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Mann Library

Open until 10pm - Full Hours /
Lobby/Contactless Pickup: Open 24 Hours

Screening and Conversation on “Divisible: A Redlining Documentary”

Screening and Conversation on Divisible: A Redlining Documentary

Tuesday, December 3, 2024 4:30pm to 6pm

Mann 102

 

Please join us for a screening of Divisible, a documentary that focuses on the history and current impacts of redlining in the United States, highlighting the specific case of Omaha, Nebraska to illustrate how discriminatory housing policies continually affect people nationwide. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Associate professor Neil Lewis, Jr. of the Communications Department who is featured in the documentary, Associate professor in the department of Government Jamila Michener, Director of the Cornell Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures and Senior Associate Dean of Public Engagement at the Brooks School, and Lizzy Barrett, Filmmaker and Founder of Equity Media and Senior Video Producer for the Voter Formation Project. 

Warm Wishes for the Winter Break!

It’s beginning to look a lot like winter break! This is a reminder for our patrons that Mann Library hours will be slightly different over the next few weeks, so be sure to plan accordingly!

  • We will close at 5pm on Friday, December 22.
  • Mann Library will be closed from Saturday, December 23 – Monday, January 1. We will reopen at 8am on Tuesday, January 2, 2024.
  • Please note that our 24/7 spaces and our contactless pickup area will also be closed during this time period, so remember to pick up your requested items before 5pm on Friday, 12/22!

When we reopen on January 2, we will have adjusted hours for the winter intersession:

  • Monday – Friday, 8am to 5pm
  • CLOSED Saturday and Sunday
  • We will also be closed on Monday, January 15, 2024 for the MLK Jr. holiday

Our regular semester hours will resume on the first day of classes for the spring semester, Monday, January 22, 2024. You can find the schedule of Cornell University staff holidays on the Human Resources website, and the Cornell academic calendar on the University Registrar website. The full listing of Mann Library hours can be found on our hours page.

 

Wishing you all a peaceful and relaxing winter break! We look forward to greeting you in the new year 🙂

Van Tienhoven Travel Award promotes professional growth & development for Mann staff

On Wednesday, November 29, Mann Library staff gathered with members of the van Tienhoven family for an award ceremony made possible through the generosity of the Ans van Tienhoven Memorial Fund. The travel award, founded by Ari and Ans Van Tienhoven 36 years ago and steadfastly enriched by their friends and family over these many years, provides opportunities for professional growth and development for Mann Library staff and librarians. At this year’s ceremony, Carson Williams, Collection Development Librarian and winner of last year’s travel award, presented a report on his trip to the New Mexico State Library’s Tribal Libraries Program. This award enabled Carson to learn about the success of the New Mexico State Library’s efforts in supporting and promoting libraries on tribal reservations, and insights gained have been invaluable for informing Carson’s own work in developing inclusive, accessible collections at Mann Library and the Cornell Library system overall.

 

The ceremony was also an opportunity to celebrate the winners of next year’s awards and hear about their proposals in more detail. Mann librarians Diana Hackett and Robin Gee received one of the two grants supported by the van Tienhoven Fund. The award will enable them to attend the 2024 Workshop for Instruction in Library Use being held at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Vancouver, an institution known for its ground-breaking work in critical and indigenous information literacy. While there, Diana and Robin plan to glean insights and strategies for building the capacity of Mann’s own instruction program for connecting with a diverse student body, increasing students’ confidence in proactive use of library services, and building skills in finding, assessing, and using reliable sources of information.

 

The second professional development grant made possible by the van Tienhoven Fund has been awarded to multimedia support specialist Ten Van Winkle. Ten will use the award to participate in the 2024 Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility in Libraries & Archives (IDEAL) Conference taking place in Toronto this coming July. Organized around the theme of “Sustainable Resistance and Restoration in Global Communities,” the conference will give Ten the opportunity to explore innovations, strategies and perspectives that will help them take a proactive lead in envisioning, advocating, and realizing inclusive practice in library services in a thoughtful and long-lasting way.

 

Mann Library thanks the family and friends of Ari and Ans van Tienhoven for their continued support, which has been fundamental to the success of our dedicated staff as we continue to develop inclusive, responsive services and resources for the Cornell community and beyond.

Photograph of Mann Library staff and librarians with members of the van Tienhoven family
This year's and next year's award winners with members of the van Tienhoven family
Photograph of Carson Williams giving a presentation on his travel report from last year's award
This year's award winner, Carson Williams, presents his travel report from New Mexico

End-of-Semester Stressbusters @ Mann Library/CALS Zone

It’s the homestretch of the semester, and Mann Library and the CALS Zone are partnering up to bring some much needed stressbusters programming to the Ag Quad. Stop by for some treats, some canine cuddles, or get crafty with zine-making and hand-stamping. Feeling competitive? Check out our Geoguessr Jam, co-hosted with the Mapping Society at Cornell. And keep an eye out for free coffee, treats, and healthy snacks in the CALS Zone & at the Mann Help Desk throughout study week!

 

Canine Cuddles with Cornell Guiding Eyes dogs

Tuesday, December 5, 12-1pm

CALS Zone (Mann 112)

Come meet some furry friends and enjoy canine cuddles with some of the cutest study buddies around!

 

Zine-making Workshop

Wednesday, December 6, 2:30 – 3:30pm

Mann 102

Take a break from studying to de-stress, get crafty, and learn about zine-making. Materials will be supplied, so just bring your creativity and we’ll take care of the rest!

 

Geoguessr Jam w/ the Mapping Society at Cornell

Thursday, December 7, 4-5pm

CALS Zone (Mann 112)

Join the Mapping Society at Cornell for some fast-paced rounds of team Geoguessr! From the Alps to Australian Outback, refine your geography skills and learn how to locate yourself on Earth within seconds. Bring your own laptop.

 

Hand-stamping t-shirts & bandanas

Tuesday, December 12, 4-5pm

CALS Zone (Mann 112)

Take a break from your books and computers with Mann’s hand-stamping stressbuster! Materials provided for creating hand-stamped bandanas or t-shirts (or give your old clothes some pizzaz with new design features!). 

 

Late-Night Hours

Mann Library has extended hours during study week and finals. From Tuesday, December 5 through Wednesday, December 13, Mann Library will have the following hours:

  • Monday – Thursday 8am to midnight
  • Friday 8am to 8pm
  • Saturday 11am to 8pm
  • Sunday Noon to midnight

Night owls – don’t forget that the lobby, Stone Classroom (Mann 103), and the CALS Zone (Mann 112) are 24/7 study spaces! So even after the library closes, you still have a variety of spaces to choose from if you’re studying into the wee hours.

 

See our full hours online: mann.library.cornell.edu/full-hours. You can find the hours for the Mann Café, or order online, via the Cornell Dining website.

Mann Library Winter Break

As the Cornell Ithaca campus begins to wind down and we approach the winter break, we wanted to take this opportunity remind our patrons that our hours will be slightly different over the next few weeks, so please plan accordingly!

  • We will close early on Friday, December 23, at 2pm. 
  • Mann Library will be closed from Saturday, December 24 – Monday, January 2. We will reopen on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.
  • Please note that our 24/7 spaces and our contactless pickup area will also be closed during this time period, so remember to pick up your requested items before 2pm on Friday, 12/23!

When we reopen on January 3, we will have adjusted hours for the winter intersession:

  • Monday – Friday, 8am to 5pm
  • CLOSED Saturday and Sunday
  • We will also be closed on Monday, January 16, 2023 for the MLK Jr. holiday.
  • Our normal semester hours will resume on the first day of classes for the spring semester, Monday, January 23, 2023,

You can find the schedule of Cornell University staff holidays on the Human Resources website, and the Cornell academic calendar on the University Registrar website. The full listing of Mann Library hours can be found on our hours page.

 

Warm wishes for a peaceful and relaxing winter break from your friends at Mann Library!

Challenging the Deep: A Ship for Science

Humans have explored only about five per cent of our blue planet’s ocean habitat, but even that bit of progress has much to do with a sea voyage launched one hundred and fifty years ago. On December 21, 1872, the HMS Challenger, a re-tooled British naval ship outfitted with some of the most sophisticated scientific equipment of the times, sailed out of harbor at Portsmouth, England. The Challenger’s circumnavigation of the globe lasted 3-1/2 years and founded oceanography and marine science as formal fields of study.

 

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of this pioneering voyage, Mann has published “Challenging the Deep,” an online exhibit viewable at bit.ly/hms-challenger, drawing from our own collections and those of Cornell University Library’s Rare and Manuscript Collections, which hold a copy of the Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of HMS Challenger, the official collection of the expedition’s scientific work. From professor Leslie Babonis, who teaches the Biodiversity and Biology of the Marine Invertebrates class in Cornell’s Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, we received this feedback when she learned of the new exhibit: “You have no idea how well-timed this is! I was just talking about the HMS Challenger in my lecture about the deep ocean today. I will forward this link to my students so they can get the whole story.” Nice!

Borrow Direct gets an upgrade!

On December 13, the system supporting Borrow Direct will be replaced with a new software called ReShare Returnables developed by Project ReShare, a community of libraries, consortia, software developers, and open-source advocates. 

 

Launching simultaneously with our Ivy Plus peers, this library-community developed software is meant to advance resource sharing among our partners, and—with continuous improvements over time—offer patrons an improved catalog, more robust searching, and greater access to library materials.

 

What does this mean for you?

The Borrow Direct service will remain largely the same, and users will continue to enjoy speedy and convenient access to materials from our Ivy Plus partner libraries. There will only be a couple of changes to how you request materials through Borrow Direct:

Want to learn more? Read the IPLC news story. For questions, please email mann_circ@cornell.edu

December Stressbusters @ Mann

Mann Library is here to help you finish the semester strong! We have extended late-night hours through finals, as well as lots of other events and support to help you stay healthy and focused!

 

Let’s Meditate

Wednesday, December 7, 12:15 – 12:45pm, Mann 160

Wednesday, December 14, 12:15 – 12:45pm, Mann 100

Meditation has been shown to reduce stress and foster increased well-being – mentally, physically, cognitively, and emotionally. Mann will be hosting two Let’s Meditate sessions during finals week. These are free, guided mindfulness meditation sessions sponsored by Cornell Health that are open to all members of the Cornell community. During each half-hour session, a trained facilitator will lead participants through meditation exercises designed to focus on the breath and quiet the mind. 

 

Snacks in the Stacks

Thursday, December 8, 3pm 

Monday, December 12, 3pm

In the Mann Lobby

Mann Library will be giving out free snacks and beverages in the lobby during study week, while supplies last! Take a break with us and grab some refreshments to help you refuel for your epic study sessions 🙂

 

Study Tips

Throughout the study period and exams, Mann will be posting helpful study and self care tips on our Instagram account, courtesy of the Cornell Learning Strategies Center (LSC). Follow us to learn more about how the LSC and the Library can help you study more effectively!

 

Late-night hours

Mann Library has extended hours during study week and finals. From Tuesday, December 6 through Thursday, December 15, Mann Library will have the following hours:

  • Monday – Thursday, 8am to midnight
  • Friday, 8am to 8pm
  • Saturday, 11am to 8pm
  • Sunday, Noon to midnight

Attention night owls: Don’t forget about our 24/7 study spaces! These spaces include the lobby, Stone Computer Classroom (Mann 103), and Mann 112, right off the lobby. We’ll be putting out some fun crafts and other activities in this space throughout the week.

 

See our full hours online: mann.library.cornell.edu/full-hours. You can find the hours for the Mann Café, or order online, via the Cornell Dining website.

Cornell COVID-19 Red Alert: Mann Library Update

Library Update for Alert  Level Red

Cornell University moved to COVID-19 Alert Level Red on Tuesday, December 14.

With this, all library spaces on the Cornell campus, Mann Library included, are closed for use by students until further notice.

A sad development! But for anyone needing access to library resources before the campus winter break that starts on December 24, we do have good news, as follows:

  • Faculty and staff continue to have access to library stacks and can enter Mann Library by swiping their Cornell ID’s.
  • If you need a book from the library can request them via the library catalog; please select “Contactless Pickup-Mann” as your pick-up site of choice in the drop down menu.
  • If you need to return a book, the book drop box in the breezeway between Mann Library and Plant Sciences is unlocked and able to accept returns.
  • Plotter printing can be ordered via the form at the bottom of Mann’s poster & specialty printing page. Printed posters will be available for pick-up in the contactless pick-up area off the Mann Lobby.
  • Mann contactless pick-up room (Mann 112) off the Mann Lobby is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. on Saturday through Thursday, December 23rd. Along with the rest of the Cornell campus, Mann Library will be closed for the winter holiday from December 24, 2021 through January 2, 2022. For upcoming library hours, see our hours page.
  • Fast library reference assistance continues to be available in various virtual ways, including 24/7 Chat. Find details at library.cornell.edu/ask
  • More in-depth subject-specific research support (i.e. in Science, Social Science, Design, and Interdisciplinary, as well as GIS and data management) also continues to be available via zoom. Start here to get connected to the right person: mann.library.cornell.edu/research-services.
  • For additional info on library resources that Cornellians can count on from off-campus, see the nice overview at library.cornell.edu/off-campus.

Wishing you all good luck, friends, as we navigate these tricky last few days of the fall 2021 semester together. Stay safe and healthy!

Cornell University Library’s Evidence Synthesis Service: Innovative Collaborations Amidst a Global Pandemic

2020 has been a year of exciting growth for Cornell University Library’s Evidence Synthesis Service Team. Evidence syntheses, such as systematic reviews, scoping reviews, and other forms of literature synthesis, have emerged as an attractive research alternative to in-person lab and fieldwork for many Cornellians during the pandemic. Working remotely, researchers sought out the expertise of the CUL Evidence Synthesis Team’s six librarians, all trained to provide in-depth guidance and instruction on evidence synthesis methods and their application across disciplines. The era of COVID-19 has also led to new opportunities for our librarians to collaborate on cutting-edge projects, and two major long-term global projects for our team have reached pivotal new phases. We are pleased to share an overview of our accomplishments this year, and to highlight the critical role that librarians play in evidence synthesis work.

This summer, members of Cornell University administration engaged the library’s Evidence Synthesis Team to perform a series of rapid evidence reviews to inform campus reactivation decisions. Drawing from our knowledge of rapid research synthesis methods, we developed eight protocols to outline our approach to search the literature and address research questions identified by Cornell administrators on COVID-19 transmission, surveillance testing and contact tracing. All eight protocols are publicly available on The Open Science Framework in accordance with the defining characteristics of high-quality evidence synthesis: reduced bias, transparency, and reproducibility. This project displays the value that librarians bring to the process of rapid evidence-based decision-making.

 

Many new studies on COVID-19 are published every day, and researchers are turning to librarians for guidance on methods for effectively synthesizing it. This year, Division of Nutritional Sciences researchers brought on a librarian co-author to their recently published article, Transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2 through breast milk and breastfeeding: a living systematic review. Living systematic review guidelines recommend searching sources at least monthly and making the results of these searches visible to end users within another month. This continuous and consistent approach to literature searching allows for rapid synthesis of fast-publishing studies.

 

Another exciting project that came to fruition this year is Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger. Ceres2030 is an international project of 78 researchers from 23 countries that sought the expertise of a global team of librarians who served as co-authors and methodology developers on eight evidence syntheses on topics pertaining to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger. The evidence syntheses have recently been published in Nature Research as a special collection, and each one features a librarian co-author. Kate Ghezzi-Kopel, Coordinator of the CUL Evidence Synthesis Team, led the global team of 12 librarians involved in this effort. The Ceres2030 librarian team also includes Erin Eldermire, Head of the Flower Sprecher Veterinary library and member of the CUL Evidence Synthesis Service team. Librarian collaboration with researchers on Ceres2030 was critical to the success and eventual publication of this collection of articles that will ultimately influence policy-making decisions.

 

Although training for medical librarians to support systematic reviews is common, the CUL Evidence Synthesis team has worked over the past few years to expand training opportunities for librarians working on evidence syntheses outside of the health sciences. In partnership with colleagues at the University of Minnesota and Carnegie Mellon University, we received an IMLS grant to provide multiple online trainings for librarians over the next three years. In August 2020, we conducted a pilot of this training to a group of 50 librarian participants who work in fields like life sciences, agriculture, education, business, and others. Recordings from this pilot are freely available, and we look forward to expanding our reach by continuing to train librarians on evidence synthesis methods.

We exist in a world of ever expanding scholarly resources, and librarians are uniquely suited to serve as teachers and research partners when it comes to applying new methods to navigate and synthesize evidence. This year has presented new challenges to researchers, disrupting their usual workflows and forcing them to synthesize rapidly growing bodies of literature quickly. Evidence synthesis is coming into the forefront as an integral library research service during these times, and the CUL Evidence Synthesis Team looks forward to continued engagement with researchers across disciplines to inform high-quality evidence-based decision making in a changing world.