2008 Annual Report - Northeastern University Libraries

Table of Contents 

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4 

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10 

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20 

24 

Meet The Dean 

Highlights 

Programs and Events 

Student Spotlight 

Collections and Digital Management 

Invest in Us! 

Thank You, Library Supporters 

Staff Recognition 

Our Mission 

The Northeastern University Libraries support the mission of the 

University by working in partnership with the University community 

to develop and disseminate new scholarship. The Library fosters 

intellectual and professional growth, enriches the research, teaching, 

and learning environment, and promotes the effective use of 

knowledge by managing and delivering information resources and 

services to library users.

Meet the Dean 

How do we make our library the very 

best match for Northeastern’s needs? 

That is what we are constantly striving for, 

whether in terms of exceptional services, 

rich collections, or attractive learning 

and study space. Planning to make this 

happen is not easy, especially in a large 

and complex organization like a university. 

So it is especially rewarding to see the 

hard work of the Northeastern University 

Libraries’ long-term planning and execution 

coming to such rewarding fruition over the 

last twelve months. This was the mid-year 

of the Library’s three-year Strategic Plan, 

but it was also the first year in which the 

Library, along with the Colleges of the 

University, has been working to realize 

the new Academic Plan that articulates 

Northeastern’s bold new mission. The 

Library’s ever-energetic and dedicated 

staff members are helping to make the 

Academic Plan a reality. 

Our Strategic Plan called for: 

-A greater engagement with the needs of 

faculty and researchers 

-A practical recognition that digital media 

are now central to the knowledge creation 

process 

-Enhancements to our users’ access to 

digital information 

-A new commitment to fundraising to 

enable innovative projects beyond the limits 

of the University budget 

-The adoption of a culture of assessment 

to ensure that our programs are effective 

So what do we have to show for a year’s 

work? The roll call is impressive… 

Our Research and Instruction Librarians 

have reached out ever more effectively 

to faculty, working with them to deliver 

an unprecedented volume of information 

literacy instruction and research 

consultations. Programs like the immensely 

successful Meet the Author series have 

engaged faculty, staff, and students in 

record numbers. 

Our newly launched Digital Media Design 

Studio (DMDS) has gone from strength to 

strength since its opening in 2007. The 

staff there manages a dizzying array of 

projects and student/faculty initiatives while 

expanding their technical facilities. 

Our Technical Services staff has meanwhile 

taken giant strides to complete the project 

of transferring onto the open shelves for 

general consumption the vast collection of 

media materials (including CDs and DVDs) 

previously closed up in the former Media 

Center. 

Meanwhile, cross-campus planning is 

now fully underway for a major conversion 

of the Library’s second floor, to create a 

highly innovative, high-tech Interdisciplinary 

Center for Creative Practices. 

Yet more key materials were added to the 

Library’s collection of digital resources. 

Pride of place must go to the acquisition, 

at long last, of Web of Science, the hugely 

expensive digital citation database which 

is a prerequisite for advanced research 

across all the disciplines. Generous funding 

from the Provost’s Office made possible 

the purchase of a current subscription 

and a healthy back file (and we hope to 

increase that back file further). Additionally, 

the Library continued in earnest to fulfill 

a pledge to serve users both on and off 

campus, by extending the proportion of its 

journal and book collection now available 

online. The data showing how much more 

heavily these resources are being used do 

not lie. 

Fundraising, from generous donors 

and from grant writing, has been a key 

activity this year and continues to enable 

impressive new projects such as the 

digitization of the Freedom House photo 

collection and the enlargement of the 

DMDS. And again, as you can read in the 

report, we have been fortunate to receive 

some wonderful and rich gifts of book 

collections from faculty and friends to 

complement existing resources. Of course, 

further progress in all these areas remains 

hugely dependent on the philanthropy 

of the Library’s Supporters and Friends, 

whose generosity enables so much more 

to be accomplished. You can find out more 

about supporting the Library at www.lib. 

neu.edu/giving. 

Of course, it has not been all “wine and 

roses” this year. The Library was saddened 

by the sudden death and unexpected 

loss of our long-serving and steadfast 

colleague Donna Tusia. And we still 

struggle to project our best plans into the 

University’s bright future in circumstances 

where our budgets never quite match 

up to expectations, especially when the 

continuing inflation in information costs 

refuses to subside. But as the quality and 

expectations of incoming students and 

faculty members rise, so do our efforts to 

meet their needs. The new plan we will 

soon start working on for the next cycle 

will have plenty of challenges to address, 

but with a tireless staff and every indication 

of continuing support from our users, the 

University Libraries will certainly be up to 

those challenges. 

Sincerely 

Will Wakeling 

Dean of Libraries 

3

Highlights 

2008 At A Glance: 

1,441,103 visitors to Snell Library 

1,372,366 visits to website 

123,359 items circulated 

1,433,284 catalog searches 

58 collections archived totaling 22 

cubic feet 

11,034 articles scanned and 

distributed to other libraries 

21,915 items lent to other libraries 

651 objects added to the University’s 

Institutional Repository (IRis) 

17 programs held with partners 

across campus 

Measuring Student Learning 

Northeastern University Libraries partnered 

with the Advanced Writing in the Disciplines 

(AWD) program of the English Department 

to study the ways students use library 

resources to identify and access scholarly 

information. Results from this assessment 

will guide both a refinement of library 

instruction sessions and an evaluation of 

effective purchasing of library resources. 

This project was funded by the Provost’s 

Office. Research and Instruction Librarians 

Christine Oka and Jamie Dendy, along 

with David Kellogg, Director of the AWD 

program, presented initial findings at 

the 9th International Writing Across the 

Curriculum Conference. 

Freedom House Collection 

The Massachusetts Board of Library 

Commissioners, through a grant from the 

Federal Institute of Museum and Library 

Services, awarded the Archives and 

Special Collections Department $20,336 

to digitize and make available on the Web 

2,265 photographs and negatives dating 

from 1950-1975 from the Freedom House 

collection. In 1949, Freedom House was 

established by African American social 

workers Muriel S. and Otto P. Snowden 

to centralize community activism in the 

fight for neighborhood improvement, 

good schools, and harmony among racial, 

ethnic, and religious groups in Roxbury. 

The photographs include images of a host 

of well-known figures such as Rev. Martin 

Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, and 

Jacqueline Kennedy. This project continues 

the Library’s dedication to preserving and 

making accessible the history of Boston's 

African American community. 

Rapid Scanning and 

E-Delivery to Users 

In response to ever-increasing volume, the 

Library’s Resource Sharing unit purchased 

a state-of-the-art, large-format, flatbed 

scanner, which accommodates the 

scanning of oversized bound journals. We 

can now deliver all articles electronically to 

users and the turn-around time on requests 

is now approximately one business day. 

Making Materials More 

Accessible to Library Users 

The Print and Non-Print Management 

departments continued to update and 

improve the information in the Library’s 

catalog, making it easier for users to locate 

Library materials. A major accomplishment 

of this past year was reclassifying audio 

and video materials so that these items 

are now shelved in the main stacks and 

thus more readily browsable according 

to subject area. Other projects included 

the cataloging of 451 art titles from the 

collection bequeathed to the Library last 

year by John and Susan Juhasz, and the 

completion of cataloging a visual music 

collection. 

Analysis of Collections 

Librarians participated in a major 

collections analysis project to assess 

the strengths and weaknesses of the 

Library’s collections across all disciplines. 

The results will help librarians continue to 

order the most relevant and appropriate 

materials. 

Strategic Assessment Plan 

The Library embarked on an evidencebased 

assessment planning process. The 

goal of assessment is to discover what 

our users want and to develop methods 

to continuously improve our services 

and operations to meet user needs. The 

assessment plan and its findings provide 

data that help to optimize how the Library 

establishes, maintains, promotes, and 

evaluates our services to support the 

academic programs of the University. 

Digital Media Design Studio 

The Northeastern community discovered 

the new Digital Media Design Studio 

(DMDS) through multiple tours, two 

open houses, and twelve multi-media 

workshops. The Studio has buzzed with 

course preparation, class assignments, 

and independent projects since its debut. 

Above, left to right: 

Muriel and Otto 

Snowden, founders of 

Freedom House 

Grad Student Maria 

Babyak '09 working in 

the DMDS 

Art professor Sara 

Doris at the Cynthia 

Baron Meet the 

Author event 

4 

5


The fundamental goals of Northeastern 

University Libraries’ Meet the Author 

program are to engage our community 

and explore important issues that 

foster thought and discussion, and 

to contribute to the intellectual 

and cultural fabric of Northeastern 

University. 

6 

Meet the Author Series 

Aaron Schatz 

Aaron Schatz, editor-in-chief of 

FootballOutsiders.com, kicked off the Meet 

the Author series for the year. Football 

fans enjoyed an opportunity to hear inside 

information from the author of Pro Football 

Prospectus 2007: The Essential Guide 

to the 2007 Pro Football Season. Cosponsored 

with the NU Resident Student 

Association and the NU Bookstore. 

August 15, 2007. 

Marcus Rediker 

Marcus Rediker, professor of history at 

the University of Pittsburgh and social 

justice activist, spoke about his book, 

The Slave Ship: a Human History. The 

book traces the slave ship’s historical 

arc from its role as a glorified investment 

opportunity to that of an abolitionist symbol 

of torture. In reconstructing the histories of 

slaves, sailors, and captains, Dr. Rediker 

demonstrated that the lessons from 250 

years ago about torture for profit still 

apply today. Co-sponsored with the NU 

Department of African American Studies, 

the NU Department of History, and the NU 

Bookstore. October 10, 2007. 

Michael Gates Gill 

A top-ranking ad executive who lost his job 

and was left by his family, Michael Gates 

Gill discussed his memoir How Starbucks 

Saved My Life. Gill spoke to an impressed 

audience about the corporate culture and 

business model of Starbucks, and how the 

company turned his life around. 

Co-sponsored with the NU Bookstore. 

October 19, 2007. 

Stewart O’Nan 

Stewart O’Nan may be known to Boston 

sports fans primarily as co-author, with 

Stephen King, of the New York Times 

bestseller Faithful, chronicling a recent Red 

Sox baseball season, however, O’Nan is 

also the award-winning author of In The 

Walled City and Snow Angels. He visited 

Snell Library to discuss and read from 

his new novel, Last Night at the Lobster. 


November 7, 2007. 

Manisha Thakor 

Personal finance expert Manisha Thakor 

shared tips from On My Own Two Feet, her 

finance guide for women co-authored with 

Sharon Kedar. Discussion topics included 

how to avoid falling into credit card debt, 

how to budget and save one’s income, and 

how to deal with large purchases such as 

cars and homes. Co-sponsored with the 

NU College of Business Administration and 

the NU Bookstore. November 8, 2007. 

Charles Enderlin 

Charles Enderlin, a veteran journalist and 

expert on Israeli-Palestinian relations, 

discussed his recent work, The Lost 

Years, which draws upon his firsthand 

experience within the political arena of the 

Middle East in order to challenge decisions 

leaders have made over the past decade. 

The book examines political calculations 

and military doctrines and chronicles 

the resulting events including the war in 

Iraq, the withdrawal from Gaza, and the 

electoral victory of Hamas. Co-sponsored 

with the NU Bookstore and the NU Middle 

East Center for Peace, Culture and 

Development. January 17, 2008. 

Jonathan Schell 

Best-selling political writer and journalist 

Jonathan Schell spoke about his latest 

work, The Seventh Decade: The New 

Shape of Nuclear Danger. Schell warned 

that unless the United States leads 

the world in nuclear disarmament, an 

unavoidable increase in proliferation of 

global trafficking in nuclear weapons 

will ensue. This event was broadcast 

on C-SPAN’s Book TV Channel. Cosponsored 

with the NU Philosophy 

and Religion Department and the NU 

Bookstore. January 31, 2008. 

Geraldine Brooks 

Pulitzer Prize–winner Geraldine Brooks 

engaged a rapt full house at Snell Library 

with a discussion of her writings and a 

reading from her latest novel, People of 

the Book, which focuses on the mythical 

and historical trajectory of the Sarajevo 

Haggadah, a rare illuminated religious text. 

A recording of this Meet the Author event 

was featured on YouTube’s education 

Marvelous talk, blending recent and distant history 

and literature, truly fascinating insights in the work 

and the world! - Attendee of the Geraldine Brooks Meet The Author event 

channel (www.youtube.com/Northeastern) 

and as a result has been seen by ten 

thousand viewers beyond Snell Library. 

Co-sponsored with the NU International 

Student & Scholar Institute (ISSI) and the 

NU Bookstore. February 12, 2008. 

Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein 

A lucky audience enjoyed the comedic 

stylings of these former Harvard philosophy 

majors, authors of Aristotle and an 

Aardvark Go to Washington: Understanding 

Political Doublespeak through Philosophy 

and Jokes. Cathcart and Klein shared jokes 

as well as philosophical paradigms that 

diagnose and remedy rhetorical double 

speak on both sides of the political aisle. 


February 20, 2008. 


Author Geraldine Brooks 

Author Marcus Rediker 

autographing event poster 

Fall '07 Graphic Design 

Co-op Terese Simons, 

author Michael Gates Gill, 

and Fall '07 Events and 

Marketing Co-op Gabriela 

Swider 

7



continued 

Steven Goldman, Joe Sheehan, and 

Marc Normandin 

Once again, NU sports fans had a chance 

to pick the brains of the masters of the 

inside track when several authors of 

Baseball Prospectus 2008 came to town. 

They discussed player performance 

projections, broke down all the stats, and 

shared anecdotes from their personal 

experiences at major league ballparks. 

Co-sponsored with the NU Student 

Government Association and the NU 

Bookstore. March 12, 2008. 

Beth Helms 

Winner of the 2003 Iowa Short Fiction 

Award, author Beth Helms drew from her 

childhood experiences living abroad in the 

Middle East to write her novel Dervishes, 

the story of a mother and daughter living in 

Ankara, Turkey, as the wife and child of an 

American diplomat. Co-sponsored with the 

ISSI and the NU Bookstore. 

March 18, 2008. 

8 

Cynthia Baron 

Cynthia Baron, Associate Director 

of Northeastern’s Digital Media and 

Multimedia Studies program and author of 

Adobe Photoshop Forensics, fascinated 

the crowd as she described how new 

technologies enabled the creation of 

altered images used for advertising, 

political propaganda, and even scientific 

fraud. Co-sponsored with the NU 

Multimedia Studies Program and the NU 

Bookstore. March 26, 2008. 

Roy Harris 

A career journalist and former editor 

of The Wall Street Journal, Roy Harris 

presented a history of the Pulitzer Prize 

for Public Service Journalism from his 

book, Pulitzer’s Gold. He selected several 

interesting examples of Pulitzer Prize– 

winning reporting and shared the inside 

stories behind them, such as the Boston 

Globe’s 2001 investigation of the Catholic 

Church clergy scandal. Co-sponsored with 

the NU Bookstore and the NU School of 

Journalism. April 17, 2008. 

Latin America through 

Jewish Eyes 

Northeastern University Libraries hosted a 

night of Jewish Latino culture in the Curry 

Student Center ballroom. Participating in the 

event were NU professors Stephen Sadow, 

Alan West-Durán, Maria Isabel Meirelles, 

NU student Katelyn Wittliff, and Alicia 

Borinsky from Boston University. The event 

featured examples of work by Jewish Latino 

artists and writers, including a slideshow of 

paintings, samples of instrumental and vocal 

music, and readings of prose and poems. 

The event was co-sponsored with the NU 

Latino/a Center, the NU Jewish Studies 

program, and the NU Bookstore. 

November 14, 2007. 

Very interesting. Another layer to what students have 

learned in class. - Attendee of the Roy Harris Meet The Author event 

Bringing Human Rights Home 

The Library hosted a panel discussion on 

the anthology Bringing Human Rights Home, 

which provides a history of the struggle 

for human rights in the United States and 

describes how we have either promoted 

or subverted human rights at home and 

abroad. The work also offers insight into 

the current political climate and describes 

how the human rights model is transforming 

domestic social justice work today. The 

panel was organized by Northeastern 

University Law professor Martha Davis (also 

a panelist), was moderated by Maria Green 

of Brandeis University, and featured Cathy 

Albisa, the Executive Director of the National 

Economic and Social Rights Initiative, 

Eric Tars of the National Law Center on 

Homelessness & Poverty, and Wendy 

Pollack of the Sargent Shriver National 

Center on Poverty Law. Attendees found the 

event to be informative and galvanizing. It 

encouraged dialogue and motivated them to 

learn more about human rights in the United 

States. The panel was co-sponsored with 

the NU School of Law Library (NUSL), the 

NUSL Program on Human Rights and the 

Global Economy, and the NU Bookstore. 

April 3, 2008. 

FOCUS Forum - From 

Homicide to Hope: A 

Community Approach to 

Reducing Youth Violence 

The Northeastern community gathered for 

a panel discussion about Boston’s youth 

violence reduction initiatives. The panel 

consisted of NU professor Jack Levin, 

co-director of the Brudnick Center on 

Violence and Conflict; NU student Alex 

Alvanos, co-founder of the student group 

Social Change Through Peace Games; and 

Emmanuel Tikili, Director of Programs for 

the Boston TenPoint Coalition. Professor 

Levin spoke broadly about trends in youth 

and gang violence, and Alvanos and Tikili 

described their programs’ impact in the 

community. All panelists encouraged 

the attendees to get involved in the 

community. At the end, some audience 

members contributed their own stories 

and experiences, and stressed the 

necessity of continuing efforts. The event 

was co-sponsored with the NU Center of 

Community Service. May 22, 2008. 


Attendee at the 

Geraldine Brooks 

event 

Author Roy Harris 

autographing a book 

after his event 

Beth Helms speaking 

at her Meet The 

Author event 

9

Highlights 

Student Spotlight 

Work Studies 

Students, whether part-timers, work 

studies, or co-ops, are an integral 

part of the Library’s work force and, 

as can be seen in the pieces below, 

experiential learning abounds in the 

Library. Northeastern’s mission is to 

educate students for a life of fulfillment 

and accomplishment and to create and 

translate knowledge to meet global and 

societal needs. The Library supports this 

mission by anticipating, providing for, and 

fostering the effective use of information 

resources. The Library directly contributes 

to student education in the professional 

sense as well. 

Diane Perez, Class of 2010 

Diane began working at the Library as a 

freshman in September 2005. Currently, 

she works in the Library’s administrative 

office. 

“The Library’s like my second home. 

Because I commute, I spend a lot of 

time in the Library. I probably know 

it better than most students. The 

Library’s a cool place to be.” 

Diane is a Human Services major. She 

interned for Planned Parenthood for her 

first co-op. Diane feels that her work in the 

administrative office has dovetailed nicely 

with her major: 

“When people call or stop by the 

office, I find the appropriate help for 

them and direct them to the right 

people. My work experience has been 

pretty valuable—it’s taught me time 

management on projects, and I’ve 

gotten really good at Excel. In my 

co-op, I really liked doing community 

outreach. I like being behind the 

scenes, keeping things running—like I 

do at the Library.” 

TJ LaManna, Class of 2009 

TJ, a Theatre and Philosophy double major, 

started working at the Library the summer 

after his sophomore year. TJ began by 

shelving and shifting books, trying to keep 

the Library organized so that people can 

find what they’re looking for. TJ has also 

worked at the circulation desk and is trying 

to learn as many skills as possible—he’ll 

stop by the reference desk to learn more 

about the types of questions being asked 

and the Library’s available resources. TJ is 

even considering working full-time at the 

Library after he graduates in December 

2008. 

“I had an interest in working in 

Circulation; I wanted to know more— 

the more I knew, the more I could do.” 

TJ has always loved reading and books— 

he particularly likes science fiction, but 

also goes through the New York Times 

Book Review every few weeks and selects 

something to read from there. 

“The beneficial part of working at 

the Library is really knowing how the 

Library works—it saves me a lot of 

time. I really understand where all 

the resources are and how to access 

them to get the information I need. I’m 

curious and I want to learn more.” 

Zach Benevento, Class of 2010 

Zach, a Computer Science major, began 

working at the Library in January of 2007, 

as a co-op with the Systems office where 

he designed and built the Library wiki, an 

online communication tool for Library staff. 

He tested different content management 

systems, coordinated with the wiki 

committee, installed the wiki, and trained 

Library staff. When his co-op ended, Zach 

stayed on at the Library and continued to 

improve the wiki by troubleshooting and 

fine-tuning it. 

“I liked the atmosphere of the 

Library—it was more personal and 

quiet. The atmosphere appealed to me, 

versus working at a large company. It 

was more laid-back, like me. Everyone 

gets along well, and it’s a good place 

to work.” 

“I had taken programming classes 

before I started working here, but I 

didn’t have much experience with 

PHP, which is what the wiki software 

is. I spent a lot of time reading the 

code, so that when problems came 

up I could easily fix most of them. In 

leading training sessions with Library 

staff I definitely became more aware 

of ways to explain technical things to a 

non-technical audience. I like problem 

solving, math, and logic. When 

solving a good programming problem, 

you see the results. Now, most of 

what I do with the wiki is technical 

support. Now that I’ve worked at 

the Library, I actually have a much 

greater appreciation for it—I know the 

collection and how to find things. That 

knowledge of where to get resources 

has helped me with my classes.” 


Work study student 

Zach Benevento '10 

Work study student 

Diane Perez '10 

Work study student TJ 

LaManna '09 

I had an interest in working in Circulation; I wanted to 

know more — the more I knew, the more I could do. 

- TJ LaManna 

I definitely became more aware of ways to explain 

technical things to a non-technical audience. 

- Zach Benevento 

10 11

Collections and 

Digital Management 

A Sampling of New Online 

Resources: 

American Chemical Society Journal 

Legacy Archive 

American Physiological Society Journal 

Legacy Content 

Duke Mathematical Journal Archive 

Empire Online 

Nanotechnology Electronic Book 

Collection from Elsevier 

Encyclopaedia Judaica 

Ovid Doody’s Core Nursing E-Book 

Collection 

Political Reference Suite from 

Congressional Quarterly 

Teacher’s Research Core Collection of 

electronic books from NetLibrary 

Times of London for the years 1785-1985 

Web of Science 

World Development Indicators 

Enhancing the Digital 

Collections 

Web of Science 

This year brought the web version of the 

Web of Science database to the Library. 

Web of Science is often recognized as 

being the premier journal citation analysis 

tool. It aggregates citation data for 

approximately 8,700 of the world’s most 

high-impact journals across all disciplines. 

The subscription to Web of Science brings 

together the Science Citation Index, the 

Social Sciences Citation Index, and the 

Arts & Humanities Citation Index. The 

research power of Web of Science lies in 

its ability to search forward in time to track 

the genesis and evolution of any specific 

article or author’s idea. A researcher can 

see how many times an article has been 

cited since its publication, find items which 

share cited references, and search all cited 

authors. 

Smithsonian Global Sound 

This year the Library acquired the 

Smithsonian Global Sound collection 

from the Alexander Street Press. The 

collection grew out of the vision and work 

of Folkways Records founder Moses 

Asch, who released more than 2,000 

albums between 1948 and 1986, including 

those by American folk legends such as 

Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, 

and many others. The database offers 

extensive streaming music and sound files 

that are fully searchable by country, culture, 

genre, or even instrument. The collection 

includes folk, bluegrass, blues, Broadway, 

children’s, classical, jazz, and world music. 

ARTstor 

The Library recently acquired access to 

ARTstor, which is a growing repository 

of 750,000 digital images accompanied 

by presentation tools for classroom 

teaching and management tools for 

creating personalized image collections. 

ARTstor images can be used for lectures, 

classroom handouts, course reserves, and 

student presentations. ARTstor consists 

of images from the Library of Congress, 

the Peabody Museum at Harvard, the 

Mellon International Dunhuang Archive, the 

Schlesinger History of Women in America 

Collection, the National Anthropological 

Archives of Native American Art and 

Culture, the Smithsonian Institution, and 

more. 

Digitization Project 

This year marked the beginning of the 

Library’s participation in the joint Boston 

Library Consortium (BLC) and Open 

Content Alliance digitization project. As 

a partner, Northeastern has sent more 

than 400 of its older (out of copyright and 

pre-1923) books to a new scanning center 

located at the Boston Public Library for 

digitization. These works, many of them 

from the Library’s rich engineering and 

historical collections, are now available 

as word-searchable high resolution 

reproductions via the Internet Archive 

(www.archive.org/details/northeastern). 

Works such as American Railroad Bridges 

(1889) and Battles of the British Navy 

(1852) are now available to anyone with an 

Internet connection. Northeastern and the 

19 other BLC members have contributed 

more than 20,400 rare and unique books 

to the Internet Archive so far. 

Serenyi Collection 

This year the Library received from Peter 

Serenyi, Professor Emeritus and former 

Chair of the Department of Art and 

Architecture, a collection of rare scholarly 

works by and about the Swiss-born Le 

Corbusier (1887-1965), one of the most 

influential and visionary architects of the 

20th century. Professor Serenyi is a scholar 

of Le Corbusier and author of such works 

as Le Corbusier in Perspective. 

Warro-Edmonston Collection 

The NU Libraries are pleased to announce 

a gift of nearly one thousand books in 

the humanities, with a heavy emphasis 

on classical music, especially works on 

opera, symphonic, and chamber music, 

from Former Library Dean Edward Warro 

and Boyd Edmonston. The donation also 

included a large collection of historical and 

literary works on the Holocaust. 


Book cover of Paris 

the Beautiful, one of 

the Library's digitized 

books 

Book cover of The 

Spell of Belgium, 

one of the Library's 

digitized books 

Book cover from the 


Album cover from the 


12 13

c r e at i n g 

NU Libraries 

d i s c o v e r i n g 

Minds @ Work 

Highlights 

e x p r e s s i n g 

Snell Library is our home away from home 

- Ashley Dentler '10 

14 15

Invest in Us! 

Gifts both large and small 

go a long way: 

$100 

10 hours of student part-time employment 

$250 

5 books in the social sciences 

$500 

3 books in the sciences 

$1,000 

An author or speaker program 

$2,500 

Architectural research database 

subscription for one year 

$5,000 

Art or medical research database 

subscription for one year 

$50,000+ 

A named collection endowment 

Library Supporters 

The Northeastern University Libraries rely 

on the private support of alumni and friends 

to help meet the needs of students and 

faculty. The Library Supporters, comprising 

more than 1,000 alumni and friends, have 

made both annual and major gifts to the 

Library. Library Supporters receive library 

news and invitations to programs and are 

eligible for membership in the University’s 

recognition societies. 

The Digital Library - 

Providing Access Anywhere, Anytime 

Northeastern University Libraries forge the 

way in the digital world. On the leading 

edge of the creation of digital institutional 

repositories, we partnered with Innovative 

Interfaces, Inc. to develop the technology 

that undergirds IRis, the University’s online 

archive of scholarship, digital objects, and 

its historical record (www.lib.neu.edu/ 

libraries_and_collections/iris/). We have 

shifted approximately eighty percent of our 

journal provision to an electronic format. 

Additionally, our librarians offer online chat 

assistance and create digital learning tools 

for students. We are digitizing our archival 

collections that document social justice 

efforts in the Boston area, and materials 

from several of these collections now live in 

educational online exhibits. For examples, 

see www.lib.neu.edu/freedomhouse or 

www.lib.neu.edu/archives/voices. These 

and other ongoing initiatives expand the 

infrastructure of Northeastern’s Digital 

Library. Your investment of $1,000+ toward 

staffing, equipment, software, and servers 

will help us to achieve this vision. 

Building Our Collections - 

Digital and Print 

The Library’s collections are the 

cornerstone to teaching and learning 

across campus and are now increasingly 

available to Northeastern users anywhere 

in the world, via e-books, e-journals, 

and electronic databases. Establishing a 

collection endowment or collection fund 

in a subject area is a beautiful way to 

honor a loved one. Your investment of 

$10,000-25,000 for a named collection 

fund or $50,000+ for a named endowment 

will help the Library to continue to build an 

outstanding academic collection. 

The Boston Communities 

Collection 

The Library’s Archives and Special 

Collections department is uniquely 

dedicated to preserving the history 

of Boston’s African American, Asian 

American, Latino, and gay and lesbian 

communities. The year’s highlights 

include the records of ACT/UP (AIDS 

Coalition to Unleash Power) Boston, the 

Boston Foundation Persistent Poverty 

Project, Boston’s Chinese Progressive 

Association, the Urban League of Eastern 

Massachusetts, and Sociedad Latina. Your 

gift of $1,000+ will go toward processing 

and digitizing. A $100,000+ endowment 

will help us to expand and safeguard our 

important collections in this area. 

I graduated in 1985 and I have been a consistent 

and proud library contributor. 

- Attendee of the Cynthia Baron Meet the Author event 


Physical Therapy Major 

Peter Newman '10 

Student Laura Bariso '12 

For more information about gift planning 

or making a bequest, please contact 

Maria Carpenter 

Director, Advancement, Marketing & 

Communications 

617.373.2821 

m.carpenter@neu.edu 

16 17

Invest in Us! 

THANK YOU for your consideration. 

Gifts both large and small go a long way. 

Your gift will help each student who enters 

the Library leave more informed and 

better equipped to succeed in the future 

communities in which they will live and 

work. We at the Northeastern University 

Libraries believe in our mission to educate 

and inspire, one student at a time. 

To make a gift online please go to: 

www.lib.neu.edu/giving 

The Interdisciplinary Center 

for Creative Practices @ 

Snell Library 

Imagine visiting campus and viewing Snell 

Library from the Quad. It is pulsing with 

energy and you can see the outlines of 

great minds at work. You enter the building 

and arrive on the second floor. Teams of 

people are creating, mixing, drawing, and 

mapping data and information. Some are 

solving problems of the world, such as 

analyzing and mapping family violence, 

poverty and education, using the latest 

GIS and dataset tools. Others are creating 

award-winning digital media productions 

that combine art, image, music, and 

technology. And still others are building 

professional e-portfolios for interviews. All 

are excited to be generating ideas and 

producing work in an environment that 

fosters creativity. 

Northeastern University’s Academic 

Plan places special emphases on 

interdisciplinary scholarship, translational 

research, innovative educational methods, 

and enriching creative partnerships and 

forms of expression. To meet this exciting 

challenge, University partners are planning 

a center that will provide for new forms 

of technology-based knowledge creation 

across the disciplines, new modes of 

instruction, enhanced curricular activities, 

and new models of faculty, student, and 

industry collaboration. 

The Center will have a considerable 

impact on experiential learning, allowing 

us to create a learning laboratory, a 

physical space that invites faculty and 

students together to collaborate on 

real-world problems and design projects. 

Your investment of $10,000+ toward 

workstations, equipment, software, and 

construction will help us to realize this 

vision of converting the second floor 

of Snell Library into one of the most 

happening places on campus. Total project 

costs are estimated at $6 million. 

Digital Media Design Studio - 

Create and Inspire 

The Digital Media Design Studio is a 

collaborative and interdisciplinary learning 

environment for creating course-related 

multimedia presentations. The Studio 

provides services, technologies, and 

instructional support for recording, 

digitizing, and remixing various resources, 

thereby enabling users to create new 

digital scholarly content. Your investment 

of $1,000+ toward workstations and 

equipment will empower students to 

create inspiring new media projects, 

presentations, and working portfolios. 


The Library’s Meet the Author program 

brings together the Northeastern 

community to explore and discuss 

important issues. The program has 

featured such luminaries as Pulitzer Prize– 

winning novelist Geraldine Brooks; Ronald 

Takaki, a founder of the field of ethnic 

studies; and travel guru Arthur Frommer. 

Your investment of $100,000+ to endow 

and name the series will ensure our ability 

to bring top-notch speakers to campus. 


Keelan Maguire '10 

Students Nick 

O'Donnell '13 and 

Sagar Asodia '13 

For more information about gift planning 

or making a bequest, please contact 




617.373.2821 


18 19

Thank You, 


Library Supporters are alumni and 

friends who make an annual gift in 

support of the Northeastern University 

Libraries. Thank you for your support. 

Listed are donors who gave significant 

gifts between July 1, 2007 and 

June 30, 2008. 

Individuals 

Mr. Ahmed Abdelal 

Dr. Robert J. Berardi ’84 

Mr. W. Andrew Bowen 

Mr. Kevin L. Bradley 

Miss. Elaine K. Brown ’77 

Ms. Shirley M. Budden ’85 ’93 

Mr. Arthur M. Butler Jr. ’43 

Ms. Carol B. Caro ’73 

Ms. Maria Carpenter 

Mr. Barry A. Chin ’86 ’87 

Mr. Gordon V. Cook ’72 

Ms. Martha F. Davis 

Mr. Adriano Depina Jr. ’80 

Ms. Siobhan E. Doherty ’00 

Mr. Gregory W. Doyle ’62 ’70 

Mrs. Ann R. Dunlea ’53 

Ms. Susan Sagaloff Farzin 

Mr. James Fitzgerald ’87 

Mrs. Marilyn L. Fowler ’73 

Mr. William M. Fowler ’67 

Mr. Joseph M. Galvin ’59 ’71 

Mr. William H. Garvey III ’80 

Mr. Richard L. Gebhardt ’57 

Mr. George P. Geuras ’65 

Mrs. Mary O’Brien Geuras ’66 

Mr. Michael Ginsberg ’61 

Mr. Sean A. Godbout ’97 

Mrs. Joan R. Goshow ’68 

Mr. Arvin Grabel 

Mrs. Ruth Grabel ’65 

Dr. Kenneth R. Greenleaf ’45 

Dr. Gerald R. Griffin ’60 ’62 

Ms. Colleen M. Harrington ’73 

Mrs. Donna T. Hart ’80 

Mr. Thomas M. Hart ’72 ’77 

Dr. Joseph S. Heyman ’68 

Mr. Robert B. Jacobson ’52 

Mr. Marc Jampole 

Mrs. Anne C. Johnson 

Mr. David R. Johnson ’76 

Mr. John and Mrs. Susan Juhasz 

Mrs. Ellen Kariotis 

Dr. George S. Kariotis ’44 

Mr. John A. Keeney ’77 

Mr. Thomas A. Keim 

Miss. Katharine M. Kleinke ’69 

Mr. Walter E. Labonte ’68 ’77 

Mr. Robert S. Lang ’45 

Ms. Lucinda E. Leonard ’66 

Ms. Penny J. Lucier-Mustafa ’82 

Mr. H. Andre Mayer 

Mr. Nicholas D. Meimaris ’51 

Mr. Paul J. Merluzzi Jr. ’66 

Mr. Peter S. Miller ’67 ’69 

Ms. Lesley A. Milner 

Mr. George Moy ’62 ’64 

Mr. Gary R. Mullen ’68 

Mrs. Jacqueline Kupec Mullen ’68 

Ms. Marguerite A. Murphy ’89 

Mr. James A. Nelson ’48 

Mr. Leon L. Noyes ’53 

Mr. Patrick F. O’Donnell ’83 

Mr. George P. Patsourakos ’60 ’65 

Mr. Paul Perkovic 

Mr. Stephen Pierce ’08 

Ms. Carmen A. Pola 

Mr. Gil Press ’88 

Mrs. Jayalakshmi Ramachandran ’70 

Mr. Michael D. Rhines ’89 

Mr. Robert H. Ricciardelli ’69 

Mr. John M. Roos ’73 ’76 

Ms. Betsy M. Ross ’89 

Mr. Carlton N. Ross ’73 

Ms. Karen J. Ross ’87 ’95 

Mr. William J. Ross ’88 

Mr. Jeremiah V. Russell ’85 

Mr. Raymond T. Schmidt 

Mr. David E. Schmitt 

Mr. David F. Scott Ph.D. ’63 

Mr. Peter Serenyi 

Mrs. S. Nancy B. Simches ’81 

Mr. Stephen Skuce 

Mr. Samuel B. Solomon ’88 ’08 

Mr. Leonard E. Tagg ’70 

Mr. Douglas B. Tomb ’92 

Mr. Robert J. Tove ’71 

Mr. John A. Turchiano ’93 

Mr. James D. Turley ’66 

Mr. Robert M. Turosz ’77 

Mr. William Wakeling 

Mr. Edward A. Warro 

Mr. David C. Wilcock ’82 

Mr. Scott C. Wilson ’83 

Mr. Darryl W. and Mrs. Mariko Wong 

Organizations 

Barnes & Noble 

Boston Coalition of Black Women, Inc. 

Cambridge Eviction Free Zone 

Chinese Progressive Association 

Colleen Harrington Acupuncture 

Community Resources for Justice 

ExxonMobil Corporation 

Grants Management Associates 

Justice George Lewis Ruffin Society 

Massachusetts Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus 

Millipore Corporation 

New York Times 

ProQuest 

Schwab Fund Charitable Giving 

Snell Construction Corporation 

United South End Settlements 

Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts 

Verizon 

YMCA of Greater Boston 


Student David Zager '12 

Student Yiru Cociani '13 

Physical Therapy Major 

Ashley Dentler '10 

20 21

Thank You, 


To make a gift online please go to: 

www.lib.neu.edu/giving 

Donations 

The Library received donated books and 

other materials, which totaled $300,000. 

The Department of Archives and Special 

Collections acquired the records of many 

local social justice organizations, such as 

the Cambridge Eviction Free Zone, the 

Chinese Progressive Association, and the 

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. In 

addition, Professor Peter Serenyi donated 

a significant number of items from his 

personal collection, including rare Le 

Corbusier titles. 

The Library continues to partner with Better 

World Books, an organization that collects 

and distributes Library discards. This year 

the Library received $4,200 through this 

program while providing resources to 

aid Books for Africa, the primary literacy 

organization we support. 

Library Endowments 

The following endowments were 

established by generous donors. In 2008, 

these funds generated $89,562. 

Nicola J. Barletta Book Fund 

For Civil Engineering collections 

F. Gregg Bemis Fund 

For acquisition of books in the Humanities 

Bowditch Endowment Fund 

For Canadiana collections 

Class of ’92 Snell Periodicals Fund 

For periodicals 

Paul E. Crocker Fund 

For collections 

Calvin S. Cronan Library 

Endowment Fund 

For Chemical Engineering collections 

Davis Educational 

Endowment Library Fund 

For English and American Literature 

collections 

Loren Downs Endowment Book Fund 


F. Andre Favat Memorial Fund 

For collections of Children’s Literature and 

curriculum resources 

Morris Goodman Book Fund 

For Business and Economics collections 

Haney Family Endowed Book Fund 


Hawley Endowment Fund 

For the purchase of books in the Humanities 

Library Books Alumni Fund 


Library Materials Fund 


Library Projects Endowment Fund 

For the support of general and 

technological improvements to the quality 

of the Library’s facilities, services, and 

environment 

Miscellaneous Library Endowment Fund 

Unrestricted 

NU Memorial Endowment Fund 

For books and other materials 

John and Esther Perkins Book Fund 

For Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 

collections 

Amy and John Robbins Memorial Fund 

For acquisitions, emphasis in the Humanities 

William T. and Helen Schafer 

Book Fund 


Farnham W. and Susan W. Smith 

Endowed Book Fund 

For the purchase of Engineering books 

Janet M. Smith Endowment Fund 

For the Library’s collections in Language 

and Literature 

Thompson Endowment Fund 

For Pharmacy collections 

D. Thomas and Marie F. Trigg Fund 

For International Business collections 


Physical therapy 

students study 

Students studying on 

the second floor 

For more information about establishing 

a collection endowment please contact 




617.373.2821 


22 23


In Memoriam 

Our Library community was deeply 

saddened by the unexpected death of our 

colleague, Donna Tusia, this past spring. 

Donna, a thirty-year employee of the 

University and an eighteen-year employee 

of the Library’s Technical Services Division, 

is remembered by all for her love of the 

decorative arts, her broad sense of humor, 

and her generosity toward the needy of 

Boston. Donna was the force behind the 

Library’s annual holiday basket drive for the 

homeless and the back-to-school supplies 

collection for children at the start of each 

school year. Donna was a positive influence 

in our community and we miss her. 

A Celebration of 

Achievements 

Hillary Corbett, Assistant Head, Print 

Management, chaired Snell Library’s 

Scholarly Communications Committee, 

which hosted three brown bag lunches 

with invited speakers during the spring 

semester. Speakers included Robin 

Peek, Associate Professor of Library 

and Information Science at Simmons 

College and Open Access advocate, who 

spoke on the Open Access movement 

in scholarly publishing; Stacey Dogan, 

NU School of Law Faculty, who spoke 

on intellectual property rights and faculty 

authors; and Stuart Shieber, Professor of 

Computer Science at Harvard University, 

who discussed the recent Open Access 

mandate adopted by the Faculty of 

Arts and Sciences at Harvard, which he 

sponsored. 

Hillary Corbett, Assistant Head, Print 

Management; Amy Lewontin, Collection 

Development Librarian; and Kathy 

Herrlich and Amanda Rust, Research 

and Instruction Librarians, joined with two 

biology faculty members in co-presenting a 

poster session at Northeastern’s Research 

and Scholarship Expo. The title of their 

poster was “The NIH Public Access Policy: 

What It Means for NU Researchers.” 

Jamie Dendy and Christine Oka, 

Research & Instruction Librarians, joined 

David Kellogg, Director of Northeastern’s 

Advanced Writing for the Disciplines 

program, in presenting “Paths to 

Information: Assessing Student Use of 

Library Tools in an Advanced Writing 

in the Disciplines Program” at the 9th 

International Writing Across the Curriculum 

Conference in Austin, Texas. 

Tricia Earnshaw, Patron Services 

Assistant, Access Services, won the Kay 

Bader Scholarship from the Massachusetts 

Library Association (MLA) to attend its 

annual conference. Tricia is also pursuing 

her master’s degree in library and 

information science online through Drexel 

University. 

Brian Greene, Assistant Head of Access 

Services, chairs the American Library 

Association’s (ALA) Access Services 

Discussion Group. He planned and 

moderated discussions at ALA’s Midwinter 

and Annual conferences, for approximately 

200 attendees. He also published two 

book reviews in Library Journal, reviewing 

Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded 

Love of this World for Crucifixion and 

Empire in the May 1, 2008 issue and Jews 

and Judaism in the Middle Ages in the 

June 15, 2008 issue. 

Betsy Habich, Administrative Operations 

Manager, wrote a chapter on preservation 

aspects of “Moving Collections,” to be 

included in the forthcoming revision 

of Preservation of Library and Archival 

Materials: A Manual, and to be published 

electronically on the website of the New 

England Document Conservation Center. 

Kathy Herrlich, Research & Instruction 

Librarian, served as an advisory board 

member to Northeastern’s Women’s Studies 

Program. One aspect of her support to 

this group was to provide resources to aid 

volunteers working with earthquake trauma 

victims in China. 

Barbara Holmes, Order and Metadata 

Control Assistant, Print Management, 

led a workshop on Adobe’s Photoshop 

software for interested library staff members, 

demonstrating advanced techniques 

acquired through her work as a professional 

photographer. 


Tricia Earnshaw, 

Access Services, 

Patron Services 

Assistant 

Research and 

Instruction Librarians 

Christine Oka and 

Jamie Dendy 

Research and 

Instruction Librarian 

Amanda Rust 

24 25

Highlights 


Joan Krizack, University Archivist and 

Head, Special Collections, published an 

article entitled “Preserving the History of 

Boston’s Diversity: One University’s Efforts 

to Make Boston’s History More Inclusive” 

in the Fall 2007 issue of RBM: A Journal 

of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural 

Heritage. She also served on the editorial 

board of Provenance (Journal of the 

Society of Georgia Archivists). Joan was 

a guest-lecturer at the Simmons College 

Graduate School of Library and Information 

Science. 

Amy Lewontin, Collection Development 

Librarian, is the co-chair of the Collection 

Development Interest Group of the 

Association of College and Research 

Libraries (ACRL), New England Chapter. 

She organized and ran this group’s fall 

program, held at Northeastern, called “The 

Book: The Rumors of My Death Have Been 

Greatly Exaggerated.” 

Debra Mandel, Head, Digital Media 

Design Studio, gave a presentation entitled 

“Creating and Planning the Digital Media 

Design Studio at Northeastern University 

Libraries” at an ACRL panel during the ALA 

Midwinter conference, and at the ACRL 

New England Chapter spring conference. 

She also served on the Research Grant 

Committee for the Consortium of College 

and University Media Centers to select 

winning proposals for funding. 

Janet B. Morrow, Head, Non-Print 

Management, was awarded the 

Association of Library Collections & 

Technical Services Presidential Citation for 

her work as Editor of the Library Materials 

Price Index. 

Christine Oka, Research & Instruction 

Librarian and Library Instruction 

Coordinator, serves as an assistant 

editor for the standard reference source, 

Magazines for Libraries. She also regularly 

contributes to the quarterly e-mail service, 

“MFL Updates,” which provides an analysis 

of new periodicals. She has reviewed a 

diverse range of publications, including 

Herpetological Conservation and Biology; 

domino: the Guide to Living with Style; 

Active Living Magazine, a resource for 

athletes with disabilities; and Race/Ethnicity: 

Multidisciplinary Global Contexts. 

Debbie Pennino, Order and Metadata 

Management Specialist, served on the MLA 

Paralibrarian Executive Committee and as 

chair of the MLA Paralibrarian Recognition 

of Achievement Review Board. 

Amanda Rust, Research & Instruction 

Librarian; and Maria Carpenter, 


Communications, gave an overview 

presentation on Web 2.0 to the University 

Communications Council. 

Victoria Spain, Research & Instruction 

Librarian, presented in Kyrgyzstan 

at the 8th International Central Asia 

Library Conference in October. Her 

presentation was titled “Libraries and the 

Democratization of Society.” She also 

published an article called “Report on the 

State of Library Conditions in Uzbekistan” 

in Volume 5 of the Central Eurasian Studies 

Review. She retired from the Library at the 

end of December 2007. 

The Department of Research & 

Instruction was honored with a Breakfast 

of Champions Award by student 

members of the National Residence Hall 

Honorary Association at Northeastern 

University. The award recognized the 

Library’s excellent reference support to 

students living in residence halls. The 

student representatives expressed great 

appreciation for the personal assistance 

given to their community. The award 

was presented at a surprise lunch for the 

honorees. 


Research and 

Instruction Librarian 

Rebecca Merz assisting 

student Jessica 

Ramirez '13 at the 

Reference Desk 

Digital Media Design 

Studio Staff: Thomas 

Bary, Debra Mandel, 

and Jonathan Iannone 

Maria Carpenter, 

Director, Advancement, 

Marketing & 


26 27

www.lib.neu.edu 

Annual Report Managing Editor: Maria Carpenter 

Designed by Heather Stirling 

with assistance from Bruce Ployer and Denis Skarep 

Annual Report Committee: Maria Carpenter, Rebecca Merz, Emily Sabo, 

Michael Silva, and Heather Stirling 

Photos by Tom Kates, Craig Bailey, and members of the Programming 

and Communications Committee 

Produced by the Library Programming and Communications Committee 

Photo by Joel Haskell

2008 Annual Report - Northeastern University Libraries

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