2.25.2015

Research Community Invited to Coffee and Donuts Forum - March 5th


The campus research community is invited to the monthly Coffee and Donuts forum from 9-11 a.m. March 5th, Feb. 5.

The schedule is as follows:
  • 9 – 11 a.m. Microforms area – 1st Floor
    Open forum to mingle. Support staff will be available to answer questions on data management planning, research computing and proposal development.

  • 10 – 11 a.m. Frank Church Room – 2nd Floor
    Ken Cornell, Associate Director of the Biomolecular Research Center (BRC)

    Ken Cornell will present an overview of the BRC and its comprehensive website. The BRC provides fee-for-service access to a variety of instrumentation, proposal development and manuscript preparation support, trainings, and networking opportunities.

    Dr. Cornell’s presentation will explain how researchers can utilize and replicate these services within their own units.
Coffee and Donuts is presented by the Research Computing Department, Albertsons Library and the Division of Research and Economic Development. The forum includes information on available resources and support services and is meant to allow faculty and students to visit with one another and administrative staff and establish a sense of community.

Additional Coffee and Donuts forums will be presented from 9-11 a.m. on April 2, and May 7. Each forum will highlight a specific topic, research area, or expertise. Agenda with details will be posted prior to each event.

Michelle Armstrong,
Scholarly Communications and Data Management Librarian

2.24.2015

FAIR USE WEEK February 23-27 (Part 2)

Yesterday we asked if you thought artist Shepard Fairey could claim “fair use” for his use of an Associated Press (AP) photograph for the basis of his art, the Obama “Hope” poster. The answer is rather complicated. Fairey’s case was settled confidentially out of court in 2011, so we’re not sure if he had to pay the AP for his use of their photo.

However, Fairey definitely lost a second case related to the issue. The artist plead guilty in 2012 to destroying and fabricating evidence during the first case. Fairey was not only fined, but he also had to serve probation and do community service (New York Times ArtsBeat
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/shephard-fairey-is-fined-and-sentenced-to-probation-in-hope-poster-case/?_r=0).

I have to think that at some point Fairey might have been aware that he was violating copyright. Learn from Fairey’s mistakes, and check with your reference librarian if you have any questions about fair use or copyright. The Center for Media and Social Impact has just released a code of best practices for fair use in the visual arts which may also be useful (
http://cmsimpact.org/fair-use/best-practices/fair-use-visual-arts).

Elizabeth Ramsey,
Reference & Instruction Librarian

2.23.2015

FAIR USE WEEK February 23-27 (Part 1)

Images from Barack Obama "Hope" poster. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia http://goo.gl/WGlEkx

On the right is the Barack Obama “Hope” poster by artist Shepard Fairey, widely used in the 2008 Obama presidential campaign. On the left is a 2006 photograph by Associated Press (AP) photographer, Manny Garcia. Fairey did not ask for permission to use the image in his artwork. He also did not pay the AP to use the image. When the Associated Press sued for compensation, Fairey went to court to seek a judgment that his poster was “fair use” of the original photograph.

According to Stanford University Libraries
(http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/), fair use is “ any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement.”

Do you think Fairey’s use of the photograph was fair use? Check in tomorrow to learn the answer!

Elizabeth Ramsey,
Reference & Instruction Librarian

2.18.2015

1964 Beatlemania Reaches the U.S.

It’s hard to believe there was ever a point in time in which the Beatles were not revered as one of the greatest musical groups of all time, well… believe it.  Pre-1964 the Beatles had already been topping music charts across the UK for two years but such was not the case within the US. They were considered by many in the US music industry to be a ridiculous fad and not worth the investment. Several times managers for the Beatles reached out to large US record companies in an attempt to get Beatles songs on US airwaves but they were quickly laughed out of the building.

A case could be made that the Beatles burgeoning success within America can be predominately attributed to news anchor Walter Cronkite. Cronkite, disenchanted with the hordes of depressing news stories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, re-ran a story documenting Beatlemania in December 1963. Although no direct correlation has been made, soon after the program was aired "She Loves You" became a radio regular.

Kennedy Airport: The Beatles wave to the thousands of screaming   teenagers after their arrival”
By January 1964 the release of their single "I Want to Hold Your Hand," had sold 1.5 million copies in the US within a few weeks of its release. The Beatles sound, which consisted of beat, rock and roll and skiffle, was something entirely new to the music industry, which up until that point had been dominated by the Elvis-driven musical style rockabilly which fused country-western, rhythm and blues and pop music.
Beatlemania had finally consumed the US and in February, 1964 John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr headed off to New York City for their first televised concert in the U.S. on the Ed Sullivan Show. Over 73 million viewers (34% of the population) tuned in making if the largest TV audience thus recorded for an American television program.

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“Introducing the Beatles”
Two days later they played their first US concert at Washington Coliseum in front of 8,000 fans. The Beatles played two more concerts in the US before heading back to Britain, one in Carnegie Hall and another in Miami, which was again broadcast live on the Ed Sullivan Show to the delight of over 70 million viewers. The Beatles went on to become what many to consider the greatest and most influential rock band in history with 21 #1 hits and 600 million albums sold worldwide.

The Beatles visit to the US marked a turning point in their careers and lead the way for other British bands, so many in fact that it was dubbed “The British Invasion.” Throughout the next year the Beatles came back to the US for a month long tour and were quickly followed by other British bands such as The Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits and The Dave Clark Five to name a few.

Fun Facts:

  • After their Ed Sullivan Show performance, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” sold another 2 million copies.
  • There were 0 crimes reported in New York City on February 9, 1964 when the Beatles performed.
  • The famous song “Yesterday,” originally had the working title “Scrambled Eggs.”
Lindsay Dwyer,
Reference & Instruction Librarian

Sources Consulted:

Cloud2013. (2014, June 29). Introducing the Beatles. Retri
eved from: https://flic.kr/p/o9w5EQ

Library of Congress. (1664). Kennedy Airport: The Beatles wave to the thousands of screaming   teenagers after their arrival. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

Loder, Kurt. "The Beatles. (Cover Story)." Time. 151.22 (1998): 144. Military & Government Collection. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

Perone, James E. Mods, Rockers, and the Music of the British Invasion. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers, 2009. Internet resource.

Sexton, Paul. "British Invasion.." Billboard. 120.38 (2008): 26. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

“The Beatles: 50 Facts for the 50th Anniversary.” Edsullivan. SOFA Entertainment, n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.




This blog post is the 10th in a series produced in coordination
with Albertsons Library’s 50th Anniversary. #BoiseStLibraryat50


2.12.2015

The 1964 Winter Olympics

The IX Winter Olympic Games took place from January 29-February 9th, 1964 in Innsbruck, Austria. 1,094 athletes competed in 34 sports. Of these athletes, 199 were women and 892 men. Things have changed - at the 2014 Winter Games, over 40% of the 2800 athletes were women! As the official name indicates, this was only the 9th occurrence of the Winter Olympic Games, and it far exceeded previous games for number of athletes (the 1960 Olympics had 665 participants) and number of spectators (over 1 million, about double the 1960 count).

The Innsbruck games ushered in the advent of serious commercialism for the Olympics, with 34 television networks and a 1-million dollar corporate sponsorship from IBM, who wrote a software program allowing results to be posted within minutes and races to be timed to the hundredth of a second. In many ways, the 1964 games were the first modern Olympics.


Photo: Mariano Mantel
Bergiselschanze ski jumping hill, which was rebuilt for the 1964 Olympics
Ironically, this huge success almost didn’t happen due to lack of snow. At the last minute the Austrian Army carried 25,000 tons of snow and 20,000 bricks of ice from a nearby mountain-top and disaster was diverted.

At the time, the United States was not the Olympic contender that it is today. Until the 1980s, the Olympics required athletes to be amateurs, a rule which was interpreted strictly to include not just participating in professional sports, but any activity related to the sport such as coaching and sponsorships. Walter Bush, manager of the U.S. Olympic hockey team in 1964, noted that this made life difficult for athletes, saying in an interview “About the only way you can plan on an American team is to be a millionaire or a bum” (“Competing in Olympics Called Too Costly”). This rule arguably gave athletes from Eastern Bloc nations, who had their living and training expenses paid for by their governments (and thus could train full-time), a strong competitive advantage. Certainly the Soviet Union cleaned up, as they had since joining the  Winter Games in 1956, but should also note that athletes who live in a very cold climate have a natural advantage.

Despite this constraint, the U.S. won 1 gold, 2 silver, and 4 bronze medals in 1964. The gold medal was won by Terry McDermott in Speed Skating (Men’s 500 Meter). In addition, McDermott set a speed-skating record with this performance, a significant victory for the U.S., who captured the title at the first winter Olympics in 1924, but lost it to Norway in 1928 and had not held it since (“Record Lost in 1936 Comes back to U.S.”).

Billy Kidd of Burlington, Vermont  won a silver for the U.S. in Slalom racing, his first and only Olympic win, though he continued to win international competitions and became a well known ski coach and author. Jean Saubert of the women’s ski team won two medals, a silver for Giant Slalom and a bronze in Slalom, making her the only U.S. athlete to medal twice at Innsbruck. Saubert did not compete again in the Olympics, and retired from the sport soon after, but was inducted to the United States National Ski Hall of Fame in 1976.

The Soviet Union was by far the winningest country in 1964, with 11 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze medals. Speed skater Lydia Skoblikova won 4 gold medals for the Soviet Union, making her the most successful athlete of the games. Upon winning the 500-meter speed skating event, Skoblikova was reported to be distraught by her time, which was 2-seconds slower than her best (“Winner's Joy Restrained”).


256px-Lidiya_Skoblikova_1967.jpg
Lydia Skoblikova in 1967, three years after
winning 4 gold medals at the 1964 Olympics

256px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-G0313-0017-001,_Ludmilla_Beloussowa,_Oleg_Protopopow.jpg
Innsbruck gold medalists Oleg Protopopov and
Ludmila Belousova of the Soviet Union

Though the Soviets were a speed skating, hockey, and skiing powerhouse, they did not win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating until the Innsbruck games. Oleg Protopov and Ludmila Belusova, a husband and wife team, won the event by a narrow margin over Germany.

Innsbruck had more than its share of calamity. Two athletes died during the games, one from a heart attack while training, the other a 19-year-old skier named Ross Milne, who crashed into a tree at 60 mph ("Milne, 19, Loses Control”). In addition to these sad events, a number of athletes were injured badly, including Prince Karim Aga Khan of Iran, who hurtled off a trail during a ski race, but was able to land safely.

There was also a requisite share of festivity, occasionally going overboard. In one such case, three members of the U.S. team were arrested after leaving a party, driving the wrong way down a one-way street, and getting into a fistfight with the Austrian police officers who stopped them. The athletes spent the night in jail, but were not sanctioned by the United States Olympic Committee ("U.S. Olympians Get Off Lightly”).

On February 9, 1964 the closing ceremonies for the Innsbruck Winter Games were held at the Ice Stadium. Journalist Robert Daley wrote of this event:
[E]ight gold-medal winners, the huge medals hanging from their necks  . . . stride to the end of the ice, and the Olympic flag, white with five interlocking rings, is lowered into their arms. A fun-gun salute booms out over the town. Outside the glass wall of the Ice Stadium . . . the Olympic flames droop sadly, and then go out. The IX Winter Olympics are over (Daley).
1964 was a very different time in many ways, but the bittersweet moments at the end don’t sound so different from today.

Sources consulted:

1964 Winter Olympics.” Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum Hall of Fame. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

1964 Innsbruck Winter Games.” SR/Olympic Sports. SportsReference.com.  Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

"Competing in Olympics Called Too Costly for U.S. Athletes." New York Times: 20. Feb 07 1964. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

Daley, Robert. "Closing Day: Pomp and Camaraderie." New York Times: 31. Feb 10 1964. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

Greene. Bob. “What Changed the Olympics ForeverCNN. 23 July 2012.  Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

"Milne, 19, Loses Control at 60 M.P.H. and Runs into Tree in Drill." New York Times: 2. Jan 26 1964. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee.  Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

"Record Lost in 1936 Comes back to U.S.." New York Times: 39. Feb 05 1964. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

"Soviet Skaters Win Gold Medal." New York Times: 32. Jan 30 1964. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

"U.S. Olympians Get Off Lightly for Clash with Austrian Police." New York Times: 16. Feb 08 1964. Web. 5 Feb. 2015 .

"Winner's Joy Restrained." New York Times: 1. Feb 02 1964. Web. 5 Feb. 2015 .

Winter Olympics Flashback: Photos From the Innsbruck Games, 1964.” Life. 2015.  Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

Ellie Dworak
Reference Librarian/Associate Professor


This blog post is the 9th in a series produced in coordination
with Albertsons Library’s 50th Anniversary. #BoiseStLibraryat50


2.11.2015

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2.03.2015

The Library's 3D Printer Service Begins!

A print designed by a student at Boise State University.

Albertsons Library is proud to announce the 3D printing service has arrived!

We are consulting with students, staff, and faculty from Boise State University on the prints that they request to be printed. 

Many are designing their own objects using Tinkercad, or Sketchup MakeWe are also hosting a workshop series to teach individuals how to get started making designs. Or you can also choose a print from Thingiverse where others have already designed objects. 

The library staff and faculty have created their own Tinkercad account with Boise State related objects

For more advanced design ideas check out our guide!

When you're ready to print, send us an email or use this form. 
Embedded image permalink
Prints waiting to be picked up at Albertsons Library

After we consult with you about your print, we will choose the right settings for your print, and then when it's ready we will send you an email, and then you can come pick it up at the Circulation Desk in the library!

We are sending out links to a live web cam so you can watch your print live! The printer is in high demand right now, but we are getting prints done! 

If you have any questions, email Amy Vecchione or Deana Brown and we are happy to help. 

Amy Vecchione, Associate Professor/Digital Access Librarian