The Agenda - Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Category: Articles

  • Rutgers University Libraries Celebrate Black History Month

    RUL Black History Month 2023 sign.

    The Libraries commemorated Black History Month with webinars, exhibits, and social media posts. Below are some highlights:

    Black History E-book Display at Robeson

    Photos courtesy of Rutgers–Camden’s Center for Urban Research and Education (CURE).

    Black History Month Display at Robeson 1 - Credit CURE

    Black History Month Display at Robeson 2 - Credit CURE

    Black History Month Display at Robeson 3 - Credit CURE

    Black History Month Display at Robeson 4 - Credit CURE

  • UL Letter to the Libraries – January–February 2023

    As we continue settling into 2023, I am excited to reiterate our three-phase plan for the Libraries’ organizational realignment, what we have accomplished to date, and the work that lies ahead of us. During Phase I, we agreed upon a new leadership structure to best position us for success. This decision was informed by the October 2022 town halls, where many of you shared your ideas and perspectives and when the online voting results were revealed. This process established two Libraries administrative positions: Assistant Vice President for Research and Learning Services and Associate Vice President for Campus Libraries. We have engaged the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller to lead our recruitment efforts and will shortly embark on a nationwide search for this critical position. The person in this role will provide focused day-to-day support for the AULs and work directly with them to identify synergies across the Libraries’ large and diverse geographical footprint.

    Phase II will focus on determining the functional areas and services reporting up through each AVP position. As one example, additional conversations are needed to identify where RUL’s distinctive collections and archives most appropriately fit under this leadership hierarchy. As always, our priority is to ensure our services directly align with and are nimble enough to meet the evolving needs of our users across the university. Phase III will follow and emphasize our workforce organization across the Libraries system. We expect to complete Phase III in early 2024.

    The realignment process requires careful deliberation, along with your steady engagement. By maximizing and leveraging our considerable human, intellectual, digital, and physical resources as one Libraries, we can more efficiently provide the vital and dynamic services expected of a 21st-century academic library. As we move into the next phases of this process, I encourage you to continue sharing your thoughts by contacting me directly or through the VP/UL anonymous comment form.

  • Save the Date for the Dana Library Celebration

    Please save the date for a celebration of the Dana Library Transformation!

    Date: Wednesday, March 29, 2023
    Time: 5:00–7:00 p.m.
    Location: Dana Library, 185 University Ave, Newark, NJ 07102

    This is an invitation-only event, so please stay tuned for RSVP information.

    Dana Library Transformation Celebration poster.

  • IJS Partners with NJPAC to Host Monthly Jazz Jam Sessions at Clement’s Place

    Clement's Place Jazz Jam Sessions (courtesy of Gregory Burrus).
    Jazz Jam Sessions at Clement’s Place (courtesy of Gregory Burrus)

    The Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) is partnering with the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) to host “Jazz Jam Sessions” at Clement’s Place. Sessions are held on the third Thursday of each month. The 10-month performance series runs from September 2022 through June 2023.

    Jazz Jam Sessions is directed by pianist and bandleader James Austin Jr. and feature some of the Garden State’s finest jazz musicians. Musicians and singers of all levels are encouraged to jam and improvise with the professional band throughout the night.

    Admission is free, but guests must RSVP to attend. For more information, please visit this link. Follow IJS on Facebook to watch live streams of the jam sessions and on Eventbrite to stay up to date with the latest performances.

    Upcoming Schedule

    • Thursday, March 16, 2023: RSVP
    • Thursday, April 20, 2023: RSVP
    • Thursday, May 18, 2023: RSVP
    • Thursday, June 15, 2023: RSVP

  • Libraries Celebrate Love Data Week

    RUL Love Data Week 2023

    Love Data Week is an international celebration of data. Every year during the week of Valentine’s Day, institutions and others interested in data host and participate in local data-related events. The Libraries have been promoting the event since 2016. Laura Palumbo, chemistry and physics librarian/science data specialist at the Library of Science and Medicine, organized the effort to showcase the Libraries’ data workshops. Since this year’s theme was “Data: Agent of Change,” Laura posted a list of data resources about social justice issues on the Speaking of STEM blog.

    Please visit this link to read more about the Libraries’ Love Data Week celebration.

  • New Social Media Pages

    RUL social media.

    To help the Rutgers community stay connected with the Libraries, we established two new accounts (LinkedIn and Mastodon) and replaced an old one (Facebook). Please follow and share the social media accounts below to spread the word about our exceptional resources and services!

    New! Facebook: facebook.com/RULibraries (Facebook deactivated our old page without a clear explanation)
    New! LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rutgerslibraries
    New! Mastodon: mastodon.social/@rutgerslibraries
    Twitter: twitter.com/RULibraries
    Instagram: instagram.com/rutgerslibraries
    YouTube: youtube.com/c/RutgersLibraries

  • 2023 Louis Faugères Bishop III Lecture: “Researching the Underground Railroad in the Digital Age” by Professor Graham Hodges

    Professor Graham Hodges (courtesy of Colgate University)
    Professor Graham Hodges (courtesy of Colgate University)

    Professor Graham Hodges, the George Dorland Langdon Jr. Professor of History and Africana Studies at Colgate University, will deliver the 2023 Louis Faugères Bishop III Lecture, “Researching the Underground Railroad in the Digital Age,” on Thursday, March 23, at 4:00 p.m. This year’s lecture will be held online. Please register at this link.

    Professor Hodges is the author of numerous books, including several related to African Americans in New Jersey. He is the author of Black New Jersey, 1664 to the Present Day (Rutgers University Press, 2019), Pretends to Be Free: Runaway Slave Advertisements from Colonial and Revolutionary New York and New Jersey (Fordham University Press, 2019), Root and Branch: African Americans in New York and East Jersey, 1613–1863 (The University of North Carolina Press, 1999), and Slavery and Freedom in the Rural North: African Americans in Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1660–1865 (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1997). He has directed eight National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminars (for teachers) on abolitionism and the Underground Railroad.

    The Bishop Lectures feature diverse topics on book and manuscript collecting, printing history, and the use of rare books and manuscripts. The series is named in memory of Louis Faugères Bishop Jr.’s son, a prominent cardiologist and book lover who helped build one of the excellent New York private libraries at the New York Racquet Club. Although he was a Yale University alumnus, Dr. Bishop had close family ties to Rutgers and New Brunswick—Bishop House and Bishop Place on the College Avenue campus were named after his ancestors. Dr. Bishop attended the first Bishop Lecture in 1985 but sadly died the following year.

     

  • Health Sciences Libraries Co-host World Cancer Day Event with the Global Health Institute

    On February 4, Health Sciences Libraries collaborated with Rutgers Global Health Institute to c0-host the 2023 World Cancer Day Recognition Event at Robert Wood Johnson Library. The two organizations also partnered on an “End Cancer” book billboard in observance of the day to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. Snacks, refreshments, and giveaways were provided.

    2023 World Cancer Day flyer.
    The 2023 World Cancer Day Recognition Event flyer.
    RWJ Library's "End-Cancer" book billboard.
    Health Sciences Libraries staff collaborated with the Global Health Institute to create the “End Cancer” book billboard in RWJ Library.
    2023 World Cancer Day flyer.
    The “End Cancer” book billboard in RWJ Library.
    World Cancer Day at RWJ Library.
    Heath Sciences Libraries partnered with the Rutgers Global Health Institute to raise awareness about cancer.
    World Cancer Day at RWJ Library.
    RWJ Library displayed medical books from the past and present to educate attendees about cancer.
    World Cancer Day at RWJ Library.
    Rutgers University Libraries swag.

  • Libraries Launch Queer Newark Oral History Project

    Queer Newark Oral History Project

    Rutgers University Libraries is pleased to announce the launch of the Queer Newark Oral History Project (QNOHP). QNOHP is a community-based and community-directed interdisciplinary initiative supported by Rutgers University–Newark. Queer Newark interviews LGBTQ and gender non-conforming people in Newark. We collect, catalog, and transcribe these oral histories to make their stories accessible to everyone, including researchers, students, and artists. Queer Newark also digitizes and preserves papers and artifacts about Newark’s LGBTQ history at Rutgers–Newark. Please visit this link to browse this collection.

    Work on the project took place over the spring and summer of 2022 in a collaboration between staff at Dana Library and the Libraries’ Central Applications and Development Team. QNOHP involved a partnership with the Department of History at Rutgers–Newark and received a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission to complete the work of transcribing and editing recorded oral histories. At their outset, the QNOHP and Newark Black Newspapers Collection projects were supported greatly by work performed by the late Krista White, digital scholarship and pedagogies librarian at Dana Library.

  • 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.