The Agenda - Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Category: Department

  • Library Instruction Continuity

    The Library Instruction Continuity Resources Guide.

    In light of our “new normal” circumstances, we have created a LibGuide that lists many helpful resources and documentation to support remote instruction.  The Library Instruction Continuity Resources LibGuide includes information on how to conduct live conferencing and record lectures that students may access on demand.  Additionally, it contains links to many helpful University-wide provisions such as direct links to Rutgers Emergency Preparedness for Synchronous/Asynchronous Instruction, and the Teaching and Learning with Technology department.  The guide also contains links to online resources by campus.

    Visit the LibGuide to view all of these valuable resources, and to see how to create and share instructional content in a remote instruction environment.

    For questions about the Library Instruction Continuity Resources LibGuide, contact Maria Breger at maria.breger@rutgers.edu

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

  • Digital Exhibits Page

    Continuing the work of presenting our digital projects in a consistent arrangement, the Digital Exhibits page is available with its first five digital exhibitions. The page summarizes the completed projects and links to each online exhibition and its exhibit catalog. While the panels and web pages reflect the distinctiveness of the subjects, they share unified theming. They have consistent links back to the main Digital Exhibits page as well as the Libraries home page. Be sure to check back from time to time, as more are on the way in the months to come.

  • Digital Projects Status Page

    Over the past couple of years, the digital projects team in Shared User Services has been actively assisting campus libraries in organizing their work on digital collections, and making them available online. Thirty-one such projects are now publicly accessible through our digital collections page and span a variety of topics, from Inclusion and Diversity, to showcasing the research articles and presentations of our undergraduates. This list continues to grow, as new collections are proposed and some of our ongoing projects continue to be renewed and expanded upon.

    But everyone wants to know what’s in the pipeline. In order to keep the RUL community up to date on the projects we’re working on, we’ve created a page for Pending and In-Progress Digital Projects that lists most of the digital collections and exhibits that are upcoming, along with their status and proposed work timelines. We hope you’ll visit our status page and keep abreast of our ever-growing digital collections work!

  • Schedule Meetings More Easily with FindTime

    FindTime is an Outlook add-in that allows you to easily identify and come to a consensus on meeting times. FindTime shows you the dates and times you and your attendees are available based on the free/busy data in Outlook calendars. A poll is created within an email message which is sent to invitees who can vote on their preferred times. Because FindTime is integrated into Office 365, you no longer need to use separate applications, such as Doodle, to poll colleagues for meeting times. Invitees do not need to install FindTime to vote on meeting times, and invitations can be sent to any email address including external addresses.

    FindTime works with Outlook on the Web (OWA), Outlook 2016 (desktop version), and Outlook for Mac. When using it for the first time, you will need to install the add-in and you will be prompted to sign in to authorize its use. More information on FindTime can be found here.

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

  • 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.