Monthly Archives: December 2016

Swimming with the fiches: A “lost” collection rediscovered

Photo by Engineering Librarian Angela Davis.

A dark corner of the Engineering Library houses four unmarked
cabinets of microfiche. For more than forty years, the only access provided to the collection was via a single collection-level record in the catalog for the “IAA Papers”—a
cryptic title that barely hinted at the extent (nearly 60,000 unique titles)
and richness (highly specialized aeronautics texts in more than 20 languages) of the collection.

Thanks to Engineering Librarian
Angela Davis and her colleagues, working in collaboration with the Bibload Working Group, the IAA Papers have now been cataloged. A “Begins With/Title” search in The CAT of “IAA Papers” will retrieve the 59,973 records.

The MARC records were created based on spreadsheets containing metadata gathered by Angela and then transformed into MARC by the Bibload Working Group.

The IAA Papers are a collection of full-text journal articles, conference papers, monographs and theses from mostly Soviet Bloc scientists and engineers originally published between 1966 and 1973. A majority of the papers are in English or Russian, but nearly two dozen other languages are also represented. The Libraries acquired the fiche in the late 1960s and early 1970s at considerable cost: adjusting for inflation, the fiche cost somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000 in 2016 dollars!

One programmatic area of the Libraries’ current strategic plan, Discovery, Access, and Preservation, includes the goal to “describe and digitize unique collections.” The IAA Papers are almost certainly unique: no other library is known to hold this collection. The project to catalog them thus serves the second goal of the same programmatic area, to “improve access for future generations through stewardship of collections and resources.”

– submitted by Jeff Edmunds, Cataloging and Metadata Services Digital Access Team

Fall blog series: Tales from Eric Novotny, a new (virtually) embedded librarian

For this week’s library news blog, Eric Novotny, history librarian, writes about his experiences as a new embedded librarian preparing for an upcoming online course. Even though he had worked with the professor previously on the course material, this was a first-time experience for both individuals and addresses the processes and current and future resources.

by Eric Novotny, history librarian

Season’s greetings! I am penning this missive in the hopes of reaching others, like me, who are new to supporting a World Campus class. I was recently asked to collaborate on an advanced level History/Jewish Studies course taught by Tobias Brinkmann. My experiences to date suggest that this will be a rewarding activity, for myself, the instructor and the students.

How do I Begin?
While I had worked with Dr. Brinkmann for years on his Holocaust course, neither of us had much experience with designing content for online courses. Fortunately this is not a solo journey and wonderful support is available. To start I met with Victoria Raish, the Online Learning librarian. Victoria shared some stimulating ideas on best practices for teaching online and helped connect me with Jennifer Grey, instructional designer, Filippelli Institute for e-Education and Outreach. Together with Dr. Brinkmann we brainstormed ideas and talked through how the traditional library support I provided for a resident course could be replicated and even enhanced in an online environment.

Rethinking Instruction
One of the exciting aspects of the World Campus experience is how it has expanded the possibilities for reaching students. In the Holocaust class previously offered, I was invited in for a single session with follow-up consultations as requested by the students. As an embedded librarian I will have multiple opportunities for student engagement. We have discussed hosting virtual library study hours at different times to interact with students across time zones. We are also exploring videos and brief tutorials that can be integrated throughout the syllabus, so students would view the content when it is most directly relevant to the course objectives.

What We’ve (actually) Done So Far
To date my work has largely involved preparation and imagination as the class is not yet live. The major concrete activity has been the recording of a brief introductory video which could not have been easier—all I had to do was show up. Stephen Tuttle, multimedia specialist with the Filippelli Institute picked a location, brought the necessary lighting and audio, and walked us through the process. I share the video not because it is a groundbreaking masterpiece, but as a demonstration of what can be (easily) accomplished. Ideally, future instructional resources will include interactive elements for both engagement and to evaluate reception.

HIST 426 Library Videos
The first video we created for this course, “Welcome to the Library,” can be viewed here. By selecting the playlist icon in the upper right corner of this video, you can see the additional videos available including, “Books and Journals,” “Personal Accounts” and “Historical Newspapers.”

After the shoot was concluded, Stephen continued to support the course. He and I worked together to identify and integrate additional images such as screenshots of specific databases being discussed (see for example images from the New York Times at 0:26 mark of the Holocaust: Media and Historical Newspapers video). This added some variety to the visuals and broke up the “talking heads” monotony. Aside from discomfort watching myself on screen, I can say I am pleased with the results.

Challenges
I hope I have conveyed my enthusiasm for this effort. Everyone involved has been generous with their time, expertise and ideas. That said, I do ruminate on the scaleability of this rather intensive approach. Rethinking instruction is invigorating, but also time-consuming. For now the time commitment has not been overwhelming and I believe it is a worthwhile investment to foster skills that should see greater demand going forward. While I may not be able to provide such ambitious support for hundreds of classes, I anticipate that routines and shortcuts will emerge over time as I gain experience delivering content to distant audiences. I look forward to it!

Save the Date: Tech Update Dec. 14

The next Tech Update is scheduled for 1:30-2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14 in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library. For those who cannot participate in person, please join us via Mediasite Live.

The agenda for this Tech Update includes these presentations:

Trello Basics – Task and Project Management for Individuals and Groups – Ann Passmore and Andrew Gearhart
Canvas integration with Guides and Reserves – Chris Holobar and Amanda Clossen
Workstation Backups – Michelle Dzyak
Service Now update – Michelle Dzyak

Save the Date: Internet privacy and security workshop Jan. 5

We live much of our lives online and enjoy the convenience of shopping, banking, paying bills, communication (via email or social media), entertainment, and work. This also makes it convenient for people, corporations, and governments who want to learn more about you by text mining your email, tracking your behavior online, or who want to access your accounts for nefarious purposes. The Internet makes us more connected, and that connectivity makes us more vulnerable. However, being vulnerable does not have to mean being powerless.

From 3-4 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 5 in W23 Pattee Library, Karen Estlund and John Russell will lead a workshop to show simple steps anyone can take to protect themselves when using online services. Please RSVP at https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6r2a3xhy8r6stwN for this one-hour session where you will learn about:

Password managers
Securing your personal email accounts
Private Internet browsing
Private email and chat communication using encryption

You will leave this workshop with a solid overview of privacy and security basics that you can implement them in your own life, help family and friends, and share with the Penn State community.

This workshop will be set up to enable remote attendance via Zoom. It will also be hands on, so bring your mobile phones and laptops!

Green Tip: It’s time to GREEN your holidays!

by Earl Houser for the University Libraries Green Team

December is here, which means winter break and the holiday season will soon be upon us. For many, the holidays are a time spent with family and friends. This is also a time for office parties at work and social gatherings. Unfortunately, the holidays can also be a time when we create too much waste.

Consider these statistics:

Americans throw away about 25% more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.
If every American family wrapped just 3 presents in reused materials, it would save enough to cover 45,000 football fields.
About 35% of Americans have an unused present collecting dust in their closets.

Here are a few tips to help make your office or home gathering more “Green”:

Celebrating:

Serve food with washable utensils, plates, and glasses rather than disposable items.
Research sustainable food choices in your area and buy locally if possible.
Buy snacks and beverages in bulk to avoid extra packaging.
Consider dropping off extra food at a food bank or homeless shelter. Be
sure to call ahead to find out what your local organization will accept.

Decorating:

Choose high-efficiency, long-lasting LED lights for decorating. Bring the outside in by decorating with natural materials, like pinecones and discarded evergreen branches from the outdoors.
If you are buying a live tree, look for one that is grown locally to minimize the emissions associated with long-distance transportation. Also, look for a post-holiday tree mulching program in your area.

Gifting:

Instead of wrapping paper, make the packaging part of the gift with decorative boxes, baskets, or gift bags which are easy to reuse.
Give children gifts that inspire curiosity about the natural world such as an ant/butterfly farm, science kit, a kite, or a tree that you can plant together.

Some of these suggestions can be used year round and adapted for any type of gathering such as birthdays or other celebrations!

Finally, everyone should remember that when leaving for the winter break it is very important to follow the usual “Green” practices of turning off lights and shutting off printers and other peripherals. When you save energy and resources, you protect the environment both now and for the future!

The Libraries’ Green Team wishes everyone a fun-filled winter break and holiday time!

Developing a customer-focused attitude

It is critical to evaluate the effectiveness of our customer service skills. Not only do we deal with the external customer, but we also spend time interacting with internal customers, our coworkers. From 2-3 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 4, Kathy Gates-Moore will present a workshop to help individuals develop a customer-focused attitude in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, and on Mediasite Live.

This workshop includes a self-test, which helps participants recognize their strengths and weaknesses in this area. Other topics include dealing with angry or difficult customers, diffusing a difficult situation and “five foundations for a successful customer interaction,” which helps participants recognize opportunities for improving customer service and retention.

– submitted by Carmen Gass, User Services Training

We wrote the night away: Recap of our first International Write-In event

On Dec. 4, the University Libraries hosted about 30 undergraduate and graduate students who participated in our first International Write-In at University Park. For four hours, students committed to working on writing, digging into assignments, and trying to finish off papers and articles before the end of the semester. Staged in the Mann Assembly Room, this event was planned in collaboration with the Learning Center and the Graduate Writing Center. With snacks, coffee, tea, writing consultants, and librarians, we were able to provide support and another productive space for our students.

We plan on hosting this event in the spring and due to the success of this event, we are seeking to extend the time, and, perhaps target certain student groups to support their end of semester writing endeavors.

To see photos from the Write-In, see our Storify with social media posts from the event.

We’d like to send a big thanks to Nathan Valchar and Carmen Gass for their help in promoting the event as well as Joe Fennewald, Rebecca Miller, Rebecca Peterson, Megan Gilpin, Len White, Paul Burnell, Jose Guerrero, and the News and Microforms Library Sunday staff for making sure our quiet space was clear for our writers for their support and help in setting up and run the event. We couldn’t have done it without you!

– submitted by Hailley Fargo and Alia Gant, library representatives, International Write-In Committee

The Big Book of 350 One-on-One Meeting Questions

One-on-one meetings are a critical component to the performance game. In fact, 55 percent of highly engaged organizations said employees are expected to have one-on-ones monthly or quarterly. These conversations are used as communication and development tools in the workplace… and they’re used a lot. While incredibly effective, one-on-one meetings can be intimidating. You might not know what to discuss, or you might be overwhelmed with too many topics to discuss.

This ebook, “The Big Book of 250 One-on-One Meeting Questions,” is a bank of 350 one-on-one meeting questions to help you have more effective and meaningful conversations. Plus, they’re categorized into the most common workplace topics, including:

Career Growth and Development
Feeling Valued
Goals and Goal Alignment
Job Performance
Work-Life Balance
….and more!

– submitted by Carmen Gass, User Training Services

Tech Tip: Viewing your tickets in Service Now

by Ryan Johnson, I-Tech

A new servicedesk system for IT and Facilities launched last week called Service Now. Many of the changes only affect our IT Staff, however, you will notice a couple changes:

First, a newer webform will appear when you submit a IT or Facilities request.

Please include as much information as possible in the “What are the details of your issue?” field including a description of your issue, the IP address if applicable and the email address of anyone else you would like to be included on the ticket.

You will be able to respond to any email notifications you receive and your reply will get routed to I-Tech and Facilities staff as normal.

After filling out the form, you will receive an email that will appear slightly different such as the one below:

A new feature in Service Now is the ability to review your ticket in the system itself.

You can either respond to the email with any additional information as you have in the past, or you can click on the Record number in the email.

After authenticating with your Penn State credentials, ServiceNow will open and display your ticket for you in the Interface below:

At this time, you can review your ticket activity or add additional comments to your ticket. If you add anything, make sure you click Update, in the upper right-hand corner to submit your changes.

If you don’t have the email, you can also go to https://pennstate.service-now.com/help_portal/ and click on the My Service Requests button.

This will display all your tickets that have been opened, including any tickets from OVPIT (Formerly ITS).

Events: Dec. 12

Fall 2016

Sunday-Tuesday, Dec. 11-13: DeStress Fest, 3-8 p.m., University Park library locations.

Monday, Dec. 12 through Friday, August 30, 2017: “100 Years of the Pulitzers: Celebrating Our Humanity,” exhibit, Arts and Humanities Library operating hours, Diversity Studies Room, 203 Patee Library, University Park.

Monday-Friday, Dec. 12-16: Final exams.

Wednesday, Dec. 14: Tech Update, by Libraries I-Tech staff, 1:30-2:30 p.m., Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, and Mediasite Live.

Thursday, Dec. 15: Coffee with Carmen, with special guest Steven Herb speaking about storytelling, noon-1 p.m., Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library.

Saturday, Dec. 17: Fall Commencement, University Park and several Commonwealth Campus locations.

Wednesday, Dec. 21: Space planning brown bag session, Libraries’ Space Steering Committee open discussion and Q & A, noon-1 p.m., 510A Paterno Library, University Park.

Spring 2017

Wednesday, Jan. 4: “Developing a customer service-focused attitude,” presentation by Kathy Gates-Moore, Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park, and Mediasite Live.

Thursday, Jan. 5: Adult CPR/AED training, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library, University Park. Contact Len White at lmw6@psu.edu to register.

Thursday, Jan. 5: Internet privacy and security workshop, presentation by Karen Estlund and John Russell, 3-4 p.m., W23 Pattee Library, University Park and via Zoom.

Monday, Jan. 9 through Friday, May 5: “From the Trenches: The Great War in Sepia” exhibit, spring semester hours, Special Collections Library, 104 Paterno Library, University Park.

Monday, Jan. 9: First day of spring classes.

Monday, January 16 through Friday, May 5: “Research Wrapped in Aesthetics: The Air Wall,” documentary exhibit, spring operating hours, Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library, 111 Stuckeman Family Building, University Park.

Tuesday, Jan. 17: Dean’s Diversity Forum, with Moses Davis, 1:30 p.m., Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park and Mediasite Live.

Wednesday, Jan. 18: “Studying African Indigenous Knowledge for Improved Health and Biodiversity,” with Abderrahim Ouarghidi and Bronwen Powell, 3-4 p.m., Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park.

Wednesday, Jan. 25: M.G. Whiting Award Winner presentation, with Annie Marcinek, noon-1 p.m., Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park.

Wednesday, Jan. 25: “The Politics of Struggle: The National Council of Indigenous Peoples in Mexico,“ 4-5 p.m., presentation by Maria Muñoz, Susquehanna University, Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park.

Thursday, Jan. 26: TEAM Library, 2-3:30 p.m., Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library & Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library, University Park.

Friday, Jan. 27: Coffee with Carmen: Diversity Component, noon-1 p.m., with speakers Alia Gant, Jose Guerrero and Athena Jackson, Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library, University Park.

Monday, Jan. 30: Dean’s Forum, 10 a.m., Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park and Mediasite Live.

Wednesday, Feb. 1: M.G. Whiting Award Winner presentation, with Nari Senanayaki, 1-2 p.m., Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park.

Wednesday, Feb. 15: Human Library, 1-7 p.m., multiple locations at University Park.

Thursday, Feb. 23: TEAM Library, 2-3:30 p.m., with Moses Davis, Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library, University Park.

Saturday, Feb. 25: One-day workshop on Indigenous Knowledge, with Abderrahim Ouarghidi and Bronwen Powell, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park. RSVP to Mark Mattson at mam1196@psu.edu.

Sunday-Saturday, March 5-11: Spring break, no classes.

Thursday, March 23: TEAM Library, 2-3:30 p.m., Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library, University Park.

Friday-Saturday, April 7-8: “Boundaries of the Human in the Age of the Life Sciences,” 4-5 p.m., with speaker Scott Gilbert, Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park.

Friday, April 28: Last day of spring classes.

Sunday-Tuesday, April 30-May 2: DeStress Fest.

Monday-Friday, May 1-5: Final exams.

Friday-Sunday, May 5-7: Spring commencement weekend, most campuses.

Please submit event information to Public Relations and Marketing via the Library News submission form.

Expanded library hours and services help students

Penn State’s Pattee Library and Paterno Library have expanded hours and services Dec. 4-16 to help students with end-of-the-semester research and finals study needs. In addition, the Libraries is co-sponsoring later on-campus bus service Sundays through Wednesdays during the last week of fall classes and finals week with the Office of the Vice Provost for Information Technology.

Detailed schedules for University Libraries locations at University Park and at Commonwealth Campus locations are available online.

DeStress Fest
Calming and restorative activities are planned for students each day during the Libraries’ annual end-of-semester “DeStress Fest” Sunday through Tuesday, Dec. 11-13 at University Park. In addition to games, yoga, art therapy and music breaks, coffee and snacks will be provided from 3-8 p.m. each day in 103 Paterno Library.

University Park branch library locations also will provide activities and snacks for students:

The Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library is providing origami projects and puzzles all day Sunday to Friday, Dec. 4-9, with snacks and drinks from 7-9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, Dec. 4-8, and 3-5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9.
The Fletcher L. Byrom Earth and Mineral Sciences Library begins its extended hours on Sunday, Dec. 4. The EMS Library will offer puzzles and other study-break activities all day and apples and snacks while supplies last each day Sunday, Dec. 11, through Thursday, Dec. 15.
Students studying at the Engineering Library can bring their own cup for drinks and snacks from 6-7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 11, and 10-11 a.m. and 6-7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 12, through Wednesday, Dec. 14.
The Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library will treat students to snacks and drinks Monday through Friday, Dec. 12-16, and have puzzles and other activities all day.

Extended CATA Loop bus service
Extended late-night CATA Loop bus service, courtesy of the University Libraries and the Office of the Vice Provost for Information Technology, runs through Saturday, Dec. 17. Blue and White Loop service will operate until 2:30 a.m. with a final Blue Loop (eastbound) pickup time of 2:15 a.m. daily at the Pattee Transit Center on Curtin Road. Sunday through Wednesday night service for the White Loop (westbound) will have a final pickup time of 2:21 a.m. at the Pattee Transit Center on Curtin Road. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, the White Loop schedule will maintain its regular service until 4 a.m. The detailed loop schedule for Sunday through Wednesday nights is available at http://catabus.com/Announcements/LateLoop.html.

Student overnight parking
A partnership between the Penn State Transportation Services and University Park Undergraduate Association will offer extended hours of student parking through Friday, Dec. 16. Many of the overnight parking restrictions for student permits will be waived and students with valid permits may park during overnight hours until 7:30 a.m. in lots or decks near library locations.

“Safe Walk” service available between dusk and dawn
Students, faculty, staff and visitors can also call the “Safe Walk” service at 814-865-9255 (865-WALK) to be accompanied to an on-campus location or home within a reasonable walking distance off campus between dusk and dawn. This service, offered by the University Police’s Auxiliary Police division, is available 365 days a year.

Volunteer slots available for DeStress Fest Dec. 11-13

At the end of the fall and spring semesters, the University Libraries’ DeStress Fest at University Park helps students through finals week by offering coffee, snacks and fun activities from 3-8 p.m. Sunday-Tuesday, Dec. 11-13. Volunteers are needed to help prepare and serve coffee and snacks for this year’s event.

Check with your departmental supervisor to obtain approval, then join your colleagues by signing up on this volunteer page.

Please note that hours spent helping with DeStress Fest are considered hours worked for our non-exempt employees, and count toward total hours worked during the workweek. Your total hours should not exceed 40 in a week. If it appears that volunteering for Open House will result in you working more than 40 hours, please talk to your supervisor or Libraries Human Resources.

Inside Access: ILLiad email enhancements

by Shane Burris, Interlibrary Loan

Changes have been made to two ILLiad email notices to enhance user access to ILLiad.

One change is to the ILLiad courtesy notice (due date reminder). The email now contains a link which can be used to request a renewal directly from the email rather than link to the ILLiad main menu, which then requires the patron to navigate to checked out items and then to the item record to renew. We’ve seen a dramatic reduction in patron questions regarding renewals since implementation. Below is an example of the email:

The other change is to the email notification patrons receive when an article is delivered electronically to their ILLiad account. There is now a link in the email which goes directly to the .pdf of the article, once again bypassing the need to navigate through multiple screens to access the article. A second link will still take them into ILLiad to view the listing of all their available articles. Below is an example of the email:

Please contact Interlibrary Loan at https://libraries.psu.edu/services/interlibrary-loan with any questions or comments.

LHR News: December 2016 and January 2017 holidays: your ESSIC attendance record

For full-time faculty and staff, the University holidays this year are Dec. 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30; and Monday, Jan. 2.

This year, Dec. 25 will fall on a Sunday, as will Jan. 1, 2017. University policies provide, however, that if a holiday falls on an employee’s regularly scheduled day off, the employee receives another day off with pay to be used at another time. Thus, employees who normally do not work Sundays will receive a holiday compensatory day off for the Dec. 25 holiday.

Friday, Dec. 23 is not a University holiday and offices ordinarily would be open that day. However, in order to provide a generally more desirable and efficient application of time off, University offices and facilities except for essential services will be closed for this day as well. Therefore, the University will be closed from the end of normal operations on Thursday, Dec. 22, and will reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

The holiday compensatory day earned for the Sunday, Dec. 25 holiday will be used for the work absences on Dec. 23 because of University offices and facilities not being open. This day closed, however, will not be an official University holiday. Employees in essential services who qualify for compensatory days, but who must work Dec. 23 will still have their compensatory day off for use at a later time.

For all employees scheduled Monday through Friday during this time period, the attendance record should be completed as follows for the holidays:*

*Employees in HR-88 positions would apply the holiday time according to their FTE, per policy HR-88.

Note: Dickinson School of Law Libraries and George T. Harrell Library employees are provided with this information as employees of the University Libraries; however, day-to-day operational practices are guided by their respective Colleges. Dickinson and College of Medicine Library employees should speak to their immediate supervisor or local HR Representative for guidance, as necessary. Conditions of employment for Technical-service employees are further described in the “Agreement between The Pennsylvania State University and Teamsters Local Union No. 8.” Technical-service employees should refer to the Agreement for information related to the above topics.

– submitted by Wendy Stodart, Library Human Resources

Payroll deduction forms for United Way

United Way payroll deduction forms — which allow you to make a pretax contribution to the United Way— are now available. Payroll deductions are the bread and butter of the campaign, providing a stable source of income for the United Way and its 38 partner agencies. Funds raised through payroll deduction are guaranteed funds that the United Way can count on coming in throughout the year. While the special events are fun, they only make up a small percentage of our fundraising goal.

As always, you may designate how your money can be used by selecting (or deselecting) agencies or sending your donation to another county. Undesignated funds are best since they go where the need is, but the choice is yours.

The need in Centre County for assistance is increasing, and with that increase in need, our goals and the amount we need to raise has increased as well. The Libraries and Penn State have both set goals to raise the funds needed by our community.

Libraries – $21,000
PSU – $832,000
Centre County United Way – $2.2 million

Last year you answered the call in true Libraries fashion by donating $21,014.00 through payroll deductions and $3,201 through special events like book and hoagie sales for a total of $24,215! Thank you! Although we met our goal, the University fell short of its goal.

This year we challenge you again to:

Increase your giving by just a dollar per month – An additional $12 per year may not seem like much to you, but when you add that up across the entire community, it really makes a difference!
Start donating if you haven’t in the past – Last year only 22% of Library employees participated in the payroll deduction program. This is down from 28% from just five years ago.

If you didn’t get an envelope with a payroll deduction form, please contact Ann Kopesky (ask190).

Thank you for supporting the United Way!
– submitted by Heather Ross, United Way Committee co-chair

Reminder: Managing holiday stress workshop Dec. 8

Stress is stress, but it seems to quadruple around the holidays! Evelyn Wald presents this one-hour workshop from 2:30-3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8 in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library and on Mediasite Live. This workshop will address the multiple causes of holiday stress, and provides tips on how to reduce these stressors, so participants can maintain their productivity, achieve a better balance and enjoy the holidays.

– submitted by Carmen Gass, User Training Services

Reminder: Penn State Press annual holiday book sale Dec. 6

The Penn State University Press Annual Holiday Book Sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6 in the Kern Building lobby, University Park. The one-day sale is open to the University community and the general public.

Visitors to the sale will receive a 30 percent discount on some of the Press’s newest titles, including Wood Hicks and Bark Peelers, Serious Nonsense, Aliceheimer’s: Alzheimer’s Through the Looking Glass, Ernest Hemingway: A New Life, as well as classic Penn State University Press books such as Field Guide to Wild Mushrooms of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic and many more. There will also be a $5 book table.

Shoppers can also purchase books through the Penn State Press website, using the code HS2016 for 25 percent off beginning Thursday, Dec. 1. The Press offers free shipping to on-campus addresses; regular shipping charges apply everywhere else. For information on any of Penn State University Press’s titles, visit http://www.psupress.org or call 814-865-1327.

– submitted by Cate Fricke, Penn State University Press

Margaret Heffernan TED Talk: Forget the pecking order at work

Organizations are often run according to “the superchicken model,” where the value is placed on star employees who outperform others. And yet, this isn’t what drives the most high-achieving teams.

Business leader Margaret Heffernan observes that it is social cohesion — built every coffee break, every time one team member asks another for help — that leads over time to great results. It’s a radical rethink of what drives us to do our best work, and what it means to be a leader. As Heffernan points out: “Companies don’t have ideas. Only people do.”

Watch Heffernan’s TED Talk here.

– submitted by Carmen Gass, User Training Services