Category: News
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.
Brody Chairs Now Reserveable
All 24 Brody Chairs are now reserve-able through the Reserve a Seat feature on our website or you can scan the QR code and reserve in-person, on the spot. You can reserve a Brody Chair for up to four hours per day with your scranton.edu email address. The even number chairs (2,4,6, etc.) face out the windows and the odd numbered chairs (1, 3, 5, etc.) face inside toward the shelves.There are 18 Brody Chairs on the 2nd Floor and 6 on the 5th Floor.
Library Access and Services for Fall 2020
The Library Faculty and Staff have been developing new policies and procedures that will allow us to continue to provide the services you expect for the Fall Semester, while keeping the health and well-being of the entire University Community our top priority. Below we outline our current Fall plans, but please understand that we may need to alter or revise these plans throughout the semester as circumstances change. We appreciate your patience as we work through these changes.
The most current study of library materials (https://www.webjunction.org/explore-topics/COVID-19-research-project.html) indicates that the virus can live several days on physical items if contact is made. Due to this data, the library will be quarantining all materials that are touched, which may result in a delay in availability.
Also because of this data, the Library will not be providing Print Reserves this semester. We will convert articles and chapters to Electronic Reserves where possible. Joel Krisanda will be in contact directly for those who already have items on reserve.
If you need assistance finding alternative/comparable resources available electronically within the Library’s eBook and online database collections, please reach out to your subject liaison librarian. https://www.scranton.edu/academics/wml/infolit/liaisons.shtml. We will also make an attempt to purchase eBooks when available.
The Library is currently offering curbside pick-up and we will continue to offer this through the fall semester. Please place a hold in our online catalog, wait until you receive an email confirmation that it is available for pickup, and then come to the Library’s lobby to find your item(s). This includes print and media items.
InterLibrary Loan is currently operating, and fulfilling article requests as much as possible. PALCI and book borrowing through ILL will resume on August 17th, however many libraries will not be participating in PALCI or ILL. You may have trouble finding the number of titles you are used to finding through these services and fulfilling requests may take much longer due to the limited libraries participating. Please know that we will do our best to fulfill requests in a timely manner, but it will not be the level of availability and speed to which you have been accustomed.
Remote Access: If you are teaching remotely and are not coming to campus, or working from your office, you may submit ILL requests for print articles in our collection. We will scan and deliver these articles remotely, just like ILLiad requests sent and fulfilled from other schools. When submitting requests for articles you know that we own, please make a note on the request form.
We are continuing to provide Library acquisitions and processing services, such as the purchase of print books, eBooks, media and streaming media. There may be delays in availability that are beyond our control due to delivery services and customs protocols under COVID-19. We continue to provide service as quickly as possible under the current circumstances. If you need an eBook that we do not have, please contact Narda Tafuri via email: narda.tafuri@scranton.edu.
For Research Services, please use the “Ask a Librarian” chat box on our web page to talk to a librarian 24 hours a day. You can also call 570-941-4000 to talk to one of the librarians during regular library hours. If no one answers, please leave a voicemail and someone will get back to you as soon as possible. Please use the other options first, but you can also email askalibrarian@scranton.edu.
Librarians will still offer consultations through various communication platforms (e.g., Zoom), but please reach out through virtual chat, phone, or email first to schedule a consultation time and determine which platform will work best for your individual needs.
Inquiries about information literacy instructional support can be made by completing the online request form found on the Requesting Information Literacy Instruction page or by emailing Donna Witek, Information Literacy Coordinator, at donna.witek@scranton.edu.
Archives/Special Collections will be open by appointment only. Please contact Michael Knies at 570-941-6341 or Michael.knies@scranton.edu
Media Resources and the Education Lab will be open by appointment only. For questions about or problems with Media and Streaming Resources please contact Sharon Finnerty at 570-941-6330 or Sharon.finnerty@scranton.edu.
For problems accessing any electronic resources please e-mail library-systems@scranton.edu.
Should you choose to visit the building, you will need your Royal ID to swipe in. You will also find reduced seating capacity and furniture placed to reflect 6’ distancing. All in-person services will be provided from behind plexi-glass at the Circulation Desk. Java City will be closed, and food will not be allowed in the building. Also, to promote added cleaning routines there will be no 24 hour access – the building will be open only when staffed.
While things may look significantly different, we will still be providing all of the core services you expect. We look forward to working with you on your latest teaching and research needs, and are striving to provide comprehensive services in the safest ways possible.
For the most up-to-date information about the library and our services please see:
https://guides.library.scranton.edu/remoteservices