The Agenda - Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Category: Department

  • My Trip to Speak at Carnegie Mellon-Qatar

    • Megan Lotts (r.) and her Carnegie Mellon collaborators.

    On February 1, 2020, I boarded a plane with bags full of LEGO as well as Rutgers University Libraries coloring books, zines, and library swag.  My final destination was Doha, Qatar to visit one of Carnegie Mellon’s satellite campuses. I was invited to Doha as the Carnegie Mellon-Qatar (CM-Q) Glorianna St Clair Distinguished Lecture in 21st Century Librarianship and gave a presentation titled “The Engaged Librarian: Fostering a Culture of Creativity and Play in Libraries.” This presentation was based off my previous work on makerspaces, active learning, and play in libraries, as well as new research from my latest book project on creativity for the American Libraries Association, forthcoming in 2021.

    While in Doha, I had the opportunity to collaborate on a zine and LEGO workshop for the CM-Q campus with Jill Chisnell, Dom Jebbia (both from Carnegie Mellon-Pittsburgh), and director of the CM-Q Library Teresa MacGregor. These events were attended by students, faculty, and staff members of the CM-Q campus as well as a few members from the Georgetown University-Qatar community.

    Another exciting part of my trip was the opportunity to present my research on LEGO and active learning at the Qatar National Library (QNL).  This library, recently built by architect Rem Koolhaus, is jaw dropping. Having a soft spot for Koolhaus since reading his well-known text Delirious New York, I immediately fell in love with this elegant sculpture which houses unusual furniture, futuristic technology, and an elevator known as the “people mover,” which is similar to a ride one might find at Disney World in the 1980s.  Beyond the stunning architecture was a variety of unique spaces and resources that cater to the needs of the local Qatar communities, including a large children’s space, a music room, makerspaces, a beautiful café, an impressive auditorium, and more.

    Although there were many interesting cultural experiences while visiting Qatar, including buying goods at the Souq, the Materials Library at Virginia Commonwealth University-Qatar, and trying beef bacon, I was awestruck by the architecture including the QNL (Rem Koolhaus) and the Museum of Islamic Art, designed by world-renowned architect IM Pei. But perhaps most interesting was the architecture of “the Pearl,” an artificial island built on one of Qatar’s former major pearl diving sites. It’s not surprising that this stunning, futuristic, almost unreal structure houses some of the most modern neighborhoods in town. Fortunately, I was able to experience this space in person at a monthly community-building party hosted by Mike Trick, dean of CM-Q.

    If you have questions about this trip or my research, please contact me at megan.lotts@rutgers.edu or learn more about me at meganlotts.com.

     

  • Quick Takes on Events and News – January 2020

    Targum Documentary Spotlights NBMSA

    Islamic Art Wiki-a-Thon Returns to Dana Library 

    Dana Library hosted its second Islamic Art Wiki-a-Thon last semester. Professor Alex Seggerman’s Islamic Architecture course was one of a group of classes participating in the December 9 Islamic Art Wiki-a-Thon. Students spent the semester learning how to do research and edit Wikipedia pages. They prepared and wrote drafts, updating current Wikipedia articles on various Islamic architecture sites. During the event, they came together and made official changes to articles. They were joined asynchronously by students at Temple University and the University of Texas. 

    On Exhibit at Douglass Library 

    MARY H. DANA WOMEN ARTISTS SERIES GALLERIES
    Gendering Protest: Deborah Castillo and Érika Ordosgoitti
    Exhibition: January 21–April 3, 2020
    Curator: Tatiana Flores, Associate Professor of Latino & Caribbean Studies and Art History
    Gallery Hours: M-F 9 a.m.–10 p.m.
    Public Event
    Reception and Artist’s Lecture: Wednesday, March 25 | 5:00–6:45 p.m.
    RSVP: womenart@cwah.rutgers.edu
    Galleries and event are free and open to the public.
    cwah.rutgers.edu @CWAHatRutgers #GenderingProtest 

     

  • Special Collections Open House

    You’re invited to an open house at

    Special Collections and University Archives

    Thursday, January 9

    1 – 4 PM

    Alexander Library

    Featuring snacks, demonstrations, and tours.

    RSVP

    Sign up for a tour of our galleries and vast storage areas

  • OneDrive External Sharing

    Beginning on January 13, Rutgers Connect users will be able to share OneDrive files with collaborators outside of the university. Up to this point, external sharing was possible only between authenticated Rutgers Connect users.

    This feature works like sharing with internal Rutgers Connect users. Anyone with access to the shared link will be able to view and edit shared files or folders based on permissions specified by the owner. More information on sharing OneDrive files and folders can be found here.

    If you have any questions about OneDrive file sharing, please do not hesitate to contact IIS by phone at 848-445-5896, option 7, or by email at support@rulhelp.rutgers.edu.

  • Teaching and Learning: LibGuides

    Did you know that our LibGuides have been viewed over 240,000 times just in the fall 2019 semester? Keeping our LibGuides free of errors and up to date is an important part of our services at Rutgers University Libraries. With the help of some awesome student workers, we’ve made great progress in recent months to reduce the number of broken links from more than 4,600 to fewer than 1,800. As we move into the spring semester, now is a good time for LibGuide authors to make sure that your content is current and accurate! Taking the time to do some “spring cleaning” will make ongoing maintenance easier.

    Here are some suggestions to prepare your LibGuides for the start of the semester:

    LibGuide authors who have questions about LibGuides may contact Maria Breger at maria.breger@rutgers.edu

  • Library Reading Lists Created within Multiple LMSs

    Students in electronic classroomThe Ex Libris Leganto Reading List Management tool is now available for use in Blackboard, Canvas, and Sakai. The reading list tool can help instructors create impactful resource lists using library content and integrate a variety of materials into one, easy-to-use list. The tool is accessible from inside the learning management system, so students can access the reading list, along with other course resources. Instructors and librarians can collaboratively create and process reading lists for students from all types of resources.

    Because the reading lists tool is integrated in Blackboard, Canvas, and Sakai, access to materials is easy and streamlined for students.

    Here are some of the key features:

    • Instructors can create reading lists from books, articles, streaming media, and other resources held by the Libraries or add their own content. Reading lists integrate with the saved favorites feature on QuickSearch and lists can be used for multiple sections of a course or copied into new courses.
    • Reading lists can be divided into sections, by chronology, or by citation type.
    • Instructors and students can view information about each citation such as availability and status.
    • Instructors can collaborate with peers to enrich reading lists and keep them up to date.
    • Instructors can access usage data about their reading lists.

    The tool is now available in the external tools sections of the learning management systems. For more information, or if you have any questions, contact me at maria.breger@rutgers.edu.

  • Reservations Accepted for One Button Studio

    One button studio at Alexander Library
    The One Button Studio at Alexander Library.

    Students, faculty, and staff now can reserve the One Button Studio in Alexander Library to create high-quality digital video recordings in a studio setting. The studio does not require users to have prior video production knowledge. Lighting, audio, and video configurations have been pre-set for ease of use.  With support and funding from Ben Sifuentes-Jáuregui, vice chancellor for Undergraduate Academic Affairs at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, this space will enable students to present their research as a high-quality video, an alternative to the more static conventions of the poster or long-form essay. The room is set up for one to three people to create a video with only a FAT formatted flash drive. It really is as simple as 1-2-3-4: insert your USB drive into the dock, press the large silver button to begin recording, press the button to stop recording, and remove your USB drive to deactivate the studio camera and lights. Shared User Services provided support to list the One Button Studio on the Group Study Rooms web page and link to a user guide/reservation page. Reserve the room online and visit the Circulation Desk in Alexander Library to check out the key with your Rutgers ID card.

  • Robert Moevs Audio Archive

    Robert Moevs at piano
    Robert Moevs (1920–2007) served on the faculty of Rutgers University from 1964 to 1991, and as chair of the Music Department from 1974 to 1981.

    The Robert Moevs Audio Archive now features publicly available streaming clips of all of its 193 pieces and is one of the libraries’ featured Digital Collections. The audio was digitized from reel-to-reel and cassette tapes to preserve the material while making it more easily accessible. The metadata is visible to anyone, and the complete audio can be accessed from computers in Douglass Library.

    An accomplished composer and beloved teacher, Robert Moevs (1920–2007) served on the faculty of Rutgers University from 1964 to 1991, and as chair of the Music Department from 1974 to 1981. Accolades include fellowships, residencies, and awards from the American Academy in Rome, Guggenheim, the National Institute of Arts and Sciences, ASCAP, and the Stockhausen International Prize in Composition. The creator of a rich body of orchestral, chamber, vocal, and instrumental music, Moevs’s work received major performances by George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony, and Leonard Bernstein and Symphony of the Air. He was also a revered professor whose students include Richard Wilson at Vassar College and Judith Shatin at the University of Virginia.

    The Robert Moevs Audio Archive ensures the preservation of the composer’s music and the style he represents for generations to come. Modernist composers sought to challenge and expand the horizons of the listener; as teachers, they significantly impacted the scholarly study of music. Digitization and metadata creation was possible thanks to the Moevs endowment, which generously supports conferences and concerts on 20th-century modernist music.

    I’d like to thank everyone who worked on this project, especially Kalaivani Ananthan, Marty Barnett, Isaiah Beard, Thomas Izbicki, Lila Kwederis, Rachael Lansang, Rhonda Marker, Sam McDonald, Janice Pilch, Geoffrey Wood, and Esther Zenzele.

  • Library Tutorials Made Available in Multiple LMSs

    The NimblyWise courses on Communication, Critical Thinking, and Information Literacy are now available for use in Blackboard, Canvas, and Sakai.  A new Credo Reference course – Health Science – is in the process of being set up and soon will be available in Canvas.  As an easy way to reference these courses while conveying the wide range of library instruction topics, we refer to them as Library Tutorials.

    The Library Tutorials are for use by Rutgers University instructors on all campuses.  Librarians will be interested to know that the lessons are mapped to instructional standards including the AAC&U (American Association of Colleges and Universities) VALUE Rubrics (Information Literacy and others), the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy, and the ACRL Visual Literacy Standards.

    Here are some of the ways that instructors may use these lessons:

    • In a first-year or transition class, to help students appreciate the overall importance of information literacy, strong research and evaluation, and communication skills.
    • As a flipped classroom, assigning students to view a video or work through a lesson before they attend a specialized library instruction class.
    • At various points during a scaffolded assignment, courses are broken down into individual lessons so that they may be deployed to students at various points in their process.
    • At the beginning of a class project, the multimedia lessons cover topics essential to success in research, from choosing a topic to evaluating sources.
    • At point of need, the lessons and videos provide just-in-time learning resources that are available to students throughout the semester.

    Instructors who have questions about the Library Tutorials content, or who want to supplement the online instruction with in-person or other modes of library instruction, are being directed to contact their library liaison.  Library liaisons can also help instructors select the most relevant lessons for their course.

    Librarian liaisons who need information about the tutorials may contact Maria Breger at maria.breger@rutgers.edu.

  • Making Room for (Space) Improvement

    Last month the Central unit completed a series of relocation projects within Alexander Library and the Libraries Technical Services Building in order to maximize the efficient use of space and prepare for future improvement projects.

    We were pleased to welcome Communications, Shared User Services and Digital Projects to the administrative offices on the third floor at Alexander: Matt Badessa, Rhonda Marker, Marty Barnett, and Isaiah Beard are now located at 169 College Avenue, and may be reached at their same telephone lines. Business Operations, including Abigail DiPaolo, Amanda Presler and Jodi Costeira, have relocated within the administrative suite, so their address and telephone lines will not change.

    We are also excited to welcome Gracemary Smulewitz to the SCC space on the fourth floor of Alexander. Web services librarian Amy Kimura and discovery services librarian Joseph Deodato have now relocated to TSB, near to their frequent collaborators in IIS and TAS, and can be reached at their same telephone lines at 47 Davidson Road.

    These new arrangements are partly the result of achieving certain goals and priorities for FY2019, namely, the addition of Jeffrey Carroll, our new AVP of scholarly communications and collections, who joins Rutgers on July 15. In the coming year, both Alexander Library and TSB will undergo limited renovation projects to include more collaborative space for staff and students, and to co-locate School of Communication and Information faculty in Alexander Library.

    The Libraries are accustomed to the strengths and challenges of working together across 16 buildings and three campuses, and effective workspace is always in demand. More news about ongoing space improvements will follow as we work on the functionality and use of the Technical Services Building. We look forward to the next phase of enhancements!

    Want more exciting news about spaces and places at RUL? Read about the Dana Library Transformation Project and track its progress on its dedicated blog.