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.#LibrariesStillMatter https://t.co/6zBv6trkgL
— Katrina Zwaaf (@KZwaaf) July 22, 2018
NJDNP Awarded Second NEH Grant
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!
