Schemel Forum Spring 2010

The Weinberg Memorial Library's collection of medieval manuscripts will be featured in a Schemel Forum evening course, taught by Special Collections Librarian Michael Knies

The Spring 2010 Schemel Forum schedule is officially out!

If you’re into Arthurian Legend, Shakespeare, or medieval books, this semester’s evening courses are for you.  University of Scranton faculty members Rebecca Beal, Richard J. Klonoski, Michael Friedman, and the Library’s own Michael Knies will be engaging community members in discussions of books, films, and philosophy relevant to each of their respective topics.

For a look at modern global politics, take a look at this semester’s luncheon seminar series.  Author Parag Khanna returns to the University this year on February 17 to discuss “Global Politics and Economics: A 21st Century View.”  We’re also looking forward to February 26, when Alex Thier from the United States Institute of Peace  will speak on “Enigma and Dilemma: Our Fraught Relationship with Afghanistan and Pakistan,” and March 5, when CNN correspondent Jill Dougherty will speak  on “Who Runs Russia? Deciphering Moscow’s Centers of Power.”

Finally, be sure to clear your calendar for the Schemel Forum’s spring concerts.  On April 18, contemporary Zimbabwe pianist Jeanette Miklem will perform “A Schumann Recital,” while on June 28, “Tango Power Returns!” will showcase the music of tango masters Carlos Gardel and Astor Piazzolla.

For more information or to register for any Schemel Forum Events, contact Kym Fetsko at fetskok2 (at) scranton (dot) edu or 570-941-7816.

New Digital Collections Home Page

It’s been a long time coming, but our new Digital Collections home page is finally up and running!  On this new page, you can find a list of all of our digital collections, from the popular Aquinas Online to our lesser known set of digitized Northeastern Pennsylvania history books housed on Internet Archive. You can also cross search several of our collections, including the University of Scranton Digital Yearbook Collection and the just-released Football Collection.  The page also features information about our collections and notes about what we’re working on next (we’re especially excited about the Electronic Masters and Honors Theses).  We’ll soon be adding an online form that you can use to request your own copies of digital images from our collections.

As with most of our projects, the Digital Collections home page is a work in progress – so please let us know if you have suggestions or comments!

Note: Big, huge thanks to Library Systems Specialist Jen Maher for her work on the new pages.

System outage, Jan 7-13

The Technology Support Center has announced that, due to an upgrade of the University’s enterprise resource planning system (called BANNER), several University of Scranton systems will be unavailable from 4:30pm on January 7th through 8:30am on January 13th.  These systems include Self Service (UIS), web registration, course schedules, grades, transcripts, account and financial aid information, and the University Course Schedule. (See a full list at http://www.scranton.edu/myscranton.)

The good news is that University email, Angel, and Library resources *will* all be available during that time.  Just go to my.scranton as usual, and when you log in, you’ll get a set of links for email, Angel, and the Library.

If you have trouble, report problems to the Technology Support Center at 941-4357 or techsupport@scranton.edu.

Pictures with Santa, PLUS a Holiday Book Signing

It’s December, and the holiday season is in full gear here at the Library.  Our lobby is decked with boughs of garland; our study spaces are filled with students dreaming of a white Christmas; and the smell of Java City peppermint mocha fills the air.

How does Santa arrive at the Library? Through the fireplace, of course.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Christmas at the Library without the one and only Santa Claus.  We’re thrilled to announce that St. Nick will be dropping by again this year, and he has graciously offered to pose for portraits with our students, faculty, staff, and community members.  Santa will be in the Heritage Room on two different days this year: Thursday, December 3, from 11:30am – 4:00pm, and Friday, December 4, from 2:30pm – 6:00pm.

You can get a framed photograph of you with Santa for a $7 donation!  All funds raised will go to help bring the magic of Christmas to a young boy in our community.

On your way up to the Heritage Room, don’t forget to stop by our Christmas Tag Sale in the lobby.   You’ll find decorations, CDs, and unique gifts all available for affordable prices.

As an added bonus this holiday season, the Weinberg Memorial Library is also excited to welcome local author Peter V. Tafuri, who will sign copies of his new children’s book, The Christmas Dog.   The book tells the heartwarming story of a stray dog who helps Mary and Joseph on the first Christmas.  Mr. Tafuri will be in the Heritage Room with Santa on Thursday from 11:30am – 4:00pm and Friday from 2:30pm – 4:30pm.  Bella, the Christmas Dog herself, won’t be joining us at the Library, but you can meet her (and have another chance to get your book signed by Mr. Tafuri) later that night at First Friday.  Bella will be at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (232 Wyoming Avenue in Scranton) from 6pm-9pm.

Side note for animal lovers: In real life, Bella is a rescue dog who likes to help kids learn to read.  You might also see her around the community, showing off her dancing skills to raise money for the Humane Society.

UofS Football Archives now online

The University of Scranton’s football team may no longer be around (in fact, it’s famous on campus for being “undefeated since 1960”), but at the Weinberg Memorial Library, UofS football is back in a big way.  This week, the Library is proud to announce the University of Scranton Football Collection, a digitized version of our football archives.

The collection includes over a thousand photographs of University of Scranton (and St. Thomas College) football teams, players, coaches, and games – as well as photos of the cheerleaders and marching bands who cheered them on.  The collection also features a set of football game programs.  The programs, produced for each home game, have team rosters, statistics, and game analysis.  Most of the materials come from the years 1900 through 1960, when the varsity football team was disbanded.

This collection isn’t just for UofS football fans, though.  The game programs in particular are a rich resource for researchers interested in the history of Scranton and its surrounding area.  The programs were sponsored by local businesses (like the Hotel Casey), so the booklets serve as miniature “time capsules” showing slices of Scranton life over time.

We invite all students, staff, alumni, and community members to browse and search the collection at www.scranton.edu/library/football.  You may also want to take a look at our brief history of University of Scranton football.

P.S. While we have identified many of the photographs, some are still mysteries.  If you recognize a player, please let us know!

Many thanks to librarian Kay Lopez, library systems specialist Jennifer Maher, and digital services assistant Kevin Pheasey, who all dedicated many hours of hard work to this project.

Register today for University for a Day

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The Second Annual University for a Day
Saturday, September 12, 2009
8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Start the new season thinking! We invite you to join us for a day of listening to, reflecting on and talking about some ideas and people that have changed our world.  Take part in this feast for the mind at The Schemel Forum’s second annual University for the Day.

Full Schedule:

8:45am – 9:30am Registration

9:30am – 10:45am Toni Morrison’s A Mercy: A Paradigm and a Cautionary Tale of Interdependence in a New World (presented by Stephen Whittaker, Professor of English and Theater)

11:00am – 12:15pm Rosalind Franklin: Another Twist in the DNA Double Helix (presented by Janice Voltzow, Professor of Biology)

12:30pm – 1:30pm Buffet Luncheon

1:45pm – 3:00pm The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Run it: White Collar Crime and the Global Financial Crisis (presented by David Friedrichs, Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice)

3:15pm – 4:30pm Globalization: For Better and Worse (presented by Goodwin Cooke, Professor of International Studies at Syracuse University)

4:30pm – 5:15pm Reception

All this plus morning coffee, lunch and a closing wine reception in very good company for a very low price! Free to current Schemel Forum Members. $25.00 Schemel Forum Non-Members.  Reservations are required, so please register by contacting Kym Balthazar Fetsko, Schemel Forum Events Coordinator, at 570-941-7816 or fetskok2 (at) scranton (dot) edu.  Also be sure to check out the full Schemel Forum fall schedule!

University for a Day is made possible through the generous support of the Neighborhood Development Trust Fund and the Scranton Area Foundation.

Congrats, Coach Strong!

Congratulations to Mike Strong, coach of the University of Scranton’s women’s basketball team, on his 700th win!  Coach Strong joined the “700 club” of the NCAA’s winningest coaches this Sunday when the Lady Royals beat Drew, 73-54.

In celebration of this milestone, I searched the University of Scranton Digital Yearbook Collection and found this photo of Coach Strong (on the left in the third row) and the Lady Royals, on p. 62 of the 1980 Windhover yearbook:

Mike Strong with the 1980 Lady Royals

If you want to read more about Coach Strong’s 700th win, check out the University press release, or “The 700 Club,” an article by Scott Walsh that was in Monday’s Scranton Times-Tribune.

U of Scranton yearbooks online, from Aquinas to Windhover

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January, named after the Roman god of gates and doorways, is not only a great month to celebrate the new year, but also to remember the past. The Weinberg Memorial Library has just made it even easier to reminisce by digitizing all of the University of Scranton’s yearbooks, from the 1916 Aquinas to the 2007 Windhover.

The Weinberg Memorial Library’s Digital Services department is proud to present the University of Scranton Digital Yearbook Collection, a 74 volume set of almost 20,000 digitized pages – all available to the public. You can browse the books to get a feel for each year’s unique student culture, or search the books to find photographs of your favorite University faculty, staff, and alumni!

Questions or comments? Contact the WML Digital Services department!