Daily Archives: August 24, 2015

Penn State Libraries among top research libraries in North America

The 2013-14 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Library Investment Index Rankings once again list the Penn State University Libraries among the top 10, and third among U.S. public universities. The University Libraries are listed 8th in the ranking, which provides a snapshot of each research library’s size of its collections and capacity to provide services to students, faculty and staff, as well as to visiting researchers. Read the full story on Penn State News.

Learning management system transition update

The following update on LMS transition is from the University’s LMS Academic Transition Committee. Submitted by Amanda Clossen

Information Technology Services (ITS) is expanding the pilot of the Canvas learning management system (LMS) in the fall 2015 semester. The purpose of the pilot is to broaden awareness and participation in the evaluation of the potential of Canvas to positively impact the teaching and learning experience at Penn State.

The results from the Spring 2015 Canvas were very positive. The recommendation to adopt Canvas as the new LMS at Penn State was presented to the Provost in July. The next step is to present the final recommendation to the Board of Trustees on September 18, 2015.

“At the July 16, 2015, Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting, the Committee on Finance, Business, and Capital Planning, considered the decision to select Canvas as our new LMS and evaluated a proposed ten year capital budget,” says Craig Weidemann, vice president for Outreach and vice provost for Online Education. “The conversation went well, and we look forward to their
formal consideration of our recommendation of Canvas and the LMS implementation budget at the September 18, 2015 BOT meeting to advance the LMS transition process. I know that you are anxious for a formal decision regarding the approval of Canvas as our next LMS to formally begin the transition process. I appreciate your patience.”

For more information on the previous and current pilots, see http://newlms.psu.edu/ and http://canvaspilot.tlt.psu.edu/.

Events: Aug. 24 and beyond

Wed., August 26, noon – 1 p.m.: Travel Research Award presentation by Albert M. Petska Eighth Air Force Archives winner David Cain, of the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library and the University of East Anglia, England, Mann Assembly Room. Cain will highlight his research on the social interaction of the 8th USAAF with local people in the East of England between 1942 – 1945. For more information see https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/speccolls/travel.html

Thurs., August 27, noon – 1 p.m.: Travel Research Award presentations by Helen F. Faust Women Writers award winner Amanda Stuckey, from the College of William & Mary, and Dorothy Foehr Huck award winner Bob Hodges, of the University of Washington, Mann Assembly Room. Stuckey will talk about her research on bodily behavior in the nineteenth-century boy book. Hodges will talk about his use of the library’s collection of 19th and 20th century utopian literature for his dissertation “Figurations of Modernity in Antebellum U. S. Romances.” For more information see https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/speccolls/travel.html

ojibweinfonight-caroTues., September 1, 3-4:30 p.m.: “Student Voices: Sharing the Experience of Learning through the Ojibwe Ways of Knowing,” (indigenous knowledge seminar), Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library. The presentation can also be viewed live online. (Right: file photo from a previous class trip)

Wed.–Thurs., September 9–10: Open House at University Park. Sign up to volunteer: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040b4cada929a13-open2

Fri., September 11, 1–3 p.m.: Basic Statistics in Microsoft Excel. W211A Paterno Library and online at https://meeting.psu.edu/ul-dlc. No registration required. This session will highlight the various options available for performing basic statistical procedures in Excel. This session will also explore and compare free add-ins available for statistical analysis. An overview of the various tools and examples of how to use them will be provided, while limitations will also be discussed. Sample data will be provided, but participants may bring data of their own. Participants will need a basic working knowledge of Excel and an understanding of elementary statistics.

Wed., September 16, 5:30-6:30 p.m.: Getting Student Loans, Mann Assembly Room, Paterno Library. Informative and important workshop for students, presented by Daad Rizk, financial literacy coordinator. Food and beverages will be provided. Find more information about this event at https://financialliteracy.psu.edu/moneycounts/

Mon., September 21, 10:00-11:30 a.m.: EndNote, 403 Paterno. EndNote can be used to search online bibliographic databases, organize references, images and PDFs in any language and create bibliographies and figure lists instantly. Learn how to get the most out of EndNote. Register online: Survey

Wed., September 23, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.: Mendeley, 302 Paterno. Mendeley is a free reference manager and academic social network that can help you organize your research library, collaborate with others online and discover other relevant papers based on what you are reading. Register online: Survey

Save the Date:

Thurs., October 22, 10:00-11:30 a.m.: Mendeley, 302 Paterno Register online: Survey

Mon., November 16, 1-2:30 p.m.: Mapping Applications: Getting to know SimplyMap, PolicyMap, and Social Explorer, 302, Paterno Library, and online at https://meeting.psu.edu/ssltraining/ More details to come.

Tues., October 13, 2:00–3:30 p.m.: Focus on ArcGIS Online: Web Mapping Tool for Interdisciplinary Applications, W211A Pattee Library and online at https://meeting.psu.edu/ssltraining/ More details to come.

Print it on one page

by Ryan Johnson, technology training coordinator

This printing tip is for those irritating times when the last few lines of a document spill over to the next page and you don’t want them to. This hidden feature helps you shrink it down to one page.

The Shrink to Fit command was available as a default in versions before Word 2010. In Word 2010 and 2013, you have to resurface it by customizing the Quick Access Toolbar.
1. Click the dropdown arrow on the Quick Access Toolbar area and choose More Commands.
2. In the Choose commands drop-down list, select All Commands.
3. Scroll through the list to the Shrink One Page command.
4. Click the Add button, and then click OK
shrinkwordYou should now see the command on the Quick Access Toolbar. Shrink One Page decreases the font size of the document to the point where it can fit on one less page than it would use

Exhibit showcases Lynd Ward prize winners

ThisOneSummerA new exhibit in the Sidewater Commons highlights the work of past winners of the Lynd Ward Prize for Best Graphic Novel of the Year. First issued in 2011 and sponsored by Penn State University Libraries and administered by the Pennsylvania Center for the Book — an affiliate of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress — the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize is presented annually to the best graphic novel, fiction or nonfiction, published in the previous calendar year by a living U.S. or Canadian citizen or resident. Read the full story on Penn State News

Right:  2015 Lynd Ward Prize winner, “This One Summer” by Mariko Tamaki (writer) and Jillian Tamaki (artist), published by First Second, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press

LHR News: Aug. 24

Please join us in welcoming the following new hires:

Part-time:
Christopher Franek – Behrend College
Megan Cavanaugh – Behrend College
MaryGrace Myers – Behrend College
Alexis Pompeo – Penn State Shenango
Mitchell Lang – Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library
Anngelica Peters – Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library and Research Hub, Maps, and Knowledge Commons
Spencer McKee – Arts and Humanities Library
Olivia Kuzio – Bednar Intern, Digitization and Preservation
Lauren Baskett – Graduate Assistant, Special Collections Library
Tom Rorke – Graduate Assistant, Special Collections Library
Mahir Akgun – Graduate Assistant, Publishing and Curation Services
Laurin Goad – Graduate Assistant, Arts and Humanities Library
Carolyn Fish – Graduate Assistant, Social Sciences Library

Wishing the following employees well as they leave us:
Sarah Pickle – Publishing and Curation Services

Legal update: requests for prior art references

by Brandy Karl, copyright officer and affiliate law library faculty

Have you ever been asked by a patron to verify the authenticity of a copy, for the dates which copies became cataloged or went into circulation? Or to check the date stamp in the copy of a journal?

Patent attorneys (or companies or individuals hired by them) are often searching for the dates which technologies became available to the public by a description of the technology going into circulation in a library. This is part of what is called a prior art search, and it’s important for patent litigators to help find evidence of technologies that pre-date the technology at issue in a case. While libraries and librarians love to help patrons, writing a statement, declaration, or affidavit of authenticity or determining when a volume was cataloged and placed into circulation are not ordinary services provided to patrons.

These requests are more likely to come to staff and librarians working in the science and engineering fields, but may come to anyone at any campus. In order to protect the University, these requests must go through the general counsel’s office — the information must be subpoenaed. Providing the information without a subpoena is contrary to University policy.

If you receive a request from a patron (who may or may not identify themselves as an attorney) asking for information regarding the cataloging, circulation, authenticity, or any other information regarding an item that is not ordinarily or routinely provided to patrons, please pass on the information or request as specified below. If you have any questions or need any clarification, reach out to me at any time. — Thank you, Brandy Karl

Directing Prior Art Reference Requests

Uncertain: If you are uncertain whether a patron request constitutes a prior art search, you may reach out to me at any time or forward me the information.
Brandy Karl
bak25@psu.edu
814-867-5921

Certain: If you receive a request for information that you are sure is a prior art search, feel free to forward it directly to:
David W. Dulabon, Associate General Counsel
dwd117@psu.edu
Office Phone: (814) 867-4088

Maps cataloging team celebrates accomplishments

The Maps Cataloging Team is celebrating a trifecta of large accomplishments. In the past year they have finished cataloging several extremely large map collections:

  • 60,600+ topographic maps of the United States
  • 30,400+ Sanborn Fire Insurance Map sheets
  • 7,800+ Flood Insurance Maps
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The team celebrated with a maps-themed cake

Please join Linda Musser, Helen Sheehy and me in congratulating the team on accomplishing these milestones. — Heather Ross