Daily Archives: May 26, 2015

100 Digital Discoveries is featuring a post in remembrance of our dear colleague Sabra Statham, who passed away two months ago.

submitted by Helene Huet

Tech Tip: Find out what’s hogging RAM in Google Chrome, and close it

submitted by Ryan Johnson

Google Chrome is a great browser but sometimes it can be a memory hog. If you want to monitor what is using so much memory, try using Chrome’s Task Manager.

To start, open Chrome and press Shift+Esc. This will open Chrome’s own Task Manager, which will give you a more accurate look into how much memory each tab, plugin, and extension is taking up. You can click the top of the “Memory” column to sort it by highest RAM usage to lowest.

Once you do so, you should have a good idea where to start. Maybe you need to close a particular tab, or maybe an extension isn’t really worth the RAM usage. If that’s the case, uninstall it from Chrome’s extensions page.

Tech Update

Tech Update
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Foster Auditorium

Agenda

1. Creative Commons Licensing:

Brandy Karl will be discussing creative commons licensing, including what they are, how to use them and what license to select, along with
the records management requirements associated with placing PSU-owned material under a CC license!

2. Drupal Update:

Timeline, Behind the Scenes and More … – Binky Lush, Linda Klimczyk

3. Libguides:

Amanda Clossen will discuss the online training that users need to become authors, as well as how to submit a request to be an author.

4. New I-Tech Staff:

Introduction of Vicki Brightbill and Jeff Friday.

If you cannot participate in person please join us via MediaSite Live: Login with Username: Library; password: Foster and then click I-Tech in the Mediasite catalog section

Knapp elected to leadership role on ALA’s Library Instruction Round Table

Foster Communications Librarian Jeff Knapp was recently elected vice president/president of ALA’s Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT). LIRT is an organization that advocates for library instruction, information literacy and lifelong learning within all types of libraries (academic, public, and school). “It is a much smaller group than ACRL’s Instruction Section and covers similar subjects, but the fact that LIRT includes all kinds of libraries rather than just academic libraries makes it somewhat unique,” says Knapp. Some of work includes the “LIRT Top Twenty” list of top 20 library instruction-related articles each year; the LIRT Librarian Recognition Award and Innovation in Instruction Award and committees that work on issues like students’ transition to college from high school, and working with adult learners.

Knapp has been involved with LIRT since 2004, when he first became active in ALA, and has held a number of positions in it since then. A few years ago, he led the effort to stop printing the organization’s quarterly newsletter and going electronic, saving almost $15,000 a year, which was used to create the LIRT Librarian Recognition Award and Innovation in Instruction Award and fund some ALA Spectrum Scholarships for library school students of color. “I’d like to see those programs continue and grow, and find some new ways to reach librarians who don’t have the resources to attend conferences in person,” he says.

Colloquium highlights diverse research and activities

Photo: Greg Crawford from Penn State Harrisburg presented “Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle”

Libraries staff and faculty shared their research interests at the annual University Libraries Diversity Colloquium recently. View the presentations here.

Top family literacy books for 2015 announced

Among the many children’s books published last year, 13 were chosen by the Pennsylvania Center for the Book to form A Baker’s Dozen: The Best
Children’s Books for Family Literacy for 2015.

Winners include: “Adventures with Barefoot Critters: An ABC Book” by Teagan White (Tundra); “Blizzard” by John Rocco (Disney/Hyperion); “Five Trucks” by Brian Floca (Atheneum); “Found” by Salina Yoon (Walker/Bloomsbury); “The Girl and the Bicycle” by Mark Pett (Simon); “I Spy in the Sky” by Edward Gibbs (Candlewick/Templar); “I’m My Own Dog” by David Ezra Stein (Candlewick); “Little Humans” by Brandon Stanton (Farrar); “Nana in the City” by Lauren Castillo (Clarion); “Shh! We Have a Plan” by Chris Haughton (Candlewick); “This Book Just Ate My Dog” by Richard Byrne (Holt); “Tugboat” by Michael Garland (Holiday); and “Two Tough Crocs” by David Bedford, illustrated by Tom Jellett (Holiday).

Selection criteria, annotations, tips for using the books, and more are available at A Baker’s Dozen website.

The Pennsylvania Center for the Book, sponsored by Penn State’s University Libraries, is one of 51 similar organizations nationwide established by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Its mission is to study, honor, celebrate and promote books, reading, libraries and literacy to the citizens and residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

For more information, visit The Pennsylvania Center for the Book website or contact Caroline Wermuth, outreach coordinator, Pennsylvania Center for the Book, at 814-863-5472.

Stern Cahoy wins Best Article of the Year award

Education Librarian Ellysa Stern Cahoy was recently announced winner of the Best Article of the Year by portal: Libraries and the Academy, for “Personal Library Curation: An Ethnographic Study of Scholars’ Information Practices,” which she co-authored with research anthropologist Smiljana Antonijević. This recognition gives each author a cash prize of $250 and a plaque from the Johns Hopkins University Press.

The article focuses on the research outcomes from a 2012 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant of $143,000 that investigated how faculty create and manage personal information collections. It details results of ethnographic interviews with Penn State faculty across the sciences, humanities and social sciences on their scholarly research practices. The results showed that faculty most often faced difficulties when finding and accessing new information, and when organizing and archiving research articles and other significant data or artifacts.

Announcing the award, portal: Libraries and the Academy editor Marianne Ryan noted, “Volume 14 of portal is a very strong collection of content; the competition for this selection was stiff. In judging the articles, the committee applied portal’s stated criteria of sound research methodology; the extent to which an article places library issues within a broader academic context; the quality of the writing; originality; and timeliness. All of the articles nominated, of course, meet or exceed these basic criteria, since they were chosen for publication in portal in the first place.” Ryan said that Stern Cahoy’s article stood as it demonstrated excellence in all categories, and best met the criteria of significant contribution to the literature and advancement of knowledge. The award will be presented in person at the Annual ALA Conference in San Francisco, in June.

Libraries hold annual award presentation

Libraries staff and faculty recognized for their outstanding work were honored at a reception recently in Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library. Barbara Dewey, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications, introduced the recipients and presented the awards. Honored at the event were:

University Libraries Award: Bonnie Imler, head Librarian, Robert E. Eiche Library, Penn State Altoona

Margaret Knoll Spangler Oliver Libraries Award: Megan Mac Gregor, information resources and services support specialist, Wilkes-Barre Nesbit Library, and Verne Neff, manager, Collection Maintenance and the Annexes