The Agenda - Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Category: Units

  • 2018 Scholarly Publishing Symposium

    The latest addition to the Libraries’ Digital Collections page is the 2018 RBHS Scholarly Publishing Symposium. Here, Ela Sosnowska describes the event and reflects on lessons learned.

    George Woodward presents at the Scholarly Publishing Symposium.
    About the 2018 Scholarly Publishing Symposium 

    The symposium, held on March 14, 2018 in Newark and March 15, 2018 in New Brunswick was organized by the RBHS Provosts Office and Rutgers Libraries as a part of the RBHS Provosts Faculty Development Series. 

    The main goal of this event was to inform and educate RBHS faculty and graduate students about the complexities of the publishing process and to introduce them to the resources and services supporting scholarly publishing provided by Rutgers’ libraries. Topics covered included advice on preparing and submitting manuscripts, navigating the peer-review process, finding the right scholarly journals and publishers, and avoiding predatory publishers.

    The symposium featured three lectures (I-III) and a panel discussion (IV):

    1. An overview of the scholarly publishing process was delivered by George Woodward, the symposium’s keynote speaker and a professional editor at Elsevier. It included details of the peer-review process, an outline of the most common mistakes authors make that impact the success or failure of their manuscript submissions and practical advice on steps needed for a successful submission of manuscripts.
    2. A view from a faculty editor delivered by the RBHS chancellor Brian Strom presented a view on the editor’s role in the journal editorial process. The presenter provided recommendations to authors on adhering to the submission criteria set by the journal and emphasized importance of recognizing the established policies on conflicts of interest by all involved in the publication process.
    3. Librarians’ perspective on scholarly publishing presented by Yingting Zhang, research services librarian, began with an overview of the publishing market, including pros and cons of open access journals. It provided instructions on how to assess journal value and how to recognize journals that may be questionable or predatory. It also introduced tools and resources used for the proper selection of journals and available at Rutgers’ libraries.
    4. A panel discussion focused on three faculty editors’ experiences with the editorial process and resulted in practical advice to early career authors. It envolved into a question and answer format and resulted in a spirited and informative discussion on topics of greatest concern to the attendees.

    Statistical highlights:

    The overall evaluation of the symposium was very positive, with 95% of Newark and 96.3% of New Brunswick participants agreeing that the symposium was satisfactory or very satisfactory in providing value to their work.

    The strength of both sessions was demonstrated further by very high marks given to all three presenters, where 92-97% for responders rated their presentations satisfactory or very satisfactory.

    97.5% of attendees in Newark and 92.6% of participants in New Brunswick declared interest in attending future workshops/symposia on other scholarly topics.

    The most popular topics identified for future sessions were:

    1. Instruction on using citation management tools
    2. Ways of identifying quality journals suitable for publishing
    3. Tools for measuring faculty research/publishing impact

    Participation:

    A total of 61 people attended the Newark session on March 14. Fifty-one of them were faculty representing the following RBHS schools: NJMS, RSDM, SHP, SON and RWJMS. Two NJMS and one GSBS students and 7 representatives from the Health Sciences Libraries and Elsevier also attended.

    The New Brunswick session on March 15 attracted 50 attendees, 40 of whom were faculty members and two of whom were students from the following RBHS schools and centers: RWJMS, SPH, SHP, NJMS, Pharmacy, SON and EOSHI. Eight health sciences librarians and Elsevier representatives also participated.

  • Strengthening Ties on Campus: Events in the Chang Science Library – Spring 2019

    • Students perform at the open mic night.

    The Chang Science Library hosted exciting events in the Spring ’19 semester. Partnering with University Career Services (UCS) for the current academic year, the library replaced Martin Hall as a location for the popular Career Meet-Ups and weekly Drop-in Resume Critique Hours on the Cook campus in both semesters. Students were lining up in front of the newly minted Chang Consultation Room Tuesday afternoons to benefit from experienced career development specialist Larry Jacobs, who represents the UCS Food & Agriculture and Environmental & Natural Resources Career Cluster.

    A remarkable poster exhibit evolved from a new partnership between the NBL SEBS Team and the SEBS Office of Academic Programs, which had started with an experiment to include a library component in the course Academic Mentoring in the fall semester. In April, undergraduate students of another course, Portals to Academic Success, visited the library to take pride in their work submitted during the library session of their class. Dubbed Books We Read, the assignment called for finding their favorite book in QuickSearch and, based on templates provided by the librarian-instructor, creating a poster with basic bibliographic information and availability at the Libraries. Complemented with images and quotes from the book or by other authors (and proper credits), over 100 small posters are now on display in the Chang Science Library.

    Striving to balance schoolwork and pleasure, the library also hosted fun events. Indicating another strong partnership on campus started in 2018, Chang was chosen as one of the locations (with RUL goodies) for the Cook Campus Easter Egg Hunt hosted by the SEBS International Office, which added some diversion from the special SEBS international orientations and workshops held earlier.

    A new partner in the spring semester, the SEBS Governing Council brought new excitement to the library. As only a few people signed up in advance, the Open Mic and Rutgers Roast event seemed to get a bumpy start, but turned out to be a huge success. A talented student opened it with his hilarious stand-up comedy routine, roasting Rutgers only mildly. It was followed by a poem recital and some personal stories from the audience, which put everyone at ease. Two undergrads ran Vine prompts, which encouraged participation from everyone, even if some, admittedly, felt suddenly old! Photos can attest that the 25+ attendees had a fantastic time and the idea may have some followers in other libraries in the future.

    These events are examples of an attempt at Chang to meet students’ needs and wishes discovered by undergraduates of the course Social and Cultural Aspects of Design in Spring ’18. Taught by Laura Lawson, professor and dean, and Holly Nelson, associate professor of practice, the semester-long class assignment assessed and redesigned the Chang Science Library. Students’ data collection and analyses suggest that students would like libraries to become a place that provides educational, entertaining, and competitive events and opportunities for them during their studies.

  • This Month in the Agenda – May 1993

    Calendar of Events, May 2 - May 30, 1993.
    Calendar of Events, May 2 – May 30, 1993.
    How To

    Mary Beth Fecko, Technical and Automated Services, has written Cataloging Nonbook Resources: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians.

    Cataloging is the starting point for access to nonbook materials, especially important for media which cannot be browsed in the manner of books. Cataloging Nonbook Resources offers the cataloger guidance and practice with nonbook materials. It covers the major formats: visual materials, sound recordings, maps, computer files, kits, and electronic resources. The text is meant to be used in conjunction with AACR2R. Each chapter includes examples of bibliographic records, examples of MARC tagging for various formats, and AACR2R rules for MARC tagged records along with Library of Congress Rule interpretations. This manual brings catalogers up to speed on “nontraditional” formats.

    Congratulations, Mary Beth!

    The Agenda 15, no. 9 (May 2, 1993)

    Holdings and Pieces

    The System and Database Management Department is scheduled for a major upgrade at the end of the summer. Because of the high interest in the upgrade the plans are as follows:

    Holdings and Pieces Management is coming soon to our IRIS catalog. Why, you may ask, is Holdings and Pieces necessary? How will it affect our daily operations, and is the transition worth it?

    Holdings and Pieces is Geac’s name for the software they developed to streamline management of individual items in the system, while retaining summary information. In this context, holdings refers to summary holdings, and pieces refers to the individual items.

    Currently holdings information is kept in two separate sets of files: those for circulation and those for BPS. In the OPAC, information is drawn from both of these components. Holdings and Pieces Management (HPM) will integrate information that is now kept in separate files. For example, from either Circ or BPS, you will be able to determine circulation status and the date an item was added to the system. Staff will be able to change information in either function and will be able to record item-level notes.

    The Agenda 15, no. 9 (May 2, 1993)

    A Bit of Trivia

    Patrons recalled 5,430 books from September to December, 1992. On average that’s 45 recalls placed per day!

    The Agenda 15, no. 9 (May 2, 1993)

    Phone-a-Friend

    A special thank you is extended to all the volunteers from the library community who participated in the Annual Giving Phonothons for ’92 – ’93. By your volunteering to call alumni and parents you have helped to ensure the libraries continued growth as an intellectual resource for our Rutgers students.

    Treadwell Atkins Alexander Library
    Karen Barrella Fiscal Control/Library Admin.
    Ron L. Becker Special Collections and Archives
    Renza Chendak Library Administration
    Amos Danube Library of Science and Medicine
    Rose Deland Technical and Automated Services
    James Doele Dana Library
    Margie Epple Library Administration
    Delores Evans Library Administration
    Betty Fry Technical and Automated Services
    Jeanne Garrison Robeson Library
    Marianne Gaunt Library Administration
    Gary Golden Robeson Library
    Bonita Grant Special Collections and Archives
    Harriette Hemmasi Music Library
    Michael Joseph Special Collections and Archives
    Marty Kesselman Library of Science and Medicine
    Linda Langschied Alexander Library
    Bobbi Loeb Library Administration
    Jackie Mardikian Library of Science and Medicine
    Sondra Marsh Robeson Library
    Nita Mukherjee Technical and Automated Services
    Stan Nash Alexander Library
    Judy Odom Robeson Library
    Carol Paszamant Alexander Library
    Francoise Puniello Douglass Library
    Halina Rusak Art Library
    Charlene Shults Alexander Library
    Ruth Simmons Special Collections and Archives
    Jane Sloan Douglass Library
    Gracemary Smulewitz Alexander Library
    Peter Stern Alexander Library
    Marilyn Tankiewicz Business Office/Library Admin.
    Ryoko Toyama Alexander Library
    Nancy Wiencek Library Administration
    Myoung Wilson Alexander Library
    Carole Wolfe Technical and Automated Services
    Connie Wu Library of Science and Medicine
    Beth Ann Zambella Kilmer Library

    The Agenda 15, no. 10 (May 16, 1993)

     

  • Dana Library Transformation Project

    3D render of building
    An architectural rendering of the exterior addition.

    These are exciting times for Dana Library. Last month, we began a series of renovations that will address the highest priorities for improving the library that were identified through the Rutgers University–Newark strategic planning process several years ago. The changes will make the library more user friendly in numerous ways, including finally fitting out the third floor, which has been shell space since the construction of that wing decades ago.

    The results of this project involve enhancements that will create new study and learning spaces for students, facilitate ease of access to the collections and departments within, and the construction of a new center to support teaching faculty:

    Construction fence around building
    Construction on the library began in March and is scheduled to be completed in April 2020.
    • An addition to the library is being built to better facilitate the flow of traffic to all five floors of the building. A larger stairwell and high-capacity, high-speed elevator are being installed to allow for large groups of people to move up and down the stairwell with ease, as well as shorten elevator wait time and accommodate more people.
    • The centerpiece of this project is the construction that will take place on the third floor. This includes additional quiet study space for our students and the new P3 Collaboratory for Pedagogy, Professional Development, and Publicly-Engaged Scholarship at Rutgers University–Newark. This open study space will provide an additional 60+ seats, along with numerous conveniently located outlets for devices.
    • This construction will also allow us to enhance our archives spaces and services. A space will be created to house the new Dana Archives departments providing our local university archives collections with a formal home. The Dana Archives and IJS will share the newly created reading room that will accommodate a larger number of classes and independent researchers at one time.
    • This is topped off by an iconic architectural feature on the plaza side of the building that will serve as a beacon to campus visitors, students, faculty, and staff alike.

    Construction has already begun and is scheduled to be completed in April 2020. I’ll plan to deliver updates from time to time in the Agenda, but if you want the latest information as it’s available, head over to the Dana Library Transformation Project blog, where we post updates at least once a week after our meetings (and don’t forget to sign up for the email list to receive alerts when new posts are published).

    Thank you for following along on this journey toward the future of Dana Library!

  • Celebrating National Citizen Science Day

    woman giving presentation
    Mary Catherine Lundquist, Director of the COPSA Institute for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders, presents at the Piscataway Public Library.

    April 13 marked National Citizen Science Day for 2019, and all libraries in the country were encouraged to host events to celebrate the day. Because this year’s theme of Citizen Science Day was related to Alzheimer’s disease and target audiences were the general public, the Library of Science and Medicine worked with Piscataway Public Library to co-host an event titled Myths and Realities of Alzheimer’s Disease. The event was sponsored by the COPSA Institute for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders at Rutgers. This joint event by LSM, RBHS, and the local public library was well received by our audiences. Below are some remarks from the speaker, public library librarian, and a manager at one RBHS center:

    • Thank you Connie for inviting me. This was a wonderful group! Your efforts were so much appreciated by everyone. Please keep us in mind for future events.
    • Thank you so much for including Piscataway Public Library in Rutgers’ National Citizen Science Day. I am especially appreciative as the topic of Alzheimer’s is near and dear to my heart. I am truly grateful to have partnered with you on this event and I look forward to creating more programs with you.
    • Librarians are some of my very favorite people! And I’ve received a lot of help from our RU librarians in the past, so I’m happy to help out in return.

  • Rutgers Day 2019

    Thank you to all the volunteers who braved the wind last weekend to work our Rutgers Day tents and spread the word about everything the Libraries have to offer. If you missed out on all the prize-wheeling, button-making, selfie-taking fun, enjoy this collection of #RutgersDay social media posts!

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    Come win some prizes at the library table at Rutgers Day!!! #rutgersday #rutgersday2019 #rutgerslibraries #rutgersuniversity

    A post shared by Rutgers HSL (@rutgershsl) on

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    Kids winning prizes by fishing for quality health information. #rutgerslibraries #rutgersday #rutgersday2019 #rutgersuniversity

    A post shared by Rutgers HSL (@rutgershsl) on

  • Libraries before the Age of Google

    floppy disks
    This collection of storage disks is among the many items on display in the “Libraries before the Age of Google” exhibit.

    Librarians constantly embrace change.  Some of the tools or equipment used in the library were considered state-of-the-art innovations and were indispensable in the daily work of librarians.  Have you heard of a library fines calculator? Have you seen the thermal paper that recorded the search results of online searching done by the librarians? Have you ever wondered why you would find some punch cards in the back of library books?  As librarians are retiring, we have begun collecting the vintage items in their offices, and are inviting the librarians to tell us the stories behind each item. Now you can see these items in a display of Libraries Before the Age of Google in the conference room at the Library of Science and Medicine.  The contents of the display are also available as pictures in a digital gallery.

    If you would like to share any interesting vintage library items, please contact Mei Ling Lo (mlo@rutgers.edu) or Tara Maharjan (tara.maharjan@rutgers.edu).  We will be honored to share your stories with the rest of the world.

    I hope that you will enjoy seeing the items and learning the stories behind them!

  • What’s Happening around Rutgers – May 2019

    Environmental Technology Late Night

    Wednesday, May 1, 2019 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.
    Rutgers–New Brunswick, Geology Hall

    Learn how scientists use new and exciting technologies to study and solve important environmental issues! Demonstrations, arts and crafts, and educational activities will be set up around the museum for this event and guests are welcome to come and go as they please. Learn more at the Geology Museum’s website here.

    Brick City Comedy Revue

    Friday, May 3, 2019 8:00 p.m.
    Rutgers–Newark, Kilkenny Ale House, Off Campus

    FREE Monthly Comedy show at Newark’s Kilkenny Ale House! Bringing some of the best comics to the Brick City. First Friday of every month @ 8 p.m. Learn more at the Rutgers–Newark events calendar here.

    Spring Concert

    Sunday, May 5, 2019 2:00 p.m.
    Rutgers–Camden, Walter K. Gordon Theater

    The annual Rutgers–Camden music program’s spring concert showcases all the student ensembles as well as featured soloists. Admission is free. Learn more at the Rutgers–Camden events calendar here.

    The Magic Tree-House: Showtime with Shakespeare

    Friday, May 31, 2019 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
    Rutgers–Newark, NJPAC (Victoria Theater), Off Campus

    Treat the entire family to this lively, new hip-hop musical based on the Magic Tree House adventure Stage Fright on a Summer Night by the New York Times best-selling author Mary Pope Osborne.

    No matter what, the show must go on! That’s what Jack and Annie learn when the Magic Tree House transports them back to Elizabethan England. There, the daring sibling duo meet William Shakespeare himself—one of the greatest writers of all time! Learn more at the Rutgers–Newark events calendar here.

  • Ex Libris Implementation Project Update – May 2019

    quicksearch logo

    Rutgers Law Libraries to Join Alma/Primo

    The Rutgers Law Libraries are joining our Alma and Primo instances in January 2020! Project planning for appending the Law libraries catalog has begun. We are currently participating in bi-weekly planning meetings with Ex Libris and the Law libraries. Progress will be communicated through the Ex Libris Implementation team. This is an exciting opportunity for us and the faculty and students that we serve. 

    Leganto Update

    The Leganto implementation team is preparing to go live with 16 pilot courses from the School of Social Work. This summer, social work graduate students will be able to access their course reserves, including electronic course reserves, live links to the physical reserves holdings, and access to our journal and database subscription content, directly from their course in Canvas. The team is planning a soft launch for fall, so if you know of a department that would be interested in this comprehensive course reserves solution, please contact your campus representative to the Leganto team or the Ex Libris Team at exlibris@rutgers.libanswers.com.  

    FRBRization disabled for music materials 

    FRBRization refers to the process by which different versions of the same work are grouped together. Generally speaking, FRBRization is a useful feature that allows researchers to easily find and identify related works (e.g., different editions of the same book). However, in some cases, unrelated works are mistakenly grouped together, which causes confusion and makes these resources more difficult to find. This is especially true for musical scores and audio recordings where heavy use of generic titles, complex statements of responsibility, and variations of performance can lead to erroneous matches. Accordingly, FRBRization has been disabled for these materials. This decision was made in consultation with and based on feedback from experts in public services, cataloging, and the music department. The exemption applies to scores and audio recordings only. All other types of materials will continue to be FRBRized.

    Improved metadata for Academic Video Online (AVON)

    Academic Video Online (AVON) is a large streaming video collection of documentaries, interviews, performances, and feature films spanning a wide variety of subjects. However, the metadata provided by Ex Libris for this collection suffered from a number of limitations impacting its discoverability in QuickSearch. Accordingly, these records have been replaced with vendor-supplied MARC records. The new records are not only of higher quality but also offer more reliable linking, less duplication, and improved result filtering. However, in order to keep the collection up-to-date, the records must be reloaded every six months. Since record permalinks will change every time the records are reloaded, it is recommended that librarians and instructors who wish to link to this content use direct links to the platform rather than link to the record in QuickSearch. To do this, simply click “Embed/Link” below the video player in AVON (see screenshot).

    Where did all the ISSNs go?

    Standard identifiers such as ISBN, ISSN, and OCLC number are currently not being displayed in QuickSearch. This information typically appears in the “Identifier” field of the detailed record. Although this data is still searchable, it is currently not being displayed to the public. The issue has been confirmed by Ex Libris to be related to a known defect that is scheduled to be fixed in the July 2019 release. Until a fix is released, the only way to view this information in QuickSearch is to click the “View Source Record” link at the bottom of the record and look for it in the appropriate MARC field.

    Primo 2019 Roadmap

    Related reading? Citation trails? Enhanced personalization? Want to know what new features and functionality are coming to Primo this year? Check out the 2019 Primo Roadmap.

  • University Librarian’s Report – May 2019

    The last several months have been a flurry of activity. In addition to the day-to-day demands of a busy spring semester, it’s also the most planning-intensive period of the year, as we assess our standing at the close of the current fiscal year and plan in earnest for FYs 2020 and 2021.

    I received a lot of feedback during town hall season and in continued conversations with the library directors that we could do a better job of clarifying the different stages in the planning process and of describing central’s role in supporting local priorities. In an organization like ours, it is definitely a complex puzzle and it can be difficult to see how all the pieces fit together.

    We’ve made some updates to the University Librarian page on our staff resources website to provide a resource that brings more transparency to the planning process and illustrates how local and central priorities work together. The page includes a broad overview of the annual planning process as well as links to the local units’ plans and a list of major central infrastructure projects. Hopefully this will help demonstrate how we prioritize our collective work, and I invite you to review this information and continue to provide feedback to me and the library directors.

    At the Cabinet retreat in April, we had very productive discussions about the unit plans and the different tradeoffs we’d have to consider between local priorities and central capacity to support those activities. It became clear to me that we’re becoming better at navigating these conversations and seeing the local plans not as competing sets of priorities, but as opportunities to identify the activities that will bring the most benefit to the most users, while still allowing us to serve our individual communities in ways that will best suit their unique needs.

    As we move toward the next retreat in May, during which we’ll finalize our local plans and our Librarieswide goals and metrics, I’m optimistic that we will continue to build toward an environment where the “One Library – Four Missions” approach can flourish.