It’s been quite a while since we last saw all our students and faculty.  While we hope everyone had a relaxing and calm intersession, ours was anything but! We’ve been working hard all month long to update, improve, maintain, and increase our Library resources and services, both in person and virtual.  We’ll be posting more detailed announcements throughout the month, but here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming your way in Spring 2012:

• Thousands of new streaming media titles
• Mobile access to Library resources
• Combined book and database search in our catalog
• Better social features in our catalog (so you can like or share our resources)
• A major facelift for our digital collections
• Thin client computing in our computer labs
• Lots of unique events for our students and faculty – from our Earth Week Environmental Art Show to our Technology on Your Own Terms workshops to the Schemel Forum’s courses, luncheons, and trip
• A new home, a new look, and a new name for this blog (can you believe it’s almost 4 years old?)

We’re excited to have everyone back on campus (even if it means we have to fight for parking spaces again), so stop by anytime to say hi! We’re back on our regular hours for the Spring semester:

Monday-Thursday: 8:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Saturday: Noon – 8:00 p.m.
Sunday: Noon – 11:30 p.m.

“Google now watches consumers practically everywhere they go on the Web — and in real life, when using a mobile phone,” said Christopher Soghoian, an independent privacy and security researcher in Washington D.C. “No single entity should be trusted with this much sensitive data.”

The main issue with Google’s new policy is that it will now be combining information that it has on users. This could mean, for instance, that when users search via Google, the company will use their activities on sister sites like Gmail and YouTube to influence those users’ search results. Google has not done that before.

Login to my.scranton and use the Library tab so that you’ll be authenticated as a University of Scranton user.  Authorized users can create custom clips and playlists.  VAST can be accessed on or off campus from a computer, iPhone, iPad or Android.

If you have any trouble accessing VAST, or would like more information about using it, please contact Sharon Finnerty at sharon.finnerty@scranton.edu or (570) 941-6330.

Facebook Timeline: What You Need to Know About the New Facebook Profile (or, Facebook Gets a Face-Lift)
Wednesday, February 15 from 1:00pm – 2:00pm in WML305

If you’re a Facebook user, you may have heard of a new feature on the popular social networking website called Timeline: the newest version of the Facebook Profile. You may have even converted your own Facebook Profile into this new format, or visited the Profiles of Facebook Friends who have already converted to Timeline. Whether you have already opted-into the new Profile format, or are holding out until you learn more, there is a lot of information about this radical new feature that all Facebook users need to know in order to use it with purpose and control. During this presentation, Librarian Donna Witek will give an overview of Timeline, including information about its design, functionality and use. She will demonstrate the key tools within Timeline that will enable users to get the most out of the new Profile format. And, she will cover the relationship between your Privacy Settings and Timeline. Attendees who own tablets or laptops are encouraged to bring them to the session; however, this session does not require that attendees have a computing device. A light lunch will be provided. (Taught by Donna Witek, Weinberg Memorial Library)

Preserving Your Family Memories: Part I (Physical)
Tuesday, March 13 from 12:00pm – 1:00pm in WML305

Special Collections Librarian Michael Knies will discuss the basic preservation problems relating to personal collections of books, photographs, negatives, personal papers, audio/visual recordings, and other paper-based collectibles.  Limited attention will be paid to three dimensional objects. Proper storage and handling will be emphasized. A light lunch will be provided. (Taught by Michael Knies, Weinberg Memorial Library)

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)

All faculty and staff members are welcome, but seats are limited, so please register for sessions you plan to attend at www.scranton.edu/ctleregistration (under Technology On Your Own Terms).

SOPA and PIPA are two pieces of legislature currently in play in Congress that could have significant effects on libraries and our users.  SOPA is on hold for the moment, but PIPA is still scheduled for a cloture vote on January 24th.

So we’ve been reading up on SOPA and PIPA lately. Here are some resources we’ve found useful:

• Three related bills are in play – the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA), the Protect IP Act (the Senate version of SOPA, usually referred to as PIPA) and the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN Act), which has been proposed as an alternative to SOPA and PIPA.  See the Khan Academy video for a helpful explanation.
• The American Library Association’s Washington office did a Quick Reference Guide comparing these bills (as of January 10).
• The Library Copyright Alliance (which includes the American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries) wrote a letter describing parts of SOPA that “could threaten important library and educational activities.”
• The Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote a bit on How SOPA Affects Students, Educators, and Libraries, including what it might mean for fair use and copyright clearance.
• EDUCAUSE published a list of concerns about SOPA’s potential effect on higher education institutions.
• A large group of internet pioneers and engineers wrote an open letter to Congress.
• TechDirt has been following the story pretty closely. Mike Masnick just posted yesterday with an Updated Analysis of SOPA and PIPA that explains how the newer, marked-up versions of the bills are still problematic.
• Boing Boing posted about SOPA and everyday Americans.
• PublicKnowledge explains the January 24th PIPA vote.
• ProPublica keeps track of where individual members of Congress stand on SOPA and PIPA.
• The NYTimes has an interview with Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia discussing tomorrow’s blackout. (Wales: “Student warning! Do your homework early!”)
• Chris Heald at Mashable talks about Why SOPA is Dangerous.
• Stephen Colbert also shared his take on SOPA. (Jon Stewart not so much worried that Wikipedia users would have to go to the library.)

What’s the best way to beat the post-holiday blues? How about thinking Spring by thinking Schemel?

Our Schemel Forum Spring 2012 schedule is out, and it’s packed with captivating speakers and sessions to steal your attention away from the winter gloom:

• At our World Affairs Luncheon Seminars, you’ll learn how governments can respond to pandemics in Africa, how we can feed the planet without destroying it, why business won’t change the world, how the Arab Spring is affecting the Middle East, and how FDR’s Four Freedoms are more relevant than ever.
• In our Evening Courses, you can study the films of Frederico Fellini, the political implications of Occupy Wall Street, and delve into the madness and mystery of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House.
• In our new collaborative programs, you’ll enjoy a poetry reading with Nell Regan and a political roundtable with Elizabeth Randol.
• And by joining our Spring bus trip, you’ll get to explore the Roosevelt Library and the Storm King Art Center as well as a lunch stop at the Culinary Institute of America.

If you still need convincing, take a few minutes to listen to Schemel Forum director Sondra Myers talking over this season’s Schemel Forum events with WVIA’s Erika Funke.

As always, registration is required, so please contact program coordinator Kym Fetsko at fetskok2@scranton.edu to make your reservation or to find out more about our programs.

Happy 2012 to the University of Scranton community! The Weinberg Memorial Library faculty and staff is back from the holiday, and we’re ready for a new year of challenges, opportunities, work, and fun.  This year is especially important to us since we’ll be celebrating our 20th anniversary all year long.

More about that later, but for now, here are our hours for Intersession (January 3 – 28):

Monday – Thursday:  8am – 10pm
Friday:  8am – 4:30pm
Saturday: 12pm – 6pm
Sunday: 12pm – 10pm

Regular hours will resume on January 29 at the start of the Spring semester.  Happy studying!

There’s a great new resource available for anyone interested in local history.  The Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives, hosted by the Scranton Public Library and funded by a grant from the Willary Foundation, contains digitized photographs, manuscripts, maps, paintings, letters, and videos related to the history of the Valley and its surrounding areas.

While the Digital Archives will continue to grow, there are already three great collections available to the public:

• Out of the Wilderness: The Industrialization and Development of the Scranton Area 1850-1865,
• The History of the Scranton Public Library, and the timely
• Scranton Christmas Windows

We’re partial to the Out of the Wilderness collection since it contains Civil War era materials found, described, digitized, and transcribed last spring by University of Scranton history students in Dr. Kathryn Shively Meier’s Civil War class.

The Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives is a collaborative effort involving many of our local cultural heritage institutions, including the Scranton Public Library, the Lackawanna Historical Society, the Steamtown National Historic Site, the Scranton Times-Tribune newspaper library, the Anthracite Heritage Museum, and our own Weinberg Memorial Library.  In addition to the Willary Foundation, other funding partners include the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority and the Scranton Area Foundation. We’re looking forward to working together with all of our colleagues on more digital projects in the future!

For more information, see About LVDA or take a look at Go Lackawanna‘s 500 Vine column from November 20th, “New Digital Service Preserves History.”  You can also subscribe to the Digital Archives’ Facebook page for updates.

Iggy stopped by the library today to get a drink of water. As you can see, Iggy practices a sustainable lifestyle, using his Save Our World BPA-Free water bottle to fill up at the library’s purified water station. If only we were all more like Iggy.