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What's New Backfiles [January-June 2005]

June 2005

• AMICO Library is cancelled
  Effective June 30, the AMICO Library will not be available at Carnegie Mellon, and any AMICO content stored on local systems must be destroyed. If you have questions, please contact Arts Resource Specialist Amy Mans at 412-268-3511 or aperrier@andrew.cmu.edu. Image resources that are still available via the libraries include the Digital Image Database and ARTstor, to name a few (see Image Resources for Art).
  
  
• DATABASE: BuildingGreen Suite
  The BuildingGreen Suite provides full access to BuildingGreen.com, a key source of information about improving the environmental performance, and reducing the adverse impacts, of buildings. Includes articles, reviews, and news from Environmental Building News (EBN) since 1992, product listings from the GreenSpec products directory, and project case studies from the High-Performance Buildings Database.
  
  
• SPECIAL EXHIBIT: Bill of Rights
  In honor of Independence Day, one of four existing copies of the original U. S. Bill of Rights (1792) will be displayed June 22 through July 8. Closed weekends & holidays.
  
  
  
• Kamlet and NIH
  Carnegie Mellon provost Mark S. Kamlet has been appointed to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Working Group, which will monitor the impact of recent policy for open access to results of NIH-funded research. Open (free, public) access to scientific information is viewed by proponents as essential to disseminating knowledge and enabling scientific progress. In NIH policy effective May 2, 2005, if research was supported in whole or in part by NIH, researchers are asked to submit their final manuscripts to PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. A 'final manuscript' is defined as the final version accepted for journal publication, and includes all modifications from the publishing peer review process. NIH's PubMedCentral is a free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature, available on the Internet at http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/. Further information: About NIH Public Access, http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/. Kamlet speaks about open access during the University Libraries Advisory Board visit at Carnegie Mellon (October 2004), http://www.library.cmu.edu/MarkKamlet.ppt.
  
  
• 2005 Excellence Award Winners
  The University Libraries celebrated achievements of faculty and staff on June 3 at the annual Library Appreciation Picnic. Arts & Special Collections staff members Amy Mans and Andy Perlman earned the University Libraries' "Excellence in Customer Satisfaction" award. Colleagues noted frequent comments from faculty about Amy's assistance with images or Andy's work with audio reserves, and faculty supported the nomination with details of specific instances when Amy or Andy had spent extra time and effort to help them. "When people make a point of telling you how they enjoy working with staff and that they are experiencing wonderful service, then [those staff] are truly exhibiting 'excellence in satisfying their customers' and should be recognized for doing so," wrote Bella Gerlich, head of Arts and Special Collections. Photo by Jillian Chisnell.
  
  Recognized for years of service: Alice Bright (25), Donna Beck (5), Denise Troll Covey (15), Judi Pirhalla (15), Bella Gerlich (10), Jeff Hinkelman (5), Nancy Koelbler (10), Cynthia Koller (5), Ai-Chi Liu (25), Amy Mans (5), Sarah Marino (1), Matt Marsteller (5), Angel Morris (5), Melody Rayala (1), Barry Schles (1), Rashid Siddiqui (5), and Janelle Waller (5).
  

May 2005

• EXHIBIT: Beautiful books: an exhibit of fine bindings from the Posner Collection
  Artistry, craftsmanship and design to delight the mind and eye. Exhibit by Evangeline Levis, Fine Arts and Special Collections.
  
  
• University Libraries honor grads
  Twenty-six library student assistants, information assistants and other library staff who earned degrees this past year have been honored by library colleagues with gift books in their respective subject areas. Books will be displayed in the Engineering & Science Library and Hunt Library through the end of May, when they will be shelved in place in library collections for all to use. A token of appreciation from the University Libraries, gift books add to library resources in each graduate's field of interest while they also commemorate graduating employees' academic achievements and thank them for their work in the library.

April 2005

• Limited time offer!!!
  The University Libraries are planning a development campaign to raise additional money to spend in the Libraries for the benefit of Carnegie Mellon students. We want to appeal to potential donors with short slogan. Your rating of three slogans and/or one or more new slogan suggestions will make you eligible for a $25 Amazon gift certificate. CONTEST ENDS MAY 15.
  
  
• Barsh Honored by SLA
  Hunt Library's business librarian, Adele Barsh, has received the "2005 Outstanding Member Award" from the Special Libraries Association (SLA), Pittsburgh Chapter. The award cites Adele's work of several years mentoring students in the library school programs at University of Pittsburgh and Clarion University, which she has accomplished by hosting field placements, participating in career workshops, and individual consultations. In 2005, Adele was the Student Liaison to the local student chapters of SLA. In addition, the award recognizes Adele's cumulative work to create professional tools and enhance networking among librarians by directing and maintaining these projects: online Chapter discussion lists (2000-present), Current Business-Related Publications of the Pittsburgh Region (2001-present), and Online Directory of Special Libraries in Pittsburgh and Vicinity (2004-present). In 2005, Adele also consulted on the re-design into online form of the Chapter's newsletter, The Confluence (2005). Congratulations, Adele!
  

• Call for Nominations!
  Members of the Carnegie Mellon community are invited to nominate library faculty or staff for EXCELLENCE in any of the following categories: Satisfying Customers, Increased Productivity, Library Citizenship, Forwarding Instruction and Research, or Innovation. Awards will be announced at the annual Library Appreciation Party in early summer.
  
  Award Nomination (form) Nominations must be received by May 13.
  Previous Excellence Award Winners, 2000-2004 These employees are ineligible for nomination in 2005.
  Library Awards Program and Procedures
  
  
• A Network Overlay Architecture for Contextualized Digital Libraries
  WHO: Carl Lagoze, Senior Research Associate, Cornell University.
  WHEN: April 21, 3-4 p.m.
  WHERE: 501 IS Building, School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.
  
  Abstract: Recent evidence shows that Google is increasingly the primary information discovery tool for the general public and more specialized audiences such as students, researchers, and educators. In this "age of google" it is critical that digital libraries offer more than a simple "find it and access it" paradigm. The relevance of projects like the NSDL must be evaluated in this context. This talk will describe work within the NSDL on an information network overlay architecture, which is a framework for contextualizing, interrelating, and reusing information. We argue that such contextualization is critical for the utility of digital libraries for education and a variety of other purposes. Lagoze is the final speaker in the Spring 2005 Digital Libraries Colloquium series. More
  
  
• Study hours extended at Hunt before finals
  Thanks to Student Senate, Hunt Library will offer 24-hour study for five additional days before finals, April 24-April 28.
  
  
• Novak elected
  Denise Novak, head of acquisitions for the University Libraries, has been elected for a three-year term as Vice President/President-Elect/Past President of the North American Serials Interest Group, Inc. (NASIG). NASIG is an independent organization that promotes communication, information, and continuing education about serials and the broader issues of scholarly communication. Members include librarians, publishers, vendors, educators, database producers, library systems representatives and others involved in the creation, production, delivery, management, and access of serial information, the scholarly communication process, and emerging technologies. [MORE: http://www.nasig.org/]

March 2005

• Takeo Kanade Gives Papers to Carnegie Mellon
  Takeo Kanade, U.A. and Helen Whitaker University Professor, Robotics Institute, has initiated a gift to the Carnegie Mellon University Archives of his papers and memorabilia. Over time, this generous gift will fully document Kanade’s career at the university in the closely intertwined disciplines of computer science, artificial intelligence and robotics. [More: http://www.ri.cmu.edu/people/kanade_takeo_ext.html]
  
  The first installment of the Kanade gift, roughly 16 linear feet of papers, includes work that created 3D computer visioning (Origami World), Mars Rover mapping capabilities, computer-enhanced face recognition, underwater robots, autonomous driving robots and much more. Eyes twinkling, Kanade said, “Giving these files to the archives motivates me to work even harder, knowing that my notes, papers and models—those that worked and those that didn’t work so well—will be preserved as history and as a reference point for future research.”
  
  
• Can We Avoid Catastrophic Failures of Computer Networks? [PowerPoint]

Hermann Maurer (Graz University of Technology) spoke to the Digital Library Colloquium on March 24.

ABSTRACT: The number of viruses and other computer threatening software is increasing at alarming speed. Even if we act decisively (which we don't), the likelihood of a large scale and long-term failure of all computers, computer networks and information systems is high. Drawing on examples of critical digital databases and federated libraries, we see that the consequences of a serious failure are catastrophic. Such failure will not be caused by some super-hacker, but rather by a well-planned cyber-attack. Since our dependency on computers and computer networks is steadily increasing, consequences will be worse the later such a breakdown occurs! In this talk we argue why a failure is likely and what it will cause if we do not take precautions that involve technical, economical and political decisions that are fairly far-reaching.

Born in Vienna, Austria, Maurer studied mathematics and computer science at the Universities of Vienna and Calgary, and was Assistant and later Associate Professor for Computer Science at the University of Calgary 1966-1971. He then took on various positions as full professor at a number of universities, and is now at the Graz University of Technology specializing in networked multimedia systems and their applications to knowledge management, learning, digital libraries, museums, and societal implications of new developments in computers. As hobby he is writing a series of science fiction novels.

• Summer Internship Opportunity
  Conduct self-identified research in the Posner rare book collection and create an exhibit. 15 hours per week, $2,475 stipend, option for academic credit. Carnegie Mellon students only. Application deadline is April 15. * The student completes a one-semester internship of 15 hours per week spent researching and creating an exhibit in collaboration with faculty and/or librarians. * The internship, open to undergraduates and graduate students, is available as a non-credit/credit program. * Students who wish to earn academic credit must gain permission from their academic department and/or school before the internship begins. * The intern should have a faculty advisor.
  
  * Application deadline extended to April 15
  * Study Posner Collection & create exhibits
  * Paid internship
  * Carnegie Mellon students only!
  

• DATABASE: CorpTech
  CorpTech is the database that works best for researching breaking technologies and identifying newly-established high tech companies. It covers enterprises that operate in one or more of seventeen technology areas. This directory is a key resource for indentifying potential customers and competition, and is useful for business start-ups, market research, prospecting, and job searches. The individual records for more than 50,000 companies include contact information, key personnel, products, annual sales, number of employees, ownership, and type of company. The companies are public and private, primarily U.S. companies, but also include the business units of international companies that operate in the U.S.

February 2005

• DATABASE: ARTstor
  ARTstor is a digital image library containing approximately 300,000 images pertaining to art, architecture and archeology. ARTstor provides software tools that enable active use of the collections as well as the ability to save groups of images online for personal and classroom use. Collection highlights include: The Image Gallery: about 200,000 images associated with art history survey tests; The Illustrated Bartsch: about 57,000 images of Old Master European prints; The Carnegie Arts of the United States Collection: about 4,500 images of American art and architecture; The Huntington Archive of Asian Art: about 12,000 images of Asian art; The Mellon International Dunhuang Archive: high-quality digital images of the Buddhist cave grottoes in Dunhuang, China; The Museum of Modern Art Architecture and Design Collection: about 8,000 images from MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design. Content in ARTstor is made available solely for educational use. Users should familiarize themselves with permitted uses. New users may also find it helpful to review the Help documents (at www.artstor.org/help or in ARTstor at “Artstor Help” under the “Help” menu) to become more familiar with the functionality of the database. If you need further assistance in using ARTstor or have questions concerning permitted uses, contact Amy Mans, Arts Resource Specialist, aperrier@andrew.cmu.edu, 412-268-3511.
  
  
• DATABASE: FACTS.com
  FACTS.com presents the full-text of the Facts on File World News Digest since 1940, plus a live newsfeed from Reuters® and thousands of in-depth features, images, charts, and primary documents. FACTS.com is a permanent record of the essential facts of the news as reported in the major newspapers and news magazines of the U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia, and elsewhere in the world.
  
  
• DATABASE: The Times Digital Archive [1785-1985]
  Historical. Search through the complete digital edition of The Times (London), using keyword searching and hit-term highlighting to retrieve full facsimile images of either a specific article or a complete page. The entire newspaper is captured, with all articles, advertisements and illustrations/photos divided into categories to facilitate searching.
  
  
• EXHIBIT: Scheherazade's Legacy
  "Scheherazade's Legacy," coordinated by Posner Intern Mary Grace Duncan, juxtaposes selected tales from the Arabian Nights with the work of women Carnegie Mellon art students. Contemporary painting, sculpture and textiles interpret the themes of creativity, independence and cunning found in the tales -- and draw attention to women's diverse roles in Islamic cultures. The exhibit is on view Monday thru Friday, 1-4 p.m., in the Posner Center (between the Tepper School and College of Fine Arts).
  
• EXHIBIT: Music of the Spheres
  "The Music of the Spheres," examines celestial music throughout history, from Kepler to Coltrane. Music master's student Eric J. Goldman designed, developed and wrote the exhibit, drawing upon the rich, multidisciplinary resources of the Posner Memorial Collection of fine and rare books. The exhibit is on view Monday thru Friday, 1-4 p.m., in the Posner Center (between the Tepper School and College of Fine Arts).
  
• NIH Calls on Scientists to Speed Public Release of Research Publications
  National Institutes of Health press release (02/03/05).

January 2005

• DATABASE: xreferplus
  xreferplus is an online collection of fulltext encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations, with a range of subject-specific titles covering everything from art to accountancy, medicine, literature and law. Each book is also listed individually in Cameo, the library catalog.
  
  
• Google Print(TM), the Million Book Project, and Google Scholar(TM) [videorecording] [PowerPoint]
  Gloriana St. Clair gave the first lecture of the 2005 Digital Library Colloquium on January 27. She compared objectives between Google Print (a partnership among Google, Stanford, New York Public, Michigan, Oxford, and Harvard to digitize books in and out of copyright) and Carnegie Mellon's existing Million Book Project.
  
  MORE: The Digital Library Colloquium is co-hosted by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Speakers for 2005 include: Hermann Mauer (Graz University of Technology, Austria), March 24; and Carl Lagoze (Cornell University), April 21. See the University Libraries Events Calendar at my.cmu.edu for details.

• Neuhaus Receives RUSA Award
  Paul Neuhaus, Social Sciences Librarian at Carnegie Mellon, has won RUSA's 2005 Reference Services Press Award for his article, "Current Issues: Privacy and Confidentiality in Digital Reference," published in Reference & User Services Quarterly (Fall 2003). [View fulltext in WilsonSelectPlus via FirstSearch]
  
  The article was selected based on its timeliness and relevancy to current library issues, particularly in response to the privacy concerns raised by the USA PATRIOT Act. It is a primer for librarians on both the ethical and legal dimensions surrounding privacy issues affecting both library users and librarians today. The article provides a thoughtful and comprehensive examination of all the dimensions of electronic privacy, pulling together the relevant issues while promoting the establishment of guidelines and recommendations
  for service providers.The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) is a national sub-group of the American Library Association (ALA).
  
  
• Linke Elected to PALINET Board of Trustees
  Erika Linke, Associate Dean of University Libraries at Carnegie Mellon, has been elected to a three-year term on the PALINET Board of Trustees. PALINET is a cooperative membership organization of hundreds of institutions that collect, preserve and provide access to the record of humankind. These institutions include libraries, information centers, museums, archives and other similar organizations situated in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and neighboring states.

 

What's New Backfiles:

• January-June 2007
• July-December 2006
• January-June 2006
• July-December 2005
• January-June 2005
• July-December 2004
• January-June 2004
• July-December 2003
• January-June 2003