to answer a research question? Interested in analyzing raw datasets with micro-level records about individual respondents?

This hands-on workshop will familiarize you with the resources of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and the Harvard-MIT Data Center, which provide access to datasets in the social sciences and related fields. Topics will include the structure of data files, finding and downloading datasets, and understanding data documentation.

NOTE: Advance sign-up is required. Registration due by January 13. This session is limited to 20 participants.

WHEN: Wednesday, January 14, 2 – 3:30pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Contact Kate McNeill with any questions and/or to register.

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IAP 2009: RefWorks Basics

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

RefWorks logo

RefWorks is a web-based resource designed to help you organize references and create a bibliography. RefWorks allows you to search, retrieve relevant citations, easily cite references as you write your paper, and build your bibliography. It allows users to create individual or group accounts.

WHEN:
Thursday, January 15, 5 – 6pm
Thursday, January 22, 1 – 2pm
Friday, January 30, 2 – 3pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 20 participants.

Contact Anita Perkins with any questions.

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IAP 2009: Make your Paper File Cabinets Searchable: How to Manage Paper and Electronic Documents Effectively

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Stack o files

With personal computers and scanners, paper documents can be easily digitized, efficiently managed, and integrated with electronic documents. Many drawers of documents can be stored in a laptop computer or a passport-sized pocket hard drive, together with electronic documents retrieved from online resources. Paper documents can be converted into PDF files and made searchable through character recognition software. Documents may then be found through a keyword search, and the original scanned images can be viewed and printed as needed.

We will discuss the digitization of paper documents, search technologies, and document management, as well as how to combine the best properties of paper and digital media.

WHEN: Thursday, January 29, 5 – 6pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 25 participants.

Contact Ryuji Suzuki or Remlee Green with any questions.

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IAP 2009: QUOSA Information Manager Demo: Retrieve and Organize Article PDFs

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

QUOSA logo

Learn how the QUOSA Information Manager can help streamline your literature management. Search for articles and retrieve the PDFs in a single step from PubMed and other databases. Organize and manage your existing article PDF collections to stay on top of your research. QUOSA works seamlessly with your EndNote or RefWorks collections. The developers of the QUOSA Information Manager will provide a demonstration and answer your questions.

WHEN: Tuesday, January 27, 4 – 5pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 25 participants.

Contact Howard Silver or Remlee Green with any questions.

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IAP 2009: Managing Your References: Overview of EndNote, RefWorks and Zotero

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

Misc logos
Using citation management software to create and maintain a collection of references is becoming more common and important in today’s academic world. These software packages allow users to search databases, retrieve relevant citations, and build a bibliography to be added to a paper or thesis or stored for future reference. But which software package should you use, and how do you get started?

This session will focus on EndNote, RefWorks, and Zotero, the three major options for bibliographic software at MIT. We will include a discussion comparing and contrasting the three softwares, and we will introduce some of the basic concepts and functionality of each program.

WHEN:
Tuesday, January 13, 12 – 1pm
Wednesday, January 21, 5 – 6pm

WHERE:
DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 20 participants.

Contact Mathew Willmott or Remlee Green with any questions.

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IAP 2009: EndNote Basics

Posted January 6th, 2009 by Ryan Gray

EndNote logo

EndNote is a “personal bibliographic software” package which allows you to create and manage a database of bibliographic references.

Attendees will create a personal database of cited literature by importing references from resources such as Barton, Web of Science, PubMed, & other sources of published literature. Your database can be used to automatically generate in-text citations and bibliographies in your manuscripts. It can also help you organize and manage your PDF files.

WHEN:
Wednesday, January 14, 12 – 1pm
Friday, January 23, 3 – 4pm
Wednesday, January 28, 5 – 6pm

WHERE:
DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 20 participants.

Contact Peter Cohn with any questions.

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