Technology On Your Own Terms Spring 2012 Workshops

Each semester, the Weinberg Memorial Library and the Center for Teaching & Learning Excellence (CTLE) offer a faculty and staff advancement series called Technology on Your Own Terms. The series introduces University faculty and staff to emerging technologies in order to encourage innovation in the workplace and in the classroom. We’re continuing the series in Spring 2012 with three new workshops:

Facebook Timeline: What You Need to Know About the New Facebook Profile (or, Facebook Gets a Face-Lift)
Wednesday, February 15 from 1:00pm – 2:00pm in WML305

If you’re a Facebook user, you may have heard of a new feature on the popular social networking website called Timeline: the newest version of the Facebook Profile. You may have even converted your own Facebook Profile into this new format, or visited the Profiles of Facebook Friends who have already converted to Timeline. Whether you have already opted-into the new Profile format, or are holding out until you learn more, there is a lot of information about this radical new feature that all Facebook users need to know in order to use it with purpose and control. During this presentation, Librarian Donna Witek will give an overview of Timeline, including information about its design, functionality and use. She will demonstrate the key tools within Timeline that will enable users to get the most out of the new Profile format. And, she will cover the relationship between your Privacy Settings and Timeline. Attendees who own tablets or laptops are encouraged to bring them to the session; however, this session does not require that attendees have a computing device. A light lunch will be provided. (Taught by Donna Witek, Weinberg Memorial Library)

Preserving Your Family Memories: Part I (Physical)
Tuesday, March 13 from 12:00pm – 1:00pm in WML305

Special Collections Librarian Michael Knies will discuss the basic preservation problems relating to personal collections of books, photographs, negatives, personal papers, audio/visual recordings, and other paper-based collectibles.  Limited attention will be paid to three dimensional objects. Proper storage and handling will be emphasized. A light lunch will be provided. (Taught by Michael Knies, Weinberg Memorial Library)

Preserving Your Family Memories: Part II (Digital)
Thursday, April 5 from 12:00pm – 1:00pm in WML305

Increasingly, we capture moments to remember in digital rather than physical format: we document our lives in digital photographs, videos, social media, email, and websites.  In this workshop, Digital Services Librarian Kristen Yarmey will introduce you to the concept of digital preservation.  We’ll talk about common misconceptions (for example, why digitizing your photos is not the same as preserving them), some of the major challenges involved in maintaining digital files over time, and some basic strategies you can take to help make your digital memories last.  A light lunch will be provided. (Taught by Kristen Yarmey, Weinberg Memorial Library)

All faculty and staff members are welcome, but seats are limited, so please register for sessions you plan to attend at www.scranton.edu/ctleregistration (under Technology On Your Own Terms).

Internet Blackout Tomorrow

Several highly used websites are going dark tomorrow (Wednesday) for 12-24 hours to protest and raise awareness about the Stop Online Policy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA).  Sites that will be going dark include WikipediaInternet ArchiveReddit, Boing Boing, and others – see SOPAStrike for a continually updated list.

SOPA and PIPA are two pieces of legislature currently in play in Congress that could have significant effects on libraries and our users.  SOPA is on hold for the moment, but PIPA is still scheduled for a cloture vote on January 24th.

So we’ve been reading up on SOPA and PIPA lately. Here are some resources we’ve found useful:

Schemel Forum Spring 2012 Schedule

What’s the best way to beat the post-holiday blues? How about thinking Spring by thinking Schemel?

Our Schemel Forum Spring 2012 schedule is out, and it’s packed with captivating speakers and sessions to steal your attention away from the winter gloom:

If you still need convincing, take a few minutes to listen to Schemel Forum director Sondra Myers talking over this season’s Schemel Forum events with WVIA’s Erika Funke.

As always, registration is required, so please contact program coordinator Kym Fetsko at fetskok2@scranton.edu to make your reservation or to find out more about our programs.

Happy 2012!… and Intersession Hours

Happy 2012 to the University of Scranton community! The Weinberg Memorial Library faculty and staff is back from the holiday, and we’re ready for a new year of challenges, opportunities, work, and fun.  This year is especially important to us since we’ll be celebrating our 20th anniversary all year long.

More about that later, but for now, here are our hours for Intersession (January 3 – 28):

Monday – Thursday:  8am – 10pm
Friday:  8am – 4:30pm
Saturday: 12pm – 6pm
Sunday: 12pm – 10pm

Regular hours will resume on January 29 at the start of the Spring semester.  Happy studying!

Planned outage for PALCI/EZ Borrow system

On Sunday December 18, there will be a planned outage of the PALCI/EZ Borrow system. The outage will last from noon until 2pm to allow for server maintenance to take place. All aspects of the PALCI/EZ Borrow system will be unavailable at this time.

Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives

There’s a great new resource available for anyone interested in local history.  The Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives, hosted by the Scranton Public Library and funded by a grant from the Willary Foundation, contains digitized photographs, manuscripts, maps, paintings, letters, and videos related to the history of the Valley and its surrounding areas.

While the Digital Archives will continue to grow, there are already three great collections available to the public:

We’re partial to the Out of the Wilderness collection since it contains Civil War era materials found, described, digitized, and transcribed last spring by University of Scranton history students in Dr. Kathryn Shively Meier’s Civil War class.

The Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives is a collaborative effort involving many of our local cultural heritage institutions, including the Scranton Public Library, the Lackawanna Historical Society, the Steamtown National Historic Site, the Scranton Times-Tribune newspaper library, the Anthracite Heritage Museum, and our own Weinberg Memorial Library.  In addition to the Willary Foundation, other funding partners include the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority and the Scranton Area Foundation. We’re looking forward to working together with all of our colleagues on more digital projects in the future!

For more information, see About LVDA or take a look at Go Lackawanna‘s 500 Vine column from November 20th, “New Digital Service Preserves History.”  You can also subscribe to the Digital Archives’ Facebook page for updates.

Iggy’s for sustainability… are you?

Iggy stopped by the library today to get a drink of water. As you can see, Iggy practices a sustainable lifestyle, using his Save Our World BPA-Free water bottle to fill up at the library’s purified water station. If only we were all more like Iggy.

Extended Hours begin today December 7, 2011

The Weinberg Library is open until midnight Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 7-8.  Friday hours are 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday noon to midnight.  Next Monday  through Thursday, Dec. 12-15, we will be open from  7 a.m. to 2 a.m.  Friday’s  (Dec. 16) hours are 8 a.m.- midnight and on  Saturday, Dec. 17 we are open from  8 a.m.-5 p.m.  We will be closed on Dec. 18th (Sunday).

After 10 P.M. please enter and leave through the Pro Deo Room doors, as the Library will close to the public after 10 p.m.

Save Our World Water Bottles on Sale!

In collaboration with SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise), the library will be selling the “Save Our World” water bottles for $5 all week (Monday December 5th through Friday December 9th).

Stop by the Circulation Desk and pick-up the cheapest, most environmentally friendly bottle on campus! You can even pay with your Royal Card!

Happy Holidays…Zaner-Bloser Style!

New Year’s flourish, dated 1896, by C. F. Johnston.

It’s December 1st, temperatures are dropping, and the holiday season is in full swing!  Take a (brief) break from working on those final projects and browse a few images of festive holiday themed penmanship from our Zaner-Bloser Penmanship Collection.