Monthly Archives: February 2015

Library News: Feb. 23

New features in Box Notes

By Ryan Johnson, technology training coordinator

Box Notes is an easy-to-use document creation tool built natively in Box and available to all Box users With Box Notes, you can quickly take notes, share ideas and collaborate in real-time with your team—all without leaving Box. The notes are web-based documents and do not require any other software in order to create, view or edit.

If you have never created a Box Note before, simply select New Box Note from the initial drop-down menu next to Upload or select the Box Note button (see below).

Capture2(8)Box Notes was updated last week to include three new main features:

Capture(31)1) The ability to insert tables into a Boxnote
2) The ability to insert images that are housed outside of Box. Previously you could insert an image that was stored elsewhere in Box. Now if the image is accessible on the Internet, you can insert that image in your Boxnote.

(You’ll find icons for these two features at the top center of each Boxnote)

3) Versioning is now enabled for Boxnotes. New versions are automatically created roughly every five minutes. You can view who has made changes and you can revert to older versions.

Events: Feb. 23

February 24, 11:15 a.m.: Penn State Laureate Susan Russell presents “Thanks, Mrs. Sawyer: How My First Grade Teacher is Helping Me Translate 21st Century Education,” Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library.

February 25, noon: Forest Food Fight! Gender, Indigenous Knowledge and the Struggle for Resources at the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve in South Africa, Foster Aud. Presented by Katie Tavenner, dual-degree PhD candidate in rural sociology and women’s studies. View online.

February 26, 9:30 a.m.: Creating Accessible Word and PowerPoint Documents in Office 13
See TechSmart for location and details. In this session, you will discover best practices to create accessible Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents (updated for Office 13). Whether you create website content or just email and share documents with staff, creating accessible Office files is very important. This session will cover the basic techniques needed to optimize your content for accessibility.

March 1, 11 a.m.: Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B, will appear on Oprah Winfrey’s “Super Soul Sunday.” Chittister is an internationally renowned writer and lecturer and one of the most articulate social analysts and influential religious leaders of this age. The Eberly Family Special Collections Library in Penn State’s University Libraries houses The Joan D. Chittister Archive in an archival collaboration to preserve her accumulated works with Mercyhurst University in Erie and the Benedictine Sisters of Erie.

March 2, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Endnote, W23 Pattee. EndNote can be used to search online bibliographic databases, organize references, images and PDFs in any language and create bibliographies and figure lists instantly. Attend one of these seminars to learn how to get the most out of EndNote. To register, go to http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/classes/research_basics_seminar.html

March 2, 4 p.m.: Picturing Dogs, Seeing Ourselves, an illustrated talk by Ann-Janine Morey, Foster Aud.

March 3, noon – 1:30p.m.: United Way Chili Cook Off. Sign up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4ba8ab28a64-university You don’t need to cook, but you can vote! Come between noon-1:30pm to buy your voting tickets $5 for 5 tickets and stay for lunch.

March 4, 5:30–6:30 p.m.: Spring Clean Financial Clutter, Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library. Additional details are online at http://bit.ly/1rzz1Jw. Registration is available online at http://bit.ly/1DXRzru.

March 5, 10:00–11:30 a.m.: Mendeley. 302 Paterno Library. 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. To register, go to http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/classes/research_basics_seminar.html.

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

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

Author to discuss vintage photographs of people with their dogs

2 BusterE“Picturing Dogs, Seeing Ourselves,” an illustrated talk by Ann-Janine Morey, will be held at 4:00 p.m., on Monday, March 2, 2015, in the Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library.

Morey is the author of “Picturing Dogs, Seeing Ourselves. American Vintage Photographs,” published in 2014 by the Penn State University Press as part of the series Animalibus: Of Animals and Culture. The talk will be followed by a book sale and signing.

Dogs are as ubiquitous in American culture as white picket fences and apple pie, embracing all the meanings of wholesome domestic life—family, fidelity, comfort, protection, nurturance and love—as well as symbolizing some of the less palatable connotations of home and family, including domination, subservience and violence. In her book Morey presents a collection of vintage photographs of dogs and their owners that reveal a richly textured visual history of the relationship between Americans and their dogs, including cultural expressions of race, class and gender. Her talk will draw from her own collection of hundreds of postcards, early 19th-century photographs, childhood snapshots, posed studio portraits and images of hunting and many other settings in photographs created from 1860 to 1950.

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LHR News: February 23

Please join us in welcoming the following new hires:

Full-time:
2/23/15 Patrick Kelly – Audio-Visual Technician A, Media and Technology Support Services

Part-time:
Mary Im – News and Microforms Library

Internal Moves:
2/16/15 Robert Resides – Electronic Technician A, Media and Technology Support Services

Who will win the Libraries’ Chili Cook-Off?

DATE: 3/3/2015 (noon – 1:30p.m.)

Join us in supporting the United Way and driving away the winter blues with a good old fashioned chili cook-off. Note: You don’t need to cook, but you can vote! Come between noon-1:30pm to buy your voting tickets $5 for 5 tickets and stay for lunch.

Sign up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4ba8ab28a64-university  *don’t forget to give your chili a title*

Inside Access: A fix to dead-end messages in the CAT and a change to system-generated slips

By Trish Notartomas

Members of the Circulation-Reserves Expert team recently made the following changes to existing WorkFlows policy descriptions and behavior settings.

1) Under certain circumstances, users would encounter brief, dead-end messages in the CAT. These have now been replaced with more helpful, user-friendly messages:

Instead of Hold Not Allowed, User Blocked or Privilege Has Expired – the message now states: We could not process your request. Please contact your library’s circulation desk or click on “Ask a Librarian” for more information. For library contact information and hours, visit our website: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/home.html

Instead of User Barred – the message now states: We could not process your request. Please visit http://cat.libraries.psu.edu/accept_lendingcode.html to accept library policy for faculty and staff or contact your library’s circulation desk for more information.

2) The following system-generated slips; Checkout, In Transit, and On Hold – were modified and streamlined. In a nutshell, the changes include:

  • a rearrangement of the fields so that the important elements appear at the top
  • an addition of a Comment field on the On Hold slip
  • the removal of the Author field

Spring clean your financial clutter

“Spring Clean Financial Clutter” will be presented Wednesday, March 4, 5:30–6:30 p.m., in Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library. Spring cleaning clears clutter in closets and garages and can do the same for personal finances. Presenter Dr. Daad Rizk, a Penn State financial literacy coordinator, offers this practical workshop on ways to take control of personal finances and simplify financial record keeping for year-end tax purpose that will reduce stress and save time.

Refreshments will be provided.

The presentation is part of the Money Counts: a Financial Literacy Series, a collaborative effort of the Penn State Commission for Adult Learners and the University Libraries.

Additional details are online at http://bit.ly/1rzz1Jw . Registration is available online at http://bit.ly/1DXRzru.

The presentations are available in the MoneyCounts: A Financial Literacy Series, see the left-hand column listing, at tinyurl.com/FinLitMCSeries.

For more information or if you anticipate needing accessibility accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Lauren Reiter at lmr29@psu.edu or 814-865-4414.

Libraries hosts viewing of Oprah’s ‘Super Soul Sunday’

Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B, will appear on Oprah Winfrey’s “Super Soul Sunday” on Sunday, March 1, 11:00 a.m. to noon ET/PT. Chittister is an internationally renowned writer and lecturer and one of the most articulate social analysts and influential religious leaders of this age. The Eberly Family Special Collections Library in Penn State’s University Libraries houses The Joan D. Chittister Archive in an archival collaboration to preserve her accumulated works with Mercyhurst University in Erie and the Benedictine Sisters of Erie.

The program, “Oprah and Sister Joan Chittister: A Life of Passion, Purpose, and Joy,” will air on OWN and also be simulcast on Oprah.com, Facebook.com/supersoulsunday and Facebook.com/OWNTV. Penn State’s University Libraries will host a viewing of the program at 11:00 a.m., Sunday, March 1, in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library.

Sister Chittister, OSB, is an outspoken advocate of justice, peace and equality–especially for women all over the world, and has been one of America’s visionary spiritual voices for more than thirty years. She and Oprah will discuss new ways of looking at God, the vital force that women represent in the church and in society and the divinity of merging spirituality and science.

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Diversity potluck on March 18

Div1106-dessertsThe University Libraries Diversity Committee Potluck will be held on March 18, 2015, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Mann Assembly Room. Everyone is welcome to join us! If you plan to attend, please complete the brief survey found via the link below. Please let Rachel Smith know via email (ras75@psu.edu) if you have any questions. Thank you and hope to see you there!

https://surveys.libraries.psu.edu/TakeSurvey.aspx?PageNumber=1&SurveyID=983M3ol&Preview=true

Website migration update: Guides forum recap

Guides Forum Recap: January 27, 2015

Thanks to all who participated in the Guides Forum on January 27! We had a lively and productive discussion about current guides and our planning for the transition into LibGuides. We talked about improving our guides through the LibGuides implementation, and how we might best leverage, develop and actively maintain our important Guides “Collection.” Thanks again to all for your thoughtful comments and feedback. For those of you who were not able to attend, we encourage you to submit your comments and ideas to ul-wimt@lists.psu.edu.

  • The recording of the Guides Forum is here
  • The notes from the Forum are here

More information about current guides usage can be found here:
https://psu.box.com/s/f6pbmmnqinnunfk1v6mfyt1rv13p9z0j

Submitted by Helen Smith and Binky Lush on behalf of the Web Implementation and Management Team

Events

February 18, 5:30 p.m.: “FAFSA and Scholarships,” Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library. Details online.

February 19, 10:00–11:00 a.m.: Library Research Basics. W315 Pattee Library. Learn how to find books, articles and other materials in your research area or major by using the Libraries’ online databases. You will also discover library services that can help streamline your research process. Individuals not affiliated with Penn State can register by calling 814-865-9257. To register, go to http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/classes/research_basics_seminar.html.

February 24, 11:15 a.m.: Penn State Laureate Susan Russell presents “Thanks, Mrs. Sawyer: How My First Grade Teacher is Helping Me Translate 21st Century Education,” Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library.

February 25, noon: Forest Food Fight! Gender, Indigenous Knowledge and the Struggle for Resources at the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve in South Africa, Foster Aud. Presented by Katie Tavenneris, dual-degree PhD candidate in rural sociology and women’s studies. View online.

February 26, 9:30 a.m.: Creating Accessible Word and PowerPoint Documents in Office 13
See TechSmart for location and details. In this session, you will discover best practices to create accessible Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents (updated for Office 13). Whether you create website content or just email and share documents with staff, creating accessible Office files is very important. This session will cover the basic techniques needed to optimize your content for accessibility.

March 2, 10:00–11:30 a.m., Endnote, W23 Pattee. EndNote can be used to search online bibliographic databases, organize references, images and PDFs in any language and create bibliographies and figure lists instantly. Attend one of these seminars to learn how to get the most out of EndNote. To register, go to http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/classes/research_basics_seminar.html

March 5, 10:00–11:30 a.m.: Mendeley. 302 Paterno Library. 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. To register, go to http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/classes/research_basics_seminar.html.

March 18, 3 p.m.: Women Don’t Ask. Book talk discussion session with author Sara Laschever, Foster Aud.

 

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

Nominate colleague for award

Every day our staff and faculty employees do great work to serve our University, faculty and students. Here is your opportunity to recognize and appreciate their amazing efforts.

Each spring, the University Libraries honor staff and faculty members who positively effect the success of the Libraries and the morale of their colleagues. Award recipients are chosen from nominations submitted by you, the Libraries’ faculty and staff members. This gives us a unique chance to express our appreciation of the talent, dedication, and character of our peers.

You can nominate outstanding Library faculty and staff members for:

  • The University Libraries Award — recognizes a Libraries faculty or staff member who has contributed significantly to the operations of the University Libraries
  • The Margaret Knoll Spangler Oliver Libraries Award — recognizes outstanding service by Libraries’ employees
  • The Libraries Diversity Award — recognizes individuals and teams who have made extraordinary contributions to enhancing the environment of mutual respect for differing backgrounds and points of view
  • The University Libraries’ Teaching Award — honors an individual who has excelled in teaching and/or created an exemplary and innovative instruction program

All nominations must be completed in full by 5 p.m., on Wednesday, March 25. The deadline will be here before you know it, so start now! The online nomination form will be available soon and a link for our updated website will be sent shortly.

Employees in all areas of the Libraries, including all campuses and the Dickinson School of Law and Hershey School of Medicine are encouraged to participate.

Feel free to contact Shirley Davis at sjd3@psu.edu or Rob Harris at rch20@psu.edu with any questions.

Thank you,

2015 Awards Selection Committee:

Rob Harris, Chair
Anne Behler
Matt Ciszek
Megan Gilpin
Lily Huang
Sue Kellerman
Lauren Reiter
Brent Stump

Donate books for African Library Project

By Ann Snowman

Back in September we wrote to tell you about the support The Annex is providing the African Library project. This semester Pattee and Paterno Libraries is participating in the collection of books for the project. You will find a box parked outside the Education and Behavioral Sciences Library on 5 Paterno. The project accepts new or gently used children’s books for the K-8 reading level. The students who coordinate this effort will collect the books at the end of the semester, sort them and ship them to help start libraries in Africa.

PA library leaders announce new initiative to increase access to digital collections

PALCI Announcement:

Efforts to make digital collections held by Pennsylvania libraries, museums, and related cultural heritage organizations widely and freely available via the web are underway. In August 2014, a state-wide group of library leaders from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries/the State Library, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, The Pennsylvania State University, the Free Library of Philadelphia, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the University of Scranton, Access Pennsylvania/HSLC, the Keystone Library Network, the Interlibrary Delivery Service of Pennsylvania, Scranton Public Library, and the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium convened to explore opportunities and interest in collaborating to this end. The first step is the appointment of the PA-DPLA Planning Group, which is working to establish a Pennsylvania hub on the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA).

The PA-DPLA Planning Group has just completed a survey of cultural heritage organizations to determine which have digital collections and which are able and ready to participate in the early phases of this effort. With 207 institutions responding thus far, half of the institutions report they have digitization collections and related activities in place where the others do not. More information on the findings from this survey is available here.

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