Please join us in welcoming the following new hires:
Full-time:
Erik Angel – Information Resources and Services Support Specialist
Part-time:
Jeremy Edelstein – Arts and Humanities Library
Darcy Worden – Arts and Humanities Library
Isabella Anderson – Penn State Press
Summer 2016
Tuesday, June 7–Friday, July 29: “Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts at 50: Making Lasting Memories” exhibit, Special Collections Library, open 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday-Friday (summer hours).
Tuesday, July 19: Coffee with Carmen, the Libraries’ User Services Training Coordinator, 9-10 a.m., Engineering Library.
Wednesday, July 20: Self Defense for Women, training session by Carmen Gass, the Libraries’ User Services Training Coordinator, 10 a.m.-noon, Intramural Building, Lower Level, Room 8.
Wednesday, July 20: 2016 Travel Grant Winner Brown Bag Presentation, Emrah Atasoy, visiting scholar and winner of a Helen F. Faust Women Writers Research Travel Award, noon-1 p.m., Mann Assembly Room.
Wednesday, July 20: Space Planning Brown Bag Session, Libraries’ Space Steering Committee open discussion and Q & A, noon-1 p.m., 510A Paterno Library.
Wednesday, July 20: Integrating Sustainability into Your You@PSU Goals, training session by Carmen Gass, the Libraries’ User Services Training Coordinator, 2-3 p.m., Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library and online via MediaSite Live, University Park.
Thursday, July 21, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.: PA Forward Information Literacy Summit, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library.
Thursday, July 21: PA Forward Information Literacy Summit, Mann Assembly Room, Foster Auditorium and classrooms, Pattee/Paterno libraries, University Park.
Friday, July 22: CANCELLED — 2016 Travel Grant Winner Brown Bag Presentation, Jillmarie Murphy, Union College, winner of a Helen F. Faust Women Writers Research Travel Award, noon-1 p.m., Mann Assembly Room.
Tuesday, July 27, 9:30-11:30 a.m.: Bluecloud Analytics training session, University Park training room, 302 Paterno Library.
Wednesday, July 27: Discovery Day Webinar Series: Breaking News! Worldwide Exclusive! Lionsearch News Tricks Exposed!, presented by Eric Novotny, Jackie Dillon-Fast, Sandy Morgart and Ashoo Kuma of the News & Microforms Library, 1:30-2:30 p.m., W211a Pattee Libraries, University Park, and online via Adobe Connect.
Monday, July 28: 2016 Travel Grant Winner Presentation, Rebecca Goldschmidt, winner of a Through the Flower Research Travel Award, 9-10 a.m., Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library.
Monday, July 28: 2016 Travel Grant Winner Brown Bag Presentation, Trish Kahle, University of Chicago, winner of a Dorothy Foehr Huck Research Travel Award, noon-1 p.m., Mann Assembly Room, Paterno Library.
Monday, August 3–Friday, December 16: “The Expanding Horizons: Penn Staters in the Olympics” exhibit, Special Collections Library.
Monday, August 8: 2-3 p.m.: Discovery Day Webinar Series: Silents are Golden, presented by Jenny Litz and Bob Livsey, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library
Tuesday, August 9: 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.: Libraries Clean Up Day, University Park.
Wednesday, August 10: last day of summer classes, University Park.
August 10, 10:30-11:30 a.m.: Tech Update, by Libraries I-Tech staff, Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, and MediaSite Live.
Friday, August 12: finals day, second six weeks summer session, University Park.
Saturday, August 13: Summer commencement, University Park.
Tuesday, August 16: 5-7 p.m.: ULLIBS Annual picnic, Sunset Park. All University Libraries current and retired employees and their families invited. RSVP required by Tuesday, August 9.
Fall 2016
Friday, August 19: 2016 Travel Grant Winner Brown Bag Presentation, Ryan Charlton, University of Mississippi, winner of a Dorothy Foehr Huck Research Travel Award, noon-1 p.m., Mann Assembly Room, Paterno Library.
Friday-Sunday, August 19-21: Arrival days.
Monday, August 22: First day of classes.
Tuesday, August 30: Coffee with Carmen, the Libraries’ User Services Training Coordinator, noon-1 p.m., Mann Assembly Room.
Monday, September 5: Labor Day, no classes.
September 7-8: Open House, 10 a.m-5 p.m., University Park library locations.
Please submit event information to Public Relations and Marketing via the Library News submission form.
The June 30, 2016, action plan update of the Libraries’ 2014-2019 Strategic Plan Steering Committee is now available as a PDF. The document includes group leaders and committee members for each objective in addition to a timeline for each action, expected deliverables, a leadership sponsor, and the action’s reflection of the Penn State Strategic Plan thematic priority or supporting element.
The 33 objectives on the list include 11 for Advancing University Research (one objective of the original 12 was moved earlier to the agenda of the associate deans); nine for Discovery, Access, and Preservation; and 13 for Teaching and Learning. Three actions are listed as substantially completed, one action is the refinement/assessment phase, 20 are in progress, five are in the planning phase, and four are to be initiated between now and June 30, 2017.
At the end of this yearlong action plan, the University Libraries’ roles in University-level initiatives like engaged scholarship, Invent Penn State, and research data management will be better defined. We also will have advanced Libraries’ work in support of outcomes-based assessment of student learning, digital preservation, and digital scholarship.
The Strategic Plan Steering Committee (link on the staff site) has established a communication strategy to keep everyone updated on our progress on each action item and to continue to involve University Libraries faculty and staff in advancing the strategic plan. Each quarter, we will update the status of each action item. To continue to advance the strategic plan, an action plan will be completed during the early part of each spring semester. In the fall of each year, a small group will be charged to gather feedback on the current action items and to brainstorm additional action items for the upcoming action plan.
In addition, we are seeking your perspectives for a new Library News blog series. What does the Libraries’ Strategic Plan mean to you? We are seeking contributors to write blog posts that reflect your individual thoughts about the plan and how you see it in practice in your work. Submissions can be sent via the Library News – Submit an Article form on the staff site using the working title “What the Strategic Plan Means to Me.” Those with additional questions (about how and what to write, etc.) can email Joe Salem.
We welcome your feedback on the current update of the action plan, process for updating the action plan, communication strategy, and revisions to the strategic plan. Please feel free to send your comments or questions to any member of the Strategic Plan Steering Committee:
Chris Avery (cca2@psu.edu)
Matt Ciszek (mpc16@psu.edu)
Karen Estlund (kme20@psu.edu)
Jennifer Gilley (jrg15@psu.edu)
Anne Langley (ael22@psu.edu)
Lana Munip (lzm10@psu.edu)
Rob Olendorf (rko5039@psu.edu)
Kimlyn Patishnock (kjp2@psu.edu)
Sheila Sager (sss2@psu.edu)
Joe Salem (jas1218@psu.edu)
Diane Zabel (dxz2@psu.edu)
As an outcome of the 2014 Climate and Diversity Survey, the Diversity Committee recommended that Libraries HR share quarterly reports about climate- and civility-related issues that are reported. Below is a summary of issues reported so far this year, by quarter.
Issues included in the report are those that involved conduct contrary to the Libraries’ Civility Statement, incidents of bullying, concerns about work climate, and similar issues. Concerns brought directly to Libraries HR or Libraries Administration are included, as well as concerns shared through other reporting mechanisms that are brought to our attention (such as the Employee Relations department, Affirmative Action, or the Ethics Hotline).
Outcomes are categorized as:
| Incidents reported in 2016 are summarized as follows: | 2Q 2016 | 1Q 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # Reported Incidents Characterized as culture-related (incivility or bullying) | 3 | 2 | ||
| Status: | ||||
| Open | 1 | 1 | ||
| Resolved | 2 | 1 | ||
| Outcome: | ||||
| Corrective Action/Performance Discussion | 1 | 0 | ||
| Coaching and/or counseling | 0 | 1 | ||
| Provided advice/support for employee to take action | 0 | 0 | ||
| No action desired/required | 1 | 0 |
The UL Innovation Microgrant Program Committee announced its annual call for applications with submissions due by 5 p.m. on Friday, July 29, 2016.
Do you have a unique idea for a new service or workshop?
Is there a technology that you want to introduce at your library?
The committee seeks applications from individuals and teams that will foster innovation in support of the University Libraries. Staff and representatives from the Commonwealth Campus Libraries are encouraged to apply.
Judging criteria, the application form, and additional information about the award is available on the intranet site. Any questions about the program can be sent to the Microgrant Team at ul-microgrants@lists.psu.edu.
Mark your calendar for the 26th annual University Libraries annual family picnic from 5 p.m. until sunset, Tuesday, August 16, at Sunset Park in State College. All University Libraries employees and retirees, and their families, are invited to enjoy pulled pork sandwiches, char-grilled Angus burgers and veggie burgers, potato salad, baked mac and cheese and fresh cut fruits. A variety of cookie and brownies are the featured desserts. RSVPs are requested by Tuesday, August 9.
At the end of July we will decommission Director’s Station and replace it with a new tool from Sirsi called BLUEcloud Analytics.
Our BLUEcloud Analytics implementation team is offering training and drop-in sessions. If you currently use Director’s Station or would like to become a new user of BLUEcloud Analytics we are taking requests for user accounts. To request access please have a designated supervisor request access using the Account Request system if you would like to obtain an account.
Two upcoming training sessions are available, but please request an account first.
July 12 — Introduction to BLUEcloud (2 hours, 2-4 p.m.), 302 Paterno Library
July 27 — Introduction to BLUEcloud (2 hours, 9:30-11:30 a.m.), 302 Paterno Library
Please check the I-Tech Training website for more information if you are interested in learning more about BLUEcloud Analytics or direct questions to the BLUEcloud Implementation Team at ul-bcateam@lists.psu.edu.
Penn State University Press will have a table at BookFest July 16 as part of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts this week. BookFest events will be held from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. in the Schlow Centre Region Library and in the BookFest tent in the library’s parking lot. The Pennsylvania Center for the Book is one if the sponsors of this year’s BookFest
During BookFest, the Press is offering 30 percent savings on its graphic medicine series books, as well as a select number of regional interest titles.
The graphic medicine series – the individual books in the series, as well as the series itself, have garnered a great deal of attention. The Press’ inaugural volume, the Graphic Medicine Manifesto, was recently nominated for an Eisner Award, the Comics Industry’s equivalent of the Academy Awards, to recognize creative achievement in American comic books.
Other notable mentions include graphic medicine author interviews in the New York Times Well Blog and Philadelphia Inquirer. The Brooklyn Rail recently ran an article on the graphic medicine series as a whole and the Library Journal dedicated a special section of its June graphic novels preview on the topic.
More information can be found on the Penn State University Press Graphic Medicine series site.
Self Awareness and Familiarization Exchange (S.A.F.E.) is a two-hour introductory self-defense program that provides women with risk awareness, risk reduction, and personal safety information, in addition to a few very basic physical defense techniques. Prevention, options, strategies, and physical techniques are the key components of the S.A.F.E. Program.
Interested in attending the July 20 session from 10 a.m.-noon? Please register at lrn.psu.edu.
Did you miss the job enrichment information session held on July 27? The recording of the presentation of this great opportunity is available through Adobe Connect.
From comedy classics, heart-wrenching drama, action/adventure to special effects, silent films blazed the trail to the movies we all love today. Jenny Litz and Bob Livsey present an hour-long session from 2-3 p.m. on Monday, August 8 and will show some fun and groundbreaking clips (and surprises) from the silent era. Join the event in Foster Auditorium or via Media Site Live.
By default, when you download something using Firefox, that download gets saved to the main Downloads folder for your user account. If you’d rather Firefox save your download files somewhere else, it’s really easy to change the default save folder location. Here’s how to do it:
In Firefox, click the Open menu button on the right side of the toolbar and then click Options on the drop-down menu.
On the General page, look for the settings in the Downloads section. Type your desired download path into the “Save files to” box or click “Browse” and locate (or create) your new download folder that way.
If you prefer, you can select Always ask me where to save files to have Firefox prompt you with a dialog that lets you specify your download location. When you’re done, you can close the tab.
Please join us in welcoming the following new hires:
Part-time:
Stephen McLean – Arts and Humanities Library
Summer 2016
Tuesday, June 7–Friday, July 29: “Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts at 50: Making Lasting Memories” exhibit, Special Collections Library, open 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday-Friday (summer hours).
Tuesday, July 12, 1:30-3:30 p.m.: Working with International Patrons, training session by Carmen Gass, User Services training coordinator, Foster Auditorium and online via MediaSite Live, University Park.
Tuesday, July 12, 2-4 p.m.: Bluecloud Analytics training session, University Park training room, 302 Paterno Library.
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.
Tuesday, July 19: Coffee with Carmen, the Libraries’ User Services Training Coordinator, 9-10 a.m., Engineering Library.
Wednesday, July 20: Self Defense for Women, training session by Carmen Gass, the Libraries’ User Services Training Coordinator, 10 a.m.-noon, Intramural Building, Lower Level, Room 8.
Wednesday, July 20: Integrating Sustainability into Your You@PSU Goals, training session by Carmen Gass, the Libraries’ User Services Training Coordinator, 2-3 p.m., Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library and online via MediaSite Live, University Park.
Thursday, July 21, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.: PA Forward Information Literacy Summit, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library.
Thursday, July 21: PA Forward Information Literacy Summit, Mann Assembly Room, Foster Auditorium and classrooms, Pattee/Paterno libraries, University Park.
Tuesday, July 27, 9:30-11:30 a.m.: Bluecloud Analytics training session, University Park training room, 302 Paterno Library.
Wednesday, July 27: Discovery Day Webinar Series: Breaking News! Worldwide Exclusive! Lionsearch News Tricks Exposed!, presented by Eric Novotny, Jackie Dillon-Fast, Sandy Morgart and Ashoo Kuma of the News & Microforms Library, 1:30-2:30 p.m., W211a Pattee Libraries, University Park, and online via Adobe Connect.
Monday, August 3–Friday, December 16: “The Expanding Horizons: Penn Staters in the Olympics” exhibit, Special Collections Library.
Monday, August 8: 2-3 p.m.: Discovery Day Webinar Series: Silents are Golden, presented by Jenny Litz and Bob Livsey, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library
Tuesday, August 9: 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.: Libraries Clean Up Day, University Park.
Wednesday, August 10: last day of summer classes, University Park.
August 10, 10:30-11:30 a.m.: Tech Update, by Libraries I-Tech staff, Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, and MediaSite Live.
Friday, August 12: finals day, second six weeks summer session, University Park.
Saturday, August 13: Summer commencement, University Park.
Tuesday, August 16: 5-7 p.m.: ULLIBS Annual picnic, Sunset Park. All University Libraries current and retired employees and their families invited. RSVP required by Tuesday, August 9.
Fall 2016
Friday-Sunday, August 19-21: Arrival days.
Monday, August 22: First day of classes.
Tuesday, August 30: Coffee with Carmen, the Libraries’ User Services Training Coordinator, noon-1 p.m., Mann Assembly Room.
Monday, September 5: Labor Day, no classes.
September 7-8: Open House, 10 a.m-5 p.m., University Park library locations.
Please submit event information to Public Relations and Marketing via the Library News submission form.
The following is a round-up of activities many of our colleagues participated in at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference held June 23-28 in Orlando, Fla., as well as ALA-affiliated organizations’ June conferences. Please see also the June 27 Library News post on Associate Dean Karen Estlund’s two ALA panel presentations and new ALA leadership roles for Penn State Shenango Head Librarian Matt Ciszek and Head of Library Learning Services Rebecca Miller.
Andrew Completes Chairmanship of MAGIRT
A three-year leadership role in Map & Geospatial Information Round Table concluded for Cartographic Resources Cataloging Librarian Paige Andrew. During his stint as chair, Andrew was involved in everything from planning meetings and programs, establishing and then leading Executive Board meetings, participating in multiple Committee, Discussion Group, and Interest Group activities, writing a column for MAGIRT’s newsletter, and collaborating with other ALA units, most especially the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT).
An overwhelmingly successful formal half-day program at the 2015 ALA Annual Conference, co-sponsored with GODORT titled “Data Visualization in the Library: Collections, Tools and Scalable Services” became the foundation for the formal 2016 formal Preconference workshop held last week. Another highlight of his term was serving as chair of the Nominations and Awards Committee and being part of the process of deciding who would be selected for our annual Honors Award.
Andrew also was presented with his 2016 Margaret Mann Citation at the ALCTS Awards Program.
Behler chaired ACRL Instruction Section conference program
Information Literacy Librarian Anne Behler chaired the planning committee and moderated the ACRL Instruction Section conference program, attended by more than 175 people.
Herb served on Children’s Book Council panel
Education and Behavioral Sciences Librarian and Director of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book Steven Herb spoke on a Children’s Book Council panel titled “Graphic Traffic: Graphic Novels Takeover.”
Jackson serves in leadership roles at ACRL and ALA conferences
Athena Jackson, Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair and head of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library, chaired the plenaries subcommittee for the Rare Books & Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of ACRL conference, “Opening Doors to Collaboration, Outreach, and Diversity.” Jackson moderated the opening plenary: “Open the Door to a More Diverse and Collaborative Future,” and an additional papers panel: “Diversity and Cultural Communities.”
Following the RBMS conference, Jackson transitioned to her three-year appointment as Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect of RBMS at ALA’s Annual Conference. She also serves and participated in a planning meeting as co-chair of the Roundtable Discussions as a member of the ACRL 2017 conference coordinating committee for “At the Helm: Leading Transformation,” in Baltimore.
Knapp assumes presidency of LIRT
Larry and Ellen Foster Communications Librarian Jeff Knapp, who has served in various roles in the Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT) for more than 10 years, assumed its presidency on July 1. The purpose and mission of LIRT is to “empower … librarians, from all types of libraries, to become better teachers through sharing best practices, leadership and professional development, and networking.” Although there are a number of different units within the American Library Association that deal with library instruction, LIRT sets itself apart by bringing academic librarians together with public and school librarians.
Novotny served as Library History Round Table chair
Eric Novotny, history librarian at University Park, served as Chair of the Library History Round Table (LHRT) and presided over a full slate of activities, including convening the Executive Board Meeting, hosting the Edward G. Holley Memorial Lecture on “History, Childhood, Memory, and Imagination” and attending our annual Research Forum on “History of Reading and Readers in Libraries.”
Novotny, Lear’s library history journal launched
Novotny, and Bernadette Lear, reference librarian at Penn State Harrisburg, unveiled a new scholarly journal at the annual conference with the first edition set for Spring 2017. Sponsored by ALA’s Library History Round Table and published by the Penn State University Press, Libraries: Culture, History, and Society is the only journal in the United States devoted to library history.
Rustic begins term as Chair of Reference Services Section
Amy Rustic, a reference and instruction librarian at Penn State New Kensington, began her term as Chair of Reference Services Section (RSS) on July 1. She was elected and served as Vice Chair last year. RSS is the largest of RUSA’s sections and represents a wide range of reference librarians.
The Libraries’ Open House at University Park is scheduled for September 7-8, from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. each day. The Open House Team Leaders are excited to share the updated learning outcomes developed for the event. Details will be discussed at individual stop meetings, but for planning purposes, highlights are listed below. them here. Each stop will be asked to identify at least one of these outcomes that the particular Open House activity will address.
Any questions? Please email the Open House Team Leaders at:
UL-OPEN-HOUSE-STEER@LISTS.PSU.EDU
Learning Outcomes
After completion of the Libraries’ Open House, students should be able to:
When you are the meeting organizer in UCS, meeting invitation replies sometime can clutter up your inbox. You can easily create a filter so the email responses from meeting invitees are automatically filed into a folder.
To create this filter:
Now all meeting invitation replies will automatically be filed into this folder!
Below is a screenshot of a Meeting Invitation Replies filter that I created on my account.
Please join us in welcoming the following new hires:
Full-time:
Nathan Troup – Records Management Officer
Part-time:
Ryan Spencer – Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library
Celine Tesvara – Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library
Brenna Doyle – Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library
Daniel Coursen – Intern, World Campus