Exhibit in Rotch Library – Urban Studies/Random Views

Urban Studies/Random Views, on view from May 5th to July 18th, is a collection of recent oil paintings by Carol Schweigert of Dewey Library.

The paintings were initially inspired by the dynamic views of the ongoing construction surrounding the Library. The focus expanded to include other views in Cambridge and Charlestown, reflecting the coexistence of the natural and the architectural.

These are traditional plein air paintings with an underlying graphic composition of more modern sensibilities.

A reception is planned for 4:00PM - 6:30PM, Friday, May 9, 2008 in Rotch Library, 7-238.

This month the Institute Archives and Special Collections focuses on some of MIT’s early energy research. Robert J. Van de Graaff came to MIT in 1931, where he worked on the development of the high-voltage generator that bears his name. May’s Object of the Month describes the apparatus and includes photographs from the 1933 “Progress Report on the M.I.T. High-Voltage Generator at Round Hill.” The exhibit includes a link to a demonstration of the Van de Graaff generator by Professor Walter Lewin.

The Archives holds several collections that contain materials about the Van de Graaff generator: the Papers of Robert J. Van de Graaff (MC 45), the Records of the High Voltage Energy Corporation (MC 153), and the Records of the MIT President (AC 4). All are available for research, with 24 hours’ notice, in 14N-118, Monday to Thursday, 10 am to 4 pm.

The MIT Libraries have launched the sixth puzzle in a series of puzzles that can be solved using Libraries’ resources. The puzzles will be released over the course of the Spring 2008 semester, appearing in the Tech, on kiosks in Lobby 7, and elsewhere around campus. MIT students can view the puzzle and submit their answers online at http://libraries.mit.edu/puzzle. Correct answers submitted by the deadline will be entered into a drawing for an Apple iPod Nano.

The deadline for entries for the sixth puzzle is Monday, May 5, 2008.

Congratulations to Jenn Young, winner of the fifth puzzle!

Citation Surfing: Using Databases to Track Article Citations
Michael Noga

Learn how to find and use information more effectively in our hands-on workshops. No advanced registration required. Light refreshments will be served at each session.

**NOTE that different events will be happening throughout the month of April and early May.**

WHERE: 14N-132 (Digital Instruction Resource Center – DIRC)

WHEN: Friday, May 2, 12pm (noon)

Have your ever used the Web of Science to find citations? Have you used Google Scholar? Perhaps you have used citation links in journal articles. This session will explore the different ways you can use citation searching to identify literature on a subject.

Sponsored by the MIT Libraries.

Contact the Science Library for more information.

Come see, and check out, highlights from The Humanities Library’s book and DVD collections, and The Lewis Music Library’s music collections.

Details:

• Date: Thursday April 17th, 2008
• Time: 10:30AM - 2:30PM
• Where: Lobby 10
• Cost: FREE!!!

Don’t forget! The 6th annual Prokopoff violin music concert will be held from noon-1 pm on Friday, April 18th, 2008 in the Lewis Music Library. Concert coordinator Sherman Jia (G) has lined up MIT student musicians Mark Avara ‘08, Albert Chow ‘08, Karen Chu ‘08, Laura Jacox ‘08, David Somach ‘11, Jason Wallace ‘10, Amy Xu (G), and accompanist Hsin-Bei Lee to perform works by Bach, Gershwin, Halvorsen, Kreisler, and Sarasate.

The Lewis Music Library is located in Bldg. 14E-109 and the concert is free and open to the public. The opening celebration for the MIT Libraries’ Maihaugen Gallery follows this concert. Come join us!

Introduction to Google Maps API (5 - 6 pm)

Googler Pamela Fox will give a whirlwind tour of the Google Maps API and KML, teaching the basics of each and showing off some of the really fun applications of them (like campus maps, interactive panoramas, and fantasy worlds).

Google Maps Codelab (6 - 7 pm)

Interactive codelabs in the topics addressed in the Introduction to Google Maps API. Codelab participants should come prepared with basic Javascript or XML experience, and will find debugging the Maps API easier if they have Firebug installed.

Both sessions will be held in 14N-132.

Food will be provided

Email gishelp at mit.edu if you have questions.

Bioinformatics for Beginners
Amy Stout, Courtney Crummett

Learn how to find and use information more effectively in our hands-on workshops. No advanced registration required. Light refreshments will be served at each session.

**NOTE that different events will be happening throughout the month of April and early May.**

WHERE: 14N-132 (Digital Instruction Resource Center – DIRC)

WHEN: Friday, April 18, 12pm (noon)

Class attendees will learn about the organization of key NCBI databases, understand the database record structure, and work with the BLAST search tool. The session is a hands-on practicum and an excellent starting point for people who are new to, or curious about bioinformatics research tools.

Sponsored by the MIT Libraries.

Contact the Science Library for more information.

The MIT Libraries have launched the fifth puzzle in a series of puzzles that can be solved using Libraries’ resources. The puzzles will be released over the course of the Spring 2008 semester, appearing in the Tech, on kiosks in Lobby 7, and elsewhere around campus. MIT students can view the puzzle and submit their answers online at http://libraries.mit.edu/puzzle. Correct answers submitted by the deadline will be entered into a drawing for an Apple iPod Nano. The deadline for entries for the fifth puzzle is Monday, April 14, 2008.

Congratulations to Steven Sivek, winner of the fourth puzzle!

Come to the SHASS Open House, and meet members of the MIT Libraries community who provide support for SHASS. Subject specialists from the Dewey and Humanities Libraries will be on hand to tell you more about our online, and human, resources.

And, our Bookmobile will make special appearance, with a related collection of library materials on display…and to check out!!!

Today @ noon, in the Sala De Puerto Rico, 2nd floor of the Student Center.

On Thursday, November 15th the MIT Humanities Library hosted Professor Irving Singer who spoke about his new book, Ingmar Bergman, Cinematic Philosopher, just published by The MIT Press. A video of the event is now available on MIT World.

In this lecture, Singer discusses how Bergman used philosophical ideas “in an extended sense” — not by including philosophical discussions in his films, but through his masterful use of cinematic technique to examine the particularities of human experience. Singer also describes how Bergman wove aspects of his own life’s story into his films, in intense and vivid ways.

Irving Singer is Professor of Philosophy at MIT. He is the author of Reality Transformed: Film as Meaning and Technique, Three Philosophical Filmmakers: Hitchcock, Welles, Renoir (both published by The MIT Press), and many other books.

This event was sponsored by authors@mit. 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.

Managing your references: Overview of EndNote, RefWorks and Zotero
Remlee Green, Mathew Willmott

Learn how to find and use information more effectively in our hands-on workshops. No advanced registration required. Light refreshments will be served at each session.

**NOTE that different events will be happening throughout the month of April and early May.**

WHERE: 14N-132 (Digital Instruction Resource Center – DIRC)

WHEN: Friday, April 11, 12pm (noon)

Using citation management software to create and maintain a collection of references is becoming more common and important in today’s academic world. This session will focus on EndNote, RefWorks, and Zotero, the three major options for bibliographic software at MIT.

Sponsored by the MIT Libraries.

Contact the Science Library for more information.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Time: 10:00a–3:00p

Location: 10-105

Stop by and browse titles in diverse subject areas including Aero/Astro, Art, Architecture, Engineering, Fiction, Math, Management, Music, Physics, & Political Science/Social Science.

Open to the MIT Community only.

Questions? Contact the Gifts Office at gifts-lib@mit.edu or x 3.5693

All proceeds benefit the Libraries’ Preservation Fund.

Learn how to find and use information more effectively in these hands-on workshops. No advanced registration required. Light refreshments will be served at each session.

WHERE: 14N-132 (Digital Instruction Resource Center – DIRC)

WHEN: Fridays in April (and May), 12pm (noon)

April 11: Managing your references: Overview of EndNote, RefWorks and Zotero
Remlee Green, Mathew Willmott

Using citation management software to create and maintain a collection of references is becoming more common and important in today’s academic world. This session will focus on EndNote, RefWorks, and Zotero, the three major options for bibliographic software at MIT.

April 18: Bioinformatics for Beginners
Amy Stout, Courtney Crummett

Class attendees will learn about the organization of key NCBI databases, understand the database record structure, and work with the BLAST search tool. The session is a hands-on practicum and an excellent starting point for people who are new to, or curious about bioinformatics research tools.

April 25: EndNote Basics
Peter Cohn, Anita Perkins

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

May 2: Citation Surfing: Using Databases to Track Article Citations
Michael M Noga

Have your ever used the Web of Science to find citations? Have you used Google Scholar? Perhaps you have used citation links in journal articles. This session will explore the different ways you can use citation searching to identify literature on a subject.

Sponsored by the MIT Libraries.

Contact the Science Library for more information.

Interest was high in 1861 as the proposed Institute of Technology moved through the Massachusetts legislative process. But among those opposed was the secretary of the Board of Education. In March, Governor John A. Andrew invited William Barton Rogers to a meeting of the board to persuade them of its advantages for education and industry. “Be thou the advocate,” wrote Massachusetts Governor Andrew in a letter exhibited as the Object of the Month by the Institute Archives and Special Collections. The proposal was finally approved by the Massachusetts legislature, and on April 10, 1861, Governor Andrew signed the Act to Incorporate the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Celebrate MIT’s anniversary month, and the countdown to MIT’s sesquicentennial in 2011, by learning more about the Institute’s beginnings and William Barton Rogers, the extraordinary man whose vision made it happen. Rogers’s papers and many documents concerning MIT’s early years are available for research in the Institute Archives, 14N-118, Monday - Thursday, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm.

Sofia Ponte will be giving a brief presentation in the Reading Room from 12:00 to 1:00 Friday, April 11.

The Dreaming Lounge is displayed at Barker Engineering Library from December 2007 to April 2008. It is a device created for resting and studying in libraries reading rooms while creating a performative space for day-dreaming. It brings evidence to a day-sleep situation while discussing ways for humanizing the experience of relief, rest and survival in the public domain. Libraries reading rooms are places where we often see communal resting, sleeping and dreaming, all mental conditions that affect and influence our behavior in the private and public sphere. The Dreaming Lounge encourages this situation in public as a way to generate a social space for reflection. After resting, one is more able to recognize changes, to continue to relate ideas, and to learn more about them. Barker reading room is situated under the MIT dome, which has served as a reading room since 1916. The design of the Dreaming Lounge blends into the landscape of this room while creating a self-discovery experience for the user and its relation to this space.

Save the date! The 6th annual Prokopoff violin music concert will be held from noon-1 pm on Friday, April 18th, 2008 in the Lewis Music Library (Bldg. 14E-109). This annual event honors the extraordinary collection of violin music collected by Stephen Prokopoff and donated to the library in 2001 by Lois Craig, former Associate Dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning. This year’s concert will feature several pieces from the collection including Fritz Kreisler’s Tambourin Chinois, Navarra by Pablo de Sarasate, Concerto for 2 violins in D minor by J. S. Bach, and other favorites performed by some of MIT’s finest student musicians.

The Lewis Music Library is located in Bldg. 14E-109 and the concert is free and open to the public. The opening celebration for the MIT Libraries’ Maihaugen Gallery follows this concert.

On Friday, April 18, from 1-3pm the MIT Libraries will host a community celebration in honor of the opening of the Maihaugen Gallery. The newly constructed exhibit space will showcase some of the extraordinary items from the MIT Libraries’ collections.

The first exhibit: A Celebration of Gifts will feature rare and unique items donated to the Libraries by MIT alumni, faculty, and friends. Among the treasures that will be exhibited to the public for the first time are items from the collection of the Institute’s founder, William Barton Rogers. The exhibit will also include original notebooks from Harold “Doc” Edgerton, several rare books including a first edition of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and a book of illustrations from the 1553 volume Historiae animalium by Konrad Gesner. Also featured will be items from the personal library of architect Charles Bulfinch, balloon prints from the Vail Collection, books by architect Santiago Calatrava with original artwork, works from the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, and other items given to the Libraries.

The new facility is located adjacent to the Institute Archives (14N-118). The celebration will begin at 1pm with remarks by Ann Wolpert, director of the Libraries. Refreshments will be served. Please join us!

Photos by: L. Barry Hetherington, Bottom photo: Copyright Harold E. Edgerton 1992 Trust

The subject of the Archives’ March Object of the Month exhibit is MIT’s wind tunnels, beginning with an early improvisation in 1896. The focus of the exhibit is a photograph and description of a wind tunnel in use from 1914 to 1921, which was built on Vassar Street in Cambridge two years before MIT moved from Boston to Cambridge.

The photograph is from the MIT Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel Records (1914-1963) in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. These and other records concerning aeronautics and aeronautical engineering are available for research in the Archives in Building 14N-118.

The MIT Libraries have launched the fourth puzzle in a series of puzzles that can be solved using Libraries’ resources. The current puzzle can be seen in the Tech, on a poster in Lobby 7, and elsewhere around campus.

MIT students can view the puzzle and submit their answers online at http://libraries.mit.edu/puzzle.

Correct answers submitted by the deadline will be entered into a drawing for an Apple iPod Nano. The deadline for entries for the fourth puzzle is March 3, 2008.

Donna Kirking, a representative from EndNote, will offer basic-intermediate training on building a library and using Word with EndNote. All members of the MIT community are welcome to attend one or both sessions, and no sign up is necessary.

2:00-3:30: Building an EndNote Library

3:45-5:00: Using EndNote in Word

Training will be held in the Libraries’ Digital Instruction Resource Center (DIRC), in 14N-132. If you have EndNote installed on a laptop, you’re welcome to bring it and follow along. If you’re already an EndNote user, feel free to come with questions.

Questions? Contact cite-help@mit.edu.

If you’re unable to attend the training, you may want to check out our guide on EndNote at MIT, or the Overview of Bibliographic Software.

Come see, and check out, highlights from The Humanities Library’s book and DVD collections, and The Lewis Music Library’s music collections.  Items have been selected in honor of the upcoming President’s Day holiday.

Details:

• Date: Friday February 15th, 2008
• Time: 10:30AM - 2:30PM
• Where: Lobby 10
• Cost: FREE!!!

For its February Object of the Month the Institute Archives and Special Collections focuses on snow removal, exhibiting a 1948 letter from Mayor James M. Curley to MIT President Karl T. Compton, and Compton’s reply. Curley communicates his concern about snow removal and possible spring floods, makes a few tentative suggestions on methods, and expresses his hope that Institute researchers will tackle the problem.

The letters exhibited are from the Records of the Office of the President, 1930-1959 (AC 4) which span the tenures of Karl T. Compton and James R. Killian, a period of enormous change at the Institute and in the world. The subjects documented in this rich collection range from MIT administrative history, through scientific research during World War II and the postwar period, to science policy. The records are available for research in the MIT Institute Archives and Special Collections, Building 14N-118, Monday - Thursday, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm.

There has been an explosion of open source and free mapping tools. In this talk we will offer a brief look into the neogeographer’s world of online mapping.

WHEN: Wednesday, January 23, 2 -3 pm

WHERE: 4-231

Complete listing of GIS workshops

Image source: http://www.joomla.org/content/view/4410/74/

Check out all of the MIT Libraries IAP events for this week, from Monday, January 21 through Friday, January 25. A complete listing for all of IAP is also available.

Book Discussion: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

EndNote Basics

Geographic Information Systems Workshops

Introduction to DOME and Stellar Images

Introduction to R (Statistical Software)

Introduction to Stata (Statistical Software)

Little Tools with Big Impact: Firefox Extensions, Library Betas, Web Apps, and More

MIT TechTV & U

Makin’ Bacon! Sustainable Livestock Farming and You!

Making Your Own Videos for the Web & MIT TechTV

Managing your references: Overview of EndNote, RefWorks and Zotero

Patent Searching Fundamentals

Power Up! 2.0: Energy Industry Information from the MIT Libraries

PowerPoint Reform School

RefWorks Basics

Rotch Library Film Series

SciFinder Scholar - chemical properties and other new features

Where’s YOUR food from? How Your Food Choices Affect Your Community

Where’s the Money? Information Sources for Awarded Research Funding

MIT is home, school, and work place to a rich and diverse community of students, faculty and staff. Each member of this community sees MIT through their own unique lens. “YourMIT” is a compilation of photos and video clips, contributed by the community, that reflect the diversity of experience and the tapestry that is MIT. Please join us by sending in your photos and videos and then for the premier viewing of “YourMIT”. We will also discuss how this program can evolve throughout the year to reflect the changing seasons of the academic year.

WHEN: Friday, February 1, 2 -3 pm

WHERE: 9-057, LiNC Room

See http://web.mit.edu/techtv/yourmit/ for more information. Contact Kris Brewer with any questions.

Cosponsored by Academic Media Production Services.

Can we really shop our way to a better world? Sure, a Prius is easier on the Earth than a big SUV, but isn’t over-consumption itself part of the problem? Isn’t offering solutions that involve buying yet more stuff somehow delusional and counter-productive?

Rodney North – an MIT neighbor and “The Answer Man” for Equal Exchange, an organic, Fair Trade food company - will lead a debate/free-for-all discussion about the growing popularity of green and socially responsible products and the pros & cons of how this trend influences our thinking about what is needed to create a sustainable, just society.

Audience participation is encouraged, and Equal Exchange will provide free organic, Fair Trade snacks and dark chocolate for you to gorge on while you rail against the evils of consumerism.

WHEN: Friday, February 1, 2 - 3 pm

WHERE: 4-237

Contact Ryan Gray with any questions. See http://www.equalexchange.coop for further information.

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, and socially responsible corporations– by field of interest and by location. Then, we’ll use MIT Libraries’ resources to research potential employers and uncover information that can aid your career decisions and your 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: Thursday, January 31, 12 - 1 pm

WHERE: 14N-132 (DIRC)

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

Contact Alex Caracuzzo with any questions.

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: Wednesday, January 30, 4 - 5 pm

WHERE: 14N-132 (DIRC)

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

Contact J. Darcy Duke with any questions.

This hands-on class will provide a comprehensive introduction to estimating the linear regression model using ordinary least squares in Stata. Topics covered include: multiple regression, dummy variables, interaction effects, hypothesis tests, and model diagnostics. In addition, instructors will explain the substantive interpretation of regression outputs. Join Nealia Khan, Statistical Consultant, Harvard-MIT Data Center, for this informative session.

Familiarity with both Stata and the linear regression model is required.

WHEN: Wednesday, January 30, 1 - 3 pm

WHERE: E53-220

Enrollment is limited to 20 participants. Contact Katherine McNeill-Harman to sign up or with questions. See http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/subjects/data/training/workshops.html for more information.