Composer forum series: Keeril Makan
Letting Time Circle Through Us and other recent music
A preview for the concert of Keeril Makan’s music by Either/Or on April 5 in Killian Hall.
Date: Thursday, April 3, 2014
Place: Lewis Music Library, Bldg. 14E-109
Time: 5-6 pm
Reception follows
Free and open to the public
Sponsored by MIT Music and Theater Arts.
As we mark the fifth anniversary this month of the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy, readers from around the world have expressed their gratitude and appreciation for access to the articles made available through the Policy.
A reader who identified himself as an autodidact from India recently wrote that “We live in a time when bureaucracy is the impediment to knowledge, technology and equity more than ever before,” but that “This [access] changes everything.”
Similarly expansive appreciation was reflected by a corporate researcher in Malaysia: “With MIT free access, I can learn more and be a better human being.”
A full selection of reader comments is available on the MIT Libraries’ Scholarly Publishing website.
Ellen Finnie Duranceau / Program Manager, Scholarly Publishing, Copyright & Licensing / MIT Libraries
As we mark the fifth anniversary of the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy, the benefits to readers worldwide grow more apparent with each passing month. Readers regularly download MIT authored articles from DSpace@MIT from all corners of the globe:
Thirty-three percent of the access is from the United States, with heavy use from the research and population centers of China, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Republic of Korea, Japan, and France, in that order. But downloads are requested from all over the world — Sweden, Brazil, Poland, Israel, and Malaysia each have accounted for about 1% of the total downloads, while the several hundred downloads from each of the African nations of Sudan, Ghana, and Uganda account for about .02%, .03%, and .04% of downloads, respectively. In 2013, downloads were requested from the Federated Republic of Micronesia and Burundi for the first time, and there have been four downloads from Greenland.
The message of these downloads is clear — five years from its inception, the faculty’s goal in adopting the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy, to “disseminat[e] the fruits of [their] research and scholarship as widely as possible,” is being met.
Ellen Finnie Duranceau / Program Manager, Scholarly Publishing, Copyright, and Licensing / MIT Libraries
Since the adoption of the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy in March 2009, over 11,000 articles have been made openly accessible through DSpace@MIT in relation to the Policy. These articles represent 37% of the total written by faculty during the same time period.
Downloads reached a new peak of 92,000 per month in October and have remained consistently above 80,000 since then.
Ellen Finnie Duranceau / Program Manager, Scholarly Publishing, Copyright, and Licensing / MIT Libraries
Linda Griffith
Over the years Linda Griffith has undergone many surgeries for endometriosis, a condition in which tissue that normally grows in the uterus is found elsewhere in the body and can cause lesions, inflammation, and infertility. The disease is poorly understood, and so it made sense to Griffith, a professor of biological and mechanical engineering, to start researching it. In a paper published earlier this month, Griffith and colleagues, including bioengineering professor Douglas Lauffenburger, studied pelvic fluid from women with endometriosis and in about a third they found elevated levels of a group of immune system proteins. The work is an early step towards classifying the disease and, eventually, finding new treatments for it. “We’re not claiming we found a mechanism — the mechanism for endometriosis,” Griffith told the Boston Globe. “We have found a very convincing approach to understand an immune network.”
Explore Professor Griffith’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.
Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.
For
got your phone charging cable? Hayden Library now hosts a KwikBoost mobile device charging station which charges both cell phones and iPads. The device offers two Apple device cables and six phone charging cables.
Many thanks to IS&T who provided the Libraries with the station.
The station is located near the Hayden Library Information Desk. Come check it out!
Have questions? Ask Us!
Piano obtained through the Class of 1982 Music Library Fund
Back by popular demand: Library music! Open mic in the Lewis Music Library, a chance to try out the new piano. Come jam, perform, or just listen. Everyone welcome. Bring your own music or use the library’s (we’ve got lots!).
Date: Friday, March 7, 2014
Place: Lewis Music Library, Bldg. 14E-109
Time: noon- 1 pm
Refreshments provided
Save the dates! Upcoming open mic events: first Fridays, April 4 and May 2, 2014
Open-Score Introduction to the Beethoven Quartets: The Jupiter Quartet, hosted by Teresa Neff. Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2; Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 74 “Harp”; Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2. The Jupiter Quartet will present each of the works on their concert program of March 7 and play excerpts, with scores and facsimiles available for use by the audience.
Date: Thursday, March 6, 2014
Place: Lewis Music Library, Bldg. 14E-109
Time: 6:30 pm
Q and A and reception follows
Free and open to the public
Sponsored by MIT Music and Theater Arts.
Discussion: Thursday, February 27, 2014, 11:00 am, 14N-132 (DIRC)
Detail: Two modes of Reflectance Transformation Imaging. The bottom view shows a Japanese woodcut in “Normal” mode. The top view shows the “Specular Enhancement” mode, which removes color virtually to reveal the subtle surface impressions made in the paper by the artist. © Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Konishi Hirosada, artist, Osaka Actor Mimasu Daigoro IV , color woodcut with embossing and metallic pigment, c. 1851-59.
New scientific imaging tools offer the capability to see distinctive details on a 16th century rare book cover, a manuscript, or a work of art, that can’t be seen with the naked eye. Please join the MIT Libraries’ Curation and Preservation Services Department for a fascinating look at how this technology can help us to learn more about our cultural heritage materials, and how to best preserve them.
Carla Schroer, of the non-profit Cultural Heritage Imaging, will discuss the new empirical capture and analysis tools Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), Algorithmic Rendering (AR), and image-based Structure from Motion (SFM) generation of textured 3D geometry. These techniques will be explored in the context of the emerging science of “Computational Photography.” Computational Photography extracts and synthesizes information from image sequences to create a new type of image containing information not found in any single image in the sequence. This technology is in use in many areas from major art museums to remote archaeological sites to fields in the natural sciences.
The event is free and open to the public, no registration required.
Interested in the world economy or international relations? Then become an OECD Student Ambassador! Deadline: March 30th.
Student Ambassadors are undergraduates who engage with the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and plan on-campus activities to raise awareness of the Organization and its work. Based on their performance, two outstanding Student Ambassadors will be selected to attend the OECD Forum in Paris in May 2015.
All Student Ambassadors attend an initial training in Washington, DC, May 31-June 1, 2014, and will receive a certificate of participation and a letter of recommendation. Expenses for trips plus a budget related to promotional activities on campus will be paid by the OECD.
For more information see: the OECD Student Ambassador Program 2014-2015 Guidelines
Deadline for applications: March 30, 2014
Download the OECD Student Ambassador Program 2014-2015 Guidelines and Application
Email application materials to Elodie Turchi at washington.contact@oecd.org. For further questions, contact Ms. Turchi or Katherine McNeill, Economics Librarian, at mcneillh@mit.edu.
Paper Engineering Page Turns for Music Scores
Come spend an hour with composer and vocalist Erin Gee and MIT Libraries Conservator Jana Dambrogio as they demonstrate a practical and low-tech way to transform the pages of your performing music scores into a continuous sheet of paper that is easy to handle during performances.
Erin will perform the voice part from her piece for voice and ensemble, Mouthpiece X, to show how the enhanced score functions. Jana will demonstrate how you can do this with your own music.
Date: Monday, March 3, 2014
Place: Lewis Music Library, Bldg. 14E-109
Time: 5-6 pm
Reception follows
Free and open to the public
Composer forum series: Charles Shadle
Western Saddlebag: Cowboy Songs and the Craft of Composition.
Charles Shadle, MIT Senior Lecturer in Music and Theater Arts.
The talk will focus on Western Saddlebag, a newly composed suite of arrangements of traditional cowboy melodies for piano.
Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Place: Lewis Music Library, Bldg. 14E-109
Time: 5-6 pm
Reception follows
Free and open to the public
Sponsored by MIT Music and Theater Arts.
Martin Schmidt and Cynthia Barnhart
Photos: Dominick Reuter
Two MIT faculty members have been named provost and chancellor, the Institute’s two most senior academic posts. Martin Schmidt, the new provost, is an electrical engineering professor and had been associate provost since 2008. The provost is the senior academic and budget officer on campus. Cynthia Barnhart, a professor in civil and environmental engineering, has been associate dean of the School of Engineering since 2007. In Barnhart’s job as chancellor she’s responsible for undergraduate and graduate education and student life.
Explore Professor Schmidt’s research and Professor Barnhart’s research in the Open Access Articles collection in DSpace@MIT, where it is openly accessible to the world.
Since the MIT faculty established their Open Access Policy in March 2009 they have made thousands of research papers freely available to the world via DSpace@MIT. To highlight that research, we’re offering a series of blog posts that link news stories about scholars’ work to their open access papers in DSpace.
On Monday, February 17, 2014, the following libraries will open at noon (12pm):
All other library locations will be closed. Libraries resume spring term hours on Tuesday, February 18.
Have questions? Ask Us!
Need to expand your skills in statistical methods and quantitative analysis? Attend the ICPSR Summer Program! Each year, ICPSR provides a comprehensive, integrated program of studies in research design, statistics, data analysis, and social science methodology. Registration is now open for the 2014 session. Note: MIT attendees can register at a discount and scholarships are available.
For a listing of course offerings and application information, see the ICPSR Summer Program web site. Courses this year include:
Note that while most courses are held at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, some are held in nearby Amherst, MA or New York, NY.
———————————————
And don’t forget ICPSR as a source of quantitative data on a range of topics: from markets, election statistics, health, education, international relations, social attitudes and behavior, and more! Recently added datasets include:
In other news, attend an upcoming Webinar: Resources for Health Research from ICPSR.
For further information, contact Katherine McNeill, Social Science Data Services Librarian, at mcneillh@mit.edu.
George Leslie Stout was one of the United States of America’s first art conservators. Stout worked in Cambridge, Massachusetts as the head of the first Conservation Department in the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University before being called into active military duty in 1943. Soon after, he was recruited to serve on the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section (MFAA) also known as the Monuments Men. Stout later lead the Monuments team of men and women dedicated to safeguarding cultural property in war areas during and after World War II. After the war, he returned to Massachusetts and was the director of the Worcester Art Museum and later the Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Museum. He was a founding member of the International Institute of Conservation.
George Stout was one of the first names I learned when I became interested in the field of art conservation in 1989. Rutherford Gettens and George Stout’s Painting Materials: A Short Encyclopedia and Stout’s The Care of Pictures were the first two books I purchased, read cover to cover, and still reference today. The Foundation for the American Institute of Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works’ (FAIC) “George Stout Memorial Fund” afforded many students, including me, the opportunity to attend our first annual AIC meetings to become active members of this extraordinary field that George Stout and many other Monuments men and women helped to create.
Today, The Monuments Men movie opens. It is based on this true story about a local hero (played by co-screen-writer and producer, director, and star George Clooney) who worked with several hundred others to save countless works of art we may still have the pleasure of enjoying. Thanks George!
photo by kodomut Creative Commons Attribution license
Independent (or self) publishing has exploded in the last few years: The number of independently published titles grew by 422% between 2007 and 2012. A large part of that growth is because in some ways it’s quite easy to publish a compilation of lecture notes, monograph, book of essays, textbook, or novel—there are now dozens of companies that can help authors sell to a potentially large audience or simply print a copy of their book. But which company, if any, is right for a given project?
The MIT Libraries’ Office of Scholarly Publishing, Copyright, and Licensing has created a guide to independent publishing as a resource for authors navigating the services and companies out there. We released the guide last month during the IAP session “An Introduction to Independent Publishing” cosponsored by Urban Studies & Planning Professor Anne Whiston Spirn. Spirn, who independently published her latest book, The Eye is a Door, led the well-attended session and shared her own experience and advice. We hope to run it again next year.
The guide gives an overview of what independent publishing is and why you might decide to do it, and suggests questions to ask before choosing a company or service, e.g., do you want to edit or design your book or pay someone to do this work? Do you hope to make money from sales? Do you want to publish an e-book, print book, or both? The guide also highlights some of today’s most popular publishing companies and the services they offer.
Great News! The MIT Libraries has purchased Mendeley Institutional Edition for all MIT Users.
What is Mendeley?
Mendeley is a tool for managing, annotating and sharing PDFs. It can also be used to create citations and bibliographies in Microsoft Word, Open Office and LaTeX.
What is Mendeley Institutional Edition (MIE)?
MIE gives MIT users enhanced access to Mendeley. If you join the MIT group you will get 5 GB of personal space in Mendeley (vs. 2 GB with a free account) and 20 GB of shared space (vs. 100 MB for free). You will also be able to create an unlimited number of shared groups with up to 25 members.
How can you get access to our MIE subscription?
To get access to our MIE subscription you need to join the MIT group. To do this go to:
On that page click the “Join this Group” link. You’ll be prompted for your MIT email address and a link will be sent there for joining the group. There you can create a new account or connect your existing account to the group.
Note: You must have an active MIT email address to sign up. If you already have a Mendeley account using a non-MIT email address you’ll be able to move that account to the MIT group using the link sent to your MIT address. Instead of creating a new account, click the link that says “Already have an Account?” and sign in with your existing account information. You should then be able to validate your account as being eligible for the MIT group.
Want to Learn more about Mendeley?
See our Mendeley at MIT research guide (which links to our Mendeley Basics video).
Questions? Email personal-content@mit.edu
Last week the Curation and Preservation Services department of MIT Libraries had the pleasure of hosting Thornton “Thorny” Staples from the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Research Information Services. Although he claims to be a curmudgeon, Thorny is actually a very friendly digital library pioneer with experience creating innovative solutions for a wide variety of digital collections challenges.
On this visit, he gave library staff an overview of the Smithsonian Institution’s SIdora research data management tool. This tool is an interactive system to help the Smithsonian’s many researchers capture and manage their data along with its context. The data is managed in a trusted repository where it can be shared and re-used by other scholars, and ultimately archived by the Smithsonian’s curators. The project is currently in development, but Thorny gave a demonstration of the tool’s pilot instance and it was already easy to see how much great functionality it will have. We look forward to seeing the tool and its output as development progresses.
Many thanks to Thorny for visiting us here in Cambridge and giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the SIdora reposoitory!
Umm al-Sultan Sha’ban Mosque & Madrasa Restoration
Cairo, Egypt (Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme)
After ten years as the premier online resource for the study of material and visual culture in Islamic societies, Archnet has been reimagined and restructured. The new Archnet – a collaboration between the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT Libraries – is a portal to rich and unique scholarly resources featuring thousands of sites, publications, and images. It is focused on architecture, urbanism, environmental and landscape design, visual culture, and conservation issues related to the Muslim world.
To learn more, visit the Archnet site.
For more information, please contact us at archnet@mit.edu
MIT Libraries News home
News from the libraries at MIT.
News home | Calendar of events
MIT Libraries News is powered by
WordPress.
Subscribe to our RSS feed.
