Daily Archives: September 30, 2019

ITech Interns to help maintain library classrooms

By: Rebecca Peterson

ITech’s new student interns will be performing routine checks on the library classrooms through the semester every Tuesday and Friday. They will restart the computers, check all three internet browsers, check Solstice, check Zoom and cameras, and make sure the room instructions are available on the podium. We’re so grateful for ITech’s help in keeping our technology running smoothly!

Please keep in mind that technology has a tendency to stop working at the most inconvenient of times. While ITech’s checks should reduce technology struggles, it’s always a good practice
to arrive to your classroom at least ten minutes early to make sure that all of the equipment is working properly.

Libraries Open House 2019

By: Rebecca Peterson
Thank you again to everyone who participated in this year’s Open House! We hosted 3,223 students over two days and could not have pulled off such a spectacular event without all of our volunteers.
Please enjoy photos from the event courtesy of Jennifer Funk as well as student feedback about the event!
“Everybody was approachable and really helpful.”
 
“It was very well organized and I got to learn so much about the library, which I didn’t know before.”
 
“My favorite part about the Open House was learning about the resources that could be taken advantage of in the library like placing a book on hold from the dorm or the music and media place or the study desks in the stacks.”
 
“It was great! I didn’t even realize how cool the PSU libraries are!”
 
“I enjoyed the tour very much overall. I feel comfortable with the library now and am looking forward to coming during my years at Penn State! Thank you!”
 
“I love PSU and Pattee and Paterno Library!”
 
“Open House is brilliant!”
 
“The volunteers working are very friendly and helpful.”
 
“I was required to come for a class, but I really enjoyed it.”
 
“I really liked the Open House and how friendly and passionate everyone was about their station.”
 
“It was absolutely amazing. Not only was it informative but it was interactive as well.”

Rock Ethics Institute Conference: Forgiveness and the Unforgivable Conference, Oct. 3-4

By: Chuck Jones

The Rock Ethics Institute invites you to attend the Forgiveness and the Unforgivable Conference on October 3-4.

The aim of this conference is to explore the complexity of reconciliation, reparation, and restoration in the face of events which are judged to be unforgivable: moral atrocity, genocide,
and the destruction of sustained potential for life.

In addition to examining this theme with reference to historical events, this conference seeks to expand the scope of reflection on the unforgivable to include:

the devastation of the planet the semantics and practice of forgiveness in non­ Western
cultures the possibility of asking forgiveness for the future third­ party forgiveness and apology
whether the dead can be forgiven / can one forgive in the name of the dead?

The conference will bring together philosophers, literary scholars, and religious thinkers from different traditions and theoretical approaches. For more information, download the Forgiveness Program.

We hope to see you there!

Kazim Ali

 

Ashraf Rushdy

Tech Tip: Improvements to Penn State email protection beginning Oct 1

By: Ryan Johnson

Beginning on Oct 1st, all email sent to Penn State Email addresses will begin to flow through the Office 365 Online Threat Protection. Office 365’s Advanced Threat Protection scans inbound email for spam, malware, phishing and viruses completely.

This protection features:
• Deep inspection of all attachments.
• Safe Links/URL inspection
• Spoof intelligence
• Anti-phishing
• User Self Service – users can mark email as spam, “not spam,” block senders, or whitelist senders.

This change should improve the email experience for all Office 365 email users as the ability to train your email for what is junk or not will start working after this change.

If you notice that email is not being delivered properly after this change, please call the IT service Desk at (814)865-4357 or send an email to office365@psu.edu

Customer Service Tip: How to discover and use customer preferences

By: Jeff Toister (submitted by Carmen Gass)

Using customer preferences to tailor your service allows you to serve customers with less friction, offer them a better experience, and ultimately drive more revenue.

Friction is anything that makes a customer’s experience difficult.

You can use customer preferences to eliminate friction and make service easier. Read more here

Events: Sept. 30

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

Roots/Routes: Contested Histories, Contemporary Experiences exhibition graphic

Sept. 16 – Mar. 15, 2020, Exhibit: “Indigenous Roots/ Routes: Contested Histories, Contemporary Experiences.” Special Collections Exhibition Space, 104 Paterno Library. Reflections on the past five centuries of colonization and cultural exchange between Indigenous Peoples. Europeans, Africans, and later, Americans.

 

Ongoing The Future is Now, exhibit graphicExhibit: “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.

Thursday, Sept. 12-Thursday, Nov. 21, Fall Scholarly Communications Workshops. Featuring in-person workshops at Penn State Behrend, Penn State Scranton, and Penn State Harrisburg, as well as a full roster of Zoom workshops, including our popular trainings on complying with public access policies from federal agencies. Specialized workshops for thesis and dissertation writers, instructional designers, and scholarly authors are included.
Monday, Sept. 30-Friday, Nov. 1, Libraries Short Edition fall writing contest: “Brunchin’ Around.” Submissions are being accepted for the  Short Stories’ fourth writing contest , open to all Penn State students, faculty and staff on the theme “Brunchin’ Around.” Winners will have their short stories or poetry displayed on all Penn State Short Edition story dispensers and win $100.
Wednesday, Oct. 2. 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, Oct. 3, Maps and Geospatial Information Series: Launch Your Geospatial Projects: Foundations and Searching for Geospatial Data. An overview of geographic information systems (GIS) concepts and geospatial data, software and analysis topics relevant to multiple disciplines. 3-5 p.m. in 211A Pattee Library, University Park.
Thursday, Oct. 10, Maps and Geospatial Information Series: Geospatial Analysis: ArcMap and ArcGIS Pro. Learn the use of introductory geospatial processes in ArcGIS ArcMap and ArcPro software. 3-5 p.m. in 211A Pattee Library, University Park.
Monday, Nov. 4, Data Visualization Session: Introduction to Data Visualization. Services from multiple areas of Research Informatics and Publishing, including statistical, geospatial, scientific and software data visualizations. 1-2 p.m. in 315 Pattee Library, University Park.
Wednesday, Nov. 6. 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, Nov. 12, Penn State GIS Day. Open to faculty, staff, students, and the public, an event to bring together those who work with GIS, geospatial technologies, remote sensing, maps and location-based research across disciplines. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. in various locations throughout Pattee and Paterno Libraries on the University Park campus. Visit Penn State GIS Day for information and schedule of events.

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.