It's Academic

Thank you to everyone who was able to join us for the session on February 9. The recording, slides, and handout are now available.

C&CS Presents

Go With the Flow: Using Automations and More With Office 365 with Adam Haigh

March 3 at 11 am EST

Register Here: https://forms.gle/RwtQ7T4xsMxnNYKv6

Microsoft offers several tools beyond what are commonly found in the standard Office Applications (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) through its Office 365 platform which we obtained through TechSoup at no cost via their non-profit donation program. The presenters, through their shift into email administration, have discovered the benefits of these tools including Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Forms, and PowerAutomate which make it easy for staff to collaborate on projects and tasks. Outside of Office 365, Microsoft also offers tools that allow remote control, setup, and management of PCs. Come to this session to learn how you can get more out of your Office365 subscription and much more!

Adam Haigh has been the Technology Librarian in the Director’s Office of the Lower Merion Library System since May 2016. Previously he worked as an academic librarian at Lander University in South Carolina for over 10 years. He is the immediate Past Chair of the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable and a 2016 PALS Graduate.    

All C&CS Sessions are recorded and made available via the CRD website following the presentation.

This project is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, Governor.

Support is also provided by the College and Research Division of the Pennsylvania Library Association: https://crdpala.org/.

Since it’s creation the Pennsylvania Highlands Community College Library has made it a priority to preserve local history.  To this end, we began working with our county government to digitize thousands of local immigration records.   We collected these documents and started the process of sorting them to see what kind of information we had to work with.  The records were indexed but we found many errors regarding the names of the people involved.  This kind of thing is to be expected given that all the files are filled out by hand.  Anyone who has worked with historic documents can relate to the struggle to understand faded handwriting.  The origins of the people represented in these declarations range from Europe all the way to Turkey. It really shows the rich heritage of our area.

Many of these documents go back to the 1800’s when most countries were still led by royalty. It’s interesting to read someone renouncing their allegiance to kings or queens. Here is a man named Anthony Abraham applying for citizenship and renouncing his loyalty to the Sultan of Turkey in 1905. Imagine the adventures he must have had to get all the way to Cambria County Pennsylvania!

To make these files accessible we’ve begun the process of uploading them to PA Photos and Documents, an online repository funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania.  If you’re interested in our work you can see it here.

If you have any questions about this collection please contact me at akirby@pennhighlands.edu

C&CS Presents

Mindfulness and De-Stress Activities During Finals with Susan Tsiouris and Kristina Dorsett

February 16 at 1 pm EST

Register Here: https://forms.gle/2dABCTNDjpXEmqDU6

The stress level of students increases during finals. We have tried several ways to lower stress by celebrating Mindfulness Day with “breathe” signs, mindful minute exercises, and ten minute mindfulness breaks. We expanded on this with “De-Stress During Finals” days which included a variety of activities building on previous events: mindfulness sessions, coloring, puzzles, positivity board, handouts from a variety of campus departments, snacks, and the very popular “Stress re-duck-tion” contest where we hid rubber ducks throughout the library. Find a duck and turn it in for a bag of snacks. The goal of all of this was to provide moments away from the stress of finals which would enable the students to move forward in a more positive fashion. We hope to build on this with more mindfulness sessions and possibly a regular meditation group.

Susan Tsiouris, now retired, was the Research & Information Services Librarian at Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University

Kirstina Dorsett is the Liaison to Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy & Business at Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University 

All C&CS Sessions are recorded and made available via the CRD website following the presentation.

This project is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, Governor.

Support is also provided by the College and Research Division of the Pennsylvania Library Association: https://crdpala.org/.

C&CS Presents

Supporting innovation: Helping our users with patents with Lori Lysiak and John Meier

Tuesday, February 9 at 1 pm EST

Register Here: https://forms.gle/3bUbgfJdzKs3tCz48

Do patent questions make you panic? Do you know what resources are readily available? Reference support for patents are demystified in this engaging hands-on workshop. Learn how the Penn State University Libraries, an affiliate of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, can help you. Learn what to say (and not say) to help your customers. Come away with a plan for teaching patent information literacy and some core book recommendations for your collection.

Lori Lysiak, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Penn State Altoona, has completed basic and advanced seminar trainings from the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent and Trademark Resource Center Program. She facilitates patent and trademark information literacy to students of entrepreneurship and engineering design courses at Penn State Altoona and has published a journal article on the role of patent research in the start-up life cycle. She provides outreach on the topic of patents at the Altoona LaunchBox Business Bootcamp for adult learners and assists inventors and other community members seeking patent information and support.

John Meier,  Head of STEM for Engagement and Outreach at Penn State University Libraries, has been the The Patent and Trademark Resource Center Librarian for Penn State University since 2007, John provides research consultation and instruction in patent and trademark information literacy. He has published on patent resources for STEM librarians in a book chapter and a journal article. Based at the University Park campus, John has worked with Schlow Centre Region public library and the Happy Valley Launchbox on outreach programs. He works with inventors and entrepreneurs across the state in collaboration with the Free Library of Philadelphia and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

All C&CS Sessions are recorded and made available via the CRD website following the presentation.

This project is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, Governor.

Support is also provided by the College and Research Division of the Pennsylvania Library Association: https://crdpala.org/.