Faculty Publication Highlight!

April 24, 2013 -

Dr. Joy Field's new book, Designing Service Processes to Unlock Value, discusses how the service process design landscape is changing, with many of the previous limitations disappearing on how and by whom services are delivered. Opportunities for new service design configurations are being supported, to a large extent, by technology-enabled innovations. Click here to read more.

Access the HathiTrust Digital Library

April 19, 2013 -

Over 3 million volumes in the public domain are now fully available through the HathiTrust. Users can access HathiTrust Digital Library with their BC username and password and download full text PDFs. Users can also create and save personal collections of HathiTrust materials on the HathiTrust site. HathiTrust is a partnership of major academic and research libraries collaborating in an extraordinary digital library initiative to preserve and provide access to the published record in digital form. BC Libraries have been a member since the fall of 2011.

24/7 Hours Begin 04/22

April 22, 2013 -

Beginning the evening of Monday April 22^nd, and continuing through the night of Monday, May 13, the O'Neill Library and Gargan Hall in the Bapst Library will be open 24 hours a day. Click here for more details about available study space.

Reading by Mikhail Shishkin

April 16, 2013 -

Boston College Libraries & the Slavic & Eastern Languages Department are hosting a reading and discussion with Mikhail Shishkin, an acclaimed Russian novelist.  The talk is on Tuesday, April 23th at 4:00pm in Thompson Room, Burns Library. For more information click here.

Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits

April 18, 2013 -

Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits is now available online as an open access journal through eScholarship@BC. Published in collaboration with the Boston College University Libraries, Studies is comprised of writings from the Seminar on Jesuit Spirituality. In the over forty years of archived volumes now accessible online to the public, authors discuss the spiritual doctrine and practice of Jesuits in great depth. This journal is among the growing number of open access publications now published through the Boston College University Libraries. Check out our complete list of Open Access Journals.

GIS Contest Winners

April 16, 2013 -

It is with great pleasure that the Boston College Libraries announce the winners of the 4th Annual Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Mapping Contest. The response this year was so strong that our University Librarian, Tom Wall, determined that dual prizes are warranted in order to recognize the work of both graduate & undergraduate students. Posters of all entries will be on display in the library so please stop by & enjoy the great work of these students. For more info on the winners, click here.

Databases on Trial

April 12, 2013 -

Check out the list of databases on trial, try them out, and let us know what you think!

Faculty Publication Highlight!

April 2, 2013 -

During the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, Laos was positioned to become a major front in the Cold War. Yet American policymakers ultimately chose to resist communism in neighboring South Vietnam instead. Two generations of historians have explained this decision by citing logistical considerations. Click here to learn more!

James Jeffrey Roche Letters Digitized

March 28, 2013 -

The Boston College University Libraries have digitized the James Jeffrey Roche Letters which are now part of the Boston College University Libraries Digital Collections. Roche (1870-1908) was an Irish born journalist who edited The Pilot, published poetry and biographies, was highly active in Boston Irish society, and served as the United States Consul in Italy and Switzerland. Click here for more information.

4th Annual GIS Contest!

March 13, 2013 -

SUBMISSION DEADLINE April 04, 2013. Students are invited to present their GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Mapping work as part of a campus-wide celebration of geospatial research at Boston College. Prizes will be awarded to the top student entries which will be displayed in the O'Neill Library Reading Room on Wednesday, April 17, 2013. Click here to read more.

Levantine Review's 2nd Issue

December 18, 2012 -

The Levantine Review's editorial team is pleased to announce the publication of this year's second issue of the journal. As BC's flagship peer-reviewed Near Eastern and Mediterranean Studies open-access e-journal, The Levantine Review publishes scholarship on contemporary Levant and larger Near East. Click here to learn more.

New Business Database

December 17, 2012 -

Morningstar Investment Research Center is a broad based research database that provides data and analysis on over 15,000 international and domestic stocks, 25,000 mutual funds and over 1500 exchange traded funds. Access is limited to one user at a time.

Holiday Hours

December 20, 2012 -

All libraries will close for the holidays starting at 5 p.m., December 21. O'Neill Library will be open 9 a.m.-5 p.m., December 26-28. All other libraries will remain closed until January 2. Online requests for services such as interlibrary loan and document delivery placed after Thursday, December 20 will be processed beginning January 2. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

New Statistical Database

December 13, 2012 -

Statista is a searchable database of statistics on a wide range of topics, including media, the environment, business and industry, sports, communication, health care and more. Data can be exported to Excel and charts can be exported as picture files or directly into PowerPoint.

Faculty Publication Highlight

December 10, 2012 -

In Epitaphs for the Journey: New, Selected and Revised Poems, Dr. Paul Mariani revisits forty years of writing poems, including revising many of his earlier lyrics, to shape his latest volume into a life lived and lived again over the past seven decades. Click here to read more.

Oxford Reference Relaunched

December 7, 2012 -

Recently relaunched with a new look and feel, Oxford Reference is the home of Oxford's quality reference publishing, bringing together over 2 million entries, many of which are illustrated, into a single cross-searchable resource. Click here to learn more.

Level 1 Reading Room Photos!

November 30, 2012 -

The Level 1 reading room in O’Neill is transformed again! There are now photographs exhibited on the walls from the University Archives at the Burns Library featuring Boston College scenes through the years in celebration of the Sesquicentennial. Click here to learn more.

24/7 Hours Begin Nov. 26th

November 27, 2012 -

Beginning tonight and continuing through the night of Wednesday, December 19, the O'Neill Library and Gargan Hall in the Bapst Library will be open 24 hours a day. Click here for more details.

Faculty Publication Highlight

November 8, 2012 -

As the church marks the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, too few Catholics have an adequate grasp of what the council contributed to the life of the church. Dr. Richard Gaillardetz's new book, Keys to the Council, hopes to remedy this. Click here to learn more ...

AskaLibrarian24/7 Closed 11/22

November 20, 2012 -

The "AskaLibrarian24/7" virtual Reference service is closed this Thursday, November 22nd, for Thanksgiving.

Connolly Book of Hours Digitized

November 1, 2012 -

The Connolly Book of Hours, a fifteenth century illuminated manuscript held by the John J. Burns Library, is now available online to scholars, students and admirers everywhere. Click here to learn more...

New Database

November 1, 2012 -

IBISWorld Industry Reports provide in-depth industry analysis for over 700 U.S. industries in all major U.S. industry sectors. Reports are updated regularly, and contain: key statistics, market characteristics, segmentation, industry conditions, industry performance, key competitors, key factors, and industry outlook and forecast.

Open Access Week

October 23, 2012 -

October 22-28 is International Open Access Week. This year the Boston College Libraries have collaborated in publishing three new open access journals. Faculty contributors have made hundreds of articles openly available in our eScholarship@Boston College repository. See their contributions and learn more about open access at Boston College.

Fall 2012 Undergrad Newsletter Available

October 23, 2012 -

The Libraries' semi-annual undergraduate newsletter, UGRADS@BC.LIBRARY is now available. Check it out today!

Library Instruction Services

October 16, 2012 -

The University Libraries recently launched a new web page specifically to support library instruction at Boston College. Faculty can request a library class, contact a subject specialist or discover an array of library workshops to attend. Students can get help 24/7, find out about the best resources to start a research project or sign up to attend a library workshop on citation management. Click here to learn more.

Faculty Publication

October 12, 2012 -

In Anselm of Canterbury and the Desire for the Word, Dr. Eileen C. Sweeney offers a new cumulative and comparative interpretation of Anselm's writings. She finds common concerns and patterns across his prayers, logical analysis, and Christological and Trinitarian speculation. Click here to learn more...

BC Libraries Fall Newsletter

October 1, 2012 -

Read about exciting new changes to Level One, O'Neill Library as well as the introduction of Alma, BC Libraries' new integrated library system; the Library joining the Center for Research Libraries consortium; the Elizabeth Jennings papers in Burns Library; whether eTDs should be considered prior publication; the results of a survey regarding the attitudes of BC faculty and students to e-books; The Levantine Review, a new BC open access, peer-reviewed journal. These articles & more from the Boston College Libraries Newsletter. 

Faculty Publication Highlight

October 4, 2012 -

Professor David Deese's new book, Globalization: Causes and Effects, is the culmination of an eleven volume series that defines and explains the scholarly field of International Relations. Highlighting primary scholarly accomplishments in the field, this final title frames the sub-field of "Globalization" and documents the fundamental milestones in thinking about and understanding this phenomenon. Click here to learn more.

October is Archives month!

October 2, 2012 -

October is Archives month! See what the archivists at Burns Library have been up to lately, and what fascinating new collections are now available to researchers, by clicking here.

Advertise Your Campus Event

September 28, 2012 -

Flat screen monitors located in the main lobby and adjacent to the level 1 entrance of O’Neill Library provide the ideal spot to publicize a campus event. Many faculty, staff, students and visitors enter the O’Neill Library each day and these highly visible locations will catch the eye of your target audience. The library welcomes content from campus groups - if you are having a poster made for display around campus, send us an image, using this online form, to advertise your event in the O’Neill Library.

Faculty Publication Highlight

September 26, 2012 -

Sacred Works, directed by Professor Michael Noone, performed by Ensemble Plus Ultra. Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) is frequently ranked not only as the greatest Spanish composer of all time, but also as one of the finest composers of the so-called High Renaissance. Click here to learn more ...

New Open Access Journal Online

September 18, 2012 -

The Proceedings of the Catholic Theological Society of America are now being published online as an open access publication, in collaboration with the Boston College University Libraries. The Proceedings of the 67^th Annual Convention (2012) are available. The archival volumes are gradually being added and the Proceedings of Conventions 1-16 (1946-1961) are currently accessible under the Archives heading. Learn more about the Libraries’ open access journal publishing program.

Faculty Publication Highlight

September 14, 2012 -

Dr. Keith is the author of Of Night and Light: Stories as well as over 20 books on electronic media, as well as a memoir and three books of fiction. He is the recipient of numerous awards, among them the International Radio Television Society's Stanton Fellow Award, the Broadcast Education Association's Distinguished Scholar Award, and the University of Rhode Island's Achievement Award in the Humanities. Click here to read more ...

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day

September 19, 2012 -

Visit the Burns Library Reading Room Wednesday-Saturday this week and enjoy a special selection of books about pirates. And - as if pirate books alone are not enough - we'll also be handing out pirate treats (while they last!). Bring a friend! We look forward to seeing you!

Improved Space & Services: Summer 2012

September 12, 2012 -

O’Neill’s 1st floor was renovated this summer, 75 new seating spaces were added. There is comfortable seating, group study booths, and lots of natural light. Bookcases hold new library acquisitions. A group study room was created to foster collaboration and group learning. Click here to learn more ...

Faculty Publication Highlight

September 7, 2012 -

In May 2012, the Slavic and Eastern Languages Department in collaboration with Boston College Libraries launched a new Open Access peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal, The Levantine Review. Click here to learn more.

Addition to Bobbie Hanvey Photo Archive

September 6, 2012 -

The University Libraries are pleased to announce the addition of over 500 new photographs to the Bobbie Hanvey Photographic Archives. A slideshow of highlights is available through the Burns Library Flickr Collection. The entire set of new photos is available through the Libraries’ Digital Collections repository. Click here to learn more...

Beyond Ricci: Jesuit experiences in China

August 13, 2012 -

Jeremy Clarke, S.J., an Australian Jesuit and assistant professor of history at BC, has launched Beyond Ricci a searchable website that provides scholars and researchers access to books containing historical narratives, maps, correspondence, and musical compositions in five languages that depict life in China in early modern history, and the East-West exchanges initiated by the early Jesuit missionaries. Click here to read more.

Faculty Publication Highlight

August 7, 2012 -

Lou Imbriano's book, Winning the Customer, is all about how to maintain and grow relationships to maximize revenue. Click here to learn more.

Exhibit, O'Neill Level 3 Lobby

July 10, 2012 -

Hidden Gems: 19th Century British and American Book Illustrations: Exhibit of works by 19th century artists of the page from the O'Neill collection.

Faculty Publication Highlight

July 18, 2012 -

In her new book, Burned In: Fueling the Desire to Teach, Audrey A. Friedman discusses how almost half of new teachers leave the profession within their first year. Click here to learn more.

Holmes - New Version, Replaces Quest

June 25, 2012 -

On July 2nd the Libraries launched a new version of Holmes, the system behind the default search on the Libraries home page. The implementation of this upgraded web-based search service has replaced the Quest catalog. Click here to read more...

Extra! Extra!

June 18, 2012 -

Following a year-long digitization project, the Libraries are happy to announce that The Heights student newspaper of Boston College is now available online from the first issue in 1919 through 2010! It's browse-able, searchable, printable, save-able, and email-able. Click here to learn more.

AskaLibrarian24/7 Closed 07/04

July 3, 2012 -

The "AskaLibrarian24/7" virtual Reference service is closed this Wed., July 4th.

Level 1 Construction on 07/02

June 29, 2012 -

On Monday, July 2^nd the contractors will be cutting through the floor on Level 1. This work will be loud and the University safety officers recommend that we limit access through that level for the day. The doors on the level will remain open, however, we are asking all users, including staff, to refrain from using/working/studying on Level 1 and to use the main entrance on level 3. To read more, click here.

Faculty Publication Highlight

June 11, 2012 -

Richard A. McGowan's new book, Privatize This? Assessing the Opportunities and Costs of Privatization, asks if is it always more effective and less expensive to use taxpayer dollars to engage private companies rather than have the government run enterprises itself? Click here to learn more!

What’s Happening on O'Neill Level 1?

June 12, 2012 -

The floor is being renovated and more user space created. Blue shelves are being removed and additional bathrooms built. Vending machines and booths will remain during the renovations. Renovations should be completed by August 17. Please click here to read more about the changes.

O'Neill Ramp Closed June 18

June 12, 2012 -

The ramp that provides handicapped access to the front of O'Neill Library from the St. Mary's/parking garage side of the building will be closed on June 18 as part of the construction taking place on the O'Neill Plaza. Once construction is complete (about August 17) access to that side of the building will be restored. The main entrance to O'Neill Library will remain open and you can enter from the plaza on the Higgins/Devlin side of the building. Access through the atrium coming from Maloney Hall and/or the parking garage to Level 1 or up to the front entrance are also options. The Level 1 entrance to O'Neill is open and accessible from Mahoney Hall, the Higgins steps, or from level 5 of the parking garage.

Exhibit Honoring Thomas H. O'Connor

June 1, 2012 -

An exhibit honoring the recently deceased University Historian Thomas H. O'Connor has been set up in O'Neill Library's third floor lobby. In addition to photos from the University Archives in Burns Library, books by him from the O'Neill Library collection are on display providing examples of his achievements as a scholar.

Faculty Publication Highlight

May 22, 2012 -

Kevin Ohi begins this energetic book, Henry James and the Queerness of Style, with the proposition that to read Henry James - particularly the late texts - is to confront the queer potential of style and the traces it leaves on the literary life. In contrast to other recent critics, Ohi asserts that James’s queerness is to be found neither in the homoerotic thematics of the texts, however startlingly explicit, nor in the suggestions of same-sex desire in the author’s biography, however undeniable, but in his style. To read more about this Faculty Publication Highlight, please click here.

New OA Journal: The Levantine Review

May 16, 2012 -

The Levantine Review is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary Open Access Electronic Journal that aims to reflect on the hybrid Levantine Near East. As Boston College's flagship Middle East Studies journal, published twice a year by the Department of Slavic and Eastern Languages and Literatures and the Boston College Libraries, the Review is dedicated to a critical study of the Levant, aiming to restitute the term "Levant" as a valid historical, geographic, political, linguistic, and cultural concept, and reclaim it as a positive and legitimate parameter of identity. TO LEARN MORE, CLICK HERE.

Faculty Publication Highlight

May 8, 2012 -

Yonder Moynihan Gillihan's new book, Civic Ideology, Organization, and Law in the Rule Scrolls, discusses that over the past sixty years, several studies have demonstrated that the Dead Sea Scrolls sect was one of numerous voluntary associations that flourished in the Hellenistic-Roman age. Yet the origins of organizational and regulatory patterns that the sect shared with other associations have not been adequately explained. Drawing upon sociological studies of modern associations, this book argues that most ancient groups appropriated patterns from the state. To learn more, please click here.

The BC Libraries Newsletter

February 14, 2012 -

Read the University Librarian's updates on the latest developments in BC Libraries; the benefits from the Library joining the Center for Research Libraries this coming July; new discovery tools to help scholars learn about innovative and exciting developments in their fields; an analysis of journal policies on eligibility of their articles being deposited in eScholarship@BC; the evolving landscape of e-books; Library plans to play a leading role in supporting digital humanities; the recent digitization of the Michael Leary Letters by Burns Library. These articles and more from the Boston College Libraries Newsletter.

Food Free Zone in O'Neill Library

May 1, 2012 -

An area on the 5th floor of the O'Neill Library has been permanently designated a "Food Free Zone" in consideration for our students who have severe food allergies. The area is on the 5th floor along the wall overlooking the parking garage and is clearly marked. Thank you for your cooperation.

Letters from the Mariana Islands, 1678-1687

April 30, 2012 -

The Burns Library holds a collection of letters from Spanish missionaries to the Mariana Islands. These letters are now available digitally  for the first time. The letters were all handwritten in Spanish between 1678 and 1687 by missionaries to the Marianas. They include descriptions of the European arrivals on the islands, Spaniard and indigenous peoples’ encounters, and daily life and Jesuit missionary work, as well as reports of Jesuit deaths, ship and supply status, and requests for additional materials and/or men. The original letters are available for research in the Burns Library reading room. Click here to read more.

iPad 3 is here!

April 27, 2012 -

O’Neill Library has now added 5 iPad 3’s to the array of technology items available for loan at the Level 3 circulation desk. These devices are Wi-Fi ready, have a 64GB processor and offer faster performance, improved screen resolution and a variety of advances related to Facetime, the in-built camera and photo functionality.

Irish Artist Louis le Brocquy, 1916-2012

April 26, 2012 -

Louis le Brocquy’s  career spanned over seven decades and le Brocquy became internationally recognized as one of the foremost Irish painters of the 20th century.  The John J. Burns Library is showing examples of work by le Brocquy in the exhibit “Painter, Illustrator, and Author: Irish Art in the Twentieth Century” curated by Boston College graduate student Andrew Kuhn. To read more about Louis le Brocquy, please click here.

Information Wanted Reaches 40k Missing People

April 24, 2012 -

Michael May from the townland of Kilkeran in County Mayo is the 40,000th missing person added to the Information Wanted database. Information Wanted is an online collection of personal information (like age, hair color, port of arrival, occupation and birthplace) taken from missing persons advertisements in the Boston Pilot newspaper beginning in 1831. Boston College Libraries student workers have reached the spring of 1869 so far in their efforts to enter data gleaned from the advertisements and enable family researchers and historians to search the entries online. Click here to read more.

24/7 Hours Begin April 23

April 18, 2012 -

Beginning the evening of Monday April 23, and continuing through the night of Monday, May 14, the O'Neill Library and Gargan Hall in the Bapst Library will be open 24 hours a day.

Several non-traditional study areas will also open in O’Neill during the 24/7 period.  At 6 p.m. each day these rooms will be available for quiet study until 7 a.m. in the morning. Signs will identify each room. Click here to learn more about which areas are available.

Winners of the GIS Mapping Contest

April 17, 2012 -

It is with great pleasure that the Boston College Libraries announce the winners of the Third Annual Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Mapping Contest at Boston College. The awards will be presented by Chris Conroy, Associate University Librarian, on Wednesday, April 18th at 3:00 p.m. in the O'Neill Library reading room. Posters of all entries will be on display in the library for a week so please stop by and enjoy the great work of these students. To read more about the winners, please click here.

BC Access to the New York Times

April 13, 2012 -

You may have noticed that the New York Times has reduced its allotment of free articles at NYTimes.com from 20 down to 10 a month.  There are several ways to access Times articles via the BC Libraries, however, from the first issue in 1851 through today’s edition -- outlined in our Research Guide to Newspapers. There is also a new bookmarklet there, which allows you to quickly move from a blocked article at NYTimes.com to the fulltext via Library databases.

Faculty Publication Highlight

April 13, 2012 -

Bernini: His Life and His Rome, by Professor Franco Mormand, discusses the sculptor, architect, painter, playwright, and scenographer, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Considered by many to be the last of the great universal artistic geniuses of early modern Italy. It is perhaps not surprising that this artist who defined the Baroque should have a personal life that itself was, well, baroque. As Franco Mormando’s dazzling biography reveals, Bernini was a man driven by many passions, possessed of an explosive temper and a hearty sex drive, and he lived a life as dramatic as any of his creations. The result is a seductively readable biography, stuffed with stories and teeming with life—as wild and unforgettable as Bernini’s art. No one who has been bewitched by the Baroque should miss it. Click here to read more.

Faculty Publication Highlight

April 3, 2012 -

The new book by Professor Elizabeth Rhodes, Dressed to Kill: Death and Meaning in Zayas's Desengaños, discusses the noble wives in María de Zayas's Desengaños, who suffer terrible fates. The hallmark of Zayas's aesthetics, these characters are the central reason why her fiction has increased in popularity through the ages. Yet their stories pose an apparent contradiction between the author's pro-female rhetoric and her gusto for killing model women, then beautifying their mutilated cadavers. Dressed to Kill reconciles Zayas's Desengaños with the age in which it was written, contextualizing the book in baroque poetics, the Spanish honor code, and fifteenth-century martyr saints' lives. Click here to read more.

BC historical materials online & findable!

April 2, 2012 -

As the 150th anniversary of Boston College's founding approaches, the Libraries have made a concerted effort to make Boston College history materials available digitally. In fact, the digital resources are being added so quickly, it can be difficult to keep up. Fortunately, there's a guide for that. The Sesquicentennial Digital Library tab of the University Archives LibGuide is frequently updated with links to Boston College historical materials online. Click here to read more.

Gov. Documents Collection to Move

March 30, 2012 -

In preparation for the renovations to O'Neill Library's Level 1 the bulk of the print collection of U.S. Federal documents that were housed on that floor on compact shelving will move to closed shelving within the O'Neill Library. Many of our government documents are now available electronically, with links in Quest and Holmes. Click here to read more.

Latest Undergraduate Newsletter

March 27, 2012 -

The Libraries' semi-annual undergraduate newsletter, UGRADS@BC.LIBRARY, is now available. Check it out today!

Sacred Heart Review

March 26, 2012 -

The Sacred Heart Review was a newspaper published in Cambridge and Boston between 1888-1918. Not merely a church bulletin, the Review contained sections dealing with local, national, and international news, and had a nation-wide subscriber base. It is important for its reporting of the Catholic Church in general and the Church in New England in particular; its pieces that explicate and defend Catholicism; and its advertisements. The entire 60-volume run has now been digitized and is available online in the public domain. The online version was made possible, in part, by the John and Ruth Galvin Endowed Fund for the Boston Collection at the John J. Burns Library. Available at http://newspapers.bc.edu.

Sage Reference Trial

March 23, 2012 -

Try out more than 350 encyclopedias and handbooks covering African American Studies, Anthropology, Business & Management, Communication & Media, Counseling & Psychotherapy, Economics, Education, Environment, History, Politics, Psychology, Research Methods, Science, Philosophy, Theology, Social Work, Sociology and more. Trial runs until June 30th. Sage Reference can be found here.

Faculty Publication Highlight

March 19, 2012 -

Professor Lawrence Scott's new book, Fragments of Fullerenes and Carbon Nanotubes, brings together international experts in the field to discuss their findings related to all aspects of this fascinating, beautiful and fairly recently discovered form of carbon. Familiarly known as “buckyballs”, fullerenes, and the related carbon nanotubes, hold out the tantalizing possibility of offering true superconductivity, with the potential to allow us to more efficiently harness our current electricity supply and to power the photovoltaic devices that could decrease our dependence upon oil and electricity. Professor Scott serves as co-editor of this volume (and co-author of Chapter 9), along with his colleague, Professor Marina Petrukhina (University of Albany).This volume covers a wide range of topics including current methods of synthesis, molecular geometry, and reactivity with metals, as well as descriptions of newer members of the fullerene family of molecules and related compounds, including open geodesic polyarenes, called fullerene fragments or buckybowls.

Join UGBC in Celebrating GREEN WEEK

March 19, 2012 -

The Boston College Libraries Join UGBC and EcoPledge in Celebrating GREEN WEEK 2012!

New Green Books Display in O'Neill Library Lobby and more “Green” Displays throughout the BC Libraries

Showing of the film "Gasland" in two parts: Wed, 3/21 and Thurs, 3/22  (Both at 12 Noon) in O'Neill 211

For more information, visit BC Green Week Libguide.

Original Letter By St. Xavier at Burns

March 12, 2012 -

An original letter written by St. Francis Xavier is one of the treasures of the John J. Burns Library. A digital surrogate of the letter can now be viewed by anyone in the world with an internet connection. The letter was presented to Boston College in 1935 by the Philomatheia Club, an auxiliary organization of prominent Catholic women from greater Boston.

The letter, written to the King of Portugal on January 31, 1552, recommends several Portuguese subjects living in the Far East for recognition. A 1961 article from The Heights describes the letter’s significance and provenance.

Faculty Publication Highlight

March 5, 2012 -

In Professor Friedberg's new book, Weyl Group Multiple Dirichlet Series: Type A Combinatorial Theory, he discusses the innovative and collaborative path that led to the discoveries described in this book and their potential long-term consequences. "Weyl group multiple Dirichlet series" are generalizations of the classical Riemann zeta function, a function defined in the 19th century whose ongoing study is central in analytic number theory. Like the Riemann zeta function, the series studied here are Dirichlet series with analytic continuation and functional equations. However, Weyl group multiple Dirichlet series may be functions of several complex variables and their groups of functional equations may be arbitrary finite Weyl groups. Furthermore, their coefficients are multiplicative up to roots of unity, generalizing the notion of Euler products. This book proves foundational results about these series and develops their combinatorics.

Libraries Hours Altered for Spring Break

February 28, 2012 -

Gargan Hall will be closed to users Tuesday thru Thursday, March 6-8 to allow for an assessment of preservation needs. Bapst Library will remain open with normal access to Kresge and the Art Stacks. The Social Work Library will close completely Monday thru Wednesday, March 5-7 for HVAC work. Social Work staff will be available at temporary locations in Bapst and O’Neill or can be reached by email at swlib@bc.edu. Spring break hours for all libraries are listed here.

Faculty Publication Highlight

February 21, 2012 -

Sandra Waddock's new book, SEE Change: Making the Transition to a Sustainable Enterprise Economy, is about the myriad problems that we face and the systemic changes that are necessary for all enterprises in whatever sector and however constituted to operate within sustainable limits, to lower their ecological footprint, to enhance social equity. The authors see the seeds of economic change in new and fundamentally different forms - in entrepreneurship, networks, governance, transparency and accountability - already being planted and beginning to grow. Deep change is needed in the purposing, goals and practice of business enterprises. This book documents some of the changes that are already in progress.

Devlin Hall, Gasson Hall, & St. Mary's

February 20, 2012 -

Landscape photographer Clifton Church created memorable images of Gasson, St. Mary’s, Devlin and Bapst. His views of Gasson Hall show the clean lines and light-colored stone that are still visible after the recent restoration. The campus is shown in its early days, rising from farm land and overlooking the reservoir that once occupied the present site of Lower Campus. See the Burns Library Flickr site for early photographs of the Chestnut Hill campus.

More information about Clifton Church and the early campus is available in the Burns Library blog - Archives Diary: A new campus, Clifton Church photographs of Boston College.

Introducing WorldCat Local

February 15, 2012 -

The BC Libraries have introduced WorldCat Local, the quickest way to get a book from another library when it is not available at BC. 

Click here to read more.

The BC Libraries Newsletter

February 14, 2012 -

Learn about the University Librarian's future plans for BC Libraries; new initiatives to increase knowledge of and access to Burns special collections; how to give new life and worldwide readership to your out-of-print books for which you own the copyright; the important Burns collection of the papers of the oddly neglected novelist Pamela Frankau. These articles and more from the Boston College Libraries Newsletter.  

De Spiritualib[us] Nupciis Available Online

February 7, 2012 -

The Burns Library's earliest printed book, Jean Gerson's De Spiritualib[us] Nupciis (On Spiritual Marriage), is now available in a digital edition. The topic of this short, 80 page quarto-sized book is a commentary on one of the shortest books of the Old Testament, the Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon. This commentary is by Jean Charlier de Gerson (1363-1429), mystical theologian, university reformer, poet, man of letters, apologist for Joan of Arc, and from 1395 until his death, Chancellor of the University of Paris. Gerson spent his entire life in the service of the Church both as an educator and as a major force of the Conciliar movement.

Please click here to read more.

Faculty Publication Highlight

February 2, 2012 -

This volume brings together a group of leading international scholars to discuss how US-China-EU relations will shape the future of international politics. Arguing that these three powers will play a key role in establishing and managing a new world order, the contributors examine how a future global order is developed by the interaction of these leading actors in the international system. The book shows that the US-China-EU triangular configuration is a pivotal relationship for understanding contemporary international relations.

Popular reading expands to e-books

January 30, 2012 -

Download popular literature ranging from “Twilight” to “The Omnivore's Dilemma”. Through a new service, hosted by OverDrive, you can download e-books onto devices such as Kindles, iPads and smart phones. Our initial collection contains best sellers, top academic picks, and thousands of e-books in the public domain.  BC users can check out up to 2 titles at a time for 7, 14, or 21 days.  Access Overdrive here, or click on the "Download eBooks" link on the library homepage.

Advertise Your Campus Event

January 27, 2012 -

The new flat screen monitor located in the main lobby of O’Neill Library provides the ideal spot to publicize a campus event. Many faculty, staff, students and visitors enter the O’Neill Library each day and this highly visible location will catch the eye of your target audience. The library welcomes content from campus groups - If you are having a poster made for display around campus, send us an image, using this online form, to advertise your event in the O’Neill Library.

Civil War Letters Digitized

January 17, 2012 -

On March 1, 1862, Michael Leary wrote: "Dear Nellie, I heartily coincide with you in regard to there being enough of Bloodshed already and I do wish that them poor deluded people of the South...would see their folly and surrender...for it will be useless for them to try to hold out much longer." The Burns Library, which houses numerous of these fascinating and heartfelt letters written by a Civil War infantry soldier to his future wife, recently digitized this correspondence, and also uncovered new insights into the Leary family history, including a connection to Boston College that may explain the letters' provenance.

Faculty Publication Highlight

January 20, 2012 -

Ruth Langer offers an in-depth study of the birkat haminim, a Jewish prayer for the removal of those categories of human being who prevent the messianic redemption and the society envisioned for it. In its earliest form, the prayer cursed Christians, apostates to Christianity, sectarians, and enemies of Israel. Reconciliation between Jews and Christians today requires both communities to confront a long history of prejudice. Ruth Langer shows through the birkat haminim how the history of one liturgical text chronicled Jewish thinking about Christians over hundreds of years.

New O’Neill Library Level 2 Door Hours

January 13, 2012 -

The Level 2 door in O’Neill Library was opened on an experimental basis in September 2011. The idea was to create an inside passage way between  the CTRC and the library. Based on the usage patterns for the first semester and the hours of the ITS Hardware repair service which will move to level 2 soon, the hours for this entrance/exit will be now be 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and closed on the weekends. While we will continue to track use patterns, more changes may follow in the summer leading to Fall 2012.

Interlibrary Loan System Maintenance

January 18, 2012 -

Due to routine system maintenance, the ILLiad Interlibrary Loan System will be unavailable from 7:30 AM until 9:00 AM on Thursday, January 19^th.

All other library systems and services will be available as usual.

Faculty Publication Highlight

January 12, 2012 -

Accountability, Pragmatic Aims, and the American University frames the debates on teaching and learning accountability in Higher Education. By examining significant historic periods in Higher Education, Ana Martínez-Alemán explores the present apprehension about accountability in today’s colleges and universities.This book reveals the tensions between the democratic character of the university—qualities that may seem irreconcilable with accountability metrics—and the corporate or managerial economies of modern American universities.

Newton College Yearbooks Digitized

January 3, 2012 -

The Boston College Libraries have recently made available digital editions of all volumes of the yearbook of Newton College of the Sacred Heart. The collection can be viewed on the Internet Archive site. Read More...

Faculty Publication Highlight

January 6, 2012 -

In Immortality and the Law: The Rising Power of the American Dead, Professor Madoff reveals how the legal system is increasingly allowing wealthy people to exert control over their fortunes long after their death, creating a type of virtual immortality. But this type of immortality is not without considerable cost to the living and society at large. At the same time, American law provides the dead with no control over what happens to their bodies after death. Professor Madoff discusses a whole range of legal issues relating to the dead, providing background and context to the many ways we try to use the law to cheat death.