Left to right: Zara Wilkinson, Samantha Kannegiser, Tiffany Chan, Renuka Kumar, John Powell, Thaha Alam, Niayla Silvera, Emma Bogdan, Tom Risch, Regina Koury
Paul Robeson Library celebrated the sixth annual Undergraduate Research Award on April 16 as part of the official campus SPARK! week (Showcase of Projects, Art, Research, and Knowledge). Five undergraduates were awarded cash prizes ranging from $250 to $1,000 for their exemplary research projects making use of a range of library resources, collections, and services. Friends, family, and the Rutgers University–Camden community were invited to the award ceremony to hear the winners discuss their research.
There were many firsts celebrated in this award cycle. This was the first time that:
All awardees are women.
There was a tie for first place.
One first-place winner is a junior.
A poster project won an award.
The New Researcher (first-year undergraduate) awardee scored as highly as some of the upper-level student awardees.
This was also the second award cycle in which one of our previous awardees won for a second time. Emma Bogdan, 2026 runner-up, also won an honorable mention as a first-year student in 2023.
Each year, Samantha Kannegiser, student success librarian, and Zara Wilkinson, reference and instruction librarian, facilitate the yearlong Undergraduate Research Award cycle. This year’s evaluation committee included Oscar Holmes IV, professor and director of the Rutgers University Student Executive Program and a professor and researcher in human resources/organizational behavior, School of Business–Camden; Jennifer Oberle, associate teaching professor, Department of Biology; and John Powell, reference and instruction librarian, Robeson Library.
All winning projects will be added to the Paul Robeson Library Undergraduate Research Award digital collection.
Digital history students worked in groups to digitize and create web content featuring items from Special Collections at Robeson Library.
Special Collections and Digital History Class Collaboration in Camden
Over the Spring Semester, Special Collections at Robeson Library hosted Jesse Bayker’s digital history class as part of their class project commemorating Rutgers University–Camden’s centennial. Robeson librarian Bart Everts met with Bayker during the fall semester to plan how students might interpret the history of Rutgers–Camden and the region through items in the collection. When the class began in January, Everts provided an orientation including a history of the campus, best practices for handling archival items, and access and publication guidelines and restrictions.
The students worked in groups, consulting with Everts to find items that best fit their area of focus, including Queer history, athletics, Black and Latinx activism, the Bancroft School, and campus publications. They then worked to digitize the items, create metadata, describe and interpret their selections, and ultimately host them on the course website with a finding aid. The class presented their project to history and library faculty at the end of the semester. Feedback from both students and faculty bodes well for further collaboration between Special Collections at Robeson Library and the Department of History. You can view the students’ work on the Digital Camden Archive.
Robert Grohman and Jonathan Spitz perform Scott Ordway’s composition Prelude (In the Wide Spaces of the Day).
On April 18, in conjunction with the Mason Gross School of the Arts 50th Anniversary Celebrations, Rutgers University Libraries cosponsored a concert of music by composers who have taught and studied at the school since its inception in 1976. The idea for the concert came from Music and Performing Arts Librarian Bret McCandless, who manages the Robert Moevs Collection at Mabel Smith Douglass Library, and was organized with much help from the Music Department’s Associate Director, Maureen Hurd. Robert Moevs was an award-winning composer who taught at Rutgers from 1964-1991, cultivating a generation of composers and musicians.
The concert, held at Schare Recital Hall on Rutgers–New Brunswick’s Douglass campus, included music by Moevs, former faculty member (and Pulitzer Prize winner) Charles Wuorinen, alumna Courtney Bryan (MacArthur Fellow) and Nkeiru Okoye, current faculty members Scott Ordway and Robert Aldridge, and current students Lily Tang and Alon Nechushtan. In anticipation of the Mason Gross anniversary, McCandless had curated a catalog of music by Rutgers Composers at Rutgers University Libraries. Music by Moevs, Wuorinen, Bryan, and Okoye was sourced and curated from the Blanche and Irving Laurie Performing Arts Library’s collections, and access to Moevs’s compositional sketches provided artistic context for the performance of his piece, Una collana musicale (“A musical necklace”), which has been performed at many Moevs celebrations.
The event also incorporated materials from Rutgers University Libraries for a display to give context to the composition program over the last 50 years, including a series of concerts held at Carnegie Hall that highlighted the many prominent composers across the three Rutgers campuses in 1976: Gerald C. Chenoweth, Phillip Corner, Noel Da Costa, Daniel Goode, Robert Moevs, Claire Polin, Larry Ridley, Michael Smolanoff, George Walker, and Louie L. White.
A new student-curated exhibit at Robeson Library highlights the ways Americans have celebrated, marketed, and redefined the nation’s founding ideals over time.
On April 30, Robeson Library hosted an opening reception for its latest exhibit, America’s Birthdays: Selling & Redefining the American Dream. The event brought together students, faculty, librarians, and guests to celebrate the launch of the exhibition and the collaborative work behind it. The students’ research, creativity, and curatorial efforts were recognized, and visitors had an opportunity to engage directly with the themes and stories explored throughout the exhibit.
Developed through the Rutgers–Camden history course America’s Birthdays: The History of Celebration and Memory, taught by Assistant Professor Carly Goodman, the exhibition was created in conjunction with the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary in July 2026. Student curators examined how Americans have commemorated the country’s founding through major anniversaries in 1876, 1926, and 1976, as well as through annual Fourth of July celebrations. The exhibit explores how these moments of remembrance have shaped public understandings of the American Dream and reflected changing ideas about national identity.
Featuring objects researched, interpreted, and installed by students, America’s Birthdays: Selling & Redefining the American Dream highlights the ways Americans have celebrated, marketed, and redefined the nation’s founding ideals over time. The exhibition examines themes of patriotism, consumer culture, public memory, and the ongoing pursuit of the promises of the American Revolution. Through their work, the student curators invite visitors to consider how each generation has celebrated and challenged the meaning of America’s “birthdays.”
The exhibit will remain on display at Robeson Library over the summer. Learn more about the students’ work in Goodman’s story on the Rutgers–Camden website.
An event celebrating the enduring impact of Paul Robeson was facilitated by Jason L. James, Director, Strategy and Operations Support Initiatives for Rutgers–Camden Student Academic Success.
On February 19, Robeson Library hosted an evening that honored the enduring impact of Paul Robeson, the distinguished Rutgers alumnus, activist, artist, and scholar. The program highlighted Robeson’s powerful legacy through curated reflections and engaging dialogue, offering a rich exploration of his contributions to social justice, culture, and intellectual life.
Facilitated by Jason L. James, Director, Strategy and Operations Support Initiatives for Rutgers–Camden Student Academic Success, the event celebrated a shared commitment to scholarship, leadership, and cultural impact. Librarian John Powell spoke about the life of Paul Robeson, including his time spent as a scholar and athlete at Rutgers in New Brunswick, where he was a two-time All-American in football. While at Rutgers, Robeson was also inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society and Rutgers’ Cap and Skull Honor Society and was valedictorian of his graduating class in 1919.
The evening was co-sponsored by the Division of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement (DICE), Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. – Nu Gamma Lambda Chapter, and NAACP Rutgers University-Camden Chapter.
The Rutgers Meets Japan digital collection invites users to explore the people and places that shaped a pivotal moment in global education and cultural exchange.
We are pleased to announce the launch of Rutgers Meets Japan, a new digital companion collection that brings to life a remarkable trans-Pacific story of intellectual exchange, cultural connection, and shared history. Developed in conjunction with the book Rutgers Meets Japan: A Trans-Pacific Network of the Late Nineteenth Century, this digital collection expands upon the book’s narrative by providing open access to a rich set of historical photographs drawn from the William E. Griffis Collection.
The collection features portraits of some of Rutgers’ earliest Japanese students, as well as images of alumni who traveled to Japan as teachers and missionaries during the late 19th century. These photographs offer a rare visual window into a formative period of U.S.-Japan relations, capturing individuals, institutions, and everyday scenes across locations such as Fukui, Yokohama, Tokyo, and Shizuoka. In addition to images reproduced in the book, the digital companion includes many photographs that could not be published due to space constraints, significantly broadening access to these materials for researchers, students, and the public.
Funded by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, the project involved the careful digitization, transcription, and annotation of materials, ensuring both accessibility and scholarly value. By pairing rigorous historical scholarship with digital access, Rutgers Meets Japan invites users to explore the people and places that shaped a pivotal moment in global education and cultural exchange.
The launch of this digital collection also coincided with an event held on April 17, Rutgers Meets Japan: In Conversation with the Authors. This event was held in the Alexander Library Pane Room and featured presenters Haruko Wakabayashi and Fernanda Perrone, with Janet Walker moderating.
The highlight of the workshop was a Q&A session with New York Times technology journalist Tiffany Hsu, who specializes in misinformation reporting.
On April 1, librarians at Dana Library hosted The Erosion of Truth: How to Protect Yourself from Mis/Disinformation in the Age of AI, a hybrid virtual/in-person workshop. Mis- and disinformation in society’s information landscape is not new; however, the proliferation of generative artificial intelligence has compounded its impact on individuals, society, and our democracy. This workshop introduced foundational information literacy strategies for critically evaluating news and media content, along with available online tools to support this work. Students, faculty, and staff explored the rapid development of AI-generated deepfake videos, manipulated images, and viral misinformation, and tested their ability to distinguish between AI-generated and authentic content. Attendees were also introduced to real-world examples and professional fact-checking techniques, leaving with a personal toolkit for verifying information.
The highlight of the workshop was a Q&A session with New York Times technology journalist Tiffany Hsu, who specializes in misinformation reporting. Hsu fielded questions on topics including how New York Times reporters verify images and video, the challenges posed by AI-generated content to investigative journalism’s ability to establish credibility and truth, and the role that social media platforms play in the spread of misinformation. Participants enthusiastically expressed appreciation for her insights into these critical issues.
We hope to continue this discussion as technologies used to fabricate, manipulate, and mislead grow increasingly sophisticated, with the library planning additional workshops and learning opportunities to strengthen our community’s information resilience in the age of generative AI.
Co-Organizers of the event: Joanne Dera, Diane Biunno, and Naomi Gold
Diane Biunno and Joanne Dera were among the co-organizers of the Women in STEM Wikidata Edit-a-Thon.
On March 4, Dana Library hosted a Wikidata mini edit-a-thon focused on Women in STEM in collaboration with librarians from NJIT. The event brought together 13 participants ranging from beginner to advanced contributors, including students, librarians, and experienced Wikipedians. Attendees represented Drew University, NJIT, Smith Library, and Dana Library, along with members of the regional Wikimedia community. We were especially fortunate to have leadership from Wikipedia NYC and the Philadelphia Wikisalon in attendance. Their expertise was invaluable in supporting participants who were new to Wikidata and helping guide the editing process throughout the session.
During the edit-a-thon, participants expanded and strengthened approximately 30 Wikidata entries related to Rutgers and NJIT graduates. Contributors added new data points, improved existing information, and incorporated reliable references to support the entries. Participants also drew on Rutgers University Libraries and NJIT Libraries resources to enhance the records, demonstrating how library collections and research materials can be used to improve structured data and increase the visibility of our libraries’ collections and resources.
In addition to the hands-on editing work, participants learned what Wikidata is, how it functions as structured linked data, and why contributing to it matters. The session highlighted how improving data about women in STEM helps make their contributions more visible and discoverable. Because major platforms, such as Google, and large generative language models, such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini, draw on Wikipedia and Wikidata, expanding these records helps broaden public knowledge and address systemic gaps and biases in how women’s achievements are represented online and in AI-driven systems.
The event was a strong success and demonstrated significant growth potential. As a result, we are now in conversations with Wikipedia NYC and NJIT about organizing additional events and expanding this collaboration. With greater support from the Wikimedia community, future edit-a-thons could scale to larger participation and further leverage Rutgers and NJIT library collections to enrich Wikidata entries, both strengthening the global knowledge graph and helping drive researchers and readers back to our library resources and collections.
Co-organizers of the event:
Dana Library Team: Joanne Dera, Diane Biunno, and Angela Lawrence
NJIT Libraries Team: Bob Vietrogoski and Jill Lagerstrom
A new exhibition at Carr Library explores how qualitative research methodologies can be used to uncover and address complex cases such as campus food insecurity.
Xu Guo, graduate specialist for qualitative methods at the Rutgers–New Brunswick Libraries, contributed to this report and to the development of the exhibition.
In celebration of International Love Data Week, a new exhibition opened on February 9 at Carr Library. When Data Speaks: Stories from People, Places, and Time aims to show how qualitative research methodologies can be used to uncover and address complex cases such as campus food insecurity. Centered around a comprehensive introduction, the multidimensional display utilizes three curated cases to transition between theoretical frameworks and the lived experiences of a college campus.
The installation employs a diverse array of media to engage visitors’ senses and intellect. Academic rigor is represented through illustrated texts on qualitative methods and peer-reviewed journals featuring interview scripts, participant responses, and ethnographic field notes. These are juxtaposed with hyperrealistic food models and everyday tableware to symbolize the basic human needs at the heart of the study. Visual data, such as infographics regarding Rutgers-specific food security statistics and a detailed campus map, help ground the research in a local context.
Beyond static displays, the exhibition incorporates digital storytelling through curated podcasts and videos, offering a deeper dive into the systemic challenges of student basic needs. To bridge the gap between researchers and the public, a visitor interactive board was integrated, inviting the community to share their reflections and foster a dialogue.
The exhibition will remain in the library for the duration of the spring semester.
The last will and testament of Joseph Bonaparte, the former King of Naples, King of Spain and the Indies, and the older brother of Napoleon.
As the metadata archivist at Special Collections and University Archives (SC/UA), I have had the privilege of working with our collections on a daily basis. Though I’ve just been able to scratch the surface of our ample and unique holdings, I’ve had the joy of making old records publicly accessible while creating new records for materials that were never previously described. This undertaking has allowed me to unearth and publicize various collections that I would consider treasures, and I’m happy to share just a few of those with you here.
Legacy Finding Aids
The first part of my endeavor involved getting previously written finding aids, known as “legacy finding aids,” into our collection management system, ArchivesSpace. Many of these legacy finding aids were decades old, written by staff and faculty members that no longer work here, and only exist as PDFs, their physical counterparts long since gone. These documents were published by creating a new, base-level finding aid in ArchivesSpace for each collection and then attaching the legacy finding aid to the resource record as a digital object hosted through RUCore. Among the dozens of legacy finding aids published via this route are the Joyce Kilmer papers (MC 1547) and the Nicholas F. Brady senatorial papers (MC 660).
Joyce Kilmer was a New Brunswick-born writer and poet, best known for his work “Trees,” published in 1913. He was killed just five years later in France during World War I. Here at SC/UA, we have scrapbooks of his writings created by his parents over a century ago.
The Nicholas F. Brady senatorial papers relate to the work Senator Brady undertook while in Congress. Brady served as a United States senator for eight months in 1982 following the resignation of Harrison A. Williams. As of February 2026, Brady is the oldest living former U.S. senator.
New Finding Aids Published
Since publishing the legacy finding aids that hid on our internal servers for so many years, I’ve been able to turn my attention to new collections that were never described in any format. In order to find out which boxes fit this criteria, I’ve been creating an inventory of our spaces, particularly of Room 022 (B-Level, Alexander Library). This comprehensive account of our collections allows me to easily discover which materials have been sitting dormant on our shelves and are in need of archival description.
Comparable to how legacy finding aids were handled, new finding aids are created in a similar fashion. Generally, only a basic, box-level finding aid is written, as we’re prioritizing the publication of many finding aids rather than the thorough description of substantially fewer collections. This has led me to publishing almost 100 new finding aids to date. Favorites of mine include the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission records (MC 1331), the Emerson B. Garrison photographs (MC 1620), and the Joseph Bonaparte papers (MC 1624).
The Delaware and Raritan Canal was a feat of engineering when it was completed in 1834, shortening the journey from New York City to Philadelphia by a hundred miles. The collection at SC/UA consists of land agreements between townships and residents that made it possible for this transportation system to be built.
The Emerson B. Garrison photographs contain images of Cumberland County and adjacent areas of New Jersey dating back to at least the early 20th century. The style of some of the photographs suggest that some of the undated prints might have been created as early as the 1890s!
Perhaps the jewel that I’ve found in Room 022 is the one-box collection on Joseph Bonaparte, the former King of Naples, King of Spain and the Indies, and the older brother of Napoleon. Following the fall of Napoleon and his subsequent exile, Joseph fled Europe and settled in Bordentown, NJ; the papers we hold primarily relate to the affairs of his estate and other legal matters, including a printed version of his last will and testament.
Benefits of the Project
The initiative to publish these finding aids offers many benefits to SC/UA. Not only are we providing our patrons with information on collections that have never before been accessible in a digital format, but the push to publish box-level finding aids has allowed us to gain intellectual control over our holdings and free up physical space in our storage areas. When surveying a collection, I am able to consolidate materials into fewer boxes, as oftentimes half-full boxes appear on our shelves, taking up unnecessary space that should be designated for other materials. This will undoubtedly help us as our collections are returned from off-site storage facilities so that we may more quickly and efficiently assist our patrons.
In the coming months, I know I will uncover many more treasures that SC/UA has to offer; I’m looking forward to sharing those with you in the future.
