SPRING 2012

Breaking Records at the VALE Annual Conference

 

By Mark Thompson and Richard Kearney

 

The Annual VALE Users’/NJLA CUS/ACRL-NJ Conference was held on Thursday, January 5, 2012.  The theme was: "Brave New Librarian: Meeting Challenges and Embracing Change."   We had a full program of 24 excellent breakout and 20 poster sessions (a conference record!).  Attendance also reached an all-time high at nearly 300. 

 

Our distinguished keynote speaker was Brian Matthews, who is currently the Associate Dean for Learning and Outreach at Virginia Tech Libraries.  He is one of the profession’s experts on library outreach and user experience.  Formerly Assistant University Librarian at UC, Santa Barbara, and Mr. Matthews’ has been heard from a lot the last few years.  In 2009, he published a book with ALA Editions called, Marketing Today’s Academic Library: A Bold New Approach to Communicating with Students.  Until very recently he wrote a column for American Libraries, called “Next Steps,” and he continues his blogging as the “Ubiquitous Librarian” for the Chronicle of Higher Education.  

 

His talk was titled: “What Librarians Can Learn from Startup Culture.”  The talk focused on the fact that libraries are experiencing unprecedented and constant change.  He suggested that libraries think like a start-up company, which he defined as “an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty.”   He presented examples of how libraries have acted on this entrepreneurial spirit and how a new breed of librarian has acted to address emerging challenges and to develop cooperative initiatives. He believes that beyond technical skills or subject knowledge, it is an entrepreneurial outlook that will advance the profession. His talk explored how libraries have successfully engaged their institutions and built new services. 

 

 

Mark Thompson is Director of the Library at Middlesex County College.  Richard Kearney is Electronic Resources Librarian at William Paterson University’s Cheng Library.

 

From the President, Mark Thompson:

NJLA CUS/NJ ACRL Chapter President

At the VALE Conference in January 2011, four of us (Luis Rodriguez- Kean; Anne Ciliberti –WPU; Elizabeth Leonard –Berkeley; and myself) led a program on the ACRL Value of Academic Libraries report.  This report (http://www.ala.org/acrl/issues/value) was a two-year effort that compiled some 2,000 articles and findings to establish new benchmarks on the importance and value of our libraries.  Since then, under Anne Ciliberti’s leadership, some of us still gather every few months to discuss these issues.  We are hearing and experiencing the dramatic questioning of traditional library values, so these discussions are very important.  Join us at the Values WIKI if you are interested: http://valevalue.wikispaces.com/  Read More...

From the Editors:

“ReTooling 4 Tomorrow,” the theme of this year’s NJLA conference, is also a theme that fits this issue of the Newsletter.   With this issue we introduce a new, more interactive format that grew out of the Marketing and Communications Committee’s goal to explore new forms of electronic communication and social networking for CUS members.  This past year the CUS website was retooled with Drupal, which has a built-in newsletter program. 

We would like to acknowledge the work of the previous Newsletter Editor, Julie Maginn, who was at the helm since the Fall 2006 issue.  We are grateful for her guidance and advice as we began preparing our first issue.  She has set a high standard for the Newsletter.  We also thank Mary Mallery, Chair of the Marketing and Communications Committee, for her assistance in our transition to co-editors. 

We invite submissions for future issues of news about your library, your library’s staff, new services, publications, grants, and anything else you would like to share with CUS members.  We also welcome feature articles on topics affecting academic libraries.  Please contact us if you have ideas for an article.  Submissions can be sent to:  njalacuseditors@gmail.com.

Joan Dalrymple & Sharon Whitfield

Newsletter Co-Editors

Trevor Dawes, Winner of the 2012 Distinguished Service Award

Trevor Dawes, Director-Circulation Services Division at Princeton University, is the recipient of the 2012 Distinguished Service Award, granted by the NJLA’s College and University Section / ACRL-NJ chapter. This honor is awarded annually to an individual who, by his or her outstanding contributions, has directly enriched the profession of librarianship in New Jersey.

This award honors Trevor's leadership on behalf of libraries, librarians and the library profession in New Jersey. Trevor has served as the Director of the Circulation Services Division at Princeton University since 2004. Read More...

The Technology Innovation Award: 10 Years and Going Strong!

By Ray Schwartz

This year is the tenth anniversary of the NJLA/ACRL Technology Innovation Award, recognizing the leadership of librarians in developing innovative technologies for academic libraries.  The Award honors a librarian or group of librarians for innovative use and application of technology in a New Jersey academic library, whether from a small or large institution. The award may be given either in recognition of a specific project, or for ongoing delivery of innovative technology applications. The purpose of the award is to recognize distinguished leadership in developing new technologies for academic libraries.  Selection criteria center upon the benefits and impacts of the innovative use of technology in four areas: a) library users, b) the information community, c) librarians and library operations, and d) the perception of the library/librarians in the academic setting.  The NJLA/ACRL Technology Committee is taking the opportunity of the NJLA’s Academic Luncheon on June 6th to commemorate this moment by having the former chair of the committee, Mary Mallery, and two former winners of the Award, Marie Saimbert and Kurt Wagner, speak about what they have learned since their work, achievements and where they intend to go from there.   Read More...

Upcoming Presentations

NJLA Conference 2012 June 4-6,2012 at Revel Resort in Atlantic City

E-reader Lending at the Princeton University Library

Speakers: Trevor Dawes (Princeton University)

Recently, the Princeton University Library's ILL department received a request from a student for an item that was not held in our collection.  A search for the item revealed that the item was available solely on the Amazon Kindle.  This request led to the realization that if we are to continue successfully meeting the needs of our campus community members, we needed to think about different service delivery methods.  This session will review the process we undertook to develop an e-reader lending program, the challenges we faced, and how the program was ultimately implemented.

Co-Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ and

IT Sections

Tuesday, June 5

9:00 – 9:50 am

Harnessing Your Connections: Developing Your Personal Learning Network

Speakers: Nicole Cooke (Montclair State University) and Denise O’Shea (Montclair State University)

Learning does not end when you receive your MLIS degree; in fact, learning about yourself and librarianship will continue throughout your career.  How do you strategize about your career and continuing professional development?  You create a personal learning network (PLN).  Your PLN is completely customizable and is one of the most effective ways to stay current and develop as a library professional.  Learn how to get started building your network.

Co-Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ and

Reference Sections

 

Tuesday, June 5

9:00 – 9:50 am

Digital Library Toolkit: Building a Small Digital Library on a Shoestring.

Speaker: Miraida Morales (Rutgers SC&I)

A practical primer for anybody who has a local history collection and is looking for ways to convert it in a quick, cost-effective manner without using  many resources.

Co-Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ,

Reference  and Historical Preservation  Sections

Tuesday, June 5

11:00 –11:50 am

Retooling the CUS Website with Drupal

Speakers: Melissa Hofmann (Rider University) and Denise O’Shea (Montclair State University)

An overview of our website and the steps we took to get to where we are today.

 

Co-Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ and

IT Sections

Tuesday, June 5

1:30 – 2:20 pm

Technology Innovation Forum

Presentations from the nominees and winner(s) of the 2012 NJLA College and University Section Technology Innovation Award, which honors a librarian or group of librarians for innovative use and application of technology in a New Jersey academic library. The purpose of the award is to recognize distinguished leadership in developing new technologies for academic libraries.

Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ

Technology Committee

Tuesday, June 5

3:30 – 5:20 pm

Retooling Library Instruction by Analyzing Student Information Literacy Skills

Speakers: Ma Lei Hsieh (Rider University), Patricia H. Dawson (Rider University), Michael Carlin (Rider University)

Librarians at the Rider University Moore Library have used Google Docs to conduct online surveys using descriptive statistics to assess students’ information literacy (IL) skills. By partnering with a Psychology faculty member who has access to sophisticated statistical software (PASW 18), more in-depth quantitative investigations of the data have been possible.  We will discuss how the survey instruments evolved based on the librarian-faculty collaboration and the unique combination of Quantitative/Qualitative methods used in analyzing data.

Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ

Education Committee

Wednesday, June 6

9:00 – 9:50 pm

Road to Semantic Web: RDA Revisted

Speakers: Sharon Yang (Rider University) and Marilyn Quinn (Rider University)

RDA is being developed in order to help libraries and related organizations create bibliographic metadata for the Semantic Web. Why do we librarians care about the Semantic Web? This presentation will explain RDA and its relationship to the Semantic Web in simple terms along with live demos of Semantic Web technologies. The emphasis will be on controversies, promises, and progress since the June 2011 decision and report by the U.S. RDA Test Coordinating Committee, which provided a critique of RDA and a roadmap for changes and additional work prior to implementation. The targeted audience is any librarian who wishes to understand and discuss the impact of RDA on their libraries. The audience will also get some basic ideas as to how RDA fits into the larger picture of the Semantic Web.

Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ

Technology Committee

 

Wednesday, June 6

9:00 – 9:50 pm

Perceptions of Value: How Decision Makers View Our Libraries

Speakers: Joanne Roukens (LibraryLinkNJ)and David Pinto (Richard Stockton College)

Building from the Megan Oakleaf report, "Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report "(ACRL, 2010), we explore both public library and academic research on how administrators view the value of libraries.  Our sources for public libraries include the recent OCLC studies of perceptions and community awareness.  Our sources for academic libraries include recent studies about faculty and administrator perceptions of academic libraries.  We will present the research efforts, findings, and then suggest practical issues for our audience to discuss.

Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ

Research Committee

Wednesday, June 6

11:30 – 12:20 pm

On the Road to Information Literacy Success: Putting Students in the 'Drivers' Seat

Speaker: Amanda Piekart (Berkeley College)

Along the road to information literacy, students often get lost, run into road blocks and must take detours, but in the end are able to reach their destination successfully if they are put in the driver's seat and required to take an active role in their learning experience.  This program will demonstrate how to use ACRL Standards, learning outcomes, assessment strategies, and different teaching styles to support students in defining their own journey to success.

Co-Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ User Education and VALE Shared Information Literacy Committees

 

Wednesday, June 6

11:30 – 12:20 pm

UMDNJ Mobile Initiative: What Went Wrong and Ended Up Right

Speakers: Yingting Zhang (UMDNJ)  and Jenny Pierce (UMDNJ)

UMDNJ University Libraries' first mobile initiative started in 2010. This session will review the timeline from the creation of the mobile working group, to finding funding, the purchase of devices, and finally distribution to four campuses. We will use the story of the unexpected challenges and final successes as a way to increase awareness of issues surrounding new technology and large institutions, including hospital security, staff comfort, mobile device security, institutional purchasing and finally, that it is possible to incorporate mobile and emergent technologies into medical libraries. We will end with a review of where we are today and future plans.

Co-Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ and

IT Sections

Wednesday, June 6

11:30 – 12:200 am

CUS Academic Luncheon

Speakers: Mary Mallery (Montclair State University), Marie Saimbert (UMDNJ) and Kurt Wagner (WPUNJ)

Celebration of the 10th anniversary of the NJLA-CUS/ACRL-NJ Technology Innovation Award. Some winners from previous years will speak about what they have learned since being recognized for their achievements at the past NJLA Annual and what future projects they have planned.  Also: the winners of the section’s 2012 Distinguished Service Award; 2012 Research Award; and 2012 Technology Award will be recognized.

Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ

Section

Wednesday, June 6

12:30 – 2:30 pm

Research Award & Forum

Speakers:   Sharon Q. Yang, Systems Librarian, Rider University and Melissa A. Hofmann, Bibliographic Control Librarian, Rider University (Research Award Winners), also Diane K. Campbell, Rider University and Sharon Whitfield, The College of New Jersey (Research Forum Presenters)

Sharon Yang and Melissa Hofmann will discuss the results of their study which identified the progress made in the efforts to model current online public access catalogs (OPACs) after the next generation catalog (NGC) in academic libraries in the USA and Canada.  Diane K. Campbell will present her research entitled “The Second Stage of an Investigation of Environmental Scanning Practices by Entrepreneurs” and Sharon Whitfield will present her research entitled “Micropayments & Article Rentals:  How These Services May Impact the Library.”

Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ

Research Committee

Wednesday, June 6

2:30 – 4:20 pm

Art of Human Hacking: Social Engineering and Security

Speaker:  Christopher Hadnagy

The biggest mistake an organization can make is not realizing the value of the information your organization is responsible for.  Christopher Hadnagy, author of Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking, and moderator of social-engineer.org discusses how the humans can be the weakest link in your security plan.  From patron records in your ILS, which can include social security numbers and driver license numbers, to the personal information entered by the public into the library computers on a daily basis, the library needs to be vigilant to protect our staff and patrons.  Yet on a daily basis we make decisions that could compromise the security, such as plugging in a patron's flash drive in a staff computer to print out a document quickly.  Is your entire staff on the same page in relation to security?  Learn from Mr. Hadnagy about how social engineers work and six mitigation tips your organization can take.

Co-Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ

Section

Wednesday, June 6

2:30pm - 3:20pm

Using the New American Fact Finder and FDsys

Speakers: Ma Lei Hsieh (Rider University), Susan Bucks (Monmouth University), and  Caitlyn Cook (Ocean County College)

The new American FactFinder is a powerful tool to locate information about the current population and its socio-economic characteristics. However, the complicated search features make it a challenge for most users.  Three academic librarians from federal depository libraries will share great tips on using this tool to find information your users will ask for.  They will also introduce GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys), the next generation of government information online.

Co-Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ User Education  and

Reference Sections

Wednesday, June 6

2:30 – 3:20 pm

Do We Need a Privacy Revolution? Protecting Library Users from Peepers

Speaker: Nancy C. Kranich (Rutgers University)

This session will discuss the process that Rutgers University Libraries used to develop a privacy policy that communicates to users how personal information is used and maintained, and conducted a privacy audit that ensures that practices conform with policy.  The presenter will share how a libraries-wide task force identified existing privacy policies and practices at Rutgers and elsewhere, drafted a document based on the 5 Fair Information Practice Principles, and informed colleagues about privacy issues.

Sponsored by

The NJLA CUS / ACRL NJ

Technology Committee

Wednesday, June 6

3:30 – 4:20 pm

 

 

NJLA CUS/ACRL NJ Upcoming Meetings: All Members Are Welcome!

The next meeting of the Executive Board and Committee Chairs will be:

June 1, 10am – 12pm @ Middlesex County College

VALE Users’ Conference Cover Design Winner

VALE Winner

In designing the program for this year’s conference a competition was held, called the 2012 VALE Cover Design Competition. Paul Glassman of Felician College and Cynthia Coulter of Hudson County Community College, from the 2012 VALE Users’ Conference Planning Subcommittee, oversaw the cover design competition.  This year's winner is Rachel Corres of the New Jersey Institute of Technology.  We need to acknowledge all the students from NJ colleges and universities who participated in the competition and Augustus Wendell, Faculty from the College of Art + Design at NJIT School of Architecture and Design (Ms. Corres' Instructor).

Publication Announcements

Montclair and William Paterson University

Mary Mallery. Associate Dean for Technical Services at Montclair State University, and Pamela Theus, Assistant Director of Collection Development and Resource Management at William Paterson University, published an article on "New Frontiers in Collaborative Collection Management"     Read More...

 

Monmouth University

Eleonora Dubicki, Associate Librarian, has co-authored an article with Jacqui DaCosta for a special issue of Library Trends on the work of the Information Literacy Progression Standards Task Force. DaCosta, J. & Dubicki, E. (2012).


R. N. Sharma, Ph.D., Dean of the Library at Monmouth University, has published his 12th book, entitled Libraries in the Early 21st Century: An International Perspective, Volume 1   Read More...

Announcements & News

From Bergen Community College:

Bergen Community College is proud to announce the opening of a new library at its Lyndhurst/Meadowlands campus.  We are excited about being able to offer reference, instructional and service support in this beautiful, new space.

The library is currently open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.     Read More...


 

From Kean University:

The Kean University Library is pleased to announce the newest addition to its digital collections: a unique online database that houses the publications of non-profit organizations which focus on New Jersey public policy issues. This collection, which we call the New Jersey Public Policy Collection (NJPPC) allows users to access these documents and research materials from one centralized, easy to use location. The texts of the documents are fully searchable and are catalogued with subject headings similarly to a book in a library. Trevar Riley-Reid, a recent MLIS graduate, assisted by Kean University graduate student Janelle Payne, created this collection to allow users to access a variety of publications pertaining to economic growth, education, social justice, health care, and criminal justice.   Read More...


From William Paterson University:

Cheng Library at William Paterson University hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony in March to celebrate the grand opening of both the Nexus room in the Periodicals Department and the Preview room in Media Services. It was also an opportunity for Cheng Library to formally thank the Student Government Association (SGA) for selecting Cheng Library as the recipient of their generous gift of $67,300.00 allocated at the end of the 2011 academic year.  Read More...


 

From Rutgers University:

Two Rutgers Librarians Serve as Leaders in Academic Initiatives

Rutgers University librarians James Niessen and Triveni Kuchi are recent appointees to academic posts. 

In January 2010 World History Librarian James Niessen was appointed director of the Institute for Hungarian Studies, part of Rutgers' Center for European Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences, and he served in this post for three semesters. Jim is eminently qualified for this role, having conducted graduate work in Hungarian history and lived in Hungary in the 1980s for one and a half years.   Read More...

 
ACRL Women & Gender Studies Section Awards Rutgers Librarians

The winners of this year’s ACRL Women and Gender Studies Section (WGSS) Award for Significant Achievement in Woman’s Studies Librarianship are Kayo Denda, Alicia Graham, Rhonda Marker and Li Sun of Rutgers University Libraries, and Kirsten Canfield and Lucy Vidal of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University.Read More...

 
Institute of Jazz Studies Receives $165,000 Grant

The Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS), based in the John Cotton Dana Library on the Rutgers-Newark campus, received a $165,000 grant awarded by the Council on Library and Information Resources, for cataloging hidden special collections and archives.   Read More...

 

Rutgers University Libraries Launch New Mobile Website

Rutgers University Libraries has introduced a new mobile website accessible from all smart phones at:  http://m.libraries.rutgers.edu. The site offers a streamlined version library catalog, a link to hours and directions, and the option to chat with a librarian. The mobile website will also be available from the Rutgers Mobile App that is scheduled for release by the university's Office of Information Technology.  Read More...

 


 

From NJLA ACRL/ CUS Research Forum:

Sharon Q. Yang, Systems Librarian, Rider University and Melissa A. Hofmann, Bibliographic Control Librarian, Rider University, have been selected as this year’s recipients of the NJ Research Award granted by the NJLA CUS/ACRL-NJ Research Committee.  The winning article is: “Next Generation or Current Generation?  A Study of the OPACs of 260 Academic Libraries in the United States and Canada,” published in Library Hi Tech, 29(2), 266-200.  Read More...


 

From NJLA ACRL/CUS Tech Section:

The NJLA College and University Section (CUS) Technology Committee is pleased to announce that the NJLA CUS/ACRL-NJ Technology Innovation Award winners for 2012 are:

“RUanalytic: Video annotation tool: enabling learning, transforming scholarly publication,” led by Chad M. Mills, Rutgers Digital Library Architect, Grace Agnew, Associate University Librarian for Digital Library Systems and Yang Yu, Rutgers Library Database Architect.  < Read More...

 

From ACRL:

Proposals are due May 11 for ACRL 2013 in Indianapolis, April 10-13, 2013.  Details are on the conference website.  Keynote speakers are Geoffrey Canada, Henry Rollins, and Maria Hinojosa.

ACRL will debut four new discussion groups at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim this June:

  • Digital Humanities
  • International Perspectives on Academic and Research Libraries
  • Leadership
  • Student Retention

Complete details on ACRL discussion groups are available on the ACRL website.

 

From ALA:

Early bird registration ends May 13 for the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, June 21-26.  Registration, a preliminary program, and more are available on the conference website.