The Agenda - Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Category: Staff News

  • Quick Takes on Events & News – September 2016

    Making Rowan University and Camden County College Students Feel Welcome

    Through a partnership agreement, Paul Robeson Library is now the campus library for Rowan University and Camden County College students. Bart Everts is the library liaison for these students and has started a new Facebook page to share information about their library privileges and resources. The agreement allows students to access the library, use library databases, and check out books using their student ID cards. Robeson also has computers reserved for their use.

     

    Morroe Berger 200Morroe Berger–Benny Carter Jazz Research Fund

    Each year the Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) awards up to ten grants of $1,000 each to assist jazz researchers. Half of the awards are designated for students in the Rutgers University-Newark Master’s Program in Jazz History and Research and half are awarded to scholars from other institutions or unaffiliated researchers to enable them to visit IJS in conjunction with their projects. To date, we have given more than 70 awards to scholars and students worldwide working in a variety of disciplines, including jazz history, musicology, bibliography, and discography.

    Applications for the 2017 grants are due October 21, 2016. Awards will be announced by November 14.

     

    “Homecoming! Some Highlights from the Library of J. Milton French” at Alexander Library

    Homecoming! Some Highlights from the Library of J. Milton French is on display now in the Scholarly Communication Center at Alexander Library. This case exhibit features a selection of volumes recently donated to Rutgers by the family of J. Milton French (1895–1962), a Milton scholar and professor of English at the university from 1940 to 1960.

    The books on display include rare first and early editions of works by John Harington, Richard Barckley, Michael Drayton, Ben Jonson, John Suckling, George Wither, William Wollaston, and John Milton.

     

    New Brunswick Music Scene ArchiveNew Brunswick Music Scene Symposium Planned for October 27, 2016

    Save the date. Special Collections and University Archives will hold the next New Brunswick Music Scene Archive symposium on October 27, 6 p.m. in the Teleconference Lecture Hall at Alexander Library. Stay tuned for more information, including the participants. In the meantime, here’s a look back at the 2015 symposium, featuring a who’s who of New Jersey music (http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/news/symposium-local-notables-inaugurate-new-brunswick-music-scene-archive).

     

    Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series Galleries at Douglass Library is hosting Laura Anderson Barbata: Collaborations Beyond Borders through December 16. Credit: Laura Anderson Barbata.
    Credit: Laura Anderson Barbata.

    Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series Galleries Welcomes “Laura Anderson Barbata: Collaborations beyond Borders”

    This fall, the Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series Galleries in the Mabel Smith Douglass Library will welcome the 2016-17 Estelle Lebowitz Endowed Visiting Artist Exhibition, Laura Anderson Barbata: Collaborations Beyond Borders. The exhibit contains selected highlights of textile, sculptural, 2-dimensional, and video works from the traveling exhibition Transcommunality.

     

    Peep Show large image“Peep Show: Books from the Art Library X Room” Exhibit at Rutgers Art Library

    Megan Lotts has raided the X Room to put on a case display of beautiful, surprising, amusing, and impressive books.

    Stop by to get a taste of the treasures that reside in the Rutgers Art Library’s archives.

    Location: Rutgers Art Library

     

     

     

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  • The Final Report on Latino Americans: 500 Years of History

    Latino Americans: 500 Years of History was made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.
    Latino Americans: 500 Years of History was made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.

    Rutgers University Libraries recently concluded the ALA-funded program Latino Americans: 500 Years of History. Over the course of a year, Rutgers and other scholars led 17 PBS film screening discussions about the experience of Latinos in New Jersey in collaboration with Rutgers University Libraries, the Nilsa L. Cruz-Perez Branch of the Camden County Library, New Brunswick Free Public Library, and the Newark Public Library.

    Beyond the film showings in Spanish and English, project partners offered exhibits, book talks, lectures, and special celebrations. Highlights include A Day of the Dead Celebration and Cinco de Mayo festivities in New Brunswick showcasing a variety of performances and children’s activities; a Cuban musical concert by renowned singer Gema Corredera; the exhibit “Beyond Exile: Cubans in New Jersey” at the Newark Public Library, including a keynote address by Lisando Pérez; and two separate exhibitions at the Rutgers Art Library, Ilya Genin’s “Photographs of Cuban Revolution 50 Years Later,” and “From Island to Ocean: Caribbean and Pacific Dialogues by Fidalis Buehler and Juana Valdes.”

    As project director Nancy Kranich notes in the final report on this initiative, this program allowed Rutgers University Libraries to become “a catalyst for bringing together scholars and organizations involved with the New Jersey Latino American experience and encouraging more attention to documenting it. The grant enabled us to take a more assertive role in building and strengthening relationships with local Latino communities and the scholars, organizations, and public libraries that interact with them.”

    Kranich also lists several other outcomes that may be of interest to our colleagues:

    • Several new items were added to Special Collections, including several leaflets of unpublished poetry by Newark poet Pablo Le Riverend, clippings of anti-Castro activities in Hudson County, Sarah Hirschman’s papers covering People & Stories/Gente y Cuentos.
    • The publisher and owner of Impacto, published in the 1960s, donated 99 issues of the publication to Rutgers University.
    • 15 Latino clubs are Rutgers are planning to learn how to organize and preserve their own records in conjunction with Rutgers University Libraries’ archivists.
    • Two possible books are in discussion: a history of Latinos in NJ and an anthology of unpublished documents about Latino migrant workers in NJ and the United States.
    • The New Brunswick Free Public Library and Rutgers University Libraries are discussing partnering again on another ALA public programming grant proposal.
    • A deeper understanding of the Latino collections in the state and increased participation in depositing scholarly works into our Rutgers Inclusion and Diversity Research Portal.

    For additional information about this program, please visit the project LibGuide

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  • Quick Takes on Events & News – August 2016

    Libraries’ Wordsmith Wins National Slogan Contest

    Mary Beth Weber won the ALCTS Slogal Contest for her slogan, “Creating the future, preserving the past.” This slogan will be used during the 60th anniversary celebration of ALCTS in 2017. In addition to bragging rights, Mary Beth also received a prize of registration for CE webinars valued at $350. Congratulations Mary Beth!

     

    Peep Show large image“Peep Show: Books from the Art Library X Room” Exhibit at Rutgers Art Library

    Megan Lotts has raided the X Room to put on a case display of beautiful, surprising, amusing, and impressive books.

    Stop by to get a taste of the treasures that reside in the Rutgers Art Library’s archives.

    Location: Rutgers Art Library

     

    It’s Getting Hot in Here

    Late in July, America faced record temperatures outside and Smith Library in Newark was no exception. With the A/C out for several days, the librarians and staff had to come up with new ways to keep their cool. Here, a short haiku on the experience:

    The books are burning!
    Librarians are weeping…
    The heat is too much.

    – Sarah Jewell

     

    Communications Tip – Using Rutgers Go to Shorten URLs

    1Want a short, trackable URL to use in an email or social media post? There are many URL shorteners on the market including goo.gl, bitly, and ow.ly, but go.rutgers.edu offers something the others can’t–an actual Rutgers URL to make your link appear official and trustworthy. This service allows Rutgers users to quickly and easily shorten a URL and track how many times that URL is viewed.

    For example, in a social media post over the weekend, I shortened a URL for a news story in the Keene Sentinel from http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/in-a-wired-world-local-libraries-turn-page-to-the/article_615d127a-ac0a-5f4e-904d-fb0a595a39ea.html to http://go.rutgers.edu/rhuu643k. Checking in today, I can see that link has been used 129 times since July 30.

    While I used the same shortened URL on both Facebook and Twitter, I could have created separate shortened URLs for each social media site to track the relative traffic. I did this for an earlier post about the New Brunswick Music Scene Archive, which allowed me to see the number of views on each platform (162 for Twitter, 7 for Facebook).

    I highly recommend you try out go.rutgers.edu if you have not already done so.

    –Jessica Pellien

    New Brunswick Music Scene ArchiveNew Brunswick Music Scene Symposium Planned for October 27, 2016

    Save the date. Special Collections and University Archives will hold the next New Brunswick Music Scene Archive symposium on October 27, 6 p.m. in the Teleconference Lecture Hall at Alexander Library. Stay tuned for more information, including the participants. In the meantime, here’s a look back at the 2015 symposium, featuring a who’s who of New Jersey music (http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/news/symposium-local-notables-inaugurate-new-brunswick-music-scene-archive).

     

    Full Text Finder Training

    ftf_logoThis fall the Rutgers Libraries will be migrating to Full Text Finder, EBSCO’s newest holdings and link management tool designed to replace its A-to-Z and LinkSource services, which are being phased out. A-to-Z is the product that powers the Libraries’ electronic journals search. LinkSource is the product that powers its link resolver service (locally known as “Get it @ R”). Although the basic functionality of these tools has not changed much, we have taken the opportunity to introduce a few custom modifications that we hope will simplify the process of finding full-text articles and improve the overall user experience. If you’d like to learn more about Full Text Finder and the upcoming changes, feel free to attend one of the 30 minute drop-in sessions scheduled in August. Videoconferencing to Dana, Robeson, and Smith is available upon request.

    Full Text Finder Information Sessions

    • August 4 @ 2 p.m. — LSM Conference Room, Library of Science & Medicine
    • August 8 @ 2 p.m. — Pane Room, Alexander Library
    • August 11 @ 2 p.m. — Pane Room, Alexander Library

     

    Buttons! Buttons for Everyone!

    Sample buttons v2
    Custom buttons are now available from the Communications Department.

    The buttons we mentioned in the July issue of The Agenda proved a popular giveaway at the New Student Orientations in New Brunswick. This is a relatively low-cost and fun way to run a promotion or to market something at the Libraries. If you are interested in borrowing our machine for a project, please make sure to purchase the supplies that are available here. We’re happy to train you or your student workers on how to create buttons.

     

    You’ve Got People, Now What?

    August 3, 2016
    9 a.m. – 1 p.m.NEW DATE!    		 This course is ideal for new and experienced managers, supervisors, and administrators who have direct reports and would like to apply their knowledge of personal styles to flexibly manage their staff.

    Location:  Pane Room, 1st floor, Alexander Library

    RSVP: Erica Parin on behalf of the Professional Development Committee

    Manager as Leader – Developing Staff

    August 30, 2016
    9 a.m. – 12 p.m.    		 This course is ideal for managers, supervisors, and administrators who would like to sharpen their situational leadership skills and discover how flexible and effective they are in a variety of situations with staff.

    Location:  Pane Room, 1st floor, Alexander Library

    RSVP: Erica Parin on behalf of the Professional Development Committee

     

  • Announcing New Shared Drive – Central

    USA-NYC-Grand_Central_Terminal_Clock
    Image credit: Ingfbruno – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27955753

    The Libraries now have a Central drive (T:\CENTRAL) where shared items of interest to all areas of the Libraries can be stored. The plan is to eventually store shared resources, information, procedures, and manuals in this location. Currently, it contains folders for Assessments, Collection Development and Management, Communications and Marketing, Photos and Media, Procedures and Resources, and Visual Identity, but more folders will be added as needed. Some of the folders are read-only, while others like Photos and Media are available to all for adding materials.

    Please take some time to peruse the folders:

    • Jeanne Boyle recently sent an invitation to view the LibQUAL+ survey results now stored in the Assessments folder.
    • Under Visual Identity, you will find resources that are useful if you are making flyers, advertisements, or website graphics, such as the colors, fonts, logos, and letterheads that are approved by University Communications and Marketing.
    • Photos and Media is a one-stop place to find images of our spaces, our events, and faculty & staff.
    • The communications department has also moved their folders from the ALEX drive to Central location Communications and Marketing.
    • Procedures and Resources currently holds the recent communications policies for photography and fielding requests to photograph in the Libraries, but will be populated with other materials, procedures, and FAQs in the future.

    These changes are partly philosophical–these are resources we all share and shouldn’t be housed on one of the unit server locations–but they are also intended to surface important materials and provide a single authoritative place to look for procedural information and guidance. If you have feedback, suggestions for how to further improve this shared drive, or materials you would like added to this drive, please speak with your unit director or supervisor.

  • Joyce Watson Retires from Dana Library

    Dana Library colleagues of longtime Circulation Desk supervisor Joyce Watson joined her in celebrating her retirement after 15 years with Rutgers University Libraries, effective June 30. From left: Maggie Harris-Clark, Alex and Doris Arencibia, Natalie Borisovetz (foreground), Andrea Lakios, Ka-Nang Au, Linda Becker, Joyce Watson (foreground, seated), Amber Judkins, Bonnie Fong, Robert Nahory, Dorothy Grauer, Janet Giorgio, and Library Director Consuella Askew. Photograph by Mark Papianni.
    Dana Library colleagues of longtime Circulation Desk supervisor Joyce Watson joined her in celebrating her retirement after 15 years with Rutgers University Libraries, effective June 30. From left: Maggie Harris-Clark, Alex and Doris Arencibia, Natalie Borisovetz (foreground), Andrea Lakios, Ka-Nang Au, Linda Becker, Joyce Watson (foreground, seated), Amber Judkins, Bonnie Fong, Robert Nahory, Dorothy Grauer, Janet Giorgio, and Library Director Consuella Askew. Photograph by Mark Papianni.

    The apple will not fall far from the tree after Joyce Watson retires from Dana Library on June 30 after 15 years of service. The longtime circulation desk supervisor expects to continue sharing her knowledge of libraries and information technology as a volunteer with the public libraries in Asbury Park and nearby Neptune, in addition to spending more time with family and church work.

    “For me, retirement means continuing to expand my level of knowledge and ability to encourage students’ desires to learn beyond their wildest dreams in libraries,” Watson said recently.

    Her first position with Rutgers University Libraries, in 2001, was with the Library of Science and Medicine in Piscataway before transferring to Dana. Passionate about working with students and technology–putting a world of knowledge at patrons’ fingertips–Joyce dug in as an adult learner to earn an MLIS at Rutgers between 2005 and 2009.

    Watson, a native of New Smyrna in central Florida, arrived in New Jersey in 1966 and spent nearly a decade and a half doing factory work in the pharmaceutical industry in New Brunswick. Along the way, she earned a journalism degree from Rutgers University. “I liked writing and wanted to tell stories,” she said. “Then I wanted to roam.”

    Her cross-country travels with daughter Tynyetta in tow over the next several years began in Florida and made their way to Atlanta, Houston, Denver, and Los Angeles, where she found work at colleges and universities. Her daughter made the trip as far as Los Angeles, where she has a long and successful career as a hair stylist and now resides with her family, including husband Joe, four sons, and two step-children. All combined, Joyce has nine grandchildren upon whom she can lavish her attention.

    Combining her backgrounds in storytelling, libraries, and archives, Joyce was the onetime historian for Mount Zion A.M.E Church in New Brunswick and currently is archivist for St. Stephen’s A.M.E. Church in Asbury Park.

    She cites former Dana Library director Lynn Mullins and current director Consuella Askew as “gems who encouraged me in all my endeavors.”

    Join us as we wish Joyce happiness and further intellectual “endeavors” in her retirement!

  • RBHS Librarians Present Eight Posters at Medical Library Association

    • Author: Yini Zhu

    Rutgers University Libraries were well represented at the poster session for the annual meeting of the Medical Library Association (MLA). A total of eight posters were presented by librarians from RWJ and Smith Libraries that capture a range of activities from access services and event assessment to systematic review and participation in medicine rounds. The posters were selected by juries comprised of association members and RBHS bears the distinction of having the most posters from a single library system in the show.

    Held from May 13 – 18, 2016, In Toronto, this year the meeting was a collaboration by MLA, the Canadian Health Libraries Association/Association des bibliotheques de la santé du Canada (CHLA/ABSC), and the Clinical Librarians Conference (CLC).

    Peruse the posters in the slideshow at the top of this page (click on the images to see PDFs). You can also view the posters & abstracts at the links below, on the meeting app, or in the official online program.

     

    RBHS Posters from MLA

    Title Author(s)
    Reflective Practice for Professional Development through a Collaborative Systematic Review Project Misa Mi, Jie Li, Lin Wu, Wendy Wu, Yingting Zhang
    Librarian Participation in “Hands-On” Evidence-Based Medicine Rounds with Pediatric Residents Pamela Hargwood
    Introducing EBM Concepts to Academic Librarians: A New Model for Instruction Roberta Bronson Fitzpatrick, Margaret Rush Dreker
    SHARE the Info: Spreading Health Awareness with Resources and Education: A National Network of Libraries of Medicine-Funded Program Yini Zhu, Mina Ghajar, Ermira Mitre
    Library Services and Cultural Competency in Health Professions Education and Patient Care Misa Mi, Yingting Zhang
    Counting the Colorful: The Events Assessment Task Force Roberta Bronson Fitzpatrick, Leslin Charles, Ann Watkins, Zara Wilkinson, Megan Lotts
    Adding More Tiles to the Mosaic: The Library and EBM in a Time of Curriculum Revision Margaret Rush Dreker, Roberta Bronson Fitzpatrick
    Teach and Tell: Access Services’ Role in the Big Picture Yini Zhu

     

     

  • National Library of Medicine Biomedical Informatics Fellows Named from Rutgers

    NLM
    Yingting Zhang from RWJ Library (l) and Yini Zhu from Smith Library (r) were both named to the prestigious Medicine Medical Informatics Fellowship.

    Yini Zhu (Smith Library) and Yingting Zhang (RWJ Library) were both named to the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) Biomedical Informatics Fellow program through a competitive application process. Yini attended a week-long medical informatics workshop held at Augusta University, Augusta, GA, in April 2016. Yingting will attend the same program in fall 2016.

    This program introduces participants to the fundamental concepts and application areas of biomedical informatics with components including principles of controlled terminology/vocabulary, standards, mathematical modeling, bioinformatics, natural language processing, and more.

    NLM’s program recruits from health sciences educators, librarians, administrators, clinical practitioners, and faculty who can become agents of change in their respective institutions by becoming a “field force” to train other on these concepts.

    The benefits of attendance at the fellowship program were immediate. Following her participation in the NLM program, Yini Zhu joined Minglu Wang and Bonnie L. Fong to present a Data Management Plan workshop to a group of Rutgers Newark and RBHS faculty, researchers, and staff on May 3, 2016. Yini covered the fundamentals and best practices of data sharing plans required by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) while Minglu and Bonnie addressed data management plans.

    Click here to learn more about the Biomedical Informatics program.

     

  • Annual Celebrations for Staff and Faculty of Rutgers University Libraries (2016)

    Recently, the University convened two events to recognize faculty and staff who are celebrating a decade increment of employment at Rutgers. We are delighted to announce that more than 25 of our colleagues were included in the festivities and hope you join us in congratulating them on these accomplishments:

     

    10 Fay Austin (TAS)

    Ashwin Bijur (TAS)

    Kevin Conover (RIS)

    Eric Fizur (Robeson Library)

    Qun Luo (RIS)

    Holly Muller (RIS)

    Alfreda Richardson (RIS)

    Christopher Singh (Dana Library)

    Li Sun (TAS)

    William Torres (RIS)

     
    20 Stephanie Bartz (RIS)

    Barbara Grau (RIS)

    Charlene Houser (Central administration)

    Yoshiko Ishii (Dana Library)

    Mei Ling Lo (RIS)

    Andres Martinez (RIS)

    Fernanda Perrone (SC/UA)

    Julie Still (Robeson Library)

     
    30 Ka-Neng Au (Dana Library)

    Gary Golden (Robeson Library)

    David Hoover (TAS)

    Martin Kesselman (RIS)

    Kenneth Kuehl (Central administration)

    Linda Langschied (TAS)

    Julianna Ritter (TAS)

    James Robinson (RIS)

     
    40 Natalie Borisovets (Dana Library)

     

     

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  • Teach and Tell: Access Services’ Role in the Big Picture [MLA Poster]

    Author: Yini Zhu
    Author: Yini Zhu

    Objectives

    Within the library, Access Services staff stand at the convergence of users and services and are armed with core functional skills. Despite this, they have traditionally played a passive role in patron-centered outreach. Our objective: to see if Access Services could move into an active role in the bigger picture of promoting library services to enhance academic learning and research.

    Methods

    The “Teach and Tell” project began with identifying each Access Services Department’s (Circulation, ILL, and Media/Computer) unique services and expertise. We aimed to leverage their positions and skills to develop and implement programs to the targeted populations – the faculty, students, clinicians, educators, and staff on the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences campus in Newark, NJ.

    Potential projects were then identified for each target population. It was determined that new students needed stress-relief programs during exam periods; research faculty and students lacked awareness of ILL services; and new residents, and first year students needed help with technology and connectivity set up.

    The three departments each then developed their own specialized activities based on their individual expertise to meet these demands: Pop Your Stress Out! (Circulation), Need an Article or Book? (ILL) and Technology Briefing: Go Mobile (Media/Computer).

    Results

    The three departments’ activities were warmly received by students and faculty. Many students commented that the stress release effort helped relieve exam pressure and encouraged that the activity be repeated annually. Approximately 200 students, faculty, and researchers attended the ILL Info session and many requested additional materials for dissemination. The technology briefing was vital to nearly the entire population of new students and crowded the Media Center during the first few weeks of the semester. Via these outreach activities, the Access Services staff contributed significantly to raising awareness of library services and promoting a positive library image.

    Conclusions

    This project demonstrated that Access Services can go far beyond its traditional, passive desk functions. The success of the project built confidence and motivation among the staff to take on more active roles in patron-centered activities in the future, with multiple project ideas now currently in the pipeline. The “Teach and Tell” project elevated Access Services to get involved in the bigger picture of enhancing academic teaching, learning, and researching.

  • Adding More Tiles to the Mosaic: The Library and EBM in a Time of Curriculum Revision [MLA Poster]

    Authors: Margaret Rush Dreker, Roberta Bronson Fitzpatrick
    Authors: Margaret Rush Dreker, Roberta Bronson Fitzpatrick

    Objectives
    Librarians contributed evidence-based medicine curriculum. The CATs project provides instruction on basic EBM concepts: the evidence pyramid and levels of evidence, formulating a searchable clinical question, using the PICO format, searching PubMEd. Articles were read, synthesized, and turned into a CAT. These skills will be used in clinical rotations and residency. The resulting CATs would populate a database/institutional repository.

    Methods
    Medical students enrolled in their “Foundations” course were simultaneously enrolled in an “Evidence Based Medicine” Moodle course. Module 2 covers developing searchable clinical questions, breaking them into a PICO format and selecting from among the available library resources when conducting a search. Librarians have embedded exercises within the course. Students are divided into small groups and paired with a partner. The small groups convene in the library for one hour for more focused training on searching PubMed, as well as a quick review of concepts covered in the Moodle course. Students work with their partner to write a focused clinical question, break it down into PICO, connect to PubMed, execute a search, identify at least four relevant articles. They obtain the articles, read and synthesize them, and write a CAT with a clinical bottom line.

    Results
    An online form was developed and is used to write the CATs, which are submitted directly to the library and to the course director. The completed CATs are presented by each pair to their small group and preceptor. Medical school faculty preceptors have commented on the quality of scholarship exhibited, students’ facility with PubMed, and their understanding of article types and the PICO format exhibited during small group discussions. The library developed a relational database to house the completed CATs but is in discussion to import them into RUCore, the institutional repository.

    Conclusions
    There is a high degree of interest in this project. Students feel that they are developing a skill that has application for the duration of their career. Faculty and administrators are enthusiastic about the fact that this is not EBM in a vacuum, but for lifelong learners.