Author Archives: David Tidmarsh

Sam Schoenburg ’11 is not like most Yale students in at least one way: he enjoys reading books he finds in the residential college libraries. One of his favorite discoveries was a collection of music by the French composer Maurice Ravel that is housed in the Silliman College library. Schoenburg likes the book so much »

Following the departure of former University Librarian Alice Prochaska last semester, the University has appointed her replacement for the next five years: Frank Turner GRD ’71, who has served as acting University Librarian since January. The search committee to find Prochaska’s replacement considered more than 20 candidates and six finalists, all of who — except »

Now that Yale’s move to Google-provided student e-mail has been postponed, Information Technology Services has referred the proposal to a committee to evaluate it and ensure a smooth transition. The ITS Advisory Committee, made up of technology-savvy faculty members who advise ITS on its policies, will examine the effects of a possible switch from the »

The changeover to Google as Yale’s e-mail provider has been put on hold. Information Technology Services has decided to postpone the University’s move from the Horde Webmail service to Google Apps for Education, a suite of communication and collaboration tools for universities, pending a University-wide review process to seek input from faculty and students. After »

Amid the narrow, crowded stacks of Sterling Memorial Library, millions of books sit inert, untouched by library patrons for years. But a small handful of these books should not be where they are, mistakenly shelved in the wrong spaces. Some books are stolen. Others are lost — or even purposely hidden — by patrons. Some »

Students and faculty are generally enthusiastic about University’s upcoming switch from Horde to Gmail webmail. “I’m very excited to see how it turns out,” said Emmanuel Quartey ’12. “I already use Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Chat, so this change would make things a lot easier for me.” Three students noted that they used third-party »

The Horde e-mail server will soon be replaced by a new Google interface, custom-designed for Yale. Information Technology Services administrators plan to join with Google Apps for Education to bring students, faculty and employees the Gmail e-mail service by the end of this month, said an undergraduate member of the Student Technology Collaborative who asked »

Since its opening in 1963, the marble exterior of Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library has kept hidden Yale’s most obscure texts and invited the speculation of visitors and students alike. Stephen Jones, head of access services at the Beinecke Library, shared with the News some of the most widespread rumors and absurd myths that »

Of the items she has obtained for Yale’s library, Dorothy Woodson is most fond of a set of campaign T-shirts for South African president Jacob Zuma, which she purchased while in South Africa this past summer. Or it might be a copy of the New Testament published in Vai, an indigenous language of Liberia. As »

What do you find when you turn on one of the computers in Bass Library? As of this semester, not Orbis, but Yufind. Yufind — an experimental alternative to the Orbis library catalog — is now displayed on the Library Web site and as the default home page for some computers in Bass Library, and »

Next month, the Astronomy Department will begin using a new telescope camera that stores a terabyte — 1000 gigabytes — of images per day on a high-tech supercomputer installed last November at West Campus. The processor, called the “BulldogM” cluster, is part of the University’s Science Cores Initiative, launched in the fall of 2008 to »

With the simultaneous departure of two of the most senior members of the University Library administration over winter break, the Yale library system is poised to start a new volume in its history. University Librarian Alice Prochaska and Associate University Librarian Danuta Nitecki will bid farewell to Yale at the end of this semester. During »