To satisfy student need for additional late night and early morning study space, the first and second floors of the library building will be open by swipe 8 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. daily starting Sunday 10/11, and will run until the end of the semester. We ask that students move to the first and second floors whenever closing is announced, and also ask that students vacate the first and second floors by 2 a.m. to facilitate deep cleaning. Hours of staffing the library building are currently in flux, but virtual assistance is available 24/7 via Ask a Librarian chat.
Category: News
Enhancing Student Research Abilities: Intersession/Spring 2021 Information Literacy Stipends
Do you want to enhance your students’ research abilities? Then consider applying for an Information Literacy Stipend for your course.
The Weinberg Memorial Library will be awarding up to two (2) $1,000.00 stipends for courses taught during Intersession 2021 or Spring 2021. Recipients will collaborate with a faculty librarian to develop assignments and assessments that focus on information literacy. The stipend will be awarded upon submission of a final report. Both full- and part-time faculty are eligible.
What is information literacy?
Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning. (ACRL, 2016)
The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (2016) provides ideas to help faculty integrate information literacy into their courses.
TO APPLY: Submit a proposal, not to exceed two pages, that includes the following:
- Course name and number
- Student learning outcomes related to information literacy
- Assessment plan to determine how student learning outcomes will be evaluated
- Projected Timeline (Intersession 2021 or Spring 2021)
- Name of the faculty librarian who has agreed to collaborate with you
Application Deadline: Friday, October 23, 2020
Submit proposals via email attachment to: Kym Balthazar Fetsko, Assistant to the Dean of the Library, kym.fetsko@scranton.edu
Proposals will be reviewed by the Library Advisory Committee’s Information Literacy Subcommittee for evidence of the following components:
- Student learning outcomes related to information literacy
- Assessment plan to determine how student learning outcomes will be evaluated
- Collaboration and consultation with a librarian before submission
Stipends are subject to taxes. At the completion of the course, a final report documenting the impact of the information literacy component on student learning outcomes must be submitted to the Interim Dean of the Library. This report will be posted on the Library’s website.
If you are interested, consult with the subject liaison librarian for your department as you prepare your proposal; find your liaison librarian at www.scranton.edu/library/liaisons. Examples of previous successful stipend projects can be accessed at www.scranton.edu/informationliteracystipends.
Questions? Contact Donna Witek, Information Literacy Coordinator, at donna.witek@scranton.edu.
Schemel Forum World Affairs Seminar- Dr. Harmar Brereton
Affordable Learning Implementation Grants for Spring 2021
The Weinberg Memorial Library is pleased to offer $1,000 Affordable Learning Implementation Grants to successful full-time faculty applicants.
Affordable Learning aims to reduce the financial burden on students by eliminating expensive for-cost textbooks and course materials with no-cost or low-cost educational resources. OER stands for Open Educational Resources, which include online textbooks, media, and other materials that are available freely for use and can be remixed/reused for educational purposes. For our Affordable Learning Implementation Grants, formerly OER Implementation Grants, faculty may opt to use existing OER textbooks and open source software that is available online or may compile course materials from appropriately licensed e-books and journals that are open access or available through the Library to replace all, or some, of their for-cost course materials.
For a list of available OER and appropriately licensed Affordable Learning resources, visit the OER Research Guide. The Library’s OER Committee will be hosting an informational session over Zoom about the grants and available resources on October 28th from 11 am – noon if you are interested in learning more. Please email kelly.banyas@scranton.edu if you would like the Zoom meeting link.
The library will award up to two $1,000 Affordable Learning Implementation Grants for Spring 2021 courses. These grants are also made possible with additional funding from The University of Scranton’s Strategic Initiatives Funding.
For more information and the application form, visit the Affordable Learning Implementation Grants web page.
Over 18,000 University of Scranton Records Now Available in JSTOR’s Open Community Collections
JSTOR’s Open Community Collections feature open access primary source materials in a wide variety of subjects contributed by libraries, museums, and archives. The Weinberg Memorial Library recently agreed to be a Charter Participant in this pilot initiative and contribute materials from our digital collections. The University of Scranton now has its own portal on JSTOR with 19 collections and over 18,000 items. The portal facilitates browsing, sub-collection groupings, and searching within our publicly-available collections. To browse our institutional portal, visit jstor.org/site/scranton/.
Charter Participants will help JSTOR identify and develop new community services for primary source research and scholarship. Our participation in this initiative is made possible through our partnership with PA Digital and PALCI.
By sharing on JSTOR, our collections will reach millions of researchers around the world and be discovered alongside journal articles, ebooks, primary sources, and images from Artstor. The University of Scranton’s collections will also benefit from the features of the JSTOR platform and interface, including full-text search, citation management tools, content download and sharing, as well as innovative research tools such as Text Analyzer and Workspace.
Throughout the pilot period, ending in December 2021, we will share feedback with JSTOR to help them develop new tools and features to enhance usage and aid discovery of primary source materials. If you have any questions or feedback, please reach out to Digital Services Librarian Colleen Farry at colleen.farry@scranton.edu.
Job Opportunity: Evening Circulation Services Clerk (part-time temporary)
We invite applicants for a part-time, temporary, Evening Circulation Services Clerk. To apply and see the full job description visit: https://universityofscrantonjobs.com/postings/4898
Position Title: Evening Circulation Services Clerk (part-time temporary)
Job Purpose:
The Evening Circulation Services Clerk is a part time, temporary, evening position working under the supervision of the Circulation Services Coordinator to perform the duties listed below.
Essential Duties:
- Provides patron assistance at the Circulation Desk. This includes:
- Conducting circulation transactions (charging, discharging, reviewing, recalling, placing holds, and collecting fines and fees).
- Registering new patrons.
- Assisting with maintaining equipment (i.e. photocopiers, laptop computers, IPads, security gates), replenishing supplies, and reporting equipment malfunctions.
- Answering telephone calls and assisting with circulation questions. Referring reference questions to Research and Scholarly Services.
- Assisting with the sending of faxes.
- Responding to and documenting violations of theft and damage to Library materials.
- Processing monetary transactions.
- Assisting patrons with use of the public catalog for finding material, especially reserves.
- Monitors the Library for disruptive behavior and unauthorized persons; reports any disruptions to the Librarian in charge and/or University Police.
- Clears the Library building at closing time. Ensures that the 24 hour spaces are clear of Library materials before closing.
- Secures the library building at closing by locking/unlocking specific doors and gates and adjusting elevator settings.
Minimum Education Requirements:
High school diploma or equivalent.
Minimum Job Experience Requirements:
Customer service experience.
Preferred Qualifications:
Library work experience.
Additional Skills Required:
- Ability to communicate effectively with a wide variety of users – students, faculty, administration, and public patrons, and to handle communications with tact, courtesy and discretion.
- Must be able to lift and move heavy cartons of books, weighing up to 40 lbs.
- Must be able to respect, support and contribute to the University’s Catholic and Jesuit mission.
Schedule/Work Hours: Monday – Thursday 5:30-11:30 p.m. (24 hours per week) with some fluctuations in the summer and at exam times.
Library Hours 9/16 thru 9/29
The Weinberg Memorial Library will have reduced hours for the two-week move to remote learning. Starting today, Wednesday, September 16 thru Tuesday, September 29, the hours are:
Monday-Thursday 8am-7pm
Friday 8am-4:30pm
Saturday & Sunday Noon-7
The Library is only open to current students, faculty, and staff. Everyone must swipe in to enter the building from the Monroe Ave entrance.
You can continue to place holds for contactless pickup in the Library entrance. We will continue to offer virtual research services via ask a librarian. For the most up to date information on Library services, visit the Fall 2020 Research Guide. Please let us know if you have any questions.
PALCI E-ZBorrow is up and running!
Members of the University of Scranton Community can once again requests books through the PALCI EZ-Borrow Lending System.
You can Log in to the PALCI EZ-Borrow page by clicking here.
Please note that books will be quarantined for 7 days upon arrival to the Weinberg Library; so there will be a delay between delivery and when your books are ready for pick-up.
You will receive an email from the Weinberg Library informing you when your items are ready for pick-up
Using the Virtual Shelf Browse
Did you know you can browse our library shelves remotely? You can access our catalog’s virtual shelf browse feature by simply clicking on the call number of a book in the catalog.
Accessing the Virtual Shelf Browse
Log into your my.scranton account and chose ‘Library’ from the menu on the left. From the Library page you can perform a keyword search in the Catalog Search box.
Choose a record you are interested in from the results page. Double click on that record to see the expanded view of the record. Within the expanded view of the record, click on the call number to access the virtual shelf browse.
A ‘nearby item browse’ pop-up window will appear with titles from the same call number range. Within the ‘nearby item browse’ window, click the arrows on the left or right to view titles on either side of the title you started with. The graphical browse shows you book covers of adjacent books and their associated call numbers. Clicking on a book cover or title within the pop-up window will take you to the record for that title.
There is also a list browse option if you would like to just view the titles as a list in call number order. Clicking on previous and next will move the list up or down. Clicking on the title will take you to that title’s record.
Placing a hold for pickup
If you located a title you would like to borrow from the Print Circulating Collection or from Media, you can ‘place a hold’ on the item(s) you would like to borrow from our catalog. Items that can be placed on hold have a ‘place a hold’ button on the right-hand side of the catalog entry.
After clicking the button, you may be asked to log in using your R# and authenticate if you are not already logged in. A pop-up box confirming that you would like to place a hold will appear. Click ‘submit’ and circulation will be notified that you have placed a hold.
If your request is successful you will see a confirmation window, click ‘OK’ and your transaction is complete. Your item(s) will then be selected, packaged and labeled with your name by our circulation staff and made available for you to pickup from the bookcase in the Library’s lobby on the Monroe St. side of the building. You will be notified by email when your item(s) are available for pickup. You may pick up your items during the hours listed in our Fall 2020 Library Services Hours Lib Guide.
For further assistance with borrowing or placing a hold, you can contact us at 570-941-7524 or circulation@scranton.edu.
Study Rooms on All Floors Now Reserveable
All Library Study Rooms on floors 1, 2, 3, and 4, are now reserve-able with a scranton.edu email address. You can reserve them online by visiting the LibCal Reservation website here. All rooms are available for 2 hours per/day per/student. Most rooms accommodate 2 or 3 students with social distancing. If 2 people both reserve a room, you can get up to 4 hours per/day, 3 people can get up to 6 hours per/day.
Brody Chairs on 2nd and 5th floors are also reserve-able. For more info on the Brody Chairs view the post from Monday.