The Agenda - Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Category: Dana Library

  • Quick Takes on Events and News – October 2017

    Chicago-Bound for Research Data Summit

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

    Fight the Flu. Get Your Shot!

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

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

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

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

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

    Carr is Cutting the Ribbon

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

    #RutgersDana50 Kicks Off on a High Note

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

    Exploring the Wonderful World of Illusions

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

    Aiding the Relief Effort in Puerto Rico

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

    New Video for Banned Books Week

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  • Envisioning the Future: John Cotton Dana Library

    As the nexus of a dynamic university in the midst of transforming and reinventing its brand, Dana Library/Institute of Jazz Studies is poised to move into its next iteration. Our goal is to become a user-centered library that can nimbly respond to our users’ continually changing needs in innovative ways. The Dana Library/IJS faculty and staff embarked on a six-month process in order to identify our priorities and objectives needed to achieve this goal.  The resulting document, Framework for Change: Vision and Goals for the John Cotton Dana Library Rutgers University–Newark, provides readers with a high-level view of our path to success.

    We began our work in spring 2016 by identifying three high priority focus areas–services, collections and space. These focus areas supported not only the Rutgers University Libraries priorities, but also the Rutgers University–Newark Strategic Plan. Each priority area was given individual attention and consideration by a dedicated group of Dana faculty and staff who volunteered to compile and consider available data about the area, add their valuable expertise on the area topic, and provide recommendations for how we can enhance these areas to better meet the needs of our users in the 21st century. The resulting compilation of this work led to a 30+ page document which detailed specific services enhancements, space needs, and collection management activities. This document will serve as our road map for next several years.

    The Framework for Change document presents a broad overview of the detailed steps necessary for us to achieve success. This document will be used as an advocacy tool for our local university administrators and could also be used as a fundraising tool for donors. No matter how this document might be used externally, Dana Library has charted its course and is ready to embark on a journey to success!

  • It’s Official: Dana Marks 50th Anniversary as Federal Depository

    federal-depositoryWhere do you find population figures from a century ago? Health statistics over time in Newark, New Jersey or the U.S. as a whole? Business and economic or other information for those studying small business development or wanting to go into business for themselves?

    Valuable information such as this can be summed up in two words: government publications.

    In December, Dana Library celebrates 50 years since it obtained its status as a Federal Depository Library for the 10th Congressional District of the State of New Jersey. It has been a boon to faculty, students, the general public and the business community. It promises to continue to be a major resource at Dana even as most of the government publications are now available online. Dana also serves as a depository for many, but not all, publications of the State of New Jersey.

    One enhancement that accompanies their presence at the libraries are classes in which library faculty reaches out to faculty and students to educate them on the use of publications distributed by the Government Publishing Office (GPO) and online resources issued by the Federal Government.

    “The subjects covered by government publications go from the general to the specific, essential for researchers as well as the general public. Most importantly, government publications are available to all users regardless of affiliation or age,” said Wen-Hua Ren, the documents librarian who supervises government publication collections at Dana.

    New Jersey is home to as many as 25 federal depositories. Each of Rutgers University campuses, including New Brunswick and Camden, has a designated federal depository library. RU-Newark has two, the other being the Law Library which receives depository materials that support legal research and study.

    Programs in recognition of the fiftieth anniversary will be held in December and possibly also in January 2017. In addition to a display, there will community instruction programs offered to educate the public on the usefulness of the collections and service.

  • Exhibit and Tours to Emphasize Modernist Aspects of Dana Library and Rutgers-Newark Campus

    docomomo-005
    Dana Library was the centerpiece for modernist buildings erected on the Rutgers University-Newark which are highlighted in an exhibit opening and tours at the library on October 15. Dana Library Archive.

    In 1959 Rutgers president Dr. Mason Gross fired a blunt shot across the bow in the pages of the New York Times in his quest to pass a $75 million bond issue. His plea was as much about expansion of the facilities as adding depth to the university’s core mission of education, culture, and social mobility for the burgeoning Baby Boom generation.

    Gross referred to New Jersey as educationally “impoverished” and culturally “almost bankrupt” in advocating Rutgers’ power to make a difference. The funding package passed and its impact on the Newark campus with construction of seven new buildings over the course of the 1960s was profound.

    Part of that legacy—the Newark campus’s inventory of significant modernist architecture and spatial concept—is the subject of an exhibit opening October 15 at the John Cotton Dana Library, Making a Place: Rutgers University-Newark as a Microcosm of 1960s America. Programming will also feature hour-long campus tours led by Newark-based architects, preservationists, and historians; in addition to tours of the world-renowned Institute of Jazz Studies, located on the fourth floor of the library. For additional details, see: http://docomomo-us.org/architecture_urbanism_rutgers_university_newark

    Cultural historian Dr. Eva Giloi, an associate professor of history at Rutgers University-Newark who is organizing the festivities, said Newark figured prominently in Gross’s plans.

    “Buildings here were designed and situated on the campus as part of a coherent vision of modernist mid-century architecture, with Dana Library the center of student life and community involvement,” said Giloi. “It was a humanistic concept in the way it used open space.”

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    October 15, 2016 has been designated a DOCOMOMO US Tour Day. Dana Library Archive.

    The project’s supporters go way beyond the Rutgers community. The campus will enter the registry of DOCOMOMO, the world’s leading modernist preservation organization located in Barcelona, Spain.

    Giloi describes the exhibit as a “multisensory exhibit about the campus history and architecture in Dana Library,” using original architectural blueprints, photographs, yearbooks, and other artifacts bearing on the campus and student life during socially tumultuous times.

    Dr. Askew, director of Dana Library, said of Giloi’s research, “The campus plan from 50 years ago all started with a library building. Therefore, it is befitting that Dana Library, in addition to being a stop along the tour, also has a central role in this event.”

    The exhibit and programs are sponsored by the Dana Library, the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University-Newark Department of History, The Clement A. Price Institute, and DOCOMOMO, which has designated the events as an official U.S. Tour Day.

    Activities this month will be amplified when the fiftieth anniversary of Dana Library gets underway next year.

     

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  • Dana Library Transformation into 21st-Century Knowledge Center Heading from the Drawing Board into Reality by 2018

    Dana Library Transformation into 21st-Century Knowledge Center Heading from the Drawing Board into Reality by 2018

    Floor-plan of the P3 Collaboratory which is expected to be in operation on the third floor of Dana Library by 2018. Click to enlarge.
    Floor-plan of the P3 Collaboratory which is expected to be in operation on the third floor of Dana Library by 2018. Click to enlarge.

    Imminent plans to develop the third floor of the John Cotton Dana Library by 2018 are integrated with a farsighted and sweeping reconceptualization of the role of libraries at the juncture where 21st-century pedagogy and information delivery meet. These were among topics addressed in an initial report and recommendations released September 26 by the New Professoriate Study Group, co-chaired by Dr. Bonita Vesey, vice chancellor for planning and implementation, and Dr. Consuella Askew, director of Dana Library.

    The P3: A Collaboratory for Pedagogy, Professional Development and Publicly-Engaged Scholarship is designed to meet the needs of educators from preparation of graduate students for high impact, publicly engaged scholarship and leadership skills. Attracting promising scholars to a curriculum offering broad strategies for career-long activities in the world of academe and beyond holds the keys to success of the concept.

    Programming in support of the P3 Collaboratory is getting underway this fall with offices located on the second floor of the library. In addition, Rutgers-Newark chancellor Nancy Cantor is convening a two-day conference on the new professoriate October 28-29. The initiative is also the motivation behind $2 million in seed grants through the chancellor’s office to encourage creative cross-disciplinary, high impact, sustainable and innovative programs.

    Dr. Vesey said that while aspects of the P3 Collaboratory are not new, the combination and depth of the programs on the Rutgers-Newark campus is unusual and ideal for the diversity of students, faculty, and staff of Rutgers-Newark.

    “Under this plan, the library will be less of a repository of books, but the intellectual center of the campus, a role Dana Library already fulfills,” she said. “Consuella really understands and supports the mission of libraries in the 21st century.”

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  • New Honors Living-Learning Community to Be Based at Dana Library

    Dana exterior sunny, credit Ed Berger
    Credit: Ed Berger.

    Rutgers University-Newark’s Honors Living-Learning Community (HLLC) is an initiative intended to go beyond high SAT scores or high school rankings. The goal is to identify and blend an international group of traditional and non-traditional students into a curriculum based on themes of “Local Citizenship in a Global World,” and focusing on academic, social, and personal development.

    Among the targeted student populations are high school graduates, first-generation college students, transfer students, veterans, older students, General Education Development (GED) recipients, student parents, and financially independent students. Dana librarians will be important liaisons in building the effort, according to Bobbie Tipton, the library’s point person who recently met with Marta Esquilin, the associate dean of HLLC and assistant professor of professional practice. HLLC will be divided into “cohorts,” each containing about ten students, which may be mentored by a librarian. The curriculum will be a mixture of core classes specific to HLLC, as well as a capstone project, filled in by required classes to earn an undergraduate degree.

    Among the areas of instruction librarians would provide to new and transfer students through workshops are finding their subject librarian; finding core databases in the subject area; using a citation manager; determining the correction citation style for the subject; and avoiding plagiarism.

    “This is intended to be a holistic learning experience with a strong emphasis on social justice and community,” Tipton said. “It is definitely an expanded definition of ‘honors’ that goes beyond academic performance. The intention is to educate movers and shakers in social engagement.”