Daily Archives: May 21, 2018

University Libraries Awards

By: Wendi Keeler

2018 University Libraries Award winners from left: Marry Murray, Sherry Lonsdale, Christopher Holobar, Eric Novotny and Emily Rimland.

2018 University Libraries Award winners from left: Marry Murray, Sherry Lonsdale, Christopher Holobar, Eric Novotny and Emily Rimland.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2018 University Libraries Awards!

The recipient of the Margaret Knoll Spangler Oliver Award — to honor and recognize outstanding service by employees at the University Libraries — is J. Christopher Holobar, manager of Lending and Reserve Services. Chris was nominated by Nadine Deitrich, who writes “Chris is the most calm, patient, and courteous person I have ever met. He treats everyone (and I mean everyone) with respect and is always offering to discuss problems with anyone; even when meeting under the most difficult situations.” Congratulations to Chris, who has been a full-time staff member of the University Libraries since 1993 and will receive his 25-year service award this year!

The Shirley J. Davis Staff Excellence Award — created in Shirley’s honor by faculty, staff, alumni, and friends as a tribute to her years of commitment to the University Libraries — was awarded to Mary Murray, Information Resources and Services Specialist at the John D. Vairo Library at Penn State Brandywine.  Going above and beyond what is expected was a common sentiment in Mary’s nomination packet. “While I can’t say enough about the quality of her work”, said Chris Avery, Sr. Director of Commonwealth Campus Libraries, “what has really impressed me about Mary over the years is the degree to which she always goes the extra mile to help a colleague out, cover the bases when no one else is on hand, and evens out the work environment to make sure everyone has a good day.”

the University Libraries Award recognizes a member of the University Libraries for professional contribution, service, leadership, and innovations, which have a significant influence on the operations of the University Libraries, earns respect of the Penn State community for the Libraries, or shows significant contribution to the library profession reflecting positively on Penn State and the University Libraries, and was awarded to History Librarian Eric Novotny. “Eric Novotny has been an invaluable and generous instructional resource. He graciously schedules library classes for my courses, tailoring them to meet the needs of the syllabus and the students,” wrote Dr. Lori Ginzberg, Professor of History and Women’s Studies, about Novotny. “Eric has been my primary, and most consistently innovative resource in the Pattee library, guiding me, my students, and my colleagues through technological changes that have transformed all our lives.”

the University Libraries Diversity Award rewards extraordinary commitment and/or contributions to enhancing our environment of mutual respect for differing backgrounds and points of view.  The Diversity Award rewards outstanding accomplishments and general impact in the area of diversity, and was awarded this year to Sherry Lonsdale, I-Tech database specialist, for ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion on the Commission for Women and throughout the University Libraries. In her nomination, Dace Freivalds, Department Head for Information Technologies says, “Sherry has worked tirelessly to ensure that Penn State provides a welcoming campus climate, recruits and retains a diverse workforce, and encourages organizational change to support diversity.”

The University Libraries Teaching Award honors an individual who has excelled in teaching and/or created an exemplary and innovative instruction program during the past year, and has a teaching component as part of their primary assignment. Emily Rimland, Information Literacy Librarian and Learning Technologies Coordinator, is the recipient of this year’s University Libraries Teaching Award.  In her nomination letter, Ellysa Cahoy, Education and Behavioral Sciences Librarian said that Emily “is a visionary library instructor and innovator who has created an exemplary and innovative instruction program that is rich with student impact. She is deeply committed to helping students become effective information consumers and information creators.”    

This year, 27 nominations were received for the five awards. The difficult job of choosing the winners from among the nominations was decided by the members of the award committee, chaired by Martha Ney and including Carmen Gass, Tara Murray, Karla Schmit, John Shank, and Ann Thompson.

In the words of Dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications, Barbara Dewey, who presented each award during the ceremony, “Congratulations to all of our award winners. I am very proud of your accomplishments, commitment, and dedication in making our library system one of the best in the nation.”

 

Penn State University Press announces Fall/Winter 2018 Catalog

By: Cate Fricke

Penn State University Press catalog cover art

Penn State University Press has unveiled its Fall/Winter 2018 catalog featuring new general interest and scholarly books in the fields of art history, photography, American history, Graphic Medicine, rhetoric and communication studies, medieval and early modern studies, and more.

The season’s general interest titles include a new graphic novel version of Cervantes’s timeless novel Don Quixote of La Mancha, adapted by Ilan Stavans and illustrated by Roberto Weil; Shale Play: Poems and Photographs from the Fracking Fields by Julia
Spicher Kasdorf, Penn State Professor of English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Steven Rubin, Penn State Associate Professor of Art; and Aesthetics of the Margins / The Margins of Aesthetics: Wild Art Explained by David Carrier and Joachim Pissarro, two philosophers of art who are also active critics and members of the art world about which they write.

Scholarly highlights include Study in Black and White: Photography, Race, Humor by Tanya Sheehan; Votes That Count and Voters Who Don’t: How Journalists Sideline Electoral
Participation (Without Even Knowing It) by Sharon E. Jarvis and Soo-Hye Han; and The Powerless Church and Other Selected Writings, 1955-1985 by the late philosopher, theologian, and historian Ivan Illich, who was a visiting professor at Penn State in the 1980s and 1990s. The catalog also includes new titles in ancient Near East and biblical studies from Eisenbrauns, which the Press acquired as an imprint in November 2017. To see all of Penn State University Press’s forthcoming Fall/Winter 2018 titles, visit
http://www.psupress.org/catalogs/Fall2018Catalog_WEB.pdf

Diminutive Designers Visit the Libraries

By: Tim Auman

The Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library was visited by a very fresh-faced group of students on May 15th & 16th. Twenty diminutive designers from the Bennett Family Center participated in an introductory course on architecture and the built environment led by Tatjana Neuberger, Library Assistant in the Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library.

"Diminutive Designers" participant artwork

Their program started with a “world wind” journey through the A, B, Cs of design as they learned about Architects, Bridges, Columns, Landscapes, Pyramids, Streets, and other examples both on campus and from around the globe. The students assisted with  retrieving the books used in their instruction learned that every book in the library has its own ‘street address’ just like their own home. The second day had them donning hard hats as they constructed and decorated a paper model of a house and explored how buildings, trees, streets, cars, and people act as the building blocks of a city.

photo from "Diminutive Designers" workshop

Ms. Neuberger envisioned the program not only as a professional development activity, but also as outreach opportunity for the Libraries that reinforced her belief that “It is never too early to learn and have fun with history, art, and architecture. Tatjana, a native of Split, Croatia, received her MA in Political Science, Art History and Archaeology from the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg and has worked in the Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library since 2016 where her academic background has been put to use  cataloging and photographing built works for both the Worldwide Building and Landscape Pictures and the Central Pennsylvania Architecture and Landscape Architecture  image databases.

Customer Service Tip: One rare customer service skill that will set you apart

By: Shaun Belding (submitted by Carmen Gass)

We all know how much of a difference that finely-honed customer service skill makes. They help to create relationships and, as we discussed in the last Winning At Work, it is the relationships we build, not the transactions we make that create real customer loyalty. Here’s one that we don’t see very often, but leaves a lasting impression when we do.

Read more here

 

Events: May 21

Summer 2018
Academic calendar information for all campuses is available online.

"What Big Eyes You Have! Looking at the Wolf in Fairy Tales" exhibition, image from "The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault," illustration by Harry Clarke

 

Jan. 16–Aug. 26, “What Big Eyes You Have! Looking at the Wolf in Fairy Tales”exhibition, Eberly Family Special Collections Library Exhibition Room, 104 Paterno Library.

 

 

Depth of Field exhibit poster

 

Feb. 18-Aug. 13, “Depth of Field” exhibit, Diversity Studies Room, 203 Pattee Library, seeks to highlight the intersections of war in the Middle East with the history of war photograph

 

exhibit logo - 1968

 

Mar. 27-July 31, “1968: Student Activism at Penn State and Beyond” exhibit, Highlighting archival documents, photographs, and books from The Eberly Family Special Collections, this exhibit ties into a College of the Liberal Arts project titled Moments of Change: Remembering ‘68. Learn more about this project at 1968.psu.edu. Barbara Hackman Atrium, Pattee Library.

Thursday, May 31: Discovery Day, a full day conference-style event created to increase understanding of University Libraries, the library profession, and the campus and community environment in which we work. 8:45am – 4:15pm, various locations around Pattee and Paterno Libraries.
Wednesday, June 6: Docunight: Iran via Documentaries, Documentary films about or filmed in or around Iran, or made by Iranian filmmakers. All films have English subtitles and are free and open to the public. Every first Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m., Foster Auditorium.

Thursday, July 12: 2018 Lee Bennett Hopkins Award event: Join winner Nikki Grimes, who will receive her award and read from her award-winning book, One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance. 2:30-3:30 p.m., Downsbrough Community Room at Schlow Centre Region Library, 211 S. Allen Street, State College.  .

Please submit event information — and all Library News submissions — to Public Relations and Marketing via the Library News submission form. *Please note: The content submissions process may be changing soon; please stay tuned for updates.*