The Agenda - Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Category: Feature

  • UL Letter to the Libraries – November 2022

    Although the Thanksgiving holiday is behind us, expressing thanks does not have a time limit. I want to express my gratitude for your extraordinary dedication, perseverance, and hard work. In a year filled with change, your commitment to delivering exceptional service to our users remained constant. On behalf of the Libraries Leadership Team, I thank each of you for your service.

    I also want to thank you for the thoughtful discussions and incisive feedback received regarding our organizational restructure. We are moving forward with option 2 as it resonated with many of you and best positions us to address the evolving expectations and priorities of our university community. Although we have much work in front of us, this decision marks an exciting milestone in this three-phase process.

    In Phase I of the organizational restructure, the immediate next steps will be filling new leadership roles, particularly the AVP for Campus and Special Libraries. (These are currently working titles and may slightly change as we think through the details of these roles.) It is important to highlight that the AVP for Campus and Special Libraries will provide focused day-to-day support for the AULs. Additionally, this position will work directly with the AULs to identify synergies across our local libraries to leverage resources that can lead to increased efficiencies. The intent is to have this position filled and solidified by the end of spring 2023, so they can serve as part of the transition team during Phase II.

    Phase II will focus on the functional areas and services reporting up through each AVP. We must ensure the services the Libraries offer directly align with the university’s needs and priorities. Phase III will focus on the organization of our workforce across the system.

    The restructure will be a long and deliberate process that will take us the better part of 18 months. During this critical juncture for the Libraries, your continued contributions and support throughout this process are deeply appreciated.

    I am very pleased to announce the revised RUL Mission Statement and RUL Aspirations Statement were overwhelmingly approved and will be formally adopted (view them on the Libraries’ website at this link). They will serve as our North Star as we move forward with our organizational structure and strategic planning process. As we get further into both those efforts, we may need to revisit and tweak the statements to ensure they fully reflect the work we are doing and aspire to do. I want to thank the RUL Affirmation Group (Isaiah Beard, Laura Costello, Joseph Deodato, Bart Everts, Francesca Giannetti, John Gibson, Tom Glynn, Naomi Gold, Krista Haviland, Amy Joyner, Nancy Kranich, Triveni Kuchi, Barry Lipinski, Mei Ling Lo, Yan Lu, Christie Lutz, Orla Mejia, Tracey Meyer, Ermira Mitre, Sue Oldenburg, Cathy Pecoraro, Michele Petosa, Ayesha Salim, Elizabeth Surles, Roberta Tipton [retired], Bob Vietrogoski, Victoria Wagner, Mary Beth Weber, Zara Wilkinson, Drue Williamson, and Phil Wilson) for their diligence and thoughtfulness as they worked through the process for the last eight months or so, which resulted in these statements. I also appreciate your taking the time to vote and share your thoughts about these statements.

    Lastly, we have added a new section to The Agenda to reinforce our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. The DEI Spotlight highlights the vital work of the DEI Committee, upcoming training and events, DEI resources, and more. I encourage you to explore the Spotlight and the resources highlighted (see the link in the top navigation bar).

  • DEI Spotlight – December 2022

    December 2022 Spotlight

    The DEI Committee 2.0 was formed in late 2021 and comprises staff and faculty representing all Rutgers campuses. The committee’s mission is to:

    • respect and foster perspectives that reflect varying backgrounds, identities, roles, and their intersections;
    • create and support structures and behaviors that encourage equity, fairness, and justice; and
    • promote an environment of belonging, respect, opportunity, and empowerment.

    Reporting to the Vice President for University Libraries and University Librarian and the Libraries Leadership Team, the committee serves as an advisory body to the Libraries in support of RUL and university core DEI values and university priorities. In the past year, the committee worked with the RUL Human Resources department to review hiring practices and create a more inclusive work environment. The committee meets bimonthly and is currently working on its next charge, which will be announced soon.

    Read the DEI Committee’s November 2022 Meeting Minutes
    Read the DEI Committee’s October 2022 Meeting Minutes
    DEI Committee Members

    DEI Training and Events

    Participate in the following training and events to expand your DEI knowledge:

    STRIDE Workshop

    Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence (STRIDE) Workshop

    Date: Wednesday, December 14, 2022
    Time: 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

    This two-hour workshop reviews research-driven best practices to recruit for diversity and excellence across every stage in the search process and is designed to help faculty produce diverse candidate pools and run effective searches. STRIDE workshops are recommended for faculty members with key roles in faculty recruitment efforts (e.g., search committee chairs and members).

    Register for the Workshop

    Babs Siperstein Humanities and Medicine Seminars

    The Siperstein Seminars take an inclusive and intersectional approach to broaden the understanding of LGBTQIA+ issues to build healthcare workers’ capacity and knowledge base, thus increasing their ability to provide more comprehensive and holistic healthcare. To learn more about the seminars, please click this link.

    Tara Madison Avery

    Seminar: Transgender and Nonbinary Representation in Comics
    Speaker: Tara Madison Avery
    Date: Monday, December 19, 2022
    Time: 6:00–7:00 p.m.

    Tara Madison Avery is a cartoonist, bi activist, and the publisher of Stacked Deck Press, an imprint devoted to comics of LGBTQAIU interest. As a cartoonist, Avery created the bi-themed webcomic Gooch and has published stories in several queer-themed comics anthologies, including We’re Still Here: An All-Trans Comics Anthology (which she co-edited and published), winner of the 2019 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Anthology. She was invited to the 2015 and 2016 Bisexual Community Briefings at the White House and was chair of the Los Angeles Bi Task Force from 2013 to 2015. Avery has also been a board member of Prism Comics, a nonprofit organization that promotes LGBTQ comics, comics creators, and fandom, since 2012. In her work with Prism Comics, she has moderated several LGBTQ-oriented panel discussions at comic conventions across the country, including the first all-transgender panel at San Diego Comic-Con in 2014.

    Thank you to Kayo Denda, Head of the Margery Somers Foster Center and Librarian for Women’s Gender And Sexuality Studies, for organizing and promoting wonderful events.

    Register for the Seminar

    World Braille Day 2023

    World Braille Day

    Date: Wednesday, January 4, 2023

    World Braille Day is celebrated every year on January 4 to commemorate the birthday of Louis Braille, founder of the braille system. Braille is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired.

    DEI Reads

    Check out what the DEI Committee is currently reading:

    The Art of Effective Facilitation

    DEI Resources

    People at computer.

    Explore these resources to learn more about DEI:

    DEI Spotlight Archive

  • EVPAA Meets with RUL

    On October 27, 2022, Prabhas Moghe, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs (EVPAA), presented his vision and goals for the Office of the EVPAA (OEVPAA) to Rutgers University Libraries (RUL) staff and faculty. The information shared during this virtual meeting will be instrumental to RUL’s organizational strategies. To watch the presentation, please follow this link and click “EVPAA Meeting with RUL” under the Assessment, Reports & Communications section.

    EVPAA meeting with RUL on October 27, 2022.

  • Stephanie Bartz Retires after More than 30 Years of Service

    Stephanie Bartz

    Stephanie Bartz, Government Resources and Information Services Librarian at Rutgers University–New Brunswick Libraries, retired after more than 30 years of service to the university.

    Stephanie started at Alexander Library as a Reference Assistant in 1983 while a student at the School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies (SCILS) and continued in various capacities until 1989 (when she resigned). Her responsibilities included working at the reference desk and helping to maintain the print reference collection (much larger and more heavily used in those days).

    Stephanie was asked to return in a part-time capacity in 1994 and began working full-time in 1996 to assume responsibility for government resources while another librarian was on leave. When that same librarian retired in June 2015, Stephanie took over the bulk of the government documents duties for Alexander Library. In January 2016, she also assumed responsibilities for the government documents and maps collections at the Library of Science and Medicine and began splitting her time between the two locations.

    Stephanie quickly became an indispensable member of the reference department at Alexander and then of the larger New Brunswick Libraries (NBL). She often helped to preserve the sanity of more technologically challenged colleagues by fixing minor and not-so-minor computer problems. While Stephanie frequently disclaimed being a tech person, she provided a high level of computer support for Alexander Library colleagues and served as an informal interpreter between librarians and staff in the Systems Office. Her willingness to take on additional responsibilities during leaves or job vacancies played a key role in sustaining the library’s support for faculty and students. One measure of her readiness to pitch in was her participation in LibGuides. She created and/or maintained more than 30 reference, government publications, and general interest guides. Moreover, she became the local LibGuides expert providing assistance and training, coordinating the transfer of guides caused by personnel changes, and updating/babysitting orphaned guides. Beyond that, she was a silent partner on other guides, helping librarians design and maintain their subject guides.

    Stephanie also contributed enormously to a dizzying array of committees, task forces, working groups, and councils. She served on the Rutgers University Libraries (RUL) PC Working Group from 1997 until 2016 and as the NBL PC Coordination Team leader from 2001 until 2014. She provided tech support, allocated computers, coordinated computer and related equipment purchases, and maintained the NBL website, among other tasks.

    She served on the Library Catalog Committee from 1999 to 2018 and chaired the group from 2005 until 2018. From 2016 to 2019, she was a member of the Discovery Working Group, which essentially replaced the Library Catalog Committee.

    Stephanie served multiple terms on the Rules of Procedure Committee, co-chairing the group for several years. She created the first RUL electronic ballot, became the local expert on bylaws, and maintained an archive of bylaws editions and drafts.

    She assumed responsibility for NBL chat coordination in 2020 and handled the complicated process of scheduling as many as 34 librarian and graduate student chatters.

    Stephanie joined the NBL Web Content Team when preparations for the new RUL website were being finalized in 2021 and assumed responsibility for creating and maintaining NBL’s content. She also managed NBL’s pages on the staff website.

    She maintained many mailing lists/groups, including the retirees list that we hope will be continued after her retirement.

    Stephanie helped coordinate the Digital Learning Commons, Hatchery, Google Books, and Alexander bound periodicals weeding projects for NBL. Simply listing this coordinator role can give no sense of the tireless and scrupulously careful detail work involved, one of Stephanie’s many strengths, and her remarkable ability to work collaboratively across departmental and unit boundaries.

    Stephanie’s life outside the libraries manifests a similarly high level of participation and willingness to take on both leadership roles and the often unsung, behind-the-scenes work that sustains organizations. For example, she served more than 40 years as a volunteer for the Middlesex County Fair.

    For more than 20 years, Stephanie has been deeply involved in the South River Historical & Preservation Society in capacities ranging from secretary, newsletter editor, webmaster, and archivist. One result of that work was the Images of America book on South River.

    No listing of tasks and accomplishments can adequately capture Stephanie’s contributions to NBL and RUL as a whole. She has been an invaluable librarian and a highly respected colleague. Judit Ward captures many of our sentiments: “Stephanie Bartz is an exceptional colleague. Stephanie is my friend. How many of us think of her just like that? Always there for us with answers and solutions, the much-needed gentle reminders—that’s the Stephanie I know. She has always held herself to the highest professional standards at RUL. Because she cares. Competent and fair, authentic and trustworthy—these are precious and rare qualities. That’s Stephanie. I am honored to call her my friend. Hope I can still call her my friend in the future.”

    For many of us, it is hard to imagine the Libraries without her. I have turned to Stephanie for guidance, wisdom, and help across a range of initiatives and projects. I appreciate her sense of humor and her dedication to the community. Whether the community is our own faculty and staff, our retirees and alumni, the larger Rutgers landscape, the citizens of NJ, or other states who could benefit from our government documents, Stephanie is there.

    Stephanie, you have brought humanity and dedication to your role. Thank you for your service, and may your next chapter be fulfilling with just the right amount of peace. You will be deeply missed.

  • Transforming Health Professional Education and Service Delivery for A Gender Non-Conforming Community

    Transgender patients experience discrimination in health care and encounter difficulty in finding compassionate health care professionals. In order to transform health professional education and service delivery for a diverse gender non-conforming community, Dr. Jeremy Sinkin, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, RWJMS created the video Masculinizing gender-affirming chest contouring surgery to address this issue. The video is now hosted in SOAR: Scholarly Open Access at Rutgers and can be shared broadly, increasing its reach. Other co-investigators of this project are Dr. Gloria Bachmann, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, RWJMS, Dr. Ian Marshall Associate Professor of Pediatrics, RWJMS, Kayo Denda, Head, Margery Somers Foster Center & Librarian for Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, New Brunswick Libraries, and Mark Schuster, Dean of Graduate Student Life. The project was supported by the Rutgers – RBHS – IDEA Innovation Grant (2020-2021).   

    Dr. Sinkin and his colleagues are planning to create other videos on the topics of Gender Affirming Surgery (top and bottom), Hormonal Affirmation Therapy, Preferred Pronouns, Psychological and Social Well-being, Inclusivity, Sexual Transmitted diseases, and Addiction. The videos will be shared with the RBHS community educating health care providers.  The project partners are the PROUD (Promoting Respect, Outreach, Understand and Dignity) Center of NJ, the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the Rutgers University Libraries, and the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.  

    The interdisciplinary group working on this video project collaborates in other projects, including the monthly Babs Siperstein Humanities & Medicine Seminars – Focus on Transgender and also hosted the colloquium  “Affirming Medical and Mental Health Care for LGBTQAL+ Communities” (February 25-26, 2021).  

  • Summer Tales Book Club in New Brunswick hosts renowned authors

    In the summer of 2021, for the second time, the Summer Tales Book Club gathered students virtually in Rutgers-New Brunswick to take short mental breaks from their summer session studies.  #SummerTales is a three-month long program first offered online in the summer of 2020 and renewed in 2021. As a virtual reading club, it focuses on reading poems and short stories and discussing them in a forum with fellow students enrolled in summer courses.

    Designed from the start as “born virtual,” so to speak, the non-credit course was delivered in Canvas from June 1 to August 18. While in 2020 the program focused on an ongoing discussion of three short stories, this summer, in response to a renewed interest in poetry, four poems were offered in addition to two new short stories. A group of New Brunswick librarians and graduate students teamed up to facilitate the discussions.

    In addition to the benefits from an instant online community, the exposure to Rutgers Librarie

    In the summer of 2021, for the second time, the Summer Tales Book Club gathered students virtually in Rutgers-New Brunswick to take short mental breaks from their summer session studies.  #SummerTales is a three-month long program first offered online in the summer of 2020 and renewed in 2021. As a virtual reading club, it focuses on reading poems and short stories and discussing them in a forum with fellow students enrolled in summer courses.

    Designed from the start as “born virtual,” so to speak, the non-credit course was delivered in Canvas from June 1 to August 18. While in 2020 the program focused on an ongoing discussion of three short stories, this summer, in response to a renewed interest in poetry, four poems were offered in addition to two new short stories. A group of New Brunswick librarians and graduate students teamed up to facilitate the discussions.

    In addition to the benefits from an instant online community, the exposure to Rutgers Libraries via supplementary material from RUL also empowered students with valuable library research skills. During the summer they became more familiar with many resources and services the Libraries offer remotely, including finding additional reading material with QuickSearch, using LibGuides, and finding research help.

    Among the various live events, two guest authors visited Summer Tales virtually. After an inspiring  conversation with Joyce Carol Oates in 2020, this summer authors Carmen Maria Machado and Natalie Díaz were the guests for an hour-long conversation each. Open to the public, the two well-attended  events were moderated by graduate specialist Nicholas Allred, PhD candidate at the English Department, based on questions submitted by participants upon registration.

    Our guest on June 23, Carmen Maria Machado, is an American short story author and essayist. She is the author of two books: Her Body and Other Parties, a short story collection, and In the Dream House, a memoir on her experience in an abusive queer relationship, published in 2019. In Summer Tales, leading up to Machado’s talk, students read and discussed “Eight Bites” from Her Body and Other Parties, a short story about a woman who struggles with her body image and eventually undergoes gastric bypass surgery. Students were most fascinated by the relationships in the main character’s life. Machado gave insight during the event about the mother-daughter relationship at play and the chorus role of the narrator’s sisters. She also spoke about bodily transformation and her personal relationship to the story.

    The second open session discussed poetry with Natalie Díaz as our guest on July 14th. Born and raised in the Fort Mojave Indian Village in Needles, California, she is an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Tribe. Most recently, she is the 2021 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Postcolonial Love Poem. Díaz’s work focuses on the intersection of identity, language, and the impact of these ideas on the individual. The Summer Tales discussion of Díaz’s “My Brother at 3 A.M.” from her book of poetry When My Brother Was an Aztec has centered around form and language, two aspects of poetry which are of particular importance to the poet. The one-hour conversation was based on four poems read by Díaz––”My Brother at 3 A.M.,” “Why I Hate Raisins,” “Manhattan is a Lenape Word,” and “Run and Gun”––as well as questions submitted by over 380 registrants. Natalie Díaz has very generously allowed us to share our conversation with her online.  Two ASL interpreters were present, switching off at 15-minute intervals, at both events.

    Other than reading, Summer Tales also encourages creativity in all areas. The Summer Tales Creative Contest produced some exceptional results, such as Aaradhana Natarajan’s essay on Joyce Carol Oates last year. This year’s best works showed an incredible connection with the text, such as a book talk video by Harmony Birch on one of the short stories, or proved an extremely creative use of resources, as in the 3D image created by Alissa Renales. Both Harmony and Alissa also participated in the program as SC&I student assistants.

    A collaboration between New Brunswick Libraries and the Division of Continuing Studies, Summer Tales Book Club was brought to you by Books We Read, which was launched by Judit Ward as a pilot recreational reading initiative in the physical Chang Science Library in Summer 2019. The pages are hosted on the Rutgers WordPress site–– viewed 10,465 times since its inception––featuring blog posts written by librarians and students affiliated with the program. In addition to checking out the LibGuides Summer Tales 2020, Summer Tales 2021, and Poetry, everyone is invited to read some of the Summer Tales-related posts.

    -Submitted by Judit Ward and Nicholas Allred
    Harmony Birch and Alissa Renales also contributed to the article

  • Promoting OAT at Rutgers–Camden

    During a Library Student Advisory Board meeting in the fall, student members discussed the difficulty their peers experience paying for required textbooks. To learn more, we invited Zara Wilkinson to talk to us about the library’s Open & Affordable Textbooks (OAT) program. This inspired board members Oriana Holmes-Price, Grace Latini, and Erika Pitsker to plan a faculty panel event to promote the OAT program to the rest of the student body. They invited Zara Wilkinson, librarian for the OAT program, Dr. Jamie Dunaev, Assistant Teaching Professor in Psychology, Dr. Nancy Cresse, Clinical Assistant Professor in Nursing, and Dr. Bethany Welch, Lecturer in Urban Studies to discuss their experiences with the OAT program and their philosophy towards open educational resources more generally. After diligent effort on the part of the Board members, we held the panel, Open & Affordable Textbooks: Faculty and Student Perspectives, on April 6th. Faculty, staff, and students in Camden attended and learned about the importance and impact of open and affordable textbooks and the library’s efforts to support students and faculty through the OAT program. Many students expressed interest in taking an OAT course and helping to expand the program to additional courses and departments. The Paul Robeson Library Student Advisory Board plans to continue championing the Open & Affordable Textbooks program.   

    Additionally, the Rutgers-Camden Student Government Association has voiced its support for the OAT Program through ongoing dialogues with librarians Zara Wilkinson and John Powell. The executive board of the SGA has brainstormed a variety of collaborative initiatives, including the development of a university-wide portal of course materials developed because of the OAT program and a form where students can submit recommendations for OAT or submit classes which they had to drop due to additional costs from textbooks or access codes.  

  • Alma Analytics Tips: Lifecycle and Status

    When creating reports in Alma Analytics, there are a couple of filters or dimensions that you should be using frequently to help you refine the figures you are reporting. Two such dimensions are Lifecycle and Status. Dimensions containing the term Lifecycle filter for records that are active or deleted and dimensions containing the term Status filter for records or transactions that are active, inactive, or contain a specific status. You should search for these terms when creating reports to determine which dimensions are available in each Analytics subject area and then use them regularly to make better reports.

    Lifecycle – The Lifecycle dimensions can be found in Analytics subject areas that provide selections on bibliographic records, such as E-Inventory, Physical Items, and Titles. For example, if you search for Lifecycle in, the Physical Items subject area, you will see Lifecycle at three levels indicating you can filter for active or deleted records at the title, holding, or item level.

    Screenshot of alma analytics showing lifecycle

    Lifecycle options typically are:

    1. Deleted – record has been deleted
    2. In Repository – record has not been deleted

    Status – The Status dimensions are found in almost any Analytics subject area and store the status of the record or transaction such as Item in place or Item not in place, active or inactive, active or completed. There are a variety of statuses related to each subject area and Analytics users should examine them, review the options, and determine whether selections are needed in these dimensions. Some of the more frequently used statuses are:

    1. Loan Status – use this to filter on items actively on loan or not. This dimension is found in the Fulfillment and Fines and Fees subject area and the options are:
      1. Active – loan is current
      2. Inactive – loan is not current
    2. Fines Fees Status – use this to filter on items with active/outstanding fines. This dimension is found in the Fines and Fees subject area and the options are:
      1. Active – fine still outstanding
      2. Closed – fine has been paid or waived
    3. User – Status – use this to filter on users who are active or not. This dimension is found in the Fulfillment, Requests, Fines and Fees, and the Users subject area and the options are:
      1. Active – user record is in Alma and is currently active
      2. Inactive – user record is in Alma but not active
      3. Deleted – user record has been deleted from Alma
    4. Request – Status – use this to filter requests by current status. This dimension is found in Requests and the options are:
      1. Active – request is active and there is an available item to fulfill it
      2. Completed – request is completed
      3. Failed – request has failed.
      4. Ready – request is active but there is no available item to fulfill it
      5. Rejected – Alma staff member canceled an active request
      6. Rejected by Library – request cancelled. The cancellation reason is Canceled at patron’s request.
      7. Rejected by Patron – request cancelled. The cancellation reason is Patron no longer interested.

    More information about dimensions like Lifecycle and Status and others that can be used in each Analytics subject area can be found here. If you have follow-up questions related to this article or need assistance creating a report in Alma Analytics please send a message to exlibris@rulhelp.rutgers.edu.

  • In Conversation with Diane Biunno

    Diane Biunno is metadata archivist for the Institute of Jazz Studies.

    Diane Biunno joined the Libraries as metadata archivist for the Institute of Jazz Studies back in February. Here, we catch up with her to learn more about her experience and what she has been working on since the shift to online-only service.

    Tell us a bit about your background prior to coming to Rutgers.

    Prior to joining the team at the Institute of Jazz Studies in February 2020, I served as a project archivist at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) in Philadelphia. At HSP I worked on several projects including the Hidden Collections Initiative which was a grant funded project to improve the accessibility and discoverability of archival collections housed at Philadelphia-area small repositories. As part of the initiative, I helped staff and volunteers at local historical societies, ethnic organizations, and religious institutions better arrange, describe, and care for their collections. I enjoyed working on this project because it gave me an opportunity to get to know members of the local archival community and their amazing collections.

    Before coming to Rutgers, I also worked on several innovative digital projects that were focused on improving the discoverability of archival and special collections materials. For example, I served as a digital project assistant at Penn Libraries for the Bibliotheca Philadelphiensis
    project, an initiative to digitize and make freely available all the known medieval manuscripts in the Philadelphia region. In addition, I was a digital project associate for the Historical Images, New Technologies Project, which explored how to better describe archival visual materials using TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) markup. Through working on these projects, I learned a great deal about metadata standards and formats, as well as, digital preservation and digital project management best practices.

    I received my B.A and Ph.D. in Italian from Rutgers University and my Master’s in Library & Information Science from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

    What have you been working on during the quarantine?

    I’ve been working with my colleagues at IJS to copyedit and publish the approximately 200 finding aids that the IJS created last year. A finding aid is document that describes an archival collection and helps guide researchers in using the collection. The IJS finding aids will be published online and made accessible to the general public and researchers, with the goal of helping our patrons better understand our collections and how our materials can meet their research needs.

    What does the process look like?

    Before beginning the process of copyediting the finding aids, we quickly realized that we needed a style guide to ensure that all finding aids would be edited according to the same capitalization, punctuation, and grammatical guidelines. Unfortunately, there isn’t a standard style guide for archivists, so we decided to create our own and base it on the Chicago Manual of Style, a style guide widely used in academic publishing.

    Next, we created project workflows, as well as spreadsheets for keeping track of the project’s progress. We made sure to keep the project style guide, spreadsheets, and other documentation in a shared folder that was easily accessible to everyone working on the project. Most importantly, used software tools that allow us to easily track changes to documents and to view the edits of our coworkers in real time.

    How far along are you and what are the next steps?

    At this point, we are halfway through the project and have published approximately 110 finding aids. We’re moving at a steady pace and hope to wrap up the project in a few weeks.

    While working on the project, I began thinking about how the IJS might use Wikipedia to help guide researchers and the general public to our collections. Because patrons use Wikipedia as a starting point to find general information on a topic, as well as, additional resources, I’ve begun adding links to the institute’s finding aids in the “External Link” section located at the bottom of Wikipedia entries. For example, at the bottom of the Benny Goodman Wikipedia entry, I’ve added a link to the IJS finding aid for the D. Russell Connor collection of Benny Goodman audio recordings. Moving forward, I hope to add additional links to our collections and explore other ways to make our finding aids and collections more broadly accessible to the public.

    Where can people learn more?

    People can visit the repository page for Institute of Jazz Studies to view the finding aids that we’ve already published. https://archivesspace.libraries.rutgers.edu/repositories/6

    People can also check out the IJS Facebook page for more information about events and other news: https://www.facebook.com/InstituteJazzStudies as well as the institute’s page: https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/jazz

  • Uncovering Masks: Ritual, Fun, Transformation, and Protection

    A decorative mask crafted for the exhibit out of foam and beads.

    The Carr Library exhibit on masks was developed as a supplement to the Mid-Winter Mask Making student engagement event held on February 7, 2020 in partnership with the Friendship Fridays program organized by Rutgers Global. In the initial stages of development, masks were interpreted as objects from a more distant point of view. As the COVID-19 pandemic became a global health issue by March 2020 and began to impact day to day activities, masks quickly turned into a necessary and sought after object. The demand for masks as personal protective equipment skyrocketed and vendors continue to be overwhelmed with requests, and are unable to fulfill orders, or require an extended period of time for processing and shipping. This has also led to more creative and innovative outlets with people completing DIY masks and recycling different fabric materials to do so.  Masks are being made for personal use, as well as to donate to others in need to share this precautionary measure.

    The center case of the exhibit featured masks from India and Korea as well as books from the Libraries’ collection that revolved around the ritual and cultural uses of masks by different groups around the world.

    Requirements made by states throughout the U.S. for people to wear masks while out in public have also altered the way we prepare ourselves to leave our homes. There are new rituals of putting on gloves and a mask to help flatten the curve and prevent the spread of the virus. The way we see other people has changed, as eyes are the only facial features left exposed, and proper distance must be kept from others. Masks have now taken on a new meaning and significance, and will be enveloped into our attire and lifestyle for the foreseeable future.

    The exhibit explores the ways masks are constructed and how these objects serve larger purposes. Like the personal protective equipment masks made at home, masks can be made from nearby materials on hand. Whether these items are found in the natural environment such as wood, bone, and clay, or man-made products like plastic and beads. These materials are combined together to develop the structure of the mask and enhance the imagery of the object through design and decoration. Regardless of material type, masks are constructed with a use and purpose in mind.

    The right-side case of the exhibit featured the book Masks by Jamie Shalleck–a captivating visual portrayal of the different ways masks are involved in our lives and throughout history.

    Widespread uses for masks were identified in the exhibit as relating to qualities of fun, ritual/culture, identity and protection. Most commonly, people associate masks with a form of costume or disguise. These celebrations make masks a fun accessory for Halloween or a masquerade and can allow the wearer to be creative with their appearance. The process of decorating the mask itself is entertaining and can be elaborately done to mimic something in nature, feature bold colors, or glisten with jewels and beads. The masks used in Mardi Gras parades and Venetian carnivals depict this celebratory nature of the objects and how they can be combined with an ensemble to develop a whole new appearance and costume.

    Masks have also been a prominent part of cultural and social rituals. These objects exist as ritual devices of transformation and storytelling. Whether it be part of an ensemble for a ritual dance, a way to connect religiously, or to initiate members into a group. The masks are made to follow a pattern set over time through ritualized experience. Masks not only add to the sense of excitement and theatrics, but also create a sense of solidarity and belonging through the group experience. The repetition of these rituals causes the masks to become a part of one’s identity as it relates to a culture’s way of life.

    A protective mask modified with associated words and expressions.

    In another sense, people can portray themselves a certain way to mask their identity and inner self from the outside world. Virtually, individuals can devise new identities and ways of representing themselves externally that differ from what lies behind their public profile. What kind of masks do we put on around others and how does this impact the way we view ourselves and others?

    Masks can serve people in these intangible ways, but also are physically important when implemented as tools of protection. Constructed of materials such as bone or metal, masks have been brought into warfare as a form of armor. Often-times masks feature important cultural symbols or meanings in the design and construction, which can act as social or political protection and power as well. Or in the case of recent events, masks are tools to fight against the spread of disease and illnesses by creating barriers between people and prevent contact. Giving the wearer protection from the external environment and a sense of security and safety.

    To expand on the ideas of the Masks exhibit, a libguide was created to offer a list of resources and other examples of how masks are present in society and used for various reasons. Books, articles, and images/videos related to the themes of fun, ritual/culture, identity, and protection are present on the page. Additionally, links to other exhibits on masks and how masks have been used in social movements and literary works are available. Discover more information about this topic in the libguide https://libguides.rutgers.edu/masks.

    Lauren Rossi and Triveni Kuchi