Fall 2020 CUS/ACRL-NJ Newsletter

Submitted by hdalal on

From the President

By Alyssa Valenti

NJLA CUS/ACRL-NJ Chapter President
 

Alyssa Valenti ACRL-NJ President

Fall 2020 has certainly been different from any other new academic year in the past! Each of us is navigating new schedules, new work flows, new instructional modalities, and more. But as libraries are accustomed to doing, we’ve adapted, re-worked, adjusted, and persisted!

Despite this major upheaval in our usual work and personal lives, the NJLA-CUS/ACRL-NJ has remained as busy as ever. Over the summer we hosted Know Your Why: A Virtual Mini-Conference of 2020 NJLA CUS Presentations. This gave members who had sessions and posters accepted at the cancelled spring NJLA conference the opportunity to present and share their work.

As a result of our leadership transition meeting in June, the Executive Board formed an Anti-Racism Task Force. The aim of the task force is to identify ways our organization can commit to anti-racist work and help members learn more about participating in these kinds of activities. The task force is seeking more members! If you or someone you know are interested in joining please reach out to either task force co-chair Cara Berg or Bart Everts.

On October 2, we held our annual open membership meeting which invites librarians across the region to learn about our organization. This is an opportunity to reach non-academic librarians who may have an interest in academic libraries and the work academic librarians do. The meeting had a featured guest speaker, Dr. Karen Gaffney, Professor of English, from Raritan Valley Community College who hosted a workshop and discussion titled ‘Dismantling the Racism Machine: Myths Taught to White People that Perpetuate White Supremacy.’

Based on Dr. Gaffney’s 2018 book Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox, the workshop considered the questions: What false racial myths are white people in particular indoctrinated into that perpetuate systemic racism? How can an antiracist mindset involve becoming aware of that indoctrination, debunking those myths, and working to un-indoctrinate ourselves? And how can that antiracist mindset be applied to end systemic racism? What role might libraries play in this process? Attendees shared strategies and discussed opportunities to change ourselves and change the world. The meeting was a success and received very positive feedback. If you are interested in viewing the workshop, it is available online here. We hope to offer more like this over the course of the year!

Next, I want to make sure you all know about and register for the upcoming annual 2021 VALE USERS'/ ACRL/NJ-NJLA CUS Conference which will be held virtually for the first time ever! This year’s theme is ‘Open, Adaptable, and Resilient.’ This year’s conference will offer unique presentations and workshops and will have a little bit of something for everyone.

Finally, I hope you saw the call for proposals for the upcoming NJLA Annual Conference which will be held June 3 & 4, 2021. The conference theme is ‘All In: Accessibility, Equity, and Inclusiveness.’ Although the format of the conference is still to be decided, submitting a proposal is a great way to get your ideas and projects out there. Proposals are due November 30, 2020.

As our entire society is going through unprecedented times together, it is reassuring to know that libraries remain open and we are resilient! I am thankful for so many dedicated colleagues throughout the state and am looking forward to seeing how else we adapt to this strange, new academic year!

Alyssa Valenti is the Electronic Resources & Web Services Librarian & Library Chair at Raritan Valley Community College. She can be reached at alyssa.valenti@raritanval.edu.

 

From the Newsletter Archives

In this throwback from Fall 2000, it's interesting to note the section on "electronic reference" and the "opportunities and dilemmas" involved. It's something that we have all been experiencing during the pandemic. We also learn about Union County College's library orientation on videotape, and their observation that "most people are comfortable with a video format." The same can be said for our digital native students today!

Announcements

Berkeley College

Bonnie Lafazan, Director, Berkeley College, started her term July 1, 2020 as Board President for LibraryLinkNJ.

Westminster Choir College of Rider University

Talbott Music Library has moved! As part of Westminster Choir College of Rider University’s transition from the Princeton campus to the Lawrenceville campus, Talbott Music Library has now relocated on the 3rd and 4th floors of Rider University’s Franklin F. Moore Building. Since September 2020, Talbott Music Library has been open to Students, Faculty and Staff along with providing additional remote services. Although we are still unpacking boxes, a major benefit of the new location is having all of the Special Collections, Archives, and Archives media together on one floor! Please note our new address: Talbott Music Library, Westminster Choir College of Rider University, Moore Library, 2093 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. For more information, please contact Stephanie Sussmeier, Special Collections & Archives Librarian at Ssussmeier@rider.edu.
 

VALE Updates

By Melissa Lena, VALE Program Manager

We are now well into the Fall semester of “the new normal;” working, learning, and living in the novel coronavirus pandemic. Higher education institutions in New Jersey have been operating under remote-only, hybrid, and mixed-mode instruction, which is likely to continue into the spring. Since the beginning of the pandemic, our member institutions continue taking action to prevent and respond to COVID-19 outbreaks on their campuses. Academic libraries specifically have made changes to their collections, services, policies, procedures, and physical spaces in response.

Some noted changes within the consortium are an increased interest in services and products required to support remote learning, shifting renewal approvals to departments outside of the library, increased demand for streaming media and ebooks, and closely examining user statistics on all products in the collections.

VALE has provided a forum to discuss these actions and strategies among colleagues by hosting monthly informal virtual meetings for members, and by facilitating engaging discussions on the Members Council listserv. The topics discussed in these conversations will likely carry over to the annual VALE/ACRL-NJ/NJLA-CUS Users Conference: Open, Adaptable and Resilient on January 6, 2021. A survey issued by our Conference Committee found there was limited interest in attending an in-person event due to concerns of the safety of large indoor gatherings. Fittingly to our name, this event will be held virtually. Conferences are the places where innovative ideas are exchanged, knowledge is shared, and professional networks are expanded. We look forward to presenting the same high-quality academic librarian conference you have come to expect, now in a virtual space.

 

Wanted: Newsletter Members!

The Newsletter Committee is seeking a new member to help edit the Spring 2021 Newsletter. If you are interested, please email us at acrlnjnews@gmail.com.

Digital Institutional Repository Management at William Paterson University: Planning and Staging a Seamless Migration

By David J. Williams, MA, MLS

Launched in early 2018, WPSphere is the David and Lorraine Cheng Library Digital Institutional Repository, charged with collecting, preserving, and disseminating the intellectual output of William Paterson University. As a replacement for the institution’s previous CONTENTdm digital collection management service, WPSphere also houses a series of digitized historical materials, including scanned photographs, yearbooks, and student newspapers.

Created using DSpace, an open source digital repository system, the service can be installed in a wide range of operating environments. One benefit of this portability is the opportunity to apply a variety of supporting technologies and resources. If these resources are circumstantially limited or otherwise suboptimal, however, issues can occur; as with any complex technology project, careful planning is essential. Fortunately, an additional benefit of portability is that well-designed digital repositories support and enforce archival practices, ensuring that the preservation and maintenance of ingested collections is “baked in” to the system. That said, an expression common among Information Technology professionals states, “you can’t really say you have a backup until it’s been successfully restored.”

An assessment conducted in September of 2019 revealed technical issues capable of rendering WPSphere unreliable. The existing collections were stable and accessible, but expanding usage to support future university initiatives was problematic. In the larger context, an Institutional Repository, digital or otherwise, embodies archival principles, chief among them authority. If the structures in place for preserving and describing collection materials are not trustworthy, they must be reconsidered.

Requirements were gathered and technical specifications analyzed, revealing the need for a flexible storage architecture within a stable hosting framework. The results informed the development of an evaluation matrix, comparing a wide range of potential solutions ranging from outsourcing technical administration using specialists in the digital repository field to working within the available campus information technology domain. Narrowing down the list to seven options, in-person and remote interviews were conducted with a series of technical and marketing representatives.

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Calling All Map Collections in New Jersey, Big and Small

Lines of the Paterson, Passaic, & Rutherford Electric R'y and the Jersey City, Hoboken & Rutherford Electric R'y, and the Paterson Central Electric Ry., 1894. NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 57206128.

(Above): Lines of the Paterson, Passaic, & Rutherford Electric R'y and the Jersey City, Hoboken & Rutherford Electric R'y, and the Paterson Central Electric Ry., 1894. NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 57206128.

The state of New Jersey: economic geology, 1880. NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 57100090.The Map and Geospatial Information Round Table (MAGIRT) of the American Library Association has created an Online Guide to U.S. Map Collections. This is a directory of map collections, big and small, across the United States.

The Online Guide builds upon the work of three previously-published books that served as directories to map collections over the past three decades. On its new Arc GIS online platform, the Guide has become:

  • a crowd-sourced directory that provides accurate, up-to-date information about U.S. map collections;

  • a searchable map interface that allows collections to be easily located by geographic location;

  • a searchable database of subject and geographic specialties​ amongst map collections; and

  • a vehicle for promoting and demonstrating the relevance of map collections in the United States.

(Right): The state of New Jersey: economic geology, 1880. NYPL Digital Collections Image ID 57100090.

 

Add Your Map Collection to the Online Guide

MAGIRT welcomes New Jersey libraries to take the Survey to get on the map of the Online Guide to U.S. Map Collections! As a Regional Coordinator for the Guide, I am helping to encourage New Jersey map collections to add their information to the directory. The Regional Coordinators are especially excited to uncover hidden map collections in order to reveal their geographic information resources to the world of researchers. Please let us know about yours by filling out the Survey and becoming part of the Online Guide to U.S. Map Collections.

If you have any questions or comments, please email magirtonlineguide@gmail.com, or me, at nancykandoian@nypl.org.

MAGIRT: Online Guide to U.S. Map Collections.
Nancy Kandoian is a librarian at the Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division at the New York Public Library.

Librarians Commit to Anti-Racism

By Karen Venturella

Over the summer, NJLA CUS adopted the following statement against racism:

“ACRL-NJ/NJLA CUS opposes racism in all its manifestations. We share the sorrow and the rage of our community against a history of police brutality experienced by Black people and communities of color in this country. We stand in support and solidarity with those seeking social and racial justice. This statement affirms our commitment to anti-racist practices, and pledges to use our resources to promote social justice.”

Hopefully librarians seek ways to be anti-racist in our profession and in our communities. A recent article from Tracie D. Hall, Executive Director of the American Library Association, calls for the profession to come together to “to explore the role of the library as both a vehicle and driver of justice” and “stand against racism and racial violence”. (Let Our Legacy Be Justice. American Libraries, Vol 51, No. 7/8, 2020, p. 5) She proposes the focus be on the need for universal broadband, the need to diversify the profession as “more than 80% of librarians are white,” and additional funding to broaden library and information access. (Hall, https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2020/07/01/let-our-legacy-be-justice/)

What are the policies that can be created or promoted that address these issues? In May 2020 H.R.6723 (Universal Broadband Act of 2020) was introduced. The stated goal is “to ensure rural Americans have the opportunity to access reliable broadband services.” (https://www.benton.org/headlines/bi-partisan-delegation-introduces-universal-broadband-act) ALA has an Advocacy and Legislative website that tracks bills like the Library Stabilization Fund Act (S.4181 / H.R.7486) that was introduced July 2, 2020 and seeks $2 billion in funding for libraries. (http://www.ala.org/advocacy/library-funding)

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Advising a Student Honor Society on a Media Literacy Project

RVCC librarian Janelle Bitter is in her second year of co-advising the college’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society of two-year colleges. With co-advisor Dr. Sara Banfield, Professor of Communications, Janelle guided this year’s five-student officer team as they tackled their chosen project of spreading media literacy. One of PTK’s yearly projects entails researching a global issue and devising research-based solutions for the local community. Given the expertise of their advisors, the current misinformation landscape, and the theme of this year’s PTK research topic (“Expressions of Truth”), the students dove into learning ways to combat fake news and educate their peers. Janelle created a LibGuide to help them brainstorm keywords, choose databases, and search government websites and open access scholarship online. Using their excellent research skills, the officers tracked down the authors of two of the resources they found and interviewed them about their perspectives on misinformation and the importance of being media literate. They then created an educational presentation using content from sources they read as well as what they learned from these interviews and two others (one with Janelle and one with a sociology professor). The main action of the officers’ project will be a study on the effects of their educational materials. Students in their pool of research subjects will be split into two groups: one that receives the training and one that does not. Both groups will be given a multiple-choice quiz on evaluating information sources, and their results will be compared. The PTK officers hope to demonstrate the efficacy of peer-led media literacy education on combatting fake news. They are also interested in finding out whether incorporating multiple perspectives on best approaches (their interviewees included a librarian, a social scientist, a podcast host, and the director of the Stanford History Education Group) will make their material relatable and engaging. For those students in the control group or others who could not participate, the educational material will be made available after the study is complete, so all can benefit from it.

Although Janelle and Sara allowed the officer team to explore resources and develop ideas on their own, the advisors offered suggestions and expertise throughout the process. Janelle recommended resources like Project Information Literacy and Weekly Misinformation Briefings from the Project on Computational Propaganda. She was one of the interviewees, offering her perspectives on the topic. She also shared the officers’ research project in the monthly library newsletter Check It Out to reach a larger audience of potential research subjects. Sara recommended the officers schedule one of NewseumED’s “Fighting Fake News: How to Outsmart Trolls and Troublemakers” classes as an additional way to educate their fellow students. She also assisted them in navigating the IRB process.

Advising a student honor society has given Janelle an opportunity that was otherwise challenging for her as a librarian: to form relationships with students and get to know them beyond their academic needs. Although the pandemic has slightly dampened this, requiring weekly meetings to be held virtually, she still feels she has formed bonds with the PTK officers and contributed meaningfully to their education and growth. As an added perk, she had one of the officers in two of her information literacy instruction sessions this semester—it was a nice change to see a familiar face in the Zoom classroom, especially since the officer willingly contributed to class discussions!

Janelle M. Bitter is the Systems and Technical Services Librarian at Raritan Valley Community College. She can be reached at janelle.bitter@raritanval.edu.

The Civic Literacy Initiative at William Paterson University

By Gary Marks, Jr.

The David & Lorraine Cheng Library launched the Civic Literacy Initiative during the spring of 2019 to support William Paterson University’s commitment to Civic Engagement. Developed and led by Reference & Outreach Librarian Gary Marks, the initiative ensures the Library actively pursues opportunities to enhance the William Paterson community's civic knowledge and awareness. The Cheng Library defines Civic Literacy as the ability for individuals to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and discharge civic responsibilities in a democratic society. With this understanding, the Library strives to equip students with the requisite tools for lifelong civic participation and leadership. By expanding collaborations with campus partners, the Library has provided students with a new element to their civic engagement experience by offering learning workshops, educational programming, and guest speakers, in addition to our research, discovery, and learning resources.

The initiative was sparked by a new partnership with the Office of Campus Activities, Service, and Leadership (CASL) to incorporate the Library into the WP LEADS Civic Engagement Digital Badge program. WP LEADS is a University-wide program encouraging students to expand their learning experience outside of the classroom by offering opportunities to build personal student portfolios with a variety of topical badges like civic engagement, social justice, and leadership. In 2019, Library events offering civic engagement credits included documentary film screenings, guest speakers, organizing the University’s Constitution Day event, and hosting a Voting 101 workshop. The Voting 101 program provided students with an opportunity to overcome first-time voter anxiety by offering a mock voting booth in the Library in addition to a new Voting 101 LibGuide providing numerous resources to ease the voting process and supporting informed voting decisions. Many of the Library’s endeavors have included partnerships with various campus entities, including CASL, the American Democracy Project, academic departments, the Student Government Association, and student clubs and organizations.

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Taking the Book Club Online: Converting the Library Book Club into a No-Cost Online Format

By Hilary Westgate and Sam Wittenberg

Each semester since Fall 2015, librarians at Potter Library at Ramapo College have collaborated with the college’s Roukema Center for International Education to create an international Book Club for students, faculty, and staff. The Book Club was traditionally aligned with the Roukema Center’s themed regional years (https://www.ramapo.edu/international/itzn/regional-years/). In past years, librarians chose one to two books per semester, and the Roukema Center purchased copies of the selected titles to give to students for free. Librarians promoted the Book Club at the Student Involvement Fair, by tabling around campus, sharing on social media, and connecting with interested faculty who would then share with their students. We met three times per semester, usually in the library’s conference room, with tea, hot chocolate, and themed snacks; whenever possible, we purchased foods and snacks that aligned with the regional or country theme. We maintained a steady attendance throughout the years with participants joining from different groups across campus, including students, staff, faculty and administration.

In Spring 2020, when the pandemic began and we moved to remote learning, we had our final Book Club meeting of the semester online via Webex, which was well attended. We encouraged attendees to still make themselves comfortable with snacks and beverages at home while we chatted! Members expressed an interest in continuing on as a group despite the pandemic-related changes to our work and learning environments.

For Fall 2020, we converted the book club into a themed reading group using free online materials from outlets such as Lightspeed Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, Slate and PseudoPod that would still speak to the theme of internationalization, as well as some other sub-themes, such as supernatural stories for the Halloween season, or a focus on a certain genre, such as Africanfuturism. After meetings between the librarians and the Roukema Center staff, we decided to create the Global Talks series, which gives us the freedom to eventually expand the format beyond reading discussion to include things like guest lectures. The Roukema Center created a website (https://www.ramapo.edu/international/globaltalks/), and we set up three virtual meetings for the Fall 2020 semester, each to discuss literary works with a regional theme.

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Growing Professionally as an Academic Librarian in a Pandemic

By Linda Salvesen

COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic has blindsided everyone. And those who work in academic libraries are facing unique challenges in their critical roles as information professionals. How can we help our users when we can’t always see them face-to-face? How do we offer support in person when we also have to physically distance ourselves? How do we show that we’re consistently moving forward when the world around us has essentially stopped? These are concerns that we’re all facing as academic librarians. And I am hopeful that we can address them together.

While this pandemic has affected both my personal and professional life, it has also changed the academic librarian landscape. Here at William Paterson University’s Cheng Library, we are currently alternating between working remotely and on campus. And all of us have had to learn how to perform much of our work virtually. On top of dealing with these kinds of changes, many academic librarians are still working towards reappointment, tenure, and/or a promotion. No matter what you’re working toward now, you have seen that the three pillars of academia (teaching/librarianship, research/scholarship, and service) are not immune from the impact. Below are some thoughts from the perspective of an academic librarian currently on the tenure track:

  1. Teaching/Librarianship: This area has been upended, but particularly in the beginning of the pandemic when we all had to transition to emergency remote teaching and reference, regardless of our experience with it. At the Cheng Library, we have now all become experts in platforms such as Blackboard Collaborate, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom, where we conduct instruction sessions and one-on-one consultations with both students and faculty. The latest challenge is how to conduct hybrid classes (classes that are a combination of virtual and in-person). Throughout all of these challenges, communicating with both coworkers and peers regarding what works and what doesn’t has been the most helpful.

  2. Research/scholarship: While I look usually look forward to networking with my fellow academic librarians at in-person events, many conferences have been understandably canceled this year. But we also saw a steep rise in virtual conferences this year, which still provide speakers with a platform to communicate with their peers. I’ve had the opportunity to present in a few virtual conferences recently, including co-presenting the "Setting Your Intention” session for “Know Your Why: A Mini-Conference of 2020 NJLA CUS Presentations”. The networking that we sorely need has also been possible in between sessions, where we have a chance to use the chat feature to communicate with our peers. While it’s still new territory for us all, academic librarians are in a very good position to quickly pivot.

  3. Service: Collaborating with my peers from other institutions or areas of the state/country on various committees has helped me feel more connected, but has also created new kinds of stress. Many of my peers have been furloughed and/or had their positions/libraries/institutions undergo major changes this year. Collaboration is tough when everyone is experiencing some level of difficulty in both their personal and professional life, although staying connected may be the key to making it through this time.

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Using Google Sites to Stay Organized

By Theresa Agostinelli

Working from home has required a great deal of adjustment. As a person with two jobs; numerous professional development responsibilities; two cats; one husband; and two, teenage daughters who participate in multiple sports teams while enjoying active social lives; life is chaotic at best. Throw COVID-19 into the mix, and things get turned upside down quickly. Google Sites has proven to be just the tool that I needed to keep my life in order.

A typical day working from home usually involves logging into numerous accounts such Zoom, Conferences, LibraryH3p chat, Gimlet, multiple Gmail accounts, Outlook accounts, LibGuides, and more. My daughters’ schedules have moved from virtual, to hybrid, back to virtual, and everything in between with varying days, times, and more. I often begin each day just trying to figure out where everyone needs to be, and at what time.

As a librarian, I always have my eyes and ears open for interesting resources that I would like to refer back to as a later date. Sometimes these are websites. Bookmarking is an option, but I prefer something that I can view across browsers. Those who have met me in person probably recall that I am always sitting with a pen or pencil in hand, ready to write down information of importance. But it is difficult to access the notes I have jotted down on various notebooks and random pieces of paper when desired.

So I knew that I needed to find an online home for my schedules, passwords, links, and more. I started to look into resources that I have used in the past including Google Docs, Padlet, Wikis, and more but none of them were quite right. And I really didn’t want to log into yet another account to get to my information.

And then it dawned on me. Years ago, I had taught library patrons how to use Google Sites to create free websites for their clubs and businesses. Google Sites was ideal for my patrons at that time since the learning curve was small and many of them lacked basic computer skills. Looking at this tool again after several years, I realized that it is even easier to use now than before.

It checked off all of my boxes. Google Sites is:

  • accessible with my Google login

  • easy to update

  • simple to customize

  • free!

  • flexible - I can easily embed content such as calendars, documents, images, and more

Setting Up a Google Site

Note: you will need to set up a Google account before creating a Google Site

  1. Go to “sites.google.com.

  2. Choose the Google account you will be using and log into that account.

  3. Select one of the options under “Start a New Site.” (You can always change the look of your site after it has been created.)

 

  1. Using the menu on the upper-right part of the page, choose “Insert” to insert a text box, images, links, or documents from Google drive.

5. Click the “Pages” tab and then click the “+” symbol to add a new page.

6. Name your page and click “Done.” A link to this page will automatically be added to your Google Sites menu. You also have the open to hide the page from the menu, if desired.

7. To change the look of your Google Site, choose “Themes” in the upper-right part of the page.


Now that I have a basic Google site set up, I just create new pages as needed. And adding content boxes to these pages is as simple as clicking and dragging.

Here are a few example pages with content:

  • Homepage: This is where I add my work schedule, my kids’ school and soccer schedules, to do lists for the day, and more.

  • Job Page: I set up a page for each of my jobs. For example, on my “Brookdale” page, I list login information for different accounts and links to related resources that I need to do my job. I include a text box that I regularly update with the content that students have added to the “You Can Book Me” form for 1-on-1 research appointments.

  • Sewing: I recently started to use my sewing machine again. I use this page to add links to tutorials, sites that sell fabrics, clothing numbers, and more.

Google Sites is an online tool that has made my life easier. How are you staying organized?

For further information about setting up a Google Site, check out this Google Site Setup Guide. And feel free to contact me with any comments or questions at agostinellit@gmail.com.

Theresa Agostinelli is an Adjunct Librarian at the Bankier Library at Brookdale Community College and a p/t Reference & Instruction Librarian at Middlesex County College. She services as Co-Chair of the CUS/ACRL-NJ Marketing & Outreach Committee, Social Media Chair for CUS/ACRL-NJ, and is the editor of the NJLA Professional Development Newsletter.

 

 

Editors

The CUS/ACRL-NJ Newsletter is edited by Joan Dalrymple, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Bergen Community College and Katie Maricic Cohen, Interlibrary Loan, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Ramapo College of New Jersey. Please send newsletter comments, ideas, and submissions to acrlnjnews@gmail.com.

 

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

 

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