Daily Archives: March 11, 2015

JSTOR eBooks

by Barbara Coopey

Penn State users have unlimited access to JSTOR eBook titles thanks to a project funded by PALCI (Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. http://www.palci.org/).

JSTOR eBook content from 20,000 titles is discoverable in LionSearch and on the JSTOR platform via the A-Z database list. Users can also link to the econtent via a WorldCat ebook record of the JSTOR book. JSTOR exposes content from many university presses and both recent and older publications are available. The project will purchase eBooks through demand driven acquisitions (DDA). Titles purchased during the pilot will be perpetually available to our users.

The JSTOR pilot includes all 69 PALCI member libraries and will run until the allocated funds are depleted, which should be close to the end of Spring Semester 2015. If the pilot is deemed successful, the DDA project may be available again during Fall Semester 2015. The JSTOR pilot is an initiative by the PALCI Board of Directors and the PALCI eBooks Task Force. Bob Alan and Barbara Coopey are members of the PALCI eBook Task Force.

The goal of the JSTOR pilot and the concurrent PALCI ebrary eBook DDA project is to build a “collective collection” of eBook content that can be shared by participating member libraries. Unlike print books, and due to licensing restrictions, eBook content is difficult to share via interlibrary loan. Building a collective collection of eBooks will ensure future access to this content for member libraries.

For information about the project, visit http://www.palci.org/news/jstor-books-pilot-for-all-palci-members.html. For information on the PALCI ebrary eBook project, visit https://sites.psu.edu/librarynews/2014/02/21/palci-dda-demand-driven-acquisitions-ebook-project/ and https://sites.psu.edu/librarynews/2014/11/10/palci-ebook-project-a-unique-model/.

Update from Discovery, Access, and Preservation Strategic Planning Working Group

By Matthew P. Ciszek
The Discovery, Access, and Preservation Strategic Planning Working Group has been very busy over the past few months reviewing the University Libraries’ Strategic Plan and identifying strategic projects and directions related to the Discovery, Access, and Preservation goals of the Plan. We have identified a few major themes and projects, including:

  • Development of a comprehensive collections strategy encompassing all formats including print, non-print, and digital formats
  • Creation of a comprehensive preservation strategy, including space needs for future preservation and storage facilities
  • Implementation of discovery and access strategies to create an integrated search and discovery system for Libraries’ resources
  • Investigation and implementation of a new Library Management System
  • Continued support and development of digital and repository projects like ScholarSphere and a digital humanities lab

We are currently soliciting feedback from various groups across the University Libraries, and will be working on creating a responsibilities and time line matrix for these projects and initiatives over the next month. Once the Libraries associate deans are in place, we will work with them to further the strategic planning goals in discovery, access, and preservation. We welcome comments and input from anyone at the University Libraries on these initiatives and strategic planning in the areas of discovery, access, and preservation. Please let us know! (Contact working group chair Matthew P. Ciszek at mpc16@psu.edu)

Events: March 16

March 17, 7 p.m.: An Evening with Jess Walter, John Bill Freeman Auditorium, first floor, HUB. The author of “Beautiful Ruins” will discuss his book and the many intertwined themes within its pages. Q&A session will follow. A Centre County Reads event. The Libraries Colloquium Committee and the Pennsylvania Center for the Book are among the co-sponsors.

March 18, 3 p.m.: Women Don’t Ask. Book talk discussion session with author Sara Laschever, Foster Aud. In this talk, Laschever will look at why women are less likely than men to ask for what they want. She shows women how to recognize more opportunities to negotiate, evaluate the economic value of their work, rehearse their negotiations beforehand, and employ negotiating strategies that have been shown to work especially well for women.

March 18, noon – 1 p.m.: University Libraries Diversity Committee Potluck, Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library. https://surveys.libraries.psu.edu/TakeSurvey.aspx?PageNumber=1&SurveyID=983M3ol&Preview=true

March 19, 3-4 p.m.: Privacy and confidentiality workshop, Mann Assembly Room. Presented by Ann Snowman, head of Access Services and User Services Training Program. Also available on Adobe Connect (https://meeting.psu.edu/ust). Register in TechSmart.

March 19, 7:30 p.m.: Mary Rolling Reader series presents Jess Walter, Foster Aud. Read the press release online: http://news.psu.edu/story/347387/2015/03/05/academics/award-winning-author-jess-walter-visit-penn-state

March 22, 1 p.m.: Pins, Spins, Cross-checks and Spikes: A Sampling of Penn State Winter Sports Films,” Foster Aud. See full story for details.

March 23,5:30-6:30 p.m.: Spring Clean Financial Clutter, a workshop presented by Dr. Daad Rizk. Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library. (This event was rescheduled from March 4.) For more information and to register, go to http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/researchguides/business/financialliteracy.html#moneycounts

March 26, 4:30 p.m.: The 2015 Charles W. Mann Jr. Lecture in the Book Arts, “Why Flashlights? Because Batman! A Bookseller’s Adventures in the Archive” by Lorne Bair, proprietor of Lorne Bair Rare Books, with a special introduction by graphic designer and author, Chip Kidd, Foster Aud.

March 26, 5:30 p.m.: “Telling the Story of a Few Good Women,” a talk by Lee Stout, Downsbrough Community Room, Schlow Centre Region Library, 21 S. Allen Street. Light supper followed by presentation. RSVP by March 23 to Christine Bishop, cbishop@ccysb.com.

March 26, 7:30 p.m.: The fifteenth annual “An Evening of Pennsylvania Poets: Readings in Celebration of the Public Poetry Project,” Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, followed by a book sale and poster signing.

Save the date:

April 6, from 1– 3pm: “Digital Aesthetics, Art, Life and Museums,” a conversation with Metropolitan Museum of Art digital asset specialist Neal Stimler and some of Penn State’s most progressive thinkers in this field, Foster Auditorium, first floor, Paterno Library. Registration is required. To register, go to http://wp.me/P3b4X9-1C2.

April 23: “Mapping Matters: Space and Place in the Humanities,” a one-day symposium on the intersection of mapping, digital humanities, and pedagogy, Pattee and Paterno Libraries. See details in this week’s blog post.

** Also see “Training and Enrichment Opportunities” for additional staff events.