The Office of Information Technology has enabled two new Office 365 apps, Planner and Teams, for all Rutgers Connect users. These tools will appear in your Outlook app launcher, aka “waffle.” They work best for users who are members of Office 365 Groups.
Planner is an application for creating, assigning, and managing tasks. It is useful for collaborating among small groups.
Teams is a chat-based workspace that integrates all the people, content, and tools that the team needs to be more engaged and effective. It is useful for communicating with team members through messages that require an instant response.
Every group has its own needs and workstyle, so selecting the best tool is important. This article highlights some of the features available in Planner and Teams.
Planner
Organize your work
Manage tasks
Assign user(s)
Set due dates
Collaborate
Communicate with group members
Attach project related files
Monitor progress
Use charts to view progress
Get email updates
Teams
Communicate with your team
Email
Chat
Share files
Store all your files and docs in one place
Team OneNote
Audio/Video Meetings
On-demand
Scheduled
Integrate other apps
Still not clear what is suitable for your group? Please submit a ticket in RULhelp and help will be on the way!
As we move into spring semester, the Ex Libris Implementation Team is working towards optimizing our workflows and resolving remaining issues in the systems. We passed a major milestone in December with the end of our subscription to Symphony. Integrated Information Systems (IIS) has archived our data and will make it available on request. The Ex Libris Fulfillment Team has also transformed in the New Year and will continue in a new form as the Fulfillment Working Group, addressing central coordination for systems and processes for access services. The Ex Libris Implementation Team moved to a new schedule and will be meeting every other week during spring semester as we address the remaining implementation issues. Some other updates from our work include:
Updates to QuickSearch
We made several updates to QuickSearch in early January based on feedback from user testing and from system enhancements provided by Ex Libris. These updates include direct linking through Get it @ R, increased clarity in the display of some menus and options, and search improvements.
Six-Month Health Check
Megan Drake, a representative from Ex Libris, visited onsite in January to review workflows and address system issues. Representatives from each working group brought lingering problems for review and Megan suggested alternative strategies and optimizations that will help improve efficiency in Alma.
Analytics Training for Selectors
We held our first analytics training session for selectors on January 7. This active training session focused on learning the analytics platform and testing queries related to circulation and fund information. Future sessions are planned for 1–3 p.m. on January 17 and January 22 in New Brunswick and via WebEx and 9–11 a.m. on January 18 in Newark. Prior registration is not necessary, but if you have questions, please contact Laura Costello.
Ex Libris Identity Service
At the end of January, Ex Libris will debut an identity management service that will improve security for our barcode and password users. New security standards will ensure better privacy protection and users will be able to change their own password and retrieve a lost password via “My Account.” This update will not impact our users that authenticate via NetID.
Rutgers University Libraries are pleased to introduce BrowZine, a current awareness tool that allows users to find, read, and monitor the top scholarly journals in their field from almost any device.
BrowZine improves discovery of current issues of academic journals and provides streamlined access to full-text via PC, tablet, or smartphone. It also offers useful personalization features so users can keep current with their favorite publications.
BrowZine users can:
Browse thousands of top academic journals by subject, title or ISSN; review current tables of contents, and download full-text articles published since 2005
Follow and receive new article notifications for their favorite journals by creating a personal bookshelf
Save and export articles to services such as DropBox, Mendeley, RefWorks, EndNote, and Zotero
Although it provides access to thousands of titles from major academic publishers, BrowZine does not include every journal available at Rutgers or cover issues published before 2005. It also does not include non-scholarly periodicals such as newspapers, magazines, and trade publications. Access to the Libraries’ complete periodical holdings is available via QuickSearch.
Hosted by the Eagleton Institute of Politics, The Morning After panel discussion will feature analysis of the results and implications of the 2018 elections.
Panelists include:
Mike DuHaime, Partner, Mercury Public Affairs; Republican Strategist
Michael Hill, Correspondent, NJTV
Herb Jackson, The Record/USA Today Network New Jersey
Debbie Walsh, Director, Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics
Moderator: John Weingart, Associate Director, Eagleton Institute of Politics
Mineral Late Night
Wednesday, November 7 | 4 to 8 p.m.
Rutgers Geology Museum | Rutgers–New Brunswick
Visit the Rutgers Geology Museum for their Mineral Late Night on November 7. Re-use your Halloween costume and come dressed as your favorite super hero while learning about some powerful minerals!
Demonstrations, arts and crafts, and educational activities will be set up around the museum and people are welcome to come and go as they please. The event is free and open to visitors of all ages. Visit the museum website for more information.
A Conversation with Gov. James Florio
Thursday, November 8 | 6 to 8 p.m. Campus Center | Rutgers–Camden
James J. Florio, a former New Jersey governor and an alumnus of the Camden location of Rutgers Law School, will discuss topics from his new book, Standing on Principle: Lessons Learned in Public Life. This free event will feature a conversation between Governor Florio and retired Philadelphia Inquirer reporter George Anastasia. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event. Register to attend.
Behind the Magic of Disney: Is It Really Happily Ever After?
Wednesday, November 28 | 2:30 to 3:50 p.m. Paul Robeson Campus Center | Rutgers–Newark
This event is an open discussion on how gender roles, violence, and oppression have been masked in magic. Join the Rutgers Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance to explore the hidden messages in classic Disney films. Visit the Rutgers–Newark website for more information.
At Robeson Library, we recently had an experience that called attention to the guidelines for having service animals on campus, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to remind everyone at the Libraries about the relevant university policies and procedures.
The Office of Disability Services website does a great job of describing the different types of animals you may see on campus, where they are allowed to accompany students, and what questions faculty and staff are permitted by law to ask about these companions:
What’s the difference between a service animal and an emotional support animal?
Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. A service animal is considered a working animal, rather than a pet.
An emotional support animal (ESA) is different from a service animal. An ESA provides support and comfort to individuals with a documented disability that would require such support. ESAs are not required to go through training and are not limited to dogs.
Where are service animals and emotional support animals permitted on campus?
Service animals can accompany their handlers in any area where the public is normally allowed to go. This includes residence halls, classrooms, student centers, libraries, dining halls, etc.
Emotional support animals are permitted only in the student’s assigned living space. Emotional support animals are not permitted in public spaces such as classrooms, student centers, dining halls, or libraries.
Animals affiliated with the Companion Animal Club and the Seeing-Eye Puppy Club are permitted in most public spaces as well, but students must ask for their professor’s permission before bringing the animal to class.
How can I identify whether an animal is a service animal or an emotional support animal?
Service animals and ESAs are not required to wear a special harness or garment that identifies them as a service or support animal.
When in doubt, faculty and staff members may ask a student only two questions about the animal:
Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?
Faculty and staff cannotinquire about the person’s disability, request medical documentation or training documentation, or request to see the dog demonstrate its ability to perform a specific task.
For more information, visit the Office of Disability Services’s column about on-campus animals or view their extended FAQ, which cover topics including allergies, disruptive behavior, and fear of animals.
New technology and better solutions keep coming, as we all know. By joining the University’s central Rutgers Active Directory as the Libraries’ Windows domain, we are expanding the ability to log in anywhere with a single username. But it obviously comes with new issues as many have noticed.
IIS is inviting everyone in the Libraries to submit such issues and any other computing concerns and requests using the RULhelp trouble ticket system. It is the best way to keep track of issues, make sure that every one of them is addressed in a timely manner, and develop our knowledge base to speed up resolution. Instead of emailing or calling UCSs or other IIS staff, please use this address to submit a ticket: support@rulhelp.rutgers.edu It will be automatically channeled to the IT support closest to you.
IIS is working on transforming the RULhelp database to use NetIDs (instead of old Windows usernames) just like most other platforms. Soon, you will be able to log into the trouble ticket system with your NetID to check the status of your issue.
The fall semester has started, and September 5 marks the third month of Alma and QuickSearch implementation. We have focused on rectifying known problems in preparation for the new school year, and have made many improvements to the system and the services it provides. Thanks to feedback from users and library staff, we are continually making improvements to the system. We encourage and welcome your input and questions—submit them by visiting https://apps.libraries.rutgers.edu/ex-libris/contact.
As reported in the July update, the Implementation Team visited all four campuses in August. During those meetings, the team reported on the respective working groups and held discussions with library personnel. We appreciate the fact that people took the time to participate in these sessions and provided thoughtful feedback and questions. The discussions were lively and productive.
The Implementation Team would like to take this opportunity to share the following updates:
A QuickSearch tutorial has been created and will be available this fall. An announcement is forthcoming.
The library names facet in Primo has been revised to reflect abbreviated and more commonly known library names, making it more usable for patrons. For example, Archibald S. Alexander Library will now display as “Alexander Library”.
856 links to finding aids and other materials are now available in the “Links” section of QuickSearch records.
Sign in has been improved to allow users to sign in with fewer actions and to more easily access account options such as loans, requests, and favorites.
Database lookup has been enabled so that users who enter database names (PubMed, JSTOR, Factiva) in the search box get a direct link to that resource at the top of their search results.
An open access filter is now available in QuickSearch, enabling users to limit results to content published in open access publications.
A number of fields are now available in QuickSearch record displays, including uniform title, language, identifier, related work, and several local note fields (e.g., general, bound with, performer, production credits, donor, and finding aid). Additionally, the donor note is now searchable, making it easier to identify specific gift collections and to retrieve records for items in those collections.
Harvard has been added to the list of citation options and MLA has been updated to the 8th edition.
Users can now save records to Zotero.
Users are now able to pick up materials from off-site delivery locations, such as the law libraries.
A new marketing campaign for QuickSearch will be unveiled this fall.
The Implementation Team’s website is available at https://apps.libraries.rutgers.edu/ex-libris. It includes the various teams and working groups associated with the implementation, a timeline for the project, resources, an FAQ, and a list of known issues for Alma and QuickSearch (alias Primo). The team is working through both lists of issues, and the lists are updated as progress is made and issues are resolved.
We are fully aware that our experience with QuickSearch and Alma is one of learning and trial and error. The Implementation Team values input and collaboration from the Libraries as well as our user community to continually refine and improve this service.
Conceiving New Tools for Public Health Researchers
In April 2018, JSTOR and Rutgers University convened a workshop of scholars, librarians, and students to brainstorm new ways to support public health researchers. Using a series of design thinking activities, they conceived a number of new tools and services, which were subsequently user-tested with both students and faculty. This video describes that work, shares the ideas that emerged, and presents the findings from the users tests.
Exploring the Rutgers Female Institute
A new post on the Rutgers Classics Department’s blog by professor T. Corey Brennan explores the classical roots of the Rutgers Female Institute, and also gives a nice shout out to our colleagues Kayo Denda and Fernanda Perrone for their work on The Douglass Century. Read the blog here.
Chantel Harris (third from left) was recently named an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the sorority her great-great-grandmother founded. Photo: Houston Style Magazine.
Congratulations to AKA’s Newest Honorary Member
Chantel Harris was named an honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority this summer. Chantel is the great-great granddaughter of the sorority’s founder, Ethel Hedgeman Lyle. “Mrs. Harris’ commitment to helping others started at a young age. Through her church she served the homeless and worked with the Circle of L.O.V.E (Let’s Overcome Violence Everywhere) program that was started by her grandmother and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Muriel “Puff” Lyle- Smith. Mrs. Harris continues to advocate for women and children in her community. She is currently working to eliminate hostile work environments and workplace bullying,” wrote Houston Style Magazine in its report in July. Congratulations, Chantel!
Tweeting in Defense of Libraries Everywhere
Katrina Zwaaf’s tweets were featured in articles from Gizmodo and Inside Higher Ed following the Forbes article (subsequently removed) that stated Amazon stores should replace libraries to save taxpayers money. Thank you, Katrina, for taking this stand on behalf of libraries and the people we serve.
Not everyone has a computer and internet access. The digital divide still exists. It’s unlikely that Amazon will help people with their reference inquiries or evaluating which sources are creditable and which are not.#LibrariesStillMatterhttps://t.co/6zBv6trkgL
The New Jersey Digital Newspaper Project recently received a second grant, totaling $216,609, from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The additional funding will allow for the digitization of additional historical newspapers for the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America website. Read more in this report from NJ101.5. Congratulations to project director Caryn Radick and the entire NJDNP team!
Krista White Making Waves
Kudos are in order for Krista White, who has had two pieces of good news come across her desk recently. First, she has received another Rutgers–Newark Chancellor’s Seed Grant to expand her Digital Scholarship as 21st Century Scholarship project. The second grant—totaling $33,130, more than three times the initial award—will support Digital Scholarship as Modular Pedagogy, allowing Krista to develop curricular materials to share with faculty members and train them so that they can add digital scholarship and ACRL Framework elements into courses.
Next, Krista reports that the special issue of College & Undergraduate Libraries titled “The Digital Humanities: Implications for Librarians, Libraries, and Librarianship”—which includes an article she contributed—has been so well-received that Taylor & Francis has decided to publish it as a monograph through Routledge. Keep an eye out for it in January 2019. Congratulations, Krista, on all this fantastic recognition!
Mapping Philadelphia’s Historical Bike Routes
Julie Still’s article in Hidden City Philadelphia details her project to digitize the Philadelphia Inquirer’s column “Trips Awheel: Where to Go and How to Get There,” which appeared in 1897 and 1898. In addition to hand-drawn maps of each route, the column, written by Alphonse Estoclet, featured a unique blend of commentary and narrative. “The routes themselves read much as modern travel blogs do, with reference to historical, cultural, culinary, and financial aspects of the area,” Julie writes. View the research guide she created to document the project here.
Inspiring Librarians across the Country–with Buttons!
Megan Lotts and Tara Maharjan got a nice shout out on the Library Think Tank Facebook group last week for their recent article on button making: “Due to some major semester reorganization, our library lost a freshmen orientation event that we loved. We brainstormed an alternative Welcome event. We read the article about button making at Rutgers in College and Research Libraries News. My husband just happens to be the proud owner of a 40 year old button maker. We bought supplies and printed some images from our Archives. Our FTE is about 1200 and we made over 90 buttons yesterday (not everyone wanted a button). Students, faculty and staff all requested buttons. It was a blast,” wrote Mary Jackson, research and instruction librarian at Milligan College in Tennessee. Congratulations, Megan and Tara!
All that Jazz
Finally, Clement’s Place has announced a full schedule of events for the fall, including NJPAC Jam Sessions, the IJS Concert Series, and a new monthly series on Wednesdays called “Jazz973,” which focuses on local and emerging musicians. Clement’s is a really fantastic space and with all these events on tap, there’s never been a better time to check it out!
On September 1, the exhibition Self-Confessed! The Inappropriately Intimate Comics of Alison Bechdel, which encompasses the decades-long career of the illustrious cartoonist and graphic memoirist, opens at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers. It explores Bechdel’s work as a writer, an artist, and an archivist of the self, someone who constantly mines and shares her own experiences as a way to communicate something vitally human: the quest for love, acceptance, community, and social justice. Bechdel will speak at Rutgers on October 10.
In conjunction with U. S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s first memoir for young people, the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers is pleased to announce the opening of The Art of Turning Pages: Illustrations by Lulu Delacre for Sonia Sotomayor’s Life Story on September 15. Justice Sotomayor shares her inspiring story about growing up and her deep love of reading inTurning Pages: My Life Story, which will be published by Philomel Books on September 4, along with a Spanish version, Pasando páginas: La historia de mi vida. The exhibition features nearly 30 objects on loan from award-winning children’s author and illustrator Lulu Delacre, including her oil and collage art, preparatory drawings, and research material, on public view for the first time. Bilingual labels, in English and Spanish, accompany the works. Ms. Delacre will speak at Art After Hours: First Tuesdays on October 2.
We’re shutting down Halsey from Central to New Streets with tons of activities, arts, games, food, drinks, mascots and more! Come one, come all, bring a friend, and enjoy a night and get a taste of why everyone is buzzing about Newark! This is going to be epic! Rain date: September 13. For more information, click here.
Panel Discussion: Child Separations at the Border Thursday, September 13, 12:45 to 1:45 p.m.
401 Penn Classroom, Rutgers–Camden
This free, public panel discussion will address the topic of children being separated from their parents at the United States-Mexico border. Panelists are: Ann Adalist-Estrin, director of the National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated at Rutgers–Camden; Joanne Gottesman,clinical professor and director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at Rutgers Law School; Lorrin Thomas, professor of history and chair of the Department of History; and John Wall, professor of religion and childhood studies and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion. For more information, click here.
Fall Fest
Saturday, September 22, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Woodward Lawn, Rutgers–Newark
Come out and enjoy food, games, and activities on the Woodward Lawn with the rest of your fellow Rutgers University-Newark students. For more information, click here.
Finding and Facing Facts in Campaigns and Government w/ Eugene Kiely Monday, September 24, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Eagleton Institute, Rutgers–New Brunswick
Eagleton Institute of Politics presents its 2018 Arthur J. Holland Program on Ethics in Government lecture, “Finding and Facing Facts in Campaigns and Government” with Eugene Kiely, director of FactCheck.org and Rutgers alumnus. Monday, September 24 at 7:00 PM. Free, but registration is required. Click here to RSVP. For more information, click here.
An Evening with Colson Whitehead Wednesday, September 26, 7 p.m.
Walter K. Gordon Theater, Rutgers–Camden
Colson Whitehead, author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Underground Railroad, will give a free, public lecture. His novel is the 2018 selection for the Rutgers Reads program, which introduces incoming first-year students to academic life at Rutgers–Camden by reading and discussing one designated book. Register for this free event to reserve your seat. Email Rutgers Reads to be placed on a mailing list for more information, or click here.
Before we get swept away in another fall semester, I’d like to take one last opportunity to thank everyone who attended the faculty/staff picnic in August. It was a fantastic event–dry despite the forecast of rain–and the catering, games, and decorations all came together beautifully to make it feel like we were really enjoying an afternoon spent down the Jersey shore.
As I mentioned during the picnic, I’d had some remarks prepared but decided not to deliver them lest I distract too much from the festivities. So I thought that my contribution to the Agenda this month should include a brief list of the many achievements we’ve had cause to celebrate in the past year:
The successful implementation of QuickSearch, which was a true all-hands effort and impacted the work of just about everyone throughout the Libraries. I’m impressed with the way we came together to make the rollout happen and how diligently the Ex Libris Implementation Team has worked since then to make improvements in response to user feedback.
The OAT Program continued into its second year, bringing the total savings for Rutgers students up to $2.1 million.
The ORCID program exceeded its first year benchmark, facilitating over 1,800 ORCID connections at Rutgers.
We took major strides to bolster our collections, including the addition of the complete Elsevier
We began the extensive redesign of our website to make it more accessible and user friendly.
And there have been countless local programs and initiatives that made sure you were meeting the unique needs of your users. To name a few:
RBHS hosted traveling exhibits from the National Library of Medicine in Piscataway and Newark
Dana held award-winning boot camps for graduate students and celebrated its 50th anniversary
The States of Incarceration conference and institute brought together partners from across Rutgers–New Brunswick and New Jersey
We spearheaded a campus-wide celebration of Paul Robeson’s 120th birthday in Camden
The IJS made the news with its acquisition of the Count Basie Collection, as did the New Brunswick Music Scene Archive, which earned an Innovative Archives Award from MARAC.
Though they are really just the tip of the iceberg, these achievements are important not only because they support the local missions in Camden, New Brunswick, Newark, or RBHS, but because they also position the Libraries as a good collaborator on university-wide initiatives.
I know there is plenty of work on the horizon—from improving QuickSearch and running a new round of OAT awards to enhancing our instructional technology support with the launch of products like Credo, Pressbooks, Leganto, and illumira—but we should be extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished together so far and excited about all that’s yet to come.
Of course, the picnic would not have been possible without the thoughtful planning of the major events committee, so I’d like to recognize them all for their hard work and creativity—Matt Badessa, Matt Bridgeman, Janie Fultz, Chantel Harris, Tad Hershorn, Tara Kelley, Megan O’Connor, Erica Parin, Jessica Pellien, Antoinette Perkins, Daphne Roberts, and Rich Sandler—and thank all those who volunteered on the day of the event.
Congratulations, Irina, on winning the desk duty prize!
Last but not least, I want to acknowledge our colleagues who stayed behind to keep the libraries open while we enjoyed the party. As I mentioned in an earlier email, we held a special “desk duty” prize drawing this year, and I’m delighted to announce that Irina Loutchkina, library assistant at Alexander Library, was selected as our winner. Irina has received a prize pack including four football tickets from Rutgers Athletics, an RWJ Medical School tote bag, a beautiful hardbound Zimmerli exhibition catalog, a drink coozie and ID holder from the Division of Continuing Studies, a Libraries coffee mug, and more. Congratulations, Irina!
Thanks again to each and every one of you for all that you do on behalf of the Libraries. I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish in the 2018–2019 academic year and beyond.
Planner
Teams
As we move into spring semester, the Ex Libris Implementation Team is working towards optimizing our workflows and resolving remaining issues in the systems. We passed a major milestone in December with the end of our subscription to Symphony. Integrated Information Systems (IIS) has archived our data and will make it available on request. The Ex Libris Fulfillment Team has also transformed in the New Year and will continue in a new form as the Fulfillment Working Group, addressing central coordination for systems and processes for access services. The Ex Libris Implementation Team moved to a new schedule and will be meeting every other week during spring semester as we address the remaining implementation issues. Some other updates from our work include:
The Morning After
Mineral Late Night
A Conversation with Gov. James Florio
Behind the Magic of Disney: Is It Really Happily Ever After?
At Robeson Library, we recently had an experience that called attention to the guidelines for having service animals on campus, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to remind everyone at the Libraries about the relevant university policies and procedures.
