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New Doings at the mannUfactory Makerspace

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3D printer in the MakerspaceWorking on making something besides a paper or a presentation (whether left over from the summer or starting new for the fall)? As of August 23, the mannUfactory makerspace is open for longer hours with more staff (Mon – Thurs 10-9; Fri 10-6; closed Sat; Sun 12-9)! We’re also offering additional equipment and new opportunities to learn, supporting more classes and workshops (informal and formal), and soliciting community feedback.

New equipment
Two additional Ultimaker 3 3D printers will reduce wait times and allow us to take 3D printing on the road. We also now have a 1” button maker (and new button making pricing), and if you want to kick your sewing up a notch, you can use our new serger for more professional, finished seams.

Workshops
Want to learn something new? Tell us what workshops you’d like to see, whether you’d like to teach, and what topics you’d like to learn in ongoing special interest groups (SIGs)! Fill out this interest form by August 31st and we’ll try and tailor the workshop content, dates, and times to your needs.

Course-related and Group Sessions
Want a session tailored just for your credit class or special group? See our philosophy, and talk to us about what you’re interested in, what you’d like your group to be able to do after a session, and what dates and times work for you.

Give feedback
The makerspace is nothing without you! Tell us what you think, and if you’d like to be more involved, join our makerspace advisory board. Contact us at makerspace@cornell.edu for more information and to leave comments.

Textbook Reserve Requests: Now Open to Students

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Fri Aug 31, 2018

Did you know you can borrow textbooks for free? Many textbooks and other course materials can be requested by you and are available for short-term loan from the the library. Save your money!Cornell University Library is pleased to announce a pilot student-initiated textbook reserve program that will allow students to request any textbook for course reserve at any of our libraries. When the Library adds a book to current reserves holdings as part of this process, it will be available for short-term loan (typically 2 hours) for anyone with a current Cornell ID.

This new program has several goals

  • It will allow the Library to more quickly fill any requests that students make for course-related materials.
  • It will help the Library more efficiently identify new resources for the Cornell Library collection that students need and are likely to use right away.
  • It will allow the Library to help students save money on textbooks and course materials, with important potential positive impact on inclusivity and diversity in the Cornell student body.

How does the program work? Here are the steps involved:

  1. Students finding themselves in need of a textbook that they do not already own should visit the Library’s Reserves page.
  2. Using the search box offered on that page, they should first check if the needed textbook is already on reserve at one of the Cornell’s nineteen unit libraries on campus.
  3. If they find it is not already on reserve, students can then click on the “Textbook Request Form” to submit a reserve request. This submission will initiate a reserve request for the needed book. In the case of a book that Cornell University Library does not already own, the submission will also trigger a purchase request.
  4. Students will be notified when their requested item has been purchased and/or put on reserve, as well as what format (print or e-book).

Our new approach to reserve requests essentially expands the Library’s reserve request system beyond faculty-only, to include student requests as well. We anticipate that with this change in our system, Cornell University Library can better support students who wish or need to utilize library resources for their assigned course materials. A win for everybody! For any questions, please reach out to Wendy Wilcox (ww83) or Tobi Hines (eeh53).

New Mann Library Help Desk Open for Business

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Fri Sep 7, 2018
Library Help Desk
Get research help at the newly designed Library Help Desk

It’s been a busy summer of renovations at Mann Library, and we’re finally done! With our first floor now nicely put back together, we are back in full swing for the new school year.

What improvements did we make? We have beautiful new carpet throughout the first floor, including a fun new faux-cobblestone motif that complements the natural light of the central atrium and Beebe Lake Woods windows.

We also have a new and improved Library Help Desk, a re-configured “one-stop shop” for our visitors, featuring a clean, bright desk design and streamlined customer service. Here, students, faculty, and staff will be able to check out books, course materials, laptops, and whatever else they might need for a productive day at Cornell. At the same desk, visitors will also be able to get all the information and research help previously provided at the Information & Research Help Desk, once located between the library entrance and the atrium and now consolidated at this new service desk. So, if you come to Mann Library for help of any kind – from picking up a study room key to help getting started on a major research project – head straight over to the Library Help Desk. It’s the same great service in a new, more accessible and efficient location.

The Library Help Desk is open for book, course material, room and equipment loans anytime Mann Library is open (see Hours for hours of operation). Research help services at the Library Help Desk are available Monday – Thursday, 9:00am to 5:00pm, and Friday 9:00am to 4:00pm.

And just by way of reminder: Cornell students, faculty and staff can also book a one-on-one consultation with librarians who have expertise in specific fields buy using the “book a consultation” feature on the Mann Library Meet Our Experts page. Not sure who you should meet with? Fill out our Request a Research Consultation form and we will put you in touch with the appropriate contact.

We look forward to seeing you at our new Library Help Desk soon, and we wish you all a successful fall semester!

Science Immersion 2019: Applications Now Being Accepted

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Thu Nov 15, 2018

Science Immersion 3 day intensive program advertisementAre you an early career graduate student in the fields of Agriculture and Life Sciences? Would you like to get a leg up by learning the skills you need to succeed at each stage of the research lifecycle? Please consider applying for the Library’s Science Immersion Program, an intensive, three-day series of workshops on research skills for graduate students. The program will be held in Mann Library from January 9-11, with lunch provided. Can’t make those dates? Check out our recorded sessions from 2018.

The program aims to provide participants with practical technologies, tools and research skills to become more efficient scholars. Hands-on workshops will cover such topics as:

  •  advanced citation management 
  •  complex search strategies 
  •  author rights 
  •  data management 
  •  science communication
  •  research impact 

And much more…

A complete itinerary of the program will be available at the end of the Fall 2018 semester. The deadline for applications is December 1, 2018. Visit for the application.

If you have any questions, please send a message to cul-sci-immersion-l@cornell.edu

Greening Up the House

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Fri Nov 30, 2018
New Plant
Matt Siemon ’18 (bottom) and one of the plants—a thriving bromeliad—spotlighted in his interpretive display at Mann Library.
With the Cornell campus landscape settling quickly into a (rather early!) winter white during these late fall weeks, we find our thoughts turning to greenery— indoor greenery that is. When earlier this year we asked patrons to let us know what they like about Mann Library, among the most frequent responses we received were: Mann’s books & databases, our helpful staff, our labor-saving info tech, and . . . our plants. Yes, that’s right: Along with books and data, computers, printers and study nooks, Mann Library features an extensive plant collection. And apparently that leafy collection has a draw of its very own among library lovers on the Cornell campus.
There are a number of good reasons why our indoor greenery deserves its popularity. For one, potted plants not only lend an element of crisp outdoor freshness to any space they occupy, they also give a boost to the air we breathe by filtering out harmful chemicals, releasing water vapor, and enriching it with oxygen. And over recent years, there’s been quite a bit of research (some conducted right here at Cornell) that also suggests the mental health benefits of indoor plants in the way of reduced anxiety, greater sense of well-being, heightened attentiveness, and sharper focus. All particularly good things for a university crowd in need of thought-nurturing work space.
 
Visitors to Mann over the past several months will also have noticed another reason to appreciate our green collection: We’ve recently upped the ante on its intellectually stimulating effects through a new interpretive dimension that provides detail on the botany and history behind some of the collection’s specimens. This display is the work of a recent student intern, Matthew Siemon (SIPS 2018) who spent a year at Mann Library stewarding the health of the plant collection while also researching some of its natural history So, if you’ve ever found your study sessions in the library interrupted by wandering (and ultimately mind-refreshing) thoughts like: “What is an octopus plant?” or “Is this thing related to a pineapple?,” please know that Matt has provided you some answers. Look for the orange plaques attached to some of the charismatic greens around the library, and you’ll be impressed not only with the interesting information and very nice prose, but also by the lovely artwork—created by Matt’s own hand—that distinguishes each plaque.
 
None of the plants in Mann’s collection are native to libraries, of course, and it’s sometimes a bit of a challenge to make sure our indoor conditions meet the habitat requirements of the different species in our indoor line-up. But with the help of student interns like Matt and some dedicated plant care aficionados on the Mann staff, our aim is to keep a thriving plant collection that cultivates a sense of well-being along with some active curiosity about the intriguing bit of biodiversity to be found right here in the Library. And with that we also hope to give the hard-working students we see at Mann everyday yet one more way to get the most out of their library experience during their years at Cornell.

2018 Ans van Tienhoven Memorial Award

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Mon Dec 3, 2018
Mann staff and friends with award winner
Top (l to r): Doug Tepper, Mary Ochs (Mann Library Director), Jeff Piestrak, Arianne Tepper, Deborah Cooper; Bottom (l to r): Janet McCue (Mann Library Director, 1997 – 2008), A. Tepper, Howard Evans (Emeritus Professor of Biomedical Sciences), Erica Evans, M. Ochs, Marty Schlabach (Mann Librarian, 1987-2016)
A favorite Mann Library tradition continued last week when Mann staff and friends gathered to celebrate the presentation of the Ans van Tienhoven Memorial Award to this year’s winner, digital collections specialist Jeff Piestrak. Supporting Jeff’s participation in the Community Informatics Research Network (CIRN) in Prato, Italy, this award is helping Jeff to explore effective strategies for linking information resources across different Cornell programs to make their data and guidance more easily accessible to a wider audience.  Mann staff and friends
 
The late professor of animal science Ari van Tienhoven established the van Tienhoven Memorial Award at Mann Library in 1987. Named in honor of spouse Ans, who was a passionate promoter of literacy and education, the award funds travel by Mann library staff to explore new horizons with the potential to lead to further innovation at the Library. Last year’s winner, digital collections librarian Deborah Cooper, used her award to investigate issues of digital archiving at the 2018 Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania,  
 
Deborah formally presented this year’s Ans van Tienhoven award to Jeff at last week’s celebration, and Mann was honored to have special friends, including members of the van Tienhoven family and former colleagues of Ans and Ari in attendance as the award baton, embodied in a beautiful glass sculpture from the Corning Museum of Glass (also a gift from the van Tienhoven family) was officially passed along. In her remarks at the ceremony, Ans and Ari’s daughter, Arianne Tepper, noted the perfect match between the award and her father’s wish to honor Ans and her “love of learning new things.” The celebration marked the 31st year of the van Tienhoven Award, for a legacy in innovative librarianship that’s going strong at Mann Library–thanks to our good friends.  

“Name Your Winter Read” Raffle @ Mann

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Mon Jan 23, 2017

"Name Your Winter Read" Raffle at Mann Library Winter break may be over, but Mother Nature has some seasonal clime in store for us yet. And, as everyone knows, there’s no better way to escape cold dark drear than diving into a good winter read. So we ask: Picked up a good book over break? Still in the thralls of some gripping prose? Have a choice novel you’re about to dive into? Or maybe you just found something promising in Cornell Library’s new book line up  to take home for a browse? Mann Library would love to know!

Between now and mid-February, tell us the title of one of your winter reads so far this season—along with a couple of words to say how you liked it—and be entered into a raffle for one of those acclaimed hot and delicious specialty drinks at Manndible Café. Look for the raffle boxes around Mann Library. Mind you, no need to speed read. Raffle drawing will be on February 15—plenty of time still to settle in and savor the reading adventure. Open to the Cornell and Ithaca area community.  And to our returning students:  Good luck with your spring semester!

New “One-Stop” Research Consultation Area @ Mann

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Web Feb 15, 2017
One stop research consultation area
Photo by Jenny Leijonhufvud.

With a Valentine’s Day Open House on February 14, 2017, Mann Library officially introduced the newly refurbished Consultation Area on Mann’s first floor to the Cornell community. Thanks to new computers and better furniture, lighting, signage and privacy, Cornell students, faculty and staff can now find here a welcoming and high-value center for a range of customized help at various stages of their research process. Also featured: An improved collaborative workstation, with screen-sharing capability, that can accommodate as many as five people and be reserved in advance. On weekends and after 6 p.m. on weekdays the collaborative workstation is available for general use.

The Consultation Area has been a collaboration between several Cornell programs and Mann Library. Links below provide information on the daily schedule for specific services available in the Area:

First piloted in 2015, the newly furbished Consultation Area is an important step in Mann’s goal of providing “one-stop shopping” for scholars needing research support….and gives our Cornell community one more reason to love their library!

This news item is based on the Cornell Chronicle article of 02/14/2017 by Melanie Lefkowitz. Additional information may also be found on the Cornell Daily Sun article by Phoebe Lee.

Cornell Library Tackles the Fake News Conundrum

Posted on
Fri Feb 17, 2017

"Appearances can be deceiving" Ask Librarian advertisementWhy do we need libraries when we have the web?

The fake news conundrum that has garnered so much of the world’s attention in the past few months is giving us at least one good answer to that question. After all, libraries are, and long have been, one of the most powerful fact-checking tools known to humankind.

Addressing the question of how to better manage the perils of the digital age—where even the most bogus of news circles the globe at lightning speed—Cornell University Library has stepped up efforts to raise awareness about traditional services and develop new tools for making students savvy information consumers.

Initiatives include:

  • Four spring workshops on evaluating news sources: Friday March 3 @ 10:30am (Mann Library; already fully booked!),  Friday March 3 at 12pm (Mann Library) Wednesday, March 22 at 2:30 (Olin Library) Monday, March 27 at 3:30pm (Uris Library Classroom);
  • An online “Evaluating News Sources” research guide that points viewers to tips, fact checking websites, and other resources useful for learning how to assess the reliability of web-based and even print information;
  • An online “News Research” guide, which provides chronological overview of the major resources for finding reliable news, including information about how Cornellians can access subscription-based digital news sites (Factiva, the Financial Times, the New York Times, and the Washington Post);
  • A public awareness campaign for the Ask A Librarian service, which gives Cornellian’s 24/7 access to a trained librarian who can help hunt down the best possible facts out there on any topic;
  • A Cornell-wide library instruction program that helps faculty to incorporate into their courses customized instruction for honing student skills in finding reliable, high-quality information sources—especially those that are specific to the field, coursework, or research questions at hand.

Fake news is nothing new—but it’s  become clear that the place it can secure in today’s digital culture has worrisome implications. Along with other Cornell libraries, Mann remains dedicated to working with our faculty to solidify a lifelong foundation for Cornell students in the information literacy they’ll need to tell good data from bad, real from fake, in any situation—and ultimately realize their own contributions to knowledge for lasting public purpose beyond the college years.

Check out Mann Library’s new podcast!

Posted on
Mon Feb 27, 2017

Tobi Hines and Matt Ryan in the studioMann Library has a new podcast! Co-hosted by Tobi Hines, User Services and Multimedia Librarian, and Matt Ryan, Instructional Technology Coordinator, My Kind of Mann focuses on the people, projects, and services at Mann Library. Produced monthly, each episode features interviews with our colleagues from Mann’s many departments. We talk to them about what they do, what they’re working on, what events and workshops are coming up, and how you can connect them with to find out more.

Some of our featured segments include:

  • Library Hacks – insider tips and tricks that help you get the most out of your library experience
  • Big News – get the scoop on what you need to know about upcoming changes/events
  • Reference Stumpers – hear about some of the research questions that almost stumped our reference staff, and how they uncovered the answers
  • From the Vault – take an audio tour through the Mann vault to learn more about the unique items in our special collections
  • Guest Interviews – get to know some of our innovative, friendly colleagues and find out how they can help you with your research

The first two episodes are live on iTunes, SoundCloud, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get in touch with us at mykindofmann@cornell.edu if you have questions, suggestions, or ideas for future segments. We want to hear from you!