Faculty Resources

The following resources are provided by the Library in order to support faculty in all of their teaching endeavors. Contact library@pennhighlands.edu with any questions.

Library Instruction Request Form – Use this form to request that a librarian come to your class and speak with your students about using the Library for research assignments.

Professional Collection – The Library houses a collection of literature specifically focusing on teaching and community colleges. Search the Library Catalog or eBook collection to access these books.

Library Reserves – Faculty can place texts, DVDs, or other materials on reserve in the Library for students to access. Contact library@pennhighlands.edu or stop in the Library to place materials on reserve.

Library Textbook Collection – The Library purchases copies of some of the more popular textbooks to keep on reserve in the Library. These textbooks can be helpful for any students who cannot afford textbooks or are waiting for their copies to arrive in the mail.

Online Resources

Kanopy enables the embedding of streaming documentaries and videos into your classes. When you select a video, you need to fill out a small form, and then you will be given access within 24 hours.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has the nation’s largest newsroom dedicated to covering colleges and universities. It is an excellent resource for anyone researching topics related to higher education. The Community College Daily website is the news source of the American Association of Community Colleges.

Copyright Resources

The following guides will help faculty understand the issues surrounding copyright in the classroom. The Library Director, Barbara Zaborowoski, also serves as the college copyright officer and can answer questions. Contact her at bzabor@pennhighlands.edu

Copyright in the classroom – This guide covers the rights that instructors have regarding teaching with works under copyright. This is from the University of California.

Showing Films in the Classroom Guide– This guide explains the copyright rules and restrictions regarding showing films in the classroom.

Understanding Fair Use – This guide from the University of Chicago Library explains the concept of Fair Use and how it applies to using copywritten work in your teaching.

Accessibility Resources

This contains resources designed to help college faculty and staff ensure that all college materials are accessible. These materials cannot cover every possible accessibility issue you may encounter, so contact Alex Kirby at akirby@pennhighlands.edu with questions.

Accessibility Overview Video – This video explains the new accessibility requirements, discusses common accessibility issues, and then gives a brief mention of accessibility tools we can use to make documents accessible.

New ADA Accessibility Requirements – This article from Ohio State University contains more details about the new accessibility requirements.

Making Files Accessible

These videos demonstrate how to make Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and PDF files accessible.

Word Files Video – This video covers the most common things you need to do to make a Word document accessible.

PowerPoint Files Video – This YouTube video explains how to create a new PowerPoint file so that it is accessible from the start.

Updating PowerPoint Files Video – This video talks about how to update PDF files to make them accessible, specifically updating images and the reading order of slides.

PowerPoint Accessibility Video – This video shows how to convert a PPT into an accessible PDF.

Excel Files Video – This YouTube video explains the fundamentals of making Excel spreadsheets accessible.

PDF Files Video – This video covers the steps to make a PDF document accessible.

Making Syllabi Accessible – This video shows how to use Word to edit a course syllabus to make it accessible and then saving it as a PDF so it can be posted in a course.

Using Ally in Brightspace Courses Video – Ally is a tool in Brightspace that indicates files that have accessibility issues and then offers advice on how to fix them. This video shows how Ally works using a PDF file as an example.

Making Word Documents Accessible Video Playlist – This playlist includes a series of videos that go into detail about making Word documents accessible.

Wave Website Accessibility Checker – This tool allows you to enter a website address and then get a report regarding that website’s accessibility. Try to find websites that score an 8 out of 10 or better.

Accessibility Tips and Advice

Accessibility tips for STEM faculty – A guide with advice for STEM faculty working to make their course content accessible.

Making Charts and Graphs Accessible – This video shows how instructors can make charts and graphs accessible using alternative text without giving away answers on graded work.

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