Van Pelt and Opie Library Blog

Month: October 2015

Talk To Be Rescheduled

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Dr. Michelle S. Johnson, a Community Historian with the Michigan Historical Center, will be presenting a talk on African American history in Michigan on Tuesday, October 27 at 4:00 p.m. at the Van Pelt and Opie Library. This photograph is courtesy of Kzoo Uncaged. See there website for a great interview with Dr. Johnson.
Dr. Michelle S. Johnson, a Community Historian with the Michigan Historical Center, will be presenting a talk on African American history in Michigan on Tuesday, October 27 at 4:00 p.m. at the Van Pelt and Opie Library. This photograph is courtesy of Kzoo Uncaged. See their website for a great interview with Dr. Johnson.

 

The talk that was to take place on Tuesday, October 27 at 4 pm has been postponed. We are trying to reschedule the talk for later this semester. Please check back or call the Michigan Tech Archives at (906) 487-2505 for more information.

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As part of the “Black Voices in the Copper Country” project, the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections will be hosting a talk by Dr. Michelle S. Johnson, a Community Historian with the Michigan Historical Center in Lansing. The talk, “Exhibits for  New Century: Researching the African American Experience in Michigan from the Copper Country to the Capital,” will explore the historical center’s Exhibits for a New Century project, which is an interpretive exhibit documenting the African American experience across the state. Johnson will also discuss the methods and meaning behind the exhibit as well as a statewide research initiative to uncover and share African American narratives in Michigan history, such as the grant-funded project taking place at the Michigan Tech Archives.  This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Johnson has executed extensive work on securing and promoting spaces where socially marginalized people express their autonomous and authentic selves. As co-founder and executive director of Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative, she collected and oversaw the collection of numerous oral histories around issues of place, community, race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality and history. Johnson served as the Freedom Trail coordinator for the State of Michigan from 2000-2008 and consults on 19th century history projects in the state and the mid-west region, especially the Underground Railroad. She researches, writes and lectures for academic and public settings on aspects of African American culture in Michigan. Her scholarship includes a community project in Loughman, Florida researching, interpreting and performing the work of Zora Neale Hurston. Named WIDR’s “most beloved DJ,” Johnson has appeared as a weekly host for Slip Back Soul for 9 years as DJ Disobedience.
This talk is made possible in part by a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

 

MHC Publicity

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Second Floor Enhancements Completed

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Due to the generosity of John (Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, 1961) and Ruanne Opie, the improvements to the Van Pelt and Opie Library’s second floor have been completed and new collaborative spaces are ready for the fall semester.

student entrance pana

Different types of moveable furniture at varying heights will enable students to find and design work spaces that best meet their needs for collaborative work. The second floor now has over 200 new seats of all different shapes, sizes and heights.

middle of wall pana

Power outlets have been added to walls, pillars, desks and chairs. These options mean that students will no longer need to leave laptops or cellphones on the ground in order to charge them, or stretch power cords from device to socket.

view from south entrance pana 1

The 3D printer, wide format printer and wide format scanner have been moved to a centralized location which can be seen in the far right corner of this image, behind the row of Macs.

view from south entrance pana 2

3 of the 5 double sided whiteboards added to the second floor. These boards are surrounded by movable chairs and tables that will providing the option for students to shape their own collaborative environment. Markers can be borrowed from the Library Service Center.

The old loft area, but with newly revealed functionalities: This redesigned space has four different styles of work space. Collaborative desktop computers that can seat up to three people per desk (seen in the foreground), a multi-user computer bar (back left) and booth style seating (back right). All 14 of the computers in the loft are accessible 24 hours per day, with an active HuskyCard.

The old loft area, but with newly revealed functionalities: This redesigned space has four different styles of work space. Collaborative desktop computers that can seat up to three people per desk (seen in the foreground), a multi-user computer bar (back left) and booth style seating (back right). All 14 of the computers in the loft are accessible 24 hours per day, with an active HuskyCard.

loft nook

Not seen in the image above, this alcove-turned-groupwork area in the loft is home to two double sided white boards and four comfortable chairs with built in power.

2nd floor lobby

Near the Rehki bridge, the lob30.by has a new couch, a charging station and two express station computers.

lib 244

Library 244 has been transformed to an innovative library instruction space that utilizes flexible technology and furniture to provide options for various pedagogical techniques in teaching information literacy and other library instruction.

 

 

 

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Library Offers “Copyright in the Classroom” Workshop

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Instructors can enhance their teaching by using copyrighted material including films/videos, art, publications, charts and graphs and more. U.S. Copyright Law, including the TEACH Act, guides classroom use including provision for Fair Use. Join us as we review the basic parameters of the legal use of copyrighted materials and familiarize you with the services available from the library when you need them.

This librarian-led workshop will be held on Tuesday, October 13th at 1:00 p.m. in room 242 of the library. No registration is necessary. For questions, please contact Nora Allred at nsallred@mtu.edu or 7-3208.

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“Copyright and Your Thesis or Dissertation,” an Upcoming Library Workshop

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Who owns the copyright to my dissertation?  When using an image from another work, do I need copyright permission? If I do, how much does it cost?  What are the benefits of making my thesis open access? Get the answers to these and other questions at the library workshop, Copyright and Your Thesis or Dissertation.

This workshop will examine the role U.S. Copyright Law plays in the thesis or dissertation writing and publishing processes. The use of copyrighted material, publishing agreements and the role of the Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech repository will be explored.  

Please join us on Tuesday, October 6 at 1:00p.m. in room 242 of the library. No registration is required. For questions, please contact Nora Allred at nsallred@mtu.edu or 487-3208.

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