Fall 2016 CUS/ACRL-NJ Newsletter

From the President

By Heather Dalal

NJLA CUS/NJ ACRL Chapter President
 

By now, the fall semester is nearing its end and hopefully your busiest weeks are behind you.  You’ll soon have the time to reflect on the most recent months and plan for the next semester.  I appreciate this opportunity to share what’s going on with ACRL-NJ/NJLA CUS with our NJ academic library community.

All librarians are welcome to join our committee meetings or professional development activities.  Connecting with other professional librarians in our state has been very rewarding for me personally; when passionate academic librarians get together, the time is both edifying and satisfying. I hope you will feel the same way about all of our activities.
 
This past year, the User Education Committee organized the Summer Information Literacy Workshop: Catching the Information Literacy Wave. In October, the Bibliographic Control and Metadata Committee cosponsored a workshop with NJLA’s Technical Services Committee on Music Cataloging with RDA, and the Archives & Special Collections Committee toured Kean University’s Liberty Hall Museum. Not all committees participate in professional development, others serve the needs of our organization or plan awards. If you have topics you feel are underrepresented, let us know -- new committees can be added and new sessions can be offered.
 
While planning for next semester, it’s helpful to reflect back on the past semester or even past few years. Libraries are continually changing, higher education is constantly changing, and even our job descriptions are changing. You may already be familiar with the ACRL Plan for Excellence. This year, a fourth goal was added: “Academic and research library workforce effectively navigates change in higher education environments.”  
 
The objectives are:
 
Deepen ACRL’s advocacy and support for a full range of information professionals.
  1. Equip library workforce at all levels to effectively lead, manage, and embrace change.

  2. Expand ACRL’s role as a catalyst for transformational change in higher education.

Likewise, a goal in the NJLA Strategic Priorities for 2015-2018 calls for a change. NJLA seeks to increase advocacy power and credibility representing a common agenda across major associations representing libraries/professionals in the field (p.5). Together, NJLA, ACRL-NJ and VALE-NJ are advocating for K-12 School Libraries in the Unlock Student Potential campaign.
 
Accordingly, the Vale Conference Committee was thinking about all these changes when they chose Libraries as Agents of Change as the theme. The various breakout sessions, lightning talks and poster topics include how NJ librarians and library staff have adapted their public service, collections, cataloging, instruction, outreach, and research. We’re honored to welcome Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as our keynote speaker. She’s a former ACRL President and currently the lead designer for the ACRL training program for Standards for Libraries in Higher Education and the Assessment in Action project. Registration for the Vale Conference will be available soon. The committee is working hard to make it an engaging and inspiring day for all. I hope to see you there.
 
Heather Dalal is an Assistant Professor II-Librarian at Rider University's Moore Library . She can be reached at hdalal@rider.edu

Meet Your Executive Board and Committee Chairs!

First Row (Left to Right): Leslin Charles (Vice President/President-Elect), Kate Hossain (Marketing & Outreach Co-Chair), Joan Dalrymple (Newsletter Co-Editor), Elizabeth Leonard (Past President), Heather Dalal (President), Bonnie Lafazan (Marketing & Outreach Co-Chair), Karen Malnati (Member-at-Large 2016-2018), Melissa De Fino (BCMC Chair), Cara Berg (User Education Co-Chair). 

Second Row (Left to Right): Katie Cohen (Newsletter Co-Editor), Lynn Schott (NJLA Executive Board Liaison), Denise O'Shea (CUS Webmaster 2016-2017), Adriana Mamay (Legislative Representative), Siobhan McCarthey (Technology Committee Chair), Mary Mallery, Nancy Weiner.

Not Pictured: Bart Everts (Secretary), Susan Kurzmann (Archives and Special Collections Co-Chair), Amanda Piekart (User Education Co-Chair), Jianrong Wang (Archives and Special Collections Co-Chair).

What Do Our Committees Do Anyway?

Are you interested in participating in NJLA CUS/ACRL-NJ, but you don't know where to start? Would you like to join a committee, but you don't know what they do or where you fit in? Then this article is for you! Read the descriptions below to learn more about the wealth of committees that serve this organization and the academic libraries and librarians of New Jersey. Become involved for many reasons- add to your resume and tenure packet, network with librarians from around the state, explore your passion for your area of expertise. Stay involved because of the rewarding experiences!

Archives and Special Collections Committee

Established in 2015, the Archives and Special Collections Committee consists of professionals who work with archives and special collections in academic institutions. Meeting three times a year, this committee has undertaken to explore effective methodology to demonstrate and teach about the use of archives and special collections, conduct activities to increase visibility and demonstrate the value of archives and special collections across New Jersey’s academic institutions, foster cooperative efforts in sharing information about and access to archives and special collections among member libraries, offer continuing education, scholarship, and professional development opportunities for archives and special collections librarians, and provide a forum for members to share information and explore common issues faced by archives and special collections located in academic institutions.

The members of the committee have identified areas of interest to explore in future meetings, and have created both an online listing of the unique holdings included in members’ archives and special collections and an online discussion forum.

Recent activities include fascinating tours of the New Jersey State Archives and of the Liberty Hall Museum at Kean University, and a member’s informative and entertaining presentation on how a small collection of rare books was utilized to support a semester-long course for students.

For more information contact committee co-chairs: Susan Kurzmann, College Archivist, Reference & Instruction Librarian at Ramapo College at skurzman@ramapo.edu or Jianrong Wang, Technical Services Librarian at Stockton University at jianrong.wang@stockton.edu.

Bibliographic Control and Metadata Committee (BCMC)

The Bibliographic Control and Metadata Committee (BCMC) shares and explores common issues faced by the academic technical services librarians in New Jersey. Our goals are to share information and explore common issues in cataloging, processing, staff training, quality control, database management, and departmental administration; to provide support to members in the field; to provide members with opportunities in continuing education and professional development; to promote innovative ideas and effective measures in the field; and to foster cooperative efforts in resource sharing among academic libraries. We manage the New Jersey Authority Funnel Program, a program to cooperatively contribute authority records for personal and corporate names through the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC). More recently, our group began the process to become BIBCO certified. This will allow us, through the PCC, to cooperatively contribute the highest quality bibliographic records to OCLC. BCMC is the best place for New Jersey catalogers to network, keep informed of new trends, and receive support, collaboration, and training opportunities. We meet three times a year.

For more information contact committee chair: Melissa De Fino, Special Collections and Formats Technical Services Librarian at Rutgers University at mdefino@libraries.rutgers.edu.

Marketing and Outreach Committee

The Marketing and Outreach Committee has been a cornerstone of NJLA-CUS for many years.  Our group works to promote membership in and awareness of ACRL-NJ and NJLA, to liaise with local library school students, and to support the Executive Board of NJLA-CUS.  Other responsibilities include, but not are not limited to, coordinating the planning of the CUS Newsletters, providing new member spotlight profiles, updating our social media pages and the recruitment and registering of new members.  The committee has two new co-chairs this year, Bonnie Lafazan and Kate Hossain, and we are excited to reinvigorate our focus.   Besides promoting NJLA, we are interested in discussing ways to market our institutions, services and all the varied ways that librarians contribute to academics.  Our committee will be working this year to reach out, support and share ideas with librarians on marketing challenges and solutions.  

The Marketing Committee members consist of Co-Chairs Bonnie Lafazan and Kate Hossain;  CUS-NJ Newsletter Committee/Co-editors Katie Cohen, Rebecca Sloat and Joan Dalrymple; CUS Webmaster Denise O’ Shea, Bill Bejarano, Amanda Cowell, Maria Deptula (Chair, Reference Services Committee), Siobhan McCarthy (Co-Chair Technology Committee), Gary Schmidt and Hilary Westgate.

We are always looking for new members! If you have created a dynamic marketing tool at your library or are looking for ideas on how to do so in the future, we’d love to hear from you.  Come chat with us at the VALE Annual Conference 2017 poster sessions and please also consider attending our panel session at VALE on marketing ideas and issues!

Come learn with us what amazing things NJ academic libraries are doing!

For more information contact committee co-chairs: Kate Hossain, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Bergen Community College at khossain@bergen.edu or Bonnie Lafazan, Library Director of the Woodbridge Campus at Berkeley College at bonnie-lafazan@berkeleycollege.edu.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nominations Committee
 
The Nominations Committee prepares an annual slate of candidates for office.
 
For more information contact committee chair: Steven Shapiro, Electronic Resources Librarian, Library Administration at Montclair State University at shapiros@mail.montclair.edu
 
Reference Committee
 
The Reference Committee addresses the unique responsibilities and challenges of providing academic reference service. We explore trends and innovations, and provide guidance for best practices in NJ academic libraries. Recently migrated from VALE, the Reference Committee is getting a fresh start with NJLA CUS/ACRL-NJ, and for new members to help wiht new projects, as well as past VALE projects, such as developing reference workshops and surveys.
 
For more information contact committee co-chairs: Susan L. Bucks, Specialist Librarian at Monmouth University at sbucks@monmouth.edu or Maria Deptula, Library Director of the Paramaus Campus at Berkeley College at mde@berkleleycollege.edu.
 
Research Committee

The Research Committee is the joint committee of NJLA's College & University Section and the New Jersey Chapter of ACRL. We strive to promote research among librarians in the state of New Jersey. The Committee sponsors two juried events each year.

Formed in 1985, the Research Committee began celebrating the best published research of New Jersey Librarians in 1988. We do this by accepting nominations, holding a jury of peers, and selecting one or more Research Awards for the best of work published the previous year. The winner(s) then present at the NJLA Annual Conference. 

By the mid-1990s, the Research Committee began juried selection of unpublished research by NJ librarians, as well, and these winners make brief presentations of their projects and efforts during the Research Forum, again at the NJLA conference.

The Research Committee remains dedicated to seeking ways to support and encourage sharing information about research projects on a wide variety of topics. We welcome all librarians, academic/public/private interested in library research and publishing.

Please consider joining our committee. We meet one or two times a year, either in person or online. We have a satisfying purpose, and enjoy reviewing the research of our fellow professionals. To join the committee, contact Cynthia Coulter, Librarian at Hudson County Community College at ccoulter@hccc.edu.

Technology Committee

The Technology Committee sponsors programs and other activities for meeting the technological challenges facing libraries and librarians. Each year at the NJLA Spring Conference, the Committee presents the NJLA Technology Innovation Award, which honors a librarian or group of librarians for innovative use and application of technology in a New Jersey academic library.

For more information contact committee chair: Siobhan McCarthy, Reference Librarian at Montclair State University at mccarthys@mail.montclair.edu.

User Education Committee

The User Education Committee focuses on information literacy instruction in libraries. We discuss new developments in library instruction, most recently the use of the newly passed ACRL Framework, different tools and resources used in instruction, and  share general best practices. We have recently started offering a Summer Information Literacy Workshop, an intimate event where participants lead roundtables and lightning talks on any topic related to information literacy.
 
For more information contact committee co-chairs: Cara Berg, Reference Librarian & Co-Coordinator of User Education at William Paterson University at bergc1@wpunj.edu or Amanda Piekart, Information Literacy Instructional Designer at Berkeley College at adp@berkeleycollege.edu.
 
What do other Executive Board members do?
 

Job Shadowing

The job shadowing program provides library school students interested in academic librarianship the opportunity to shadow academic librarians in New Jersey. This provides students the opportunity to see what the day-to-day work is like for an academic librarian and allows them to explore the different types of jobs available in college or university libraries.

For more information contact the Job Shadowing and MentorNJ representative Zara T. Wilkinson, Reference Librarian at Rutgers University-Camden at zara.wilkinson@rutgers.edu.

Legislative Representative

As the Legislative Representative for ACRL-NJ/NJLA CUS, Adriana Mamay informs the membership about relevant library-related legislation happening nationally and in New Jersey. She does this by maintaining and updating the Legislative Updates section of the ACRL-NJ/NJLA CUS website. Recent posts include: Key library legislative priorities for the second session of the 114th Congress; Programs sponsored by the ALA Washington Office at the ALA Annual Conference; and How to participate in NJLA Library Advocacy Week. Additionally, the Legislative Updates section of the website features a running feed of library policy news from the American Library Association Washington Office. During this upcoming year, Adriana plans to highlight how the election of our next President will impact library-related legislation.

For more information contact Legislative Representative Adriana Mamay, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Middlesex County College at AMamay@middlesexcc.edu.

Please email committee chairs if you are interested in joining a committee or learning more!

 

Announcements

Bergen Community College

David Marks has joined Bergen Community College as Dean of Library Services.  David’s most recent position was as the Library Director at the Haworth Municipal Library. Previous to his position at Haworth, he was the Head of Reference and Information Literacy at Misericordia University in Dallas, P.A.  He was also the Library Director at the Hoyt Library in Kingston, PA for 8.5 years.  David holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Baltimore and his M.L.S. from the University of Maryland.  He is happy to be back in academia where he held his first two professional library positions.

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University

The CMSRU Library was awarded a Health Science Library Project Award from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) in the Middle Atlantic Region. The Health Sciences Library Project Award provides funding to the CMSRU Library to conduct original research using Bluetooth low energy (BLE) to support the medical curriculum and enhance library services. CMSRU Library staff will be working with biomedical science, clinical faculty and students to harness this technology intended for strengthening access to library resources, tutorials, and reference services at a point of need.

The College of New Jersey

Erin Ackerman, Social Sciences Librarian at The College of New Jersey, and Brian K. Arbour, Associate Professor of Political Science at John Jay College, CUNY, just published an article, "'I’ve got my ten peer reviewed articles. Now What?' How political science research methods textbooks teach students about scholarly context" in the Journal of Academic Librarianship. To read more, visit: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2016.06.009

Georgian Court University

Jeff Donnelly, Systems Librarian at Georgian Court University is currently the Interim Director of the Sister Mary Joseph Cunningham Library at Georgian Court.

Middlesex County College

Marilyn Ochoa joins Middlesex County College as the Director of Library Services. Previously, Marilyn was the Associate Library Director for Reference, Instruction, and Special Collections at the Penfield Library at the State University of New York-Oswego. Marilyn holds a BA in Political Science and English from La Salle University and an MLIS in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh.

Raritan Valley Community College

The Evelyn S. Field Library at Raritan Valley Community College recently welcomed a new Outreach Librarian, Carina Gonzalez.  Carina will be focusing on connecting with the college community and shouting the praises of the Evelyn S. Field Library.  This will be her sixth year in librarianship, but her first in higher education, having focused most of her career in K-12.

According to Carina, "calling this a dream job is an understatement."  Her personal philosophy for libraries is one of service and education.  She truly enjoys brainstorming solutions to problems that grow from ideas into realities, and then monitoring those solutions to measure their impact and success.  She is "virtually everywhere" so feel free to connect with her professionally on twitter @carinagonzalez

Rowan College at Gloucester County

Jessica G. Hamilton joined Rowan College at Gloucester County as its new full-time Reference & Instructional Services Librarian in June 2016. She has worked part-time at RCGC since 2010. Jessica earned her B.A. in History from Columbia College, and her M.L.S. from the University of Pittsburgh. Jessica is thrilled and grateful to be a member of a profession that allowed for many years of part-time work (at American University, Hampden-Sydney College, and Longwood University), and even time away from her career, until her children grew old enough for her to be ready to “lean in” and we are pleased to have her on board!

Rutgers University Libraries

Sherri Farber, a graduate student at the Rutgers School of Communications and Information is assisting at the Paul Robeson Library at Rutgers University - Camden this semester, working with the Camden County College/Rowan University liaison and on projects in Special Collections and Reference. 

Chantel Harris is the new Library Associate and Student Coordinator at Paul Robeson Library at Rutgers University - Camden. Chantel has worked as a supervisor in both academic and public libraries. 

John Powell is the new evening Reference Librarian at Paul Robeson Library at Rutgers University - Camden. John comes to us from Peirce College, where he worked as a librarian, professor, and administrator for nearly a decade. 

Mark Puterbaugh joined the faculty at Paul Robeson Library at Rutgers University - Camden as a part time Reference Librarian. He comes to us from Eastern University, where he was the Information Services Librarian. 

Saint Peter's University

Scott Kushner has joined Saint Peter's University as the Systems and Emerging Technologies Librarian.  Previously Scott was the Systems Librarian at Middletown Township Public Library.

Seton Hall University

Kim Reamer is now Special Collections Assistant at the Walsh Library’s Msgr. William Noé Field Archives and Special Collections Center.  Kim received her MLIS from Rutgers University, and a BA in History and Visual Arts from SUNY New Paltz. She has worked in both archives and reference positions at Bergen Community College, and as a reference librarian at William Paterson University.

Stockton University

Congratulations to former Public Services Librarian and Professor Emeritus at Stockton University on the publication of Uniting Enemies.  Uniting Enemies, set in 1801 at the dawn of English and Irish reunification, captures both romance and intrigue as Mary Ann Trail brings England to life.  Her frequent trips to England with her sister inspired her interest in writing this 19th century historical novel.

For more information, please visit the author’s website: http://www.maryanntrail.com/

ALA Leadership Institute

By Katherine McGivern

This past August I joined 41 other librarians from across the country gathered in Itasca, IL for the fourth American Library Association Leadership Institute. The librarians were selected from a pool of more than 400 applicants and consisted of public, academic, special and K-12 librarians with at least 5 years’ experience in the workplace. All were recommended, supported and encouraged by their employer. The institute was led by former ALA President Maureen Sullivan and library advocate and leadership consultant Kathryn Deiss.

The 4-day immersive program began with a self-assessment of leadership skills and qualities; sessions on emotional intelligence; personal vision and values; and interpersonal competence. Each day added another level of leadership knowledge and action including communications skills; understanding and acknowledging stakeholders; community engagement; strategic planning; leading change and self-care. Various leadership models were presented as well as an extensive suggested reading list. Each day began with a reflection on the previous day and personal journaling about leadership attributes, skills and areas that need enhancing. Participants were asked to come prepared with a particular workplace issue which could be shared with the group.  

Read more...

Poster Presentations at ALA Annual

“Under the Spotlight: Technical Services Professionals in Assessment”, by Kerry Chang FitzGibbon, Periodicals Librarian, and Jian Wang, Head Cataloguer at Stockton Library was one of the posters presented at the 2016 Annual Conference American Library Association, in Orlando, Florida.   The poster illustrated how the Technical Services professionals at Stockton Library spear-headed assessment activities in their library and blossomed.  Their participation and contribution to the library-wide assessment projects have led to positive changes, including the creation of collaborative learning spaces, cost effective collection management, student-centered resources, all of which aligned with the institutional mission and goals.  

The poster was very well received by ALA Conference goers. Many of them were very interested and asked a variety of questions.  They wanted more details on various assessment projects presented, how they could adopt some of the assessment projects and some were even keen on the outcome or follow-up on a couple of projects.   

The "Under the Spotlight" poster can be viewed here.

The poster The Academic Library as a Marketing Project:  Partnering with Students and Faculty to Transform the Academic Library was presented by Mary Wagner, Chair of the Larry Luing School of Business, and Faculty Librarians Bonnie Lafazan, Laurie McFadden and Jessica Kiebler, Berkeley College at the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando.

The "Academic Library as a Marketing Project" poster can be viewed here.

 

Howdy, neighbor! Resources for academic librarians abound in Pennsylvania

By Elizabeth Kavanaugh

Just to the west of New Jersey, academic librarians across Pennsylvania are promoting information literacy throughout their campus communities.  With the backing of the Pennsylvania Library Association (http://www.palibraries.org/), which has proudly supported members since 1901 and currently boasts more than 1,500 individuals from academic, school, public, government, and special libraries, librarians from all regions are supported through professional development opportunities each year.  Along with its many local chapters, roundtables, and committees that sponsor local events, each division connects librarians regionally based on shared or local interests.  More recently Pennsylvania Library Association’s PA Forward initiative  (http://www.paforward.org/) was developed to highlight and frame efforts for libraries across Pennsylvania to  champion  literacy in five areas: basic, information, civic and social, health, and financial; as well as to create greater connections for libraries in their communities.  Under the new leadership of Christi Buker (Pennsylvania Library Association’s Executive Director) and Brandi Hunter-Davenport (PA Forward Project Manager) it is truly an exciting time to be involved with Pennsylvania’s efforts to improve literacy at all ages.  Whether in Pennsylvania or a neighboring state, all librarians are encouraged to participate in, submit proposals to, and attend upcoming events to share ideas, set best practices, and standardize priorities in our academic libraries.

Read more...

Local High Schools Visit Moore Library at Rider University

By Joan M. Serpico

Visit to Moore Library

Rider University’s Moore Library was thrilled to host two high school groups in October.  As the Instruction and Outreach Librarian for Rider University, I was pleased to hear from Ewa Dziedzic-Elliott, Library Media Center Specialist at Lawrenceville High School and Laura Bishop, Library and Media Center Director at Hun School of Princeton that they were interested in a visit to an academic library.

On Thursday, October 13, 2016 twenty-three social studies honors students from Lawrenceville High School came with Ms. Dziedzic-Elliott and their history teacher, Mr. Wolf.  Their goal was to find primary sources relevant for their research on colonial America.  After some basic instruction, students used Moore Library’s catalog to search for books as well as some handy internet sources like Yale Law School’s Avalon Project and American History: From Revolution to Reconstruction and Beyond from the University of Groningen.   

Read more...

Berkeley College's New Interactive Library Orientation

By Matthew LaBrake, Amanda Piekart and Matthew Regan

What is the most engaging way to orient students to library resources and services? A working group formed out of the Berkeley College Library’s User Experience Committee set out to answer that question in August of 2015. Almost a year later, in June of 2016, we released our new Library Orientation learning object created with the e-learning authoring tool, Articulate Storyline.

The Library Orientation follows two student characters as they explore the library’s resources, spaces, and support. The learning activity is composed of three modules which students can complete in any order, making the learning experience non-linear. As our students progress through the modules they are immersed in a variety of interactive learning activities where they must click, hover, drag, drop and explore to proceed. They learn by listening, reading, and most importantly, interacting with the content through scenario based activities.

Berkeley's Library Orientation

Because we wanted to reach as many new students as possible with this orientation, it was important to us that it be included as a mandatory component of the college's new First Year Experience Seminar. With this goal in mind, we consulted with the Dean of Liberal Arts throughout the different stages of project development to seek feedback on our efforts and to ensure that the learning object was student-friendly, and clearly aligned with the objectives of the course.  

Now in its second iteration, we couldn’t be happier with the way the Library Orientation turned out. Upon completion, students take a quiz comprised of 20 multiple choice questions to assess their knowledge of the presented material. In both onsite and online sections, seminar professors assign a grade for completion of the learning object and quiz. Student feedback via three additional open-ended questions shows that they are truly engaged throughout the learning experience, and come away with a much different perception of libraries and librarians as they went in with!

To preview the Library Orientation from a student's perspective click here and progress through the modules.

Matthew LaBrake is the Library Director for Online Degree Programs; Amanda Piekart is the Information Literacy Instructional Designer; and Matthew Regan is the Information Literacy Coordinator, all at Berkeley College.

Rutgers University Libraries Receives Grant to Digitize New Jersey Newspapers

The New Jersey Digital Newspaper Project is a collaboration of Rutgers University Libraries, the New Jersey State Archives and the New Jersey State Library that will make the history of New Jersey known to its citizens and the world. The plan, according to project director and Rutgers University digital archivist Caryn Radick, is to scan existing microfilm from the New Jersey State Archives and to make searchable digital files available through the Library of Congress website Chronicling America. Over a two-year period, the project will digitize and catalog at least 100,000 newspaper pages, originally published between 1836 and 1922 and not currently available in digital format.  To read more, visit the Rutgers University Libraries' page here

Leveraging Technology to Enhance Library Services

By Sharon Whitfield

As a technology librarian, I am always questioning library practices. I am constantly asking why, what purpose does that serve; how does that benefit our patron population/library staff, etc. This questioning of library practices began when I was a volunteer at the Carnegie Public Library in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I would spend hours removing stickers to put on new stickers. Finally, I asked why. Did anyone notice the stickers? Does the cost of the stickers outweigh the benefit of the sticker and Goo be Gone (which was really gross to work with)?

When I became a librarian, the questioning did not stop. I started thinking about how I could utilize my previous technology/computer programming knowledge to make library practices more efficient. After library school, I moved to Newport News, Virginia to become the Multimedia Director at Christopher Newport University. I would observe how things would break down at my service desk and find ways to fix them. One of my best solutions to a problem was the equipment reservation system, which allowed me to leverage technology to enhance our lending service. Patrons would peruse available equipment on our webpage. They would click a button, which took them to a Google form. After the Google form was completed, I (and the service desk managers) received an email notifying me about the reservation request and the reservation request was entered into a Google Spreadsheet. I would then go into the spreadsheet and would approve the request by typing a ‘Y’ into a cell. By typing that ‘Y’, it would trigger an event being added to the Google Calendar and also sending the patron an email approving their request. If I typed ‘N’, the patrons received an email denying the reservation.

Read more...

Rutgers University’s SCARLA Tackles Librarianship

 

By  Diana Floegel

The Student College, Academic, and Research Library Association (SCARLA) at Rutgers University’s School of Communication and Information began its 2016-2017 session this past September. SCARLA attracts student members from across Rutgers’s newly revised Master of Information program. With a focus on research and academic librarianship, SCARLA hosts multiple panels and speakers throughout the fall and spring semesters on a wide array of topics. This year, President Diana Floegel, Vice President Jessica Lynch, Treasurer Emma Fasano, Webmaster Dana Eckstein, and Faculty Advisor Dr. Marie Radford have worked hard to plan exciting and informative meetings for all participants. SCARLA encourages student membership in NJLA, ACRL, and other professional organizations.

In October 2016, SCARLA was honored to listen to ACRL member Leslin Charles, an Instructional Design Librarian at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. In 2017, SCARLA plans to host other speakers from Rutgers libraries, tour various research institutions in the area, and send representatives to the ACRL conference in Baltimore. Members are excited to face the coming year after a very successful 2015-2016 session, which included two successful panels on metadata collection and CV-building, respectively.

SCARLA is always interested in staying abreast of emerging trends in the library world, particularly those that concern new and emerging technologies, information literacy practices, and general tips on career advancement. Its members seek to become successful innovators within the larger realm of information science.  

Diana Floegel is the President of SCARLA. She can be reached at djfloegel@gmail.com.

Hilary Westgate (RCNJ) is this month's Member Spotlight

Be sure to read the Member Spotlight on the NJLA CUS / ACRL-NJ homepage to learn more about Hilary Westgate, the new Reference, Instruction, and Outreach Librarian at Ramapo College's George T. Potter Library!

Snapshot Day Photos

Libraries around the state participated in Snapshot Day on Tuesday, October 18, 2016. Here's some fun photos from a few academic libraries.

Berkeley College Celebrates Snapshot Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Snapshot Day Photos

Bergen Community College Celebrates Snapshot Day!

Library staff with the Bergen Bulldog (it’s our new Dean, David Marks!)

Stockton University Awards its First Full Professor Rank in the Library

By Kerry Chang-FitzGibbon

Stockton University awarded the very first Full professor rank to one of the librarians in The Richard E. Bjork Library.  Ms. Jian Wang, our head cataloger was promoted to Assistant Director/Professor, effective September 1, 2016.
 
The entire library staff congratulated and celebrated Ms. Jian Wang’s success and the highest honor bestowed on her. It is not surprising to see Ms. Wang receiving the promotion.  She has demonstrated leadership roles in her job responsibilities as the Head Cataloger in the Bjork E. Library, in her service as chair of various local, state and national committees, and in her prolific scholarly activities.  Excellence in all these three areas are basic promotion criteria applied to all teaching and librarian faculty.
 
Getting a promotion is not easy at Stockton University for librarians.  Due to the language in the union contract, a merit promotion opportunity must be announced by the University President.  For a very long time, there was no announcement from the two former presidents regarding promotions for Stockton librarians.   The very first structural promotion was in 1999, only after a long battle with the administration, and the final re-organization of the Library.  The first announcement for a merit promotion opportunity was in 2002, and a subsequent one in 2007. The latest one was announced in October 2015.
 
In recognition of Ms. Jian Wang’s achievements as Head of Cataloging Department, her vision and leadership role in many library projects, her service and contributions to various committees, and the high quality of her scholarly publications and presentations, Stockton University promoted her to the position of Assistant Director/Professor.  
 
Congratulations!  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kerry Chang-FitzGibbon is the Serials Librarian at Stockton University. She can be reached at Kerry.chang@stockton.edu.

Research Committee Award & Forum

Hudson County Community College Librarian Cynthia Coulter, as co-chair of the Research Committee of the New Jersey Library Association’s College & University Section, moderated at the annual Research Award & Forum session at the NJLA Convention on May 18th. About twenty people attended the program and the Q&A follow up led to lively discussions. A summary of the winning research follows.

Two librarians from Seton Hall University, Beth Bloom and Marta Deyrup were recognized for their publication, “The SHU Research Logs: Students Online Search Behaviors Trans-scipted,” which examines students’ online research behavior. Bloom and Deyrup recorded students while they were searching the library databases. They were able to see how undergraduates navigated various resources and hear their simultaneous comments about their search experience. Published in the September 2015 volume of The Journal of Academic Librarianship, this research was chosen for the 2016 Research Award.

Later in the program, David C. Murray, a librarian at The College of New Jersey spoke about his research, “E-Books In the Humanities: An Affective Faculty Survey,” dealing with Humanities faculty attitudes and usage concerning academic ebooks versus print books. Collecting survey feedback, Murray was able to correlate types of users by academic department and age to their format preferences.

To learn more about these studies and the NJLA/CUS Research Committee, please visit the College & University Section of the NJLA website. If you are interested in becoming a member of the ACRL-NJ/NJLA-CUS Research Committee, please contact Cynthia Coulter at ccoulter@hccc.edu or phone her at 201-360-4722. The committee is a good way to keep abreast of New Jersey research innovations and topics. Members usually meet once a year to choose winning submissions from several proposals.

From the Newsletter Archives

Fall 1996. . . 20 years ago, the NJLA-CUS/ACRL-NJ President, Stan Nash, was considering the changing landscape of technology in libraries and how we, as a profession, would adapt to the complications that arose from the changes.  Much like our current President, Nash called on current members to help recruit colleagues to participate in NJLA-CUS/ACRL-NJ in order to address these changes through the strength inherent in numbers.  

More Snapshot Day Photos

Raritan Valley Community College Shared Snapshot Day Pics on Twitter! @RVCCLibrary

Jumping into Snapshot Day: A First Timer’s Reflection

by Carina Gonzalez

I was an Academic Librarian for approximately a month when I learned about Snapshot Day.  Despite having been a Library Media Specialist for years at the K12 level, I had never heard of this event.  And as a newly minted Outreach Librarian, it was clearly something that would be vital to my work.
 
Armed with a pile of records from last year’s Snapshot Day, and a fancy camera reserved for the affair, I started to learn all about what it could do for our library.  I decided to start small, since I didn’t fully understand to what I was actually committing.  

In previous years I’m told that a table was set up outside our front door - booth style - to educate students as they went in and out of the library about Snapshot Day.  They would fill out tiny questionnaires about why they were in the library and/or what improvements they could recommend.  Snapshot Day had also coincided with the launch of our instagram account @rvcclibrary in 2015.  This provided us with the opportunity to encourage lots of students to get their pictures not only taken, but tagged with their instagram names.  

As I said though, that was last year.  Our instagram account was already established this year, and I had classes to teach that day, so setting up a table in front of the door wasn’t an option either.  I had to try something else.
 

Editors

The CUS/ACRL-NJ Newsletter is edited by Joan Dalrymple, Access Services Librarian at Bergen Community College; Katie Maricic Cohen, Interlibrary Loan, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Ramapo College of New Jersey; and Rebecca Sloat, Technical Services Manager, Somerset County Library System.

 

 

Editors Rebecca Sloat, Joan Dalrymple and Katie Cohen pose for a picture during the Summer 2015 Marketing and Communications Committee Meeting at Monmouth University Library.