The Agenda - Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Category: Department

  • Clement’s Place: A New and Intimate Home for Jazz at Rutgers–Newark

    • Newark favorite Carrie Jackson, NC 350 performance, 9/9/16, credit Ed Berger.

    The Institute of Jazz Studies is partnering with NJPAC and the Newark 350 Celebration Committee to bring two series of jazz performances to Clement’s Place, a new venue located in the iconic 15 Washington Street building, located next to the Newark Museum. Clement’s Place, which looks like a classic jazz club, honors the memory of the late Dr. Clement Price, a beloved professor of history at Rutgers–Newark and official historian of the city of Newark.

    The NC350 Series

    The NC350 series, which is free and open to the public, takes place the second Friday of each month. To date, performers have included groups led by Newark legends saxophonist Leo Johnson and vocalist Carrie Jackson.

    The NJPAC “Jazz Jam” Series

    The NJPAC “Jazz Jam” series, coordinated by pianist James Austin, Jr., features a mix of younger and more seasoned performers in the time-honored, informal jam session tradition.

    Among his wide-ranging interests, Dr. Price was a serious student of jazz and a longtime supporter of the Institute of Jazz Studies. Jazz-related art and artifacts from Dr. Price’s personal collection adorn the walls of Clement’s Place.

    IJS excutive director Wayne Winborne, oversees the programming and management of the space, which mixes top jazz musicians from the Newark area with world renowned artists. Spoken, salsa, classical, and other related musical performances will be presented in the space, as well as a series of curated listening sessions, hosted by IJS staff members.

    Upcoming Events

    10/7, 5:30-7 p.m. IJS Curated Listening Session: Early Louis Armstrong
    10/8, 4-6 p.m. IJS Occasional Film Series: Stepping Up: Stories of Jazz & Caregiving (screening at the Newark Museum)
    10/14, 6-8 p.m. NC350 Series: Bobby Sanabria Quartet
    10/15, (time TBD) Joe Louis: Am Opera by Count Basie (in the Great Hall, 15 Washington Street)
    10/20, 7-9:30 p.m. NJPAC Jazz Jam with James Austin
    10/21, 7-9 p.m. IJS Concert Series: Randy Sandke Quartet
    10/27, 5:30-8 p.m. Salsa Night (free lessons begin at 5:30; music at 6:30)
    11/1, 7-9:30 p.m. NJPAC Jazz Jam with James Austin
    11/4, 5:30-7:30 p.m. IJS Curated Listening Session: After Bitches Brew: the 1970s
    11/11, 6-8 p.m. NC350 Series: Return to the Source Reunion
    11/17, 7-9:30 p.m. NJPAC Jazz Jam with James Austin
    12/1, 5:30-8 p.m. Salsa Night (free lessons begin at 5:30; music at 6:30)
    12/9, 6-8 p.m. NC350 Series: Houston Person
    12/15, 7-9:30 p.m. NJPAC Jazz Jam with James Austin

     

     

  • 200 Coins Added to the Roman Coins Project over the Summer

    The Roman Coins project is a collaborative effort to bring the Rutgers’ Ernst Badian Collection of Roman Republican Coins fully into the digital realm and to contextualize its 1200+ items in such a way that students, researchers, and a broad section of the public can readily understand the general patterns of development in Roman money during its first 250 years.

    coin
    Aureus – Sydenham 1153 – Crawford 491/1a. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7282/T31N82ZC

    The collection holds many coins that hold particular historic, economic, or artistic interest and is one of the largest of its type in North America. However, for a variety of reasons, the coins are not readily consulted in person. In order to make them broadly accessible for study and teaching, the Classics Department and Rutgers University Libraries are working together to create a web-based public portal and archive.

    This summer with additional funding from the Classics Department and the dedicated efforts of three summer part-time employees, we were able to add another 200 coins to the portal, bringing the total to some 700 coins.

    The portal features multi-faceted display of high-resolution images of individual coins and metadata specifically designed to render ancient numismatics comprehensible to non-specialists, while offering experts much in the way of original and unpublished research.

    High-resolution digital imaging available in the Digital Curation Research Center was used to capture archival and presentation images for each coin in a format called Pyramid Tiff (or ptiff) that allows us to represent the same image at different spatial resolutions. This feature was developed for RUcore and is useful for viewing other formats such as maps.

    To see ptiff in action, click on “view slideshow” below the coin image at https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/47436/. Use the buttons to pan, zoom, and rotate the image. These are truly beautiful artifacts and the ptiff technology allows users to explore them like never before.

    The user experience is further enhanced by specialized metadata detailing the legends and images found on the coins and newly implemented faceted browsing. Faceted browsing is available at the Coins portal where users can narrow searches by denomination, material, time period, moneyer, subject, and method.

    To complete the digitization of the Badian collection, professor Corey Brennan (Classics Department) will apply for another grant from the Loeb Classical Library Foundation. These additional funds will enable us to image and ingest the remaining 500 coins into the RUcore portal. Professor Brennan will also use the Coins portal in a graduate seminar this Fall.

     

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  • New Brunswick Welcome Days

    The New Brunswick Libraries hosted several events to welcome students to the new semester, as part of the campus-wide Welcome Days activities, which are organized by New Student Orientation and Family Programs (a division of Student Affairs).

    This year, staff and librarians at the Mathematical Sciences and Physics Library in Hill Center challenged students with a giant tumbling tower, while the Library of Science and Medicine offered free snacks and science puzzles. At the Alexander Library, students enjoyed cookies and the chance to spin a wheel for prizes after successfully answering library trivia. Kilmer Library offered carts of granola bars and other treats popcorn was handed out at the steps of the Art Library on College Avenue, and the Douglass Library offered students a much-appreciated coffee/cookie break.

    All of these activities were made possible through the annual Senior Class gift, which is offered in appreciation to the library for hosting the wildly popular ClubAlex dance. The Undergraduate Experience Team sends a HUGE thank you to all of the staff and librarians who made these events possible and helped to create a warm welcoming atmosphere at the libraries.

  • Alexander Library Will Host New Jersey Book Arts on November 4, 2016

    Slicing The Air Carved Board Book, Asha Ganpat
    Slicing The Air Carved Board Book, Asha Ganpat

     We take pleasure in announcing the 22nd annual New Jersey Book Arts Symposium. “From Here to . . . There: Concept and Technique in Artists’ Books,” will be held on November 4th, 2016, at the Alexander Library.

    The full day program might be described as a carnivalesque,  multi-media extravaganza for everyone curious about the field of artists’ books, including students, scholars, artists, librarians, writers, musicians, administrators, procrastinators, cowboys and farmers, fanboys and fangirls, private citizens, as well as the general public.

    The program for “From Here to . . . There” is the most ambitious we–by which I mean the New Jersey Book Arts Committee–have ever planned in New Brunswick, consisting of brief illustrated presentations by nine accomplished artists, two morning workshops open to all attendees, an artists’ book registry organized by one of two artists-in-residence, two lunchtime readings by artist/writers, a book arts jam for everyone to show off, sell, barter, or donate their own book fabrications, an open mic for cultural announcements about ongoing or upcoming events (exhibitions, workshops, classes, projects, solo and collaborative performances) broadly pertinent to the field of book arts and artists’ books in New Jersey and environs, and a pop-up exhibit featuring examples of work by all participating artists. And there’s food!

    All are welcome – students are free; discounted registration for staff and faculty.

    See http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/spcol/bookarts/symp22.html for details.

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  • Predatory Publishing: Rutgers Alcohol Library in Conversation with Jeffrey Beall

    crocFaculty are inundated with email invitations to publish in scholarly journals or to serve on their editorial boards. Many of these solicitations are completely valid, but an increasing number of these journals are engaging in predatory publishing practices.

    Predatory publishing, a term coined by Jeffrey Beall, a librarian and associate professor at the University of Colorado, Denver, is an unwanted and undesirable side effect of the open access movement and Beall has become widely known as the “go-to guy” when it comes to checking the validity, authenticity, or value of these invitations.

    Beall maintains several resources that are great tools for promotion boards, hiring committees, and, as it turns out, librarians. The renowned Beall’s List of predatory publishers lists “potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly Open-access publishers,” on his Scholarly Open access blog. Additionally, Beall maintains a list of standalone journals and a list of criteria—covering everything from editors, staff, and business management to transparency, integrity, journal standards, and publishing practices—for identifying predatory Open-access publishers.

    The Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies (CAS) has been a frequent users of Beall’s list, since nationally and internationally recognized researchers at the Center are primary targets of invitations to participate in scholarly communication in various ways. Addiction science has been experiencing an influx of new journals and conferences, akin to health sciences.

    Judit Ward and William Bejarano have been monitoring this trend in the field at CAS and had the opportunity to interview Beall at the annual conference of the Substance Abuse Librarians & Information Specialists and the Association of Mental Health Librarians in May 2016 in Denver.

    In the July issue of The Agenda, we invited you to read part one of this interview in the Center of Alcohol Studies Information Services Newsletter, in which Beall explains how he became involved in the growing area of predatory publishing, discusses the most vulnerable groups in academia, and gives an update of the current situation. Part two, focusing on topics of greater interest for librarians, is now available in SALIS News. Beall advocates for educating users about not only predatory publishing, but also the various forms of open access and publishing standards, so that they can avoid the traps of predatory publishers.

    – RU Alcohol Library

     

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  • 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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  • Introducing Full Text Finder

    On August 18 the Libraries upgraded 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”). You may notice some changes to these interfaces. Below is a quick summary of what to expect.

    The new e-journals search interface is a little cleaner, better organized, and offers a variety of new features including:

    • Responsive autocomplete to facilitate known title searching
    • Discipline-specific browsing to help users identify titles in their subject area
    • Filters to refine results by subject, format, or publisher
    figure1
    Click to enlarge.

     

    The new link resolver menu has been streamlined to help users determine the availability of an item faster, more efficiently, and with less confusion. New features include:

    • Improved menu layout and design
    • Intuitive labels and icons
    • Real-time catalog lookup for print holdings
    • Fail-safe options in case of link resolver error
    figure2
    Click to enlarge.

    Please be sure to update any guides or tutorials that refer to these products. Links to the old A-to-Z Journals and Citation Linker pages have automatically been updated in LibGuides, but you may want to double check your guides just to be sure.

    As with any software migration, you may notice some irregularities as we work to resolve temporary glitches. If you have any questions or wish to report a technical problem, please contact serials@rutgers.libanswers.com.

    Special thanks to the Serials Team for their work migrating our holdings data as well as the Web Team for their help customizing the design of the interface.

  • Changes to the Rutgers University Photo Gallery Policy

    A recent policy change means that high resolution images from the Rutgers University Photo Gallery are now available free of charge for Rutgers projects.

    Douglass Library
    Douglass Library. Nick Romanenko/Rutgers University

    The gallery offers access to professional images of Rutgers buildings, faculty, staff, and students. Previously, low resolution images (72 dots per inch, suitable for projects such as PowerPoint presentations, email newsletters, and webpages) were available for free download, while high resolution images (300 dots per inch, suitable for print projects such as flyers, posters, and brochures) had to be purchased for $20 each. Now, however, because of changes due to RCM, the high resolution images are also available at no cost to the Rutgers community.

    Finding the perfect image for your project is as simple as following these three easy steps:

    1. Log in to the gallery using your NetID and password.
    2. Browse through the categories to identify a photo you like.
    3. For low resolution images, read and accept the terms and conditions to download the image immediately; or, for high resolution images, contact photo archivist Jane Hart with the file name and how you intend to use the photo.

    In the event that you can’t find an image you like in the gallery, you may request access to the University Communications and Marketing Photo Archive, which contains thousands of additional photos for your perusal. Contact Jane for access to the archive.

    For more information, visit University Communications and Marketing’s guide to finding photos.

     

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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.”

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

    Credit Line: Laura Anderson Barbata, Performance for San Pedro Festivities, 2011, Zaachila, Oaxaca. Photo: Marco Pacheco / Image courtesy of the artist.
    Credit Line: Laura Anderson Barbata, Performance for San Pedro Festivities, 2011, Zaachila, Oaxaca. Photo: Marco Pacheco / Image courtesy of the artist.

    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.

    Save the Dates:
    Tuesday, November 1st, 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m
    Join us for a reception in honor of the artist at 5 p.m. and a free public artist lecture on  in the Mabel Smith Douglass Room at Douglass Library.

    Wednesday, November 2nd, 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
    Barbata will present La Extraordinaria Historia de Julia Pastrana, a performance work in progress at Alexander Library in the Scholarly Communications Center.

    Background:
    Born in Mexico City and based in New York, Laura Anderson Barbata’s work focuses on participatory art initiatives that document communities and traditions, using storied art forms as platforms for social change, contemporary performance, group participation, and protest. Her collaborative and ongoing transdisciplinary works have been initiated in places such as the Amazon of Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Norway, the United States., and Mexico. Her practice intertwines traditional and contemporary mediums, so-called “fine art” and popular art, and craft and folk customs forging links between the past and the present, as well as the individual and the community.

    Among her most well-known projects are: Transcommunality, a decade-long project with communities in Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, and Brooklyn highlighting the moko jumbie stilt walking tradition; Intervention: Wall Street, a collaborative performance with the Brooklyn Jumbies that took place during 2011’s Occupy Wall Street protests; and The Repatriation of Julia Pastrana, a project involving the return of Ms. Pastrana (a woman who was exhibited in the 19th century as the ugliest woman in the world) for burial in her homeland of Mexico.

    Barbata’s work is included in numerous private and public collections, among them, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City; and Landesbank Baden-Wϋrttemberg, Stuttgart, Germany. She is a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte, FONCA-CONACULTA, México; and the Julia Pastrana project is supported by the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte, FONCA-CONACULTA, México.

    Click to find out more about Barbata.