Daily Archives: April 12, 2021

Tech Update this week!

By: Melody Gehlbach

Tech Update, April 14, 2021, 2:00-3:00 pm.
Zoom: https://psu.zoom.us/my/ultraining

Agenda: Libraries Internal Audit – IT Activities – This will briefly cover some of the outcomes of the Internal Audit that impact IT and some of our priorities and resources moving forward.

GlobalProtect – What is it and what does it mean for you?

Lifetime Password – What you need to know about the new password requirements

Network Update and Convergence Project – Update to the wired computer network at all locations.

Sunsetting the CAT update– Learn more about why we’re sunsetting the CAT, what we’ll need to do before then, and how we want to hear from you.

Introduction to New IT Personnel

Secure Enclave

Map Finding Aids for the win!

By: Heather Ross

The suspension of many in person library services during the COVID19 pandemic fundamentally changed the way that we facilitate discovery of and access to physical and digital collections. Being offsite for over a year provided service-providers like me who are accustomed to interacting with patrons in person, the opportunity to refocus on digital discovery and access. One such example is the print and digital map collections managed by the Donald W. Hamer Center for Maps & Geospatial Information.  Prior to COVID, I had experimented with creating digital finding aids to the map collections and now had the time to work on them. The finding aid for Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Luzern and Lackawanna counites provides an example.   

Sanborn Fire Insurance maps are the most searched digital collection in the Penn State University Libraries.  Sanborn maps are extremely detailed maps of populated areas that plotted out building footprints and materials in 2×3 block increments.  These are often the most detailed historical maps of an area.  The maps generally cover the time period from 1884-1930. 

While we have an amazing collection splash page for the Sanborn maps digital collection, some maps can be challenging to navigate or are hidden.  The Scranton area was one of those areas.  There were several editions of the Scranton Sanborn maps created over time, that included titles called “Scranton Suburbs” that did not accurately describe their contents.  What started as a project to produce digital finding aids for just the city of Scranton proper, quickly became a project that encompassed an entire two county area including the cities of Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton. 

Coverage of Sanborn maps in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area.

Coverage of Sanborn maps in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area.

The results of the Scranton Sanborn digital finding aid have been met with an enthusiastic response. Cameron Neilsen, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Wilkes-Barre, says, ”This is incredible! Thank you so much for putting this together! The local borough boundaries, etc., here really are so confusing when navigating both the past and present, so this was really needed. There are even more maps in your app than I had been able to locate via looking through the listing directly, and of course having the index maps stitched together and oriented correctly like you did is a HUGE timesaver. It was very confusing before trying to line up the orientation of those indexes with contemporary maps since they were not usually oriented to north, and of course chopped up into cumbersome PDF pages as well. All of which is to say that you really met a need here, and the result is beautiful!” 

Other digital finding aids for Sanborn maps completed over the last year include Pittsburgh and Allegheny county, and Philadelphia and Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties.  I have also found that creating digital finding aids provides opportunities for collaboration because they can easily accommodate collections managed by other institutions. The Philadelphia area finding aid is current under revision to also include Free Library of Philadelphia (FLP) maps.  The FLP has an extensive collection of Sanborn maps of Philadelphia and also Hexamer Insurance maps that predate Sanborn maps.  They also provide access to the Digital Sanborn Maps subscription database to any Pennsylvania resident with an FLP library card. 

Individual index sheets for Philadelphia, which links to the volume in the Sanborn digital collection

Individual index sheets for Philadelphia, which links to the volume in the Sanborn digital collection

Coverage of Hexamer and Sanborn maps in the Philadelphia region.

Coverage of Hexamer and Sanborn maps in the Philadelphia region.

Another digital finding aid I created in collaboration with other map collection managers was for the Bituminous coal mine maps of Pennsylvania digital collection.  The Fletcher L. Byrom Earth and Mineral Sciences Library manages the coal mine maps, but because of its importance and frequency of use it was another good candidate to create a digital finding aid.  

If you have a project that could be enhanced by a digital geographic finding aid, please contact the staff at the Donald W. Hamer Center for Maps & Geospatial Information (ul-maps@lists.psu.edu), for a consultation, we would be happy to share our experiences and expertise. 

Heather Ross is the map specialist in the Donald W. Hamer Center for Maps & Geospatial Information.  

Getting to Know You – Sue McElvenney

By: Gale Biddle

Sue McElvenney is a part-time staff member at the Robert E. Eiche Library at Penn State Altoona, and quite possibly, one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She began working at the Library as a work-study student in the Fall of 2016. With her hard work and dedication, she earned a position as a part-time evening/weekend supervisor, which she has been doing ever since.

Sue was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her two younger sisters, Kathy and Terry. One of her first jobs there was as a substitute “lunch mom” where she was paid $5 a day to watch over the first graders at lunch. Philadelphia is also where she learned to make a proper cheesesteak (it should be noted that lettuce, tomato, and mayo are absolutely forbidden on them). And although you would never suspect it if you met her, Philadelphia is also where she performed as a fire-breather! She moved to Altoona, Pennsylvania in 2012 after her boyfriend, Anthony, returned there to take care of family. She spent several years waitressing but when two of the restaurants she worked at went out of business, she realized she needed some job security. At that point, she decided to come to Penn State.

Though a non-traditional student, Sue found that Penn State made it very comfortable for adult students. She says that “the teachers were wonderful,” and the experience of having a wide range of ages in class (from first-year students to people in the Go-60 program) gave the classroom discussions a broader perspective. She majored in Psychology, and it was at a
Psychology Club meeting where she learned about a master’s program in Social Work. It sounded like something she truly wanted to do, so she applied and was accepted to Temple’s
online program. She will be part of just the second class to complete the online program. Now, with her master’s degree in Social Work soon to be conferred, she plans on becoming a clinical social worker. She is currently interning at an alcohol rehabilitation facility, where she finds fulfillment in building a rapport with the clients and in the process of active listening. She says her classes have meshed perfectly with her field work.

Sancho Squirrel and cat in window

Sancho Squirrel

In the rare bit of spare time where she is not working at the library, working at her internship, or studying for her classes, Sue enjoys spending time with her boyfriend and their four cats: Pete, Peaches, Tioga, and Murray. In addition, Sue says, “I also take joy in good food and good books. I like to cook and write almost as much as I like to read and eat.” She enjoys a nice kayaking trip, too. She also has three nephews: Nick, Michael, and Alexander.

Unfortunately for us here at the Library, Sue will eventually move on to her new career. And though we will miss her, I am certain that she will go on to change people’s lives. As you may know, Philadelphia’s nickname is “The City of Brotherly Love.” If anyone exemplifies that, it is Sue. To dedicate her career to helping those who are struggling and in need of help-that is the true definition of brotherly love, something the world could always use more of.

Ten Random Questions with Sue:
1. Three most influential people in your life? High school English teacher Sister Ave, choir teacher Eddie Walker, and high school mentor Marguerite Simmons
2. Favorite food? Sushi
3. If you had $100 to spend and all your friends were busy, how would you spend it? Go to the bookstore and then to a nice placefor lunch, preferably with outdoor seating.
4. Would you rather visit the future or the past? Future
5. Favorite season? Summer
6. Last show you binge-watched? Awkwafina is Nora from Queens
7. If you could have dinner with any three people, who would it be? Paul Tremblay, Boots Riley, and Neil Gaiman
8. Pet peeve? People who say “You’re welcome” or “Thank you” in a sarcastic way
9. Favorite book? Survivor Song
10. If you had to listen to only one song forever, what would it be? “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars

Tech Tip: AD95 and AD96: Protecting information is everyone’s responsibility

By: Ryan Johnson

As one of the premier research universities in the country, Penn State has lots of valuable information—information that attackers regularly try to steal. As an employee of the University, part of your job is to protect that information to the best of your ability.

Penn State has two policies that govern information security:

AD95: Information assurance and IT Security

AD96: Acceptable use Policy

All members of the Penn State community, including students, faculty, and staff, must abide by these policies. Let’s look at them a little more in depth.

AD95: Information assurance and IT Security

AD95 discusses the measures you must take to protect information you work with while at Penn State. AD95 classifies information based on the risk it poses to the University. The higher the risk, the more protections must be applied to that information. In other words, the more sensitive the information, the more risk it carries and the more measures must be employed to protect it.

There are four levels of information classification at Penn State: Low, Moderate, High, and Restricted. If your unit processes or stores High or Restricted information, it must have an Authority to Operate (ATO).

To learn more about information classification, please visit:

https://security.psu.edu/awareness/icdt

This page includes an information classification decision tool which will guide you when determining the classification of information you access.

AD-95 Standards

AD-95 includes fourteen (14) corresponding Standards which detail the security measures required for individual data types. These Standards carry the weight of policy. In other words, they must be met in order to be considered compliant with AD-95. The Standards may be found in Section V of AD-95.

Finally, Penn State recognizes that units and individuals at Penn State operate in diverse and complex environments. Exceptions may be made to AD-95 on a case-by-case, per-request basis provided that appropriate protection measures have been applied to the information or project in question.

For more information on exception requests, please visit: Requests for Exception to Information Security Policy

AD96: Acceptable use Policy

AD96 defines how you may and may not use information resources while at Penn State. Part of the acceptable use policy ensures that you will protect:

  • The rights of others’ privacy
  • Intellectual property rights (i.e. as reflected in licenses and copyrights)
  • Ownership of information
  • System mechanisms designed to limit access; and
  • An individual’s right to be free of intimidation, harassment, and retaliation

As part of the acceptable use policy, you agree to:

  • use only the information technology resources that you’re authorized to use (i.e. you will not attempt to gain unauthorized access to information resources)
  • protect your password and not share your account credentials with anyone else, even your family members

These policies also contain security standards for information security, which may help you determine which protections must be in place for specific types of information.

To learn more about Security Awareness, please access the training in LRN and search “Information Security Awareness Training (Office of Information Security)”