Where: 14N-132

Want to find out how to obtain over one million tracks of streaming audio ranging from classical to jazz, popular, and contemporary world music? How about over 150,000 online music scores? Streaming video of poets reading from their work? Images so sharp you can see the shadow beneath the Mona Lisa’s smile? Or panoramic views of architectural sites from around the world?

Come to this session to learn how to bring these and other cultural treasures right to your desktop through the MIT Libraries.

Please register for this session. For more information, please contact Mark Szarko.

Where: Lobby 10

Celebrate National Bookmobile Day with the MIT Libraries! Check out new fiction and non-fiction, DVDs, and music (Bring your MIT ID if you want to borrow something).

For more information, please contact Theresa Tobin.

Noam Chomsky, photo credit: MIT News

MIT’s Libraries were recently chosen to be the stewards of the personal archives of noted linguist, political activist, and Institute Professor emeritus Noam Chomsky. The significant collection spans a long and distinguished career, beginning when Chomsky joined MIT in 1955 in the Research Laboratory of Electronics, through his years as a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, then as Institute Professor.

Often referred to as “the father of modern linguistics,” Chomsky revolutionized the field of linguistics and paved the way for transformational grammar and universal grammar. His book Syntactic Structures (1957) was considered groundbreaking. He also made significant contributions to the fields of psychology, cognitive science, philosophy of language and philosophy of mind.

“It’s fitting that Professor Chomsky’s papers will remain at MIT as a resource for future generations of scholars. He revolutionized the way we think about the linguistic sciences and the cognitive mechanisms of language acquisition, and his ideas in many realms have had profound influence on scholarship and public discourse here at MIT and worldwide,” MIT President Susan Hockfield said.

Over the years, Chomsky has been awarded numerous prizes, including the Kyoto Prize in 1988 and the MIT Killian Award for the academic year 1991-1992. Most recently, he won the Sydney Peace Prize in 2011. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

“Over the last fifty years, Noam Chomsky has not only created the building blocks of linguistic theory and understanding, but has built a remarkable and unique department of Linguistics that has nurtured several generations of linguists who have taken their MIT experience into and across the globe. It is wonderful that Noam’s papers, which span this long period of growth and development, will be available to scholars for many years to come,” MIT Dean of Humanities Deborah Fitzgerald said.

The collection also reflects Chomsky’s political activism and outspoken support for freedom of speech and social justice. He was once quoted as saying, “If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all” (Guardian (UK), Nov.23, 1992).

He has authored numerous works on the topic, including American Power and the New Mandarins (1969), Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988), Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy (2006), and Hopes and Prospects (2010).

The addition of Chomsky’s personal archives, and a large portion of his personal library, augments a small existing collection of Chomsky’s papers already in the care of the MIT Libraries’ Institute Archives.

“With this addition, the collection will be a complete archival resource that will provide researchers with unique insight into Professor Chomsky’s thinking, and the development of the field of linguistics, as well as his views on significant issues in social activism from post-WWII through current day,” MIT Institute Archivist Tom Rosko said.

Staff from the MIT Libraries and Institute Archives and Special Collections are in the beginning stages of transferring material to the Archives. Initial work in organizing the Chomsky collection will occur this year, with additional work on improving access to the collection, including online access to portions of it, continuing over the next several years. When the work is done, scholars will have unprecedented access to an enormous depth and breadth of material from one of the world’s most renowned linguists and top intellectual minds.

Want to brush up on your language skills or learn a new language? Use all that time you spend waiting for the T, and learn a new language with Byki Mobile!

Learn over 70 languages, including English, using the Byki language-learning system. Learn at your own pace with virtual flashcards and quizzes.  Byki will remember where you left off, so you can track your progress and easily learn on-the-go. The mobile app works for iPhone and Android, but if you don’t have a mobile device, you can still use Byki from any computer.

To get started: 

1. Visit Byki through the MIT Libraries from a computer or mobile device, and log in through your MIT Touchstone account.
2. Click the “Sign Up Now” button and create an account. (Or just log in, if you already have a Byki account.)
3. After you’ve logged in, click the “Byki Mobile” button, and follow the steps to download and activate the Byki Community Edition app for Android or iPhone.

To access the full version of Byki, use the same link from a computer: http://libraries.mit.edu/get/byki.

Questions? Ask Us!

Date: Friday, February 10, 2-4pm
Location: Maihaugen Gallery (14N-130)

A new exhibition in the Libraries’ Maihaugen Gallery explores glassmaking as revealed in glassware from MIT laboratories, blown glass from the MIT Glass Lab, and stunning stained glass windows from the Libraries’ Charles J. Connick Stained Glass Foundation Collection. Tools, early photographs, and selections from rare books demonstrate the combination of artistry and engineering that goes into the creation of glass.

This event is free and open to the community.

His publishing policy for book chapters is the same as for journals, but he “will consider reviewing books or book chapters that are not OA-friendly, because books are a different business from research journals,” though he “wish[es] that there was more movement towards OA books.”

As for books, Professor von Fintel will limit his publishing to books that “have a significant open access component, such as making at least the final manuscript freely available…”

Professor von Fintel has been taking action for more open access to research and scholarship for many years. In 2007, he launched an open access journal in his field, Semantics & Pragmatics, with a colleague, David Beaver. In 2009, he participated in the faculty committee that crafted the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy. He decided to post his personal open access policy publicly now because, as he tells it, “I had noticed that some of my publication and reviewing decisions were made in a rather unprincipled way that I later regretted. Having a clear personal policy will guide me towards making deliberate decisions in these matters.”

The passage of the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy makes it possible for faculty research to be shared openly on the web, von Fintel says, but a personal manifesto is still important because “faculty still have to make principled decisions such as choosing a journal that does not impose an embargo or exerts pressure to opt out of the OA Policy.”

Ellen Duranceau / Program Manager, Scholarly Publishing & Licensing / MIT Libraries / 617 253 8483

Date:  Monday, Nov. 7th
Time:  2-3pm
Place: 6-120

Bio: G. Sayeed Choudhury is the Associate Dean for Library Digital Programs and Hodson Director of the Digital Research and Curation Center at the Sheridan Libraries of Johns Hopkins University. He is also the Director of Operations for the Institute of Data Intensive Engineering and Science (IDIES) based at Johns Hopkins. He is the Principal Investigator for the Data Conservancy, one of the awards through NSF’s DataNet program. He has oversight for the digital library activities and services provided by the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University.

Tuesday, Nov 8, 7-9 pm in the Lewis Music Library (14E-109)

It’s Alive!
A series of staged play readings by students
in collaboration with professional actors
curated by Anna Kohler, Senior Lecturer, MIT Music and Theater Arts
presents

Illness or Modern Women
by Elfriede Jelinek
Nobel Prize for Literature, 2004

Join us for a staged reading of Elfriede Jelinek’s play, read by Jay Scheib, Associate Professor of Music and Theater Arts, Tanya Selvaratnam, and MIT students.

Free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Lewis Music Library: 617-253-5636.

NYC Parcels

Detailed tax lot data for New York City from 2002 – 2011 is available through the MIT Geodata Repository.  Attributes include ownership information, building characteristics (number of floors, total units, year built, etc.), valuations for tax purposes, and more. Easily find available datasets by using borough names, like Manhattan, to search.

It’s Alive!
A series of staged play readings by students
in collaboration with professional actors
curated by Anna Kohler, Senior Lecturer, MIT Music and Theater Arts
presents
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee

Join us for a staged reading of Edward Albee’s classic play, read by Anna Kohler and Michael Ouellettee of Theater Arts, and MIT students.

Next reading date in the “It’s Alive” series: Thursday, November 17

Free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Lewis Music Library: 617-253-5636.

Don’t know what RSS is?  You can still visit the page to see the list of new Hayden DVDs.  Or if you want to learn more about RSS, see our guide on RSS, Email, and Table of Contents alerts.

New resources

• Have a smart phone? Now you can go to the MIT Mobile Web to search for and request books and more.
• Find out how to use and cite images (and other content) with a new guide on copyright & fair use.
• Need help managing your data? Get assistance, attend workshops, or schedule an individual consultation on the guide for finding and managing data.
• Download new ESRI ArcGIS 10 software and improved MIT Geodata Search Tool for ArcGIS. Find GIS lab hours, workshops and more.

Library hours & study space

• The Hayden Library group study room (14E-311) is now equipped with a touch-screen reservation system and new video conferencing equipment.
• Study under the Dome: new group study rooms on the 8th Floor of  Barker Library open soon.
• Longer hours have returned!  See hours for all library locations.
• Get answers to all your questions about borrowing with helpful new FAQs: Circulation FAQ and Course Reserves FAQ.
• Questions? Ideas or Comments?

Upcoming Events

• We’re offering a wide variety of events throughout the fall.  Find out about scheduled readings, talks, workshops, exhibits and more.

View the What we did on your summer vacation flyer (pdf).

Give it a try — it’ll make traveling and working abroad that much easier!

Come learn about creating maps and doing geographic analysis!

Register for the Fall GIS workshop series.

Workshops include:

• Introduction to GIS – Friday, Sept. 23, 1-3:30 pm or Tuesday, Sept. 27, 4-5:30 pm.  This session will introduce students to open source and proprietary GIS options.
• Introduction to GIS for Architecture – Wednesday, Oct. 12, 12:30-2 pm
• Discovering and Using US Census Data – Tuesday, Oct. 18, 1-3:30 pm
• Exploring Spatial Patterns using ArcMap – Tuesday, Nov. 1, 1-3:30 pm
• Introduction to Spatial Statistics Tools and Analysis in ArcMap – Tuesday, Nov. 8, 1-3:30 pm
• Introduction to Regression Analysis in ArcMap – Tuesday, Nov. 15, 1-3:30 pm

It’s Alive!
A series of staged play readings by students
in collaboration with professional actors
curated by Anna Kohler, Senior Lecturer, MIT Music and Theater Arts
presents
Medea’s Nurse by Alan Brody

Bette Warren still lives in her own home although she knows she has the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Her grandson, who has been away for ten years returns and this sets off a series of self discoveries for Betty, her daughter Charlotte, and Adam, her grandson.

Alan Brody is a Professor of Theater Arts at MIT.

Upcoming reading dates in the “It’s Alive” series: Thursdays, October 13 and November 17

Free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Lewis Music Library: 617-253-5636.

A new touch-screen reservation device has been installed outside the Hayden Library 3rd-floor group study room (14E-311).  You can reserve the study room using this new touch-screen device or reserve the room in advance through your online calendar.  You can also view the room schedule to check on availability.

For full details on scheduling 14E-311 and other MIT Libraries group study rooms, see reserving group study spaces.

Features of the Hayden group study room include:

• 14 chairs
• 6 tables, each 30″ x 60″– use separately or group together
• 37” LCD widescreen monitor (wall-mounted) with laptop connector cable
• large chalkboard
• tall windows — much daylight, view of Hayden Courtyard
• window blinds — block light during presentations

If you have questions about using the Hayden group study room, contact the library at 617.253.5671.

Happy studying!

Use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to make maps and analyze spatial information. Learn more about using GIS for your teaching at research at MIT GIS Services.

Check availability of  Nooks: http://library.mit.edu/item/001966701

Check availability of Kindles: http://library.mit.edu/item/001966700

Any questions? Just Ask Us!

Started in 2008, the HathiTrust digital library currently contains over 8.5 million digitized volumes representing the collections of partner institutions. HathiTrust’s collections include both copyright and public domain materials digitized by Google, the Internet Archive, and Microsoft, as well as partner institutions.  Founded by twelve universities from the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the University of California system and the University of Virginia, the partnership has now grown to include fifty-five institutions.  MIT and Harvard are two of the most recent universities to join.

Through the HathiTrust website, the public can search the full-text of 8.4 million digitized volumes, and get full online access to 2.2 million volumes that are in the public domain.  With the MIT Libraries membership, the MIT community will have the added benefit of being able to download full volumes of public domain works in PDF format, and also build and share collections using the Collection Builder feature.  Access will be provided to MIT users, with authentication through Touchstone, later this year.

Joining HathiTrust is one of several steps the MIT Libraries have recently taken to expand access for MIT faculty and students to print or digitized resources beyond the holdings of MIT.  In January, the Libraries announced their membership in Borrow Direct, a partnership with Ivy Plus libraries that gives the MIT community access to nearly 50 million print items. In February, MIT and Harvard libraries jointly announced an expanded alliance to explore collaborations for sharing library materials, advancing digital preservation collections practice, and developing future off-site storage facilities and services.

“In today’s interdisciplinary learning environment, it’s essential for our faculty, students and researchers to have access to an even wider array of information resources than ever before.  By collaborating with other outstanding research libraries, we can offer the resources necessary to support the cutting edge research and education that is MIT’s hallmark,” said MIT Director of Libraries, Ann Wolpert.

Wolpert added that it is important for universities to take a leading role in shaping digital libraries. “Libraries have been stewards of the scholarly record for centuries,” she said.  “We’re committed to the long haul.”

The MIT Libraries are actively involved in open access initiatives that support MIT’s mission to make scholarly knowledge openly available to the world.  Partnering with HathiTrust, an organization committed to collecting, organizing, preserving, communicating, and sharing the record of human knowledge, is in line with the Libraries principles of supporting the long-term curation of the cultural record, and furthering global scholarship and research.

Want to learn about GIS online, on your own time? The MIT community has access to many virtual campus courses from ESRI. Courses can help students learn many skills including: using ArcGIS, working in 3D, raster analysis, programming with Python, and creating mobile GIS applications. The virtual campus addresses a variety of topics including getting started with the basics of GIS and working with HAZUS – using GIS technology to estimate physical, economic, and social impacts of disasters.

The MIT community can sign up for ESRI virtual campus courses for free by emailing gishelp@mit.edu. For a listing of available courses visit the MIT GIS Services website: http://libraries.mit.edu/gis/teach/esrivc.html

For updates about GIS related events, new GIS data and software, and more subscribe to mitgis@mit.edu by visiting: http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/mitgis

You’ve probably noticed that MIT pops up all over the place in popular culture. Good Will Hunting? Check. Bringing Down the House? Already read it. But did you know that there’s an MIT reference in the musical Rent? And have you ever watched Paniponi Dash or read The Gadget Maker? You can check out all these and more at the MIT Libraries.

To help celebrate MIT’s 150th anniversary, we’ve found many of these books, CDs, and DVDs–from the obscure and out-of-print to the biggest blockbusters–in our stacks, and added a few we didn’t already have. Take a look at this guide to check out representations of MIT in books, films, TV shows, and music.

New agreement reflects physical proximity, cross-registration, joint programs, and research affinities

The Provosts of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have charged their respective library systems to explore expanded collaborations for sharing library materials, advancing digital preservation and collection, and developing future off-site storage facilities.

Both institutions have identified increased collaboration between and among their complementary libraries as an essential element in developing the research library of the 21^st century. While an ambitious level of collaboration is anticipated, each library system will remain engaged with and guided by the respective missions and priorities of each university. While enhanced collaboration may serve to reduce prospective costs, the focus of the collaboration is on the future of 21^st-century library services, technologies, and collections.

“No single library system can expect to meet the full intellectual needs of the academic and research communities of MIT and Harvard,” stated Harvard Provost Steven E. Hyman. “A wide-ranging exploration of all opportunities for collaboration is of great interest to both institutions.”

Both formal and informal relationships already exist between the MIT and Harvard libraries. MIT has shared in the use of the Harvard Depository since its inception in 1985. A 1995 agreement between Harvard College Library (HCL) and MIT brought reciprocal borrowing privileges to faculty, researchers, and graduate students in both institutions. An April 2010 pilot program extended those privileges to undergraduate students.

While traditional library materials have been the focus of prior agreements, digital materials are at the forefront of the new alliance.

“The increasing primacy of digital materials brings its own urgency to our collaboration, ” observed MIT Provost L. Rafael Reif.  “As new models of online information delivery emerge, Harvard and MIT can support joint programs for open-access as well as joint acquisition and licensing approaches that are appropriate for education and academic research.”

Under the agreement, the two libraries will develop a four-tiered action plan by the end of 2011.  The four tiers are:

Reciprocal access to circulating collections

By developing linked access between Harvard and MIT library catalogs and implementing reciprocal privileges that extend to Harvard’s graduate and professional school libraries, library patrons can anticipate full access to 20 million volumes that users will experience as a single collection.

Enhancing digital preservation and collection practices

MIT and Harvard have earned leadership roles through their open access programs and repositories and through their respective approaches to digital preservation. High priority areas for collaborative growth include digital archives of faculty papers and web-based publications.

Developing wider access to electronic information

Questions of electronic serials pricing, and the costs of building digital information management and delivery systems, point to opportunities for Harvard and MIT to investigate new models for licensing agreements, as well as alternative, open access forms of publication that reflect each institution’s commitment to the dissemination of new knowledge.

Envisioning joint off-site storage facilities for the future

Harvard and MIT have shared the Harvard Depository for high-density, non-browsable, off-site storage since 1985. Together, the two universities could effectively anticipate both a new service model and an additional facility for off-site storage.

“We’ve enjoyed a collaborative working relationship with Harvard’s libraries for many years,” said Ann Wolpert, Director of the MIT Libraries.  “This new agreement builds on our successes and underscores the commitment we share to provide our communities with the best and broadest range of resources possible, and to be at the forefront of advancing the digital preservation of scholarly work.”

“In several ways, the libraries of Harvard and MIT are already united by proximity and affinity,” said Helen Shenton, Executive Director of the Harvard Library. “Our new agreement supports the distinct priorities of two very singular universities. At the same time, it challenges us to collaborate on a sustainable information ecosystem for the 21st century.”

Location: 14N-130, Maihaugen Gallery

This multimedia exhibition showcases in words, documents, photos, video and sound, the broad and varied history of MIT. View original MIT documents and historically significant materials that played a role in making MIT the unique place it is today. The exhibit will also feature items from the MIT Museum’s 150 Exhibition, as well as video stories of those who have shaped – and been shaped by – MIT.

Music and refreshments provided.  Free and open to the MIT community.

Location: 14N-130, Maihaugen Gallery

This multimedia exhibition showcases in words, documents, photos, video and sound, the broad and varied history of MIT. View original MIT documents and historically significant materials that played a role in making MIT the unique place it is today. The exhibit will also feature items from the MIT Museum’s 150 Exhibition, as well as video stories of those who have shaped – and been shaped by – MIT.

Music and refreshments provided.  Free and open to the MIT community.

How this affects your access:

• Whether you are on- or off-campus, you must use either the shortcut URL for JSTOR (http://libraries.mit.edu/get/jstor) or use the JSTOR link in Vera in order to be recognized as a subscriber.
• Your current MIT status will be verified as you are passed through to the JSTOR site.
• This change will take effect by Wednesday, January 12, and as early as Monday, January 10.

If you find you have any problem with access, please email econtrol-lib@mit.edu.

The incidents that prompted this change involved the use of a robot, which is prohibited by JSTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use . Additionally, these incidents violated MITnet Rules of Use. Continued access to JSTOR and other resources is dependent on the MIT Community complying with these policies.

Thank you,
Steve Gass
Associate Director for Research & Instructional Services
MIT Libraries

photo by: Tom Pixton

All MIT Libraries locations, with the exception of the 24-hour study facilities in Hayden and Dewey libraries, will be closed Thursday, December 23, 2010 through Sunday, January 2, 2011, as a cost saving measure to meet Institute budget reductions.

During the closure, the Libraries’ website, Barton, Vera and access to electronic licensed resources will be available.  However, most library staff will be on furlough and will not be available to offer assistance. A small number of staff will be on-call to address any reported system outages; reasonable attempts will be made to bring systems back online as soon as possible.

While it will continue to be possible to make online requests for some MIT Libraries’ services or materials, these requests will not be acted upon until the Libraries reopen.  Due dates for materials on loan have been adjusted to reflect the closure – no items will be due during this period and fines will not accrue.  We apologize for any inconvenience.

Visit our library hours page for a complete list of individual library hours.

Please send questions, comments or concerns to budgetfeedback-lib@mit.edu.

Impulse Borrowing Display titles

Dewey Library’s Impulse Borrowing Display of selected new books occupies the low shelves flanking the stair to the Lower Level.

Check the display out and you are (practically) guaranteed to find something that you will want to read and, with luck, that will give you new ideas to think about.

- Some recent examples from impulse borrowing -

Want to learn more about Facebook?  Check out these titles
The Accidental Billionaires, by Ben Mezrich – HM742.M49 2009

The Facebook Effect,by David Kirkpatrick – HD9696.8.U64.F335 2010

Come browse the Dewey Impulse Borrowing Display.  You may be surprised by what you find!

Where: MIT Lewis Music Library, 14E-109

When: Monday, November 15, 2010, 5:00 pm

Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts were often beautiful, exceptionally crafted, and extraordinarily expensive items, and the modern facsimiles that seek to reproduce the originals can have the same qualities and drawbacks. By contrast, the Internet has brought images of many of these amazing artifacts to a wide audience at no cost. Yet the expensive, physical publications are still in wide demand by collectors and libraries. Dr. Jane Alden, Associate Professor of Music at Wesleyan University, will discuss this seeming paradox in her lecture, “Quill and Pixel: Chansonniers and their Modern Readers.” Dr. Alden will discuss ways in which today’s technology has changed our relationship to original manuscripts (especially 15th-century French songbooks) and what role published facsimiles may play in the future.
This event is free and open to the public.

Heart-shaped MS, 22 x 16 cm, 144 pp.

Location: Killian Hall MIT Room 14W-111

Registration: https://alum.mit.edu/smarTrans/register-login.vm?eventID=48142&groupID=146

Physical/Virtual:  MIT Libraries in the Digital Age, a program sponsored by the MIT Alumni Club of Boston, will feature a panel discussion moderated by Ann Wolpert, Director of Libraries.   This discussion will explore the diverse ways the Libraries support teaching and research at MIT today. The panel will include Tom Rosko, Head of the Institute Archives and Special Collections; Ellen Duranceau, Program Manager of Scholarly Publishing and Licensing; and Angie Locknar, a librarian who will discuss innovative instructional programs (including collaboration with Don Sadoway’s famous Introduction to Solid State Chemistry).