Monthly Archives: October 2015

Honoring Shirley Davis

Shirley Davis, assistant to the dean for external relations, is retiring this week after 46 years of outstanding University service. Shirley was instrumental in launching the library development program and supporting the Library Development Board. During her career she worked for five deans of the Libraries — Carl Jackson, Stuart Forth, Nancy Cline, Nancy Eaton, and Barbara Dewey — under seven University presidents. Her knowledge, talents, and professional dedication will be missed tremendously.

The Shirley Davis Staff Award, a fitting tribute, has been established to ensure her legacy. If you would like to help honor Shirley’s contributions by supporting the award, donations are still being accepted. Checks made out to The Pennsylvania State University, memo line “Shirley Davis Staff Award,” are welcome at the Libraries Development Office at 508 Paterno Library, University Park, PA 16802. Libraries Development staff also are happy to answer questions at at 814-865-2258.

The entire faculty and staff of the University Libraries and a host of her colleagues at Penn State invite you to join us in wishing Shirley the very best retirement that life has to offer!

Rename a file quickly!

by Ryan Johnson, technology training coordinator

I stumbled upon this neat little trick to easily rename a file very quickly. Normally when renaming a file you in Explorer or on my desktop, I single click on a file name, wait a sec, and then single click again to rename a file.

f2But when you press F2 after selecting a file name is that the name is highlighted – so if you start typing, whatever was there will simply be replaced (minus the file extension, which remains unhighlighted, so you’re less likely to change it accidentally). This can be handy if you really do need a completely different name for your file, but annoying if you just wanted to tweak the name a bit (say, add _OLD to the end of it, or something, for archiving purposes). If you are looking to just adjust the current name, you can use your right arrow key (or the down one) to jump to the end of the file name. renameYou can also just click somewhere in the middle of the file name, wherever you need to edit – and your computer will know not to interpret that click as a double-click-to-open procedure. In fact, if you do double-click at that point, it will be like double-clicking text – the nearest word-like entity will be highlighted instead.

By the way, curious how you do the same thing but on a Mac? No F2 even needed – just click the file once, and then press Return (Mac’s equivalent to Enter), and edit away!

Student to speak on Zambian indigenous vegetables

Schreyer Honors College student Kelli Herr, a junior  majoring in community, environment and development, will present “Zambian Indigenous Vegetables: Knowledge in the Mind but not the Market” at noon, on Thursday, Oct. 29, in Foster Auditorium. Herr is a 2015 recipient of the Whiting Indigenous Knowledge Student Research Awards.

After joining the Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) program last spring, Herr began working on a food security venture geared toward implementing greenhouses in Zambia. She researched what was currently being grown, sold and consumed in Zambia, with the goal of identifying the indigenous vegetables and their place in the local market economy. Herr will be introduced by Khanjan Mehta, HESE program director.

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Herr holding a wild cucumber that she found during her research. — image provided by presenter

This presentation is part of an ongoing seminar series on indigenous knowledge co-sponsored by the University Libraries and the Interinstitutional Consortium on Indigenous Knowledge. For more information, see http://icik.psu.edu. If you anticipate needing accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, contact Helen Sheehy, hms2@psu.edu/ 814-863-1347 in advance of your visit.

LHR News: Oct. 26

Please join us in welcoming the following new hires:

Full-time:
10/26/15: John Owens – Information Resources and Services Support Specialist, Penn State Wilkes-Barre

10/27/15: Jacqueleen Weaver – Information Resources and Services Support Specialist (Binding Specialist), Digitization and Preservation (Bindery)

Part-time:
Charles Babcock – Penn State Great Valley
Sashank Vanga – Research Hub, EBSL, Maps, and Knowledge Commons
Dean Giammarco – News and Microforms Library

Wishing the following employees well as they leave us:
Jessa Darwin – Penn State Greater Allegheny
Shirley Davis – Libraries Administration, Deans Office

Reminder: Daylight Savings Time ends and Eastern Standard Time begins this Sunday, November 1, 2015, at 2:00 a.m. Clocks are moved back one hour.

Renewal limit and bill threshold changed for community borrowers

by Peg Tromm, information resources and services supervisor-manager
Robert E. Eiche Library, Penn State Altoona

To better serve our community borrowers, Access Services Council has approved policy changes for our Resident PA users effective October 14, 2015:

  • Resident PA’s renewal limit has increased from 2 to 3.
  • Resident PA’s bill threshold went up from a penny to $24.99.

Increasing the renewal limit from 2 to 3 responds to requests of some of our community borrowers. In addition, increasing the bill threshold allows users more flexibility before accounts are blocked and bills are sent to the collection agency.

For more information on registering Resident PA users check out Access Training Bulletin #6,”Registering and Issuing Resident Borrowers cards for New Library Patrons, Charging/Collecting a Fee for a Replacement Card, Issuing a Replacement Card” available at this link: https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/access/intranet/minsaccesscouncil/trainingbulletins.html

Please feel free to send questions to, “Ask the SirsiDynix Circulation-Reserves Expert Team.”
https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/secure/forms/access_forms/circ_reserves_expert_team.html

‘Getting to know you’: Nancy Adams

by Barbara Kopshina, DuBois Campus Library

Nancy Adams is passionate about many things but two that stand out are education and her fondness for tea! She joined Penn State Hershey in 2010 and currently serves as associate director, coordinator of education & instruction for the George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library at the rank of assistant librarian. Currently, she provides instruction to medical students and residents and coordinates the library educational mission, among other things.

In the fall of 2011, Nancy started working towards a doctoral degree in adult education through Penn State and hopes to complete the program and write her dissertation in 2016. As a former high school and college science teacher, Nancy has had a variety of experiences with education. A few of her interests in education include learning theory, research in general and qualitative research, specifically. Particular areas that she likes to focus on are team- based, case-based and problem-based learning. Nancy enjoys designing instructional videos and incorporating creative aspects into them such as poetry and music in relation to medicine.

Nancy is a member of the Medical Library Association, Association for College and Research Libraries, American Library Association, and Pennsylvania Library Association. She was recently invited to the Admissions Selection Team for the Penn State College of Medicine where she will be helping to select our nation’s future doctors!

When Nancy isn’t working on her dissertation or collecting data for her Ed.D.., she enjoys drinking a variety of teas. She especially enjoys Earl Grey and herbal and green teas. She’s also partial to most outdoor activities including camping and hiking.

Save the date: Discovery Day to be held on May 19, 2016

by Ann Snowman

We recently polled the constituency for a preferred date to hold the next Discovery Day. Friday May 20 was preferred by a wide margin over May 27 or June 3, 2016. However, a number of respondents urged us to consider a day other than Friday to accommodate those whose workweek extends from Sunday through Thursday. Over the years we have heard this comment a number of times. So, after consulting the SAT groups who said, “Makes sense,” we have settled on Thursday, May 19, 2016 for the next Discovery Day event.

A call for participation on the planning group will go out in the next few weeks.

For those unfamiliar with Discovery Day, please visit our archive of past events: https://www.libraries.psu.edu/content/psul/groups/discovery/2015.html

Events: Week of Oct. 26

Mon., Oct. 26, 4–6 p.m.: Globalizing China’s Uyghur Problem?, Foster Auditorium. Dr. Dru C. Gladney is professor of anthropology at Pomona College in Claremont, California. Gladney in his research has examined the variety of Islamic experiences in Asia and argues that there is a distinctly “Asian Islam.” His talk will focus on the widely dispersed Uyghur diaspora which has become increasingly connected and engaged in advocacy on behalf of the plight of the 10 million Uyghurs still under a steadily repressive Chinese rule in China’s northwestern Xinjiang province (also known as Eastern Turkestan). In his talk, Gladney will examine not only the globalization of China’s “Xinjiang problem,” but also the role of global social media and Western scholarship in shaping and interpreting Eastern Turkestani “separatism” in China. Sponsored by the Department of History, Department of Asian Studies, Department of Anthropology, University Libraries and the Center of Global Studies.

Tues., Oct. 27, 7 p.m.: Stories of Learning, Working & Learning to Read Panel discussion on learning disabilities about how individuals access materials for college classes and in the work environment, Foster Auditorium and online. Sponsored by the University Libraries Adaptive Technologies and Services department and Student Disability Resources. Free and open to the public. Watch on Mediasite Live.

Thurs., Oct. 29, noon: Zambian Indigenous Vegetables: Knowledge in the Mind but not the Market. Presented by Kelli Herr, Schreyer Honors College junior, as part of the Indigenous Knowledge Speaker Series co-sponsored by the University Libraries and the Interinstitutional Center for Indigenous Knowledge.

Thurs., Oct. 29, 2 p.m.: LHR Forum, Foster Auditorium and Mediasite Live.

Thurs., Oct. 29, 3–5:30 p.m.: Halloween Party, Mann Assembly Rm.

Thurs., Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m.: Vijay Seshadri, Pulitzer Prize winning poet, to present Emily Dickinson Lecture., Foster Aud.

Nov. 13, 9 a.m.: Web migration forum: Focus on content strategy. Foster Aud. and MediaSite Live.

Mon., Nov. 16, 1-2:30 p.m.: Mapping Applications: Getting to know SimplyMap, PolicyMap, and Social Explorer, 302, Paterno Library, and online at https://meeting.psu.edu/ssltraining/

Mon, Nov. 16, 6-7 p.m., Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) Keynote address: “What Entrepreneurs need to know about intellectual property and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,” Foster Auditorium. Presented by Jeanne Clark, patent examination policy advisor with the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure.

Mon., Nov. 16: Free Data!…Courtesy of Uncle Sam, 302 Paterno Library. Time TBA. GEW event. Librarian Jeff Knapp will introduce participants to methods for finding free demographic statistics and data that can help entrepreneurs locate their potential customers. Registration max is 34.

Tues., Nov. 17, 9:30-10:30am: I want to sell to the Acme Corporation, where do I begin? 302 Paterno Library. GEW event. Learn how to find out about specific companies and the industries in which they operate. Presented by librarian Kevin Harwell. Registration max is 34.

Tues., Nov. 17, 1–2 p.m.: Financial Research, 302 Paterno Library. GEW event. Financials are a key component of any entrepreneurial endeavor. Learn the research strategies and resources available to help you find financial benchmarks for your business. Presented by librarian Lauren Reiter. Registration max is 34.

Tues, Nov. 17, 3-4:15 p.m.: Basic Patents, 140 W. Pattee Library (in the Knowledge Commons)
GEW event. This short, hands-on workshop by librarian John Meier will focus on understanding what patents are, the basic process of obtaining a patents and online searching of prior art (previous inventions). Attendees should have an interest in patents and be prepared to do practice searching in Google Patents and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Registration max is 40.

Wed., Nov. 18: GIS Day Programming
10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.: Poster Display, Franklin Atrium, Pattee Library
10 a.m.–2 p.m.: Information Fair, Leisure Reading Room, Pattee Library
All day: Speaker and Lightning Talks: Location: Foster Aud., Paterno Library (able to view remotely via Media Site Live)
Morning Session:
11:15–11:45 a.m.: Joseph Kerski, 5 Converging Forces: Geoawareness, geotechnologies, geoenablement, citizen science, and storytelling are combining to make this the most exciting time ever for GIS in education and society. Find out about these forces, why they matter,how you can get involved, and what they mean for your career pathway.
11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.: Lightning Talks
Afternoon Session
1:30–2:30 p.m.: HERE maps
2:30–3:00 p.m.: Joseph Kerski, Telling your story with Esri Storymaps: Combine audio, video, photographs, sketches, narratives, and other multimedia to present the results of your research, to teach, and to communicate your OWN story, using Esri’s easy-to-use yet powerful storymapping web applications.
3:00–3:30 p.m.: Lightning Talks
4:00–5:30 p.m.: Networking Reception, Mann Assembly Room
Drawing of a $75 Gift Certificate from Geographic Research, Inc. producer of SimplyMap. For more information, visit the GIS Day website

Wed., Nov. 18, Standards & Tech Reports for Inventors 302 Paterno Library, time TBA. GEW event. Learn what standards are and how they can aid you in developing a product that meets industry specifications. Also learn about technical reports and how they provide guidance for technical literature searching for patent applications. Presented by librarian Angela Davis. Registration max is 34.

Thurs., Nov. 19, 3-4:15pm, Advanced Patent Searching, 140 W. Pattee Library (in the Knowledge Commons). GEW event. This workshop will help inventors and entrepreneurs already familiar with patents to perform competitive intelligence, prior art searching (to find earlier inventions), and discover international patents. After a brief introduction to patents and the patent process, including international treaties, attendees will be guided in searching on the European Patent Office (EPO) website, the USPTO’s Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) public system, along with a brief overview of more powerful patent research tools. Presented by John Meier. Registration max is 40.

Fri., Nov. 20, 1:30-2:30pm: Marketing Resources, 302 Paterno Library. GEW event. Consumer Behavior and Retail Market Trends. Learn which databases tap into the latest market analysis. Presented by Kevin Harwell. Registration max is 34.

Save the date: Dean’s Diversity Forum, presented by Marcus A. Whitehurst, vice provost for Educational Equity, Thurs., Dec. 10, 2:00–3:00 p.m., Foster Auditorium and Media Site Live.

Accessibility — captioning videos

by Ryan Johnson, technology training coordinator

1348755097227Adding captions to videos makes your videos more accessible to people who can’t follow along with the audio either because of a disability or because they speak a different language.
Some video tools like Adobe Captivate already have functions built-in that allow you to create subtitles or captions. From there you can simply upload the video.

YouTube is probably the easiest way to upload and caption and a video. For more information on how to upload and caption videos on YouTube, please see the links below:
How to upload a Video to Youtube
Getting started with Captions and Transcripts

If you are someone who creates a lot of videos and need them captioned, MovieCaptioner is a service available for free to all Penn State faculty and staff. Contact synchrimedia@gmail.com
to inquire about obtaining a copy. Please use your Penn State ID email and state whether you need the Mac or Windows version.

Tech Update Oct. 20

Tech Update: 1:30 – 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 20, 2015, Foster Auditorium

Agenda

  • Two-Factor Authentication: I-Tech will give an overview of Two-Factor Authentication and how it will impact University Libraries employees.
  • Drupal Implementation: The Web Implementation Team will provide an update on Drupal Implementation.
  • Learning Resource Network: Ryan Johnson will give an introduction to the new Learning Resource Network at Penn State.
  • Libraries Integration with Canvas: Linda Klimczyk and Chris Holobar will provide an update on the Libraries Integration with Canvas and will highlight efforts of the University Libraries Learning Management Team charged with optimizing the libraries presence in Canvas.

If you cannot participate in person please join us via MediaSite Live

EMS Library celebrates 85th anniversary

The Fletcher L. Byrom Earth and Mineral Sciences Library celebrated its 85th anniversary last week with a party for students, faculty and staff of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and the University Libraries. The EMS Library has been located in the Deike Building for 50 years, after moving from Steidle, and has had five head librarians since its inception. For more photos of the event and some historical images, follow the EMS Library’s twitter feed: @EMSLibraryPSU

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Dean Barbara Dewey (right) and Associate Dean Anne Langley reading a poster about the Library’s history

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The EMS library team…(from left) Aaron Procious, Joshua Wilkins, Liz Long, and Linda Musser, head librarian

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Students and faculty of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences gathered to celebrate the event

Worthington Scranton Campus Library gets new fitness equipment

The Worthington Scranton Campus Library is now home to two exercise bikes and two desk elliptical machines, offering students an active option while studying. The bikes have a desk feature that allows riders to read or use laptops or iPads while biking.bikeThe bikes, which cost $260 each, and the desk elliptical machines, which cost $170, were funded by submitting a proposal to the Student Facility Fee Committee. The exercise equipment is located in the lobby area of the library. While some students seem reluctant to combine biking and studying, they really gravitate to the elliptical machines.— Billie Walker, head librarian, Penn State Worthington Scranton Libraryellip2