Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
Lafayette Square
Buffalo, NY 14203

November 9, 2009 – February 12, 2010

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s revolutionary book, On the Origin of Species, the University Libraries and the Buffalo & Erie County present Darwin: The Origin of Influence, a collaborative exhibition of rare books and archival materials which examines Darwin’s personal and scientific precedents and reveals his influence on post-Origin literary works.

Darwin: The Origin of Influence offers an opportunity to explore and understand Darwin’s research and discoveries while providing a glimpse into his life and those who influenced him. The exhibition also reveals Darwin’s broad impact on society and culture as manifested in creative literature appearing in the latter 19th century and continuing today.

Writing a research paper? Not sure where to start? Check out the four new videos on the UB Libraries’ Research Tips site, an online guide that explains basic research skills. The videos briefly demonstrate how to:

• Choose a Topic
• Find Books (and other materials)
• Find Articles (from Databases and E-Journals)
• Find Scholarly Information

Become familiar with other aspects of research, such as citation styles or evaluating resources by using the Research Tips Site Index to go directly to that particular page.

The Friends of the Health Sciences Library Present

The Genomics Revolution and Personalized Medicine
Dr. Daniel A. Brazeau, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Friday, November 20, 2009, 6-9pm
Austin Flint Main Reading Room
Health Sciences Library, South Campus

Progam information and reservation form available.

Road Vultures and Rumbles: A Career Retrospective of Buffalo’s Spain Rodriguez, Underground Comix Pioneer.

Exhibit opening with program and reception

DATE: October 23, 2009 from 4PM-7PM
LOCATION  Special Collections Research Room
420 Capen Hall, North Campus

The exhibit and its opening program/reception are free and open to the public.

Buffalo native Spain Rodriguez is a pioneering underground comix giant,  known for his explicit and politically explosive art. Best known for his anarchistic comic character, Trashman, a superhero of the working classes, his work portrays a dystopian future America. The exhibit features extensive original artwork loaned by the artist, photographs of the Road Vultures motorcycle gang in 1960s Buffalo, and a retrospective of his underground comix.

Exhibit Opening Program:

4:00PM – Presentations:

• “Big Bitch and Wonder Woman Mudwrestle in Heaven: Graphic Femininity and the Rhetoric of Sexual Liberation.” Cait Keegan, Ph.D. candidate,  American Studies.
• “A Tragic Overview of Underground Comix.” Tim Bryant, Ph.D. candidate,  English.

5:15PM – Introduction by Bruce Jackson, SUNY Distinguished Professor.

5:30PM – Question & Answer session with Spain Rodriguez moderated by Michael R. Lavin, University Libraries.

A reception will follow lasting until 7:00PM.

For more information see the News Release from the UB News Center or contact Michael Lavin.

Open Access Week is October 19 through October 23, 2009.  What is Open Access (OA) and why do we need a week devoted to it?  Peter Suber, one of the leading proponents of Open Access briefly explains it this way, “OA literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder.  OA is entirely compatible with peer review, and all the major OA initiatives for scientific and scholarly literature insist on its importance. ”

More of a visual learner? Take a look at this video: Open Access 101.

The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) created Open Access Week to “to broaden awareness and understanding of Open Access to research, including access policies from all types of research funders, within the international higher education community and the general public.” This year’s Open Access Week is supported by SPARC, The Public Library of Science, Students for Free Culture, Open Access Scholarly Information Sourcebook, Open Access Directory, and Electronic Information for Libraries.

You can find out more by visiting the UB Libraries Scholarly Communication web page on Open Access, picking up a handout at any of the UB Libraries Reference Desks and reading the Electronic Highways column in this week’s Reporter.