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!

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.

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.

GeneGo MetaCore is an integrated software suite for functional analysis of experimental data in systems biology.

You need to first register with GeneGo to access MIT’s License to MetaCore.

Don’t worry, it is fast and easy. Go to the GeneGo Resource Guide for registration information and to learn more about GeneGo MetaCore.

Login information will be sent to you ASAP (within 24hrs, M-F) and you may then login to GeneGo MetaCore.

We have training coming up on March 11th, 2009 from 9-12 Noon in the DIRC (14N-132).

Email Courtney Crummett to register.

Rotch Library IAP Film Series:

When: 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM, Thursday, January 29, 2009

Where: Rotch Library Conference Room, 7-238

Click the image above to view a trailer for the film.

Manufactured Landscapes (2007)

Follows photographer Edward Burtynsky, internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of nature transformed by industry, as he travels through China photographing the effects of that country’s massive industrial revolution. (90 minutes)

This film is a part of the Rotch Library DVD collection.

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.

The MIT Libraries were recently given 37 hand-colored lithographs from John James Audubon’sViviparous Quadrupeds of North America. The rare lithographs were generously donated by Mr. Ron Juster and family, in honor of Josh Juster, M. Eng. 2004. Several of the prints from the collection can be viewed in the Libraries’ Maihaugen Gallery where they are on display as part of the Celebration of Gifts exhibit.

The prints embody one of the 19th century’s most artistically successful attempts to catalog, illustrate, and promote understanding of the natural world. Following the monumental success of his publication Birds of America, naturalist and artist John James Audubon (1785-1851) attempted to produce accurate illustrations of every quadruped native to North America. In an effort to limit such a massive undertaking, he decided to include only viviparous animals (those that give birth to live young). The result was 150 paintings that are widely celebrated for both their scientific accuracy and their artistic beauty.

The Celebration of Gifts exhibit runs through February 19th in the Maihaugen Gallery, adjacent to the Institute Archives (14N-118). Gallery hours are Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.

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.

Rotch Library IAP Film Series continues:

When: 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM, Friday, January 16, 2009

Where: Rotch Library Conference Room, 7-238

Choropampa: The Price Of Gold (2002)

In June, 2000, 151 kilograms of liquid mercury spilled from a truck hauling it from a goldmine in the Andes. The spill covered a 25-mile long area, contaminating the mountain village of Choropampa. The owners of the mine, the World Bank, and others claim that the problem was quickly resolved, but hundreds of people still suffer the ill effects. This video details the legal battles of the people of Choropampa. (75 mins.)

This film is a part of the Rotch Library DVD collection.

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.

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.

Rotch Library IAP Film Series:

When: 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM, Thursday, January 8, 2009

Where: Rotch Library Conference Room, 7-238

Click the image above to view a trailer for the film.

King Corn: a film (2006)
Two college graduates plant and grow a bumper crop of America’s most productive, most subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil, with the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, nitrogen fertilizers, and powerful herbicides. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat– and how we farm. (92 minutes)

This film is a part of the Rotch Library DVD collection.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Want to know more about how BLAST works and how to use it more effectively in your research? Then this class is for you! This class will follow up on Bioinformatics for Beginners and lead into Advanced Bioinformatics, although attendance at the other sessions is not necessary.

WHEN:
Wednesday, January 21, 11 – 12am

WHERE:
DIRC, 14N-132

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

Contact Courtney Crummett with questions.

Genomics, microarrays, and massively parallel applications such as next generation sequencing have made biology research a highly quantitative field. As a result, many biologists face the challenge of mastering computers and computational methods. Our sessions are designed to begin the process.

We will provide an overview of some of the bioinformatics tools and methods mandated by modern biological research. Practical examples will be used to introduce powerful aspects of the Unix operating system, Perl, R, Excel and MySQL. We will also instruct attendees on the usage of bioinformatics tools for genomics, phylogenetics and microarray data analysis. Topics to be covered include the UCSC genome browser, GALAXY, Argo, GenePattern, Bioconductor, ClustalX, and a variety of functional annotation methods.

WHEN:
Monday, January 26, 11am – 1pm
Wednesday, January 28, 11am – 1pm
Friday, January 30, 11am – 1pm

WHERE: DIRC, 14N-132

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 20 participants. It is requested that participants attend all sessions.

Contact Charlie Whittaker or Courtney Crummett with questions.