The Pratt Institute Libraries are pleased to announce the launch of our Flickr digital image collections, comprised of over 1,600 images from our Archives and special Collections. Digitized in 2005 and 2006 through the assistance of grants from the Metropolitan New York Library Council, these images have been added to Flickr for increased visibility and research access, and have already garnered over 25,000 views during the collection-building phase in March and April 2009.

Images currently include historic photographs of Pratt Institute from its inception through the 1980s, selections from our collection of pochoir fashion plates from La Gazette du Bon Ton, and our entire collection of over 1,300 early twentieth-century bookplates.

For collection descriptions and links to our Flickr sets, visit http://library.pratt.edu/digital.html.

*We make books – and so can you! Brooklyn-based small press
night with Small Anchor and X-ing books.*

Please join us in the Alumni Reading Room (Library 3rd Floor) for a
discussion of Small Press publishing with Brooklyn-based publishers Small Anchor (http://www.smallanchorpress.com/) and X-ing Books
(http://www.x-ingbooks.com/).

Along with the discussion, there will be a reading by Brooklyn poets Joshua Cohen, Jeremy Schmall and Justin Taylor.

The event starts at 5:30pm on Thursday, April 23, 2009. Please feel free to pass the word along – all are welcome.

Please contact Holly Wilson, Research & Instruction Librarian at
hwilson5@pratt.edu or (718)636-3685 with any questions or for a copy of the flyer for the event.

We’re starting a new feature on the library blog: Get to know a staff member! Our featured staff member is Chris Arabadjis, the new Director of Multi-Media Services. Chris has been the Assistant Director of Multi-Media Services for 8 years, and graduated from Pratt in 2001 with an MFA in Painting and Drawing.

Never been to MMS? Come by the lower level of the library to borrow two DVDs overnight, or check out equipment from the CAVS office on the 3rd floor of the Engineering Building. For more information check out the MMS website at http://library.pratt.edu/media.html.

The Pratt Library is pleased to announce an exhibition of student work that is currently on display in the Brooklyn Campus Library. Both Robbin Silverberg and Miriam Schaer’s Tech 545: Art of the Book classes have filled the display cases with their work from the semester that includes single page books sewn pamphlets, accordion fold books, concertinas, case bindings and altered book forms.

There is also a display of “Books on Books” highlighting items from the Brooklyn Library’s collections that deal with artists’ books, bookbinding, book covers and more.

The student exhibition is on display only through May 5. Please visit the library before the end of the semester to see this fabulous show!

Fans of JSTOR, one of the full text article databases accessible via the Pratt Institute Libraries’ E-Resources web page, will be pleased to note several new features available with the new JSTOR platform. Improvements include:

• The “MyJSTOR” feature, which allows users to save a list of citations within JSTOR
• Thumbnail images of articles make it easier to identify articles within search results
• Numerous search capabilities, including limiting by discipline and stemming of search terms
• Searches are saved to a search history within each session

Commemorating Green Week, Pratt Institute Libraries is pleased to announce a display of books related to sustainability issues. This collection of recommended reading was compiled by Stephen Klein, Pratt’s Systems and Electronic Resources Librarian. Recognizing that the language of the contemporary ecology movement has been increasingly co-opted by marketers, our hope is that this display will augment the Pratt community’s understanding of some of the humanistic and theoretical underpinnings of environmentalism. The selections also highlight scientific and practical applications of sustainable practices. From Loren Eisley’s homage on the loss of pastoralism or Marc Reisner’s dire warnings concerning the coming water crisis to several architectural guides that respect the principals of sustainability, we hope these books enhance your understanding of the current ecological situation and inspire you to investigate potential solutions. Come check out the display in the new books alcove on the main level of Pratt’s Brooklyn campus library.

The Pratt Institute Libraries invite you to attend our Spring 2008
Open House at the Brooklyn Campus Library, February 11-15. We will be
offering informational sessions highlighting recent acquisitions and
new services, classes to sharpen your research skills, a bookmaking
workshop, and a screening of short films. A schedule of events follows
below and is available at http://library.pratt.edu/open_house.pdf. All
events are open to the Pratt community, please share widely.

Monday, February 11, 2008
12:30-1:30pm
What’s New In the Library?
Brown Bag Lunch Session, refreshments provided.
Alumni Reading Room, 3rd Floor of the Library
Come find out about all of the new services and resources in the Pratt
Libraries. Get a tour of what has recently been updated in the
libraries that will guide your research, help you find information,
and show new ways to discover materials.
Led by Pratt Librarians

Monday, February 11, 2008
3:00pm
Introduction to Library Resources for English as a Second Language Students
East Wall, Lower Level of the Library
This instruction session will help you find, evaluate and use
information effectively as an English as a second language student.
You will learn how to find and use print and electronic resources,
including software and online resources. You will also learn how to
use these resources effectively at each stage of a project, from
defining a topic to critically evaluating the information found.
Led by Laena McCarthy, Image Cataloger and Reference Librarian.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
1:00pm
Beyond Google: Advanced Search Strategies
East Wall, Lower Level of the Library
Do you spend too much time and effort trying to find the information
you need to complete your projects? Come learn advanced search
techniques to help you make the most of our library catalog, article
databases, and internet resources.
Led by Caroline Brown, Academic Technology Outreach Librarian.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
7:30pm
DIY Valentines: A Quick and Simple Bookmaking Workshop
East Reading Room, 3rd Floor of the Library
Learn to make a few cut-and-fold simple book structures using
everyday, inexpensive and recycled materials. Bring your scrap papers,
love letters and poems to convert into small books and valentines. You
will also have an opportunity to view an assortment of unusual book
art items from the Pratt Library’s Special Collections.
Led by Alycia Sellie, Public Services Coordinator.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
12:30-1:30pm
What’s New In the Library?
Brown Bag Lunch Session, refreshments provided.
Alumni Reading Room, 3rd Floor of the Library
Come find out about all of the new services and resources in the Pratt
Libraries. Get a tour of what has recently been updated in the
libraries that will guide your research, help you find information,
and show new ways to discover materials.
Led by Pratt Librarians

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
3:00pm
Beyond Google: Advanced Search Strategies
East Wall, Lower Level of the Library
Do you spend too much time and effort trying to find the information
you need to complete your projects? Come learn advanced search
techniques to help you make the most of our library catalog, article
databases, and internet resources.
Led by Caroline Brown, Academic Technology Outreach Librarian.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
7:30pm
Film Screening
Curious Experimental Shorts
Alumni Reading Room, 3rd Floor of the Library
Join us for a sampling of experimental short films chosen from the
Multimedia Services Department’s circulating DVD collection. A few
pieces by Stan Brakhage, Maya Deren, David Lynch and others will be
screened.
Led by Russ Abell, Director of Multi-Media Services and Alycia Sellie,
Public Services Coordinator.

Thursday, February 14, 2008
3:00pm
Fashion Resources in the Pratt Brooklyn Library
East Wall, Lower Level of the Library
Explore a variety of the Library’s fashion resources both in print and
online. Learn more about where to find books on fashion design and
costume history, how to find databases to use for fashion research,
and hot websites worth visiting.
Led by Cheryl Costello, Art and Architecture Librarian.

Friday, February 15, 2008
12:30-1:30pm
What’s New In the Library?
Brown Bag Lunch Session, refreshments provided.
Alumni Reading Room, 3rd Floor of the Library
Come find out about all of the new services and resources in the Pratt
Libraries. Get a tour of what has recently been updated in the
libraries that will guide your research, help you find information,
and show new ways to discover materials.
Led by Pratt Librarians

Friday, February 15, 2008
3:00pm
Finding and Using Digital Images
East Wall, Lower Level of the Library
Participants will be introduced to a variety of sources for
high-quality digital images, including collections available
exclusively to the Pratt community. This session will also cover
copyright considerations, and provide participants with a working
knowledge of the Luna Imaging Insight software.
Led by Lorraine Smith, Visual Resources Curator and Laena McCarthy,
Image Cataloger and Reference Librarian

A new exhibit, La Gazette du Bon Ton: Art Deco Fashion Plates from 1913-1922, is on view January 28, 2008 to April 10, 2008, at Pratt’s Brooklyn campus Library.

The exhibit is curated by Cheryl M Costello, Art & Architecture Librarian, and features rare ladies’ fashion illustrations from the renowned Parisian fashion journal, La Gazette du Bon Ton (which translates as The Magazine of Good Taste). From the beginning of the publication to its end, La Gazette featured clothing designed by the best couturiers and depicted by the best illustrators working in Paris during the Art Deco period. Published intermittently in Paris from 1912 to 1925 with interruptions due to World War One, La Gazette is the most famous and beautifully produced fashion periodical of its time. Created through the employment of the pochoir technique, the sumptuous fashion plates from La Gazette du Bon Ton, in addition to offering beautiful works of illustration, give viewers a peek into the development of art, fashion, and design at a time when society was changing significantly and rapidly. La Gazette illustrations testify as to how trends and movements within the fine arts, such as Orientalism, Cubism, Futurism, and Abstract art, had a profound influence on the decorative arts during this time.

In addition to viewing the exhibit, La Gazette du Bon Ton, the Pratt Library invites you to view our digitized Pratt Institute Fashion Plate Collection, which is accessible online, care of the Pratt Visual Resources Center: http://library.pratt.edu/digital.html. There you will find images from this exhibit as well as other fashion plate images owned by the Pratt Institute Library, Brooklyn.

Currently on display in the new books alcove at the Brooklyn campus library is a collection of books recommended by library staff for vacation reading. A few reviews from the display follow…

The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman

Recommended by Laena McCarthy, Image Cataloger and Reference Librarian

This book is a must for anyone who designs things to be used by humans, whether it is computer programs, objects, packaging or libraries. It will change the way you interact with the world around you, open your eyes to the needlessness and futility of bad design, and clarify the necessity for good, people-centered design. Although written almost twenty years ago, this book reinforces the idea that certain basic usability principles are universal. Read it first, and then go design things.

Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Recommended by Jennifer Palmisano, Graduate Assistant

As one of Dostoyevsky’s earliest pieces, this work is partially Dostoyevsky philosophizing and partially these larger ideas in narrative.An excellent read for anyone looking for something that’s more than “just fiction.” This book could potentially rock your mind and soul. Dostoyevsky does an excellent job translating his ideas of the greater world in to piece of literature. For anyone that is interested in progession of Dostoyevsky’s writing, this is an excellent place to start, as it sincerely displays his youthful naivete and exuberance.

Wise Childrenby Angela Carter

Recommended by Christopher Bussmann, Circulation Supervisor

Angela Carter’s Wise Children is an exuberant mix of the hilarious and grotesque. A Shakespearean fusion of comedy and tragedy, twinned like her main characters, and then filtered through a precise post-modern lens. Angela Carter is always a fun read.

The Pratt Institute Libraries will observe the following schedule for Winter Intersession:

Brooklyn Library Hours:

Monday, December 17th – Friday, December 21st: 9am-5pm

Saturday, December 22nd – Tuesday, January 1st: closed

Wednesday, January 2nd – Friday, January 4th: 9am-5pm

Saturday, January 5th & Sunday, January 6th: closed

Monday, January 7th – Friday, January 11th: 9am-5pm

Saturday, January 12 & Sunday, January 13th: closed

Manhattan Library Hours:

Monday, December 18th – Thursday, December 21st: 10am-6pm

Saturday, December 22nd – Tuesday, January 1st: closed

Wednesday, January 2nd – Friday, January 11th: 10am-6pm, closed Saturdays & Sundays

Saturday, January 12 & Sunday, January 13th: 10am-6pm