Daily Archives: September 5, 2014

2014 Floating Collection Report is available

By Barbara Coopey

Spring Semester 2014 marked one full year of floating collection with around one million floating monographs at 19 campus libraries. Preparation for floating collection began in 2009 with the Collections Mobility Task Force being charged by Lisa German and Jack Sulzer. The Task Force is comprised of Barbara Coopey, Valerie Allen, Wertney Cox, Barb Eshbach, Valerie Lynn, Trish Notartomas, Nonny Schlotzhauer and Fay Youngmark. The charge was to determine the feasibility of having a mobile collection in which a book that is returned by a patron at one location would remain at that location until requested by a patron at another location.

The July 2014 Floating Collection Progress Report discusses post-implementation issues and observations, shipping data in relation to floating collection, and data on the number of floating books shelved at other libraries. This report, as well as the charge, membership, and 2010, 2012 and 2013 reports can be found on the Collection Mobility Task Force intranet page located at https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/groups/collmobility.html.
The public floating collection page explains floating collection at Penn State. It is located at https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/access/floatingcollection.html.

What’s new in Excel 13

By Ryan Johnson, technology training coordinator

For users confused by the plethora of charting options in previous versions of Excel, the new Recommended Charts feature is useful. Select the data to chart and click Insert > Recommended Chart to see options such as line, bar, and pie charts that the program recommends for your data. Click each chart to preview what your data will look like in that form.

After you select and create a chart, small icons will appear outside its top right corner when you select it, giving you access to work with chart elements, styles, and colors, and with the chart data itself.

excel charts

Open House Update

The 2014 Open House is almost here! Get ready to welcome students to our Libraries on September 10 and 11 from 9-5 p.m.

Volunteer and be part of the fun! 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.

We have awesome staff prizes this year including Downtown State College gift cards! Thanks for all your support in making this event a success! –– Open House Steering Committee

Class on mapping applications offered to students, staff and faculty

The University Libraries will host a workshop on mapping applications for students, staff and faculty on October 1, in W315 Pattee Library.

The workshop will consist of a series of presentation slides highlighting the key features, data sources and display capabilities of the following mapping applications: PolicyMap, SimplyMap and Social Explorer. These applications are available by subscription via the University Libraries. Participants will learn how to understand the process of selecting and displaying data, where to locate information on data sources and more. Following the presentation, participants will complete a hands-on portion to gain experience navigating each application. Participants are encouraged to create a map using each application at the end of the session.

If you anticipate needing accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Tara Lalonde at 814-863-5753/ tll38@psu.edu.

Register for the in-class session here: http://portal.outreach.psu.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1116518

Register for the Adobe Connect session here: http://portal.outreach.psu.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1129226

LHR News: Sept. 8

Please join us in welcoming the following new hires:

Part-time:

Angelina D’Ambrosio, Penn State Berks
Jamie Berube, Penn State Press
Syed Saleem, Penn State Greater Allegheny
Nicholas Jugovic, Penn State Greater Allegheny
Karen Benn, Penn State York
Taylor Ottomano, Penn State Hershey
Jessica Culver, Penn State Hershey
Marcella Cazonie, Penn State Schuylkill
Abelina Barra, Research Hub, Maps and Knowledge Commons
Alison Rausa, Interlibrary Loan
Russell Schaufler, Library Annex
Bernadette Carson, Commons Services
Regan Gaul, Commons Services
Binh Huynh, Commons Services
Vishnu Patel, Commons Services
Alexander Pape, Commons Services
Estella Obi-Tabot, Life Sciences Library
Elizabeth Snyder, Education and Behavioral Sciences Library
Anngelica Peters, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library
Alyssa Curnow, Bednar Intern-Library Learning Services
Sara Holden, Bednar Intern-Development Office
Sean DeLouise, Bednar Intern-Development Office and Library Learning Services

University Libraries graduate assistant blogs about digital humanities conference

Submitted by Patricia Hswe

Note: Hélène Huet works in Publishing and Curation Services (PCS) as Digital Scholarship Services graduate assistant. Recently, in summer 2014, she attended a digital humanities conference in South Carolina. Below are her impressions of that gathering.

The “Data Driven: Digital Humanities in the Library” Conference took place in Charleston, SC from June 20 until June 22, 2014 with over 90 attendees. It was sponsored by the South Carolina Digital Library, the College of Charleston, the Program in the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World, and the Charleston Conference.

The first day was dedicated to workshops where attendees could learn more, among other things, about Omeka, a website aimed at hosting collections, exhibits, and other digital projects. In the evening, Riccardo Ferrante gave the opening keynote address entitled “Digital Humanities: A Voyage of Discovery.” Read more