Tag: oldevents

Preservation Week, April 29–May 1: Explore the art and science of preserving cultural heritage

By on March 27, 2014

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Join us for a variety of events that highlight the importance of preserving cultural heritage materials during National Preservation Week.

Tuesday, April 29th, starting at 12 pm

The Art and Science of Document Security: Past, Present, and Future, 32-144 A series of talks presenting research on historical, contemporary, and novel methods for creating secure documents in all forms. Join us for one session or several. There will be breaks for refreshments and questions throughout.

  • 12:15 pm “Our Marathon”: The Boston Bombing Digital Archive
    Our Marathon is a crowd-sourced digital archive of stories, photos, video, and social media related to the Boston Marathon bombings and aftermath. Join us for a brown bag talk with Jim McGrath and Alicia Peaker from the Our Marathon team for an overview of the project and the archive.
  • 1:00 pm      Opening Remarks
  • 1:15 pm     Our Digital Lives: Protecting Our Data In Use and At Rest, Michael Halsall, Senior Network and Information Security Analyst at MIT

  • 1:45 pm    Benign Neglect No More: How Document Security Affects Access to Memory, Kari R. Smith, Digital Archivist, MIT Libraries Institute Archives and Special Collections
  • 2:45 pm    Historic Letterlocking: The Art and Security of Letterwriting, Jana Dambrogio, Thomas F. Peterson (1957) Conservator, MIT Libraries Curation and Preservation Services

  • 4:00 pm    Thanks for the Memory: 50+ Years of Computing at MIT exhibit, 14N-130 Gallery visit led by Nora Murphy, Archivist for Reference, Outreach, and Instruction, MIT Institute Archives and Special Collections, Maihaugen Gallery  

  • 8:00 pm   The Monuments Men Movie Screening, 26-100 Enjoy a free screening of The Monuments Men. George Clooney portrays a local art conservation hero George Stout who saved cultural heritage from ruin during WWII.

Wednesday, April 30th, 11 am-3 pm

  • Our Marathon “Share Your Story” event, 10-105 Representatives from the Our Marathon online collection of Boston Marathon Bombing experiences will be on campus to document the personal experiences of the MIT community during and after the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing.

May 1st, 2-3 pm

  • Scrapbook Preservation webinar, 14N-132 Interested in preserving your own items? Join us for a free webinar about scrapbook preservation hosted by the American Library Association. Melissa Tedone, Conservator of the Parks Library Preservation Department at Iowa State University, will talk about older scrapbooks as well as how to identify the most stable materials for new scrapbooks.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information contact preservation-team@mit.edu, or see the Preservation Week website.

Discovering the Libraries: Lewis Music Library

By on March 26, 2014

By MIT Libraries’ student blogger, Pri Tembhekar

Hello everyone!

MusicLibSm

Some great study spaces in the Lewis Music Library.

This week’s post is about one of my favorite places to study–the Lewis Music Library. It is especially valuable for classical music aficionados but has resources for all to enjoy. I often visit the music library when I’m craving a quieter place to work but one that is not as oppressive or pungent as, say, the reading room in the student center. The upstairs study nook is good for more casual work. The large tables downstairs provide ample room to spread out your papers and get to business. Upstairs, there are two group study rooms that are ideal for team meetings. The group study rooms can also be used by one person, but they must relocate should a group need the space.

The music library also offers much more beyond a quiet, calm, and naturally lit study space. All that studying can cause considerable stress. From first-hand experience I know that playing music can relieve stress and encourage a happier perspective. If you’ve been meaning to get back to a musical instrument that you once loved, Lewis Library’s scores can help. With over 39,000 musical scores, there’s certainly something you can pick up to ease back into playing music. There are also pieces from 1880-1920 in the Inventions of Note collection that can be accessed online.

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There are pianos on the 1st and 2nd floor as well as Macintosh computers with music software on both floors.

Once you are back into the swing of music, you might consider joining other musicians for an open mic afternoon. Full reign of the piano and a captive audience are up for grabs about once a month in the Lewis Music Library. The next open mic event is Friday April 4th from 12-1 pm in the music library. A full list of music library events, including professional performances, can be found here.

The music library also offers other handy resources to keep in mind. There is a scanner/copier and Macintosh computers on the second floor. These computers have music software that allows for editing and composition. This includes Sibelius7, Finale 2012, Reaper 4, and Logic Pro X. Listening devices for VHS, DVD, and CDs are also available and can be used in the group rooms to facilitate music study. Finally, the library specializes in in-depth research. There are starter guides available, as well as interesting finds such as the oral history collection, and online streaming.

 

Next open mic in the Lewis Music Library: April 4

By on March 20, 2014
piano

Piano obtained through the Class of 1982 Music Library Fund

It’s happening again: 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, April 4, 2014
Place: Lewis Music Library, Bldg. 14E-109
Time: noon- 1 pm
Refreshments provided

Save the date! One more first Friday open mic event this semester: May 2, 2014

Learn About Socio-economic Data at the ACS Data Users Conference!

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ACS logo

Use data from the American Community Survey (ACS), which measures social and economic trends in the U.S.?  Learn how to optimize your work by attending the inaugural ACS Data Users Conference!

Held May 29-30, 2014 in Washington, D.C., the program includes presentations by ACS data users, top Census Bureau staff, and a lunch presentation by John H. Thompson, director of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Space is limited, register now!

Can’t attend the conference but want to be part of the community?  Join the ACS Data Users Group.

Want to learn more about the ACS or other population data from the Census Bureau?  Check out the Libraries’ guide to Census and Demographic Data.

Check out the complete listing of IAPril 2014 sessions

By on March 19, 2014

Pre-registration is required for some, but not all sessions. See below for details.

Class in the Digital Instruction Resource Center

photo by L.Barry Hetherington

Managing your references: Overview of EndNote, Mendeley, and Zotero – Register
Tue April 1, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, 14N-132
Contact: Remlee Green, remlee@mit.edu

Using citation management software to create and maintain a collection of references or PDFs is common and important in today’s academic world. These tools will help you to save citations from your favorite databases and websites, store related PDFs or attachments, and quickly build a bibliography for your papers and publications. We’ll compare and demo 3 tools (EndNote, Mendeley, & Zotero), so you’ll leave the session knowing which tool might work best for your needs.

Please register for this session.

3D Printing for Fun and Science? A Conversation about Digital Fabrication, the Library, and You – Register
Tue April 8, 11:00am – 12:30 pm, 3-442
Contact: Randi Shapiro, shapiror@mit.edu

Digital fabrication has changed considerably over the last few decades. Barriers to use have fallen, and technologies that were once the purview of specialized researchers are now sold in retail outlets like Sears, Staples and the Microsoft store. Schools and libraries have even begun getting into the act, from NC State to the Chicago Public Library.

Applications include producing prosthetic hands for accident victims, manufacturing replacement part for hard-to-source components, or even mapping word frequency across the history of a given journal and printing time series histograms.

But what about here at MIT?

This session will discuss the range of fabrication technologies now available, as well as those available at MIT, for sale, for rent, and (for a limited time, experimentally) through the Libraries. As part of this session, the Libraries have acquired a MakerBot Replicator 2 that is capable of producing objects in PLA plastic.

Plus, participants will have the opportunity to see a 3D-printer in action and even design their own objects – submit a printable file, generated by the free MakerWare software, by Tuesday, April 1st. Up to five submissions will be selected for production before the discussion (provided the designs are producible!).

(Hint: You can try turning a photo into a 3D model with 123D Catch.)

Presenter: Matt Bernhardt, Web Developer, MIT Libraries

Please register for this session.

Mendeley Basics – Register
Wed April 9, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, 14N-132
Contact: Peter Cohn,  pcohn@mit.edu

Mendeley is a free tool that can help you organize and manage your citations and PDFs. Learn how to use Mendeley to discover the latest research, collaborate with others, and automatically generate bibliographies.

Please register for this class.

Business Information for Engineers and Scientists – Register
Tue April 15, 1:00 – 2:00 pm, 14N-132
Contact: Howard Silver, hsilver@mit.edu

This session will introduce engineers and scientists to business information resources that will help you understand the commercial potential for your ideas, how to find partners, and sources for financial support. We will use realistic examples and hands-on exercises with key resources to demonstrate how to match your ideas and discoveries with the opportunities and realities of the marketplace.

Overview of Citation Analysis – Register
Tue April 15, 2:30 – 4:30 pm, 66-144
Time: 2:30-4:30 pm
Contact: Randi Shapiro, shapiror@mit.edu

Whose articles cite a body of work? Is this a high impact journal? How might others assess my scholarly impact? Citation analysis is one of the primary methods used to answer these questions.

Academics, publishers, and funders often study the patterns of citations in the academic literature in order to explore the relationships among researchers, topics, and publications, and to measure the impact of articles, journals, and individuals.

In this two-hour workshop, we will provide an overview of citation analysis, including: sources of data for citation analysis, common impact measures, and freely available software.

Attendees of the class will be eligible for an individual consultation session to explore individual projects and questions.

Presenter(s): Dr. Micah Altman, Director of Research, MIT Libraries; Sean Thomas, Program Manager for Scholarly Repository Services, MIT Libraries

Please register for this class.

Endnote Basics – Register
Wed April 16, 5:00 – 6:00 pm, 14N-132
Contact: Anita Perkins, perkins@mit.edu

EndNote is a “personal bibliographic software” package which allows you to create and manage a database of bibliographic references. Learn how to find and use information more effectively in our hands-on workshop.

Please register for this class.

NIH Public Access Compliance Hands-on Working Session – Register
Thu April 24, 1:00-2:00 pm, 14N-132
Contact: Courtney Crummett, crummett@mit.edu

Missing a PMCID? Can’t figure out why a paper isn’t in compliance? Lost in the NIH manuscript system? Join us for a problem solving session.

This session is designed to provide an opportunity for hands on problem solving in the systems that need to be navigated in the process of submitting and authorizing manuscripts and reporting progress on NIH Funded Grants (eRA Commons; NIHMS, and MyNCBI). Please bring your NIH compliance problems to this session to work through together. Registration encouraged.

Patent searching fundamentals
Thu April 24, 5:00 – 6:00 pm, 14N-132 – Register
Or
Fri April 25, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, 14N-132 – Register
Contact: Anita Perkins, perkins@mit.edu and Anne Graham, grahama@mit.edu

You won’t come out of this session qualified to be a patent attorney, but you will be able to successfully find patent references from all over the world, and know how to find patent text and diagrams. This will be a hands-on session that will help de-mystify the patent literature and show key resources for finding patents through free resources available on the web.

Going beyond Google Scholar: Using the Web of Science and Other Citation Searching Resources to Discover Articles
Mon April 28, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, 14N-132
Contact: Michael M Noga, mnoga@mit.edu

Do you usually look for articles by searching keywords and authors? Try tracking ideas back and forth through time by searching citations to and from articles, reports and other scholarly literature. Citation searching started with the Science Citation Index (Web of Science) and now is part of several other information sources such as Scopus, e-journal collections, and Google Scholar. We will look at several places where you can find scholarly literature through citations and the different results you can get.

Collect and Create Your Own Geographic Data – Register
Mon April 28, 2:00 – 4:00 pm, 14N-132
Contact: Jennie Murack, murack@mit.edu

Can’t find the data you need online? No problem! In this workshop we’ll learn how to collect data in the field using GPS units and phone apps and then use it in GIS software. We’ll also explore georeferencing scanned maps, drawing new data layers (like roads or rivers), and mapping points from a spreadsheet based on coordinates or addresses. Prerequisite: A basic knowledge of GIS and ArcGIS software

New Exhibit: Thanks for the memory: 50+ years of computing at MIT

By on March 12, 2014
Jay Forrester with Whirlwind staff and computer

Photograph of Jay Forrester with Whirlwind staff and computer, Barta Building, MIT campus

MIT’s wide-ranging impact on computer science is the focus of an exhibit that has just opened in the Libraries’ Maihaugen Gallery. From Project Whirlwind to Project Athena, MIT’s numerous contributions to the science of computing have affected society in ways no one could have imagined a century ago – though we take most of those developments for granted today.

Since World War II researchers at MIT have pushed computers to work faster, and more efficiently. They’ve explored applications for industry and government, and found ways to incorporate computers into research and teaching. This exhibit highlights some of the projects and research that have contributed to the development of computer theory, applications, software and hardware. The exhibit also celebrates the recent 50th anniversary of Project MAC – a project in which collaborative interdepartmental experimentation and research focused on time-sharing, human-computer interfaces, and interactive modeling.

The Maihaugen Gallery (14N-130) is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, except for Institute holidays and special events. The exhibit will run through July 2014.

Composer Keeril Makan – Thursday, April 3

By on March 10, 2014

Composer forum series: Keeril Makan

keeril_smLetting 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.

Next open mic in the Lewis Music Library – March 7

By on February 21, 2014
piano

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 intro to the Beethoven quartets – March 6

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jupiter_quartet_smOpen-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.