Rhode Island Historical Society’s Research Library Reading Room Closure

On December 17, 2013, the Rhode Island Historical Society’s Research Library Reading Room sustained water damage from a mechanical failure. The Library will be closed until further notice. During the pending Reading Room reconstruction, reference staff will not have access to Rhode Island Vital Records, the newspaper microfilm collection, or the genealogical reference resources that are housed in the Reading Room. These collections are undamaged, but inaccessible. Unfortunately, without these collections, we are temporarily unable to answer reference questions about genealogy, family history, or newspaper articles. We will continue to provide copy and ILL copy requests from accessible collections for researchers, but please note that response time may be slower than usual. We have added a webpage of resources that you and your patrons may find helpful in your research endeavors during the time when we are closed.

The Government Shutdown and Libraries

From ALA Direct: http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/article/government-shutdown-and-libraries

RISD Library Book Sale

Books + Prints Sale 10 am – 4 pm October 12, 2013 Browse through a fascinating selection of used books and prints on display in front of 15 West (or inside the RISD library, if the weather doesn’t cooperate). Proceeds from the sale support the acquisition of new items for the library’s collection.

JSTOR JPASS

"JPASS provides individuals with personal access to a select portion of journal content on JSTOR. As a time-based, individual “library card,” it grants archival access to roughly 1,500 journals through a one-month or a one-year plan." For more information see:http://about.jstor.org/service/jpass.

Harvard Art Museums Launch Index Magazine Online

(ArtfixDaily.com) 

"The Harvard Art Museums announce the launch of the digital magazine Index, which provides a dynamic and interactive space for readers to discover a broad range of content and media produced by staff at the Harvard Art Museums and from arts-related venues around the world. Found at www.harvardartmuseums.org/index..."

Rauschenberg Research Project

The Rauschenberg Research Project provides free worldwide access to a wealth of scholarly research and documentation relating to artworks by Robert Rauschenberg in San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection.

Art.sy

Discover the world’s great art on Art.sy Richard Byrne writes: “Art.sy is a new site that has indexed thousands of works of art that you can view online. It allows you to browse for artworks according to medium, style, subject matter, movement, or region in which the art is produced. Once you’ve found an artwork that you like, Art.sy helps you find more by suggesting related works. It will serve as a nice supplement to art history and art appreciation courses.” Art.sy went live on October 8.... Free Technology for Teachers, Oct. 9; New York Times, Oct. 8

Book Installation

Massive River of 10,000 Discarded Books Rages Through Melbourne.

Fold This! Pop-up Books & Paper Engineering

"Movable books have been around for more than 700 years." Read More. See RISD's pop-up books.

Europeana

Europeana is a single access point to millions of books, paintings, films, museum objects and archival records that have been digitised throughout Europe. It is an authoritative source of information coming from European cultural and scientific institutions. On September 12, 2012 Europeana opened "up data about all 20 million of the items it holds under the CC0 rights waiver. This means that anyone can reuse the data for any purpose - whether using it to build applications to bring cultural content to new audiences in new ways, or analysing it to improve our understanding of Europe's cultural and intellectual history." For more info see: The Guardian article.

Color Blind

An interesting post on color blindness and Van Gogh on Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish.

Library Online Catalog Down for Updates on Wednesday

Update: upgrades down last night when the library was closed. Online catalog is working.

The Library online catalog will be down for updates tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb 15 from 8:30 am to 10:30 am.

Wintersession Break Hours

Sat Feb 11 10am-6pm

Sun Feb 12 Closed

Mon Feb 13 - Th Feb 16 8:30am-8pm

Fri Feb 17 8:30am-4:30pm

Sat Feb 18 Closed

Sun Feb 19 Regular Hours Resume

Made in the UK Research Guide

To accompany the new exhibition at the RISD Museum, see the Made in the UK Research Guide for links to local copies of the exhibition catalogue and additional sources on the artists included in the exhibition.

Early Journal Content on JSTOR, Free to Anyone in World

On September 6, 2011, JSTOR announced that they are making journal content in JSTOR published prior to 1923 in the United States and prior to 1870 elsewhere freely available to anyone, anywhere in the world. This “Early Journal Content” includes discourse and scholarship in the arts and humanities, economics and politics, and in mathematics and other sciences. It includes nearly 500,000 articles from more than 200 journals. This represents 6% of the content on JSTOR.

More info.

Tutorial on accessing the free content.

RISD/ATH Catalog - Unavailable on Monday June 6, 2011

The RISD Library Catalog will be unavailable ALL DAY on Monday June 6, 2011. The reason for the interruption in access is to install a new library server. Please call the Reference desk, 709-5902 for assistance.

New Hours for the Picture Collection and Materials Resource Center

Based on day and time usage statistics and your suggestions, the Picture Collection and Materials Resource Center have adjusted their hours to better serve the RISD community.

In the morning, doors will open at 10am. Evening hours will extend to 8pm.

Monday-Thursday 10am-8pm
Friday 10am-4pm
Saturday closed
Sunday 5pm-9pm

For more information contact the Picture Collection at 401 709-5938

VDM & RISD Theses revisited

RISD Library is receiving inquiries from recent RISD graduate alumni concerning the publisher VDM. For more information, see the earlier blog entry about VDM posted in April 2010.

Library privileges for graduating students

At this time of year the library receives questions about library privileges for those who are graduating.
The good news is that RISD graduates have library privileges as RISD alumni. Visit the Alumni Relations Office to pick up your alumni card. Show your card to gain entry to the RISD Library. RISD alumni must present their current RISD alumni card and register for a library account at the Circulation Desk. There is no fee to receive an alumni card or to register for a RISD alumni library account.

RISD Alumni Library privileges include:
* check out 5 RISD books for 4 weeks plus one 4-week renewal via My Record

* On-site access to RISD Library's online subscription resources (no remote, log-in access)

* Research assistance via the Reference Department

Note: RISD Alumni borrowing does not include RISD Media, Brown or Athenaeum Library privileges

RISD Alumni Relations
20 Washington Place
3rd floor, Room 319
Hours, M-F: 8:30am-4:30pm
Phone: 401-454-6379
Fax: 401-454-6802
or email Claire Robinson in Alumni Relations

Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

VDM Publishing

VDM Publishing is contacting many of our alumni about publishing their thesis.
Quoted text from a VDM email:

"Dear ___________,

I am writing on behalf of the international academic publisher, VDM Publishing House Ltd.

In the course of a research at the Library of Rhode Island School of Design, we came across a reference to your thesis on "Title of your RISD Thesis".

As we would like to make your work available to a larger audience, I am wondering if you may be interested in publishing your thesis in the form of a printed book.

Your reply including an e-mail address to which I can send an e-mail with further information in an attachment will be greatly appreciated.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Calix Furus

Acquisition Editor

VDM Publishing House Ltd.

17, Meldrum Str. | Beau-Bassin | Mauritius
Tel / Fax: +230 467-5601
c.furus(at)vdm-publishing-house.com| www.vdm-publishing-house.com

Business Registration No.: C07072290
Board of Director:Benoit Novel"


The Fleet Library at RISD does not work with this publisher. Here is a link to a discussion about the publisher on the Chronicle Forums:
http://chronicle.com
/forums/index.php/topic,45997.0.html