MIT Libraries News

“Riding the space shuttle is like strapping yourself to a gigantic beast….you go from 0 to 17,500 miles per hour in eight and a half minutes,” MIT alumnus, Astronaut Mike Massimino said in a talk at MIT last month.

After nearly 3 years of training, in May 2009 Massimino rocketed 5.3 million miles into space on a mission to repair NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.  The veteran astronaut spoke about the extensive preparation for the journey, as well as the risks and thrills that were a part of the historic final trip to Hubble.

He also returned an item to MIT that he took into space with him—a book loaned from the MIT Libraries’ collections.  The book, a limited edition facsimile of Galileo’s landmark publication Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger), was chosen to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s astronomical research, the first recorded planetary observations using a telescope.  It is on display through December 2009 in the Science Library (14S-134).

Astronaut Massimino’s talk was sponsored by the MIT Libraries, the Technology and Policy Program (TPP)/ Engineering Systems Division (ESD), and Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Three open access publishers, BioMed Central, Public Library of Science (PLoS), and Beilstein-Institut, are fully cooperating with the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy. MIT authors do not need to provide an amendment to the publication agreements or take any other special action in order to publish with them under the MIT policy.

These publishers make their articles available under a Creative Commons license, allowing for broad reuse.

The faculty policy, established by on March 18, 2009, makes the faculty’s scholarly articles openly available on the web. Papers are being shared via MIT’s research repository, DSpace@MIT.

To submit a paper under the policy, please send the final submitted manuscript, post peer-review, but prior to the publisher’s formatting, to oapolicysubmissions@mit.edu or upload the paper through a short web form.

To review other confirmed publisher responses, please see: Publishers and the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy. Please send any questions about publishers not yet on the page to Ellen Duranceau, Scholarly Publishing & Licensing Consultant.

For more information:

MIT Faculty Open Access Policy

Details on working with the policy

Ellen Duranceau, Scholarly Publishing & Licensing Consultant, x 38483

MIT GIS Services has released a new version of the MIT Geodata Repository Search Tool for ArcGIS. The MIT Geodata Repository holds 1,700+ layers of geographic data. This tool enables searching for GIS vectors and rasters via keywords, geographic location, and geometry type. For example, you can search for building footprints, like the ones used in the view of Manhattan shown above.

This tool is available in the MIT GIS Lab, and can be downloaded and installed on any machine running ESRI’s ArcGIS software. The help guide can walk one through how it works.

Two more society publishers have confirmed cooperation with the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy:   The American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Optical Society of America (OSA).   MIT authors do not need to provide an amendment to the AMS or OSA publication agreements or take any other special action in order to work with these publishers under the MIT policy. 

The faculty policy, established by on March 18, 2009, makes the faculty’s scholarly articles openly available on the web.  Papers are being shared via MIT’s research repository, DSpace@MIT.

To submit a paper under the policy, please send the final submitted manuscript, post peer-review, but prior to the publisher’s formatting, as an email attachment to oapolicysubmissions@mit.edu or upload a paper through a web form.

To review other confirmed publisher responses, please see: Publishers and the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy. Please send any questions about publishers not yet on the page to Ellen Duranceau, Scholarly Publishing & Licensing Consultant.

For more information:

MIT Faculty Open Access Policy

Details on working with the policy

Ellen Duranceau, Scholarly Publishing & Licensing Consultant, x 38483

If you regularly use the SciFinder client, you have probably noticed challenges in logging in. We have been dedicating fewer and fewer seats (of 11 total) for the client. All of the seats will be unavailable as of Monday, November 2.

If you have not yet registered to use the web version of SciFinder, please do so.

You will have to access SciFinder via the Libraries proxy server, which requires the use of the MIT Touchstone authentication system. Note that this is only available for MIT faculty, students, post-docs, other researchers and staff with certificates installed on their machines.

If you have any questions, please contact the Chemistry Librarian, Erja Kajosalo.

Come on by the Lewis Music Library and check out some Hallowe’en music!

Reserves assistant Cate Gallivan has pulled together a few examples of ghoulish music.  There’s plenty more in the library collection; ooze on over to 14E-109 and find some!  CDs and DVDs circulate for 3 days, scores and books for 30 days.

The fall 2009 issue of What’s the Score? the newsletter of the Lewis Music Library is now available. The web version is online and print copies are available on the front counter in the library (Bldg. 14E-109).

Read about library activities and projects, and don’t miss the ever-popular bad music jokes!

The American Institute of Physics (AIP) and the American Vacuum Society (AVS) have confirmed that they are fully cooperating with the new MIT Faculty Open Access Policy. This policy, established by the faculty on March 18, 2009,  makes the faculty’s scholarly articles openly available on the web.  

MIT authors do not need to prepare an amendment to the AIP or AVS publication agreements or take any other special action in order to work with these publishers under the MIT policy.

To submit a paper, please send the final submitted manuscript, post peer-review, but prior to the publisher’s formatting,  as an email attachment to oapolicysubmissions@mit.edu or upload a paper through a web form.

To review other confirmed publisher responses, please see: Publishers and the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy. Publishers are being added to this web page as information becomes available.   Please send any questions about  publishers not yet on the page to Ellen Duranceau, Scholarly Publishing & Licensing Consultant.

For more information:

MIT Faculty Open Access Policy

Details on working with the policy

Ellen Duranceau, Scholarly Publishing & Licensing Consultant, x 38483

Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009
4-5pm
Killian Hall, Building 14

Veteran Astronaut and MIT Alumnus Dr. Mike Massimino (SM TPP 1988, Engineer ME 1990, PhD 1992) will come to MIT on Wednesday Oct. 28 to talk about his recent work servicing NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and to return a book to the MIT Libraries.

In May 2009 Massimino and six other astronauts boarded the space shuttle Atlantis for a journey that took them 5.3 million miles for a final servicing of the telescope.  Massimino and other STS-125 crewmembers conducted five spacewalks to upgrade the Hubble, enabling it to send back spectacular images of the universe well into the next decade.  While on the mission the crew captured photographs and video, and Massimino became the first astronaut to ‘Tweet’ from space—sending back updates on the mission through his Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/astro_mike), which has surpassed 1 million followers.

Accompanying Massimino on the mission was a rare book loaned from the MIT Libraries’ collections.  The book, a limited edition facsimile of Galileo’s landmark publication Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger), was chosen to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s astronomical research, the first recorded planetary observations using a telescope.

In his talk, Massimino will discuss his work and show images and video from the mission.  He will also present the well-traveled book back to the MIT Community and the Libraries.

Sponsored by the MIT Libraries, the Technology and Policy Program (TPP)/ Engineering Systems Division (ESD), and Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

A new collection of scholarly articles by MIT authors is openly available to the world today through MIT’s research repository DSpace@MIT.   The launch of the “MIT Open Access Articles” collection coincides with International Open Access Week to reflect the spirit of an MIT faculty policy established in March 2009.

The policy affirms the faculty’s commitment “to disseminating the fruits of its research and scholarship as widely as possible.”

The collection consists of the authors’ final submitted manuscripts.  Published versions may also appear where the publisher’s policy allows for such posting.  Both versions are identified for readers.

MIT authors are encouraged to send their papers to oapolicysubmissions@mit.edu or use a web form for inclusion in the collection.

The MIT Libraries are administering the policy under the guidance of the Faculty Committee on the Library System, and are maintaining a list of publishers who are fully cooperating with the policy.

Ellen Duranceau, Scholarly Publishing & Licensing Consultant, can answer questions about publisher policies, the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy, or the new collection of articles.

More Information:

Publishers’ policies as they relate to MIT’s OA policy

FAQ about the Policy

MIT’s Support for the Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), a national lab sponsored by the National Science Foundation, has just announced an Open Access policy that requires that all peer-reviewed research published by its scientists and staff be made publicly available online.

NCAR is the first of the NSF’s Federally Funded Research and Development Centers to adopt an OA policy.

The new policy was formalized by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), the governing body that manages NCAR.   Papers will be held in a repository called “OpenSky,” which will include all peer-reviewed studies by NCAR and UCAR researchers that are published in scientific journals.  The repository will be available to the public.

More information:

• NCAR announcement
• Peter Suber’s analysis

Power Supply: Energy Resources in the MIT Libraries is a new exhibit in the Maihaugen Gallery that showcases “energy resources” in the Libraries that have supported and resulted from research and education throughout the Institute’s history. Included are books and articles from historical collections, examples of rich working collections, theses by MIT students, and video (below) highlighting MIT’s current efforts in energy research.

The MIT Community is invited to an opening reception on Friday, October 23, 1-3pm in the Maihaugen Gallery (14N-130). Check out the exhibit and enjoy refreshments with friends!

Looking to gain skills in working with statistical analysis software packages?  The following classes will be taught by the Harvard-MIT Data Center (HMDC) Statistical Consultant and start next week!  Note: there will be time at the end of each session for individual assistance, so feel free to bring your research questions.

1. Introduction to Stata
Get an introduction to Stata, the statistical analysis software package commonly used at MIT. With hands-on exercises, learn how to import and manage datasets. Novices welcome!

When: Friday, October 23rd, 2-5pm

2. Data Management in Stata
Learn techniques for data management using Stata. Perform hands-on exercises and learn how to create cross-sectional, time-series, and panel datasets from several data files.  Topics include importing data into Stata, labeling data and variables, converting data from string to numeric format, appending and merging datasets, and collapsing and reshaping a dataset.  Prerequisite: a general familiarity with Stata (such as taking the Intro. workshop).

When: Friday, November 6th, 3-5pm

3. Introduction to Regression Using Stata
This hands-on class will provide a comprehensive introduction to estimating the linear regression model using ordinary least squares in Stata. Topics for the class include multiple regression, dummy variables, interaction effects, hypothesis tests, and model diagnostics. Prerequisites include a general familiarity with Stata (such as taking the Intro. workshop), the linear regression model, and the ordinary least squares estimation.

When: Friday, November 13th, 3-5pm

4. Introduction to R
Get an introduction to R, the open-source system for statistical computation and graphics available on Athena. With hands-on exercises, learn how to import and manage datasets, create R objects, and generate figures. Novices welcome!

When: Friday, December 11th, 1-4pm

Where: All workshops held in the Sloan Trading Room in the basement of E52: E52-010.

Space is limited. To register, contact: Katherine McNeill, mcneillh@mit.edu.

Can’t make these times? Attend these workshops at Harvard or view the slides on your own.

Brought to you by Social Science Data Services: http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/subjects/data/

Tomes & Domes: Islamic Architecture Collections at Rotch Library opens on Thursday, October 15 in Rotch Library of Architecture & Planning (7-238).  The exhibit highlights items from the library’s extensive collection of materials related to architecture and planning in the Islamic world.  It features items used in The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture (AKPIA) and includes photographs taken by MIT students supported by the AKPIA Travel Grant.  It was funded in part by Robert M. Randolph, Chaplain to the Institute, Office of Religious Life and the Council for the Arts at MIT.  The exhibit will run through November 25.

The Libraries’ Bookmobile will be wheeling into Lobby 10 this Friday, Oct. 9, 2009.  From 11a.m. until 2p.m. browse through a great selection of books, CDs, DVDs and audiobooks from the Humanities and Music Libraries.  Stop by and pick up something to enjoy over the long weekend!

Learn how to manage your articles and cite your references more effectively in these hands-on workshops. No advance registration required.

All workshops will take place in the Digital Instruction Resource Center (DIRC), 14N-132.

EndNote Basics

EndNote is a “personal bibliographic software” package that 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.

• Friday, 10/16: 12-1pm
• Tuesday, 10/20: 5-6pm

RefWorks Basics

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.

• Thursday, 10/15: 5-6pm
• Wednesday, 10/21: 12-1pm

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

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 citation 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.

• Wednesday, 10/14: 5-6pm
• Thursday, 10/22: 12-1pm

Can’t make the classes and need help?  Try our research guides for citation software help, or ask us!

Learn about ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research), the world’s largest archive of research data for the social sciences.  Next week (Oct 5-9, 2009), ICPSR will be broadcasting live free webinars to help you understand and utilize its many data resources.  Topics covered include:

• Data on minority populations
• Graphing quantitative data & Web 2.0 tools for visualization
• Protecting respondent confidentiality
• American Community Survey
• American National Election Survey
• Harmonized data sets
• Documentation of research data
• Quantitative literacy/Using data in teaching
• Online analysis of data
• And more!

Visit http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/or/ormeet/program/index.jsp to review the abstracts and slides and to register to attend the webinars.  Note: while these are presented in the context of the meeting of ICPSR Official Representatives, the webinars are free and open to the public; all members of the MIT community are encouraged to register and attend.

Can’t make the live webinars?  View them anytime at: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/or/ormeet/program/index.jsp.

For more information about ICPSR, contact MIT’s Official Representative, Katherine McNeill, at mcneillh@mit.edu.

The MIT Faculty established a new policy on March 18, 2009 that makes their scholarly articles openly available on the web.   The Libraries have been working with the Faculty Committee on the Library System to make this process as convenient as possible for the faculty, as called for in the policy.

One key effort has been to work with publishers to ensure that MIT papers will be handled smoothly under the policy, and we are pleased to announce that the American Economic Association (AEA) has confirmed its cooperation.  MIT authors do not need to prepare an amendment to the AEA publication agreement or take any other special action in order to publish with the AEA under the MIT policy.

We anticipate that this will be the first in a series of announcements about publishers cooperating with the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy.   To track publisher responses, we are offering a new web page.  More publishers will be added to the page as information becomes available, and questions about  publishers not yet on the page may be sent to Ellen Duranceau, Scholarly Publishing & Licensing Consultant.

To submit a paper under the policy, please send the final submitted manuscript, post peer-review, but prior to publisher’s formatting,  as an email attachment to oapolicysubmissions@mit.edu.

For more information:

MIT Faculty Open Access Policy

Publisher Policies

Ellen Duranceau, Scholarly Publishing & Licensing Consultant

Many of the services featured on the MIT Libraries’ web site are available from a mobile phone on the MIT Mobile Web.

To get to the MIT Libraries’ mobile site, visit http://m.mit.edu from your mobile device’s web browser.

The site is currently optimized for iPhones.  In the future, we plan to create versions optimized for other mobile phones.

From the Libraries’ mobile site, you can:

• View hours & locations for each library
• Ask questions and request a meeting with the librarian for your subject
• Read news from the MIT Libraries on our blog

Read more about the mobile web site.

What else would you like to see on the mobile web site? Give us your ideas!

Special thanks to Andrew Yu and the MIT Mobile Web team for their help in developing the MIT Libraries’ mobile web site.

MIT joined four other universities in launching a new “Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity” on Monday September 15, 2009.    The goal of the compact, according to its author,  is to allow “the two journal publishing systems to compete on a more level playing field” by providing  “equitable support for the processing-fee business model for open-access journals.”

To support this goal, the five universities have pledged to support fees for open access publication.  Specifically, the universities commit to “the timely establishment of durable mechanisms for underwriting reasonable publication charges for articles written by [their] faculty and published in fee-based open-access journals and for which other institutions would not be expected to provide funds.”

MIT Provost Rafael Reif reflected on the significance of the compact:  “The dissemination of research findings to the public is not merely the right of research universities: it is their obligation.   Open-access publishing promises to put more research in more hands and in more places around the world.   This is a good enough reason for universities to embrace the guiding principles of this compact.”

In addition to MIT, the other initial signatories are Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, and the University of California at Berkeley.   Other universities are encouraged to join at the compact web site.

MIT news story

Compact web site

Inside Higher Ed

PLoS article by Compact author and Harvard professor Stuart Shieber