Library News

Beginning March 13, the Research Informatics and Publishing department at Penn State University Libraries will offer a series of five virtual workshops on statistical analysis in the programming language R. The workshops are free and open to Penn State undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty and staff. Advance registration is required by March 11.

A new initiative by the Penn State Scranton’s library staff hopes to encourage more campus engagement with the library – and more reading -- by “carting” materials from the library directly to students, faculty and staff.

Artists, scholars and educators are invited to apply through March 31 for the 2024 Judy Chicago Art Education Award, named in honor of one of the Feminist Art Movement’s key founders. Penn State University Libraries’ Eberly Family Special Collections Library houses the Judy Chicago Art Education Collection, and the University Libraries’ Strategic Technologies team developed and manages the Judy Chicago Portal connecting five partner institutions’ archival collections online.

The Penn State Powwow, Step Afrika! at Penn State Altoona, and beekeeping webinars are among some of the cultural events taking place across the University this weekend and next week. 

On the third floor of West Pattee Library, on Penn State's University Park campus, visitors to the Charles L. Blockson Collection of African-Americana and the African Diaspora can access history from a variety of African cultures over generations. The collection offers a look into the African experience in the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa, with materials dating as far back as 1632.

Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) has announced that its virtual Symposium Lite will return on March 28, the week after the in-person TLT Symposium. The half-day event will feature four 30-minute, prerecorded presentations followed by 15-minute, live facilitated discussions with presenters. 

On March 20 and April 3, Penn State University Libraries will present free virtual seminars designed to help undergraduate students conduct and present research. Advance registration is required and all workshops are offered via Zoom.

As Penn State plans for its next comprehensive fundraising campaign, University President Neeli Bendapudi and her husband, Venkat Bendapudi, have stepped forward with a leadership gift to champion areas aligned with their passions, benefitting both students and the wider community. Their $250,000 commitment will be directed primarily to the University Libraries, the Center for the Performing Arts, and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).

Penn State's Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs has named 13 distinguished professors for 2024. The title recognizes outstanding academic contribution to the University. 

Ellysa Stern Cahoy, education librarian and director of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, and Tom Reinsfelder, head librarian at Mont Alto Campus Library, have received the title of Distinguished Librarian in the University Libraries for their outstanding academic, research and service contributions.

Students at University Park now have the convenience of on-the-go wireless charging using the newly upgraded Omnicharge power banks provided by the University Libraries. Omnicharge is a portable, all-in-one device that can power smartphones and other mobile devices, but also laptops.

Top Hat is partnering with Penn State’s Harrisburg, Altoona and Hazleton campuses to offer a series of workshops Feb. 27–29 designed to enhance faculty’s use of the engagement platform's tools to deliver interactive and personalized learning. 

Award-winning author Matthew Salesses will offer a free reading at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22, in Paterno Library’s Foster Auditorium on Penn State's University Park campus as part of the 2023-24 Mary E. Rolling Reading Series.

The African American Music Festival, a Lunar New Year dance performance at Penn State Berks, and a visit from reporter and environmental author Geoff Dembicki are among the cultural highlights across the University this weekend and next week.

Beginning Feb. 15, the Research Informatics and Publishing department and the Donald W. Hamer Center for Maps and Geospatial Information at Penn State University Libraries will offer three workshops on maps, GIS, GPS and data visualization. Workshops are free and open to Penn State undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, staff and faculty.

Penn State’s Center for Black Digital Research (CBDR) and the Library of Congress (LOC) have signed a three-year agreement to collaborate on CBDR’s Douglass Day and LOC’s By the People historical document transcription initiatives.

Penn State University Press has named Erika Valenti as sales and marketing director, effective Jan. 29.

Beginning Feb. 7, Penn State University Libraries will offer 17 workshops on topics such as statistical data analysis, data visualization, ScholarSphere, data privacy, and maps and GIS. Sessions are free and open to all Penn State faculty, staff and students. Advance registration is required for most of the sessions.

Collaborative efforts between six Penn State instructors from two campuses and two colleges worked in teams with Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) over the past two years as part of the 2022-24 TLT Faculty Fellows program. Their goal was to enrich the student engagement experience through technology. This included addressing themes such as affordability and inclusion, physi-digital space and radical creativity. Attributes such as these foster equitable opportunities, prepare students for dynamic workplaces and cultivate essential skills for the future. 

Current Penn State graduate and undergraduate students are invited to submit proposals for the 2024 M.G. Whiting Indigenous Knowledge Research Awards. March 15 is the deadline to submit proposals for projects on which research will be conducted between May 2024 and March 2025.