NIU Today

Social media is ubiquitous in society. Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, Instagram and many more are common tools – and chances are good that faculty already use one or more of these already to connect with family, friends and colleagues. Social media can also be a powerful tool to connect with other academics, help students build...

Friends of the NIU Libraries will host a wine and cheese social from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. The event will take place in Rare Books & Special Collections (Room 403 of Founders Memorial Library). No RSVP is required. Founded in 1983 as an association of library supporters interested in contributing to the...

“From Theory to Action: ‘Good Enough’ Digital Preservation Solutions for Under-Resourced Cultural Heritage Institutions” is the recipient of the Preservation Publication Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award will be presented at a ceremony during the SAA Annual Meeting in Cleveland, scheduled from Aug. 16 to 22. Established in 1993, this...

Jaime Schumacher, the University Libraries’ new director of scholarly communications, will join leaders in the field of digital preservation in Washington, D.C., next month to tackle the complex challenge of preserving email. The Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration will co-host an event to bring together representatives of various federal agencies,...

NOTE: Because of high interest, the venue for this event has been changed to the Regency Room in the Holmes Student Center. Is Chicago truly the birthplace of the skyscraper? And what makes a building a skyscraper anyway? Popular Chicago Public Television host Geoffrey Baer will visit the NIU campus next month to provide those...

Once upon a time – well, from 1978 to 1987 – Christopher Reeve’s incarnation of Superman took a fairly lonely flight through America’s cineplexes. Now the Man of Steel must navigate some incredibly congested airspace. Within the next five years, at least 32 comic book superhero movies will come to theaters near you – and...

During the week of Oct. 20, NIU will present a series of lectures, panel discussions and other events to celebrate International Open Access Week 2014. Now in its eighth year, International Open Access Week highlights the potential benefits that open access can bring to scholarly publishing and research. Open access issues have come to the...

Lynne M. Thomas, curator of Rare Books and Special Collections and associate professor, will give a presentation next month on the Open Access to Research Articles Act. The talk is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 4, in the staff lounge on the lower level of Founders Memorial Library. Open Access allows scholarly authors to maintain...

The University Libraries is the newest member of the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA), an initiative of the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program division of the Library of Congress. Founded in 2010, the NDSA is a consortium of  more than 145 member institutions committed to the long-term preservation and stewardship of digital information. NDSA...

The Friends of the NIU Libraries will host a talk by award-winning author Lauren Beukes during her U.S. book tour to promote her latest novel, “The Shining Girls,” a thriller about a time-traveling serial killer. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, June 10, in the...

Lynne M. Thomas, curator of Rare Books and Special Collections for the NIU Libraries, has been nominated for three Hugo Awards, the leading award for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy. Thomas is nominated for Best Related Work for co-editing “Chicks Dig Comics,” a collection of essays by award-winning writers and artists...