Daily Archives: April 25, 2016

Dean’s News: April 25

by Barbara I. Dewey, dean, University Libraries and Scholarly Communications

I had the great pleasure of attending the Penn State retirees luncheon hosted by President Barron last week. Although not all attended I note that there were 10 staff retirees eligible to attend and all together they represent 230 years of service to Penn State and Penn State Libraries. Their work is greatly appreciated.

I hope some you could attend the many events great events surrounding Blue/White weekend. The Library Development Board met on April 15 and greatly enjoyed their time in the Pattee-Paterno Library complex. Thanks to all who helped with logistics, presented, or otherwise made our guests feel very welcome. Soon we should have additional information about the next Penn State fundraising campaign and the Libraries’ part in it.

A number of librarians and staff joined me for the Commission on Women Annual Awards Banquet recently. We are very proud of Sherry Lonsdale, I-Tech Database Specialist, who will be part of the Commission leadership team serving this coming year as co-chair elect, and also of Jackie Esposito, who was recognized at the event for being nominated for the Rosemary Schraer Mentoring award.

Countdown to 2FA: Two Weeks

submitted by Dace Freivalds, I-Tech

thermometer showing 82% Libraries enrollment in 2FA

As of April 21, the Libraries has reached 82% enrollment in two-factor authentication, or 2FA.

We’re getting close — 424 or 82% of the Libraries’ 519 employees have enrolled in 2FA as of April 21. Kudos to the following departments and campus libraries for achieving 100% enrollment by April 21: Digitization and Preservation, MTSS, Knowledge Commons, Publishing & Curation Services, I-Tech, Altoona, Berks, Brandywine, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Lehigh Valley, Shenango, and Wilkes Barre!

Not Enrolled Yet?

Identity Services will continue to send weekly email reminders to all individuals in the Libraries who have not yet enrolled. Remember that as of May 10 you will not be able to access anything protected by WebAccess until you enroll. This includes services such as UCS, ESSIC, the Libraries’ intranet, My Library Account, Angel, and Canvas.

Go to Get2FA.psu.edu to enroll and for answers to frequently asked questions. You can also stop by I-Tech during one of the four remaining drop-in sessions. The sessions are on Friday, April 29, and Friday, May 6, at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. in the I-Tech Training Room in Paterno Library, University Park; 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. If these times don’t work for you, contact Ryan Johnson (rxj15) to set up an individual session.

2FA Tip of the Day – What should I do If I Get Locked Out of 2FA?

As a security measure, you will be locked out of 2FA after ten consecutive attempts to log in to WebAccess using 2FA fail. This might be caused by not responding to multiple push notifications because the Duo Mobile app is not open, by selecting the wrong device (calling an office landline when at home or by selecting a device that’s not properly enrolled), or automatic log in attempts by a 2FA-protected system when a user isn’t expecting them. Regardless, once you’ve been locked out by 10 consecutive failed log in attempts, you will need to contact the IT Service Desk at 2FAsupport@psu.edu or 814-865-4357 for assistance.

 

Symphony is moving to Linux

Sirsi Expert Teams and various staff throughout the Libraries have been called on to test a major improvement in the Symphony Integrated Library System. On March 24 2016, a contract was finalized to migrate Symphony from its current server and operating system platform (Solaris) to its new virtualized Linux environment.

The move from the current Solaris hardware and operating system to a virtual environment using Linux will save the Library and ITS Services and Solutions (SaS) time and money. The cost of running Symphony on Linux is about one-sixth the cost of using Solaris. Both SaS and I-Tech have more extensive skill sets with Linux, and SirsiDynix promises that we will see efficiencies in reduced indexing times, reports running faster, the Cat running faster, etc.

The project will continue through June 30, 2016. If no showstoppers have been identified between now and then, the production service will migrate on June 20-21. Test and Development will be migrated shortly after.  We don’t anticipate significant down time, although we may need to be in read-only mode for a day or two. We will share specifics as soon as we know more.

The short timeline is a result of our effort to eliminate another year of costly support of Solaris hardware and operating systems. Members of the Sirsi Expert Teams have met, made plans and are testing as well as recruiting individuals from across the Libraries to perform additional testing of all features of Symphony.

This is a large, high-impact project with a short timeline, and all hands are on deck. The Sirsi Steering Committee and I-Tech appreciate the effort of everyone involved.

For more information, contact Linda Klimczyk  lgk1@psu.edu

 

Canvas transition training tips

Hello University Libraries Colleagues:

Although you probably already know me in other capacities, I’d like to introduce myself as your Canvas liaison.

What that means is essentially this: if you have any questions regarding the transition from Angel to Canvas, or Canvas itself, especially how it relates to the Libraries, I am the person to ask. If you teach a credit course through the Libraries, I will be reaching out to you about migrating your content. Feel free to contact me before then if you have questions.

Some faculty are happily using Canvas already. Some will opt to continue to use Angel until Angel no longer works in July 2017. My goal throughout this period is to equip Libraries colleagues to deal with the entire spectrum of issues that will come up during this transition. In the Libraries we have a rather unique relationship with the learning management system. We use it infrequently ourselves, but it also is an inroad to nearly every class we engage with, and our integrations (such as reserves) are some of the most important Canvas tools out there.

As such, knowledge of the basic elements of Canvas is valuable. For some, especially those who work at a service desk that is often approached by faculty (for example, those at Commonwealth Campuses), more advanced knowledge may be necessary, as questions might come up regarding how to build a course.

The University has provided extensive trainings via canvas.psu.edu. And while these trainings are well done, they are far beyond what we at the Libraries need, but simultaneously exclude some things important to us. Of course, you are welcome to complete these trainings if you wish, but there will be other Libraries-specific options provided over the next few months.

Because most of our integrations are still in development for Fall 2017, I cannot provide you a specific timeline; however, I can share what the Libraries-specific trainings will be. Obviously, anyone can view or attend whatever trainings they see fit, but these are my recommendations.

For all Libraries colleagues who interact with students or faculty (asynchronous video trainings):

  • Basic Canvas Overview
  • Course Reserves
  • Library Guides
  • Canvas Commons

For those at a service desk that sees faculty needing LMS help (online training):

  • Course development in Canvas

I also will be sending out anticipated release dates for our integrations (Course Reserves, Guides, etc.) when they are available.

Please let me know if you have any further questions. I’m happy to help!

– submitted by Amanda Clossen, learning design librarian

Events reminder: Customer service tips

The semester is coming to a close. The number of patrons in the Libraries will skyrocket.
Caffeinated beverages will be free flowing and let’s not even talk about the stress level! Now might be a good time for a refresher on keeping your cool and patiently serving all patrons.
Join Carmen Gass for reminders of simple and effective tips to provide great customer service:

Removing the iPhone’s microphone button

screen capture of iPhone keyboard with microphone button circled in red and crossed outHow to get rid of the microphone button on the iPhone keyboard you keep accidentally tapping:

Even if you have a newer, bigger iPhone, a lot of us still accidentally tap the little microphone icon when we’re trying to hit the space bar. Here is how you can simply get rid of it.

The microphone button starts up dictation, which is certainly a useful feature for some people, but it’s an annoyance to others. If you’re not a fan, getting rid of the button should make your life a little easier:

  1. Tap Settings -> General -> Keyboard
  2. Set the “Enable Dictation” toggle to off.

With that, the microphone will disappear.

 

LHR News: April 25

Wishing the following employees well as they leave us:

Stefanie Austin – Social Sciences Library
Melissa Foltz – Dickinson Law
Julie Schoelles – Penn State Press
Komal Shaikh – Penn State York

Events: April 25

Spring 2016

April 18-29: Libraries Training Assessment Survey via Qualtrics.

Monday, April 25, 11:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Penn State Shenango Undergraduate Research Fair, Lartz Memorial Library.

Monday, April 25, 3:00-4:00 p.m.: Tips for Providing Great Customer Service, with Carmen Gass, User Services Training Coordinator, Mann Assembly Room.

Thursday, April 28,10:00-11:00 a.m.: Tips for Providing Great Customer Service, with Carmen Gass, User Services Training Coordinator, Mann Assembly Room and Adobe Connect; available online at https://meeting.psu.edu/usersvcs.

UPDATE #2: event will be held: Thursday, April 28, 3:30-5:00 p.m.: “Maestra” Cuba film showing film screening and public talk, post-screening Q&A and reception with Director Catherine Murphy and Dr. Luisa Campos, visiting Cuban scholar, educator, and director of Cuba’s National Literacy Campaign Museum; co-sponsors include the University Libraries and the Penn State Adult Education Program, College of Education; Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library.

Friday, April 29: last day of spring classes.      

Sunday-Tuesday, May 1-3: Destress Fest, open house, Mann Assembly Room, Pattee/Paterno lobby areas, 4 branch libraries, University Park.

Monday-Thursday, May 2-5: Penn State Shenango De-stress Fest, open house, Lartz Memorial Library.

Friday-Sunday, May 6-8: Spring commencement weekend, most campuses. University Park commencement schedule is online.

Maymester / Summer 2016

Monday, May 9: first day of Maymester classes, University Park. Academic calendar information for all campuses is available online.

Monday, May 16: first day of classes, first six weeks summer session, University Park.

Monday, May 23, 2:00–3:30 p.m.; Libraries’ annual Diversity Research and Programming Colloquium, Foster Auditorium and MediaSite Live.

Wednesday, May 25, 9:30-10:30 a.m.: Coffee with Carmen, the Libraries’ User Services Training Coordinator, will present results from theLibraries Training Assessment Survey, Mann Assembly Room.

Monday, May 30: Memorial Day, no classes.

Thursday, June 2: Discovery Day, University Park library locations.

Wednesday, June 22, 5:30-6:30 p.m.: MoneyCounts: Debt Management program, Mann Assembly Room, Paterno Library.

Wednesday, June 29: first day, second six weeks summer session, University Park.

Monday, July 4: Independence Day, no classes.

Wednesday-Sunday, July 13-17, Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts 50th anniversary, Children’s Day July 13, BookFest July 16, State College and University Park campus.

Thursday, July 21, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.: PA Forward Information Literacy Summit, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library.

Wednesday, August 10: last day of summer classes, University Park.

Saturday, August 13: Summer commencement, University Park.

Please submit event information to Public Relations and Marketing via email.