The Agenda - Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Category: Department

  • Special Collections and University Archives Primary Source Highlights

    Special Collections and University Archives is excited to share a new digital resource, “Special Collections and University Archives Primary Source Highlights,” a site that makes accessible a trove of images we have scanned for researchers over the years. The site also features images from an ongoing project to scan the Sinclair New Jersey Postcard Collection.

    Like all of Rutgers Libraries, SC/UA faculty and staff had to quickly find ways to continue to support research and instruction as the university shifted to a remote environment last year. And like most of our colleagues in archives and special collections around the country, and indeed around the world, we spent much of summer and early fall 2020 planning ways to enhance access to digital materials, offer Zoom research consultations, and provide remote classroom instruction, all while working (primarily) remotely.

    Faced with the challenge to increase digital resources with very limited access physical access to our collections materials, we decided to look to existing resources that we could leverage and work with from home. In SC/UA we make hundreds of high-resolution scans for patrons every year, typically for publication in books, journals, magazines, television and film productions, and for a variety of online projects. These images are stored on an internal server for potential future internal and external use. It was almost as if all of these images were waiting for their moment to shine.

    Dave Kuzma and I collaborated on planning the site during fall 2020. Dave undertook the nuts and bolts work of the site, spending much of the fall semester polishing his Omeka skills, identifying images, cleaning them up for optimal display, and creating metadata, and will do more of this work moving forward. Tara Maharjan, Isaiah Beard, and Sam McDonald have provided technical expertise. Thanks to Sonia Yaco and Rhonda Marker for their support of this project.

    While “Primary Source Highlights” is still in its infancy, we are adding images regularly, so we encourage you to check back frequently. This site is also now part of our Digital Resources Guide, which continues to serve as a one-stop-shop for centralized, easy access to all of SC/UA’s digitized resources, from manuscripts to maps to instructional videos. This guide also includes digitized material related to the work and mission of SC/UA, including Rutgers sites that feature digital content from SC/UA, and New Jersey history-related digital collections and resources. We welcome and encourage you to share “Primary Source Highlights,” as well as SC/UA’s other digitized resources, with the students, faculty, staff, and community members with whom you engage.

  • Responsibility Grows in the Garden State

    A new Marijuana Research Guide from Rutgers librarians is ready to help researchers, students, and the public after legalization.

    A new Marijuana Research Guide from Rutgers librarians is ready to help researchers, students, and the public after legalization.

    The moment the news came in that New Jersey voters opted for the legalization of recreational marijuana, a new research guide seemed reasonable and necessary. Based on my previous experience and information collected earlier for a potential guide, I invited two colleagues to create a Rutgers Libraries guide to resources on marijuana-related issues. The guide is intended for Rutgers faculty, staff, and students, as well as for the public.

    Government resources librarian Stephanie Bartz selected relevant sources from the federal and state governments, complementing the collection with international resources. Becky Diamond, New Brunswick Libraries business librarian, added business resources, such as industry and company information, market research, and related databases. They both also contributed to other tabs such as data and statistics, New Jersey resources and services, and Rutgers resources. The legal resources tab benefits from the expertise of the Newark Law Library, with law librarian Rebecca Kunkel as partner. Book recommendations also came from Nicholas Allred, Graduate Specialist for the Chang Library’s Books We Read.

    The Marijuana Research Guide will remain a work in progress for a while, as the State of New Jersey works out the nuts and bolts of the complex procedure post-legalization. Updates will be included in several areas as we go.

    Read more in the blog post from Books We Read. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

  • An Evening with LIS Students

    As the editor of a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, I interact with many people. I work closely with potential authors during the review and publication process, and often keep in touch with some of them after their papers have been published. This was the case with Dr. Keren Dali, whose paper I accepted for publication (see Keren Dali and Leah K. Brochu, “The Right to Listen: A Not So Simple Matter of Audiobooks,” Library Resources and Technical Services volume 64, no. 3 [2020]). Keren and I bonded over some mutual interests. She recently invited me to speak to the students in her Collection Management Course, which is offered by the Research Methods and Information Science Department of the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver. In her email invitation to me, Keren wrote, “This is a class on the selection and weeding of library materials, as well as related policies and HR procedures. It would be great if students could hear from a high-level manager in one of the top research academic libraries in the country.” Resource description and technical services work, particularly weeding and transfer projects, are important aspects of collection development and management and I was flattered to have been asked to discuss my work. When I was in graduate school, I found it beneficial to hear firsthand from practitioners about their work and experiences.

    I’ve spoken to LIS classes before, and this was the first time I did it via Zoom. Pre-pandemic, I would’ve still needed to use videconferencing to speak to a class in Denver. The difference this time is that everyone participated via Zoom. I’ve become used to participating in meetings, conferences and webinars remotely. Keren’s class was small (14 students) and was a good size for discussion.

    The evening was an informal, freely flowing discussion instead of a lecture. I was asked about my personal trajectory into librarianship, specifically academic librarianship. I discussed how I chose technical services librarianship (which actually wasn’t my first choice) and my experience managing a busy department in a large academic library. I truly enjoy the complexities of resource description and like that my work provides the infrastructure to enable my public services colleagues to successfully deliver reference service and to teach courses. It also gives our users the ability to find and select the resources they need.

    Not surprisingly, the conversation touched on how our normal operations have changed due to COVID-19 and what implications it has had for collections and organizational processes. I described the challenges and successes of transitioning our cataloging operation to function remotely. That included making sure everyone had the equipment and access to the necessary technology to do their work. Fortunately, the cataloging resources we use (Classification Web, RDA Toolkit, Connexion) are all available remotely, and Alma is cloud based. Using WebEx for meetings was new for some of my staff, as was accessing files via Box. We developed a work plan before we began working remotely that specified who would do what work, which helped immensely with the transition to remote. Additionally, I noted that Rutgers, like many other research libraries, is using HathiTrust’s Emergency Temporary Access Services (ETAS), and also offering services like Click and Collect and home delivery to meet the needs of our users.

    Questions that I was asked included how my work at Rutgers informs my work as the editor of Library Resources and Technical Services (great question!). The two are closely related, and my professional experience and knowledge come into play when I provide authors with feedback on their manuscripts. I’m aware of trends, past and present, that have a bearing on technical services work.

    The importance of belonging to a professional organization (very important) was another question posed to me. I emphasized the benefits of sharing your expertise, as well as acquiring new expertise and gaining professional contacts. Although many conferences this year were virtual and a trend that may likely continue due to the benefits such as holding down costs and reducing time out of the office, I encouraged the students to attend them to find an organization that aligns with their interests and needs.

    Librarianship has evolved so much since I was in graduate school. Remote classes weren’t even offered then. Technology is now such an important part of technical services work. Shared databases make it easier to obtain copy for the resources we catalog. Discussion lists and Facebook communities allow us to share information and resolve our problems. Speaking to a class of future library professionals was an uplifting experience. I was impressed by their enthusiasm and perceptive questions.

  • Banned Books Week in New Brunswick

    By Judit H. Ward and Nicholas Allred

    New Brunswick Libraries partnered with the Student College, Academic, and Research Libraries Association (SCARLA), the Library and Information Science Student Association (LISSA), and the SC&I Alumni Association to host an online Banned Books Week event on October 1, 2020. The engaging event called Banned: a virtual read-out and discussion on the freedom to read featured read-outs of banned books from students and faculty, flash talks from SC&I and NBL faculty, a zine workshop, and trivia from LISSA. The 90-minute student-hosted event was extremely well received. It managed to connect a variety of audiences across Rutgers fostering a greater sense of community through sharing personal narratives and experiences. See a sample list of Banned Books we read at the event.

    The Books We Read team at Chang also documented the event with a page dedicated to Banned Books Week 2020, complemented with a collection of short essays inspired by the flash talks. In the Introduction to Banned Books Graduate Specialist Nicholas Allred poses the ultimate question “Why study censorship?” His perspective, based on his main interest in British literature, suggests that censorship can often provide a window into the anxieties of the censoring authorities. As an example, he mentions George Orwell’s Animal Farm, banned in the Soviet bloc, “because the allegory of a barnyard revolution hijacked by a regime of self-serving pigs who hollow out its utopian promises hit too close to home.”

    Censorship has also shaped publishing and literary history, lending a thrill of the forbidden to challenged works and spurring DIY publication tactics like zines, the topic of Art Librarian Megan Lotts’ presentation entitled What is a Zine? In her definition, zines represent a unique subculture which has emerged around making and collecting as a powerful tool representing creative, low-cost, DIY means of self-expression and idea sharing. She recommended exploring zines in libraries not only as a creative way to learn about visual culture, open-access, visual literacy, and information but also as an engaging and non-threatening way to talk about issues around cultural appropriation, cultural sensitivity, and inclusivity.

    The Banned Books Week event also reminds us of what we have to lose. A flash talk by science librarian Judit Ward What is Samizdat? highlighted this term from the Cold War, referring to the underground publication and circulation of articles or books with political views in stark contrast to the party line. Samizdat editions were books that covered current political topics, written by foreign authors with political content, or new publications of blacklisted authors. Forbidden to publish, read, and circulate, these titles taught generations to reflect and read between lines for ever.

    “Censorship succeeds when no one talks about it”––NBL Special Projects Librarian and SC&I lecturer Nancy Kranich emphasized the importance of celebrating Banned Books Week in her flash talk entitled Ban No More. Focusing on the role of libraries and librarians, she also suggested that more banning would occur without librarians, teachers, journalists and others speaking out to defend the freedom to read. Although books in libraries are constantly challenged, i.e., someone tries to remove or restrict them based on their content, library policies and practices can ensure that (unlike during the Cold War in the Eastern Bloc) the freedom to read will prevail as one of the most basic freedoms of democracy.

    A large portion of challenged titles belongs to a genre called Young Adult (YA) literature. Challenged for their difficult topics related to gender, mental health, violence, or racism to protect the readers dealing with these problems in their everyday lives, many of these Banned Bestsellers can actually function conversely and assist processing the issue at hand instead, as suggested by Julie Rossano, Books We Read team member and graduate student in the course taught by Marc Aronson at SC&I.

    Banning books has been a long practice as a form of censorship for a great variety of reasons. Spearheaded by the American Library Association, Banned Books Week (September 27 – October 3, 2020) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. The Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles lists of challenged books based on reports received from libraries, schools, and the media on attempts to ban books in the United States.

     

  • Announcing Archival Description of Notated Music and the Guidelines for Archival Description of Notated Music

    In early October the Society of American Archivists (SAA) and the Music Library Association (MLA) co-published a new open-access ebook, Archival Description of Notated Music (ADNM), co-authored by the MLA Working Group for Archival Description of Music Materials, which I had the pleasure of co-chairing with Dr. John Bewley, a Rutgers alumnus and the retired associate librarian/archivist at the University at Buffalo Music Library.  Working Group members also included Sofía Becerra-Licha, lead archivist at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Maristella Feustle, music special collections librarian at the University of North Texas; Vincent J. Novara, head of the Acquisitions and Processing Section in the Music Division at the Library of Congress; Matthew Snyder, archivist at the New York Public Library; and Karen Spicher, manuscript cataloger and processing archivist at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.

    ADNM provides guidance intended for a wide readership and is helpful for experienced archivists with limited knowledge of music, music librarians with limited knowledge of archival practice, students in MLIS and archival studies programs, and others with responsibility for archival collections with notated music. The book includes discussion of fundamental archival principles as applied to collections with notated music, recommendations for descriptive approaches based on the musical and non-musical content of a collection, a glossary, and an annotated resource list. In addition, included as an appendix are the Guidelines for Archival Description of Notated Music, which provide a standard for archival description of notated music and represent the first subject-specific supplement to Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS). The Guidelines were endorsed by the SAA Council as an external standard at the end of 2019. Both the Guidelines and ADNM are available via MLA’s Humanities Commons repository. ADNM may also be downloaded free-of-charge from the SAA Bookstore.

    The Working Group started the project in 2016, and none of us expected it to become a full-length book and professionally-endorsed standard, much less require four years and countless hours of meetings to complete. We took a collective approach to authorship: one or two group members drafted each section of the book, which we then revised and edited as a group. Although this approach was time-consuming, the final publications represent our consensus agreement on standardized archival practice and the full range of group members’ considerable expertise. We also solicited and incorporated feedback from colleagues in other music libraries and archives and collaborated closely with SAA’s Technical Subcommittee on DACS, which contributed to SAA’s endorsement of the Guidelines. This cross-organizational collaboration was essential to the successful outcome and will hopefully serve as a model for future DACS supplements.

  • Ann D. Gordon to Give Presentation on Women’s Suffrage in New Jersey

    2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) granting women the right to vote. In celebration of this milestone, Rutgers Research Professor Emerita of History Ann D. Gordon will give a presentation, “Bringing the Story Home: Agitating for Woman Suffrage in New Jersey,” on Thursday, September 24, 2020 at 4 p.m.

    Activists organizing for women to gain voting rights were everywhere across the United States, island territories included.  The struggle to win the right to vote is a national story chock full of local details, highlights of which will be explored in this presentation.

    Ann D. Gordon is Research Professor Emerita of History at Rutgers University. She has studied the movement for woman suffrage for nearly four decades as an author, editor, and lecturer. Her six-volume edition of the Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony was published from 1997 to 2013. Toward celebrating woman suffrage at this centennial, her essay on the 19th Amendment appears in the National Park Service’s website publication, 19th Amendment and Women’s Access to the Vote Across America; she served as a historical advisor to the National Archives in preparing its suffrage centennial exhibit, Rightfully Hers; and, until the pandemic, she lectured often on the history of voting rights.

    This program marks the opening of the Special Collections and University Archives online exhibition, On Account of Sex: The Struggle for Women’s Suffrage in Middlesex County, New Jersey. More details about the exhibition will be forthcoming.

  • New Content for Library Tutorials!

    The NimblyWise and Credo Reference Library instruction tutorials have undergone some changes and enhancements for the fall.

    For Credo Reference:

    • The addition of APA Citations 7th edition tutorial.
    • The addition of AMA Citations – A tutorial, which includes a video and checkpoint assessments for practice, on American Medical Association (AMA) style has been added to the Understanding and Using Research Sources section.
    • The addition of Gray Literature – The Health Science Resources section has a new tutorial, which includes a video and checkpoint assessments for practice, on gray literature (information from non-commercially published sources that can have use in research, such as conference proceedings and dissertations).
    • The Revisions of PubMed Material – the PubMed tutorial, including the screencasts, has been refreshed where relevant to reflect PubMed’s redesign.

    Quiz questions on the new topics of AMA and gray literature have been added to appropriate assessment libraries.

    For NimblyWise:

    For the Library Tutorials web page:

    • Citation Styles – New tutorial on APA Citations 7th
    • New quiz on Chicago Manual of Style 17th
    • Getting Started with Research
    • New video on “Framing a Problem” and a new quiz on “Research Strategies”.
    • Presenting Research and Data -The previous video, tutorial, and quiz on Synthesizing Information have been replaced by a video on “Synthesis” and a tutorial and quiz on “Synthesizing Information for Academic Writing”.
    • Using Critical Thinking and Logic – New video on “Why Thinking Matters” and new tutorials on “Logical Reasoning” and “Analyzing Information”.

    Evaluating Information – The video “How to Identify and Debunk Fake News” and the quiz on “Fake News” have been retired by the vendor.

    For questions about Library tutorials, contact Maria Breger at maria.breger@rutgers.edu

    View the complete list of the Libraries Teaching & Learning topics.

  • Communications Department Site Overhaul

    One of my projects for the summer was transferring the Communications Department site off the old apps.libraries platform and over to the new Staff Resources site. It is now located here: staff.libraries.rutgers.edu/communications.

    On the site you will find a variety of useful resources, from logo files and presentation templates, to flyers and signage, to style guidelines, to helpful tips and tricks. You may be particularly interested in the new Event Planning Guide (updated with a section on best practices for online events!) and the downloadable Zoom/WebEx backgrounds.

    Please have a look around and let me know what you think. I’m always looking for feedback on improvements and suggestions for new content. Thanks!

  • Rutgers Connect: Recent Changes and Enhancements

    Some recent changes and enhancements in Rutgers Connect have been announced by OIT. Several are highlighted and described here. Please do not hesitate to contact IIS at support@rulhelp.rutgers.edu if you have questions or comments about these enhanced or new features, or anything related to Rutgers Connect. 

    Login Upgrade:

    Rutgers Connect now allows you to log in with any of your aliases. You are no longer limited to logging in with NetID@libraries.rutgers.edu, and can now use any of the email addresses connected to your account including NetID@libraries.rutgers.edu, NetID@rutgers.edu, or firstname.lastname@rutgers.edu 

    Send Later Option in OWA:

    Microsoft has added a new “Send later” feature for Outlook on the web (OWA) that allows you to schedule your messages to be sent later. This feature was previously only available in the Outlook Desktop Client. To access this feature while composing a message, navigate to the dropdown arrow beside the Send button, click on the ‘Send later’ option, and you will see a pop-up that will allow you to choose the date and time for scheduling the email. Until the message is sent, it will appear in your Drafts folder where you may change or cancel the message.

    End Meetings and Appointments Early in OWA:

    Already available in the Desktop Client, Microsoft is now adding the “end appointments and meetings earlier” setting to Outlook on the web. This setting allows you to end all the events you schedule earlier, with a pre-determined time for events that are under or over 60 minutes. This buffer helps you take breaks in back-to-back meetings. This can be enabled in calendar settings, under the “Events and Invitations” tab.

    OneDrive File Size Increase:

    Microsoft has increased the maximum size from 15GB to 100GB for files uploaded to OneDrive. For uploading very large files, Microsoft recommends using its OneDrive Desktop client. 

    Microsoft Teams New Meeting Experience:

    Several new features have been implemented in the new Teams experience. To enable them, select your profile picture at the top of the Teams app, then Settings > General. Select “Turn on new meeting experience” and restart Teams. The new experience includes features such as pop-out meetings by default, meeting control changes, user interface changes, large gallery view (up to 49 streams), and Together mode. Detailed information about these changes can be found here.

    Screen Recording Now Available in Stream:

    Directly from Microsoft Stream, you can now create short screen recordings of up to 15 minutes, including your camera and microphone, without additional software. To utilize this feature, Select Create > Record screen in Microsoft Stream. More details can be found here.

    View Sign-ins:

    Microsoft now lets you view your sign-ins via https://mysignins.microsoft.com/. Though this information has always been logged, you can now view your own recent activity.

     

  • Notes from Libraries HR

    Past Workshops

    Returning to Rutgers Safely:  Wear Your Mask, Watch Your Distance & Wash Your Hands

    Information Sessions on COVID-19 Health and Safety Precautions were held earlier this month hosted in partnership with Rutgers Environmental Health and Safety (REHS).  Subject experts and instructors Peter Skeels, REHS, Manager of Health and Safety Services and Christine D’Angelo, MPH, Health and Safety Specialist II, spoke about safety precautions intended to mitigate the risks of the spread of COVID-19 as staff, faculty, and certain students begin to return to work on campus and offered knowledgeable tips.

    The sessions were intended for employees returning to buildings onsite.   Attendees had the opportunity to choose among various sessions and ask questions.   All staff and faculty are expected to follow university policies and guidelines in order to sustain a healthy campus.  It is important that we all diligently adhere to these health precautions. If you have any questions or need more information, please contact REHS at 848-445-2550.

    As a reminder, the state is requiring additional compliance training regardless of any previous medical, health, or professional training you may have taken. The specific module can be accessed through your compliance training page under “Safety Short: Coronaviruses and COVID-19”:  https://rutgersu.percipio.com

    Additional University-wide COVID-19 Information can be found in the Returning to Rutgers guide and here for health and safety.

    Understanding the Manager’s Role Under FFCRA

    Earlier this month, essential training on understanding the manager’s role in employee leave options under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) and understanding the manager’s role in Accommodations, was provided in a recorded presentation to supervisors.  The session was intended to explain university policy as it relates to leaves of absence to ensure supervisors are giving the correct information and support to employees.

    Employees who are expected to return to the workplace and who wish to seek a reasonable accommodation, should contact Office of Employment Equity (for Staff) or Academic Labor Relations (for Faculty).

    Supervisors had the opportunity to choose to attend various virtual drop-in sessions and ask questions hosted by Libraries HR.

    Employees with specific questions should make appointments by contacting Libraries HR:

    Michele Petosa, Coordinator of Human Resources at (848)-932-5949 or email rulhr@rutgers.edu

    Erica Parin, Administrative Assistant at (848)-932-5947 or email rulhr@rutgers.edu

    Additional information from the NJDOL, DOL, and University Human Resources is below:

    A message from Occupational Health on Influenza Vaccinations:

    “Occupational Health remains committed to keeping our faculty and staff safe during this global COVID-19 pandemic.  We strongly encourage all Rutgers employees to receive a flu shot this year.  Those employees who have not returned to campus should receive their vaccine at their local pharmacy which is provided at no cost with most medical insurances.  For those currently on campus, we will have 3 curbside outdoor flu clinics at the Hurtado Health Center located in New Brunswick.  We will partner again with Walgreens to assist with providing vaccinations at these clinics, so employees should bring their medical insurance cards at the time of the visit.  Occupational Health will provide any uninsured employee with the vaccine free of charge.  As parking and hours are limited, on campus employees may also consider receiving the vaccine at a local pharmacy.  Due to COVID-19 infection control concerns, this year we will not be able to schedule any off site vaccination clinics.  All graduate students should contact Student Health for their flu shot.”

    The curbside outdoor flu clinics will be located in New Brunswick, at this time no clinics are currently scheduled for Newark or Camden.    Additional information will be shared as we learn more, including dates and times—Be on the lookout for announcements from Libraries HR!

    Rutgers Occupational Health offices by location:

    • Rutgers–New Brunswick, Rutgers–Newark, and Rutgers–Camden: 848-932-8254
    • Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) Newark: 973-972-2900
    • RBHS New Brunswick/Piscataway and University Correctional Health Care: 848-445-0123 ext. 2
    • Robert Wood Johnson Medical School faculty and staff: 732-235-6559 

    Stay safe!

    Upcoming Reminders from Libraries HR

    As you prepare to embrace the Fall semester, reminders for employees can be found below as a new academic year is upon us!

    • Rutgers Employee First Initiative—University Human Resources is pleased to announce the Rutgers Employees First initiative. This initiative is intended to provide employees with tools and resources to support and promote employee wellness and build communities of interest around topics relevant to your needs and interests. To explore resources, please visit
    • Online Harassment Prevention Annual Training—All employees should receive an email from “Skillsoft”, a third party vendor, requesting you to complete online training regarding mandatory Harassment Prevention Education. The university uses a third party vendor, “Skillsoft”, as a provider of cloud-based learning and online training for it’s annual harassment prevention education.   Employees must complete this annual mandatory training no later than November 6, 2020.   If you have not yet received your personalized training link, employees may complete the training by logging in with their NetID This training is done on annual basis and is mandatory.
    • COVID-19 Compliance Training: The state is requiring mandatory compliance training regardless of any previous medical, health, or professional training you may have taken. Employees must complete this mandatory training by logging in with their NetID here.  The specific module can be accessed through your compliance training page under “Safety Short: Coronaviruses and COVID-19”:  https://rutgersu.percipio.com
    • Ethics Armor system-Outside Activity Questionnaire (OAQ)–As a reminder, all University faculty and staff members must complete an Outside Activity Questionnaire (OAQ) in the Ethics Armor system in accordance with University Policy.
    • Rutgers University employees (including legacy UMDNJ employees) should update their emergency contact information, home address, phone number(s), and or legal name changes with the Human Resources & Payroll system in your myRutgers Portal as follows:
    • Voluntary Self ID – Ethnicity/Race–We encourage you to take a moment to update your Race/Ethnicity demographic information. Although this two-item questionnaire is voluntary, we hope that you choose to complete it. The data from this survey helps us to build a modern and diverse workforce. Having the ability to benchmark our success in our hiring practices aids us in many ways. It helps us plan for our future state, as well as ensures federal and state affirmative action requirements are being met.
      • Please visit the myRutgers Portal at https://my.rutgers.edu/. Upon login, go to the Employee Self Service tab and click on Ethnic Groups under Personal Information to complete this short questionnaire.

    Any questions or concerns, please contact Libraries HR.

    Best wishes for good health and a safe year!