Exhibits at Harvard's Semitic Museum

The Semitic Museum at Harvard was founded in 1889, and now houses more than 40,000 artifacts from museum-sponsored excavations in Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Tunisia. The Museum is dedicated to the use of these collections for research and teaching about Middle Eastern archaeology, history, and culture.

I recently met with Jill Letteney, Collections Liaison at the Museum, and she made known to me the exhibits currently on display. Given their depth and breadth, I think most readers of this blog will find them interesting, and we encourage you to make your way over to the Museum to learn even more. These in-person and virtual productions include:

The Cesnola Collection from Ancient Cyprus (an online publication)

The Coinage of Ancient Judea (a digital exhibition)

Egypt: Magic and the Afterlife

Engaging Roman Glass (a digital exhibition)

The Houses of Ancient Israel: Domestic, Royal, Divine

Monuments from Mesopotamia: The Propaganda of Kings

Nuzi and the Hurrians: Fragments from a Forgotten Past

I'm planning a visit to see these and other treasures the Museum holds. Hope to see you there!

At your service,

Cheryl

Borrow Direct Comes to Harvard

As of today, the Harvard Library is offering the Borrow Direct service to the University’s faculty, staff, and students. Borrow Direct lets you borrow books and other circulating library materials not available at Harvard from the libraries at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale.

You use your current ID, PIN, and established library privileges to request items from Borrow Direct online. You'll get expedited delivery of:

* books and printed music not owned by Harvard libraries
* books and printed music currently unavailable at Harvard; e.g., charged out, lost, missing, at the bindery, etc.
* books and printed music that normally circulate from the Borrow Direct partner collections

Most Borrow Direct materials will arrive in four business days. You'll receive an e-mail notice when a requested item is available and you'll be given the option of choosing one of 14 pickup locations:

* Andover-Harvard Theological Library
* Baker/Knowledge and Library Services
* Cabot Science Library
* Countway Library of Medicine
* Fine Arts Library
* Gutman Library
* Harvard Kennedy School Library and Knowledge Services
* Harvard Law School Library
* Harvard-Yenching Library
* Lamont Library
* Loeb Design Library
* Tozzer Library
* Widener Library
* Wolbach/Harvard-Smithosonian Center for Astrophysics

You can return your Borrow Direct materials to any Harvard Library. In late July, Harvard will become a Borrow Direct lender, offering other Borrow Direct patrons access to collections in the Countway Library of Medicine, Andover–Harvard Theological Library, Widener Library, and holdings for those libraries held at HD.

At your service,
Cheryl

The Pentagon Papers Were Released at Noon Today!

The "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force" (otherwise known as the Pentagon Papers) was commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1967. Portions of the report were to the press in June 1971, but publications of the report that resulted from these leaks were incomplete and low-quality.

Today, on the 40th anniversary of the leak to the press, the National Archives and the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon Presidential Libraries, have released the complete Pentagon Papers report: 48 boxes of about 7,000 declassified pages, with 34% of the report becoming available for the first time.

Want to read them? The PDFs are available here. Happy reading!
At your service,
Cheryl

New e-Resources in Harvard Libraries

These resources were added to e-Research at Harvard Libraries in May 2011:

Bibliothèque Bibliographique des Littératures Francophones Européennes (BIBLIFRE)
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:bblfe

Detroit Free Press
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:proqhdfp

Encyclopedia of medieval philosophy
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:GEN_9781402097287

Gallup Brain
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:gallup

John Johnson Collection: an archive of printed ephemera
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:johnjohnson

Patrimonio cultural de España
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:ptcle

ProQuest Civil War Era
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:proqcwe

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Boston Globe, 1872-1979
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:bostonglobe

SPIE Digital Library - eBooks
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:spiedlib

Tax Analysts web services
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:TaxAnalysts

Please let me know if you have any questions about them or any other library resources.
At your service,
Cheryl

These resources have been added to E-Research @ Harvard Libraries during April, and can be seen in the "New E-Resources" list. (To access the New E-Resources list: from Cross Search, click on "New E-Resources" under the Quick Sets pull-down menu), OR just click the links below:

BCC Research
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:bccrsrch

Government Finance Statistics
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:imfgfson

International Inventory of Musical Sources: RISM Series A/II
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:rismopac

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Times of India (1838-2001)
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:proqhtoi

At your service,
Cheryl

LibX for Google Chrome

Do you use Google Chrome as your browser of choice? Then here's good news for you: a bet version of LibX for Google Chrome has just been released.

To install the add-on in Google Chrome, open Chrome and follow the instructions provided here: http://lib.harvard.edu/tools/libx_chrome.pdf

LibX is a browser toolbar add-on that allows you quickly to search a number of library resources. For more information and for links to the Firefox and IE versions of LibX, just visit the Harvard LibX page, at: http://lib.harvard.edu/tools/libx.html
At your service,
Cheryl

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt: it's available to you online

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt has been added to the Harvard Libraries portal, so you can search it 24/7/365 from anywhere in the world with your Harvard ID and PIN. The Encyclopedia presently holds over 600 original articles written by leading scholars, offering information on ancient Egyptian civilization from the predynastic era to its eclipse in the seventh century CE. Subjects covered include "art, architecture, religion, language, literature, trade, politics, everyday social life, and the culture of the court."

At your service,
Cheryl