What would you feature in this spot on our homepage?
In order to better represent the magnitude and diversity of materials the Libraries hold, we are opening up the Featured Collections block on the Rutgers University Libraries homepage to submissions. We can include a photograph and a brief description of a physical or digital collection or other materials you think will be of interest to our users.
To be included, please send Mary Ann Koruth an image with a caption and a description with a link (if available) to any item that you feel deserves to be showcased on the homepage. These could include photographs, prints, videos, maps, books, collections, items relating to science and medicine, oddities from the archives–you name it.
We’d like to extend a special thanks to Caryn Radick and Tara Maharjan in Special collections in Alexander, for the wealth of material they have brought to our notice over the past years.
Please take some time to peruse through collections in your specialty and send in a submission that grabs your eye and piques your interest!
Rutgers University–Newark chancellor Nancy Cantor recently approved an $11 million renovation project for the John Cotton Dana Library.
Building upon the Rutgers 2030 Physical Master Plan and the Rutgers University–Newark strategic plan, this project is one of two student-focused renovation and expansion projects to be included as part of the university’s capital improvement fund (CIF) grant.[1] The renovation project will take place in two phases, the first of which will be contingent upon the receipt of the CIF grant.
The completion of this multiphase renovation will result in a more visually appealing building that will better facilitate learning interactions between faculty, staff, and students; serve as a collaborative space where town and gown meet; and provide a comfortable, contemplative space conducive for individual and group study.
The first phase of the renovation will be the creation of the new P3 Collaboratory on the third floor of the library. This space has remained unfinished since the addition of the third and fourth floors during the library’s 1994 renovation. The fourth floor houses the world renowned Institute of Jazz Studies.
The P3 Collaboratory is a university unit that will provide comprehensive support to instructional faculty and graduate students focused on teaching, leadership, collaborative publicly engaged scholarship, and career development. To accommodate the expected increase in traffic, the plan also includes the installation of a new high capacity elevator and a grand stairway.
The second phase of the project will be a complete reimagining of the first floor. A highlight of the plan is a public interior passageway on the ground floor called RU-N Walk that will position the Libraries at the heart of the campus by providing connectivity between the Campus Center and University Avenue. This phase will also include the addition of student-centric spaces and service areas such as a QuadCommons café, a research commons area, exhibit space, and soft seating.
While there will be a lengthy construction period, when the project is complete, the library’s spaces will be more appealing and useful to our core users. As soon as we know when the renovations will begin, we will let you know so we can prepare for any disruptions to our services.
Scroll through this presentation for more information on this project (click on images to make them bigger and more legible):
Krisellen Maloney, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian
Hello all –
Few things impact the function of the Libraries more than the outcome of the lengthy budget process we undertake each year. This year, our budget requests were made in the context of the RCM budget model in which the Libraries must demonstrate the value of their requests to the Chancellors at each university and ask for funding of both central and local components of our expenses.
I am happy to report that many of our requests have been approved, including:
$256,198 – Specialized clinical resources – Central
$200,000 – Nature/Springer STM e books – Central
$21,000 – Pharmacy resources, previously paid directly by Pharmacy – Central
$87,000 – Computer refresh – NB
$24,000 – Computer refresh – RBHS
$10,000 – Extended hours – Newark
$TBD – extended hours – Alex NB (Chancellor funding directly as trial)
$20,000 – Evening staff – RBHS (no longer to be paid directly by NJMS & GSBS)
$TBD – Extended hours – Kilmer NB (Chancellor funding directly cost as trial)
$36,000 – Permanent late hours guard – RBHS
$42,000 – Salary adjustments – RBHS
$14,749 – partial elimination of salary vacancy factor
You can view the original budget request here. [.docx]
These allocations directly support the priorities we discussed the State of the Libraries presentation in November 2015 to enhance undergraduate support, identify resources for advanced research support, and optimize collection development and management.
Although we are still in the process of understanding how best to align our collection-related allocations with University priorities, we knew that our STM collection spending had not kept pace with the changes in the University. Items 1, 2, and 3 will allow us to immediately improve our STM collections and avoid reallocating funding from other areas until a complete study can be conducted. Items 4, 6, and 7 will greatly enhance undergraduate education with extended hours and computer refresh. Graduate students are the primary student base for the RBHS libraries, so parallel group of requests for the Health Sciences will expand service hours and provide a computer refresh (items 5, 8, and 10). Items 11 and 12 will allow RBHS libraries to tie up loose ends related to the integration. In addition, but not on the list, Camden funded a new NTT librarian to provide library support during all hours the library is open.
The New Brunswick request for expansion of hours (item 7 and 9) to 24/5 in Alex and Kilmer was for over $500K, but the actual funds remain TBD. While we have agreed to move forward with a trial, the Chancellor has asked us to provide some lower cost options for discussion.
All told, the definite funding totals $711K and if the overnight is funded at even half the level of request, our overall increase will be just below $1M. This is fantastic news!
The only bad news that we received is that the University will only fund 1% of the 2% salary increases in 2017. For us, that means that we will have to fund approximately $210K of increases with existing salary funds.
When everything is accounted for, we expect that we will have an additional $750K in permanent funding. We still have to make it over one additional hurdle. In June, the legislature will meet to decide the overall University budget. If University experiences a budget cut, the cut may be passed on to us. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.
Having this additional budget will help us do so much over the next fiscal year, but it is also a significant reminder of the value of the Libraries and our services to the Chancellors and the institutions we serve. Please join me in celebrating this outcome and also in thanking our many colleagues who helped assemble the budget request and participated in budget meetings.
Heaven’s the place where all the dogs you’ve ever loved come to greet you. —Unknown
Ellen Calhoun (August 17, 1949 – December 17, 2015) was the beloved wife of Bob DeMartino, with whom she celebrated forty four years of happy marriage. She graduated from Douglass College and had strong ties to Rutgers University.
Ellen joined Rutgers University Libraries on November 2nd, 1981 as a Circulation Librarian. She achieved tenure in July 1988. During her thirty-four-year career at Rutgers, her titles included Head of the Reference Department, Serials Librarian, and Head of the Government Documents Department. As a government documents librarian at the Library of Science and Medicine, she helped countless library users track down hard-to-find materials including government documents, soil surveys, and topographic maps. She was also a patents expert and an early adopter of technologies in the library. In 1988, she was recognized by the United States Internal Revenue Service for her outstanding public service contribution in government documents. As the author of several publications, she received an Outstanding Research Award, presented by the New Jersey Library Association for her paper, “Patents: A Valuable Resource in the Information Age”, with Connie Wu.
In addition to her skills as a librarian, Ellen was a friend who will be missed for her wit, her gentleness, and her love for all living things, especially dogs. We wish her peace among all of her beloved animal friends.
Donations in Ellen’s memory may be made to: Big Fluffy Dog Rescue
or
the charity of your choice
Big Fluffy Dog Rescue is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization
The Student Coordinator Group is putting the finishing touches on their plans to celebrate and thank our student workers. Each unit will have different activities throughout the week and we will host a spotlight series showcasing a different student worker across the system each day as a news story. Look for more information on this soon.
“The Elusiveness of Progress: Voting Rights in America” exhibit at Kilmer Library
Like Jazz Women’s History Month Film Festival in Newark
March 29 – April 7, 2016
Dana Library and the Institute of Jazz Studies are partnering with Women In Media – Newark n their 2016 Women’s History Month Film Festival.
April 5 at 5 p.m.: Dana Library will host the screenings of Airgirl and The Unforgettable Hampton Family (with Dawn Hampton making a special appearance at the screening).
Detail from Apiphobia (2011) by Anonda Bell. Mixed media installation. Dimensions variable.
TFAP@TEN, a group exhibition honoring the 10th anniversary of The Feminist Art Project (TFAP), is on display through April 8 in the Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series Galleries at Douglass Library.
Women and Creativity House Student Exhibitions
April 20 – May 2, 2016
Sarah Ferreira, After Jill Magid, Muse Portrait, 2014, digital photograph, 14 x 11″. From 2014-15 WCH Exhibition.
The annual Women and Creativity House Student Exhibition is sponsored by Douglass Residential College and the Center for Women in the Arts and Humanities, a unit of the Office of the Senior VP for Academic Affairs. The exhibition is part of the Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series, a program of the Center for Women in the Arts and Humanities in partnership with Rutgers University Libraries, and is the oldest continuous running exhibition space in the United States dedicated to making visible the work of emerging and established contemporary women artists.
Twenty years later, Jim Niessen will revisit Historians and the Internet
Twenty years ago, near the beginning of his career as a librarian, world history librarian Jim Niessen was invited to contribute to a discussion about the Internet on the pages of the Debrecen journal of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and his essay on “Historians and the Internet” appeared here (in Hungarian): http://w3.atomki.hu/debrecen/debszem/96_2/niessen.html . The contributors will now be providing updates to their remarks, and Jim has promised us a recap of his new essay for our next issue.
Preservation Week
April 24 – April 30, 2016
Rutgers University librarians are participating in events to celebrate Preservation Week, which is an initiative of ALA ALCTS-PARS:
Learn how to develop and implement a plan for preserving your digital life so that friends and family can enjoy your memories far into the future.
Both of these webinars are designed by ALCTS to be suitable for a lay audience. The official description of the webinars and more information is at the ALA/ ALCTS-PARS Preservation Week site here: http://www.ala.org/alcts/confevents/preswk/alctsevents
“Cherry Blossoms in Spring” exhibit at Dana Library
April 14 – June 30, 2016
Dana Library is hosting “Cherry Blossoms in Spring,” an installation by artist Karen Guancione, in the Gallery from April 14 through June 30. An opening reception will take place on Thursday, April 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Library’s Dana Room and an accompanying program on the history of cherry trees in the Garden State featuring horticulturist Anthony S. Aiello will take place on Thursday, April 21, at 3 p.m. in the Dana Room. Read up on these events here.
New digital exhibition: “Invisible Restraints: Life and Labor at Seabrook Farms”
April 20, 2016
The online exhibition, “Invisible Restraints: Life and Labor at Seabrook Farms,” which will be hosted by the New Jersey Digital Highway, will officially launch this month. The opening event will be held Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at 4 p.m. in the Teleconference Lecture Hall at Alexander Library. For more on this unique collaboration, read our news story.
Digital Humanities Initiative workshop
April 6, 2016
Engraving from “The laws of art and nature…” (1683) by Lazarus Ercker. Image credit: Wellcome Library, London.
Rutgers’ Digital Humanities Initiative and the Libraries will host a Digital Lab Series of five workshops throughout the spring semester at the Alexander Library, Rutgers University–New Brunswick. This lab will introduce the basic building blocks of the web: HTML and CSS.
Introduction to Web Development with HTML and CSS
with Francesca Giannetti
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
SAPAC brown bag presentation, “A Citation Analysis of English Dissertations at Rutgers University”
April 6, 2016
The Scholarly and Professional Activities Committee invites you to a brown bag presentation on Wednesday, April 6, at noon, in the Pane Room, Alexander Library, with video-conferencing to the Dana (Dana Administrative Conference Room) and Robeson (290).
A Citation Analysis of English Dissertations at Rutgers University
Kevin Mulcahy
Abstract:
Academic libraries, especially at state funded institutions, face converging pressures—budgets that are often flat or declining; increased requests for a wide variety of resources (journals, print and e-books, full-text databases, data sets, films and other media), and demands for assessment and accountability from university administrations and state legislatures. Literature librarians confront, directly, or at least implicitly, the additional challenge: is spending institutional funds on books worthwhile. While there is perhaps a tendency for literature specialists to throw up their hands in dismay or to regard the questioners as philistines who simply do not understand the nature of literary research, a more sound strategy is to assess the actual use of their collections. What evidence proves that books are still an integral part of the resources used by literature scholars? To help answer this question, I examined the bibliographies of 30 recent (2008-2014) dissertations from the English Department at Rutgers University, and coded 5870 citations by format and date. Books account for 67.7% of all citations, journal articles for 16.8%, and literary works (novels, drama, poetry, etc.) for 9.7%.
TeachMeet, “See One, Do One, Teach One”
April 6, 2016
The Instructional Community of Practice (ICOP) and the Instruction and Information Literacy Team (NB) invite you to a TeachMeet being presented by our RBHS colleagues, Roberta FitzPatrick and Peggy Dreker.
See One, Do One, Teach One
Date: Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Location: Pane room, Alexander Library (Dana, Robeson, Smith teleconference)
Time: 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Students at the New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) and the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (RSDM) attend an instructional session which covers some basic searching and evidence-based medicine/dentistry concepts, as well as information about writing a CAT (Critically Appraised Topic). They learn how to write a searchable question and how to break that question into concepts, called the PICO format, which helps them to generate search terminology. Students use the information taught in the session to write their own CAT, then teach from that CAT in their subsequent small group sessions. The scholarship and research skills demonstrated by their finished CAT are graded by the preceptor. Hear how this approach to assessment can be adopted in your own discipline/instruction sessions.
Micah Kleit, incoming director, Rutgers University Press
We are holding the reception for A Celebration of Books (previously called the Faculty Author Celebration) on April 12 at 5 p.m. in Alexander Library. In addition to a display of books and poster giveaways, we are delighted to announce that our featured speaker for the evening will be Micah Kleit, the incoming director at Rutgers University Press.
He will address the convergence of publishing, libraries, and universities and what it is that causes us to want to produce—and reproduce—knowledge. Exploring the landscape of publishing (generally) and university press publishing (more specifically), he will discuss how libraries, scholars, and universities with and without presses need each other now more than ever. The talk will take into account questions of risk, especially as the landscape of scholarly publishing and depositories is changing, and how the risks embedded in contemporary publishing offer new opportunities for scholars, students, and the general public.
Micah Kleit is the incoming director of Rutgers University Press. He has been at Temple University Press for the last seventeen years, first as executive editor, then as interim editorial director, and most recently as editor-in-chief. Before Temple, he was an editor at Beacon Press and the University of Minnesota Press.
Julie Stile and Zara Wilkinson are putting the finishing touches on the Paul Robeson Library’s programming for the ever-popular Camden Comic Con. The event takes place on April 9 at Rutgers University-Camden and this is a taste of what’s in the works:
Real Geek Girls: Celebrating Women in Fandom and Fiction (11 a.m. -12:15 p.m.)
Ariell Johnson, owner, Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse Claire Folkman and Kelly Phillips, editors, Dirty Diamonds: An All-Girl Comics Anthology, and Feliza Casano, editor in chief, Girls in Capes
“Remembering RaceFail09: Why Race Should Matter in SFF”
Dr. Keith Green, associate professor of English, director of Africana studies
“Skyrim’s Neomedievalist Fantasy”
Dr. Aaron Hostetter, assistant professor of English
Rabble Rousing at Rutgers (3:15 p.m. – 4 p.m.)
Brian Phillips and Bria Troutman will present a student-created graphic novel documenting the 1968 black student protests at Rutgers University-Camden.
Last year’s theme was “Building Knowledge from Imagination.” This year, our theme is “Libraries into the Future”
Our library wheel of fortune will make an appearance in 2016.
Spread the word — the Libraries’ Rutgers Day tables are always a popular destination for families!
Lila Fredenburg reads in our children’s story area in 2015. Who will our VIP readers be this year?
Last year, the Lego masks proved a popular giveaway, look for Star Wars themed items this year.
Hope you will join the fun this year at Rutgers Day 2016.
Looks like fun, doesn’t it?
Rutgers Day 2016 will take place on April 30, 2016 and will include–for the first time–festivities in Newark and Camden, in addition to tables on Voorhees Mall in New Brunswick. The themes of our Rutgers Day booths will merge the heritage of Rutgers University with the excitement of pop culture icons like Star Wars and superheroes. Intrigued? Want to help out? Read on…
New Brunswick and Newark will draw on Rutgers heritage, library technology, and the always-popular Star Wars films to explore the theme of “Libraries into the Future.” The Robeson Library staff is partnering with the Nilsa Cruz-Perez Downtown branch of the Camden County Library for a joint library tent with a superhero theme in honor of Camden Comic Con.
The Rutgers Day Committee has been busily planning for the event and request assistance or volunteers for the following activities:
Newark events – coming soon!
New Brunswick events
Children’s story time — we need readers for our story time area and donations of children’s books. We are hoping to have a Rutgers VIP read at the top of each hour, but we need volunteers to read between these scheduled events. Please consider volunteering to read a story or two! And if you know any Rutgers VIPs or have suggestions of people to reach out to, let us know.
The Libraries’ Wheel of Fortune table — ask trivia questions and hand out prizes.
Our Rutgers R statue — the committee is looking for some artistic and crafty help in putting together our R. The R will be on display at Rutgers Day and in past years the competition has been stiff to be the best looking R out there!
Live demos of our 3D printers as they print souvenirs for our guests.
Donate new or gently used children’s books, particularly those related to the future, galaxy, robots, Star Wars, etc. The age range varies from 3 years to 10 years old. After Rutgers Day, each book will be donated to the RUL collection. Please take a moment during your Spring cleaning and find us a book!
Camden events
Children’s book corner with superhero-themed books so families with kids can sit and take a reading break.
Coloring and a crafty “make your own superhero” station (not just for the kids!).
Building upon the Rutgers 2030 Physical Master Plan and the Rutgers University–Newark strategic plan, this project is one of two student-focused renovation and expansion projects to be included as part of the university’s capital improvement fund (CIF) grant.
The P3 Collaboratory is a university unit that will provide comprehensive support to instructional faculty and graduate students focused on teaching, leadership, collaborative publicly engaged scholarship, and career development. To accommodate the expected increase in traffic, the plan also includes the installation of a new high capacity elevator and a grand stairway.
The Elusiveness of Progress: Voting Rights in America
Rutgers University librarians are participating in events to celebrate Preservation Week, which is an initiative of ALA ALCTS-PARS:
