Earth Week 2012

U of S Earth Day Fair 2010

Earth Day 2012: Sunday, April 22nd

Earth Day is only about a week away!  This list of U of S Earth Week events at https://foursquare.com/univofscranton/list/earth-week-events makes it easy to learn what environmentally themed activities are happening on campus starting with tomorrow’s annual Street Sweep.

Included in the list are Library activities like the opening reception for the Environmental Art Show, which will take place Monday at 7pm in the Heritage Room.  As part of this year’s Foursquare Frenzy,  there will be a special prize for the first students who check-in during the reception, and it’s not too late to submit artwork! Just bring in your submissions to the Library by Monday morning.

Want to learn more about how you can go green? Check out resources on sustainability in the Library Catalog or Research Guides.

You can also visit the Media Resources Center to watch one of the top sustainability themed films available at the Library:

  1. The Age of Stupid– DVD- feature film
  2. The Day After Tomorrow –DVD- feature film
  3. Eating Alaska– DVD- documentary/educational film
  4. King Corn-DVD- documentary/educational film
  5. An Inconvenient Truth –DVD- documentary/educational film
  6. No Impact Man-DVD- documentary/educational film
  7. Flow: For Love of Water-DVD – documentary/educational film
  8. Food, Inc. –DVD- documentary/educational film
  9. The 11th Hour– DVD- documentary/educational film
  10. The Great Warming -3 parts VHS- documentary/educational film
  11. Warnings from the Ice VHS- documentary/educational film

Foursquare Frenzy At the Library!

The Foursquare Frenzy 2012 is in full effect! If you’re a Foursquare user and check-in to various venues on campus, be sure to upload a picture and you’ll be entered to win special prizes! The Frenzy runs from April 10-23rd. To learn more about the prizes, venues and rules head on over to this site.

The Library is participating in several ways. Simply by checking in to the Library, with a photo of the inside or outside of the building, after midnight you can earn the Bookworm Bender Badge!

Are you the mayor of the Library? We are giving away the “Save Our World” water bottles to anyone who earns mayor status of the Library. There will also be a special prize for the first several people to check-in during the Environmental Art Show opening night reception!

Check-in! Play! Win!

Good luck Foursquarers!

Seniors: Vote for Teacher of the Year

Our colleagues over in the Center for Teaching & Learning Excellence asked us to share this announcement:

VOTE FOR:

 TEACHER OF THE YEAR

ATTENTION:  GRADUATING SENIORS

2012 University of Scranton

Teacher of the Year Award

Each year the Graduating Senior Class selects its “Teacher of the Year.” Beginning Monday, April 16th, please vote for the faculty member who you believe best exhibits the following characteristics:

  • Maintains the highest standards of academic excellence and fairness.
  • Inspires interest in the discipline through personal enthusiasm and dedication.
  • Is consistently effective in communication.
  • Is available outside of the classroom.

The award will be presented during Class Night on Friday, May 25th, 2012.

HOW TO VOTE:  To cast your electronic ballot, access www.scranton.edu/toy

WHEN TO VOTEMonday, April 16th, 9:00 a.m. – Friday, April 20th 5:00 p.m.

Remember a Faculty Member Whose Teaching Has Inspired You!  Your Vote Counts!

Opening Reception for the Environmental Art Show!

The Library will be hosting its annual Environmental Art Show in conjunction with the University’s celebration of Earth Week. The Exhibit has a grand opening and reception which will be held on Monday April 16 at 7pm to approximately 9pm.

All are welcome to attend.

Please come stop by to admire the Artwork, you will also have the opportunity to discuss the various pieces with the artists themselves. Refreshments and snacks will be served!

Final Call for Art — Environmental Art Show

The Library is still accepting submissions for its annual Environmental Art Show! You now have until Sunday April 15th to bring your Environmentally themed artwork into the library.

The purpose of the Environmental Art Show is to promote sustainability through outreach and artwork. By submitting a piece (or pieces) to the Environmental Art Show you are showing your support for the Environment and letting the local community know that The University of Scranton cares about Sustainability.

Environmental Artwork can be broadly interpreted and includes, but is not limited to: Photographs oil paintings, water colors, acrylics, mixed media, recycled goods. Environmental subjects include, but is not limited to: flowers, nature scenes, trees, animals, environmental degradation and destruction, etc.

I strongly urge you to show your support for sustainability and submit artwork to the Art Show.

Preserving Your Family Memories – Workshop

There’s still time to register for our last Technology on Your Own Terms workshop of the semester! All faculty and staff members are welcome, but please let us know you’re coming by signing up at www.scranton.edu/ctleregistration (under Technology On Your Own Terms).

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)

(Image courtesy of Flickr user ehpien, under a Creative Commons license)

There’s Still Time to Visit the Exhibit of Alphabets

Michael Knies, Special Collections Librarian at the University of Scranton’s Weinberg Memorial Library, oversees the exhibition of alphabet and penmanship samples. Image courtesy of The Times Leader.

The exhibit of alphabets from the Library’s Zaner-Bloser Penmanship Collection is currently on display through April 5th in the 5th Floor Heritage Room of the Library.

Want to learn more about the exhibit? Mary Therese Biebel from The Times Leader recently wrote an article about her visit to explore the alphabets, If you’d grown up in the late 1800s with a steady hand, artistic skill and perhaps the ability to not upset your inkwell too often, those attributes might have led you to a career.

About 70 alphabets are on display, and they provide a rare look at the art of American ornamental penmanship from the 19th and early 20th centuries, which very few people continue to pursue.  In fact, during her visit Bielbel interviewed Special Collections Librarian Michael Knies who noted that “some college students did not learn cursive, and they’re unable to read correspondence from the 19th and 20th century.”

So stop by the exhibit and brush up on your ABC’s! You can also browse through the alphabets online in the Library’s digital collection of alphabets from the Zaner-Bloser Collection.

Mobile access to Library resources

University of Scranton students, faculty, and staff now have two ways to access the Weinberg Memorial Library’s resources from their mobile devices:

Whichever way you go, you’ll find a mobile-friendly version of our Library catalog and quick links to Ask a Librarian, as well as the Library’s hours, location, and latest news.

Try it out and let us know what you think! And let us know what other mobile features you’d like to see – we’re working right now on providing mobile-friendly access to our databases, and we’re daydreaming about a Java City webcam.

The WML on Facebook Converts to Timeline

The Weinberg Memorial Library is excited to announce that we’ve converted our Facebook Page to the new Timeline format! If you haven’t visited our Page in a while, come on over and take a look around.

Over the coming months we’ll be adding to our Facebook Timeline information about our history since moving into our current building in 1992, in honor of celebrating our 20th Anniversary since becoming the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Memorial Library (formerly the Alumni Memorial Library).

“Like” our Page on Facebook if you haven’t already (hint: you can do this in the right-hand panel of our blog), encourage your friends to “Like” us too, and check back at the Page often to stay up to date on Library news as well as 20th Anniversary events and festivities!

Spring Break Hours

Photo by Scranton iphoneographer timbenedict

It’s hard to tell which event our students are more excited about today – spring break or Parade Day! Here at the Library, we’re heading home for the weekend but will be back on Monday to take care of any students, faculty, and staff who are staying on campus for the week. We’ll be on reduced hours, though.

Here’s when you’ll our doors open:

Friday, March 9:  8:00am – 4:30pm

Saturday, March 10: CLOSED (including our 24-hour Room and Pro Deo Room)

Sunday, March 11: CLOSED (with the 24-hour Room and Pro Deo Room opening at noon)

Monday, March 12 – Thursday, March 15: 8:00am – 10:00pm

Friday, March 16: 8:00am – 4:30pm

Saturday, March 17: CLOSED (with the 24-hour Room and Pro Deo Room open)

Sunday, March 18: 12:00pm – 11:30pm

Happy spring break, and happy St. Patrick’s Day!