The Agenda - Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Category: Department

  • The Rutgers University Libraries Website Style Guide from Integrated Information Systems

    The Rutgers University Libraries Website style guide explains the rules and conventions that go into defining typography and the appearance of website elements on our website. Its goal is to provide a cohesive and coherent experience for website users and content creators. An internal style guide has been in existence since the redesign of the libraries’ website in June 2013. However, growing demand for custom content from colleagues and requests for mini-sites, established a need to make the style guide available to users across the libraries. Not everyone knows – or should be expected to know – how to create a webpage. The style guide provides a clear idea of what to expect when, for example, you want to display tabular data or, have an article on the website that uses pull quotes. Content creators amongst our library colleagues can use it when visualizing their pages. Developers can use it as a reference when coding new pages. It functions as a common reference for both.

    On a technical level, the style guide is structured such that it provides an example of the treatment of a website element, followed by the CSS code used to style the element, and the HTML code that displays it in the browser. On a general, stylistic level, it defines how pages are structured on the website, such as addressing questions regarding the appearance and location of navigational links within a mini-site. It also informs us about overarching style rules that users might be interested in knowing, such as the font family (Droid Sans) and generic typeface (sans-serif) that body copy defaults to throughout the site.

    The developers and designers in Integrated Information Systems are available to create webpages that use the style guide as a guideline, rather than a limitation, with possibilities for creativity and experimentation, to build the best experience for our users and our colleagues.

    Access the website style guide here: https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/styleguide

     

  • Report from Social Media Summit 2017


    Video: Rutgers communications professionals discuss social media planning and how to best reach users.

     

    The Libraries held our second Social Media Summit on July 20, 2017. The full-day event, hosted by the Social Media Task Force, was broken into several sessions and attended by over 25 of our colleagues.

    During the introductory session, director of communications Jessica Pellien presented the work of the social media task force and reviewed the new social media guidelines, manual, and process for requesting a new social media account. This PowerPoint presentation is available below. Following this presentation, round-table discussions (15 minutes per topic – like speed dating but for social media topics) allowed the group to share ideas and experiences. Notes were taken at each table and are available below.

    Following lunch, there were two more sessions:

    • A workshop/training on HootSuite presented by Dory Devlin of University Communications and Marketing
    • A panel of Rutgers University communicators, including Stefanie Charles, social media manager for all of Rutgers–Camden; Brice Hammack, marketing professional from Rutgers University Press; and Jennifer Valera,  marketing manager of  Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Division of Continuing Studies.

    If you have any questions about the materials below or the Social Media Summit, please reach out to a member of the Social Media Task Force.

    Social Media Summit Documents:

    Social Media Documents

  • Friends Toast the Life of Ed Berger

    Ed Berger by Joe Wilder - 2001e
    Ed Berger, 2001. Photograph by Joe Wilder. Berger’s biography of trumpeter and fellow photographer Joe Wilder, Softly with Feeling, was published in 2014.

    Tears and laughter punctuated remembrances of longtime Institute of Jazz Studies associate director Ed Berger, during a celebration of his life on August 18 at the Dana Library.

    Berger, who died of heart failure January 21 at his home in Princeton Junction, joined the staff of the Institute in 1975. He filled many roles with uniform excellence: administrator, librarian, educator, discographer, scholar, editor, photographer, author, record producer, and label owner. He was known by those who met him in casual encounters and others who interacted with him over decades for his dedication to disseminating jazz history and for his compassion, modesty, and quiet killer wit.

    Among those taking the podium in the Dana Room included Institute colleagues: former director Dan Morgenstern; director of operations Vincent Pelote; executive director Wayne Winborne; associate director Adriana Cuervo; archivists Elizabeth Surles, Angela Lawrence, and Tad Hershorn; public service associate Joe Peterson; and collections manager Elsa Alves. Morgenstern, who led the Institute for 36 years, stressed his admiration for Berger’s expertise and many talents that, along with the efforts of Pelote, positioned the Institute to extend its international reputation.

    Morroe Berger and Malcolm X listen to jazz records. photo credit: Ed Berger.
    Morroe Berger and Malcolm X listen to jazz records in the Bergers’ apartment in Cairo in 1964. Photograph by Ed Berger

    Hershorn produced a slide show of images of Berger’s life and photography, entitled “Triumph of the Quiet Man,” which focused on his family, jazz photography, and years at the Institute. (Among the photos was one of his father Morroe Berger, a famous Princeton sociologist, whose work took him to the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s. Ed’s picture shows his father with Malcolm X in the living room of the Bergers’ Cairo apartment in 1964 listening to recordings of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.)

    Other guests included vice president for information services and university librarian Krisellen Maloney and Tom Frusciano and Erika Gorder from Special Collections and University Archives.

    Benny Carter, credit: Ed Berger
    The long association between the Benny Carter and the Berger families, which went on from the early 1970s until Berger’s death in January, was one their most fruitful associations. Photograph by Ed Berger, 1989.

    Musical tributes were offered by Newark veteran tenor saxophonist Leo Johnson and New York singer and pianist Daryl Sherman, both of whose CD covers were graced by the work of Berger (gratis, of course). Drummer Kenny Washington, one of the busiest drummers in New York and a frequent Institute patron, said Berger was one of the go-to guys to answer questions on the history and the music, as did Scott Wenzel, a 30-year veteran of Mosaic Records, jazz’s premiere reissue label.

    Berger’s younger brother Ken, also of Princeton Junction, who–along with another brother Larry of San Francisco–provided images for the slide show, represented the family at the event at Dana Library.

    Another gathering in Berger’s honor will take place between 3-5:30 on Sunday, September 24 at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where Berger taught courses as part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Swing University. Please RSVP by September 1 by contacting Larry Berger at rsvp@lpb.com.

    The Berger-Carter Jazz Research Fund at the Institute, memorializing the relationship between the Berger family and jazz great Benny Carter, will soon be renamed to include Ed’s name.

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  • Human Resources – Dates to Remember for Open Enrollment & Flu Shots

    Two bits of news from the Rutgers University Libraries Human Resources Department:

    • There will be a clinic for annual flu shots on October 4, 2017 at 11:00 in the Pane Room at Alexander Library.
    • University Human Resources (UHR) will host a series of Open Enrollment Benefits Fairs throughout the month of October to educate employees about their SHBP benefits options, as well as other benefits and services that are available and may be of interest. Save the date and plan to attend the Open Enrollment Benefit Fair that is most convenient for you:

    October 10, 2017 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Rutgers University – Newark Campus, Robeson Campus Center, Multipurpose Room, 350 Martin Luther King Blvd, Newark, New Jersey 07102

    October 12, 2017 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.– Rutgers University – New Brunswick, College Avenue Campus, Student Center Multipurpose Room, 126 College Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

    October 17, 2017 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. – Rutgers University – Camden Campus, Camden Campus Center, 326 Penn St, Camden, New Jersey 08102

    DETAILS TO BE DETERMINED– RBHS Piscataway/New Brunswick

    October 24, 2017 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – RBHS Newark, Medical Science Building, Grand Foyer Lobby, 185 South Orange Ave, Newark, New Jersey 07101

    October 25, 2017 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Rutgers University – Piscataway, Busch Student Campus, Student Center Multipurpose Room, 604 Bartholomew Rd, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854

    As always, if you have any questions about your employee benefits, please contact the Benefits Administration staff at 848-932-3990 or via email at benefits@hr.rutgers.edu.

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  • New Resources from the Communications Department

    The following resources are now available on the communications department website. We hope you find them useful. We’re trying to actively identified shared resources that we can supply to save our colleagues time and to create a cohesive visual identity for our libraries. If you have suggestions of new projects, please let me know.

    New signage templates:

    During our last signage inventory, we tried to identify signs that appear in multiple libraries, and we’ve added a bunch of new templates to the signage library. We now have some templates for quiet and collaborative study areas, guest and Net ID computers, reshelving books and shelving carts, and keep your belongings safe.

    We also have Welcome to the Library signs prepared for all public library spaces (except for the Annex, which we will get to soon). These are available in two sizes – 24” x 36” large posters, and 8.5” x 11” in landscape and portrait orientation.

    In the signage section, you will also find our policy sign toolkit, including icons for policy signs and welcome signs, and build your own signage templates. If you make a sign that might be useful for other libraries, please send it to us and we’ll post it in the sign library so others can access it.

    link: https://apps.libraries.rutgers.edu/communications/signage-templates

    Powerpoint templates:

    Complete Powerpoint templates, featuring the new shield logo, are now available. Please do not use the older Powerpoint templates with the Rutgers seal. The Rutgers informal seal is no longer part of the university’s visual identity and we should be using the shield wherever possible. There are two versions of the template – an all-white version, and one with a scarlet band. These templates include title pages and sub-pages and also have a color theme that includes Rutgers colors.

    To edit the Optional Presentation Title area on the slide, go to “View,” select “Master,” and then choose “Slide Master.” You will then be able to double click on the Optional Presentation Title text and edit the area. The template must be resaved before creating a presentation.

    To select the Rutgers color theme, go to “View,” select “Master,” and then choose “Slide Master.” Select Colors and scroll down to select Rutgers University Libraries under the Custom subheading.

    link: https://apps.libraries.rutgers.edu/communications/visual-identity-resources

    Video branding elements:

    Video branding elements are also now available for you to use. These should be used in any video you make that promotes Library services, spaces, or resources. It is very important that the branding is used because it will make us compliant with the university visual identity policy for video standards, create greater visibility for the Libraries, and acknowledge our ownership of this material (very important when videos are being repurposed, embedded, or linked to from other users).

    The visual identity policy for video standards is:

    “The Rutgers logotype, with or without a signature, must appear prominently at or near the opening or closing of a Rutgers video. In addition, the appropriate Rutgers name (i.e., Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; Rutgers University–New Brunswick; Rutgers University–Newark; Rutgers University–Camden; Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences) must appear somewhere in the course of the video.”

    **Please note: we should use the full university name, “Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey,” and not a local university name since the libraries are a central unit.

    The Communications Department is supplying four branding elements that can be personalized to some extent, depending on your project:

    These branding elements can be mixed and matched, appear at the beginning or the end of your video – just so long as you are compliant with the visual identity policy quoted above. If you have a special video project or series and would like a tailor-made branding element, please let us know. We’re happy to work with you to accommodate these requests.

    link: https://apps.libraries.rutgers.edu/communications/visual-identity-resources

    Revised Rutgers University Libraries editorial style guide:

    The Libraries’ style guide has been updated to address issues particular to the Libraries that are not covered in the university’s guidelines and to offer quick tips for remaining consistent with the established Rutgers style. Our goal is to foster clear, consistent messaging in all of the Libraries’ official communication channels, including our website, blogs, social media, print and electronic newsletters, brochures, flyers, and so on. It is not intended to supplant the style guidelines of any academic journal or news outlet to which you may be contributing material.

    link: https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/staff/pub_serv/procedures/stylesheet.shtml

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  • Where in the World is Shared User Services?

    Where in the World is Shared User Services?

    Nearly a year ago, the Libraries reorganized to form a central user services unit, Shared User Services. While we are still building, major structures are coming together. Here’s a progress report to let you know who we are, where you can find us, and some of the things we are up to.

    SUS began with several people in the former Scholarly Communication Center department: Isaiah Beard (Digital Data Curator), Ron Jantz (Digital Library Architect), Peter Konin (Digital Project Coordinator), and Rhonda Marker (Director of Shared User Services). Marty Barnett (Digital Library Applications Specialist) moved from IIS to join us. This summer, Joseph Deodado (Digital User Services Librarian) and Amy Kimura (Web Services Librarian) came on board. We are currently recruiting for a new Virtual Reference Services Librarian.

    Our physical work home is in Alexander Library on the 4th floor. Our online home is on the Staff Resources pages of the Libraries website. We have an up to date SUS Contacts list where you can see who to contact, from digital curation and digital file questions (Isaiah Beard) to virtual reference services (currently, Joseph Deodato and Natalie Borisovets). No, Natalie has not moved to SUS. She is still at Dana Library, where she has been the glue holding together the chat reference schedule across all of RUL. When we hire the new Virtual Reference Services Librarian, we’ll update our contacts list.

    SUS coordinates discovery, the shared components of reference (chat, email), and the public-facing libraries website. We also have a coordinating role for digital projects – but that story will have to wait for a future issue of The Agenda. Two working groups that support improvements to discovery of library resources, the Discovery Working Group and the Library Catalog Committee, report to the Head of Shared User Services. Their minutes and other useful information are now located on the SUS web pages of Staff Resources. Cabinet recently charged the Web Improvement Team, which is ambitiously meeting on the first day of the fall semester. We are all looking forward to seeing the fruits of their labors – and you will be able to read all about it on the SUS web pages.

    From time to time, the Libraries identify other services that call for a central user services role. This was the case for the modernization of our library hours information. Staff in SUS and IIS collaborated on configuring the information in LibCal (from SpringShare) and worked with many people in all our library locations to assemble the details of buildings, service points, and shifting calendars. We could not have done it without you. We are still adding details and features so that this new way of presenting our library hours gives our users the information they need. Ongoing support for library hours resides in SUS (Marty Barnett).

    There is a lot more that we are doing, and we are excited about the work ahead of us. Most of all we look forward to working with all of you in the Libraries. If you ever want to chat, now you know where to find us!

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  • Fellows Learn Jazz and Archives in Institute Program

    • 2017 Institute of Jazz Studies Fellows, from left, Ana Niño, Jeannie Chen and Adam Berkowitz, tour an exhibit at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Leading them through Harlem jazz history is Ryan Maloney, a former employee of the Institute and director of education and programs at the Museum.

    Three archives students from across the country, each with strong musical backgrounds, undertook to learn jazz as a second language as they burnished their archival credentials from the classroom in an intensive two-week program at the Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) this past June. They were the fifth class of Jazz Archival Fellows, a program underwritten by Jon Van Rens, a longtime IJS supporter and administered until earlier this year by the late Ed Berger, the previous IJS associate director.

    The selected candidates who came to Rutgers University-Newark were:

    • Ana Niño, a student at the University of North Texas who works in a Dallas-area library and plays guitar in an all-female rock band.
    • Jeannie Chen, a student at UCLA who has a background in classical piano that propelled her into international piano competition
    • Adam Berkowitz, a MLIS student at University of South Florida in Tampa who is also a professional percussionist interested in jazz and classical music and music educator with a special interest in Jewish musicians and composers.

    During their time at IJS, they arranged, described, and produced a finding aid for over 400 taped interviews with jazz musicians and other figures on the jazz scene designated as the Institute of Jazz Studies Collection of Jazz Oral Sound Recordings. Materials in the collection were made between 1956 and 2007 and include mostly audiocassettes and some reel-to-reel tapes.

    Field trips afforded the fellows a glimpse of how other area repositories and museums conduct their work. These trips have proven to be one of the more popular features of the fellowship experience, and this year was no exception. The fellows visited the Louis Armstrong House/Archive, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, the New York Philharmonic Archives, the Carnegie Hall Archives, and the Thomas Edison National Park in West Orange.

    In addition, Niño, Chen, and Berkowitz received an overview of issues in managing oral history collections from Dana Library’s digital humanities librarian Krista White. Archivist Elizabeth Surles spoke on rudiments of Encoded Archival Description (EAD), a program utilized to post archival finding aids on the web. IJS archivist Angela Lawrence also worked closely with the students as they processed the interviews.

  • Performance Evaluations for Nonaligned Employees

    The FY 2017–2018 performance evaluation process for nonaligned employees (MPSC and Senior Administrators) is nearly upon us!

    The appraisal period is from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017. MPSC employees should ready their self-appraisals and share with their direct supervisors. Supervisors should review self-appraisals, complete the formal performance evaluation form, and discuss the completed form with the second-level supervisor.

    Additional details will be forthcoming. Questions on this process should be directed to the Libraries’ HR Office.

  • Tips for videography; promotional items inventory; new signage templates from the Communications Department

    Tips for videography; promotional items inventory; new signage templates from the Communications Department

    promotional item samplesThe communications department has made some more useful items available on our website.

    A promotional item visual inventory. This website lists all the promotional items we currently have in stock. Many of these items are available in limited quantities, for Libraries events. To place a request, please send Ken Kuehl an email with the quantities, item names, what they will be used for, and an address for shipping.

    Helpful Hints for Videotaping Interviews. This Microsoft Word document contains some tips and tricks for planning for and improving the visuals of taped interviews. We hope this is helpful to anyone planning to record video for the Libraries. It is listed on the Communications Department website.

    New signage templates. On our signage template web page, you can download Word files that you can update with your library’s information (name of library, URL, specific text, images) and print in black and white or color. We will work on converting them to Powerpoint over the next month. We’ve added the following to the Shared Sign Library:

     

    • Allow Us to Reshelve Your Books
    • Please Do Not Reshelve Your Books
    • Keep Your Belongings Safe
    • Please Bring Your Own Change

    sample policy sign imageWe’ve also added a Policy Signs and Toolkit. During our recent signage inventory, we saw lots of individual policy signs posted all over the libraries. These new Policy Signs and Toolkit will allow you to create signs that address multiple policies in a single page and hopefully eliminate the need for multiple single policy signs. The toolkit includes a vertical and horizontal version of this sign and a zip file of icons (hopefully live by the time this newsletter publishes) to use for signage.

    We have more signage templates on the way, including staff only and a replacement for the popular Can’t Find a Book signs. Stay tuned.

     

     

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  • Social Media Summit 2017

    Social Media Summit 2017

    Social Media Summit image

    10 a.m. Introductory Presentation. The Social Media Task Force will lead a discussion of their work over the last year and the resultant social media guidelines and process.
    11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Round Table Discussions. Share your thoughts and experience in small group discussions. Moderators will then present findings to entire summit. Table topics include “Using social media to promote research,” “Creative social media ideas for libraries,” “Resources and strategies for finding great content,” “Promoting library services & resources via social media,” and “Best practices for interacting with users.”
    12:30 – 1:15 p.m. Lunch. Network with your colleagues over sandwiches and salads (provided).
    1:30 – 2:15 p.m. Workshop. Dory Devlin, University News and Media Relations, will demonstrate how to manage multiple accounts using tools like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck.
    2:15 – 3:00 p.m. Panel Event. Social media managers from other university departments will describe challenges and opportunities in assessing, serving, and growing social media audiences. Panelists will include Stefanie Charles, Rutgers–Camden, Brice Hammack, Rutgers University Press, and other Rutgers communications specialists. Panel will be moderated by John Brennan.

    Open to faculty and staff of Rutgers University Libraries. RSVP: go.rutgers.edu/prax7fo0

     

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