Brian Greene is the head of our department. Patrons can be directed to Brian for any major policy concerns or if they request to speak to a manager or higher up.
Data and Technology:
James Lee is the person to check with if someone is looking for library data or statistics. He is the one who evaluates our ref analytics data and makes changes to topics and other aspects.
Resource Sharing:
Molly Dupere is the head of Resource Sharing and is the point person for any issues regarding ILL.
Pamela Diaz is the Lending Coordinator and handles the lending side of Interlibrary loan, the materials we send to other schools. She is also the supervisor for Resource Sharing Assistants.
Jonathan Cazeau is the Borrowing Coordinator and handles borrowing materials from other libraries for Interlibrary loan.
Collections:
Erin Beach is in charge of reserve materials and Leganto (online reserves lists and links), as well as being our contact person for fines and fees, replacing materials, and any problems with Alma or SOS.
Ashley Pierce is the Collections Coordinator and supervisor of Stacks Assistants. She is in charge of the stacks and annex materials.
Services:
Steph Barnaby is the IDEAS Librarian. She supervises the evening team and is the point person for service problems or questions that arise during after-hour services.
Katie Donnelly is the Evenings Coordinator and supervisor for leads. She is also in charge of supplies at the desks.
Jeanine Bell is the Access Point Coordinator and supervises students working at the Access Point. They are the contact for any library account questions or problems.
Alex DeLeon is the Help & Information Coordinator and supervisor of H&I Assistants. She is also the contact for BLC cards and issues.
All the customer-facing positions report to their supervisor as well as whoever is supervising the desk at the time they are working. Any student worker, regardless of position, can check with the supervisor at the desk (whether full time staff or a student supervisor) for direction and assistance. If the desk supervisor gives you different directions than your direct supervisor, follow their instructions but check in with your direct supervisor later. Please check with your direct supervisor for things like scheduling, timesheets, etc.
Part-Time Supervisors: These are experienced student employees who have been trained to act as staff when we cannot be there. They can take care of alarms, patron concerns, and more advanced issues. When part-time supervisors are on duty, they are the person you should go to for help with patrons, questions about tasks, and notify them when taking a break. Student supervisors authority should be respected the same way you respect full time staff members.
Leads: Leads are experienced students who are trained at both service desks and can help answer questions from student employees about either service desk. They can handle intermediate questions labout BLC cards, proxy borrowers, and more advanced research questions. They also help train new students at both service points.
Help and Information Assistants: They help patrons with circulating materials, lost & found, and room bookings. They help patrons with how to search for materials and basic reference questions. Assistants also assist with circulating course reserves and complete tasks as needed.
Access Point Proctors: They monitor the entrance and exit gates, assisting patrons with directional questions, signing in guests, and watching for access violations like piggybacking.
Resource Sharing Assistants & Leads: They work behind the scenes processing the materials that we lend to other libraries, as well as those that we borrow from other libraries on behalf of our patrons.
Stacks Assistants: Stacks students work in the lower-level stacks, shelf reading and keeping our collections organized. They process books for the holds shelf and can also assist patrons with finding books in the lower-level.
The library staff that you'll be working most closely with (and reporting to) are in the IDEAS department, but Snell Library actually employs about 80 staff members who do a variety of different jobs. The complete staff directory is searchable by department.
Archives
The Northeastern Archives and Special Collections are located in the basement of Snell library. They are the home for all of the university archives, like dissertations, as well as a number of special collections documenting local history. The Archives and Special Collections are open by appointment only from Monday through Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm. Questions for the archive can be transferred directly to the Archives queue in LibAnswers, or patrons may be given their contact information: archives@northeastern.edu / (617) 373-2465
DMC Studios
The DMC recording studios are A/V creation spaces available to students, faculty, and staff, located on the library’s second floor. Recording studio staff are available Monday to Friday, 9 AM - 7:45 PM. Questions for the studios can be transferred directly to the DMC Studios queue in LibAnswers, or patrons may be given their contact information: Dmc-studios@northeastern.edu / (617) 373-2351
Research Data Services
Research Data Services offers help and support for data-driven research projects. Their website lists a breakdown of the kinds of work they do, as well as some handy guides they've built for frequently asked questions. They can be reached at library-RDS@northeastern.edu
Digital Scholarship Group
The DSG supports the full life-cycle of digital scholarship, from initial planning to long-term curation. One of the many services they offer is the Digital Repository Service, a digital archive of over 70,000 items primarily created by members of the Northeastern community, like faculty research and dissertations.
Research and Instruction
R&I does the work you're most likely to think of when you imagine a typical "librarian." They offer teaching and learning support for faculty who want a librarian to come into their classrooms, and they offer one-on-one consults for patrons looking for individualized research help. Our librarians are specialists in a variety of subjects and maintain a huge list of subject-specific research guides and tutorials to help you wherever you are in the research process.
And that's not all! There are even more staff who do the important jobs behind the scenes of maintaining the library's technology and things like metadata and e-resource management, though you're unlikely to get questions for any of them. As you can see, it takes a huge group of people to keep the library running smoothly!
A summary of a research article that appears at the beginning of the document. Reading the abstract may help you decide if you want to read the full article.
A note, comment, or explanation. Can be added to citations to create annotated bibliographies.
A geographic information system (GIS) software developed by Esri. ArcGIS enables you to analyze, visualize, and interpret spatial data for better decision-making.
Written content on a narrow subject and published in a periodical or website. In some contexts, academics may use article as a shortened form of journal article.
A detailed list of resources cited in an article, book, or other publication. Also called a List of References.
A group of libraries in New England that work together to share resources with students, faculty, and staff of member libraries. Northeastern University is a member of this group. Requesting a consortium library card is free to Northeastern students.
A free library available to people who work, live or attend school in Massachusetts. Boston Public Library's collection includes physical and digital access to books, journals, and films.
A label of letters and/or numbers that tell you where the resource can be found in the library. Call numbers are displayed on print books and physical resources and correspond with a topic or subject area.
A list of all the items in a library's physical collection. Modern catalogs are searchable databases. Catalogs include information about the item's:
Also called a catalogue, OPAC. Historically a card catalog.
Software that can help you collect, organize, and cite sources. The library provides training on five specific citation managers: BibTeX, EndNote, Mendeley, RefWorks, and Zotero. Also called citation management software, citation management tool or reference manager.
Physical materials assigned by an instructor and held at the library. These materials are generally restricted to in-building use for a limited period. At faculty discretion, some materials may be checked out overnight or for a few days.
A searchable collection of similar items. Library databases include resources for research. Examples include: a newspaper database, such as Access World News, or a humanities scholarly journal database, such as JSTOR.
A searchable online storage space for video files, images, and documents. Specialized digital repositories collect materials related to a theme or institution.
Northeastern University Library manages the Digital Repository Service (DRS). The DRS collects digital material related to Northeastern University's history and academic work.
The conversion of print or analog material to a digital format. Examples of digitization include:
A paper written to fulfill requirements for a degree containing original research on a narrow topic. Also called a thesis.
A unique number assigned to some digital content. DOIs do not change even if the online location or ownership of the resource changes.
A digital version of a thesis or dissertation produced by a master's or Ph.D. student. Most theses and dissertations written by Northeastern University students are ETDs. Interested researchers can find Northeastern ETDs in the Digital Repository Service. Theses and dissertations written before 2007 are only available in print format in the Northeastern University Archives.
A broad category of research in which existing research is reviewed to clarify what is known. Evidence synthesis uses explicit and reproducible methods. Common types of evidence synthesis include systematic reviews, scoping reviews, integrative reviews, and umbrella reviews.
A computer-based means of storing, analyzing, and displaying geographic data. Researchers use Geographic Information Systems to create maps and charts.
A way of examining and interpreting data about geographic locations, or spatial data. Geospatial analysis examines spatial data to gain insights and identify patterns or trends. Also called geospacial analysis.
A government document shared to inform and start discussion about proposed policy.
Research or reports circulated outside of a traditional publication process. Types of grey literature include:
Also called gray literature.
The system Northeastern’s library uses for interlibrary loan requests. The first time you request materials, you’ll need to set up your account.
A library service that allows you to request resources your library does not have. At Northeastern University, this service is free. Materials are delivered electronically when possible.
A unique number used to identify books. Many databases and search engines allow you to search for a book using an ISBN.
An ongoing publication focused on current developments in a field. Journal issues are released on a regular schedule.
A unit of Northeastern’s library with responsibility for services or systems. Some departments are referred to by their acronyms:
A search setting that removes search results based on source attributes. Limiters vary by database but often include publication date, material type, and language. Also called: filter or facet.
Notes, comments, annotations, sketches, added to the margins of a text. These can be typed or hand-written. Marginalia can include headers, footnotes, and sidenotes. In some cases, marginalia are written by the author of a text, but is often notes made by a reader.
Information associated with a resource, usually organized in a specific way. The word metadata means "data about data".
Metadata varies but often includes title, creator, and format. Descriptive metadata makes it possible to find and identify resources in a collection. When the metadata in a collection is standardized, the predefined structure is called a metadata schema.
Research or data available for free. Open access resources are sometimes labeled with an unlocked padlock symbol. These resources often have permissive licenses that support re-use and sharing.
What is Open Access?
Words used to connect multiple search terms to bring back targeted results. Operators can be used to reduce or expand the number of search results. Operators include:
Also called: Boolean Operator.
Well-regarded review process used by some academic journals. Relevant experts review articles for quality and originality before publication. Articles reviewed using this process are called peer reviewed articles. Less often, these articles are called refereed articles.
A newspaper, magazine or journal that is published on a regular schedule.
A free and open-source Geographic Information System (GIS) application. This tool set enables you to capture, analyze, visualize, and share geographic data. QGIS is a Mac-friendly alternative to ArcGIS.
Data defined by a grid of equally sized cells, akin to pixels.
To transfer information from one format to another. Example: Scanning a paper newspaper to create an online or PDF version. Reformatting includes digitization.
A webpage or pages created by librarians to guide your research in a field or course. Research guides include links to resources, tutorials, and other information.
The removal of a published article from a journal. A journal’s editors or editorial board can decide to retract an article when it has serious errors. Errors that can result in retraction include:
A book or article written by academic researchers and published by an academic press or journal. Scholarly sources contain original research and commentary.
Common filetype (.shp) for points, lines, or polygons. This filetype is widely used in Geographic Information Systems, specifically ArcGIS. Various free shapefiles are available online.
A library database that searches a broad range of resources. Material in Scholar OneSearch includes:
Scholar OneSearch also includes information about material held at Northeastern’s libraries. Researchers can use ScholarOne Search to organize their research and manage borrowed items. To best serve Northeastern University's widespread community, ScholarOne Search has different views:
Appropriate views for each global campus are included on their Global Campus Portal.
Information tied to specific geographic locations or positions on the Earth's surface. Also known as “geospatial data”, GeoData, or spacial data.
Library staff who have expertise in an academic subject. A subject librarian can offer advice on:
Subject librarians are available to work with individuals and small groups. They create guides and tutorials and teach workshops.
A source focused on sharing news and information of interest to an industry. Trade publications are often published by industry associations. Periodicals related to an industry are called trade journals.
An unrepeated string of numbers and letters used to recognize and differentiate material. Also called an identification number. Examples include American citizen's’ social security numbers or published books' ISBNs. A persistent identifier (PID) is a long-lasting type of unique identifier. Persistent identifiers allow you to locate a resource with a URL. Examples include electronic articles' Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) and digital materials' handles.
The precise address for a webpage. URL stands for the words uniform resource locator.
A spatial model using coordinates for representing points, lines, and polygons.
A concise, researched report about a complex issue. Readers should gain enough understanding to solve a related problem or make a choice.
An article or conference proposal draft shared to invite feedback.