Van Pelt and Opie Library Blog

Open access or OA is a digital publishing model in which a work is freely available to the user. While the creator of the work retains copyright and right of attribution, the user may generally download, print, share, describe or display the work. The goal of OA is to make information freely available on a global scale in order to further exploration of existing ideas and inform the development of new ones.

In the academic world, open access means free access to research results and research data as well as free use and adaptation of educational tools and resources. This video provides an overview of open access and its importance in a real-world situation.

Want to discuss open access and how it applies at Michigan Tech? Join librarians interested in open access for an Open Access Week event in the Library Cafe area on Wednesday, October 22nd at 2:00pm. Be sure to bring your questions and thoughts to engage in a lively discussion. Or join us at Thursday’s C-cubed luncheon where we will have a table and be ready to talk about the ups and downs of open access.

Do you have an innovative idea or an innovation that you want to protect and yet promote? How do you know if someone hasn’t already developed something similar?

If you would like to learn more about intellectual property as a business tool, please join us for Protect Your Innovation, a Husky Innovate and Patent and Trademark Resource Center collaborative workshop that will be held from 5 – 7 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 9) in Library 244. We will discuss the fundamentals of intellectual property such as patents, trademarks, licensing and trade secrets, including how to initiate a prior art discovery with resources here at the Library. Register for the seminar at https://bit.ly/ProtectYourInnovation .

Our workshop will start with an introduction into the practical considerations and trade-offs involved in protecting your idea and how intellectual property protections can be used as a tool to develop your innovation. Michigan Tech’s own IP expert, Licensed Patent Agent and Associate Vice President for Research Administration Jim Baker, and local Michigan Tech Enterprise Corporation (MTEC) SmartZone CEO Dan Jamison will open up the conversation with compelling scenarios and be available for questions throughout the event. Annelise Doll and Katie Edson will provide us with an overview and hands-on search activities available at the local Patent and Trademark Resource Center offered through the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Award winning author Mary Doria Russell will be coming to Houghton for two special events centered around her recent novel The Women of the Copper Country. The Portage Lake District Library (PLDL) and the J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library (Van Pelt and Opie Library) are excited to host her for a two-part presentation series.

A formal lecture will take place on October 8 at 7 pm in the East Reading Room of the Van Pelt and Opie Library on the Michigan Tech campus. A social hour and book signing will follow the presentation. A second event, an informal book talk and book signing, will take place at the PLDL on October 9 from 6-8 pm. Refreshments will be served at both events and all are welcome to attend!

The Women of the Copper Country centers on the life of American labor activist, Annie Clements, as well as paints a broader historical portrait of the lives of local people in the midst of a turbulent labor movement and social landscape. The historical novel is startlingly relevant today and would be of great interest to the campus and local communities. Some of the research for her book was conducted with assistance from the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections. 

For more information about the events please contact Katie Edson (906) 487-1636, Lindsay Hiltunen (906) 487-3209, or Michael Stanitis (906) 482-4570. The author’s visit is made possible by a travel grant from the Friends of the Michigan Tech Library and The Women of the Copper Country Planning Committee.

Who doesn’t like reading a book deemed so dangerous it shouldn’t be read?

At the end of September every year, the American Library Association and Amnesty International partner together to host Banned Books Week. They highlight books previously and currently challenged in bans across the United States.

In the spirit that people should be able to read whatever they want, the map shows nearly 50 countries with books currently banned (or were banned in the recent past). The map shows that, unfortunately, freedom of information is still being curtailed around the world.

Here is a map and in this linked article you’ll find a brief description of each book and why it’s too dangerous to read.

Constitution Day, September 17 annually, commemorates the adoption of the US Constitution, and every year it is celebrated at Michigan Tech and in the community.  This year we celebrate the 19th Amendment, which removed restrictions due to sex from the Constitution.  The 19th reads:  The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

On September 17, 2019 we celebrate the 19th Amendment to the Constitution through the showing of the film, “Iron Jawed Angels,” which tells the tale of the last decade of the seven-decade struggle to gain voting rights for all women citizens in the US.  The film will be shown at 7:30pm in the East Reading Room of the Van Pelt and Opie Library on Michigan Tech’s campus.  The fight for women’s voting rights peaked during World War I, and the adoption of the 19th Amendment was anything but obvious.  Other hot topics at the time were discriminatory racial practices, prohibition, immigration, labor safety and rights, and industrialization.  Following the film there will be an informative discussion led by Michigan Tech Social Sciences Lecturer, Susanna D. Peters, J.D.  Please join us for this educational event.

The Constitution Day film showing is co-sponsored by the Van Pelt and Opie Library, the League of Women Voters of the Copper Country, and riseUP, recognizing the Importance of Women’s Suffrage Everywhere-Upper Peninsula, a local group organizing a year-long educational program surrounding suffrage rights and acquisition of full citizenship rights by all populations.  More information on these groups will be available at the film showing.

Enter our Book Spine Poetry Contest!

Celebrate National Poetry Month by creating your own poetry using titles of books from the library! Looking for more books? Check out the 3rd floor.

1. Grab some books (at least three)
2. Stack them up!
3. Arrange them so the titles make a poem
4. Take a photo and share it in a comment on Michigan
Tech Van Pelt and Opie Library’s FaceBook page @VanPeltAndOpieLibrary!

Developing Service Standards in the Library

Join us to learn about the library staff’s process for developing service standards, discuss opportunities to champion equity, inclusion and diversity issues and how to incorporate inclusive service values in your community at 3 p.m. Thursday (March 28) in the East Reading Room of the Library. “Leading with the Library – Diversity and Inclusion in Service,” will be presented by Library staff Erin Matas, Lindsay Hiltunen, Laurie Stark, John Schneiderhan and CDI.

L. Syd M Johnson, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Humanities and Affiliate Associate Professor, Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology discusses her new book Chimpanzee Rights: The Philosophers’ Brief, and the amicus curiae brief that lead to the book. This work intersects with animal ethics and political philosophy.

Dr. Johnson’s presentation will begin after a short business meeting at 4:45 p.m.

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Michigan Tech and the United States Patent and Trademark Office

Have you ever dreamed of owning your own business? Are you enrolled in a design course? Learn about how trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and patents play a role in starting a business and designing products.

The Van Pelt and Opie Library at Michigan Tech is hosting the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday, October 23rd.

The morning session, “Intellectual Property Basics & Local Resources”, is being held from 9:00 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. and will focus on local resources for inventors and students that can assist you in developing your product or starting a business.

The afternoon session, “Advanced Topics for Inventors”, is being held from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. and will focus on advanced topics in patents. Join Damian Porcari, Regional Director of the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional US Patent and Trademark Office and Primary Patent Examiner Jim McPherson as they speak about advanced topics in patents and how you can protect your invention.

Register for this event before October 23rd at mtu.edu/library/innovation-day or email library@mtu.edu for more information.