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New Faces at Mann – Fall 2017 Edition

Posted on
Mon Aug 21,2017

Here are some staff you should know who have joined the library since last spring.

Fall weather
Fall Photo by Jenny Leijonhufvud

Hannah Chapman Tripp

Hannah Chapman Tripp is the Access Services Manager at Mann Library. She oversees day-to-day operations and supervises staff in the Access Services and Interlibrary Loan departments. Hannah has a Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Concordia College and an MLIS from Dominican University. Before starting at Mann, Hannah worked at Olin and Uris Libraries as a Reference Assistant since May 2014. Prior to that, Hannah was an Access Services Assistant for Olin and Uris Libraries from July 2013 to September 2014, during which time she also worked as the Specialized Equipment Coordinator. Hannah’s NetID is hjc75.


Sandra ConradSandra Conrad joined Mann in early 2017 as the Reservations, Maintenance, and Billing Coordinator. Sandy is a Cornell alum, having graduated with a BA in Animal Science. In recent years, Sandy was a property manager with Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services and she has honed her customer service skills working as a special services associate with Home Depot. Sandy’s NetID is ssc48.

 

 

Amelia Kallaher

Amelia Kallaher is the Applied Social Sciences librarian. She is the liaison to the Department of Policy Analysis and Management, and the Department of Development Sociology. Amelia previously worked at the New College of Florida in Sarasota where she was the Scholarly Resources Librarian. She also worked as a librarian at Southern Technical College and Southwest Florida College. Amelia has both her undergraduate degree in History and her MLIS from the University of South Florida. Amelia’s NetID is aak98.

 

 

Kevin KidwellKevin Kidwell is a User Experience (UX) Developer working on land grant partnerships such as the USDA Economics, Statistics, and Marketing Information System (ESMIS) and other international projects. Kevin moved to Ithaca from Wheeling, WV. He has a BS in Graphic Design from West Liberty University in West Virginia and a MFA in Web Design and New Media. Kevin also worked as a free-lance designer and front-end developer at Williams Lea Tag. Kevin’s NetID is kek245.

“Any Person, Any Study” Fieldwork Fair @ Mann Library

Posted on
Mon Oct 2, 2017
Fair at Mann Library
Photo by Jenny Leijonhufvud

Some happened to be passing through at the right time, and others made a beeline to the Mann lobby following their afternoon classes. But all who found their way to the Mann Library between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. last Thursday got a chance to browse some of the rich variety of experiential learning experiences available at Cornell on display in the Library’s first-ever Fieldwork Fair.

Over two dozen organizations, programs, departments and other groups participated in the Sept. 28th event, bringing materials and a readiness to talk to Cornell students about the hands-on learning possibilities they offer. Opportunities ranged from internships and expeditions in faraway places–through programs such as the Macaulay Library of Sound, the Shoals Marine Lab and the Tata-Cornell Institute–to the chance for some on-the-ground involvement in gathering data about local roads in Tompkins County or about school nutrition in Ithaca area schools, with lots more in between in the way of field experience possibilities for any person in any study.

We were pleased to see lots of lively conversations taking place during the Fair, and, by closing time, many a program sign-up sheet filled with names of interested parties looking forward to getting more info. For a few visual highlights, see our Fieldwork Fair slideshow, and if you missed the event but are interested in learning about the programs featured, the list below tells you who was there–click on the given links for the information you need about contacting the programs directly.

Mann Library’s Fieldwork Fair was organized in conjunction with the our ongoing special public programming focused on exploration in the field. Recent events included collaborative exhibits and special lectures by Mike Webster (Macaulay Library of Sound / Cornell Dept. of Neurobiology & Behavior) on media specimens and modern ornithology and Leslie Overstreet (Smithsonian Institute Libraries) on the seminal work of 18th century naturalist Mark Catesby). Also stay tuned for the new exhibit, “Island Immersion: Diving Into Discovery at Shoals Marine Laboratory,” to open in the Mann Gallery on October 20, 2017.

Teaching Students How to Talk Science

Posted on
Tue Oct 3, 2017

Communication word infographicCornell students learn a lot of science at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Human Ecology. But do they know how to talk effectively about what they know?

For the fall 2017 semester, Undergraduate Life Sciences Librarian Kelee Pacion joined forces with Mark Sarvary of the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior and Kitty Gifford, marketing communications professional and program director of Science Cabaret, to create the course “Introduction to Applied Science Communication: Digital Platforms and Public Engagement” (aka BIOG3500). Taking a user-centered approach, this class is aiming to bridge the curricular gap in translating science to the public. As part of the course, students are creating a communication plan and engaging a variety of social media platforms to share scientific information.

As a librarian, Ms. Pacion is bringing a powerful skill set to the teaching team for this course. In the digital age, libraries have become dynamic crossroads for the exchange of information in all its forms. Librarians are your resident experts—call us traffic guides, or maybe even co-pilots—in getting people steered in the right direction for the quality information they need. We have deep training and lots of experience in helping students navigate the sometimes surprisingly tricky shoals of finding, vetting and synthesizing information for a high-quality research project. This puts us in a great position to help make sure that students can be confident about the information they are using for their work—so they can step boldly into the role of being a well-informed science communicators. “Science is not finished until it is communicated,” says Sir Mark Walport, the Chief Scientific Adviser to the U.K. government—a statement that Pacion, Sarvary and Gifford have adopted as their course motto. Mann Library is happy to be doing its part to make sure that Cornell students have what they need to finish the job.

For more information about the new course BIOG3500 please see the recent Cornell Chronicle article.

New Acquisitions @ Mann: Scopus

Posted on
Tue Oct 10, 2017

Scopus infographicIt’s official! Cornell students, researchers and staff now have access to a powerful information tool in science: Scopus, a large abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature such as scientific journals, books and conference proceedings.

Scopus is somewhat comparable to Web of Science; whereas the latter has deep historical indexing coverage (mostly through Biosis), Scopus has very wide coverage in its number and variety of materials indexed as well as its broad international scope. It also provides excellent data on the publishing output of faculty and their respective organizations.

Give Scopus a try. And for any questions about how to best make this tool work for you, just stop by the Mann Library reference desk in the Mann Library atrium, or book a one-on-one consultation session, or contact a librarian via our 24/7 Ask a Librarian service. We’re here to help!

Monarchs: Science and Story

Posted on
Tue Oct 17, 2017
Danaus plexippus
Danaus plexippus, from American Entomology, by Thomas Say (New York, 1869); illustrated by T. R. Peale.

If the gorgeous weather saw you hiking the hills around Cornell last month, you’ll quite likely have seen blooms of monarch butterfly caterpillars feasting on the stalky milkweed ubiquitous to the fields, pastures, and roadsides across much of North America. Fast forward to early October, and the butterflies coming out of that final round of summer chrysalides are now beating their orange wings across the ripening fall landscape of a wide swathe of eastern North America in one of the most intriguing phenomena of the North American insect world: The mass migration of hundred of thousands from the open fields of Canada and the U.S. to a handful of wooded hilltops in south central Mexico.

For all their bold beauty, monarchs remain somewhat mysterious creatures of our natural world. There’s quite a bit that we know–thanks in part to the work of some intrepid scientists and watchful citizen scientists who first documented the fact of monarch migration in the 1970s. And there’s quite a bit that we have yet to understand well, particularly as monarchs face their own set of challenges in a climate-changing world. So, we’re thinking there’s no better time than now to flash a bit of showiness of our own here at the Library, with a spotlight on some of the cool treasures you can find in our various collections to explore some of this unfolding story.

Our celebration includes:

  • A new book display by the Mann reference desk, presenting the science and wonder of the monarch story from various perspectives. Interested in some of the complex detail of monarch biology? A reflection on the role citizen science has played in what we know about monarchs today? Or maybe just a book to inspire curiosity and wonder in the elementary school crowd? You’ll find all of the above in the display.
  • In our “Vaults of Mann” series, some exquisite monarch art to highlight a little piece of early 19th century history in American entomology and natural history.
  • A recorded book talk by Cornell biologist Anurag Agrawal, “Monarchs and Milkweed,” from Mann’s Chats in the Stacks book talk series in the spring 2017 semester, viewable on Mann Library’s Youtube channel. Take a break with this 45 minute video and you’ll walk away with an important update from the frontiers of science about what we know about monarchs today and the (increasingly) important questions still left to explore.

Select titles from the book display:

Science Diving on the Ag Quad

Posted on
Thu Oct 19, 2017

Agriculture and Life Science Graduate Students Library ImmersionFirst year grad students on the Ag Quad—Cornell Library invites you to take a deep dive into the sciences this coming January.

The Library is pleased to announce a newly focused science immersion program seeking 1st-year graduate student participants in agriculture and life sciences. The 3-day intensive program will convene in Mann Library from January 17 through January 19, 2018. Cornell librarians will join faculty members from the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Engineering to lead an exploration of different stages of the research lifecycle (research, scientific collaboration, data organization, science communication, and author rights).

This is the 2nd year that the Library is running the program at Mann, following the highly successful Humanities Immersion Program offered at Olin Library for the past several years. Last year’s participants at Mann gave the experience an enthusiastic thumbs up for building their readiness for advanced research in the life sciences—and grad school success.

Cornell students interested in participating in the coming January session at Mann are required to submit an application that includes a compelling statement of interest. Apply by December 1, 2017.

What’s New on 2nd? (or, Some Recent Space Improvements @ Mann)

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Have a Skype interview or web conference coming up? We’re happy to tell you that our Interview Room, recently moved to the 2nd floor of Mann Library, next to the Gallery,is now available to help you make it go smoothly. Available for private one-on-one or small group video-conferences, the room comes with a large LCD and some sound-proofing. Just bring your laptop, connect to the LCD, close the door, and you’re ready to go! The Interview Room can be booked up to 90 days in advance for two hours at a time.

 

The 2nd floor has some other new features this semester as well:

  • We’ve seen how popular the counter-height study tables are in the library, so we’ve added a few more along the 2nd floor atrium windows for studying. Or reading. Or just taking in the view of that airy atrium space!
  • And we’re really happy to announce our new De-Stress Zone in a newly reconfigured space next to the atrium as well. When you’re next in the library, be sure to check out the comfortable rocking chairs, puzzle table, and group seating we’ve added to this area—for you to relax, eat, and visit with friends.. We get it – college is hard, and sometimes you need to unwind!

Design Thinking for Life

Design Thinking For Life book display @ Mann
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This year the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management partnered with Mann Library once again for the Dyson Summer Reading Project.  Over the summer months, incoming Dyson freshmen read “Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life” by authors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, who together co-founded the Life Design Lab at Stanford University. “Designing Your Life” teaches readers to approach their lives and careers from a design thinking frame of mind. Through iterative design exercises and processes, including reflection and evaluation, the book empowers readers to determine what is most important to them in a career and how to achieve their life goals. As part of the Reading Project, incoming Dyson School freshmen and other members of the Cornell University community participated in workshops that discussed the book’s themes and engaged students in hands-on exercises aimed at stimulating the application of design principles to forming holistic life goals and strategies for achieving them. The Dyson Summer Reading Project culminated on September 12th with a popular lecture and book signing by co-author Dave Evans.

 

Designing your Life at Cornell PosterThe Library collaborated actively with the Dyson School to help encourage engagement with the book and its insights within the Cornell community. Demand for the reserve copies of “Designing Your Life” available at both Mann Library and the Catherwood Library ran high throughout the summer months. As the semester opened, an interactive display on Mann’s first floor invited students to share some of their own ideas about finding a rewarding work-play-health-love balance while at Cornell, and to browse a cross-disciplinary selection of books on design-thinking applied to different settings—from business management and career planning to teaching and coaching.

 

And in the spirit of making the Reading Project as widely accessible as possible — across Cornell and beyond — Mann created an online guide to help connect virtual visitors to a broad set of resources in design thinking and career development.

 

This is the second year that Mann Library has contributed to the Dyson School Reading Project. In the fall of 2018, the Library created a library guide for that year’s featured book, “Behold the Dreamers” by Imbolo Mbue.

We’ve Got You Covered: Research & Instructions Services Update

Mann Library is moving to a team-based approach to support instruction and research services
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This fall, Mann has implemented some exciting changes that will allow us to better meet the needs of our users. We have streamlined our services and moved to a team-based approach so we can be more responsive to the instruction and research support requests that faculty and students send our way. Specific changes involve the following:

Instruction

Faculty needing assistance with course-related instruction will now be using the instruction request form on the Mann Library website. After you submit a request, a member of our instruction team will follow up with you. Course-related instruction can cover many topics, ranging from a broad overview of library resources to an in-depth and critical evaluation of a news source. We can help your students understand the changing information landscape and become more critical consumers of information. In addition to classroom instruction, you can also use the form to request help with:

  • Designing assignments that leverage library resources
  • Creating online resource guides designed to support specific courses or subjects

Research support

If you need help with scholarly research, please schedule an appointment through our research support request form, and a member of one of our research support teams will get back to you within one business day. Our research consultations are in-depth, customized, one-on-one meetings where we can provide assistance with:

  • Developing complex search strategies
  • Finding literature, supporting evidence, data, and statistics
  • Utilizing a citation management software (i.e., Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley) to organize references

Other consultation services

Hoping for some help with GIS, using the mannUfactory makerspace, data management, systematic reviews, or another library service? Visit our Consultation Services webpage for information on the help you can get from librarians and other experts here at Mann or elsewhere in the Cornell library system.

 

Not sure where to start? Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our outreach team at mann_outreach@cornell.edu with any questions or concerns. One way or the other, we’ve got you covered!

New Faces @ Mann – Fall 2019 Edition

Photo by Jenny Leijonhufvud
Posted on

Mann Library has welcomed two new staff members in the past year. We are pleased to introduce you to:

 

Karina Hagelin, Outreach & Instruction Librarian

Karina Hagelin, Outreach & Instruction Librarian

Karina graduated from the University of Maryland with a BA in American Studies and an MLS in Library and Information Science last year with a thesis on “Gossip as a Site of Resistance: Information-Sharing Strategies Among Survivors of Sexual Violence.” While there, they were a digitization assistant at the Hornbake Library Digitization Center, president of the iDiversity organization, active on student councils, and the library and office manager for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equity Center. They also helped organize the Conference on Inclusion and Diversity in Library and Information Science at the University of Maryland and the Radical Libraries, Archives and Museums track at the Allied Media conference. Karina is the Cornell Library Diversity Fellow, and is party of the Library’s Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Council. Karina is also part of the Mann Instruction Team and is doing outreach and instruction for the mannUfactory makerspace.

 

Shayla Harrington, Access Services & ILL Manager

Shayla Harrington, Access Services & ILL ManagerShayla Harrington is Mann’s new Mann Access Services & Inter-Library Loan (ILL) Manager. In this role, she oversees the day-to-day operations and directly supervises the staff in the Access Services and ILL departments. She also represents Mann Access Services on various Cornell University Library-wide committees. Shayla has a B.S. in Elementary Education from Nyack College and her NY State teacher certification. She comes to Mann from Olin-Kroch-Uris (OKU) Libraries where most recently she worked as a Reference Assistant and Lead Student Supervisor. Prior to that, Shayla was an Access Services Late Night Supervisor for OKU Libraries from November 2014 – October 2017.

Welcome Aboard!