The Agenda - Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Category: Staff Events

  • Yini Zhu Retires after 26 Years of Service at Smith Library

    Yini Zhu

    Yini Zhu, Managing Librarian and Acting Associate Director at the George F. Smith Library of the Health Sciences, retired on January 1, 2023.

    Yini was hired in 1997 as the Microcomputer/Media Librarian at UMDNJ’s Smith Library. Her interest and expertise in using technology led her to successfully pursue a master’s in biomedical informatics from the then UMDNJ – School of Health Related Professions. In 2004, she was promoted to Managing Librarian and Head of Access Services, a position she maintained through the merger of UMDNJ and Rutgers. In this role, she managed the circulation, interlibrary loan, media, and technical support teams and services at Smith Library. Most recently, Yini was named Interim Associate Director and co-lead of the Health Sciences Libraries this past September.

    Yini has led the Access Services staff through many changes and challenges, including migrating to ExLibris and ALMA, sunsetting Loansome Doc, migrating workstations from CORE to RAD, and pivoting services to accommodate remote instruction to support RBHS during the pandemic. She has expertly represented the Health Sciences Libraries on the Fulfilment Team; the Resource Sharing Team; the Web Improvement, Web Redesign, and Web Teams; the Google Books group; and so many more. She enjoyed teaching and training Access Services staff on workflows and procedures using a variety of platforms, including ExLibris, SpringShare, Canvas, and Kaltura. She served as the Health Sciences Libraries expert on Leganto, providing instruction and troubleshooting to faculty and academic departments throughout RBHS.

    Yini is a longstanding member of the Medical Library Association (MLA) and the New York-New Jersey Chapter of the Medical Library Association. She served on the Medical Informatics Section of MLA since 2014. She has presented at the Access Services conference, VALE annual conference, RUL State of the Libraries, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, and Medical Library Association annual meetings. In 2015, Yini was awarded a health information awareness grant by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. As PI, she designed an outreach program, SHARE the Info: Spread Health Awareness with Resources and Education. In 2001, she received the outstanding service award from the NY/NJ chapter of the MLA.

    Prior to her time at UMDNJ, Yini held various roles and positions at Wayne Public Library, Bergen Academy and Bergen Technical School, Highland Park Library, and the East Asian Library at Rutgers University, to name a few!

    Yini’s vast experience, positive attitude, and collegial spirit will be sorely missed. We thank her for her many years of service and tireless commitment to the Health Sciences Libraries and our constituencies.

    We know Yini will enjoy this next chapter and fill it with family, travel, and time for herself. We offer our congratulations and wish her the very best.

  • Special Collections and University Archives Hosts 28th Annual New Jersey Book Arts Symposium

    Sandra Fernández's artist presentation.
    Symposium attendees enjoy Sandra Fernández’s artist presentation.

    Special Collections and University Archives (SC/UA) hosted the 28th Annual New Jersey Book Arts Symposium (NJBAS) on November 4. The free event drew a capacity crowd in Alexander Library’s Pane Room and featured a workshop, artist presentations, and a panel discussion conducted by notable artists, curators, historians, and technologists. The program included:

    To learn more about the NJBAS, please visit exhibits.libraries.rutgers.edu/nj-book-arts. Grant funding for the New Jersey Book Arts Symposium was provided by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund. The NJBAS Advisory Board members are Karen Guancione, artistic director; Michael Joseph, founding director; Sonia Yaco, executive director; Martin Antonetti; Judith K. Brodsky; Fernanda Perrone; Amanda Thackray; Suzie Tuchman, and Kate Van Riper.

    Suzie Tuchman conducts the triangle book-making workshop.
    Suzie Tuchman conducts the triangle bookmaking workshop.
    Catherine LeCleire conducts the triangle book-making workshop.
    Catherine LeCleire Wright shows symposium attendees how to create a triangle book.
    Triangle book making workshop at the 28th Annual New Jersey Book Arts Symposium.
    NJBAS attendees make triangle books during the workshop.
    Artist Sandra C. Fernández.
    Artist Sandra C. Fernández delivered a moving presentation about her life and work. Fernández is an Ecuadorian American artist currently living in New Jersey. Her work is rooted in the transborder experiences of exile, dislocation, relocation, memory, and self-conscious identity construction/reconstruction.
    Béatrice Coron and Richard Anderson.
    Béatrice Coron, a renowned paper-cutting artist, and Rick Anderson, Director of Virtual Worlds at Rutgers, are collaborating on The Identity Project, an experiment both in form and content using technology to create an interactive artist book. This collaboration allows words and images to interact and behave in new and exciting ways. The Identity Project is presented by SC/UA. Learn more about the project at go.rutgers.edu/coron.
    Mixed-media and book artist Amee Pollack.
    Amee Pollack is a mixed-media and book artist and Senior Advisor and Student Success Counselor in the Department of Art & Design at the Mason Gross School of the Arts. She spoke about her art, which includes three-dimensional, fold-out book sculptures she had created with her artistic partner and close friend, Laurie Spitz, who passed away in 2017. Works by Spitz & Pollack, as their collaboration was known, are in the permanent collections of over 50 organizations, including the Brooklyn Museum, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York Public Library Print Collection, and Yale University.
    Read more at masongross.rutgers.edu/why-i-made-this-amee-pollack and ameejpollack.com.
    Featured artist and historian Javiera Barrientos.
    Featured artist and historian Javiera Barrientos presented “A Personal Catalogue: Bookwork in Contemporary Latin America” and highlighted works by Carlos Oquendo, Maria Lucia Cattani, Francisca Prieto, Isol, Javiera Pintocanales, and Mariana Tocornal.
    Virginia Fabbri Butera and Michael Cooper.
    During her curator presentation, Virginia Fabbri Butera interviewed Michael Cooper about the late Rocco Scary’s bookwork. Rocco Scary (1960–2022) was a multidisciplinary artist whose work on paper, in sculpture, and with artist books explored the concept of the identifiers or “triggers” for memory. To learn more about Scary, please visit roccoscary.com. Butera is the director of the Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery. She is also chairperson of the art, dance, and music program and a tenured professor of art history at @saintelizabethuniversity. Cooper is the creative director at Altech Corporation and principal of Cooper Graphics and Cooper Art Works LLC. He has over 40 years of fine art and commercial art experience.
    Sonia Yaco and Judith Brodsky.
    NJBAS executive director Sonia Yaco (left) and noted artist and art educator Judith K. Brodsky. Brodsky led the engaging panel discussion that concluded the New Jersey Book Arts Symposium. The lively discussion offered attendees an opportunity to hear more from the guest artists and ask questions. Brodsky highlighted the commonalities between the topics, including technology, social issues, and a sense of play, and encouraged the artists to share their thoughts and processes and talk about the future of books and bookmaking. Brodsky is a Distinguished Professor Emerita in the Mason Gross School of the Arts Department of Visual Arts and the Founding Director of the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, which was renamed the Brodsky Center in her honor in 2006 (now The Brodsky Center at PAFA).
    Judith K. Brodsky leads panel discussion.
    Panel discussion with the NJBAS’ guest speakers.
    Karen Guancione, Sandra Fernández, and Sonia Yaco.
    From left: Karen Guancione, Sandra Fernández, and Sonia Yaco. Guancione is the NJBAS’ artistic director. She creates a vision of the symposium each year and moderates the event. Michael Joseph (below) is the founding director of the NJBAS. He and Karen guide the selection of the artists and help to shape the event. As executive director, Yaco coordinates the event, secures funding, and with Karen and Michael, connects with the New Jersey book arts community.
    Michael Joseph, founding director of the Symposium.
    Michael Joseph, founding director of the NJBAS.

  • RUL Affirmation Town Halls 2022

    One of the first steps of achieving organizational clarity is establishing a common understanding of who we are, what we do, and what we aspire to achieve. Along with our guiding principles and values, the responses to these fundamental questions would help bring clarity to our organizational identity. To this end, we formed the RUL Affirmation Group consisting of faculty and staff from across the libraries. They were responsible for drafting a mission statement and a statement of aspiration. We are pleased to announce they have completed this important work. Their results were shared during two town halls on July 29, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.:

  • SAPAC Schedule 2020

    Join the Scholarly and Professional Activities Committee for these upcoming talks.

    Lies, Damned lies, and…What LibQual+ 2019 and other statistics mean to me

    Thursday, January 16, Noon-1:00 pm, Pane Room, Alexander Library, New Brunswick
    Grace Agnew, Special Advisor for Strategic Initiatives and Analytics

    So we did this survey in April, 2019.  But what does it mean for me?  Will anything change?  Does anything need to change?  Why do we collect numbers, anyway?  Grace Agnew will highlight the findings of the 2019 LibQual+ statistics, with specific emphasis on individual user groups and libraries, as well as other statistics we are collecting to get a handle on how we are doing with services and collections.  Much of the time will be discussion, as attendees share what they think the statistics mean, based on their observations when working with users.

    Learning from the Smithsonian: Reflections of a Museum Studies Fellow

    Thursday, February 13, Noon-1:00 pm, Pane Room, Alexander Library, New Brunswick
    Kayo Denda, Librarian for Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Douglass Library

    The presentation will be based on my 4 week-stay in Washington D.C., during summer ’19 as a museum studies fellow affiliated with the Smithsonian, Center for Learning and Digital Access. I will provide an insider’s view of the nation’s leading historical institution, its uniqueness and its challenges as they forge their future. The presentation will highlight select Smithsonian projects and tools, such as the Learning Lab platform, with great potential for the library community.

    Ithaka S+R Research study

    Wednesday, March 26, Noon-1:00 pm, Pane Room, Alexander Library, New Brunswick
    Triveni Kuchi, Social Sciences/Instructional Services Librarian and Faculty & Graduate Services Coordinator, NBL
    Jim Niessen, World History librarian, NBL
    Jon Sauceda, Music/Performing Arts librarian and interim liaison to Spanish, Portuguese, Latinx, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, NBL

    We examine the research practices of faculty in a particular field, namely language and literatures, to identify what resources and services scholars currently use and wish they had access to at Rutgers University – New Brunswick. This research was part of a study coordinated by Ithaka S+R, a not-for-profit research and consulting organization, working in conjunction with the Modern Language Association (MLA). In this presentation we would like to share our findings and recommendations.

    The Nick Virgilio Papers

    Monday, April 20, Noon-1:00 pm, Conference Room 290, Robeson Library, Camden (with Webex to remote locations)
    Julie Still, Reference Librarian/Collection Development Coordinator, Robeson Library

    The Nick Virgilio Haiku Archives arrived at Rutgers (and later at the Robeson Library) in several copier paper boxes over a decade ago. In January the Rutgers University Libraries released the fully searchable database of these poems. The process of getting from Point A to Point B is long and convoluted, full of fits and starts. This presentation will focus not just on the technical nuts and bolts, but also on the human element involved, and what consideration might be due those whose name is invoked in someone else’s work.

    Understanding Open Access Trends in Business Schools: A Bibliometric Analysis of Open Access Faculty Publications in Accounting Departments at Three Universities

    Monday, May 11, location TBA
    Jonathan Torres, Business Librarian, Dana Library

    Open access publications and journals continue to be an emerging trend in a variety of academic areas. Studies have indicated that open access journals offer a citation benefit. (Salisbury et.al, 2017) One of the many benefits of OA mentioned in previous studies states that, “advocates argue that OA will increase research efficacy as measured by citation counts and/or citation impact factor” (Atchison and Bull, 2015, p.133). Further research highlights the fact that free access to literature has the potential to increase authorship and readership (Philip and Walter, 2011). Nonetheless, studies have indicated that a top priority for faculty is having their publications viewed by peers within the same field because that impacts their career. As a result, providing articles for open access to the public is secondary. Faculty perceptions of article and journal accessibility tends to vary based on disciplines.

    This presentation will examine the outcome using bibliometric analysis between (OA) open access and non-OA publications from the accounting departments of three business schools (University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Auburn University). These schools were selected based on the comparable sizes of the departments. The research will demonstrate faculty OA compared to non-OA publications and their relative scholarly impact and merits for the period 2013-2018.

    SAPAC 2019-2020 Committee Members:
    Janet Brennan Croft, Co-Chair
    Bart Howard Everts, Co-Chair
    Amy Kimura
    Laura Costello
    Fobazi Ettarh

  • State of the Libraries Recap

    State of the Libraries Recap

    This month, I just want to express my gratitude once again to everyone who helped make State of the Libraries so special. From the major events committee to the poster presenters to those of you in the audience–our colleagues are what make this a great event. For 2017, we experimented with the format of the event in several ways, introducing new elements while also retaining what makes this such a special event. In a significant departure, we invited an external speaker to visit us and discuss unconscious bias works and what we can do to mitigate its influence in the Libraries. Calvin Lai’s presentation was as entertaining as it was informative, and it is my sincerest hope that it helps us to better appreciate and accommodate diversity and inclusion in what we do.

    I hope everyone who attended had a chance to tour the always-popular poster session. It is fitting that at the close of the year, we get to survey the many great activities and initiatives underway at the Libraries. From Libraries-wide initiatives like ORCID and the Open and Affordable Textbook Program to the exhibits program at Robeson and the enhanced coin scanning project from the Digital Humanities Lab–these posters are a reminder of the positive impact we have on the university and the work of the Libraries. For those who were unable to attend or did not make it around to see all the posters, the communications team has recorded short videos with the presenters that can be viewed on YouTube (see below). Also, a special note of thanks to Dee Magnoni and James Hartstein who provided professional quality printing for the posters. They looked great!

    There will be much more to say in the coming months, but for now, I want to wish you all a happy New Year! We have so much to look forward to in 2018.

     

  • Report from Social Media Summit 2017


    Video: Rutgers communications professionals discuss social media planning and how to best reach users.

     

    The Libraries held our second Social Media Summit on July 20, 2017. The full-day event, hosted by the Social Media Task Force, was broken into several sessions and attended by over 25 of our colleagues.

    During the introductory session, director of communications Jessica Pellien presented the work of the social media task force and reviewed the new social media guidelines, manual, and process for requesting a new social media account. This PowerPoint presentation is available below. Following this presentation, round-table discussions (15 minutes per topic – like speed dating but for social media topics) allowed the group to share ideas and experiences. Notes were taken at each table and are available below.

    Following lunch, there were two more sessions:

    • A workshop/training on HootSuite presented by Dory Devlin of University Communications and Marketing
    • A panel of Rutgers University communicators, including Stefanie Charles, social media manager for all of Rutgers–Camden; Brice Hammack, marketing professional from Rutgers University Press; and Jennifer Valera,  marketing manager of  Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Division of Continuing Studies.

    If you have any questions about the materials below or the Social Media Summit, please reach out to a member of the Social Media Task Force.

    Social Media Summit Documents:

    Social Media Documents

  • Human Resources – Dates to Remember for Open Enrollment & Flu Shots

    Two bits of news from the Rutgers University Libraries Human Resources Department:

    • There will be a clinic for annual flu shots on October 4, 2017 at 11:00 in the Pane Room at Alexander Library.
    • University Human Resources (UHR) will host a series of Open Enrollment Benefits Fairs throughout the month of October to educate employees about their SHBP benefits options, as well as other benefits and services that are available and may be of interest. Save the date and plan to attend the Open Enrollment Benefit Fair that is most convenient for you:

    October 10, 2017 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Rutgers University – Newark Campus, Robeson Campus Center, Multipurpose Room, 350 Martin Luther King Blvd, Newark, New Jersey 07102

    October 12, 2017 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.– Rutgers University – New Brunswick, College Avenue Campus, Student Center Multipurpose Room, 126 College Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

    October 17, 2017 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. – Rutgers University – Camden Campus, Camden Campus Center, 326 Penn St, Camden, New Jersey 08102

    DETAILS TO BE DETERMINED– RBHS Piscataway/New Brunswick

    October 24, 2017 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – RBHS Newark, Medical Science Building, Grand Foyer Lobby, 185 South Orange Ave, Newark, New Jersey 07101

    October 25, 2017 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Rutgers University – Piscataway, Busch Student Campus, Student Center Multipurpose Room, 604 Bartholomew Rd, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854

    As always, if you have any questions about your employee benefits, please contact the Benefits Administration staff at 848-932-3990 or via email at benefits@hr.rutgers.edu.

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  • 2017 Faculty and Staff Appreciation Picnic

    This video of the picnic includes photos by Janet Brennan-Croft, Janie Fultz, Tara Kelley, Jessica Pellien, Tonie Perkins, and Joanne Polgar.

    I know everyone has been busy over the summer preparing for the fall semester (or recovering from not one, but two major floods in a week!) and it is almost here. Before we get caught up in the work of the Libraries, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who made the Faculty and Staff Appreciation Picnic an event so memorable—the planners, the volunteers, and the attendees—and to celebrate some of the accomplishments and milestones of the last year.

    Most people think of faculty and staff appreciation events as a bookend to a fantastic year—a chance for the administration to acknowledge and thank people for work they have completed. While this is true, it doesn’t capture the full story. When these events are done well (as our picnic was), they also serve to create connections with our colleagues, reaffirm our joint purpose, and nurture future projects and collaborations. In other words, the “appreciation” part of the event should flow in all directions. So, with this in mind, it was wonderful to see people from Camden, Newark, and RBHS at the picnic. I also appreciate that special care was made to shuffle schedules and allow people who missed last year’s picnic to attend this year. Events like this provide opportunities for serendipity and reflection, and my big takeaway is that we work with a great group of people.

    We lucked out on the weather. It was sunny and dry, but with an occasional breeze to cool us off. We enjoyed terrific food from Food Architects, played lawn games, and made buttons. A fun ice-breaker game helped us to mingle and meet our colleagues. It was a stellar event by any measure and I hope everyone had a good time. I am particularly grateful to the members of the Major Events Committee who worked hard to make this event a success: Matt Badessa, Janie Fultz, Pam Hargwood, Tad Hershorn, Tara Kelley, Rhonda Marker, Erica Parin, Jessica Pellien, Daphne Roberts, Rich Sandler, and Monique Whittle.

    I mentioned these milestones in my speech at the picnic, but I think it is worth mentioning them here for those who were not in attendance. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but even in its sheer volume and variety, it hints at the depth of our accomplishments over the last year.

    • We won grants for initiatives ranging from the New Jersey Digital Newspaper Project to the Virtual Data Collaboratory to the Digital Scholarship as 21st-Century Pedagogy courses at Rutgers University-Newark.
    • Launched the Open and Affordable Textbooks Project, saving Rutgers students nearly $1.6 million
    • Participated in the From Practice to Preceptor Program to help train the next generation of dental school faculty
    • Far exceeded our fundraising goals on the second annual Rutgers Giving Day, thanks in no small part to the contributions of our faculty and staff
    • Celebrated 50 years of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers–Newark and 50 years of Dana Library as a Federal Depository
    • Welcomed Carla Hayden, the first woman and the first African American Librarian of Congress, to Rutgers–Camden
    • Successfully made the transition from Kilmer Library to Carr Library
    • Participated in the implementation of a new financial system and transitioned to a new email system
    • Added countless new resources including thousands of ebooks, new databases, and collections of rare books and art
    • Successfully completed a search for a new AVP/Director of New Brunswick Libraries
    • And of course there are so many more achievements both large and small.

    These accomplishments are only possible through your efforts. We all have a lot to be proud of and I look forward to seeing what the new school-year brings.

  • The Rutgers 250 Thank You picnic was a great success

    New Brunswick Chancellor Edwards gifted each faculty and staff member of the Libraries with a small commemorative bell and provided us with funds toward an event to recognize the efforts of our colleagues throughout the anniversary year. So, we planned a picnic!

    Thanks to his generosity and additional funds from the central administration of the Libraries, we were able to rent the log cabin and picnic area of Rutgers Gardens for the afternoon. Our colleagues donated their time for set up and break down of the event; supplied lawn games for us to enjoy; and led short nature walks through the gardens. And of course, the ice breaker BINGO gave us all opportunities to meet our colleagues and a chance to win a wonderful prize package of Libraries’ swag. It was truly a group effort and we owe a big thank you to everyone who helped to plan and make this day incredibly special. We had well over 150 of our colleagues in attendance and every unit was well-represented. Thank you especially to our colleagues in Camden and Newark for making the trip.

    We were also honored to have Chancellor Edwards in attendance and to give a few words of thanks to the Libraries. He is a big fan of what we do and that was evident in his short remarks.

    I hope you enjoy this slideshow of photos from the picnic.