Library News
Jill Shockey
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Library News
Alia Gant and Jose Guerrero will join the Penn State University Libriaries as diversity resident librarians next month for the second cohort of the Diversity Residency Program. This post-graduate appointment was developed to attract recent library and information sciences graduates for a three-year program of research and service in academic librarianship, providing them with transferable professional early work experiences and career development in preparation for future leadership roles in the field.

“The University Libraries’ commitment to attracting and developing talented faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds is a critical component of our strategic plan,” said Barbara I. Dewey, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications. “From that plan to our actions, our goal is to create an environment of opportunity and enrichment for every person the Libraries serves. We are pleased Alia and Jose will be contributing their knowledge and experiences as we continue to explore new efforts to reach and engage everyone in our communities and add to our collections.”

Read the full article on the Penn State University News site.

The critical aspects of academic research — storing, organizing, annotating, writing, citing, archiving, sharing and reflecting on information — are inextricably connected with the act of finding information. Since 2012, Penn State Education and Behavioral Sciences Librarian Ellysa Stern Cahoy has studied the scholarly research workflow, in collaboration with Smiljana Antonijevic Ubois, an anthropologist with a focus on digital humanities, and Penn State librarians John Meier and Eric Novotny, and funded with an initial $143,000 grant and a subsequent $440,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

“As researchers, we have explored how users manage their scholarly research activities online, identifying areas of challenge and opportunity for libraries and software providers,” Cahoy said.

Their exploratory project aims to bring a library’s scholarly resources into the research stream of the user without the user explicitly visiting a library website or other library-affiliated page. Through projects like this, the Penn State University Libraries continue to move forward with efforts to bring information directly to their users, wherever they conduct scholarly research online.

The singular goal of this project was to connect the self-archiving process with the researcher’s home university, automatically capturing research articles for institutional preservation. The first phase of team’s research during 2012 and 2013 found the most problematic areas of scholarly research management included discovery, the finding of new information, and archiving, the saving of important information. The results of this research were shared in “Personal Library Curation: An Ethnographic Study of Scholars’ Information Practices” published in portal: Libraries and the Academy, and recipient of the journal’s best article award for 2014. A subsequent phase of research, which began in 2014, focused on implementing software solutions to connect discovery and self-archiving within the research workflow.

Recent software developments, including Elsevier’s acquisition of both the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN) and citation management software tool Mendeley, point toward a growing recognition that finding information is an action linked with other critical academic activities and research software.

In partnership with citation management software provider, Zotero, the research team worked to provide new options for users within the software. These options included feeds to provide discovery of new research articles from within the Zotero interface, as well as identification and storage of self-authored research articles.

The research team worked with Penn State developers Dan Coughlin, Carolyn Cole, Mike Giarlo and Patricia Hswe on a first-of-its-kind feature that allows the institutional repository software to directly connect with third-party software and automatically import published works. With this optimization, Penn State’s institutional repository, ScholarSphere, can link to users’ Zotero libraries and enable immediate preservation of self-authored work.

Summer 2016

Tuesday, June 7–Friday, July 29: “Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts at 50: Making Lasting Memories” exhibit, Special Collections Library, open 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday-Friday (summer hours).

Tuesday, July 27: Bluecloud Analytics training session, 9:30-11:30 a.m., University Park training room, 302 Paterno Library.

Wednesday, July 27: Discovery Day Webinar Series: Breaking News! Worldwide Exclusive! Lionsearch News Tricks Exposed!, presented by Eric Novotny, Jackie Dillon-Fast, Sandy Morgart and Ashoo Kuma of the News & Microforms Library, 1:30-2:30 p.m., W211a Pattee Libraries, University Park, and online via Adobe Connect.

Monday, July 28: 2016 Travel Grant Winner Presentation, Rebecca Goldschmidt, winner of a Through the Flower Research Travel Award, 9-10 a.m., Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library.

Monday, July 28: 2016 Travel Grant Winner Brown Bag Presentation, Trish Kahle, University of Chicago, winner of a Dorothy Foehr Huck Research Travel Award, noon-1 p.m., Mann Assembly Room, Paterno Library.

Monday, August 3–Friday, December 16: “Expanding Horizons: Penn Staters in the Olympics” exhibit, Special Collections Library.

Thursday, August 4: Ice Cream Social, hosted by Libraries Administration, help kick off the 2016 Libraries Open House event, 3-4 p.m., Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library

Monday, August 8: Discovery Day Webinar Series: Silents are Golden, presented by Jenny Litz and Bob Livsey, 2-3 p.m., Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library

Tuesday, August 9: Libraries Clean Up Day, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., University Park.

Wednesday, August 10: last day of summer classes, University Park.

August 10: Tech Update, by Libraries I-Tech staff, 10:30-11:30 a.m., Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, and MediaSite Live.

Friday, August 12: finals day, second six weeks summer session, University Park.

Saturday, August 13: Summer commencement, University Park.

Tuesday, August 16: University Libraries Annual picnic, 5-7 p.m., Sunset Park. All University Libraries current and retired employees and their families invited. RSVP required by Tuesday, August 9.

Wednesday, August 17: Dean’s Forum, 10 a.m.-noon., Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, University Park, and MediaSite Live.

Wednesday, August 17: Space planning brown bag session, Libraries’ Space Steering Committee open discussion and Q & A, noon-1 p.m., 510A Paterno Library, University Park.

Fall 2016

Friday, August 19: 2016 Travel Grant Winner Brown Bag Presentation, Ryan Charlton, University of Mississippi, winner of a Dorothy Foehr Huck Research Travel Award, noon-1 p.m., Mann Assembly Room, Paterno Library.

Friday-Sunday, August 19-21: Arrival days.

Monday, August 22: First day of classes.

Tuesday, August 30: Coffee with Carmen, the Libraries’ User Services Training Coordinator, noon-1 p.m., Mann Assembly Room.

Monday, September 5: Labor Day, no classes.

September 7-8: Open House, 10 a.m-5 p.m., University Park library locations.

Tuesday, September 20: Coffee with Carmen and pastry decorating, presented by Ann Thompson and Linda Struble, 1:30-2:30 p.m., Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library.

Wednesday, September 21: Space planning brown bag session, Libraries’ Space Steering Committee open discussion and Q & A, noon-1 p.m., 510A Paterno Library, University Park.

Tuesday, September 27: Discovery Day Webinar Series: Office Yoga, presented by Rebecca Peterson, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library University Park.

Friday, September 30: University Libraries Donor Reception and Celebration, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Paterno Family Reading Room, 201 Pattee Library, University Park.

Tuesday, October 4: Disability Awareness Month Event: Working with patrons with disabilities, Carmen Gass, Libraries’ User Services Training Coordinator, 10 a.m.-noon, Foster Auditorium, University Park.

Thursday, October 13: Tech Update, by Libraries I-Tech staff, 10:30-11:30 a.m., Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, and MediaSite Live.

Tuesday, October 18: Discovery Day Webinar Series: What the Library Can Do for You, presented by Liz Long and Megan Gilpin, 1-2 p.m., Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library, University Park.

Wednesday, October 19: Space planning brown bag session, Libraries’ Space Steering Committee open discussion and Q & A, noon-1 p.m., 510A Paterno Library, University Park.

Wednesday, October 26: Penn State Beaver Library Open House, noon-1:30 p.m., Beaver campus library.

Friday, October 28: Interdisciplinary Research Colloquium, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Morrison Gallery, Penn State Harrisburg Library.

Wednesday, November 16: Space planning brown bag session, Libraries’ Space Steering Committee open discussion and Q & A, noon-1 p.m., 510A Paterno Library, University Park.

Wednesday, December 14: Tech Update, by Libraries I-Tech staff, 1-2:30 p.m., Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library, and MediaSite Live.

Wednesday, December 21: Space planning brown bag session, Libraries’ Space Steering Committee open discussion and Q & A, noon-1 p.m., 510A Paterno Library, University Park.

Please submit event information to Public Relations and Marketing via the Library News submission form.

The User Services Training Employee Advisory Council (USTEAC) would like to recommend a series of Lynda.com training videos for overall Library Professional Development (LPD). The training videos selected cover topics applicable to all employees regardless of position or location.

We encourage you to view the highlighted video or module and use what you learn! While Lynda.com content is accessible to Penn State employees at any time, we suggest viewing each week’s short highlighted video with the option to continue with the full week’s module. Please note that closed captioning is provided for all training videos.

Please contact our group, UL-USTEAC@LISTS.PSU.EDU, with training inquiries or suggestions.

Logisitical info

If you are unfamiliar with Lynda.com and how to login, please visit: https://staff.libraries.psu.edu/user-services/lyndacom

The process that imports Lynda.com usage into the Learning Resource Network is currently only able to transfer course completion data. If you need your transcript to show that you have completed training in the Learning Resource Network, you will need to complete the associated course in Lynda.com and wait for the overnight process for the data to transfer.

Week 1Innovative Customer Service Techniques

Regardless of where you work, you have either internal or external customers. This week we would like to highlight the video: Improving your powers of observation

As you have time, view the remainder of this course and learn how you can “think outside the box” when it comes to great customer service.

Week 2Business Etiquette: Phone, Email, and Text

The fact that so much of our communication is done via phone, email, or text should make this class very useful! We would like to highlight the video: Understanding when and what to say during a phone call. As you have time, view the remainder of this course and learn “how to strike the right tone in emails, text messages, and phone calls.”

Week 3

Working with Upset Customers

Think of the last time you were really upset at a business establishment. What were your expectations? The module: Serving Angry Customers equips you for this very situation. As you have time, view the remainder of this course and learn “techniques for neutralizing angry customer behavior.”

Week 4Customer Service Over the Phone

What should you do when helping someone over the phone? The video entitled: Develop the perfect phone greeting provides helpful tips for providing great customer service over the phone. As you have time, view the remainder of this course and learn how to exceed customers’ expectations over the phone.

Week 5Connecting with Peers in the Workplace

“Great communication means connecting, not just getting your point across.” In this short course, coach Todd Dewett outlines helpful techniques for forging those important connections that make it easier to come to work every day. We encourage you to invest 25 minutes and view this informative class.

Week 6Developing Cross-Cultural Intelligence

“Being able to work across cultures is an increasingly necessary skill for all employees.” The video entitled: Time is a great introduction to this informative class. As you have time, view the remainder of this course and learn how to respond effectively to everyone.

Week 7Managing Diversity

“What does it mean to manage diversity? What does an inclusive work environment look like?” We encourage you to invest 37 minutes and view this informative class.

Week 8Customer Service Fundamentals

There is much to be said about customer service and this class says it well. Refresh your perspective with: Defining Outstanding Customer Service. As you have time view the remainder of this course and learn how to make your customers feel valued.

Week 9

Information Literacy

View this video and further explore: What is information literacy? As you have time view the remainder of this course and increase your understanding of information literacy.

Week 10

Critical Thinking

What are the benefits of critical thinking? The video entitled: Use new lenses to think critically will introduce you to this concept. As you have time view the remainder of this course and learn how to further develop your critical thinking skills.

Week 11

The Manager’s Guide to Managing Customer Expectations

“Customer service managers may not be on the front lines, but they can create systems and processes that help ensure that the organization’s service promises match what it actually delivers.” The video entitled: Understand the impact of unpleasant surprises is a great way to start this 26-minute class.