Tag Archives: research

A Trip to Hearst Magazines: Good Housekeeping

Hearst Tower

On Friday, April 8th, I had the opportunity to visit one of the most innovative and leading media companies: Hearst. Known for their variety of award-winning magazines in their magazine division; I had an amazing experience touring Good Housekeeping magazine and their testing Institute on the 29th floor of the Hearst Tower located in Midtown Manhattan.

The Good Housekeeping Research Institute (GHRI), formally known as the “Experiment Station,” was founded in 1900. For over 100 years the GRHI has provided America helpful tips and tricks in everyday living to conducting highly acclaimed scientific research on home products.

In 1909, the magazine established the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Products advertised in the magazine that bear the seal are tested by GHRI and are backed by a two-year limited warranty. About 5,000 products have been given the seal to this day.

April 2016 Issue

My time visiting the GHRI was extremely informative and interesting to see how journalism technique and scientific research cooperated under one roof to formulate the leading consumer product women’s magazine. I suggest taking any opportunity of touring the Heart Tower, as I found it to be an eye-opening experience into the daily life of a career in the magazine industry. I would like to thank Professor Leopold and ED2010 again for enabling me to join the outing.

For my readers, here’s a delicious and simple recipe I read on this month’s issue of Good Housekeeping.

Bacon & Egg Fried Rice:

Good Housekeeping

Notes From the 6 Train: It’s Raining Research

Each semester at the writing center we choose a topic to delve into deeper in order to become tutors and writers, so we are more helpful for you all! This semester’s focus is research. I know this sounds super boring, but it is imperative while in school and incredibly important for artists. Many students loathe research because it’s time consuming and hard. It’s hard because many of students, including myself until last week, aren’t aware all of the resources that the FIT library has to offer for researching.

Artists who make are, without engaging in thorough research beforehand, and claim that they were “inspired” by another artist seems fishy. Without research and thoughtfulness, inspiration can quickly become copying.

Here are three ways the library can aid you in your research process (that you probably don’t know about):

1. You can instant message librarians!

You want to ask a pointed question such as “I am interested in researching trends of the 20’s, what are good resources to start research?

They usually answer quite fast. If they don’t respond immediately, they will email you probably within the next hour at the latest.

2. You can email them.

If you have a question at 2 am you can email them and you get a response in 24 hours (usually, much faster than that.)

3. You can text them.

Same deal. This way you can receive a response while on the go.

In order to access these resources you simply go to the FIT library home page, click the “Ask A Librarian” tab and explore the researching possibilities!

All Things Color, Love & Fashion,
Ayanna Lane

Love Your Library!

The FIT library is more than just a room with bookshelves; it has more resources than most students realize! Of course, the Gladys Marcus Library houses an impressive collection of print books pertaining to fashion, art, architecture, etc., but it also has books on every subject including history, psychology, and literature. There is also a whole section dedicated to DVDs of movies (classic as well as modern) and TV shows. In addition, if there is a book or journal that you cannot find in-house, FIT is part of the Interlibrary Loan system, so you can get anything you need! Before heading up there, here is some information about the various services offered:

See, we have stacks too!

Even a ton of books about economics

Quiet Study Space

Picture Files

The Picture Files are relatively new to the library. You can browse through the extensive collection freely and even check out up to 20 images at once! These can be extremely helpful for Illustration and Fine Arts students who need references. We also have access to the FitDigital Image Library, which is a digital collection of images from the Museum at FIT, the Special Collections, student and staff work, images used in Art History classes and the Designer Files collection.

Vogue spreads from the 2000s vs the 1930s

Magazine Archive

The Gladys Marcus library subscribes and keeps an archive of numerous magazines, mainly focused on design. The periodicals can be checked out for two hours either for reading or doing research. FIT also has a backlog of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar dating back to the very first issues. These are collected in books chronologically and can be looked at in the library at your leisure. We also have access to the Vogue Archives online that can be extra useful when you search within the collection for specific words or phrases. Designer Files can also be checked out. These are tear sheet collections of centered on a specific designer.

Art Reference Collection

The Art Reference collection has the most inspiring books in the library. It is pretty much all of those beautiful coffee table books that are too expensive to buy yourself. The subjects range into all types of design, not just fashion. These books cannot be taken out of the library, but thanks to the scanners and copiers you can bring the images home.

Special Collections

The Special Collections houses over 500,000 books, periodicals, illustrations and designer scrapbooks. Any student or outside researcher can make an appointment, but you have to request a subject or time period you want to look at, you cannot just browse like in the Art Reference Collection or Picture Files.

Databases

In addition to print collections, the library subscribes to online databases that are incredibly helpful for research papers. The databases range across all types of topics from fashion history and forecasting to psychology and international trade. The FIT library’s website collects all of the databases in one place so they are easy to find and use. These databases are trustworthy sources for information and can be accessed at any time through the library website.

StyleCat

StyleCat is the main search engine used in the Gladys Marcus library. It can be accessed anywhere via the library website, but there are also computers stationed around the library with it open. It’s pretty basic: you search one or more terms and a list of all the books in the collection that relate pop-up with the call number and how many copies there are and which are checked out.

FIT also uses the stairwells of the library as a gallery showcasing student and faculty work

A main work area in the library

A friendly student librarian

If you have more questions about these services, a librarian is always available to help at the desk or you can call 212-217-4400. If you have a question when the library is closed we have this handy feature called Ask a Librarian where you can call/text/send a message.

–Emily–