By Sara Keegan
SCARLA at Rutgers University recently sponsored a panel on campus entitled “Academic Reference in the Trenches.” The panel was moderated by Kay Cassell, former director of the MLIS program and current professor at Rutgers. The following librarians participated: Jody Caldwell, associate librarian and head of reference and resource services of Drew University; Maria Deptula, library director of Berkeley College; Katie Maricic Cohen, interlibrary loan, reference and instruction librarian of Ramapo College; Kate McGivern, reference, instruction and media services librarian of Bergen Community College; and Yingting Zhang, information and education librarian of Rutgers University. Each panel member had a lot to say about her day-to-day tasks as academic librarians around the state.
The panel covered a wide variety of topics. Students learned how the nature of reference has changed due to the introduction of 
virtual services, as well as how to keep print sources relevant. The panel members explained the importance of information literacy instruction as part of a reference librarian’s job and discussed their favorite sources to use with students. In addition, each librarian had great advice to share about how to land a librarian position after graduation, including completing an internship and job shadowing. The panel was well attended and provoked great conversation between students and professionals. For more information, please see our link at Storify: https://storify.com/plutoHimself/reference-in-the-trenches.
"Academic Reference in the Trenches" Panelists (left to right): Kate McGivern, Katie Maricic Cohen, Yingting Zhang, Maria Deptula and Jody Caldwell
SCARLA has been having a very successful semester. Up next is the Career Fair on Friday, April 10, from 5-9 P.M. at the School of Communication & Information building at Rutgers. The event will be sponsored by SCARLA and LISSA, another student group on campus. The evening will include a one-hour panel discussion of library and information professionals, as well as resume review and interview preparation for graduates. This is a great opportunity to meet MLIS students and learn about different library institutions. SCARLA is seeking academic librarians who want to participate in the panel or in the resume review. If interested, please email Sara Keegan at sak274@scarletmail.rutgers.edu.
Those who are interested in keeping up with SCARLA are encouraged to follow us on Twitter (@SCARLAonline) and on our Facebook page (search for Scarla – Rutgers University). Find out what we’ve been up to!
Sara Keegan, MLIS candidate at Rutgers University, is Vice President of SCARLA. She is a library assistant at Bergen Community College.
Editor's Note: The recording of the panel discussion is now available on the VALE website <http://www.valenj.org/meeting/academic-reference-trenches> as well as the NJVID media repository <http://handle.njedge.net/10423/56903>.