MIT Libraries News

The murals painted by Edwin Howland Blashfield (MIT 1869) in the main hall of Walker Memorial in the 1920s have, for many years, “elevated the spirit and stimulated the imagination of countless visitors and members of the MIT community,” in the words of former President Howard Johnson. The idea of decorating the hall was conceived by MIT’s Treasurer, Everett Morss (MIT 1885), who also gave the funds to make it possible.

The story of the murals is told in the June Object of the Month exhibit of the Institute Archives and Special Collections. The murals, in what is now called Morss Hall, consist of five allegorical panels illustrating the role of education in society with particular emphasis on science and engineering. The panel illustrated here is on the south wall and shows a mother and her children being guided by knowledge and imagination through the darkness of chaos into the brightness of an enlightened era.

Further information about Walker Memorial and the murals is available in the Institute Archives, 14N-118. The images in the exhibit are from Rotch Visual Collections and are also available in DOME, the Libraries’ digital repository.

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

The May Object of the Month exhibit by the Institute Archives and Special Collections illustrates some of the experiences of researchers in the five-year study of the city environment directed by MIT Professors Kevin Lynch and Gyorgy Kepes from 1954 to 1959. “The Perceptual Form of the City” project was the foundation of Lynch’s book The Image of the City, published in 1960. The part of the study featured in the exhibit involved field trips in Boston to ask directions of a diverse sample of people to get a sense of their perceptions of the city.

The complete documentation of the project is included in the papers of Kevin Lynch (MC 208) and includes research notes, working papers, interview transcripts, trip diaries, course notes used for teaching, and other materials. The collection is available for research at the Institute Archives and Special Collections, room 14N-118. Many of the images and documents have been digitized and are also available in DOME, the MIT Libraries’ digital repository.

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

WHEN: Friday, May 1, 12 – 1pm

Market research abounds on the web, but usually with a hefty price tag. This session will familiarize participants with market research accessible to MIT students and faculty. We will cover types of resources available, how to navigate them, and some basic tips for using these resources.

Contact: Maggie Bartley

Check out the full listing of IAPril 2009 Libraries events!

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

WHEN: Thursday, April 23, 12 – 1pm

For researchers struggling to manage their data, basic strategies will be provided for
• best practices for retention and archiving
• effective directory structures and naming conventions
• good file formats for long-term access
• data security and backup options
• metadata, tagging, and citation
• other relevant issues

Contact: MacKenzie Smith

Check out the full listing of IAPril 2009 Libraries events!

The Lewis Music Library will host the 7th annual Prokopoff violin music concert from noon to 1 pm on Friday, April 17, 2009.

Concert coordinator Sherman Jia G will be joined by fellow violinists Latifah Hamzah ’12, Brian Kardon G, Lissa Riley ’08 and David Somach ’11 along with pianists Pei-Shan Lee and Matthew Wright to perform music by Bach, Gershwin-Heifetz, Tchaikovsky, and Wienawski.

The music for the concert is selected from the large gift of violin scores given to the library in 2001 by Lois Craig, former Associate Dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning. The scores belonged to her late husband Stephen Prokopoff.

Date: Friday, April 17, 2009
Place: Lewis Music Library, Bldg. 14E-109
Time: Noon – 1 pm

The concert is free and open to the public. Join us for this traditional springtime favorite!

The long weekend is coming! The long weekend is coming!

The Lewis Music Library is offering a special longer loan period for CDs and DVDs over Patriots Day weekend. Music compact discs and DVDs borrowed Tuesday, April 14 through Friday, April 17 will all be due Tuesday, 4/21/09. That’s up to a week, rather than the usual 3 days! Limit of 5, no renewals.

This corresponds to the Humanities, Science, and Lewis Music Libraries Bookmobile on Tuesday the 14th in Lobby 10 from 11 am – 2 pm. Come on by and check out some great music!

The Lewis Music Library is located in Bldg. 14E-109 and library hours are posted on the web.

Come and hear attorney Sonia Guterman of Lawson & Wetzen 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.

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

WHEN: Thursday, April 16, 12 – 1:30pm

Contact Darcy Duke for more information.

Check out the full listing of IAPril 2009 Libraries events!

The MIT Libraries subscribe to a number of databases that you can use to research companies and industries. Using these databases, you can:

• Target companies by industry and geography
• Conduct comprehensive company and industry research

We will discuss why this type of research is critical to the job and internship search process, and how to use these databases effectively.

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

WHEN: Thursday, April 9, 3 – 4:30pm

Contact: Anita Perkins for more information.

Check out the full listing of IAPril 2009 Libraries events!

The Bookmobile is coming! The Bookmobile is coming!

Save the date, spread the word: the Bookmobile is coming to Lobby 10 on Tuesday, April 14. Stock up for Patriots Day weekend! The staff of the Humanities, Science, and Lewis Music Libraries will be pulling together a selection of materials to tempt your mental palates, so come by and check out something to enjoy over the weekend. Choose from:

• Books, audio books, and movies from the Humanities Library Browsery
• Books from the Science Library’s new “Serendipity” Collection
• CDs and DVDs from the Lewis Music Library (which will be due on Tuesday, 4/21)

Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Place: Lobby 10
Time: 11 am – 2 pm

Learn how to find and use information more effectively in our hands-on workshops. No advanced registration required.

**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 10, 12 – 1pm

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.

Contact Howard Silver for more information.

Check out the full listing of IAPril 2009 Libraries events!

William Barton Rogers’s ideas for a new kind of scientific institution were well received in Boston in the mid-nineteenth century.  In November 1860 a committee chaired by Rogers petitioned the Massachusetts legislature for incorporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Rogers summarized his plans in a pamphlet entitled Objects and Plan of an Institute of Technology, the focus of the April Object of the Month exhibit by the Institute Archives and Special Collections. To gain support for the proposed institution, the pamphlet was widely disseminated among civic and commercial leaders, educators, and scientific and literary figures. The proposal was approved by the Massachusetts legislature, and on April 10, 1861, Governor Andrew signed the Act to Incorporate the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Learn 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.

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)

EndNote Basics

Learn how to find and use information more effectively in our hands-on workshops. No advanced registration required.

**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 3, 12 – 1pm

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

Contact: Peter Cohn for more information.

Check out the full listing of IAPril 2009 Libraries events!

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)

Endnote Basics
Friday, April 3rd, 12 – 1pm

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

Researching Companies for the Job Hunt
Thursday, April 9, 3-4:30pm

The MIT Libraries subscribe to a number of databases that you can use to research companies and industries. Using these databases, you can:
-Target companies by industry and geography
-Conduct comprehensive company and industry research
We will discuss why this type of research is critical to the job and internship search process, and how to use these databases effectively.

Contact: Anita Perkins

Bioinformatics for Beginners
Friday, April 10th, 12 – 1pm

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.
Contact: Howard Silver

Biotechnology Patent Fundamentals and Searching
Thursday, April 16, 12-1:30pm

Come and hear attorney Sonia Guterman of Lawson & Wetzen 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.

Contact: J. Darcy Duke

Managing Research Data 101
Thursday, April 23, 12-1pm

For researchers struggling to manage their data, basic strategies will be provided for
• best practices for retention and archiving
• effective directory structures and naming conventions
• good file formats for long-term access
• data security and backup options
• metadata, tagging, and citation
• other relevant issues

Contact: MacKenzie Smith

Introduction to Market Research Databases at MIT
Friday, May 1, 12-1pm

Market research abounds on the web, but usually with a hefty price tag. This session will familiarize participants with market research accessible through MIT. We will cover types of resources available, how to navigate them, and some basic tips for using these resources.

Contact: Maggie Bartley

Check out the full listing of IAPril 2009 Libraries events!

In the lecture enChanting Musical Artifacts in Unlikely Places: Rare Resources in MIT’s Lewis Music Library, Michael Scott Cuthbert, Assistant Professor of Music at MIT, and Nancy Schrock, Thomas F. Peterson, Jr. Conservator for Special Collections at the MIT Libraries, reveal some treasures from MIT’s early music collection which, while often incomplete or damaged, sing volumes about their origins and use.

Cuthbert demonstrates that when it comes to medieval and renaissance music manuscripts, there’s really no substitute for the real thing. His discussion covers several recent additions to MIT’s Lewis Music Library.

View a video of the lecture online at MIT World, a free and open site that provides on demand video of significant public events at MIT.

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.

For centuries humans have been fascinated by the concept of flight. From simple attempts to fashion human wings to the serious science of space exploration, our fascination with flight has been constant and compelling, and has literally known no earthly bounds. This allure is the focus of a new exhibit in the MIT Libraries’ Maihaugen Gallery.

The Fascination of Flight showcases both the dream and the reality of flight through historical materials, archival records, and current collections owned by the MIT Libraries.

The exhibit also highlights the pioneering work of the Institute’s faculty, students and heroic graduates and acknowledges their contributions to the science of powered flight.

The MIT community is invited to an opening celebration for the exhibit on Wednesday, April 1 from 1-3 pm.