Daily Archives: January 6, 2020

New documents concerning Access Services best practices

By: Lisa Moyer

The Access Services Council has added three new documents to the Access Services Intranet regarding best practices for staff involved in providing the libraries’ patrons with access services. See below for links to the documents:

Completing Financial Transactions Professionally
Dealing with Patrons Experiencing Homelessness
Upholding Patron Privacy and Confidentiality

Room dedication solidifies Lilley Library’s Room 12 as a place for collaborative learning on campus

by David Alan Skarupski
Submitted by: Stephanie Diaz

On Wednesday, Nov. 20, the John M. Lilley Library staff, in conjunction with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Penn State Behrend officially dedicated Room 12, located in the basement of the library. The newly renovated room will be made available for use for classes at the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester.

At the room dedication, the final results of renovation efforts that began this past summer were publicly unveiled to both the Behrend faculty and the student population. The newly renovated
room features a smart board, five white marker boards, two flat screen televisions and a number of movable chairs and tables. In the near future, the room will also feature video conference technology.

With the technological and spatial enhancements, Room 12 provides an area for collaborative learning and interactive teaching that is progressive and innovative. The technological upgrades allow for H&SS students to process and store information provided during lectures more efficiently than ever before. The spatial enhancements allow for malleable classroom layouts that can be easily transformed on any given day, based on the nature of the daily lesson plan.

While the room will be used for H&SS classes, and language classes in-particular, the space is currently available for student use during library hours, and will also be available when classes are not being held in future semesters. While the room was dedicated by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, students in every major are welcomed and encouraged to utilize the room to the best of their abilities.

The renovation, which also included significant collaborative efforts with Behrend’s Information Technology Services, adds to variety of spaces in the library that are continuously expanding
and evolving. With the expansion of amenities being offered by the library, the opportunity for students from all schools on Behrend’s campus to maximize their potential through spaces and
services offered by the library continue to grow.

How Many Paperclips?! Engineering Library preservation and conservation display with contest  

By: Makenzie Coduti

The latest display in the Engineering Library is “Library Preservation and Conservation,” which explains what preservation and conservation are and what those practices might entail in library spaces. The display also briefly describes Penn State University Libraries’ Preservation Conservation and Digitization department. A paperclip removal project in the Engineering Library, completed last year, prompted the creation of this display. “Library Preservation and Conservation” outlines the Engineering Library Paperclip Removal project and why paperclips, especially metal ones, are detrimental to physical collections.

We ran a contest for the students to guess how many paperclips were removed from the general collection at the Engineering Library. We also offered prizes to students and patrons for their participation. First prize was a $50 Amazon gift card and a Libraries’ mug and goodies. Second place was a $20 Amazon gift card and a Libraries’ mug and goodies. The Engineering Library contest ran Oct. 31 to Nov. 23. There were 50 entries with guesses ranging from 700 to 200,000 paperclips. The actual number of paperclips was 9,777. The closest guess was 10,583 paperclips and the 2nd closest guess was 10,604 paperclips. The Engineering Library hopes to run contests like this in the future to prompt more student engagement and student awareness of University Library practices and services.

Arrivals and Departures

By: Robert Harris

In December we welcomed the following new employees:
Emma Beaver – Head Librarian, Fayette campus
Stephanie Randoll – Facilities Specialist, University Park

We said good-bye to:
Jamie Comly – Inactive Records Center

Customer Service Tip: How most people get it wrong when giving customers bad news

By: Myra Golden (submitted by Carmen Gass)

My husband and I were sitting at the big boardroom table at the closing office. We’d just sold our first home, and we were now closing on our new home. We thought we were in great shape, but, something went wrong. The bank didn’t transfer the money for the purchase of our new home. Read more here.

Call for Applicants: 2020 Whiting Indigenous Knowledge Student Research Awards

By: Devin McDuffie

Penn State graduate and undergraduate students are invited to submit proposals to conduct research between April 2020 and January 2021 on topics that focus on aspects of indigenous
knowledge. This is a competitive process. A maximum amount of $1,500 per project will be awarded. Funding is made available through the M. G. Whiting Endowment for the Advancement of Indigenous Knowledge.

To apply, you must be a currently enrolled Penn State University student. Research must be related to an approved honors thesis topic, approved masters or doctoral thesis topic, approved topic for undergraduate capstone course, etc. If your proposal is funded, you will be required to present your research findings and/or project results at a fall 2020 or spring 2021 ICIK seminar. You will also be required to write an article highlighting the indigenous knowledge aspects of your project for publication in the ICIK journal: IK: Other Ways of Knowing.

We are also looking for faculty volunteers to review proposals.

The proposal deadline is: Feb. 23, 2020

For more information on the M.G. Whiting Indigenous Knowledge Student Research Awards, contact Mark Mattson, global partnerships and outreach librarian, at 814-863-2480 or
mam1196@psu.edu.