September 9, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m., in Foster Auditorium and Media Site Live
Topics include:
September 3, noon to 1 p.m.,: “The Impact of Cooperative Extension at Penn State,” lecture by Jan Scholl, associate professor, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Education, Foster Auditorium.
September 3, 12: 15 p.m.: “Tsunami: Anatomy of a Disaster,” film, EMS Art Gallery, 18 Deike (50 min.) A critical look at the causes, movement, and destruction of tsunamis.
September 10 and 11: Open House at University Park Libraries
September 16, 9 a.m.: Dean’s Forum with Provost Dr. Nicholas P. Jones, Foster Auditorium and MediaSite Live
September 16, 11a.m.–noon: So HELP me Part 1: Workshop on Improving Customer Service. This two-part workshop will consider some of the challenges of customer service and how best to handle them. You will learn techniques that will help you solve customer problems quickly and to the customer’s satisfaction. The video, “So HELP Me,” along with the training session, will not only demonstrate techniques for solving customer problems, but will also make the customer service experience more satisfying to our customers and to you. Register in TechSmart
September 17, 1–2 p.m.: So HELP me Part 1: Workshop on Improving Customer Service. Another offering of Part 1 of the workshop
September 17, noon – 1 p.m.: “Hegemony (Un)bound: Representations of Indigenous Peoples in K-12 U.S. History Standards,” presented by Sarah B. Shear, assistant professor of social studies education at Penn State Altoona. Foster Auditorium. This presentation will kick off this year’s indigenous knowledge seminar series. Read the full story next week. Right: Illustration from the children’s book “Thanksgiving Day” by Gail Gibbons.
September 17, 12: 15 p.m.: “Stuff: A Horizon Guide to Materials,” film, EMS Art Gallery, 18 Deike (50 min.) How the discovery and invention of helium-3, superplastic metals, among others, is changing the shape of the “stuff” around us.
September 17, 5:30–7 p.m.: “Credit Cards,” a workshop, Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library. The program will discuss the pros and cons of paying with plastic, how to read a credit card statement, how to manage credit card debt and how credit cards can impact your credit history, credit report and credit score. This workshop will uncover the mystery of how a FICO score is calculated and reveal tips to protect your financial reputation. Registration is requested at http://bit.ly/Vfy4cU
September 18, noon-1 p.m.: Brown bag Presentation by James O’Sullivan, Digital Humanities research designer (a joint position between the Libraries and the College of Liberal Arts), Mann Assembly Room
September 24, 12: 15 p.m.: “Shattered Sky: The Battle for Energy, Economy, and Environment,” film, EMS Art Gallery, 18 Deike (57 min.) How the hole in the ozone layer is shaping the dichotomy between businesses and politicians.
September 30, noon-1 p.m.: Brown Bag Presentation by Sarah Pickle, Social Sciences Data Curation Fellow (a CLIR postdoc position), Mann Assembly Room
Save the date: October 23, “Getting to Know International Patrons”
There are over 7,000 international students from around the world enrolled at Penn State. These students bring with them a broad range of cultures, languages, backgrounds, and expectations. This discussion-based workshop will present effective strategies for communicating with our international patrons. Mann Assembly Room,3-4 p.m. and Adobe Connect. Register in Techsmart More details to come.
By Tara Lalonde
The GIS Interest group met on Tuesday, 8/19/2014 from 1pm to 2 pm. Some highlights of the discussion entailed:
Meeting notes are located here: https://psu.box.com/s/0oeesr97hwf154fnegvr
The next meeting is planned for Thursday, September 25, from 1–2 p.m., in Paterno Library, Room 403. Any library employee is welcome to attend. Please let Tara LaLonde (tll38@psu.edu) know if you have any questions or geospatial topics to include in the discussion.
Submitted by John Meier
The new space adds 34 computers to the Engineering Library
This past summer the Engineering Library in 325 Hammond Building was renovated to create a new Library Instruction Room and a more open environment for student learning. The new instruction room has 36 computers for hands-on learning and is open to all students when not in use for a class, adding 34 additional computers to the library. Library Supervisor Linda Struble observed, “The library has continued to get busier. Last year we would see students walk in, look around, and when unable to find work space, walk back out. With the additional computers and other improvements, we will be able to serve more students in an improved atmosphere.” The Library has all new chairs throughout the library at quiet study carrels, collaborative tables, and computer workstations. The reference book collection has been updated with the newest handbooks, technical dictionaries, and encyclopedias.
Two new collections have been created in the library: Professional Development and Popular Technology. The Professional Development collection has books about writing research articles or creating better presentations, along with PE and FE exam preparation books. Engineering Librarian Angela Davis explains the Popular Technology collection’s appeal, “Have you ever wondered why cities smell the way they do or how to build Iron Man? These can be found in the new Popular Reading in Tech. collection. These materials are useful for when you need to take a break from studying.” Questions can be directed to the Engineering Library at UL-ENGR@lists.psu.edu or 814-865-3451.
Please join us in welcoming the following new hires:
Part-time:
Lester Miller, Penn State Harrisburg
Nashira Barnes, Penn State Altoona
Gene Sewell, Penn State Altoona
Ahmed Ahmed, Behrend College
Danielle Johnson, Penn State Shenango
Ludger Noel, Penn State Abington
Susan Chajon, Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library
India Ellsworth, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library
Mehdi Goutr, Commons Services
Katelyn Johnson, Commons Services
Rachele Mash, Commons Services
Luke Owen, Life Sciences Library
Michelle Pistner, Bednar Intern-Social Sciences Library
Jordin Cramner, Bednar Intern-Social Sciences Library
Craig Wenner, Bednar Intern-Social Sciences Library
Nia Gibbs, Bednard Intern-Library Learning Services
Labor Day Holiday
The University observed the Labor Day holiday on Monday, September 1.
Please note that this day is similar to a day the Libraries is open on an official University holiday during the December holiday time period each year. As always, please consult HR-34 regarding holidays for full-time Staff, HR-5 for earned-time-eligible part-time employees, and HR-88 for full-time positions that are less than 100%.
Note: Dickinson School of Law Libraries and George T. Harrell Library employees are provided with this information as employees of the University Libraries; however, day-to-day operational practices are guided by their respective Colleges. Dickinson and College of Medicine Library employees should speak to their immediate supervisor or local HR Representative for guidance, as necessary. Conditions of employment for Technical-service employees are further described in the “Agreement between The Pennsylvania State University and Teamsters Local Union No. 8.” Technical-service employees should refer to the Agreement for information related to the above topics.
Three new exhibits in Pattee Library focus on Pennsylvania heritage and are on display through December 19. “Discovering the U.S. Civil War: Highlights from the Civil War Collection at Penn State,” is on display in the Franklin Atrium, first floor Pattee Library. It includes Civil War era newspapers and images from “The People’s Contest, A Civil War Era Digital Archiving Project,” a collaborative project of the University Libraries and the Richards Civil War Center. The center locates and digitizes rare manuscript collections from across Pennsylvania and promotes research into the experiences of Pennsylvanians between 1851 and 1874.
The exhibit also showcases recent Penn State Press books, including images from the diaries of an African American woman. In addition the exhibit has the Altoona Baker family photo album, an autographed note signed by President Abraham Lincoln and given to the Richards Center by a donor as well as photographs of Henry Varnum Poor’s Land Grant Fresco located in the Old Main lobby on the north wall.
The “Pennsylvania Civil War Newspapers: Civil War Collection at Penn State” is on display at the mall entrance to central Pattee Library on the left side of the welcome desk. It features two Centre County newspapers with opposing political views, each dated October 14, 1864. Both newspapers are freely available as part of the Civil War Digital Newspapers Database. Currently there are 102 titles digitized, and the collection contains all the text, photographs and advertisements from selected newspapers published from 1831–1877, the pivotal years surrounding the U.S. Civil War.
The “Pennsylvania Digital Newspaper Project, 2008–2014: Celebrating PaDNP” is on display at the mall entrance to central Pattee Library on the right side of the welcome desk. This milestone project, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, was completed in August 2014. With support from the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Penn State’s Libraries digitized 88 Pennsylvania newspaper titles, creating 365,051 online page images and 57,786 issues from 44 cities representing 41 of the 47 counties. Project manager Karen Morrow and principal investigator Sue Kellerman note, “The initiative has built a national digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1836 and 1922, from all the states and U.S. territories.”
For more information or if you anticipate needing accessibility accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Cheri Banks at 814-863-6798.
All staff in Digitization and Preservation contributed to the creation of these exhibits. Albert Rozo, Kara Ballenger and Ann Passmore were instrumental in its timely completion.
The Irish News Aug 28, 2014, Steven Herb, Penn State librarian and Director of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book is quoted. He and Jackie Esposito, Penn State University Archivist, wrote the “The Nittany Lion: an illustrated tale” in 1997. IrishNewsAug282014
Article Published
Linda Musser, head of the Earth and Mineral Sciences Library, had two articles out recently:
“Power to the People: Loaning Batteries to Users” PaLA Bulletin 69(3):10-11. (this was a description of a project funding by one of the UL microgrants, read more about the project on this page: https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/admin/microgrant-program/intranet/awards-reports.html)
and “Copyright Status for Sanborn Maps” base line 35(4):25-26.
By Alissa Zawoyski
The Libraries’ Open House will be held on Wednesday, September 10 and Thursday, September 11. Please note that the times for Open House have changed to 9 AM – 5 PM in an effort to ease staffing concerns.
The Prize Room is now the Finish Line
Open House is one of the Libraries’ biggest, most popular and exciting events and we need you to make it a success! We need volunteers to:
Volunteers are needed for the greeting stations – photos by Wilson Hutton
Wednesday and Thursday: Staff our greeting stations, directional stations, the NEW Lion Lounge (a fun, optional stop featuring a photo booth and the illustrious button maker) and Finish Line
Sign up here:
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/9040B4CADA929A13-open
To volunteer, click on the link, then click on the shift you wish to volunteer for. You will be asked to enter your name and email so that a reminder can be sent to you in advance of your shift. You do not have to create an account in order to volunteer.
Open House Orientation sessions are scheduled for September 2, 2 – 3 p.m. and September 3, 10 – 11a.m. in Foster Auditorium. Come see what’s new!
All volunteers are eligible to win prizes like Downtown State College gift cards and Penn State Libraries tote bags!
Thanks for your help!
By Trish Notartomas
Instead of printing a date-due slip at checkout, a new selection in the WorkFlows Client includes an option that produces an email record of the transaction. Users will like this feature as they now have a convenient email record of their checkouts to refer to at a later date.
This new feature is available in the Workflows Checkout wizard. Staff will be able to email (and/or text) checkout receipts to users for their current transactions. An additional “next step” button will appear during every checkout.
When selected, a confirmation message pops up if an email exists in the user’s account.
This error displays if no email exists in the user’s account.
Staff will still be prompted to generate a paper receipt, and should click Cancel if the user opted for the email/text receipt.
Applications for a University Libraries Innovation Microgrant are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, August 29, so don’t delay if you were thinking about applying. This program is open to all staff and faculty of the University Libraries and Penn State Press. In the past, awards have been given to a diverse range of innovations and services. Linda Musser, for example, received an award during the 2012-13 cycle to test the feasibility of loaning portable battery packs to students, while Michael Kattner received an award last year to organize a half-day workshop titled “Storytelling Skills for More Effective Communication.” The full list of microgrant award winners and details of their projects can be found here:https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/admin/microgrant-program/intranet/awards-reports.html
For more information on the program criteria and guidelines, and to apply, please visit the Microgrant website.
Questions? Contact the Microgrant Team at ul-microgrants@lists.psu.edu
The “So Help Me Workshop” on improving customer service has additional dates added. Please see the full schedule below:
So HELP Me: A Two Part Workshop on Improving Customer Service
This two part workshop will consider some of the challenges of customer service and how best to handle them. You will learn techniques that will help you solve customer problems quickly and to the customer’s satisfaction. The video, “So HELP Me,” along with the training session, will not only demonstrate techniques for solving customer problems, but will also make the customer service experience more satisfying to our customers and to you.
Part 1 will focus on:
Dates and Times (Part 1)
Tuesday, September 16: 11 a.m. – Noon
Wednesday, September 17: 1–2 p.m.
Thursday, October 2 – 3–4 p.m.
Wednesday, October 8 – 1–2 p.m.
Thursday, October 9 – 10–11 a.m.
Tuesday, November 4 – 10–11 a.m.
Thursday, November 13 – 3–4 p.m.
Wednesday, December 3 – 1–2 p.m.
Part 2 will focus on:
Dates and Times (Part 2)
Tuesday, September 30: 11- Noon
Wednesday, October 1: 1-2 p.m.
Wednesday, October 15: 1-2 p.m.
Thursday, October 16: 9-10 a.m. and 3-4 p.m.
Thursday, November 6: 10-11 a.m.
Friday, December 5: 1-2 p.m.
Thursday, December 11: 3-4 p.m.
These workshops will use discussion and video as training methods. Dates and times are available in TechSmart . Register for the workshops in TechSmart. If you have any questions, please contact Rita Buhite at rbb21@psu.edu .
Submitted by Anne Belden and Leah Oakes
This year’s annual Open House—the Libraries’ largest outreach initiative—will be on September 10 and 11. A quick update on a new initiative for this year’s experience…
With the students only a heartbeat away from returning to campus, eagle-eyed library workers may soon see some interesting markings decorating the sidewalks. The hashtags #openUP, #faceofopenhouse and #wheresnittany will be appearing across campus in anticipation of the students’ return. But what’s the meaning behind these tags? That’s part of the mystery—at least for the students!
#wheresnittany is part of the campaign
This year, the Open House committee is attempting a more aggressive social media campaign to increase online engagement with Open House attendees. Students will be encouraged with sidewalk chalk and day-of signage to Tweet, Facebook, and Instagram themselves attending the library event. With pictures and fun facts, students will be encouraged to “open up” online and share their experiences with their peers and us!
The #faceofopenhouse tag is targeted at our selfie-loving students. By tagging pictures of themselves at Open House, students can try to become the “Face of Open House” and enjoy 15 minutes of library fame. We’ll be checking in on Twitter and Instagram for our favorites throughout both days.
The campaign aims to increase student engagement
All attendees are invited to contribute to the social media experience by updating on the platform of your choice during Open House. Just be sure to tag your posts with #openUP or direct them to @psulibs.
Students can guess the location of our friend Nittany on the #wheresnittany tag. Pictures of Nittany in various library locations have already been popping up on @psulibs and Facebook.
Want to be part of the fun? You can sign up to be a volunteer to staff the general areas! Just sign up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040b4cada929a13-open
Questions? Email ul-open-house-steer@lists.psu.edu
Please join us in welcoming the following new hires:
Full-time:
8/25/14 Stefanie Austin – Statistical Information Specialist, Social Sciences Library
8/25/14 Sarah Pickle -Social Sciences Data Curation Fellow, Publishing and Curation Services
Part-time:
Nazrin Karimli – Penn State Abington
Megan McElwee – Penn State Altoona
Evana Mullet – Penn State Altoona
John Conklin – Behrend College
Kelly Linzenbold – Penn State Shenango
Mary Weaver – Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library
Nicole Kusi – Life Sciences Library
Nosagie Ekhator – Research Hub, Maps, and Knowledge Commons
Mohamad Kanbari – Research Hub, Maps, and Knowledge Commons
John Degennaro – Commons Services
Daniel Espinal – Commons Services
Rittu Raju – Engineering Library
Wishing the following employees well as they leave us:
8/31/14 Karen Morrow, Digitization and Preservation
8/31/14 Jack Sulzer, Libraries Administration
Office of Human Resources announces flu vaccine schedule
The Office of Human Resources Employee Benefits Division reminds you it is that time of year for all Penn State employees and their spouse/partners to get their flu vaccines. The flu vaccine clinic dates are open for registration. To make an appointment go to https://app3.ohr.psu.edu/emPower/frm_login.cfm. Flu vaccines are free to any current Penn State employee and their spouse/partner enrolled in health benefits. If an employee’s spouse wishes to receive a flu shot and does not have Penn State health benefits, the cost of their flu shot is $24. Retirees are not eligible for this program. If you have any questions, e-mail Pam Glanert, pjg138@psu.edu
Submitted by Lisa German
Thousands of graduate students streamed into the Hub last Wednesday evening to learn about Penn State services and programs. Librarians Bill Brockman, Angela Davis, Vanessa Eyer, and Lisa German welcomed our new students and shared general information about the Libraries and let students know who their subject liaisons are and where their libraries are located. Linda Friend, Patricia Hswe, and Sara Irwin from Services and Solutions demonstrated ScholarSphere to new students, many of whom already knew about ScholarSphere. All of our water bottles, flash drives, and Sharpies were gone in ten minutes! Welcome incoming graduate students!
A student being shown how to use Scholarsphere— photo by Lisa German
A special lecture, “The Impact of Cooperative Extension at Penn State,” by Jan Scholl, associate professor, Ag Economics and Rural Sociology Education, is scheduled for September 3, noon to 1 p.m., in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library. The presentation complements, “The Power of Agricultural Cooperative Extension: 100 Years of Penn State Service,” on display through September 15, in The Special Collections Library, 104 Paterno Library, Penn State University Park.
The exhibit features archival materials, like this photograph of a sheep expo. Image: Penn State University Archives
Additional information about this exhibit and the archival collections related to Penn State Extension, contact Jackie R. Esposito, University Archivist, 814-863-3791 or jxe2@psu.edu.
For additional information about this exhibit and the University Archives or if you anticipate needing accessibility accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Jackie Esposito at 814-863-3791 or jxe2@psu.edu.