University Libraries News

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of Congress (LOC) have signed a three-year agreement to collaborate on CBDR’s Douglass Day and LOC’s By the People historical document transcription initiatives.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.

Penn State has announced its schedule of events for International Love Data Week 2024, to be held Feb. 12–16. The week will be packed with insightful sessions and engaging activities that delve into the world of data analytics.

Penn State University Libraries has announced its schedule of events for International Love Data Week 2024, to be held Feb. 12–16. The week will be packed with insightful sessions and engaging activities that delve into the world of data analytics.

Penn State University Press has unveiled its spring/summer 2024 catalog, featuring new general interest and scholarly books in the fields of literature, art history, religious studies, rhetoric and communication, modernism, medieval and early modern studies, current events and more.

Black History Month events, an exhibit at Penn State Lehigh Valley from Penn State Laureate Lori Hepner, and Ephrat Asherie Dance at Eisenhower Auditorium are among the cultural highlights across the University this weekend and next week.

Results of a statewide 2023 survey indicated that Pennsylvania undergraduate students, including those at Penn State, are more worried than their nationwide peers about textbook costs and may avoid purchasing them — often at the expense of their academic success. Initiatives in support of open and affordable educational resources (OAER) at Penn State aim to change that by continuing to expand use of OAER, reflecting Penn State’s strategic priority of educational access and affordability.

Mridula Sharma, a master's student in English literature at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, has been named the 2023 recipient of the Linda Stein Upstander Award administered by Penn State University Libraries. Sharma will offer a presentation, “Feminist Metamodernism: New Upstander Visions of Visuality Across Genres,” Feb. 21 on Penn State’s University Park campus and via Zoom. Applications for the 2024 award are due Feb. 1.

During the University Libraries’ “Mystery Date with a Book,” happening through February, shelves in Pattee Library's Franklin Atrium will be filled with wrapped fiction and nonfiction books in a variety of genres available for students to check out for a reading date.

Penn State University Libraries’ 2024 Library Discovery Hours provide in-depth perspectives of today’s academic research library and its student-centered and research-supporting priorities. This year’s special events include travels with exclusive access to several prominent Penn State alumni whose papers have been donated to the University Libraries’ special collections.

Undergraduate students who access Penn State University Libraries’ resources or services and with financial need are encouraged to apply for 2024-25 academic year University Libraries scholarships, which are intended to help with current school costs. Awards start at $500 and range up to $3,000, and a student who completes a scholarship application by the May 3 deadline will be considered for all available scholarships, as appropriate.  

John Urschel, mathematician, former NFL offensive lineman, and Penn State alumnus, will be the keynote speaker for Penn State’s 2024 Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium on March 23.

An upcoming exhibition, “’Where Beauty’s At’: Expressions of Black Visual Culture,” runs from Feb. 1 through Sept. 9 in the Special Collections exhibition space at 104 Paterno Library on the University Park campus. An opening reception will take place on Feb. 1 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library, and is free and open to the public.

Auditions for Political Song-a-Palooza, a musical showcase of political and protest music performed by Penn State students, faculty, staff and alumni, is extending video and audio auditions through Sunday, Feb. 4.   

Students new to the University Park campus are encouraged to join Penn State University Libraries' spring Open House, to be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, in Pattee Library and Paterno Library at University Park.;