MIT Libraries News

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!

Starting Friday, March 20th, through Monday, March 30th, the Barker Reading Room will be closed. The Reading Room will reopen on Tuesday, March 31st.

We’re happy to announce that the walls are getting a fresh coat of paint and the study carrels are being refinished! These are the first steps in our plans for further renovations to be done over the summer of 2009.

Also, thanks to our Processing and Access Services teams, all Barker bound print journals have made it safe and sound to the Library Storage Annex where they won’t be exposed to leaks.  The 8th floor of Barker is now closed until the Dome repairs are complete.

As a result of these two events, all unbound and current issues of journals have been moved to shelving on the 5th floor of Barker, just after the reference collection.

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.

New installment of the BioInformatics Tutorials Series (BITS) brought to you by MIT Engineering and Science Libraries and Harvard’s Countway Library of Medicine!

BIT 3.1: Entrez Gene (5:35)
BIT 3.2: OMIM and OMIA (6:34)
BIT 3.3: HomoloGene (6:28)

Be sure to check out our complete listing of MIT Libraries video tutorials.

MIT GIS Services will be offering a series of workshops to introduce the MIT community to Geographic Information Systems (GIS). All sessions will be held in the MIT GIS Lab, Rotch Library, 7-238. These workshops are restricted to the MIT community and will require an active kerberos account. No registration required – seats are available on a first come basis. MIT GIS Services are cooperatively supported by the MIT Libraries, OEIT, and IS&T.

• Introduction to GIS using ESRI ArcGIS Desktop and QGIS (FOSS)
  Friday, February 20, 2-4 pm
• Site Selection – Making Spatial Decisions Using a GIS
  Friday, February 27, 2-4 pm
• Using Elevation Data and Hydrographic Tools in a GIS
  Friday, March 6, 2-4 pm
• Model Builder and Python
  Friday, March 13, 2-4 pm

Check out all of the MIT Libraries IAP events for the week covering Monday, January 26 through Friday, January 30. A complete listing for all of IAP is also available.

Practically Genomic

Introduction to Google Maps API

Using Elevation Data and Hydrographic Tools in a GIS

QUOSA Information Manager Demo: Retrieve and Organize Article PDFs

Going Beyond Google Scholar: Using the Web of Science and other citation searching resources to discover articles

Compost with Worms…in Your Apartment!!

Mapping and Using US Census Data

Fiddle-dee-dee during IAP

Managing Research Data 101

EndNote Basics

IAP @ Humanities Library Film Series: Special Effects at the Movies

Finding & Using Historical Newspapers

Model Builder

Biotechnology Patent Fundamentals and Searching

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

RefWorks Basics

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.

Check out all of the MIT Libraries IAP events for the week covering Monday, January 19 through Friday, January 23. A complete listing for all of IAP is also available.

Patent Searching Fundamentals

Introduction to GIS Using ESRI ArcGIS Desktop

Bioinformatics for Beginners

Using NCBI’s BLAST

Organic? All-natural? Grass-fed? What Does It All MEAN??

Tips and Tricks for Keeping Up With Information: Mechanical Engineering

Open Source and Free Mapping Tools

Managing Your References: Overview of EndNote, RefWorks and Zotero

BIOBASE ExPlain Training

RefWorks Basics

Patent Searching Fundamentals

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

Introduction to GIS Using Free Software Tools and Data

Career Research: Targeting and Researching Employers

Site Selection – Making Spatial Decisions Using a GIS

EndNote Basics

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.

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.

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.

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

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

DATA, DOCUMENT AND IMAGE MANAGEMENT

• Finding Research Datasets: ICPSR and the Harvard-MIT Data Center
• Make your Paper File Cabinets Searchable: How to Manage Paper and Electronic Documents Effectively
• Managing Research Data 101
• QUOSA Information Manager Demo: Retrieve and Organize Article PDFs

BIOINFORMATICS

• BIOBASE Knowledge Library and Explain Analysis System Training
• Bioinformatics for Beginners
• Practically Genomic
• Using NCBI’s BLAST

GIS

• Introduction to GIS Using ESRI ArcGIS Desktop
• Introduction to GIS Using Free Software Tools and Data
• Introduction to Google Maps API
• Mapping and Using US Census Data
• Model Builder
• Open Source and Free Mapping Tools
• Site Selection – Making Spatial Decisions Using a GIS
• Using Elevation Data and Hydrographic Tools in a 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Rotch Library IAP Film Series:

When: Thursday and Fridays during IAP; Thursday, January 8, 2009 – Friday, January 30, 2009

Where: Rotch Library Conference Room, 7-238

Did you know that the Rotch Library of Architecture and Planning maintains an impressive DVD collection, with new titles added regularly?

Join us as we explore the scope of the collection, from from how we eat and farm (King Corn) to African mud architecture (Future of Mud) to the way type affects our lives (Helvetica). We’ll be showing a different film or two each day. Bring your lunch, we’ll provide the entertainment!

More information about each showing will be posted on this blog, and on the Rotch Library website.

Contact: Heather McCann, 7-238, x3-7098, <hmccann_at_mit.edu>

Sponsor: MIT Libraries hosted by Heather McCann, Allison Benedetti, Omar Khalidi, Jonah Jenkins

Enrollment: Seating is limited; first come, first served, limited to 20 participants.

Are you wondering what an RSS feed is and how it can help your research?

Want to learn more about using GIS, EndNote or RefWorks?

Need to find chemical information, social science data, or patents?

Want to learn Japanese book-binding, improve your photography, or how to compost with worms?

Look no further! Take a peek at all of the MIT Libraries IAP Activities offered in 2009.