Daily Archives: March 9, 2015

Library News: March 9

Materials due during unplanned campus closures

by Chris Holobar

Don’t forget that authorized staff can use the Discharging Bookdrop wizard in WorkFlows to back-date discharges of loans like recalls, course reserves, videos, laptops, iPads etc. that are due when a campus is closed. Use the Day and Time gadget to set the date and time for the day and hour that your library was last open for materials returned to bookdrops or brought in after your library reopens. This will ensure that borrowers aren’t assessed fees that you’ll need to cancel later.

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For more information, see the Discharging Bookdrop Wizard Procedure training bulletin here:

https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/access/intranet/minsaccesscouncil/trainingbulletins.html

LHR News: March 9

Please join us in welcoming the following new hires:

Part-time:
Chloe Scott, Research Hub and Knowledge Commons
Karlie Hoetzer, Collection Maintenance
Brian Kothe, Collection Maintenance
Katherine Zerillo, Collection Maintenance
Rosalyn Walker, Earth and Mineral Sciences Library
Guillermo Bogran, Bednar Intern (Knowledge Commons)

Internal Moves:
3/8/15 William Hughes, Audio-Visual Repair Technician, Media and Technology Support Services

Wishing the following employees well as they leave us:
Megan Folmar, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library

Diversity Committee seeks book reviewers

The Libraries’ Diversity Committee is seeking volunteer book reviewers for recently published diversity-related titles. Submissions range from 500-1000 words, and must be in line with the Penn State Libraries Diversity Statement:

The University Libraries are committed to diversity in all of its forms, embracing differences with acceptance and respect. We will create an environment of respect and inclusion for faculty, staff, students, and members of the Commonwealth. We will provide collections and programs that reflect the diversity of our community and raise cultural awareness. We will ensure equitable access to our facilities, resources and services, and we will improve our workforce by attracting and developing talented faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds.

Reviewers are welcome to suggest books of their liking, or can ask the Diversity Committee for recommended titles. Books authored by invited guest speakers at Penn State are especially welcome. The Diversity Committee will buy books for review if they are not available in the Penn State Libraries.

The diversity book reviews are an ongoing commitment of the Penn State Libraries Diversity Committee. We welcome as many volunteers as possible all year round. All reviews will be published on the Diversity Committee website, and in the Penn State Library News blog. This is an excellent scholarship opportunity that is open all Penn State University Libraries staff and faculty.

If interested, please contact Jonathan Wallace (jmw19@dsl.psu.edu), coordinator, University Libraries Staff Picks; or Mohamed Berray (mab89@psu.edu), chair, Collections, Diversity Committee.

N/B: In commemoration of Women’s History Month, titles on the subject will be appreciated for reviews intended to be published in March.

Flipping Cells in Excel Columns

By Ryan Johnson, technology training coordinator

Reversing the order of cells in an Excel column is quite easy, and can be done in just a few steps:

1. Add a column next to the column you’d like to flip.

2. Fill that column with numbers, starting with 1 and going up to the number of rows in the column you’d like to reverse.

3. Select both columns and click Data > Sort. Select the column that you just added and filled with numbers. Select Largest to smallest, and click OK.

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Tech tutors now offer virtual service

The University Libraries are partnering with ITS and the World Campus to offer a new virtual service. Tech Tutors are students at University park who have been carefully trained to answer a variety of questions pertaining to Excel, Angel, Photoshop and other site-licensed software. The service is free to students and Penn State faculty and staff and no appointment is needed. Tech tutors offer face-to-face help in the Knowledge Commons and online via this link: http://techtutors.psu.edu/help/

The link is also accessible from the Ask a Librarian web page. Virtual service is available from Sunday through Thursday 1:00pm-10:00pm. — Christine Avery

So HELP Me workshop reminder

So HELP Me Workshop **Reminder **

Wednesday, March 11, 2015
2:30 – 4 p.m.
Mann Assembly Room

This 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.

Workshop will focus on

  • What customers value – positive and negative customer service
  • What’s the toughest part of customer service?
  • Owning the problem
  • Creating an action plan

The Pennsylvania State University encourages qualified persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Rita Buhite (rbb21@psu.edu or 814-867-5034) in advance of your participation or visit.

Nominate a deserving colleague for a Libraries Award

Who in your work environment is in most need of appreciation?  The Libraries are seeking nominations for the following awards:

  • The University Libraries Award
  • Margaret Knoll Spangler Oliver Libraries Award
  • Libraries Diversity Award
  • University Libraries’ Teaching Award

Don’t delay, nominate a colleague today for one of these awards! The deadline is March 25. Please see details at: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/awards.html.

Click on this link to open a flyer: 2015 University Libraries Award Poster

 

 

New 100 Digital Discoveries blog post

100 Digital Discoveries is pleased to announce its new blog post by James O’Sullivan, digital humanities research designer, on the launch of the new journal Digital Literary Studies by Publishing and Curation Services. This journal is intended to act as an international peer-reviewed interdisciplinary publication with a focus on those aspects of Digital Humanities primarily concerned with literary studies. Check out the post at http://sites.psu.edu/100digidisc/2015/03/02/launching-digital-literary-studies/.

Mann Lecture explores Chip Kidd Archives

The 2015 Charles W. Mann Jr. Lecture in the Book Arts, “Why Flashlights? Because Batman! A Bookseller’s Adventures in the Archive” by Lorne Bair, proprietor of Lorne Bair Rare Books, with a special introduction by graphic designer and author, Chip Kidd, will be presented 4:30 p.m., on Thursday, March 26, in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library.

A reception will follow in the Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library. An exhibition from the Chip Kidd Archives, “Everything Not Made by Nature Is Design,” will be open for the reception and on display in The Eberly Family Special Collections Library, 104 Paterno Library, through April 24, 2015.

Lorne Bair has been a full-time seller of antiquarian books, manuscripts, and ephemera since 1995, and has been engaged as a qualified appraiser for purchase, insurance, and IRS purposes since 1998. Lorne Bair Rare Books has been a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) since 2006. The ABAA is the largest and oldest professional body of antiquarian booksellers in the United States; membership is by invitation and is strictly limited to dealers demonstrating the highest standards of experience, professionalism, and ethics in their field.

The Charles W. Mann Jr. Lecture in the Book Arts is supported by the Mary Louise Krumrine Endowment.

For more information or if you anticipate needing accessibility accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Luann Shifter at lus7@psu.edu or 814-867-0290.

Fifteenth annual poetry reading celebrates the Public Poetry Project

The fifteenth annual “An Evening of Pennsylvania Poets: Readings in Celebration of the Public Poetry Project” will be held on Thursday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m., in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, followed by a book sale and poster signing.

The Public Poetry Project focuses on poets with a connection to Pennsylvania and displays the poetry in public places to make it a part of the daily lives of a greater number of people. Since the project began in 2000, sixty-nine poems have been printed and placed in public places throughout Pennsylvania.

Poets featured in the 2015 Public Poetry Project poster series will read from their work. This year’s posters were designed by Wilson Hutton and will be available at no charge at the presentation. The 2015 Poetry Poster series includes poets Tameka Cage, Paul Siegell, Sheila Squillante, and Mary Szybist.

The project is under the direction of Ellysa Cahoy, assistant director, and Caroline Wermuth, outreach coordinator, for the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, and is supported by the Paterno Family Librarian for Literature, William S. Brockman; the University Libraries; the Department of English in the College of the Liberal Arts; and the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The readings are open to the public.

For more information, including physical access and special accommodations, contact Caroline Wermuth at 814-863-5472 and visit www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu

Events: March 9

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

March 22, 1 p.m.: Pins, Spins, Cross-checks and Spikes: A Sampling of Penn State Winter Sports Films,” Foster Aud.

March 26, 4:30 p.m.: The 2015 Charles W. Mann Jr. Lecture in the Book Arts, “Why Flashlights? Because Batman! A Bookseller’s Adventures in the Archive” by Lorne Bair, proprietor of Lorne Bair Rare Books, with a special introduction by graphic designer and author, Chip Kidd, Foster Aud.

March 26, 5:30 p.m.: “Telling the Story of a Few Good Women,” a talk by Lee Stout, Downsbrough Community Room, Schlow Centre Region Library, 21 S. Allen Street. Light supper followed by presentation. RSVP by March 23 to Christine Bishop, cbishop@ccysb.com.

March 26, 7:30 p.m.: The fifteenth annual “An Evening of Pennsylvania Poets: Readings in Celebration of the Public Poetry Project,” Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, followed by a book sale and poster signing.

Save the date:

April 23: “Mapping Matters: Space and Place in the Humanities,” a one-day symposium on the intersection of mapping, digital humanities, and pedagogy, Pattee and Paterno Libraries. See details in this week’s blog post.

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

Mapping and the humanities classroom

“Mapping Matters: Space and Place in the Humanities,” a one-day symposium on the intersection of mapping, digital humanities, and pedagogy, is scheduled for Thursday, April 23, in Pattee and Paterno Library. The day’s events will explore the “spatial turn” characteristic of much contemporary humanities research drawn from literary studies, history, art history, philosophy, geography and urbanism, among other disciplines, that inform inquiry in the humanities broadly.

The schedule will include:
noon–4:00 p.m., lunch and workshop on Mapping in the Humanities Classroom, 23 Pattee Library. Workshop registration required.
5:00–6:00 p.m., a reception with speaker Janelle Jenstad, Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library
6:00–7:30 p.m., a public talk by Janelle Jenstad, “Wayfinding in Shakespeare’s London: MoEML’s Literary GIS and Interactive Map,” in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library. No registration is required for this free and open presentation.

Jenstad is an associate professor of English at the University of Victoria. She directs The Map of Early Modern London (MoEML), a SSHRC-funded project that maps the streets, sites, and significant boundaries of late sixteenth-century and early seventeenth-century London (1560-1640).

For more information or to register for the lunch, workshop and reception, visit http://sites.psu.edu/litmaps/

The event is sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Library in the University Libraries, the Department of French and Francophone Studies in the College of the Liberal Arts and the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence.

For more information or if you anticipate needing accessibility accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Dawn Childress at dawn@psu.edu or 814-865-0660.