June 17, 2011 by news
Brigham Young University and the American Society of Papyrologists have invited scholars to a Papyrological Summer Institute with the goal of teaching how to read and use papyri. To support the institute, The Harold B. Lee Library has collected a number of ancient documents ranging from papyri to ostraca (potsherds) and metal foil that will be on public display during July. The exhibition will also feature the multispectral imaging device that revolutionized the study of papyri.
The multispectral imaging system allowed scholars to read text that had been overwritten by later writers as well as look at texts on damaged pages.
Regular photography shows the latest writing on this document.
The multispectral image reveals earlier writing on the same papyrus.
The exhibition, Documents from the Ancient World, is located on level 3 of the library. It is open during all library hours and admission is free. It is part of the library’s ongoing celebration of the 50 year anniversary of the library’s building.
You can learn more about papyri at the following links:
Papyrus Expert Q & A
What’s New in Papyrology Blog
Herculaneum Uncovered-PBS
CPART
June 16, 2011 by news
The inventor and early aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont (1873-1932) wrote about the unnatural invention of the wheel. In his book My Air Ships he imagines how people who had grown up surrounded by nature would understand how they could carry things, and how animals could carry burdens. Both people and animals have legs and backs so that makes sense. They would understand how things could float, like a fish or a duck, so boats would make sense to them. But there is nothing in nature for us to copy that would give us the wheel, and yet the wheel was invented and is used the world over. Santos- Dumont went on to create other methods of transportation that were not natural, powered balloons and even some of the earliest fixed wing airplanes.
A century later his inventiveness is a good example for modern times. Many of us understand that when you go to school its natural to read books and write papers. Today, we’ve added electronic resources and search engines to our list of research tools, and rather than write or even type papers we enter them on keyboards and submit them via e-mail. Here at the library we invite you to go one step father, we offer you the tools to create more than research papers. With the applications and equipment available to students in the Media Lab on level 4 you can make digital presentations and even your own movies. It may not feel like the natural thing to do for a class, and you should certainly check with your professors and instructors to see if they are open to such things, but school is a time to try new things. You should also prepare way in advance just in case things go wrong, because, well, things always go wrong (really, have you notes ready to write a paper if your loose your video files). If you don’t know how to make a movie then stop in and sign up for a few classes. We have people who can teach you some basics.
Its all free for students, naturally.
June 15, 2011 by news
Tomorrow, June 16, you can learn how to use Adobe Dreamweaver. All you need to do is register and you will be welcome in the Media Lab. The Media Lab is inside the library’s Media Center at the south end of level 4 of the library. That is one floor up from the floor where you enter the building. To learn more about classes offered in the Media Lab please click here.
June 14, 2011 by news
It can be tough to find something in the library. When you are just starting out you may not even be sure what you are supposed to be looking for. Your research efforts may feel more like a fishing expedition than a well planned scholarly project. Try as we might to make things easy, there are so many ways to look at things and name things that it can take a little work to find what you need. To be fair, the internet with meta searching services and all of the digital collections we provide access to only add to the difficulty. Keywords that you think would be an easy thing to search with might take you into a variety of disciplines with materials separated by several floors in the building or lead you to web sites that are useless for your research.
For example, if you are searching for information on the term “fish eye” the computer doesn’t know if you are looking for information on fish that swim or if you are looking for information on photography. Perhaps you are into classic films and you want to know more about a cinematography technique or a prop in a movie.
Or you might even be looking for a gilded book cover.
If you are having trouble with searches we always invite you to talk to a librarian, or if it is late at night and the library is closed (or if you are just sitting someplace comfortable and you don’t want to walk over to the library) we suggest you try one of our research tutorials. The advanced research tutorial is a good place to start. Good luck, and good fishing.
June 13, 2011 by news
On Thursday, July 7 the library will be hosting a Library Service Fair. From 10:00 am until 2:00 pm you can walk through level 3 of the library and learn about library services. If you think you know everything we can do for you in the library you might just be surprised at other services we offer. We hope you will stop by, learn something new about us, and maybe enjoy a cookie.
June 10, 2011 by news
Okay, we know that a lot of people start their research on Google. Its easy and its fast. It is also a great way to learn search terms that you can plug into more scholarly search systems. We have another suggestion for starting your research. Try our list of background resources. They are easy to use and, bonus, if you find something you want to site in your paper your professor won’t dock you for using fluff sources.
June 9, 2011 by news
The Harold B. Lee Library has millions of books and photographs. There are rows of journals and periodicals. There are rooms filled with recordings and music scores. But we know that none of that matters when you are looking for one simple thing. That is why we work hard to provide you with strong search tools, and even better, we have people ready to help you. All you need to do is ask.
We have librarians who specialize in huge things such as business and economics. The are librarians for geography and life sciences. And there are librarians and curators who can help you find a very small drawing of a very small mouse if that is the thing you need.
This image by Beatrix Potter is on display in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections on level 1 of the library. You can learn more about the exhibit by clicking here.
June 8, 2011 by news
The library has added a new database to our collections. Recently we subscribed to the SMART Imagebase. SMART is short for Scientific & Medical Art. This is a great resource for visual tools to help you learn or teach complex concepts. You can find SMART in our list of databases.
For a quick look you might check out the Brain Zoom.
June 7, 2011 by news
Have you ever wondered what goes on in the library during devotional? It is one of those tricky questions because you are always at devotional so you can’t see what you might be missing. (Okay, the question is the college equivalent of looking around to see if anyone has their eyes open during a prayer.) Just to put your mind at rest, here is what happens. At about a quarter to 11:00 the library closes its service desks so that our staff can go to the devotional. That’s it. Nothing happens. The library building is open and there are still security guards on duty so no one is going to run out the door with arm loads of periodicals and government documents. But that is all there is to it. The most interesting thing happening on campus on Tuesdays at 11:00 is the devotional or forum. We think it is a great opportunity for everyone to learn something new and we hope you take advantage of it. See you there.
June 6, 2011 by news
The library has a growing string of videos, from the Scholar Lee videos, the the viral New Spice video and the more recent Jimmer videos. There is a good reason for the videos. We need to teach a wide group of patrons about some very specialized services. For example, for years our librarians have worked to promote the scholarly databases and journals that we provide. The range of topics is as wide as the range of majors on campus. If we promote Engineering resources the people in Theater Arts won’t be interested. If we promote Asian databases people in the field of accounting won’t be interested. But our multimedia team came up with a way to promote the concept of reliable resources to everyone. Our goal is to make everyone aware that we can provide the service they need, when the need it.
You can view most of our videos at www.youtube.com/user/hbllproduction
FYI: The promotional videos are only a small portion of the multimedia team’s duties. They spend most of their time recording events and lectures.
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