Monthly Archives: March 2016

WIMT Update: Drupal news and notes

FAQs in the new Drupal Site

We currently have FAQs in both our current website as well as in the LibAnswers system. In the new Drupal site, we will be integrating these two into a single, dynamic method of providing FAQs. We will be using the current LibAnswers system to create and maintain all FAQs and any page in the University Libraries site can optionally display a list of the top FAQs for a given FAQ tag in LibAnswers. From the FAQ, clicking on the question displayed on the Libraries site will take the user to the answer in the LibAnswers system. The user can then search or browse the LibAnsers system for more information. — submitted by Helen Smith and Charlie Morris

Development Update

  • Hershey site
    We are excited to begin Drupal development in collaboration with Xiaoyu Sun from Hershey!
  • Staff directory
    Mockups are complete. Development has started.
  • News and Events
    Mockups approved. In development
  • Giving to the Libraries (Development Office)
    Mockups approved. In development
  • Staff site
    Implemented “My Favorites” to make it easy for users to have their favorite links on the Staff Site homepage.
    Searching and sorting of training pages enabled

Content update

Over 500 pages scripted from Adobe CQ into Drupal (staff site) using CQ Slurp (content scripting)

Drupal Dates of Note

  • April 14, 9:30-10:30 – Web Forum – Foster Auditorium (and via Media Site Live)
  • Week of May 9 – Department pages, updated navigation and Staff Site go live

Questions? Suggestions? Please submit questions and comments via the website feedback link at the bottom of every page.

Countdown to 2FA!

Submitted by Dace Freivalds, I-Tech

2fa thermometer 03212016 update(1)We’re halfway there — 282 or 55% of the Libraries’ 517 employees have enrolled in 2FA. That puts us well ahead of the rest of the University where 42% of faculty and staff targeted for the May 10 rollout group have enrolled.

Can I Request a Duo Token?
Libraries Administration has approved a revision to our 2FA token guidelines enabling individuals, rather than their supervisors, to request a 2FA token.

The rationale behind this decision is twofold. First, this will allow individuals to make their own work style choices and decide if they wish to manage and be responsible for a token. Having worked with the current guidelines for a few weeks, we have found that some supervisors’ have advocated for tokens even when an individual did not want one. Since individuals have different styles of working and handling their devices, it is best to let the individual opt-in for a token. Second, ITS is strongly emphasizing the need to enroll more than one device to avoid difficulties authenticating if you lose or don’t have your only device with you. The change in our guidelines gives individuals more flexibility in requesting a token as the second device.

In order to accommodate the change in the guidelines we have created a new 2FA Duo Token Request form. The form can be found on the I-Tech departmental page in the Requests and Accounts section. We are not able to use the regular IT Accounts Request form for these requests since only supervisors can make requests via the Account Request System. Opening it up to individuals for the token request while maintaining the checks and balances built into the system for other authorizations is not an option at this time.

Where Can I get Help?
I-Tech has scheduled one hour drop-in sessions for every Friday through May 6. The sessions are at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. in the I-Tech Training Room; registration is not required. Bring your Penn State ID with you (or jot down the last four digits of your nine-digit Penn State ID) – you will need this information to enroll.

For instructions, enrollment tips, and answers to frequently asked questions, visit Get2FA.psu.edu. You can also refer to I-Tech’s 2FA FAQ for answers to your questions. And if you bump into a problem, submit a Service Desk request and we’ll provide assistance.

2016 National Library Week

Photos needed!
This year, National Library Week (NLW) is April 10–16. As part of the Public Relations and Marketing (PRaM) social media campaign, we plan to gather images of our student workers at all library locations to post on @psulibs social media platforms and on our plasma screens.

We need your help! Please submit photos of student workers at your campus location — with the file name including your campus, individual(s) in the photo, left to right, and position/title held —  to this Box folder. (e.g.: “Behrend_Jane_Smith_ref_desk_asst.jpg”) If a photo includes multiple people, please submit a photo caption via Word document following the same file naming convention to the folder. (Please keep in mind that photos will be edited by our team and if selected for Instagram will run small and square.)

We hope to get a University-wide representation of our employees! (At University Park, PRaM social media intern Sadie Caccimelio will be available to take photos, but submissions also are welcome.) If you have any questions, please email Jill Shockey, jss140 (at) psu.edu.

#Librariestransform contest
The theme for NLW 2016 is “Libraries Transform,” highlighting the transformative nature of libraries in the community. As part of our celebrations, PRaM has planned a social media contest for Penn State students from Monday, April 11, through Thursday, April 14. We  are posing the question, “How has Penn State Libraries transformed your student experience?” To enter the contest, we are asking students to post short video clips of their answers to Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. (They will need to use the following hashtags: #librariestransform and #psulibs. To run on Instagram, they must be less than 12 seconds long, so we are encouraging responses of 1-2 sentences.) We are seeking creativity rather than technological prowess! The most creative answer will receive a $100 Penn State Bookstore gift card.

#AskaLibrarian social media campaign kickoff
During NLW 2016, we also will be launching a new campaign on Instagram and Facebook that aims to put a friendly face on our library reference services (both virtual and in person), and promote ways in which we can help students succeed. More information on this campaign (and ways in which you can help) will come soon.

Easy check for accessibility issues with Office documents

By Ryan Johnson, technology training coordinator

Did you know Microsoft Office has a built-in Accessibility Checker to easily check your PowerPoints, Word or Excel documents?

When creating a document, go to File -> Info and select Check for Issues. Next, click on Check Accessibility.

Capture(5)This will bring up a panel that will display the results of your document and what accessibility issues may exist. Click on the individual errors to see where the error is located in your document. You will also see a window that displays additional information on how to fix the error.Capture2(1)For more information on Accessibility and Microsoft Office please visit the Penn State Accessibility Site.

Undergraduate survey to launch next week

Barbara Dewey, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications, sent out an email recently announcing an upcoming undergraduate student survey of the University Libraries administered by Ithaka S+R. Here are the details:

  • The survey will run from April 4–24.
  • The sample includes undergraduate students from all locations, including World Campus. At some campuses, the entire undergraduate population will be invited to participate. (These include Beaver, Brandywine, Dubois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Schuylkill, Shenango, Wilkes Barre, Worthington Scranton, York.)
  • The survey will cover the following areas:
            1) students’ goals (why they are pursuing their current program)

    2) discovery practices and use of materials for academics, research, and/or coursework
    3) their perceptions of the changing role and value of the campus library
    4) library spaces (World Campus students will not receive this section of the survey)
    5) interest in and opportunities for conducting or contributing to original research.

  • As an incentive to participate, students who complete the survey will have the chance to enter a drawing for one of 20 $50 Penn State Bookstore gift cards.
  • The Libraries will receive a summary report of findings from Ithaka S+R approximately three weeks after the survey closes. More in-depth analysis of the data will take place in summer.If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Joe Salem, jas1218@psu.edu.

Events: March 28

Thursday, March 31, 1:00-2:00 p.m.: A world of census data, 211A Pattee Library, University Park. This session, conducted by Stephen Woods, will explore the wealth of census data from around the world that are available to Penn State researchers as well as from free sources outside of the library’s collection. The presentation will discuss limitations such as language, format and reporting. Available for remote participation at https://meeting.psu.edu/ul-dlc.

Saturday & Sunday, April 2-3: Native American Powwow, Mount Nittany Middle School. University Libraries are co-sponsors

Monday, April 4, 5 p.m.: Spring 2016 Robert M. Pockrass Memorial Lecture presented by
Christian Sandvig, titled “The Awakenings of the Filtered: Algorithmic Personalization in Social Media and Beyond.” Sandvig is associate professor of communication studies and information at the University of Michigan. His research investigates the consequences of algorithmic systems that curate and organize information and culture.

Tuesday, April 5, 10:00 a.m.: Dean’s Forum, Foster Auditorium and Media Site Live. More information to come.

Wednesday, April 6, noon: Linguistic Knowledge and Language Use in the Yucatan Peninsula, Foster Auditorium and MediaSite Live. Presented by Lindsay Butler-Trump.

Dum-Laga-Ke-Haisha-Movie-Review-Cast-Poster-Songs-Release-Date-TrailerWednesday, April 6, 7:00-9:00 p.m.: South Asian (Hindi) Film Series, “Dum Laga Ke Haisha,” Foster Auditorium. Organized by the Center for Global Studies.

 

Monday, April 11,11:00 a.m. – noon: Collections Forum on Floating Collection Data Analysis by Aaron Dennis, Access Services Research Assistant. Floating Collection has been active at 19 campus libraries since 2013. A Floating Collection is a group of books that are not housed permanently at one specific library, but instead are shelved in the library where they were most recently discharged. Approximately one million books fall under Floating Collection. Our Access Services research assistant, Aaron Dennis, has been analyzing data derived from SirsiDynix Symphony on floating books from a collections perspective and will present his findings. Members of the Collections Mobility Task Force will be on hand to answer questions. Foster Auditorium and Media Site Live.

Tuesday, April 12, 1:30 p.m.: Tech Update, Foster Aud.
Preliminary Agenda:
— Karen Estlund – Product Owners
— Dace Freivalds – 2FA
— WIMT Team – Drupal Update

Tuesday, April 12, 2;30–3:30 p.m.: Speak Up for Civility workshop, Mann Assembly Room. More information to come.

Wednesday, April 20, noon: Indigenous, Natural, Esoteric: The Presence of Indigenous Knowledge in Urban Colombia. Presented by Richard Stoller, Foster Aud.

Monday, May 23, 2:00–3:30 p.m.; Annual Diversity Colloquium, Foster Aud. and MediaSite Live.

There’s Moai than meets the eye in the Maps Library

By Jenny Litz

Easter Island, the one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth? Yeah, we’ve got maps for that. And the Maps Library also has a display featuring books, images, and artifacts from Easter Island (Rapa Nui). If you can’t go there in person, this is the next best thing. You won’t even need a passport!

IMG_1569

The display includes fabrics, handcrafted items and information

 

LHR News

Please join us in welcoming the following new hires:

Part-time:
Amy Liu – Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library
Jessica Ortegon – Library Annex

Wishing the following employees well as they leave us:

Deb Richner – Libraries Administration

‘Getting to know you’: Emma Davidson

By Andrea Pritt, Penn State Mont Alto Library

If you’ve ever wandered up to the fifth floor of Paterno, no doubt you have met and chatted with Emma Davidson. Hired in November 2013, Emma has been working as an administrative assistant for the Dean’s Office. In her role, she provides support services for the Dean, Associate Deans, and their assistants. Along with these duties, Emma also does web work for the Dean’s Office as well as various library groups and committees. You may not know that before working for the University Libraries Emma worked for a not-for-profit and would travel to Washington, D.C. to lobby members of Congress about diverse issues.

emma

Davidson…loves live music and embroidery!

Born in Seattle, Washington Emma later moved to Missoula, Montana when she was twelve years old. She studied Women and Gender Studies and Native American Studies at the University of Montana and moved to State College with her partner, Dora, in 2013. A few years ago, they adopted a cat from PAWS and named him Pants. Back in Montana Emma has a Border Collie named Farmer Ted (he was already named that when her family adopted him!).

One of Emma’s main interests is live music! Emma enjoys traveling around Pennsylvania (and its neighboring states) to attend her favorite musicians’ concerts. She is a devoted Sleater-Kinney fan and had a dream-come-true experience when she was able to see them perform live in Philadelphia. When she isn’t traveling to concerts Emma is learning how to embroider. She has only been embroidering since the summer but has been loving it so far!

Library News: March 21

 

WIMT Update: Development news and notes…

Submitted by Binky Lush, chair, Web Implementation and Management Team (WIMT)

Development Update:

We’ve been working on development of pieces of web functionality for our users (for example search and staff directory), updates to our author environment and enhancements to our development and migration workflow for system stability and efficiency. In technical terms, here’s what we’ve been doing…

  • Updated search.libraries.psu.edu interface to have a single full width column of results along with a logo in the header that splits between PSU and PSU Libraries
  • Scoped and mocked up the Staff Directory project
  • Made fixes to the author environment, including image alignment in the wysiwyg and a short screencast recording
  • Made improvements to Libraries production and QA or test instances
  • Added functionality to the “CQ Slurp” program – the script that scrapes content from CQ and saves it into a Drupal-friendly format

Content Update

  • Used CQ Slurp (content scripting) to bring over 200+ pages and 150+ binary files (staff site)
  • Completed Services pages (public)
  • Finishing up department page migration in preparation for stakeholder approval

Other Drupal Project News

  • Content Board is up and running
  • Author Expert Team has been charged
  • Author Strategy and Workflow has been finalized

Drupal Dates of Note

  • April 14 9:30-10:30 – Web Forum – Foster Auditorium (and via Media Site Live)
  • Week of May 9 – Department pages, updated navigation and Staff Site go live

Questions? Suggestions? Please submit questions and comments via the website feedback link at the bottom of every page.

March 24 is Maker Commons grand opening

3D-printer-lion-shrine

The 3-D printing lab in the Knowledge Commons’ new Maker Commons will enable students and faculty University-wide and from all disciplines to send 3-D print files from their location. Successfully printed items will be mailed for pickup to the main desk at the requestor’s campus library.

The new 3-D printing lab in the Libraries’ Knowledge Commons began operations with a soft opening earlier this semester. On Thursday afternoon, March 24, an open house and 3 p.m. ribbon cutting event with Provost Nick Jones will officially recognize it as open for University-wide innovation.

The lab, called the Maker Commons, gives Penn State students and faculty at all campuses the opportunity to dream up, design and print almost anything. It houses a MakerBot Innovation Center that features 32 MakerBot 3-D printers, and its consultants are available to answer questions and help with projects.

Although the lab housing the printers is in Pattee Library’s Knowledge Commons, students and faculty at all Penn State campus locations can access the printers. They can upload their designs remotely at makercommons.psu.edu, and each will be added to the queue of projects waiting to be printed. When a print request is complete, it will be sent via the same delivery system used for interlibrary loan requests, and can be picked up at the appropriate campus library’s main desk, such as Pattee Library’s Commons Services desk at University Park.

Also included in the Maker Commons is the new Invention Studio, which offers littleBits, easy-to-use electronic building blocks, for prototyping devices.

The Maker Commons is the latest partnership between the University Libraries and Penn State’s Education Technology Services, which also developed and brought the Media Commons and One Button Studio to the Knowledge Commons. 

 

Reminder: OER Summit March 23

Open Educational Resources public domain logoEven though registration has closed, Penn State faculty and instructional designers are welcome to attend the first University-wide Open Educational Resources Summit this Wednesday, March 23, in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, and simulcast at multiple campuses on MediaSite Live.

The event, which supports Penn State’s OER Task Force chaired by Dean Dewey, aims to educate and encourage faculty to incorporate low-cost, high-quality open course materials into their classes, and help students avoid the high cost of textbooks. Offering the keynote is Nicole Allen, director of Open Education for SPARC.

More information about the OER Summit is available in a Penn State News release online.

For OER Summit schedule details and locations, click  on the PDF of the 2016 OER Summit agenda.

 

Countdown to 2FA — student employees

Submitted by Dace Freivalds, I-Tech

Do Students Need to Enroll in 2FA?

Penn State students are not required to enroll in Two Factor Authentication (2FA). “Student” is defined as an individual whose primary affiliation with Penn State is “student”. Students who work at the Libraries typically have a primary affiliation of “student” with a secondary affiliation of “staff.” Therefore, Libraries’ student employees do not need to enroll in 2FA.
Exception: Students who require access to secure sites, systems or services protected by 2FA for their colleges, departments, research or classes may be required to enroll.

What About Staff or Faculty Who Are Taking Courses?

Libraries’ staff or faculty who are taking one or two courses have a primary affiliation of “staff” or “faculty”, respectively, and do need to enroll in 2FA by May 10, 2016.

What if I’m Not Sure if Someone is a Student or Staff/Faculty?

If in doubt about whether a Libraries’ employee is considered a “student” by Penn State Identity Services, contact Ryan Johnson (rxj15) or Dace Freivalds (dif1) — we can verify the status for you.

Can a Student Un-Enroll from 2FA?

Penn State students – unless they are required to use 2FA-protected sites, systems, and services – are able to un-enroll from the service if they choose. To un-enroll, send an email to 2FAsupport@psu.edu.

Where Can I get Help?

I-Tech has scheduled one hour drop-in sessions for every Friday through May 6. The sessions are at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. in the I-Tech Training Room; registration is not required. Bring your Penn State ID with you (or jot down the last four digits of your nine-digit Penn State ID) – you will need this information to enroll.

For instructions, enrollment tips, and answers to frequently asked questions, visit Get2FA.psu.edu. You can also refer to I-Tech’s 2FA FAQ for answers to your questions. And if you bump into a problem, submit a Service Desk request and we’ll provide assistance.

Libraries to survey undergraduate students in April

Barbara Dewey, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications, sent out this email announcement last week:

From April 4 to 24, the University Libraries will be conducting an online survey of our undergraduate students across Penn State. Ithaka S+R, an organization that has conducted numerous national faculty surveys and related strategic assessment activities, will administer the survey. It will examine students’ work habits; their use of library resources, services, and spaces; and the role of the library in their academic life. It differs from past surveys such as LibQual in that it will focus on work practices rather than perceptions of service. We hope to gain valuable insight into how our undergraduates use the Libraries, and the results will be used to inform our strategic planning process.

The sample for this survey will include students from all Penn State campuses with undergraduate populations, including World Campus. At some campuses with smaller student populations, the entire undergraduate population will be invited to participate. I encourage you to support our effort in getting students to respond by creating awareness among students, and their instructors and professors at your location. Their views are important, and will help us improve our services. As an incentive to participate, students who complete the survey will have the chance to enter a drawing for Penn State Bookstore gift cards.

I am excited to see the results of this survey and I hope it will provide valuable information for our Strategic Plan as it relates to Penn State’s undergraduate student population.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Joe Salem, jas1218@psu.edu.