Daily Archives: October 19, 2020

Library Clothing Sale – Orders due 10/23

By: Heather Ross

Miss the libraries?  I know I do, but now you can order library clothing to wear at home.

New this year:

Back by popular demand:

  • “Old school” Simstitch hoodies!!  SimStich hoodies looks like the old fashion sewn on letters, but they are applique.  My kids have these sweatshirts and the letter has washed well.
  • Old favorites — Open House T-shirts, tie dye t-shirts, and puffy vests and more!!

Please order using our online store managed through the vendor:  

  1. You will need to create an account to place your order.  Please remember your userID and password for future orders.  (forgot your account?  Make a new one)
  2. Add items to your cart.
  3. Check out — You will receive a confirmation email with your total. 
  4. Make your payment outside of this site.  Payment by PayPal / Venmo or Zell is preferred.  
Delivery:
  • Campus orders will be sent via UPS with other mail to campus library.
  • UP orders can either be sent to your branch library, curbside pickup on Curtain Road (thank you Commons Services) or picked up at my house (I live 2 miles from campus.)  Please use this formto specify delivery.
Payment:
  • If paying by PayPal – Click on Send or Request money –>Send money–>enter email hdr10psu@gmail.com–>sending to a friend.  Enter the amount and put your name in the notes field.  You may be charged a small fee if you are using your bank card to pay but it’s a small amount.  There is no fee if link your PayPal account directly to your bank account.
  • If paying by Venmo  – my account is @Heather-Ross-121.
  • If paying by Zell directly from your bank, please contact me.
  • If paying by check (please don’t if possible) – Please make the checks out to Heather Ross and send to Donna Dean, 3 Paterno Library
“SimStich hoodie” looks like the old fashion sewn on letters, but they are applique.  My kids have these sweatshirts and the letters has washed well.

All proceeds benefit the Centre County United Way.  Thank you for your continued support.

Thank you for supporting the United Way.
Heather Ross
Chair – United Way Committee

 

 

Libraries Health and Safety Committee: Virtual Halloween Party

By: Pembroke Childs

The University Libraries Health and Safety Committee presents: The Virtual Halloween Party!
Now on the Halloween 2020 channel in Teams.

Post your: Costumes, Creative seasonal displays, Recipes, Greetings, or Favorite Masked selfie! *This year’s safety topic is: Focused Driving. Deadlines for submissions: October 31, 2020.

Teams: UL-Libraries: University Park: Hidden channel: Halloween 2020. If you are not on the U-Libraries team already, you can join with this code: 40a1oo3. Or join us via the link.

Halloween party logo

Tech Tip: Tips to maximize Zoom performance at home

By Ryan Johnson

Home office desk and computer

Internet speed issues can be quite common when joining or leading Zoom sessions from home.  Here are some tips to mitigate performance issues:

  1. Zoom clients: It is strongly recommended to run the Zoom desktop program instead of the running Zoom through a web browser. Also make sure you download the latest version of Zoom. If you are working at home with a University Libraries machine, download the latest version of Zoom from Self-Service.   If you are using a Corona laptops, feel free to download and install the newest version here: https://psu.box.com/v/psulibrarieszoom
  2. Close other applications: Other equipment such as gaming or video streaming services used by other users in the home can compete for internet bandwidth.
  3. Turn off video entirely:  A virtual background or HD video is typically not as critical as audio. To turn off HD video in your Zoom desktop client:
      • Click on Settings (the gear icon).
      • Click Video in the left-hand menu.
      • In the My Video section, uncheck the box beside Enable HD if it is checked.
  4. Using your phone to join Zoom: If your available cellular internet is better than your internet/Wi-Fi at home, consider joining your Zoom session from your cellular device’s Zoom client. While this is not optimal for content sharing, it may provide an overall better video experience. Cellular data rates may apply.  Use a landline or cellular phone for audio. Close the “audio conferencing” options window when it appears to avoid audio feedback.
  5. Connect on campus: If you need to share content from your device for a critical meeting, consider going on campus. The University Enterprise Network provides robust connectivity. A co-host who has a better connection or is on-campus can also assist in screen sharing.
  6. Use online collaborative documents: Certain services, like Microsoft Office Online Documents and Teams, Box Notes, and Google Apps allow multiple people to open and edit files in real time.
  7. Consider your VPN use: There are some instances when VPN use is necessary such as when you’re trying to share content from an asset only accessible from within the University Enterprise Network.
  8. Test your bandwidth via http://speedtest.psu.edu, including if you are using a VPN.  You should have at least between 1 and 3 Mbps of upload speed (depending on video format) for a reliable Zoom videoconferencing experience. Check out Zoom’s bandwidth requirements for full details.