News Archives
BU Libraries welcome librarians into new roles
The Boston University Libraries have hired and promoted librarians into new roles that will strengthen the Libraries’ ongoing work supporting the University’s robust research and learning agendas and fostering a vibrant academic experience for all BU community members.
Kristina Bush
Kristina Bush has joined the BU Libraries as the Library Experience Manager. In this role, Kristina oversees the Libraries’ general reference program, leads information literacy instruction and outreach, and collaborates with campus partners in support of major campus events and projects. Kristina comes to the BU Libraries from Tufts University, where, as the Online Learning Librarian, she started the Library Student Success Fellowship program. She received her MLIS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and worked in its Sloane Art Library as a Carolina Academic Library Associate. Kristina previously served as Digital Literacies Librarian at the University of California Berkeley. In this position, Kristina helped to lead the library’s transition to digital services during the COVID-19 pandemic and coordinated the Undergraduate Library Fellowship program.
Joining from Syracuse University Libraries, Natalie LoRusso is BU Libraries’ new Web and User Experience Librarian. Natalie works to ensure a user-centered web presence and continuously improve BU Libraries websites, with a focus on content strategy and site architecture. Natalie also structures and leads user experience research activities for our websites and core library systems to evaluate and respond to user needs. Natalie earned their MLIS from Syracuse University, where they most recently served as the User Experience Librarian. There, they helped establish the library’s first user experience program, featuring student engagement opportunities such as the Library Student Advisory Board, and facilitated a number of website usability and assessment projects. Natalie also serves as the Assistant Editor for Weave: Journal of Library User Experience, a peer-reviewed publication for library UX professionals.
Elizabeth Taft
Elizabeth Taft, who most recently served as the BU Libraries’ Collections Management Assistant, has been promoted to Resource Management Librarian. In her new role, Elizabeth provides leadership and guidance in the areas of library records database maintenance, collection analysis activities, and collection preservation. Elizabeth joined the BU Libraries in 2020 as an Access Services Assistant in the Science and Engineering Library. She then took on a special assignment re-establishing workflows to receive and process materials during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was promoted to the role of Collections Management Assistant in November 2021 and greatly improved workflows for receiving and processing materials, evaluating damaged materials, and performing withdrawals. She has also played a critical role in physical collection assessment. Elizabeth earned her MLIS from Simmons University.
These librarians, working in partnership with BU Libraries colleagues and campus partners, will greatly contribute the BU Libraries mission to assist multidisciplinary research and exploration and empower every BU community member to thrive amid an ever-changing information environment.
The BU Libraries continues to expand our teams in several departments. Explore our job postings to learn more about the opportunities to join our growing team of expert library staff.
Mugar extends hours, offers overnight shuttle for study period and finals
The BU Libraries’ Mugar Memorial Library will be open 24 hours per day beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday, December 12, until 11 p.m. on Thursday, December 21, in order to support students during Boston University’s study period and final exams.
During these extended hours, the BU Libraries will provide a late-night campus shuttle for students between midnight – 6 a.m. beginning at 12 a.m., December 13. The shuttle will depart from Mugar Memorial Library every 30 minutes and follow this route:
- Mugar Library – 771 Commonwealth Ave.
- StuVi 1 – 10 Buick Street
- StuVi 2 – 33 Harry Agganis Way
- Rich Hall – 277 Babcock Street
- 1019 Comm Ave.
- South Campus – Park Dr. & Beacon St.
- Fenway Campus – 255 Brookline Ave.
- Danielsen Hall – 512 Beacon St.
- Myles Standish & Kilachand Hall – Bay State Road & Raleigh St.
- The Towers – Bay State Road & Silber Way
- Warren Towers- Commonwealth Ave. & Granby St.
- [begin again at Mugar Library]
Students must show a BU ID to use the shuttle.
Students studying in Mugar are encouraged to visit the Libraries’ Study Break Station to do arts & crafts and other activities.
BU Libraries other branches will operate on their regular hours during finals.
Getting Started With Business Research
Not sure where to begin your research? Here are a few starting points:
Research Guides: Research guides are often one of the best places to begin. Pardee Library has a number of Business Research Guides, Course Guides, and Research Tutorials to assist you.
Databases: Visit our Business Databases by Subject page for an overview of available databases. If you know the database you want, you can find it quickly through our Business Databases A-Z page.
Industry Surveys: When researching an industry, our Industry Survey Locator can help you search across multiple resources. We also have an Industry Information Sources guide.
Journals and Newspapers: If you are looking for a journal or newspaper, try using the Journals and Newspapers link of BU Libraries Search.
For assistance with your research, please contact our reference staff at pardstf@bu.edu.
Upcoming Event: Ask-A-Librarian Research Help Pop-Up
Need help with that research paper? Have questions about citations? Hope to build your research skills?
The BU Libraries, in partnership with the Educational Resource Center, are hosting a research help pop-up for students to ask questions about the research process, learn about resources and tools, and to troubleshoot issues as they work on final papers. Librarians will be stationed in the reception area of the Educational Resource Center on the 5th floor of Yawkey Center for Student Services at 100 Bay State Road on Tuesday, December 5, through Thursday, December 7, from 4 to 6 p.m. for this Ask-A-Librarian Research Help Pop-Up.
Students are encouraged to stop by to ask questions about the research process, learn about resources and tools available to them, or to troubleshoot issues as they work on final papers. Some examples of topics our librarians can help with include: finding scholarly sources, properly citing sources, developing a search strategy using copyright-free media, and downloading financial and economic data.
Librarians provide research help year-round in libraries and online. Anyone unable to visit the pop-up can also get help at BU Libraries locations or visit askalibrarian.bu.edu to call, chat, text, email, or set up an appointment with a librarian.
Featured Database: Data Axle Reference Solutions
Data Axle Reference Solutions (formerly known as Reference USA) contains listings for a total of 91 million U.S. businesses, including 18 million verified and 73 million unverified businesses that are updated weekly. This database can be used to create lists of companies by industry and geographic location. It can also be very helpful when you need to create a list of target companies for your job search, or when you want to identify local competitors for your course projects. For assistance with using Data Axle, please see our recently updated business tutorial.
For a complete list of our company directory databases, as well as instructions and tutorials for creating lists of target companies, please see the Career Research @ Pardee Library guide.
If you need help with your research, please contact us at pardstf@bu.edu.
BU Libraries enter open access publishing agreement with Cambridge University Press
The BU Libraries have entered an agreement with Cambridge University Press to cover open access publishing costs for Boston University-affiliated authors publishing in assorted journals.
Although authors are occasionally required to pay a publication fee to make the published version open access, publishers may waive these costs for BU authors when the library’s subscription to the publication permits it through open access agreements. As part the BU Libraries’ agreement with Cambridge University Press, these fees will be fully waived for all BU-affiliated authors publishing in Cambridge University Press open access journals and hybrid journals with an open access option. BU community members also have access to extended Cambridge University Press subscription journal content through the agreement.
Learn more about the this agreement, who is eligible for the fee waiver, and how to apply by visiting the BU Libraries’ Open Access Publishing Support page.
BU’s Open Access policy allows BU authors to make all accepted manuscripts of their scholarly articles available open access through the library digital repository at no cost. Reach out to the BU Libraries (open-help@bu.edu) for assistance.
Data sources available through Pardee Library
Pardee Library provides access to several databases and datasets that may be helpful for your research. These resources include a variety of financial, economic, government and marketing data. Details about the sources available may be found through the following library guides:
- Business & Economic Data Sources
- Economics
- Financial Databases Overview
- Company Annual and Financial Reports
A complete list of all Pardee Library databases is available through the Business Databases: A-Z page.
If you need help with your research, please contact us at pardstf@bu.edu.
New archive exhibitions explore history through a single year, showcase BU’s evolution
The BU Libraries’ Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center has curated two new archival exhibitions that provide glimpses into the history of BU, America and the world, and encourage the BU community to discover new connections through the archival materials on display. While both exhibitions enable visitors to consider historic moments and changes, they provide distinct lenses: one focuses on a single year while the other provides timeline of change.
In the 1963 exhibition, the Gotlieb Center looks back on 60 years of collecting, using its collections as a lens through which the BU community can explore one extraordinary year of action and upheaval. With materials from some of the most prominent names in journalism; civil rights; film & television; literature and genre fiction; and poetry, the exhibition places a spotlight on the Birmingham campaign, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, while weaving cultural, artistic, and historical connections together.
Learn more: Gotlieb Center staff share insights into exhibit materials
Focusing in on BU’s history, the Gotlieb Center’s CAS150: 1873-2023 exhibition celebrates the 150th anniversary of the College of Arts & Sciences with images and historical materials chronicling the founding, history, and student and academic life of BU’s largest college over its first century and a half. This exhibition complements the College’s online timeline and alumni profiles available for viewing online.
Both exhibitions are now on display in the Gotlieb Gallery on the first floor of Mugar Memorial Library for the BU community to explore during regular library hours.
Open Access Week: Explore OpenBU
The BU Libraries are celebrating International Open Access Week (October 23-29) by highlighting library services that support the global reach of scholarship produced at BU and by sharing the variety of works available in BU’s digital institutional repository.
To support the university’s commitment to “disseminating the fruits of its research and scholarship as widely as possible” as outlined in its open access policy, the BU Libraries manages a digital institutional repository OpenBU (open.bu.edu), available to all members of the university community. As BU’s digital institutional repository, OpenBU houses thousands of articles, chapters, theses and dissertations, presentations, datasets, media, and more—all authored or co-authored by BU faculty, students, and staff. This repository enables BU researchers to share, disseminate, and preserve their scholarship, and makes their research more accessible.
Learn how to contribute your own work to OpenBU and share it with the world.
OpenBU currently holds 44,428 items, and since its launch, there have been 6,466,630 downloads and 7,867,607 views of its items. Its collections cover a wide array of topics, and materials from numerous BU colleges, schools, and departments can be found in the repository. The scope of the repository’s materials is captured in OpenBU’s most-viewed items of the past year:
This list offers a small snapshot of the wealth of materials researchers can share and discover through OpenBU. This repository is a key program in the BU Libraries’ broad support of research, teaching, and learning at Boston University and it is part of BU Libraries’ deep commitment to facilitating greater access to research and knowledge.
Explore the benefits of this open access initiative by browsing OpenBU’s collections and contributing your own work. If you have questions about contributing to or exploring OpenBU, email open-help@bu.edu.
Featured Resource: PressReader
Our subscription to PressReader currently includes access to 7,000+ online newspapers and magazines from 150 countries in 65 languages. Access is provided in full-color and full-page format and includes images, ads, classifieds, notices, etc. just like the print edition. The Business & Current Affairs category includes more than 500 publications.
Some publications that may be of interest to Questrom students include Boston Globe, Fast Company, Inc., Newsweek, and USA Today.
If you are interested in leisure reading, PressReader’s inventory includes categories such as Entertainment & TV and provides access to magazines such as Rolling Stone and Variety.
Most PressReader publications include at least 90 days of coverage.
If you have any questions, or need assistance with PressReader, please contact us at pardstf@bu.edu.