Category: Library NewsBlog

Campus Traditions and Collective Meaning-Making: Exploring Student Life and Memory Building from Michigan Tech and Beyond

In his upcoming talk, visiting scholar David Brown will discuss campus traditions and their meaning, such as Michigan Tech's Winter Carnival. The photograph features Winter Carnival Queen Candidates from 1959.
In his upcoming talk, visiting scholar David Brown will discuss campus traditions and their meaning, such as Michigan Tech’s Winter Carnival. The photograph features Winter Carnival Queen Candidates from 1959.

 

Please join us for visiting scholar David Brown at 4:00 pm on Monday, November 16 in the East Reading Room of the Van Pelt and Opie Library on the Michigan Technological University campus. This event is free of charge and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

In this presentation, Brown will discuss his dissertation research which focuses on historical accounts of student life and the ways in which those accounts can inform scholarship and teaching in the modern era. He is especially interested in collective experiences and instances where student life has taken on distinctive character and expression, such as in the case of Michigan Tech’s Winter Carnival. In addition to meaning, methodology will also be an important component of the talk. Brown will show how archival research is a valuable tool for studying college student life and provide an example of an exercise that challenges students to consider campus history and their place in it.

David Brown is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation at the University of Kentucky. Under the guidance of noted historian of higher education Dr. John Thelin, Brown’s research focuses on historical and contemporary accounts of college student life and students’ meaning-making activities during their college years. In addition to his research, he also teaches at the University of Kentucky; last year he was a recipient of one of UK’s Outstanding Teaching Awards.

Brown’s research visit and presentation are supported by a travel grant from the Friends of the Van Pelt Library. Since 1988, the Michigan Technological University Archives Travel Grant program has helped scholars advance their research by supporting travel to the manuscript collections at the Archives.

For more information, feel free to call the Michigan Tech Archives at 906-487-2505, email at copper@mtu.edu, or visit on the web athttp://www.lib.mtu.edu/mtuarchives/.

Talk To Be Rescheduled

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

Second Floor Enhancements Completed

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.

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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.

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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.

 

 

 

Library Offers “Copyright in the Classroom” Workshop

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.

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

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.

Docuseek2 Now Available

Adobe Photoshop PDF

 

Docuseek2 offers streaming access to over 750 documentaries covering a wide variety of subjects including sustainability, the environment, social issues and many more. Films from Bullfrog Films, Collective Eye Films, Icarus Films (including The Fanlight Collection and dGenerate Films), Kartemquin Films, National Film Board of Canada, Scorpion TV, Terra Nova Films and Villon Films are included in the collection. Documentaries can be watched anywhere, anytime on computers or mobile devices. Instructors may wish to look at using clips and other included tools for classroom use; use of the full documentary in the classroom is also permitted.

Email reflib@mtu.edu with any questions.

Van Pelt and Opie Library Presents Citation Searching Workshop

Discover where and how many times a work has been cited. This librarian-led workshop will cover how to search for citing publications using Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar. We will also touch on how to estimate impact factor.

Please join us on Tuesday, September 29th at 1:00pm in room 242 of the library. No registration is required. For questions contact Nora Allred at nsallred@mtu.edu or 7-3208.

Google Power Users Workshop

Image courtesy of MoneyBlogNewz, 2010
Image courtesy of MoneyBlogNewz, 2010

 

Google is a powerful search engine, but finding the most relevant information can be a challenge. Focusing on Google, Google Scholar, and Google Books, this librarian-led workshop will explore more complex searching techniques and special features that will turn you into a Google Power User.
Date: Thursday, September 24
Time: 1 to 2 p.m.
Location: Library 244
Registration is not required. Visit the library’s Workshops page for more information about this and other upcoming workshops.
For questions, contact Erin Matas at ematas@mtu.edu or 7-2419.

EndNote Workshops at the Van Pelt & Opie Library

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Learn how EndNote can help you easily create and manage bibliographic information and incorporate references into your writing. EndNote also offers a relatively easy way for faculty to upload citations into Digital Measures.

Sessions will be held on Tuesday, September 22 in Library 242:

1:00-2:15 p.m. EndNote Basic

This workshop will introduce users to creating and managing references using EndNote. No prior knowledge of EndNote is necessary. In this workshop, participants will learn how to create an EndNote Library, add and annotate full-text documents and create custom and smart groups.

2:15-3:00 p.m. EndNote Cite While You Write

Learn to incorporate your EndNote Library citations into a written MS Word document in the particular style your manuscript requires. Attendees will also learn how to locate and import specialized output styles. Attending EndNote Basic, or prior knowledge of building and managing an EndNote library, is recommended.

Additional sessions will be offered on September 30th and October 22nd, with EndNote Basic from 5:00-6:15 p.m. and EndNote Cite While You Write from 6:15-7:00 p.m. All EndNote sessions will take place in Library 242.

Michigan Tech licenses EndNote at no charge to all active students, faculty and staff. Additionally, a free version of EndNote is available for use post-graduation. Visit the library’s EndNote LibGuide to download the software and get a sneak peek at what EndNote can do for you!

Our instruction room has EN X7.4 on Windows workstations. Attendees may bring their own laptops with EN X7.4 downloaded prior to the session.

Visit the library’s Workshops page for more information about these and other upcoming workshops. Registration is not required to attend! For questions, contact Erin Matas at ematas@mtu.edu or 7-2419.

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Library Expo Winners Announced

A huge round of applause to our enthusiastic first year students, and to everyone who made the Library Expo such a great success!

Out of the 967 students who rushed through the library’s front doors last night, three students claimed larger prizes for completing the library’s various games and challenges. Winning the grand prize, Emily Lilla, took home two La-Z-Boy Lookout tickets. Elizabeth Rose took home the second place Michigan Tech hockey jersey, and Richard Yang will be enjoying a Mont Ripley Package this winter for winning third place.