Monthly Archives: July 2019

Tech Tip: Update your information for the website directory, including adding educational credentials

By: Ryan Johnson

Employee directory screen shot

If you go to the Employee Directory Maintenance Site, you’ll see what information is stored about you in LDAP. You’ll also see that you can edit some of the fields.
Fields you are not able to edit include First Name, Middle Initial, Last Name, Access ID, PSU ID Number, PSU E-mail Address, Official Job Title, Employee Type, Faculty Type and Primary Department.
Fields you can update here include Office Address, Office Phone, E-mail Alias, Preferred Display Name, Chat Name, Office Hours, Teaching, Research Interests, Liaison, Web Page URL. Note that staff will not see Liaison.

You can use the Preferred Display Name to add your credentials like Dr. Jane Doe or Jane Doe, Ph.D.

The remainder of your information is stored in Drupal and can be updated by submitting a request at the Libraries’ Website Feedback Form.
This information includes About Me, Profile Picture and Subject Expertise.

    • Note: Subject Expertise was initially gleaned from the experts listed for a given Subject Guides in LibGuides (example History Subject Guide).

 

For more information on how the directory works, please see the following staff site page.

Arrivals and Departures

By: Robert Harris

In June we welcomed the following new employees to the Libraries::
Jenn Leipold – Dean’s Administrative Office
Jeremy Lucas – MTSS
Barbara Morar – InterLibrary Loan
Kristi Ritter – Mont Alto Campus
Kathy Vaughn – Business Office

We said goodbye to:
Dolores Fidishun
Tracie Wickersham
Tatiana Zwerling

Events: July 8

Summer 2019
Academic calendar information for all campuses is available online.

promotional poster - Secret Lives of Girls and Women

Jan. 28-Sept. 1, 2019, Exhibit: “The Secret Lives of Girls and Women” Eberly Family Special Collections Library, 104 Paterno Library. Through the examination of books, letters, hand-written diaries and other archival materials, The Secret Lives of Girls and Women exposes a wide spectrum of feminine mysteries. The exhibition includes many hidden or concealed aspects of female life found within beauty secrets, secret languages created by women, literary secrets, social taboos and more throughout history. On display during Special Collections Library hours.

The Future is Now, exhibit graphic

Mar. 11-Sept. 26, 2019, Exhibit: “The Future is Now.” Diversity Studies Room, 203 Pattee Library. Highlights from current and forthcoming equipment and assistance available to support students’ academic success from the Libraries’ Media and Technology Support Services and Adaptive Technology and Services departments.

Monday, June 3-Tuesday, Aug. 13  Summer Scholarly Communications Workshops. Students, faculty and staff, join Ana Enriquez, scholarly communications outreach librarian, for communications workshops that cover topics such as open access, copyright and fair-use policies.Workshops take place via Zoom and in various locations across Penn State’s campuses. Registration is free but required for all workshops by clicking on the links provided.
Thursday, June 20-Friday, August 23, 2019 Research Travel Awards winning “brown bag” presentations. Seven informal, one-hour lunchtime presentations offered by traveling researchers on a variety of topics, hosted by the Eberly Family Special Collections Library.  All presentations are open to the public and take place in Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library.
Thursday, July 18, Public Tour: Secret Lives of Girls and Women. Curated free tours of the Special Collections exhibit “The Secret Lives of Girls and Women” will offer background information and provenance to the books and objects on display, as well discussion about the their meaning and importance. Registration requested. 2-3 p.m., 104 Paterno Library on the University Park Campus.
Friday, August 2, Library Data Days. A full day to learn about different approaches to working with data, the data we collect, how it’s used, and how it informs our decisions. use of data in decision-making. This Library Assessment and Metrics Council event is open to faculty, staff, and administration from all campuses. Register HERE.
Wednesday, August 7,Docunight: Iran Via Documentaries.On the first Wednesday of every month, Docunight features a documentary film about, around, or in Iran, or made Iranians. All events are open to everyone, and all films have English subtitles. Co-sponsored by the Iranian Student Association and the University Libraries. 7 p.m. in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park.
Tuesday, August 13, Public Tour: Secret Lives of Girls and Women. Curated free tours of the Special Collections exhibit “The Secret Lives of Girls and Women” will offer background information and provenance to the books and objects on display, as well discussion about the their meaning and importance. Registration requested. 10-11 a.m., 104 Paterno Library on the University Park Campus.
Wednesday, September 4, US-China College Art Summit. Five panels will discuss the current state of art education at institutions of higher education in the United States and China.The summit promotes the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and experiences of leading art educators from the U.S. and China, through dialogue, group exhibitions, and professional development programs. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park.

Please submit event information — and all Library News submissions — to Public Relations and Marketing via its Staff Site request form and selecting the “Library News blog article” button.

“Site” Seeing with DAWS

By: Karen Hackett

Regular updates about UL’s website
Current Feature:  Website accessibility

I-Tech’s Discovery, Access and Web Services Team (DAWS) is pleased to share web project updates through a series of blog posts on the University Libraries’ staff site. The goal of the posts, scheduled to be published once or twice per month, is to showcase our web development and content work, as well as share pointers to related resources. Once a post is published, it will be shared through Library News.

The first post in the series, What Accessibility Means for the Discovery, Access and Web Services Team, features our commitment to making sure our online resources are easy to access and barrier-free. Learn all about the tools and processes we use to ensure our public website’s compliance with accessibility standards.

Do you have a topic you would like to know more about or feedback you would like to share? Please feel free to contact us by sending your comments and questions to website feedback. As always, we welcome your input, and we look forward to sharing our updates and work with you.

Penn State University Press announces new books for fall/winter 2019

By: Cate Fricke

Penn State University Press fall/winter 2019 catalog

Penn State University Press has unveiled its fall/winter 2019 catalog featuring new general interest and scholarly books in the fields of art history, literature, religion, rhetoric, Graphic
Medicine, Jewish studies, occult studies, medieval and early modern studies, and more.

Notable forthcoming titles include the graphic novel Vanni: A Family’s Struggle Through the Sri Lankan Conflict by Benjamin Dix and Lindsay Pollock; Hebrew Melodies, a new edition of Heinrich Heine’s cycle of poems translated by Stephen Mitchell and U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky, with vivid illustrations by Mark Podwal; and Us Two Together by Ephameron, a graphic novel that lyrically chronicles the author’s experience watching her father’s slow descent into early-onset dementia, part of the Press’s critically acclaimed Graphic Medicine series.

Scholarly highlights include After Gun Violence: Deliberation and Memory in an Age of Political Gridlock, a timely examination of the ways advocacy groups, community leaders, politicians, and everyday citizens talk about gun violence by Iowa State professor Craig Rood; Uncanny Bodies: Superhero Comics and Disability, a collection of essays edited by Scott T. Smith and José Alaniz; Religion Around Mary Shelley by Jennifer L. Airey, who positions Shelley as an important religious thinker of the Romantic period; and Bells for America: The Cold War, Modernism, and the Netherlands Carillon in Arlington by Diederik Oostdijk, an exploration of how the Netherlands and the United States reconstructed their national identities and fostered a
international relationship in the post–Cold War era through public art.

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, and new titles in art and art history from National Gallery Singapore, now distributed by the Press. See all of Penn State University Press’s forthcoming fall/winter 2019 titles, here.

Customer Service Tip: How to quickly improve customer service by slowing down

By: Jeff Toister (submitted by Carmen Gass)

The CEO was anxious to start training.

He knew customer service wasn’t what it needed to be and was hoping for a quick fix. So he hired me to conduct some training.

His impatience showed in our very first meeting—he bristled when I insisted on first spending time with his customer service team before putting together the training. In the CEO’s mind,
there was no time for this.

It was a good thing I did. The training was completely unnecessary. After spending less than an hour with the customer service team, I understood the real issue. Read more here.

Events: July 1

Summer 2019
Academic calendar information for all campuses is available online.

promotional poster - Secret Lives of Girls and Women

Jan. 28-Sept. 1, 2019, Exhibit: “The Secret Lives of Girls and Women” Eberly Family Special Collections Library, 104 Paterno Library. Through the examination of books, letters, hand-written diaries and other archival materials, The Secret Lives of Girls and Women exposes a wide spectrum of feminine mysteries. The exhibition includes many hidden or concealed aspects of female life found within beauty secrets, secret languages created by women, literary secrets, social taboos and more throughout history. On display during Special Collections Library hours.

The Future is Now, exhibit graphic

Mar. 11-Sept. 26, 2019, Exhibit: “The Future is Now.” Diversity Studies Room, 203 Pattee Library. Highlights from current and forthcoming equipment and assistance available to support students’ academic success from the Libraries’ Media and Technology Support Services and Adaptive Technology and Services departments.

Monday, June 3-Tuesday, Aug. 13  Summer Scholarly Communications Workshops. Students, faculty and staff, join Ana Enriquez, scholarly communications outreach librarian, for communications workshops that cover topics such as open access, copyright and fair-use policies.Workshops take place via Zoom and in various locations across Penn State’s campuses. Registration is free but required for all workshops by clicking on the links provided.
Thursday, June 20-Friday, August 23, 2019 Research Travel Awards winning “brown bag” presentations. Seven informal, one-hour lunchtime presentations offered by traveling researchers on a variety of topics, hosted by the Eberly Family Special Collections Library.  All presentations are open to the public and take place in Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library.
Wednesday, July 3, Docunight: Iran Via Documentaries. On the first Wednesday of every month, Docunight features a documentary film about, around, or in Iran, or made Iranians. All events are open to everyone, and all films have English subtitles. Co-sponsored by the Iranian Student Association and the University Libraries. 7 p.m. in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park.
Thursday, July 18, Public Tour: Secret Lives of Girls and Women. Curated free tours of the Special Collections exhibit “The Secret Lives of Girls and Women” will offer background information and provenance to the books and objects on display, as well discussion about the their meaning and importance. Registration requested. 2-3 p.m., 104 Paterno Library on the University Park Campus.
Friday, August 2, Library Data Days. A full day to learn about different approaches to working with data, the data we collect, how it’s used, and how it informs our decisions. use of data in decision-making. This Library Assessment and Metrics Council event is open to faculty, staff, and administration from all campuses. Register HERE.
Wednesday, August 7,ocunight: Iran Via Documentaries.On the first Wednesday of every month, Docunight features a documentary film about, around, or in Iran, or made Iranians. All events are open to everyone, and all films have English subtitles. Co-sponsored by the Iranian Student Association and the University Libraries. 7 p.m. in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park.
Tuesday, August 13, Public Tour: Secret Lives of Girls and Women. Curated free tours of the Special Collections exhibit “The Secret Lives of Girls and Women” will offer background information and provenance to the books and objects on display, as well discussion about the their meaning and importance. Registration requested. 10-11 a.m., 104 Paterno Library on the University Park Campus.

Please submit event information — and all Library News submissions — to Public Relations and Marketing via its Staff Site request form and selecting the “Library News blog article” button.