When campus closed in March, Penn Libraries staff mobilized, working long hours to render services and collections virtually accessible. “To give a sense of how dramatic the shift was: we went from ordering a few dozen ebooks per month to ordering hundreds per week,” says Jeanne Shuttleworth, Director of Acquisitions, Access, & Licensing. Since then, the Libraries has acquired approximately 75,000 new ebooks
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Re-Covering the Ney Collection: An Online Exhibit
Although the Otto E. Albrecht Music Library might be physically closed, we still seek to support the University’s music students. One such student is Juan Castrillón, doctoral candidate in Ethnomusicology in the Department of Music, who curated the multi-modal Music Library exhibit, Re-Covering the Ney Collection.
...Continue readingLibrarians at Large: Ancil George Delivers Commencement Speech to Lea Elementary
“I know that a virtual graduation is less than ideal, and the state of the world beyond Lea Elementary School may have us all on edge and in fear of what the future may bring.” At the end of a tempestuous final semester, the graduating eighth grade class of Henry Charles Lea Elementary School were counseled by their commencement speaker: Ancil George, Penn Libraries’ retired Community Outreach Librarian
Better Care for COVID Patients Through Virtual Reality
Kevin Ching, a physician at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital, realized that the knowledge hard-won by medical workers in New York City might save lives elsewhere, in areas of the country that haven’t yet been impacted by the pandemic.
Cataloging for Our Community
Gina Pambianchi’s work for the Penn Libraries typically entails a considerable amount of social proximity. As Penn’s Community Outreach Librarian, a normal work-week finds her in schools across the city, collaborating closely with teachers, student workers, and volunteers.
...Continue readingMapping (Medieval) Manuscript Migrations
MMM — an awardee of the Trans-Atlantic Platform’s Digging into Data Challenge — is a collaboration between Penn Libraries’ Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, the e-Research Centre at the University of Oxford, the Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes (IRHT) in Paris, and the Semantic Computing Research Group at Aalto University in Helsinki.
Mapping COVID-19 Sentiments
“The Libraries is the only place on campus where anyone from any department or center can get help with GIS and mapping,” says Girmaye Misgna, Penn’s Mapping & Geospatial Data Librarian. The Data & GIS team’s typical duties include consultation on theses, capstones, and papers for faculty and students
Cooking Under Quarantine
What can we learn from the writers of centuries-old recipes, who were no strangers to crisis and scarcity? It's a question that Marissa Nicosia is well-suited to answer. Nicosia curates Cooking in the Archives, a public food history project that translates centuries-old recipes into standard measurements, recognizable ingredients, and processes replicable by contemporary cooks.
Librarians at Large: 3D-Printing Personal Protective Equipment from Home
Varvara Kountouzi never imagined she’d be running a 3D printing operation out of her spare bedroom. As Head of Digital Media & Virtual Services team at Penn’s Biomedical Library, Kountouzi has years of experience working with 3D printers — on campus. Though she’s dedicated to her work, there was never cause for Kountouzi to consider establishing her own high-tech cottage industry.
