Category: Staff News

Judy Cohn Retires after Distinguished Four-Decade Career

Judy Cohn, Assistant Vice President for University Libraries and Associate University Librarian at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) Libraries, retired on September 1, 2022. Her retirement serves as the final milestone of an illustrious 40+ year career that began at the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Rutgers Medical School, Raritan Valley Hospital, and culminated at Rutgers University Libraries (RUL).

Judy Cohn at Alexander Library, August 2022 (photo by Dennis Mark/Rutgers University Libraries).

Judy received her BA (1975) and MLS (1976) from Rutgers University. She started her career as an Assistant Librarian at the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (CMDNJ) Rutgers Medical School, Raritan Valley Hospital in Greenbook, NJ, where she oversaw its collection development and management of its audiovisual collection, along with some public services responsibilities. Her career trajectory aligned with the growth of what is now RBHS, as she moved from positions held at CMDNJ Greenbrook to the University Medical Center in Stratford, NJ, before settling in Newark. During this period, Judy also nurtured and guided aspiring health sciences librarians as an adjunct faculty member with the Rutgers University School of Communication and Library Studies. Within a few years of arriving in Newark to serve as the Director of the George F. Smith Library of the Health Sciences, she began her ascent up the leadership ladder at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). She was promoted to Assistant University Librarian and Director for UMDNJ–Smith Library, then Acting University Librarian for UMDNJ. Before the merger, she was the Associate Vice President for Scholarly Information/University Librarian for UMDNJ for 11 years. In 2013, Judy became a part of the Rutgers University Libraries team as the result of the merger of Rutgers University and UMDNJ.

Her contributions to the Libraries, the University, and the library profession are substantial. Below are just a few examples:

Judy stewarded the UMDNJ Libraries throughout the UMDNJ/Rutgers University merger and the subsequent integration with the Rutgers University Libraries. In the aftermath of the integration and before the dust settled, she emerged as an invaluable member of the RUL Leadership Team, marshaling a talented and illustrious group of committed RBHS librarians and staff who fully immersed themselves in the RUL organization. In 2018, she organized the highly successful Scholarly Research Symposia for the RBHS faculty. Throughout the years, Judy had been called upon on multiple occasions to serve as Cabinet liaison to a Libraries working group, task force, or committee, including the Discovery Work Group, the Research and Scholarly Environment Working Group, and most recently, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.

Judy was a major contributor to the execution of the Resetting the Rutgers University Libraries plan in her role as the Assistant Vice President for University Libraries. She readily took on additional tasks to help the organization move forward, demonstrating her commitment to the success of RUL. Judy was a critical part of planning and implementing the team-building sessions for the RUL Leadership Team led by a group from the University’s Center for Organizational Leadership. Likewise, she was an instrumental partner as we collaborated with the re:work consultants, who led a group of our RUL colleagues through a strategic process resulting in drafts of new mission and aspirational statements. The consultants also conducted an organizational structure review of our Libraries. These are but some examples demonstrating Judy’s exceptional competence and effectiveness as a leader.

Judy’s expertise in Medical and Health Sciences librarianship was recognized by her colleagues at RBHS, where she served on the New Jersey Medical School Clinical Curriculum and Pre-Clinical Curriculum Committees. She boasts an extensive and illustrious history of professional service at the regional and national levels. Judy has led preeminent organizations in her field, serving as President of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries, President of the Health Sciences Library Association of New Jersey (HSLANJ), and Chair of the VALE Executive Committee (VALEnj). While these leadership roles are indicative of her reputation and the esteem in which she is held in the profession, she has also been recognized by her peers for her contributions to the field with numerous awards, including the Health Sciences Librarian of the Year award from HSLANJ and the Distinguished Service Award from the UMDNJ School of Health-Related Professions.

Retirement Party

On August 26, 2022, the Libraries hosted a retirement party for Judy at Calandra’s il Vecchio Cafe in Caldwell, New Jersey. More than 30 colleagues, family members, and friends attended to celebrate her remarkable career. Special guest speakers, including Judy’s husband (Lee), sister (Sara), and daughter (Jesse), regaled the audience with humorous stories and tales of Judy’s impressive accomplishments. Colleagues also took the opportunity to express their happiness and gratitude for Judy’s leadership and friendship.

Judy enjoyed her “Still the Boss” ornament.

Happy retirement, Judy!

Judy with family, friends, and colleagues.

Judy talks with guests at her retirement party.

Vice President for University Libraries and University Librarian Conseulla Askew (left) presents Judy with a Proclamation of Gratitude for her 40+ years of service.

Judy with members of the Rutgers University Libraries Leadership Team (from left: Dee Magnoni, Associate University Librarian at Rutgers–New Brunswick Libraries, VPUL/UL Conseulla Askew, Judy, Interim Associate University Librarian at Rutgers–Newark Rhonda Marker, and Director of Communications Dennis Mark).

August 8, 2022
John Brennan Promoted to Senior Executive Assistant to the Vice President for University Libraries and University Librarian

John Brennan was promoted to Senior Executive Assistant to the Vice President for University Libraries and University Librarian (VPUL/UL), effective August 6, 2022. John had ably served in this role in an interim capacity for seven months and will continue to be an asset to the Office of the VPUL/UL and the Rutgers University Libraries administration.

John has been with the Libraries since 2005 as a Senior Administrative Assistant for Technical and Automated Services (TAS), where he managed an assortment of diverse functions that included budget monitoring and reporting, facilities management, project management, and oversight for work-study students. In his new role, John will provide diversified and confidential support to VPUL/UL Consuella Askew and her office in a wide range of library-wide strategic areas. Among his new responsibilities, he will be the primary point of administrative contact for the VPUL/UL and the University Libraries for internal and external constituencies, manage my schedule, and will provide oversight and management for the administrative suite of the University Libraries.

August 5, 2022
Nita Mukherjee Retires after Nearly 40 Years of Service

After almost 40 years of dedicated service to the New Brunswick Libraries, Nita Mukherjee retired on August 1, 2022.

Over the last 30+ years, Nita worked at multiple locations across Rutgers University, Rutgers University Libraries (RUL), and New Brunswick Libraries (NBL). She started her career at Rutgers in 1982, working in the Data Control Department in the Administrative Services Building (ASB) on the Busch campus. In the mid-1980s, she joined the Circulation Department of the Douglass Library to start her career with RUL/NBL. During her time with RUL/NBL, Nita contributed greatly to the work at Copy Cataloging in the Library Technical Services Building (TSB), the Libraries Annex Access Services, Alexander Library Access Services, and Douglass Library Access Services. Finally, in 2008, she began her time managing the Chang Science Library on the Cook campus.

Nita is retiring as Branch Coordinator for the Stephen and Lucy Chang Science Library, a site she managed for the past 14 years. She made the Chang Library a warm and inviting location for students, faculty, and staff. She worked with countless undergraduate students over the years, both in her role as the site’s Student Coordinator and as the first contact at the circulation desk onsite. Nita thrived when helping students and faculty, bringing a mix of compassion, professionalism, and dedication to her work to these interactions.

Nita and her husband of 46 years, Arun, plan to continue living in the area. She looks forward to spending time with her family, her two daughters with careers in law and medicine, and her five grandchildren. She will devote more time to traveling, volunteering, and two of her long-standing passions: gardening and reading.

August 1, 2022
Dr. Consuella Askew Named Vice President for University Libraries and University Librarian

President Jonathan Holloway and Executive Vice President Prabhas Moghe make historic appointment for new leader of Rutgers University Libraries

Rutgers University has selected Dr. Consuella Askew as its new Vice President for University Libraries and University Librarian. On July 18, 2022, she became Rutgers’ 15th University Librarian and the first person of color in the institution’s 256-year history to hold the position.

“President Holloway and I believe that under Dr. Askew’s leadership, Rutgers is well suited to chart a strategic direction for Rutgers University Libraries, especially with a view to closely aligning the libraries to enhance the goals of academic units,” Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Prabhas Moghe said. “A part of this work will involve centering the Libraries at the heart of our community and our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging; optimizing the Libraries’ collections, personnel, and services to enrich the teaching, learning, and research that occur across the University; establishing organizational coherence across the Libraries; and developing a strategic plan—all values that President Holloway has articulated.”

Rutgers University Libraries is a core component of the University’s academic mission. The Libraries’ faculty and staff provide access to vast and unique resources, archives, and expertise to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, advance faculty and student teaching and research, and empower student success. Rutgers University Libraries rank among the nation’s top research libraries with more than five million volumes, over one million digital resources, and 26 integrated libraries, centers, and reading rooms throughout Rutgers campuses and chancellor-led units.

Leading the Way to Library Excellence

Askew brings to Rutgers a rich set of experiences and a library career that spans nearly 30 years. She is a forward-looking academician who has served as Interim Vice President for University Libraries and University Librarian since May 2021. In her previous role as the Associate University Librarian for Rutgers–Newark, Askew led Dana Library through a strategic planning process, a multimillion-dollar renovation, and an organizational restructuring to encourage innovation, community engagement, and operational excellence.

A Commitment to Higher Education

Prior to Rutgers, Askew worked in various educational settings, such as public schools, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), community colleges, and private and public institutions. Askew served as the Associate Dean for Public Services at Florida International University Libraries and held leadership positions at the City University of New York (CUNY), where she was appointed the inaugural Chief Librarian for the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. She was also a member of the research and development team that created LibQUAL+ for the Association of Research Libraries. This industry-standard tool is used to assess user perceptions of library service quality and has been adopted by over 1,300 libraries worldwide, including Rutgers. An active contributor to the academic libraries profession, Askew serves on the executive board of the HBCU Libraries Alliance and the editorial board for the award-winning journal portal: Libraries and the Academy. Askew has published and presented widely on cultivating library leadership, developing a culture of library assessment, and adapting library services to meet evolving user needs.

Askew holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Spelman College and a master’s degree in library and information studies from the University of North Carolina. She earned her doctoral degree in higher education from Florida International University. She is also an alumna of multiple prestigious library leadership programs, including UCLA’s Library Senior Fellows Program, the longest-standing formal leadership development program for librarians in the country.

July 25, 2022
Maggie Harris-Clark Retires after 50 Years of Service

Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway with Maggie Harris-Clark at the 2022 Rutgers Staff Service Recognition Reception in the President’s Tent on Bishop Place (photo by Nick Romanenko/Rutgers University)

After an extraordinary 50 years of service to the John Cotton Dana Library, Maggie Harris-Clark retired on July 1, 2022.

Maggie began working at Rutgers University in January 1972. It was a cold and clear day. The temperature eventually climbed to 34 degrees, from a low of 10 degrees. William T. Cahill was governor of New Jersey, and Kenneth A. Gibson was Mayor of Newark, the first African American Mayor of Newark. Edward Bloustein was president of Rutgers University, and Horace Depodwin was Acting Provost, succeeded by James Young, the first Provost of Rutgers-Newark. Thomas Shaughnessy was the director of Dana Library. Maggie would work with several more directors: Eugene Neely (1981), Lynn Mullins (1987), Mark Winston (2008), and Consuella Askew (2015), as well as several interim directors (most recently, Jeanne Boyle and Rhonda Marker). Maggie also served under 10 University Librarians/Interim University Librarians.

Maggie in her Dana Library office, ca. 2009

Initially, Maggie worked at the Rutgers Law Library (Newark) in the Government Documents Department in a grant-funded position for six months. She then spent another six months at Dana Library in the Technical Services Department before Dr. Shaughnessy hired Maggie full time. Maggie worked for another long-time Dana Library employee, Madeline DeSantis, to maintain the card catalog and the shelf list. At that time, the library was using physical library cards to charge out books, but progress took over and advanced to using keypunch cards. Maggie transferred to the Circulation Department to work in course reserves for almost 10 years under the supervision of Mrs. Mann. About 20 years ago, Maggie was promoted to a Library Supervisor position in Circulation. Maggie is retiring as the head of Access Services at Dana Library. She has successfully navigated many changes from implementing the first automated circulation system through our current Ex Libris products. She has represented Dana Library on many cross-campus groups, including the Fulfillment Working Group.

Although Maggie spent all her years at Rutgers on the Newark campus, she could be counted on to participate in Libraries-wide events. She has many friends throughout the Libraries who will miss her irrepressible optimism and kindness.

Reflecting on her five decades at the university, Maggie fondly said, “Rutgers was my home away from home. I enjoyed working with my colleagues to advance the Libraries’ mission and to ensure our faculty and students received excellent service.”

Maggie in the Dana Library’s new third-floor open study space, June 2022 (photo by Dennis Mark/Rutgers University Libraries)

This past June, President Jonathan Holloway and the university honored Maggie at the Rutgers Staff Service Recognition Reception. “I very much appreciated the recognition and respect,” Maggie remarked. “It’s wonderful knowing that I made a difference in the Rutgers community.”

In retirement, Maggie plans to continue being active in her church and the Eastern Star. Her pastor has already announced her expanded role to the congregation. She has many plans for volunteer work and is looking forward to doing more at home. She is especially looking forward to the birth of her first great-grandchild in August. As busy as she will be, Maggie promises to keep up with her friends at Rutgers.

We wish Maggie a long and happy retirement and express our warmest appreciation for her many years of steadfast service to Dana Library and Rutgers University.

July 6, 2022
Ermira Mitre Publishes Second Collection of Poetry, “LOTUS”

Ermira Mitre, a Library Technician at Smith Library, published her second poetry collection in May. Written in Albanian, LOTUS was featured at a book launch in Ermira’s hometown of Durrës, Albania, and a book fair in Kosovo.

Local writers, poets, and poetry enthusiasts attended the book launch organized by Ermira’s publisher and the Durrës public library. Several writers critiqued LOTUS, and four poets read from the book. A local news station’s segment about the event can be viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=hkqJAU0NpgY.

Ermira Mitre is a bilingual poet, essayist, and translator. Her poetry has appeared in various international and national poetry anthologies and journals, including Jerry Jazz Musician, Red Wheelbarrow Poets Journals, THE POET Anthology Series, Live Encounters, Kistrech Poetry Festival, Mediterranean Poetry, and Montclair Write Group. She published her first book of poetry, Soul’s Gravity, in Albanian and translated the fiction novel The King’s Shadow from Albanian into English. Currently, Ermira is writing her first English poetry collection, Blooming as a Sacred Lotus, as well as a bilingual anthology (English and Albanian).

July 1, 2022
Roberta “Bobbie” Tipton Retires after 37 Years of Service

Bobbie Tipton in Alexander Library, August 2022 (photo by Dennis Mark/Rutgers University Libraries)

Roberta “Bobbie” Tipton retired from her position as business librarian at Dana Library, effective July 1, 2022.

Bobbie started at Dana Library in 1985, hired as a reference librarian (business). Before coming to Rutgers, she began her library career as a medical librarian at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey, and as a corporate librarian at the Hayden Publishing Company. She is that rare breed that maintained her core responsibility to business librarianship throughout her 37-year career at Rutgers. In 1994, Bobbie added liaison responsibilities for the School of Public Affairs and Administration. Following Ann Watkins’ retirement, she provided library support for Rutgers University–Newark’s nursing program. She is a co-liaison to the Honors Living-Learning Community. She added to her business credentials by earning her MBA from the Graduate School of Management (Rutgers–Newark) in 1993.

Bobbie Tipton assisting a student.

Over the years, Bobbie mentored and worked alongside business librarian colleagues Ka-Neng Au, Wen-Hua Ren, and Jonathan Torres. She has authored and co-authored numerous articles and book chapters. Her latest article, “Statewide Access to Business Databases: States, Libraries and Support for Small Business,” co-authored with Ka-Neng Au, was published in Journal of Business and Finance Librarianship in August 2021. She has been a frequent presenter at various conferences, including Virtual Academic Library Environment (VALE), New Jersey Library Association (NJLA), and Special Libraries Association. At the last in-person NJLA conference in 2019, Bobbie presented as part of a panel along with two other Dana colleagues on the topic, “Focusing Student Engagement with Graded Assignments,” She received the NJLA/College and University Section Research Award twice, once in 1991 and again in 2018.

Bobbie has served in state and national professional associations and others, including the boldly named BRASS (Business Reference and Services Section) of the American Library Association, where she is currently a member of the Business Information Sources Committee. Her service to Rutgers includes faculty committees, campus committees (Newark Pandemic Flu Planning Committee, 2007–2009), and search committees. She is a member of the Collections Strategy Task Force and, until recently, served on the Advisory Committee on Appointments and Promotions. It is only coincidental—but in keeping with her dedication—that Bobbie’s last day in the office was spent interviewing a library faculty candidate as a search committee member for the Criminal Justice Librarian position.

From left: Bobbie Tipton, Bonnie Fong, the late Krista White, and Minglu Wang celebrate their New Jersey Library Association Research Award in April 2017.

Above all else, Bobbie thrives when she helps students and faculty. She is the author of many research guides—and the heir to almost as many; the count is up to 145 active LibGuides. She produced short videos to introduce and guide users through some of these videos. She has been a regular presence at the Dana Library Reference Desk and on the Ask a Librarian schedule. She provided uncounted instruction sessions to Rutgers Business School and School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) classes and the Writing Program at Rutgers–Newark.

Bobbie’s delightful humor brightened our libraries and meeting rooms. It will not surprise many that she compiled “Humor and Work: A Selected Bibliography” for The U*N*A*B*A*S*H*E*D* Librarian (1994). She has been an indefatigable librarian, devoted to student success, and generous to her colleagues. Bobbie will bring all these qualities to her continued work with learners of English as a second language in her community.

June 1, 2022
Stephanie Bartz Retires after More than 30 Years of Service

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.

February 1, 2022
An Evening with LIS Students

As the editor of a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, I interact with many people. I work closely with potential authors during the review and publication process, and often keep in touch with some of them after their papers have been published. This was the case with Dr. Keren Dali, whose paper I accepted for publication (see Keren Dali and Leah K. Brochu, “The Right to Listen: A Not So Simple Matter of Audiobooks,” Library Resources and Technical Services volume 64, no. 3 [2020]). Keren and I bonded over some mutual interests. She recently invited me to speak to the students in her Collection Management Course, which is offered by the Research Methods and Information Science Department of the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver. In her email invitation to me, Keren wrote, “This is a class on the selection and weeding of library materials, as well as related policies and HR procedures. It would be great if students could hear from a high-level manager in one of the top research academic libraries in the country.” Resource description and technical services work, particularly weeding and transfer projects, are important aspects of collection development and management and I was flattered to have been asked to discuss my work. When I was in graduate school, I found it beneficial to hear firsthand from practitioners about their work and experiences.

I’ve spoken to LIS classes before, and this was the first time I did it via Zoom. Pre-pandemic, I would’ve still needed to use videconferencing to speak to a class in Denver. The difference this time is that everyone participated via Zoom. I’ve become used to participating in meetings, conferences and webinars remotely. Keren’s class was small (14 students) and was a good size for discussion.

The evening was an informal, freely flowing discussion instead of a lecture. I was asked about my personal trajectory into librarianship, specifically academic librarianship. I discussed how I chose technical services librarianship (which actually wasn’t my first choice) and my experience managing a busy department in a large academic library. I truly enjoy the complexities of resource description and like that my work provides the infrastructure to enable my public services colleagues to successfully deliver reference service and to teach courses. It also gives our users the ability to find and select the resources they need.

Not surprisingly, the conversation touched on how our normal operations have changed due to COVID-19 and what implications it has had for collections and organizational processes. I described the challenges and successes of transitioning our cataloging operation to function remotely. That included making sure everyone had the equipment and access to the necessary technology to do their work. Fortunately, the cataloging resources we use (Classification Web, RDA Toolkit, Connexion) are all available remotely, and Alma is cloud based. Using WebEx for meetings was new for some of my staff, as was accessing files via Box. We developed a work plan before we began working remotely that specified who would do what work, which helped immensely with the transition to remote. Additionally, I noted that Rutgers, like many other research libraries, is using HathiTrust’s Emergency Temporary Access Services (ETAS), and also offering services like Click and Collect and home delivery to meet the needs of our users.

Questions that I was asked included how my work at Rutgers informs my work as the editor of Library Resources and Technical Services (great question!). The two are closely related, and my professional experience and knowledge come into play when I provide authors with feedback on their manuscripts. I’m aware of trends, past and present, that have a bearing on technical services work.

The importance of belonging to a professional organization (very important) was another question posed to me. I emphasized the benefits of sharing your expertise, as well as acquiring new expertise and gaining professional contacts. Although many conferences this year were virtual and a trend that may likely continue due to the benefits such as holding down costs and reducing time out of the office, I encouraged the students to attend them to find an organization that aligns with their interests and needs.

Librarianship has evolved so much since I was in graduate school. Remote classes weren’t even offered then. Technology is now such an important part of technical services work. Shared databases make it easier to obtain copy for the resources we catalog. Discussion lists and Facebook communities allow us to share information and resolve our problems. Speaking to a class of future library professionals was an uplifting experience. I was impressed by their enthusiasm and perceptive questions.

October 30, 2020
Announcing Archival Description of Notated Music and the Guidelines for Archival Description of Notated Music

In early October the Society of American Archivists (SAA) and the Music Library Association (MLA) co-published a new open-access ebook, Archival Description of Notated Music (ADNM), co-authored by the MLA Working Group for Archival Description of Music Materials, which I had the pleasure of co-chairing with Dr. John Bewley, a Rutgers alumnus and the retired associate librarian/archivist at the University at Buffalo Music Library. Working Group members also included Sofía Becerra-Licha, lead archivist at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Maristella Feustle, music special collections librarian at the University of North Texas; Vincent J. Novara, head of the Acquisitions and Processing Section in the Music Division at the Library of Congress; Matthew Snyder, archivist at the New York Public Library; and Karen Spicher, manuscript cataloger and processing archivist at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.

ADNM provides guidance intended for a wide readership and is helpful for experienced archivists with limited knowledge of music, music librarians with limited knowledge of archival practice, students in MLIS and archival studies programs, and others with responsibility for archival collections with notated music. The book includes discussion of fundamental archival principles as applied to collections with notated music, recommendations for descriptive approaches based on the musical and non-musical content of a collection, a glossary, and an annotated resource list. In addition, included as an appendix are the Guidelines for Archival Description of Notated Music, which provide a standard for archival description of notated music and represent the first subject-specific supplement to Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS). The Guidelines were endorsed by the SAA Council as an external standard at the end of 2019. Both the Guidelines and ADNM are available via MLA’s Humanities Commons repository. ADNM may also be downloaded free-of-charge from the SAA Bookstore.

The Working Group started the project in 2016, and none of us expected it to become a full-length book and professionally-endorsed standard, much less require four years and countless hours of meetings to complete. We took a collective approach to authorship: one or two group members drafted each section of the book, which we then revised and edited as a group. Although this approach was time-consuming, the final publications represent our consensus agreement on standardized archival practice and the full range of group members’ considerable expertise. We also solicited and incorporated feedback from colleagues in other music libraries and archives and collaborated closely with SAA’s Technical Subcommittee on DACS, which contributed to SAA’s endorsement of the Guidelines. This cross-organizational collaboration was essential to the successful outcome and will hopefully serve as a model for future DACS supplements.

October 29, 2020