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.

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!

is live in the stream (http://twitter.com/MIT_TechTV). Follow for quick updates, links to good videos and anything else that may be going on with MIT TechTV.

If you haven’t heard yet, MIT TechTV officially became part of the MIT Libraries on July 1st, 2009. With over 6.5 million videos viewed on the site since it’s inception in April of 2007, MIT TechTV allows you to reach out to the world with it’s Content Delivery Network serving your videos globally and efficiently.

With this transition, MIT TechTV continues to be a free resource for the Institute and the MIT community for video publishing, hosting and sharing. Keep those great videos coming! For more information on the site, see the About MIT TechTV page.

Want to learn how to find an article database for your research? Or use bioinformatics databases? Or use the library catalog? Then try the Libraries video tutorials, now hosted on TechTV!

MIT TechTV is MIT’s free video posting and hosting service, specializing in science, engineering, and MIT-related videos. Feel free to comment on our videos or suggest other videos that the Libraries can produce.

Sample Video: Finding Articles, Part 2: Finding Journal Articles on a Specific Topic

A panel of archivists, librarians, and historians reflected on the anxiety and exhilaration of a digital age that is constantly transforming their disciplines at a recent MIT Communications Forum event focused on Media in Transition.

MIT’s Director of Libraries, Ann Wolpert spoke about digital archives. “Persistence in the digital world does not happen by luck but through intentional action and explicit investment. The odds that bits will survive in a shoe box in the attic are pretty small,” she said.

View the entire video, or go to Wolpert’s comments which begin at approximately 52 minutes with an introduction by moderator, Peter Walsh.

“Clean Power: Building a New Clean Energy Economy”

Did you miss it when it was here on April 13th, 2009?  Well, not too worry, AMPS captured it and you can watch the video at your leisure.  Of course, you’ll probably want to read all about it as well, so check out the great article by the  MIT News Office on the forum.

What is the legacy of the Apollo program, and what can we learn from it to help us confront the scientific and engineering challenges of our own time?  This short film kicked off the “Giant Leaps” Symposium commemorating the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing. The symposium was organized by the MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department, and held at MIT on June 11, 2009.  Find out more about Giant Leaps.

Check out this great video and more on MIT TechTV.

Did you miss our April session on “Biotechnology Patent Fundamentals and Searching” with attorney Sonia Guterman of Lawson & Wetzen and Drew Lowery, Ph.D. in Biochemistry from MIT (currently at Global Prior Art’s Life Science Team)?

Feel free to watch the video on your own time! Biotechnology Patent Fundamentals and Searching

See also our other video tutorials and recorded workshops.

Contact: Darcy Duke

Academic Media Production Services (AMPS), a group within the MIT Libraries, has launched a new website to showcase its work and the wide range of services it offers to the MIT community. The site provides information about:

• Video Production
• Video Post-Production
• Web Video
• Distance Education
• Video Conferencing and Consulting

It features a portfolio of videos produced by AMPS in support of MIT departments and initiatives. The website also provides rates and information about MIT’s video-enabled facilities and high-tech classrooms. To find out more visit the new AMPS site, email amps-info@mit.edu, or call 617.253.7603.

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.

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.

1001 uses of MIT TechTV in support of education, research, activities, and outreach!

MIT TechTV is MIT’s free video posting and hosting service, specializing in science, engineering, and MIT-related videos. Any member of the MIT Community can use MIT TechTV to post video content for the world to see. In this seminar, you’ll learn how you can use MIT TechTV to accomplish your goals and support your group whether it’s a class, lab, student organization, sport team, or department.

WHEN:
Wednesday, January 14, 11am – 12pm
Thursday, January 22, 11am – 12pm
Monday, January 26, 2 – 3pm

WHERE:
9-151, Kaufman Room (first two sessions)
9-152, Ford Room (third session)

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis. This is a repeating event with participants welcome at any session.

Contact Kris Brewer with any questions.

Cosponsored by Academic Media Production Services.

Are you interested in using on-line video to support your teaching but only want to share it with your class?

Come learn how you can use MIT TechTV to deliver video content. Fully functional with other sites, like Stellar, you can quickly and easily post videos and then share them with your classes or anyone else you desire (within copyright and Fair Use guidelines).

MIT TechTV also provides for easy segmentation and in-line commenting. Learn more about these features and explore how you can use MIT TechTV!

WHEN:
Monday, January 12, 11am – 12pm
Tuesday, January 20, 11am – 12pm
Wednesday, January 28, 2 – 3pm
Friday, January 30, 11am – 12pm
Friday, January 30, 3 – 4pm

WHERE: 9-151, Kaufman Room

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 28 participants. This is a repeating event with participants welcome at any session.

Contact Kris Brewer with any questions.

Cosponsored by Academic Media Production Services.