Research Community: Coffee & Donuts

The campus research community is invited to the monthly Coffee and Donuts forum from 9-11 a.m. on Thursday, March 3rd in the Albertsons Library's MakerLab space. 

SCHEDULE

9 - 10 a.m. – Open forum to mingle

10 - 11 a.m. – Round table discussion

Learn About Opportunities for Early Career Research Funding

Opportunities Abound for Early Career Research Funding! The March 3rd Coffee and Donuts will feature a round table discussion facilitated by Harold Blackman, associate vice president of Research and Economic Development. The round table goal is to introduce the variety of early career funding opportunities available to new faculty, discuss strategies for preparing for and responding to solicitations, and  highlight some lessons learned. During the hour round table, research development and grant specialist staff, library personnel, and faculty will present and share:

• Share “Funding Strategies & Opportunities for New & Early Career Faculty" toolkit, including resources for funding opportunities that span the disciplines
• Provide a template for developing your individual research plan
• Provide an NSF CAREER grant “Prep Sheet” to jump start attendees for the CAREER workshop on March 18
• Lessons learned from faculty who have recently submitted on a variety of “new faculty” funding opportunities

You can also sign up for a one-on-one with the Research Computing Services Department’s programmer, system administrator, or HPC engineer to learn more about research computing tools and resources.

Drums, Drum Circles, Drum Artists, and Drum Performances

Our latest display of books, DVDs, and CDs at the Circulation desk is dedicated to things percussion. It was created by Laura Coleman and Audrey Williams of Access Services.

Want to join the beat? Check out an instrument and blend into the rhythm. The library has smaller percussion instruments, such as finger cymbals, bongos, claves, wooden blocks, triangles, and more on the 2nd floor of the library in section CRC 786.95 M469 1990z . Need help finding them?  Ask Access Services Staff at the Circulation desk.

Here are some groovy websites about and by percussionists:

Drum Circle Magazine http://drumcirclemagazine.com/

Robert Mirabal http://www.robertmirabal.com/

Arthur Hull http://villagemusiccircles.com/about-vmc/

Mickey Hart https://www.mickeyhart.net/

STOMP http://www.stomponline.com/about.html

And a couple of percussion performances:

YouTube 06 Robert Mirabal Drum Battle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD7SzeYT5W8

YouTube Epic NAMM 2014 Drum Circle  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xELAge-3Wio

Audrey Williams,

Access Services

Library archivists find use for the MakerLab’s 3D printers

3D printed camera mount for tabletop photography

Special Collections and Archives needed a mount to join a 1980s fiber optic light source to a standard accessory mount on a Canon G15. This was an easy fix with 3D design. Digital Archivist Jim Duran designed an adapter using Tinkercad that included a tab that would slip into the camera’s accessory mount and a hole to screw in the light source flange.

He printed this design using the Library’s LulzBot Mini 3D printer. We found out the printing software Cura was accidentally set to a different filament type and the print came out a little distorted, but it still worked.

The original adapter used threads to screw into a SLR camera. New
cameras, specifically our Canon G15, does not have these threads.

The camera mounted to the overhead equipment with the
fiber optic tube connected.

A better view of the fiber optic light source.

This is the frame projected through the camera onto the work surface
through the viewfinder. The operator could then make sure the
artifact is within the borders and aligned properly.

An example of a the viewfinder light projected onto a portrait.
With this lighting the operator can make sure the camera will
get the entire painting. The operator will then switch to
the 45 degree lighting for shooting.

The final product, a portrait of former football head coach
Lyle Smith, captured using the tabletop camera.

Using free software like TinkerCad, and the Library’s 3D printers, make it easy for students and staff to problem solve everyday challenges. 

Jim Duran,
Special Collections and Archives

Library Closed Presidents Day

The Boise State campus, and Albertsons Library, will be closed for the Presidents Day holiday on Monday, February 15th. Our hours and online collections can be accessed at http://library.boisestate.edu/.

In the meantime, spend some time reading about "Surveying Instructions from George William Fairfax to George Washington, October 13, 1750":

Access the George Washington Papers 1741-1799 at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwhome.html

Humanities & technology camp at Boise State

Interested in the intersection of the humanities and technology? Then attend the fourth THATCamp Boise State from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13 in the Student Union Building. THATCamp stands for The Humanities and Technology Camp.

THATCamps are user-generated unconferences, "an open, inexpensive meeting where humanists and technologists of all skill levels learn and build together in sessions proposed on the spot.”

The theme for this year's THATCamp is “Access, Empowerment, and Expression.” Educators, developers, coders, geeks, artists, students, teachers, historians, librarians, authors, hackers, archivists, philosophers, actors, creatives, or those interested in the humanities and/or technology are encouraged to attend.

In addition to local keynote speakers, our own ScholarWorks librarians Amber Sherman and Michelle Armstrong will lead a workshop on open access and author rights.

This is a full-day event, free and open to the public. Breakfast and lunch will be provided, with free parking available next to the Student Union Building. Space is limited so registration is required.

To learn more about THATCamp Boise State, go to boisestate2016.thatcamp.org.

Library faculty join students at JUMP for Invent Idaho event

Students from the Creative Technologies Association (CTA), Space Broncos, and the Boise State Microgravity Team were invited to be a part of Invent Idaho's SW Regional Competition event on Saturday, January 30th at Jack's Urban Meeting Place (JUMP). Creative Technologies Association faculty advisors, professors Deana Brown and Amy Vecchione from Albertsons Library, joined the group of Boise State students in engaging with over 1,000 inventors of all ages.

Professors Amy Vecchione and Deana Brown - CTA faculty advisors,
Scott Schmader - CTA President,  Ann Delaney - CTA member

Students showcased their skills by organizing and designing a variety of interactive emerging technology stations. Two of the stations utilized Makey Makeys, a technology available for check-out from the library that allows you to easily turn any conductive item into a button. Bananas, foil tape, and playdough were turned into piano keys run by the visual programming language, Scratch. The Makey Makeys were also used to run giant game controllers that students designed and made in Albertsons Library’s MakerLab. Other interactive stations sparked conversations about virtual reality, serious games, microcontrollers, 3D printing, music, circuits, outer space, engineering, and so much more! It was a great opportunity for Boise State students and faculty to show young inventors the opportunities they will have to invent and explore in college.

Attendee playing on the game controllers

Blind Date with a Book is Back!

Remember the idiom “you can’t judge a book by its cover?” We bet you do. So come on, take a chance and check out one of these special, wrapped up mystery reads. You just might be compatible with your mystery read, and develop a lasting relationship with an author's works.

Laura Coleman, Cat Bullock, and student employees in Access Services assembled a special group of “Blind Date Books” that are on display at the Circulation desk and just waiting for a chance to meet the right reader. Have fun.

Audrey Williams,
Access Services

1st Thursday Coffee and Donuts

The research community is invited to 1st Thursday Coffee and Donuts on February 4, 2016 in the MakerLab space in the Albertsons library on the first floor.

Donna Llewellyn, executive director of the Institute for STEM and Diversity Initiatives, will be at Coffee and Donuts to talk about how the Institute can help to support your research. Whether you’re interested in getting involved in educational research projects or studying the impact of your work on under served and under represented students, come to get connected and learn more about the Institute’s programs.

9 - 10 a.m. – Open forum to mingle

10 - 11 a.m. – Special Presentation by Donna Llewellyn

Also, be sure to invite your colleagues for donuts and coffee to chat during the social hour about opportunities to collaborate on projects like INFEWS, Biomolecular Research Center work, Great Basin or Rocky Mountain CESUs, or other consortia.

You can also sign up for a one-on-one with the Research Computing Services Department’s programmer, system administrator, or cyberinfrastructure engineer to learn more about research computing tools and resources.

Michelle Armstrong,
Associate Professor, Head, Scholarly Communications and Data Management