The Agenda - Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Category: Articles

  • Mid-Atlantic Futures Conference Report

    • Irina Radeva (r) and SC&I scholarship recipients.

    Last week, I attended the Mid-Atlantic Futures Conference held in Atlantic City, NJ. Four other School of Communication and Information students and I attended this exciting two-day event thanks to a scholarship provided by the Library and Information Science Department and were accompanied by two SC&I instructors, Dr. Ross Todd and Dr. Joyce Valenza. The gathering was a great way to come together with like-minded library professionals and discover how libraries can thrive in a world full of ever-changing technology and vast information.

    The main question posed by the conference was, “How do we predict the future?” Among those trying to answer were keynote speakers Kevin Mitnick, the most elusive computer hacker in history; David Pescovitz, the research director at the Institute of the Future; Nicole Baker Rosa from the Future Schools; and Rutgers’ own Dr. James Hughes, University Professor and former dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. Each speaker touched on the importance of knowing what libraries are and what they stand for, as well as keeping their eyes open not for trends, but for patterns that will point to the next big thing. There was a lot of discussion about artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented reality, and how they will affect both libraries and society. Acceleration strategist Phil Bowermaster proposed that the convergence of information and society is accelerating change, while communication specialist Rakia Reynolds shared a communication strategy that is both noticeable and disruptive.  Finally, Cindy Ball from Oculus Rift gave a demonstration of a virtual reality future that may be much closer than we think.

    So, how do we predict the future? We create it–with knowledge and imagination.

    I would like to thank Lilia Pavlovsky, director of the Master of Information program, who facilitated this opportunity for me, as well as Andy Martinez and Janet Croft for giving me approval to attend.

  • Quick Takes on Events and News – October 2017

    Chicago-Bound for Research Data Summit

    Congratulations to Yingting Zhang whose application for the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries’ Data Scholarship has been accepted. The award will support Yingting’s participation in the Research Data Access and Preservation Summit next year in Chicago. We look forward to hearing Yingting’s report from the conference!

    Fight the Flu. Get Your Shot!

    Don’t forget that Occupational Health will be providing flu shots for employees on Wednesday, October 4 from 11 a.m. to noon in the Pane Room of Alexander Library.

    Please RSVP to Michele Petosa at petosa@rutgers.edu by October 2. Be sure to download the consent form at http://occhealth.rutgers.edu/FluVaccine2017.html, print, complete, and bring it with you.

    It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s—The Artists’ Bookmobile!
    Peter and Donna Thomas return to Rutgers with their Artists’ Bookmobile on October 4.

    Rutgers University Libraries and art librarian Megan Lotts are delighted to welcome Peter and Donna Thomas and their traveling Artists’ Bookmobile back to Rutgers. Peter and Donna are known for their workshops in paper and book arts. Visit the Artists’ Bookmobile—a self-contained exhibit of book arts—and learn how they make their books. Join in a book arts sing along at 3 p.m. featuring a ukulele book.

    The Bookmobile will be parked outside Alexander Library on October 4 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. See you there!

    Carr is Cutting the Ribbon

    Join us on Tuesday, October 17 at 10 a.m. as we dedicate the James Dickson Carr Library in honor of Rutgers University’s first African American graduate. The program includes remarks by Rutgers–New Brunswick chancellor Debasish Dutta, an exhibit of materials about Carr and the history of the former Kilmer Library, as well as a reception. Please register to attend at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/carr-library-dedication-ceremony-registration-38281939311.

    #RutgersDana50 Kicks Off on a High Note

    Dana Library kicked off its 50th anniversary celebration with a birthday bash during Rutgers–Newark’s Fall Fest in September. The festivities included cupcakes and a live performance by hip-hop/jazz fusion band Nickel and Dime OPS. Check out a clip of the band courtesy of @RUNewark_Dana on Twitter.

    Exploring the Wonderful World of Illusions

    Thomas V. Papathomas, director of the Rutgers Laboratory of Vision Research, visited the Library of Science and Medicine last week for a special presentation on optical illusions, how our minds process perspective, and even how illusions can be used as accurate measures of schizophrenia.

    Aiding the Relief Effort in Puerto Rico

    Alexander and Dana Libraries hosted open data editathons last week in response to the Red Cross’s request for geospatial data to help with their relief operations on the island. Participants mapped from pre-hurricane imagery to give those involved in the relief efforts an operating picture of the island before the storm made impact. Kudos to our colleagues Francesca Giannetti and Krista White for their part in bringing this program together so quickly!

    New Video for Banned Books Week

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  • The Rutgers University Libraries Website Style Guide from Integrated Information Systems

    The Rutgers University Libraries Website style guide explains the rules and conventions that go into defining typography and the appearance of website elements on our website. Its goal is to provide a cohesive and coherent experience for website users and content creators. An internal style guide has been in existence since the redesign of the libraries’ website in June 2013. However, growing demand for custom content from colleagues and requests for mini-sites, established a need to make the style guide available to users across the libraries. Not everyone knows – or should be expected to know – how to create a webpage. The style guide provides a clear idea of what to expect when, for example, you want to display tabular data or, have an article on the website that uses pull quotes. Content creators amongst our library colleagues can use it when visualizing their pages. Developers can use it as a reference when coding new pages. It functions as a common reference for both.

    On a technical level, the style guide is structured such that it provides an example of the treatment of a website element, followed by the CSS code used to style the element, and the HTML code that displays it in the browser. On a general, stylistic level, it defines how pages are structured on the website, such as addressing questions regarding the appearance and location of navigational links within a mini-site. It also informs us about overarching style rules that users might be interested in knowing, such as the font family (Droid Sans) and generic typeface (sans-serif) that body copy defaults to throughout the site.

    The developers and designers in Integrated Information Systems are available to create webpages that use the style guide as a guideline, rather than a limitation, with possibilities for creativity and experimentation, to build the best experience for our users and our colleagues.

    Access the website style guide here: https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/styleguide

     

  • 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

  • Back to School Outreach to Our Users

    The fall semester officially begins in four days, and we are prepared. Matt Badessa made this wonderful welcome video for our students. We weren’t sure how it would turn out, so we kept the project relatively small and only interviewed faculty and staff in New Brunswick. We are happy with the video and would like to do more like this in the future. Let us know if you’d like to participate or if you have an idea for a short video about the Libraries or a service.

    We are also sending out a September newsletter to our email list, featuring current exhibits and upcoming events. You should receive a copy of this on the morning of September 5th. It includes the following events:

    John Haworth, senior executive emeritus of the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, visits Alexander Library on September 19 to share his knowledge about cultural and arts issues impacting Native Americans, including key museum practices, repatriation, and social change.

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    Relive the rich history of student art and literary magazines at Rutgers with By Ourselves: Rutgers Student Literary Journals 1923–2017, a joint exhibition of the Robeson Library and the Rutgers–Camden Writers House from September 1 to October 31. Spanning nearly a century and two campuses, this exhibition highlights the creativity and initiative of Rutgers students through Quintessence, The Anthologist, and other publications.

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    The Libraries at Rutgers–New Brunswick will help new and returning students ease into the semester again this year with snack breaks during Welcome Days.

    • September 6 & 7, 2 p.m. Cookies and coffee at Douglass Library.
    • September 7, 1–2 p.m. Popcorn on the steps of the Art Library and Zimmerli Museum
    • September 7, 2–3 p.m. Snack break at Carr Library
    • September 12, 2–3 p.m. Snack break at Carr Library
    • September 26, 1:30–2:30 p.m. Snack break at Alexander Library

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    In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Douglass Residential College, the artwork of renowned feminist artist and Rutgers graduate Mimi Smith will be on display at Douglass Library from September 5 through December 15. Embodying the relationship between everyday life, intimacy, anxiety, and time, Smith’s works include clothing made from plastic and steel wool, traditionally rendered drawings, drawings made from knotted thread and tape measures, clocks, and knitted sculptures.
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    With support from a Freedom to Read Foundation grant, the Art Library will host a number of programs celebrating Banned Books Week from September 24 to September 30. The activities will provide students, faculty and staff, and community members the opportunity to explore the ideas of intellectual freedom, censorship, and banned books by creating and displaying original art.

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    The New Brunswick Music Scene Archive in Special Collections and University Archives will kick off Hub City Sounds’ ROCK New Brunswick music festival weekend on September 8 with a discussion panel featuring New Brunswick music insiders past and present: Dennis Diken of The Smithereens, Sharief Hobley of Sharief in Burgundy, Makin Waves columnist Bob Makin, Audrey Rose of The Wichts, and Spina Records’ Andrew Spina.

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    This fall, data librarian Ryan Womack will offer a series of workshops on statistical software and data at both Alexander Library and the Library of Science and Medicine. September’s topics include “Introduction to SPSS, Strata, and SAS”; “Introduction to R”; and “Data Visualization in R.”

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    Special Collections and University Archives’ exhibit “Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken!”: New Jersey in the Great War has been extended to September 22. Featuring one-of-a-kind documents, photographs, and artifacts reflecting the wartime experiences of New Jerseyans both at home and abroad, this display is a must-see for Garden State history buffs and World War I aficionados alike.

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    John Cotton Dana Library will commemorate its 50th anniversary with a host of free events and activities throughout the academic year. Exhibits showcasing the history of the library and its namesake as well as a birthday party during Rutgers–Newark’s Fall Fest will highlight the fall schedule. A number of guest speakers will visit the library to share their wisdom throughout the spring semester, and the year will culminate with a special event on Rutgers Day. Additional details are forthcoming, so stay tuned to our website for the latest on the #RutgersDana50 celebration.

    If you have an event coming up in September that is not mentioned here – there is still time to include it in our email newsletter. Send info to jessica.pellien@rutgers.edu.

  • Friends Toast the Life of Ed Berger

    Ed Berger by Joe Wilder - 2001e
    Ed Berger, 2001. Photograph by Joe Wilder. Berger’s biography of trumpeter and fellow photographer Joe Wilder, Softly with Feeling, was published in 2014.

    Tears and laughter punctuated remembrances of longtime Institute of Jazz Studies associate director Ed Berger, during a celebration of his life on August 18 at the Dana Library.

    Berger, who died of heart failure January 21 at his home in Princeton Junction, joined the staff of the Institute in 1975. He filled many roles with uniform excellence: administrator, librarian, educator, discographer, scholar, editor, photographer, author, record producer, and label owner. He was known by those who met him in casual encounters and others who interacted with him over decades for his dedication to disseminating jazz history and for his compassion, modesty, and quiet killer wit.

    Among those taking the podium in the Dana Room included Institute colleagues: former director Dan Morgenstern; director of operations Vincent Pelote; executive director Wayne Winborne; associate director Adriana Cuervo; archivists Elizabeth Surles, Angela Lawrence, and Tad Hershorn; public service associate Joe Peterson; and collections manager Elsa Alves. Morgenstern, who led the Institute for 36 years, stressed his admiration for Berger’s expertise and many talents that, along with the efforts of Pelote, positioned the Institute to extend its international reputation.

    Morroe Berger and Malcolm X listen to jazz records. photo credit: Ed Berger.
    Morroe Berger and Malcolm X listen to jazz records in the Bergers’ apartment in Cairo in 1964. Photograph by Ed Berger

    Hershorn produced a slide show of images of Berger’s life and photography, entitled “Triumph of the Quiet Man,” which focused on his family, jazz photography, and years at the Institute. (Among the photos was one of his father Morroe Berger, a famous Princeton sociologist, whose work took him to the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s. Ed’s picture shows his father with Malcolm X in the living room of the Bergers’ Cairo apartment in 1964 listening to recordings of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.)

    Other guests included vice president for information services and university librarian Krisellen Maloney and Tom Frusciano and Erika Gorder from Special Collections and University Archives.

    Benny Carter, credit: Ed Berger
    The long association between the Benny Carter and the Berger families, which went on from the early 1970s until Berger’s death in January, was one their most fruitful associations. Photograph by Ed Berger, 1989.

    Musical tributes were offered by Newark veteran tenor saxophonist Leo Johnson and New York singer and pianist Daryl Sherman, both of whose CD covers were graced by the work of Berger (gratis, of course). Drummer Kenny Washington, one of the busiest drummers in New York and a frequent Institute patron, said Berger was one of the go-to guys to answer questions on the history and the music, as did Scott Wenzel, a 30-year veteran of Mosaic Records, jazz’s premiere reissue label.

    Berger’s younger brother Ken, also of Princeton Junction, who–along with another brother Larry of San Francisco–provided images for the slide show, represented the family at the event at Dana Library.

    Another gathering in Berger’s honor will take place between 3-5:30 on Sunday, September 24 at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where Berger taught courses as part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Swing University. Please RSVP by September 1 by contacting Larry Berger at rsvp@lpb.com.

    The Berger-Carter Jazz Research Fund at the Institute, memorializing the relationship between the Berger family and jazz great Benny Carter, will soon be renamed to include Ed’s name.

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  • 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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  • Notes on 2017 WLIC, 83rd IFLA General Conference and Assembly

    Notes on 2017 WLIC, 83rd IFLA General Conference and Assembly

    • Printing press gnome . Wroclaw is famous for its small bronze gnomes scattered around the city. Each has a theme and it started representing a protest movement in the 1980s. There are 400 or so of them in the city. Credit: Kayo Denda.

    The 2017 IFLA WLIC took place in Wroclaw, a lovely city in the southwestern region of Poland from 19 to 25 August, 2017. With the theme Libraries. Solidarity. Society, the congress brought together thousands of representatives of the library field. IFLA’S Global Vision brainstorming that started earlier this year in Athens, Greece continued in Wroclaw, and as Donna Scheeder, IFLA President expressed, the delegates got together “to explore how a connected library field can meet the challenges of the future. Hopefully the final report will be released soon. Library staff around the world will be encouraged to vote supporting (or not) the document when the final draft is released.

    One of the highlights of the congress for me was the Social Science Libraries one-day workshop titled Understanding Your Library from the Inside Out: A Workshop in Library Ethnography for User Assessment. Our workshop leader was Celia Emmelhainz, Anthropology and Qualitative Research Librarian from UC Berkeley and our keynote speaker was Lynn Silipigny Connaway, Senior Research Scientist and Director of User Research at OCLC. We were very fortunate to hold the workshop in a brand new library facility at Wroclaw University Library. The workshop, capped at thirty participants, attracted participants from twelve countries affiliated with eleven IFLA units, and eight librarians from the host institution also joined the workshop. Through hands on exercises, we learned the importance of qualitative assessment of library services in capturing the behaviors of elusive library users. These rich and nuanced data provides important information to support decisions about resources and services. Despite her busy schedule during the congress, Dee Magnoni was able to join us at the workshop. So did Kay Cassell, faculty emerita from SC&I, LIS.

    Qualitative assessment was mentioned a few times during the congress. Jim Neal, the ALA President, stressed the importance for the libraries to depart from simple statistics collection and focus on the context and relationships beyond the numbers. The ethnography in libraries was also mentioned in Dona Scheeder’s remarks during the congress opening. Clearly the library leaders recognize the need to go beyond the numbers to gain access to rich and meaningful information in order to shape future direction of libraries.

    Organizing this workshop in Wroclaw while in New Jersey was extremely challenging. I was fortunate to work with Grażyna Piotrowicz, Director of Wroclaw University Libraries, who shared her local knowledge and invaluable insights with me. I was also assisted by Rutgers University Libraries/Rutgers University colleagues who put me in touch with key individuals and provided significant administrative assistance. It really took a village to make the ethnographic workshop successful!

    Kayo Denda
    Head, Margery Somers Foster Center & Women’s Studies Librarian
    Former Chair of IFLA, Social Science Libraries Section

     

  • Where in the World is Shared User Services?

    Where in the World is Shared User Services?

    Nearly a year ago, the Libraries reorganized to form a central user services unit, Shared User Services. While we are still building, major structures are coming together. Here’s a progress report to let you know who we are, where you can find us, and some of the things we are up to.

    SUS began with several people in the former Scholarly Communication Center department: Isaiah Beard (Digital Data Curator), Ron Jantz (Digital Library Architect), Peter Konin (Digital Project Coordinator), and Rhonda Marker (Director of Shared User Services). Marty Barnett (Digital Library Applications Specialist) moved from IIS to join us. This summer, Joseph Deodado (Digital User Services Librarian) and Amy Kimura (Web Services Librarian) came on board. We are currently recruiting for a new Virtual Reference Services Librarian.

    Our physical work home is in Alexander Library on the 4th floor. Our online home is on the Staff Resources pages of the Libraries website. We have an up to date SUS Contacts list where you can see who to contact, from digital curation and digital file questions (Isaiah Beard) to virtual reference services (currently, Joseph Deodato and Natalie Borisovets). No, Natalie has not moved to SUS. She is still at Dana Library, where she has been the glue holding together the chat reference schedule across all of RUL. When we hire the new Virtual Reference Services Librarian, we’ll update our contacts list.

    SUS coordinates discovery, the shared components of reference (chat, email), and the public-facing libraries website. We also have a coordinating role for digital projects – but that story will have to wait for a future issue of The Agenda. Two working groups that support improvements to discovery of library resources, the Discovery Working Group and the Library Catalog Committee, report to the Head of Shared User Services. Their minutes and other useful information are now located on the SUS web pages of Staff Resources. Cabinet recently charged the Web Improvement Team, which is ambitiously meeting on the first day of the fall semester. We are all looking forward to seeing the fruits of their labors – and you will be able to read all about it on the SUS web pages.

    From time to time, the Libraries identify other services that call for a central user services role. This was the case for the modernization of our library hours information. Staff in SUS and IIS collaborated on configuring the information in LibCal (from SpringShare) and worked with many people in all our library locations to assemble the details of buildings, service points, and shifting calendars. We could not have done it without you. We are still adding details and features so that this new way of presenting our library hours gives our users the information they need. Ongoing support for library hours resides in SUS (Marty Barnett).

    There is a lot more that we are doing, and we are excited about the work ahead of us. Most of all we look forward to working with all of you in the Libraries. If you ever want to chat, now you know where to find us!

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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.