SNL Energy, like the recently announced SNL Kagen database, features detailed business and market information related to energy industries. This was a collaborative purchase across six Penn State units, one of which is the Libraries. The direct URL.

SNL Energy provides detailed data on the North American energy industry including news, pricing, financial data and energy company information. Daily and weekly data are available and can be downloaded to spreadsheets for further analysis. Sectors covered include coal, natural gas, electric power and renewables. Newsletters available include Daily Coal Report, Daily Gas Report, FERC Gas Report, Gas Utility Weekly, Energy Finance Daily, and many others. — Linda Musser

Cawthorne and Dewey — photo by Wilson Hutton

Dean Barbara I. Dewey invited a special guest speaker to her forum last week, Jon Cawthorne, dean of Libraries, West Virginia University. Cawthorne’s talk was titled “Beyond Our Walls: The 21st Century West Virginia University Libraries.” Cawthorne has been at WVU for about one year. During his visit to Penn State he met library administrators, Libraries’ strategic planning groups, Resident Librarians and representatives from the Diversity Committee.

This past weekend my daughter was called into work at the last minute. We dropped her off and drove 2 miles home only to receive the dreaded phone call, “Can you bring me a pair of real shoes? They said I can’t work in these. They aren’t acceptable? “

When we dropped of the shoes, her comment was, “I don’t know why it matters; no one is going to see my feet!”

While that may be true, there are policies in place to keep us safe. Spring and summer bring out the comfy footwear, but we need to remember that closed toe shoes are the safest way to go. In the libraries, they provide protection for your feet in the event of falling books or runaway trucks. — Rita Buhite

Are you getting more questions from faculty and students about how they can take care of and share their research data? Do you want to learn more about what funders are requiring researchers to do with their data?

If you’re curious about the answers to these or any other research data-related questions, come join the newly formed Research Data Working Group (RDWG)!

The aims of the University Libraries’ RDWG are to raise awareness of the data issues our researchers are facing and to organize Libraries faculty and staff to partner with other University units on research data initiatives. No prior knowledge is required! We’ll start by covering the fundamentals of data—terminology, data types, tools, resources—and build toward more advanced research data topics, all in a collegial and fun learning environment.

Join us for the RDWG kick-off and planning meeting (with snacks!) to be held this week on April 29, from 2-3 pm, in 126A Paterno, where we will discuss the group, its mission and near-term goals. If you can’t make it in person, you still can take part via Adobe Connect (video, audio 866-636-8004).

Lisa German has committed to charging this group. It is open to all interested parties within the University Libraries, wherever you happen to reside.

For more information about the group, or to discuss this initiative, please contact one of your RDWG organizers:
Sarah Pickle
Vanessa Eyer
Nathan Piekielek

We look forward to seeing you on April 29!

April Events

Tech Tip: Security Reminder

Still Time to Submit Posters or Infographics for Discovery Day

New Space Assignment and Move Request Form and Process

Green Tips: Answers to your Recycling Questions

Panel Discussions: Assisting Patrons with Disabilities

Jazz Riffs: Breaking Boundaries and Crossing Borders

LHR News

Building a clearer picture of groups in the Libraries

German to head University of Houston Libraries

Libraries expand hours and services for finals

Information literacy judged at 2015 Undergraduate Exhibition

Lisa German

Lisa German, associate dean for Collections, Information and Access Services at the Penn State University Libraries, has been named dean of Libraries and Elizabeth D. Rockwell Chair for the University Libraries at the University of Houston, Houston, Texas. In her new position, German will oversee operations of the main M.D. Anderson Library and three branch libraries.

German’s tenure at Penn State began in 2005, when she was named assistant dean for Technical and Collections Services. She was appointed associate dean in 2011. During her time at Penn State, German has represented the University Libraries in a wide range of consortia and partnerships at the state, regional and national levels. Most recently, she was elected to the Knowledge Management Section Standing Committee of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. At the University Libraries, she has provided support and guidance to librarians and staff beyond the units under her immediate leadership, a role that has been recognized by Barbara Dewey, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications. “Lisa has mentored many librarians from all sectors of the University Libraries. I deeply appreciate her hard work and dedication to Penn State,” says Dewey.

In addition to her work in the Libraries, German has also held numerous leadership roles at Penn State. She has been an active member of the Commission for Women for a number of years, serving as chair from 2013-14. She is also on Penn State’s University Research Council, and was a member of the Academic Council on Undergraduate Education.

German began her academic library career in 1993, as assistant head of acquisitions at Wright State University Library, Dayton, Ohio. In 1996, she joined the University of Illinois Library, Urbana, Illinois. Prior to her appointment at Penn State, she was head of acquisitions and associate professor of library administration at the University of Illinois Library. She is active in many professional bodies, including the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium (PALCI) and numerous divisions within the American Library Association, and has published widely in her field.

German, who will be leaving Penn State in July, says, “I am very grateful to all of the people I have worked with at Penn State. This is a world-class institution and I feel fortunate to have worked here. I will take a bit of Penn State with me to Texas as I move from Lion Country to Cougar Country.”

The University Libraries are expanding hours and services to help students with end of the semester research and finals study needs.

All of Pattee and Paterno Libraries will open at 10 a.m., Sunday, April 26, for continuous 24-hour service until closing at 7 p.m., on Friday, May 8. Pattee and Paterno will open at 8 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 9. This includes the Tombros and McWhirter Knowledge Commons on the first and ground floors of Pattee Library, west and ground floor central.

Within the two buildings a variety of group study rooms for two to 16 people can be reserved. Monitors at the entrance to the building display real-time computer availability.

From Sunday, May 3, through Wednesday, May 6, free coffee and snacks will be available from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., in Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library, as part of DeStress Fest in the Libraries. Games and relaxation activities are also planned.

For late-night hunger, MacKinnon’s Café, on the ground floor of west Pattee Library, will be open to 1 a.m., from Sunday, May 3, to Thursday, May 7. For a full list of hours, call MacKinnon’s Café at 814-865-9380.

Additional branch library locations include the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library, Earth and Mineral Sciences Library, Engineering Library, and Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library. See library hours for details. Call ahead of your visit to confirm and to obtain hours for branch libraries at 814-865-3063.

The late-night CATA bus Loop Service (on campus only) will operate until 2:30 a.m., from Thursday, April 23 through Saturday, May 9. This service will operate approximately every 20 minutes, with the last trip leaving from the Pattee Library Transit Center Eastbound stop on Curtin Road at approximately 2:21 a.m. on the Blue Loop, and from the Pattee Library Transit Center Westbound stop on Curtin Road at approximately 2:15 a.m. on the White Loop. The extended service is courtesy of Information Technology Services and the Libraries.

In addition, the University Police Auxiliary offer a “Safe Walk” escort service, dusk to dawn, 365 days a year, on-campus location or home within a reasonable walking distance off-campus. Call 814-865-9255(WALK).

Information literacy for all students is a goal of the University Libraries, and to help highlight its importance, the Libraries have funded cash awards as part of the 2015 Undergraduate Research Exhibition, co-sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Education and the Schreyer Honor College, in partnership with the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, the University Libraries and Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Society.

The University Libraries Award for Information Literacy recognizes students who have excelled in locating and using scholarly resources to support their research projects.

The 2015 Information Literacy Award winners are:

First place
Ryan Henrici for “Crystal Structure of the PRCI Ubiquitylation Module Bound to the Nocleosom”

Second place
John Swab for “The Streetcars and Suburbs of Baltimore: A Digital Humanities Approach”

Third place
Carolyn Low for “Tipping and Service Charge”

Honorable mentions
Julia Warshafsky for “Recruiting for the Long-Term: Exploring the Effects of Terrorist Recruitment Strategies on Group Longevity”

Joshua Bram, Martin Marino and Greg Wenner for “Organizational Models for Mobile Payment Systems in Low-resource Environments”

Julie Meinert for “Influence of Childhood Trauma on the Relationship between Borderline Disorder and Emotion Recognition”

Nishant Modi for “Effects on Health Outcomes Due to Cancer Survivorship and Other Chronic Illnesses”
Jazmin Nixon for “Children’s Exposure to Political Conflict: Effects and an Intervention Framework to Promote Social-Emotional Well-being”

Sydney Sherman for “Super Massive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies”

This year’s judges from the University Libraries were Janet Hughes, Angela Davis, Karla Schmit, Penny Huffman, Nathan Piekielek, Lori Lysiak, Bonnie Imler, Lauren Reiter, Manuel Ostos, Henry Pisciotta, Amanda Clossen, Karen Fuller, Alessia Zanin-Yost and Jeff Knapp.

For more about the award. For information on services available through Library Learning Services, call 814-865-9257 or visit Library Learning Services.

The University Libraries now has a new form titled “Space Assignment and Move Request Form”. The form can be found on the Facilities Intranet Web Site.  The purpose of this form and the process is to allow space to be assigned for new, approved positions in an orderly fashion and in advance of new employees arriving, as well as to create an approval process for employee moves.  Requests for space for new employees must be accompanied by an approved request to fill form for new positions.