The University Libraries’ online 2020-2021 annual report and its opening “cover” image depict the student-centered, forward-thinking philosophy of our organization. Click on the image to view the report.

The University Libraries 2020-2021 annual report is now available online. Created for the second annual instance using Microsoft Sway, the annual report offers a wealth of information as submitted by individuals and department/unit leaders totaling more than 40 pages of equivalent content in Microsoft Word.

The link to the annual report is available on the Libraries website at http://libraries.psu.edu/annual-report-2021, which will redirect to the Microsoft Sway URL.

It is also linked under the Organization at a Glance page (in the lefthand menu) and under the special Development and Alumni Relations section Your Donation at Work under the Annual Report tab.

The University Libraries is negotiating a renewal contract with the scholarly publisher Elsevier for its ScienceDirect, Scopus, PURE, SciVal and Funding Institutional library databases. The Libraries makes this content available to scholarly researchers and others across Penn State.

“The University Libraries’ current ScienceDirect subscription, which ends on Dec. 31, 2021, includes more than 2,000 journals. The subscription cost has been increasing significantly over the years and has become financially unsustainable,” said Mihoko Hosoi, University Libraries associate dean for collections, research and scholarly communications. “The University Libraries, as with other Penn State divisions, has encountered financial challenges during the pandemic and must continue to be mindful of budget realities while being responsible stewards of its funds. As a result, the Libraries intends to keep essential content available to researchers and contain costs by negotiating persistently with Elsevier, which is a for-profit scholarly publishing company.”   

Kelly Thormodson, Penn State College of Medicine’s associate dean for library and information services and director of the Harrell Health Sciences Library, offered additional context. “In the academic world, staff and faculty researchers provide scholarly publishers with much of their required labor as authors, peer reviewers and editors who do this work usually for free,” Thormodson said. “This work and the act of publishing in scholarly journals are essential for research, teaching, and faculty promotion and tenure. Unfortunately, covering increasing costs of library journal subscriptions has become unfeasible for many institutions of higher education.”  

Some research libraries, including peer institutions such as those in the University of California system, have successfully negotiated fees as well as open access publishing agreements with Elsevier. Libraries approach such negotiations differently depending on their priorities.

University Libraries negotiators will do their best to ensure that Penn State faculty and students have access to the resources they need for education and research, while simultaneously being optimal stewards of the University’s funds. University Libraries representatives will present an update on these negotiations to the University Faculty Senate and the University Research Council this fall.

The year is winding down, which means it’s Giving Tuesday time!

Online giving is open NOW through Tues, Dec. 1 @ 11:59 p.m. EST. Visit the campaign page to learn more and make a gift. Many of you have been champions in the past, and we hope you will be again this year.

The Libraries has a new priority — to purchase the ‘African Diaspora 1860-Present’ collection. To raise $38,500, we will need the help and support of many. This significant digital database will be accessible to all and is particularly special to Dean Dewey and her husband, Bill. So much so that they gave a $5,000 matching gift to inspire others. When asked why she and Bill are passionate about this project, Barbara shared:

“Bill’s career studying African art and our subsequent travels in Africa and the Caribbean motivated us to provide this modest gift as a recognition that library collections have historically focused on Western European traditions often leaving out much of the world’s rich knowledge base. We hope our gift will be a catalyst for securing further collections highlighting the African experience throughout the Americas and the world to support Penn State students and faculty research and teaching.”

Thank you for supporting this important initiative! If you have any questions at all, please reach out to Sarah Bacon at sac210@psu.edu / 814-863-7718.

P.S. Read more about Giving Tuesday via the Libraries’ Facebook Event.

The 2017-2018 University Libraries annual report is now available online as a PDF via the “Organization at a Glance” page under the “About” section.

Since its origin in 2014, the annual report has been designed as a double-sided, trifold printed item containing brief University Libraries highlights and achievements of the fiscal/academic year, July 1 to June 30.

It is mailed to Association of Research Libraries peer organizations, members of University leadership, and select donors, and handed out to prospective donors and others at the discretion of the dean’s office and Development and Alumni Relations.

Source material includes items submitted to the dean and compiled in her’s annual Activity Report; Libraries news releases, blog entries, and publications, such as The Library newsletter; the Library Assessment Programs office; and unit-level information shared by unit/department heads with the Public Relations and Marketing (PRaM) office.

PRaM offers its sincere thanks to all unit-level leaders who submitted information and answered our questions.

“The Library” donor newsletter, Fall 2017 edition

The Fall 2017 online version of The Library, a newsletter for the University Libraries’ donor audience, is now available for download as an accessible PDF on the Development, Giving to the Libraries, and News and Events pages of the Libraries’ website.

The cover story features limited-time opportunities for supporters of Penn State to secure University-provided matching funds for certain scholarships, early career professorship/librarianship positions, and other endowments and financial gifts, all of which are part of Penn State’s current capital campaign, “A Greater Penn State for 21st-Century Excellence.”

The newsletter is produced by Public Relations and Marketing in collaboration with and support from the Libraries’ Office of Development and Alumni Relations.

Updated Reserve a Group Study Room business-size promotional cards, posters and social media graphics help promote the new URL redirect — https://libraries.psu.edu/studyrooms — which goes to the LibCal system and is available to implement across all Libraries locations with group study rooms.

All Penn State students now can schedule library group study rooms through a single online system,  and soon faculty and staff will see updates to how they request use of Foster Auditorium and what expectations the Libraries has for its use.

Group study rooms now reserved via LibCal
At the start of the fall 2017 semester, the Libraries began using a new room reservation system for students booking library group study rooms. The previous system, EMS, was replaced by LibCal (Springshare’s Equipment & Spaces module) at the end of the spring 2017 semester.

Ann Thompson, the Libraries’ LibCal product owner, worked with I-Tech and ITS to enable student users to access the reservation system using their Penn State credentials without creating an account, an improvement over previous requirements. As before, students can book group study rooms for up to three hours per day and two weeks in advance.

Students at all Libraries locations with group study rooms eventually will be able to use the same online system for reservations. Currently, students at Altoona, Beaver, Berks, Harrisburg, University Park and York are using LibCal for group study room reservations. The system is set up in 15-minute intervals with a booking default to a three-hour reservation, and students can easily change the length of time while making reservations.

LibCal sends a confirmation email to the student containing the reservation information as well as a link to cancel their booking. Online reservations can be made only by students at https://libraries.psu.edu/studyrooms.

Updates coming to Foster Auditorium request procedure and expectations for use
In other scheduling news, the Libraries soon will begin using the CollegeNET platform to schedule Foster Auditorium for both internal Libraries use and for external requests. Currently in the midst of a transitional phase toward full use by June 2018, CollegeNET is being implemented for event management use University-wide and already is being used for academic (classroom) scheduling at all campuses.

In recent months, a working group under the leadership of Associate Dean Anne Langley has been working on an update to Guideline UL-ADG03, “Use of Foster Auditorium.” The group, including Thompson, Emma Davidson, Athena Jackson, Rebecca Miller and Jill Shockey, has clarified priority uses, limitations/expectations and procedures for requesting and advertising use of the space. It is anticipated to be reviewed and approved at an upcoming Dean’s Library Council meeting.

The revised guideline has been updated to give external requesters a better understanding of Foster Auditorium’s primary purpose — for Libraries events, teaching and training — and outlines the Libraries’ expectations and best practices for its use.

Following the updated guideline’s approval, a date will be announced after which all requests for using Foster Auditorium must be submitted using CollegeNET. At the same time, Foster Auditorium will be removed from the UCS list of reservable locations. Please note: all existing UCS reservations will be migrated to CollegeNET.

Please watch for an announcement of a future Tech Update that will provide an overview of both LibCal and CollegeNET.

– submitted by Ann Thompson and Jill Shockey