Here’s a portion of a letter to the Harvard Community by Provost Alan Garber: I write to share the news that Mary Lee Kennedy [Senior Associate Provost for the Harvard Library] will be leaving Harvard on May 14, 2013, to accept the position of Chief Library Officer at the New York Public Library. This is […]
Open Online Education: MIT and Harvard Announce edX Collaboration
Filed by on May 2, 2012
From MIT News: Harvard University and MIT today announced edX, a transformational new partnership in online education. Through edX, the two institutions will collaborate to enhance campus-based teaching and learning and build a global community of online learners. [Clip] The technological platform recently established by MITx, which will serve as the foundation for the new […]
Harvard Magazine on “The Libraries’ Rocky Transition”
Filed by on April 22, 2012
From the May-June 2012 Issue of Harvard Magazine: The aim is both to reduce duplication of effort across what had been 73 separate libraries, and to coordinate strategic initiatives going forward, particularly in digital collections and digitization of existing holdings, where the library needs to catch up with prevailing scholarly practices. But the path toward […]
Journal Pricing is an “Untenable Situation Facing the Harvard Library”
Filed by on April 20, 2012
From a Letter by the Harvard Faculty Advisory Council to All Harvard Faculty Members (via Harvard U. Library Transition Web Site) We write to communicate an untenable situation facing the Harvard Library. Many large journal publishers have made the scholarly communication environment fiscally unsustainable and academically restrictive. This situation is exacerbated by efforts of certain […]
Harvard Crimson: “Future of Harvard Libraries Uncertain”
Filed by on April 19, 2012
From The Harvard Crimson: As doubts about the future of Harvard libraries have mounted, what faculty, library workers, and administrators have called lackluster communication on the part of the University has led the Harvard community to question whether a restructured library system will meet its needs. Read the Full Text
Linking Libraries, Museums, Archives: Archivist of the U.S. David Ferriero Speaks at Harvard
Filed by on April 12, 2012
From the Harvard Gazette: The archivist of the United States, David Ferriero, says that one of the core challenges facing today’s librarians, archivists, and museum curators is the need for them to work across disciplines to deliver the integrated, seamless level of service that tech-savvy users are increasingly coming to expect. “We are all in […]
Rare Books: A Look at Several Recently Digitized Books From Harvard's Houghton Library
Filed by on March 26, 2012
From the Houghton Library Blog: An exciting array of materials have recently been digitized at Houghton. They include manuscript material from Joanna Baillie, George Eliot, John Keats, Charles Lamb, Percy Shelley, Robert Southey, Alfred Tennyson, Hester Thrale and George Washington. A 15th century breviary and Belgian incunable, multiple musical scores, cartoons, broadsides and more may […]
Jonathan Zittrain, Suzanne Wones to Step into Leadership Roles for Harvard Law School Library
Filed by on March 8, 2012
From the Berkman Center: Dean Martha Minow has announced that HLS Professor Jonathan Zittrain ’95 and HLS Library’s Assistant Director of Research, Curriculum and Publication Services, Suzanne Wones, will take over leadership of the Harvard Law School Library this summer, following the departure of Professor John G. Palfrey ’01 in July. Palfrey announced in November […]
"A Library System Hanging in the Balance": An Open Letter From Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers
Filed by on March 5, 2012
From the Letter (2 pages; PDF): Since 2009, Harvard has been reorganizing its 73 libraries into a consolidated entity, the Harvard Library. Library staff members at all levels are deeply concerned that some of the proposed changes, including workforce reductions, will result in serious threats to the integrity of the Library. We worry that if […]
Harvard U. Library Announces New Organizational Design and Strategic Direction
Filed by on February 10, 2012
From Today’s Letter to the Harvard Community by Harvard U. Provost Alan Garber: Today, I write to share how a new organizational design and strategic direction, recently recommended by the Library Board, will position the Harvard Library to respond to the evolving expectations of the 21stcentury scholar. The new Library organizational design enables Harvard to respond […]
