By Alyssa Valenti
NJLA CUS/ACRL-NJ Chapter President
It is refreshing to hear birds singing, feel the warm breezes, and to see flowers begin blooming this spring! It’s been a long year, as the year has gone on, momentum has continued – as always – with the NJLA-CUS/ACRL-NJ. I continue to be amazed at the level of dedication my colleagues have to our profession. I’ve seen resilience and adaptability in droves and have appreciated every opportunity I’ve had to learn about what is going on in academic libraries statewide.
In January, the VALE/ACRL-NJ/NJLA-CUS Users' Conference was held virtually for the first time ever. The program contained excellent speakers and presenters and the conference planning committee received so much positive feedback despite not being able to share the usual experience. Looking ahead to VALE 2022, the conference planning committee is looking for you! Please reach out if you’d like to serve on the VALE conference planning committee.
One of the benefits of working remotely is being able to attend so many more events than normal. Along with several Executive Board members, I was fortunate to be able to share information about the NJLA-CUS/ACRL-NJ with The Student College, Academic, and Research Libraries Association (SCARLA) at Rutgers. We had a robust conversation and sought meaningful ways to engage with each other’s organizations.
Although it was virtual, the bi-annual ACRL Conference was held and several NJ librarians had the opportunity to attend. The NJLA-CUS/ACRL-NJ Executive board issued a survey and a statement regarding concerns about the high cost for the annual conference in a year when professional development budgets have not only been slashed but many zeroed out.
Next, we had the opportunity to meet with Jen Nelson, NJ’s new State Librarian on Friday April 16. We had a wonderful and productive discussion about how academic libraries can work with the NJ state library to increase access to resources and collaborate statewide.
In June, the NJLA will host their annual conference virtually on June 3 & 4, 2021. The conference theme is, ‘All In: Accessibility, Equity, and Inclusiveness’. The program is exciting and timely and there is a great representation from NJ academic librarians. Please be sure to join your fellow academic librarians for the annual College & University Luncheon where we will honor our award recipients and spend time visiting with one another.
Finally, I can’t thank you enough for the opportunity to serve as your president in this year which has been unlike any other!
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.
By Melissa Lena, VALE Program Manager
In December 2020, VALE issued a survey to the Members Council to learn about our libraries’ pandemic responses. Survey results showed that the majority of respondents had reduced their hours, closed their library buildings entirely or partially, increased their virtual services and resources, furloughed library staff, and implemented flex work policies. It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic altered the academic library as a working environment.
As of this writing, almost a third of New Jerseyans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19; and vaccine eligibility has been expanded to all individuals aged 16 and older who live, work, or study in New Jersey. Local public health officials have predicted that we could reach herd immunity by late summer, and VALE member institutions are planning to return to in-person instruction in accordance with the safety requirements and guidance outlined by the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) and Executive Order No. 155. The end of the coronavirus pandemic is within our sight.
With the anticipation of libraries opening back up fully in the Fall, VALE will issue a followup survey to the Members Council to examine the strategic changes libraries will make to transition back from virtual to in-person operation. The economic and societal impact of this pandemic will be felt for years to come. To succeed in the “return to normal”, libraries will need to continue to be adaptable to our ever changing environment.
The Open Textbook Collaborative (OTC) project is seeking proposals for the creation of high quality Open Educational Resources (OER) of various kinds in career and technical education STEM courses. There are two cycles of calls for proposals, closing April 30 and June 30. The OTC project is a three-year statewide project directed by Marilyn Ochoa of Middlesex College and funded by the US Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education program. The project is led by Middlesex College and partners include Brookdale Community College, Ocean County College, Passaic County Community College, and Rowan University.
For more information, please contact the Program Director, Marilyn N. Ochoa, at mochoa@middlesexcc.edu, or visit the website at http://bit.ly/OpenTextCollabNJ.
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Gordon Xu joined Robert W. Van Houten Library in January 2021 as the Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Communications and Technologies. His 10 year journey as a Systems Librarian began at South Dakota State University and the City University of New York (CUNY). Prior to New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Gordon was the Head of Library Systems at Northern Michigan University where he managed the library systems department, oversaw library IT infrastructure and provided leadership in developing a long-term vision and direction for library technology operations. Gordon has a passion for taking initiatives to best serve our library patrons and is excited to be part of NJIT.
Alexander Eud joined Robert W. Van Houten Library in February 2021 as the Library User Services Specialist. Alex brings with him 10 years of public library experience and 4 years of graphic design creativity. Prior to New Jersey Institute of Technology, Alex was the webmaster of the Finkelstein Memorial Library managing the organization’s website and creating promotional content. Alex is consistently seeking new creative tools to discover and to implement in his personal creative work and the library.
Rider University - Moore Library
Moore Library was awarded two grants at the end of 2020. The first is for the Tourneés Film Festival from the FACE Foundation, which funded the purchase and/or screening of six French films to be shown in the Spring 2021 semester. The screenings are open to members of the Rider University community and the Mercer County Library, a co-sponsor of the grant. The second grant is for the Women of Color in the Suffrage Movement Collection, funded by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities through the Women's Suffrage & Beyond Program Award. The primary purpose of the WCSM collection is to provide access to subject-specific materials and resources that tell the story and the history of women of color who participated in the suffrage movement, with the aim of increasing access to resources and encouraging ongoing engagement in this topic for New Jersey scholars, researchers, and students.
Ma Lei Hsieh, Pat Dawson and Sharon Yang’s new article “The ACRL Framework successes and challenges since 2016: A survey” will be published in The Journal of Academic Librarianship in 2021 (v. 47, issue 2, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102306 ). The Association of College and Research Libraries’ Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education has replaced the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education since 2016. The survey revealed how college and university librarians throughout the U.S. apply the Framework in their Information Literacy instruction, what barriers they encounter in applying the Framework, the lessons they have learned, and if they assess students' learning outcomes with the Framework. The findings indicate that most participating librarians in the survey have adopted some Framework concepts in their instruction and have also conducted assessment of student learning outcomes. This study depicts the status quo on the implementation of the ACRL Framework in the U.S. libraries from 2016 to 2020. The authors presented the survey results at the 2020 QQML (Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries), an international conference last May, and at the 2021 VALE/ACRL-NJ/NJLA-CUS Users’ Conference in January. Both conferences were held online. Pat Dawson retired in June 2020. Sharon Yang is the Chairperson of the Moore Library.
Ma Lei Hsieh, Associate Professor-Librarian, will retire in June 2021.
Melissa A. Hofmann has published an article in Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-tale Studies, volume 35, no. 1 (2021): “‘Where the Turbot Is King’: Murat’s ‘Le Turbot’ as Modern Fairy-centric Response to d’Aulnoy’s ‘Le Dauphin.’” It explores issues of sexuality, consent, and female empowerment in tales from two late 17th-century French women writers. Hofmann is also an MLA Bibliography Fellow (2020-2023), indexing journals in fan and media studies for the MLA International Bibliography.
Dr. Sharon Whitfield, Assistant Professor-Librarian, has recently published two articles in Computers in Libraries: “Quit Stressing Out: Using LibAnswers to Lighten the Load of Committee Work” (Oct. 2020) and “Evidence-Based E-Resource Management,” (Mar. 2021). She also received two grants to attend conferences this spring: one from NISO and the other from ER&L.
Heather Dalal is the Secretary/Archivist-Elect for ACRL Distance & Online Learning Section.
Hofmann and Dalal presented at the November 2020 Charleston Conference, along with Ashleigh Faith (EBSCO): “New Frontiers in Discovery: What We Face and How to Address Equitable Search in Discovery.”
Rider University - Talbot Library
Stephanie Sussmeier, Assistant Professor-Librarian, has recently published an article with Stockton University’s Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist Heather Perez titled “Digital Decisions: User-Driven Digitization” in Library Hi Tech News (Apr. 2021).
Congratulations to Catherine Baird of Montclair State University, the winner of the 2021 NJLA CUS/ACRL-NJ Research Award, for her article entitled "Faculty Perceptions of Students' IL Learning in First-Year Writing" in portal: Libraries and the Academy. This qualitative research study with Tiffany Soares examined how First Year Writing instructors perceived students learned information literacy.
Baird will present at the Research Forum at the NJLA Conference on June 4, 2021, from 2:30-4:30, along with Dr. Sharon Whitfield (Rider University), whose qualitative research paper, “Women Technology Librarians as Good Citizens,” published in the Journal of Academic Librarianship won the 2020 Research Award. Also presenting will be our Forum participants, Cara Berg and Linda Salvesen (William Paterson University) who will share their research-in-progress on the COVID-19 Pandemic and the emotional effect of New Jersey academic librarians, based on survey data collected in November of 2020.
The Research Forum is titled: From Passion to Published: Research Award Forum & Panel
The 2020 and 2021 Research Award Winners and Forum participants will present their research content and highlight their processes. Following will be a panel of accomplished librarian authors who want to encourage you to research, write, and publish about your work or interests.
Baird, C., & Soares, T. (2020). Faculty perceptions of students’ IL learning in first-year writing. portal: Libraries & the Academy, 20(3), 509–532. doi:10.1353/pla.2020.0028
Whitfield, S., & Johnson, A. T. (2019). Women technology librarians as good citizens. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 45(5), 102058. doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2019.102058
By Neil D. Grimes
Section 1
The Cheng Library’s Academic Library-School Partnership with Paterson Public Schools
Connecting with school systems within northern New Jersey is part of the David and Lorraine Cheng Library’s strategic plan. A specific annual goal is to provide library outreach to a minimum of 10 schools. To accomplish this goal, a partnership with the Paterson Public Schools, an urban district made up of 52 schools was established (Paterson Public Schools, 2020). Facilitated by Library Dean Edward Owusu-Ansah, this partnership is essential as some of the students that attend these schools will later apply and attend William Paterson University. Additionally, students will be better prepared to embrace the project-based learning activities and scholarly research that is expected at the college or university level.
In the months prior to the pandemic, one in-person professional development session was held for middle school and high school social studies and science teachers on the topic of project-based learning. In addressing the need to assist K-12 teachers and students in remote teaching and learning during the pandemic, William Paterson University sought to connect with teachers and students in the Paterson Public Schools. The librarians of the Cheng Library were able to provide support and resources to teachers through a series of online professional development programs targeting specific groups of educators: K-12 technology teachers, K-12 librarians, and middle school and high school social studies teachers. A more focused approach was offered in the form of offering single school online professional development sessions to the faculty at International High School. Single school online professional development sessions were focused on project-based learning and research across the curriculum, online resources for teaching and learning, and culturally responsive education resources. In addition, virtual library support and instruction was provided to several AP teachers and their students.
Supporting the teachers and students through online library sessions during the pandemic through the school-university partnership was at no cost to the district. In providing support to teachers and students, academic libraries should consider offering online professional development sessions for teachers and then providing a combination of in-person and online library instruction sessions for students once the COVID-19 pandemic ends. The positive outcomes of this partnership will result in more successful learning outcomes for students and improved pedagogies for teachers. The Cheng Library and librarians have plans to continue this partnership well into the future. For further information on how to coordinate efforts for your library in supporting a school district in your geographic region, feel free to reach out to the author.
By Sara Lauren Purifoy
Taylor Memorial Library (TML) launched the Plagiarism Active Learning (PAL) Program at the beginning of Spring 2021 to support Centenary University’s commitment to preparing students for professions of critical thought and purposeful action. Developed and co-led by Instruction Librarian Sara Lauren Purifoy and Student Success Specialist Abbie Davis, the PAL Program offers students struggling with academic integrity an opportunity to explore the ramifications of misrepresenting scholarly/academic work in a safe environment. By offering this program in collaboration with the Academic Success & Advising Center (ASAC), TML has provided students with an intervening option for achieving success focused first on examining the individual and situational factors that may contribute to cheating behaviors to promote growth rather than immediate punishment.
A conversation between TML and ASAC staff about student plagiarism set the program idea in motion October 2020. Student plagiarism trends and possible intervention frameworks were discussed. Considering the current realities of remote teaching and learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic, “students believe cheating is easier or more prevalent in online courses,” especially when they do not know how plagiarism is defined by Centenary University’s Academic Code of Conduct (Adzima 2020). While both TML and ASAC offer student workshops and other learning opportunities for promoting academic and information-use integrity both in and outside the classroom throughout the academic year, it is widely recognized across both departments that the students in most need of these services are those least likely to attend.
To better reach students who would benefit most from intervention, the PAL Program was developed as a referral program only. To refer a student to the Program, a faculty member or member of Academic Success on behalf of the Academic Review Board must fill out the PAL Referral Form conveniently located in Pharos. Pharos is Centenary University’s retention software; all instructors can access and use it to report students in need of additional assistance. In addition, the student in question should be made aware that the form is being filled out. Once the form is submitted, it is sent to the Academic Review Board in the Academic Success Center for review and filing. If a first infraction, the Academic Success Center will refer the student to a PAL Coordinator via the Pharos email communications system to schedule a meeting. Students who have multiple infractions will be brought in front of the Academic Review Board for disciplinary action. PAL meeting sessions currently take place virtually over Microsoft Teams video conferencing and are scheduled using Microsoft Bookings. When a meeting is scheduled, it automatically populates within both the PAL Coordinator and student’s school calendar with built in reminders. The one-on-one meeting explores what it means to plagiarize, cheat, and misrepresent academic work. Together, student and PAL Coordinator work through examples and strategies that can be used to improve academic efforts and avoid committing future academic offenses. By the conclusion of this meeting, the student is required to complete an exercise demonstrating their understanding of plagiarism.
By Elizabeth Burns and Stephen Felle
The New Jersey State Library Talking Book and Braille Center (TBBC), an affiliate of Thomas Edison State University, is pleased to announce that the list of professionals who can certify an application for our library has recently been expanded.
TBBC loans audiobooks and braille to people with temporary or permanent low vision, blindness, or a physical, perceptual, or reading disability that prevents them from using regular print materials. This is part of a national program from the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS).
How does TBBC know whether someone qualifies for services? An applicant does not need to provide any medical records or prescriptions. Instead, someone familiar with the applicant, who is qualified to determine that the person is eligible for services, signs TBBC’s application, certifying that the applicant qualifies for services. The person signing the application is called a “competent authority” or a “certifying authority.”
Who can, and cannot, be a certifying authority is defined by law. Those of you familiar with TBBC’s services may remember that applicants with reading disabilities needed to have the application certified by a medical doctor or a doctor of osteopathy.
Good news!
Applicants with reading disabilities are no longer treated differently than those who are blind, have low vision, or have a physical reason they cannot read a book. Their applications no longer have to be certified by an M.D. or D.O.
In addition, the list of people who can be a “certifying authority” has expanded to include professionals involved in diagnosing reading disabilities. Educators, school psychologists, and certified reading specialists can now sign the application on behalf of any applicant. Others who can sign the application include doctors of medicine, doctors of osteopathy, ophthalmologists, optometrists, registered nurses, and therapists; as well as professional staff of hospitals, institutions, and public or welfare agencies such as social workers, case workers, counselors, rehabilitation teachers, superintendents, or librarians.
Register for the 2021 NJLA Conference! Learn more here: https://pheedloop.com/njla2021/site/home/
The Talbott Music Library of Westminster Choir College of Rider University has digitized the Julia A. Perry Collection.
To date, the Julia A. Perry Collection is Talbott Music Library’s most requested Special Collection, with inquires received from all over the world.
A Westminster Choir College Alumna (BM 1947, MM 1948), Julia A. Perry was a prolific composer, and her life and works continue to be studied to this day, providing a glimpse into the work of a mid-20th century Black woman composer. Her works received significant attention from 1950s-1960s that included compositions for full orchestra, band, solo voice, choral music, and dramatic music. Her works were performed by the New York Philharmonic, Clarion Concerts, and other orchestras. Her recording of her compositions Stabat Mater, Short Piece, and Homunculus C.F. were released by Composers Recordings in the 1960s.
Throughout her career she received numerous awards, including the National Association of Negro Musicians, the Boulanger Grand Prix, the Guggenheim Fellowship, National Institute of Arts and Letters, and more.
The overall digital collection contains photographs, correspondence, music compositions, biographical information, music programs, and written works. It is hoped that having the collection digitized provides more access to researchers and interested individuals that would have been previously restricted because of travel and COVID-19.
Stephanie Sussmeier is the Special Collections & Archives Librarian at the Talbott Music Library, Westminster Choir College of Rider University. She can be reached at ssussmeier@rider.edu.
The NJLA-CUS/ACRL-NJ Marketing and Outreach Committee members have been very busy during the Spring 2021 semester promoting and conducting outreach for our libraries at our respective institutions. Here is a summary of what a few of us have been up to:
Fairleigh Dickinson University - Nicole Potdevin
The Fairleigh Dickinson University Library held a virtual event titled University Woman: Conversations about Life and Work on March 24th, 2021 in honor of Women’s History Month. This dual-campus event featured four female FDU staff and faculty members discussing their career paths, triumphs, and challenges as professional women. The panelists were faculty of Fine Arts and History and directors of Career Services and Athletics.
In honor of National Poetry Month, the FDU Library held a dual-campus virtual event titled Words Without Borders: A Multilingual Poetry Reading on April 21st, 2021. Volunteer readers from FDU’s students, faculty, and staff read aloud poems of their choosing in their original languages as well as original compositions. Selections included poetry in Spanish, Russian, ancient Chinese, Italian, French, Portuguese, and English.
Berkeley College - Maria Deptula
On March 16th, the Berkeley College Online Book Club hosted the Author Talk with Dr. Noelle Nelson, author of “I Survived Covid-19, What Now?! Finding Happiness and Success in a Post Covid World.” During this virtual event attended by over 60 students and staff members, Dr. Nelson, an internationally respected psychologist and business trial consultant, as well as the author of 12 self-help books across topics such as business planning and legal studies, encouraged the participants to look at life with an optimist’s heart and responded to participants' questions on how to survive the living during the pandemic.
The Online Book Club LibGuide links to the recording from this event: https://berkeleycollege.libguides.com/OnlineBookClub
To commemorate National Poetry Month, Berkeley College Library published the 5th volume of “Berkeley Rhythms” - poems submitted by the Berkeley community and published on the “Virtual Poetry Platform.” As a follow up, on May 11th, the library will be hosting a Poetry Slam, during which some of the authors will be reading their poems. You can check the poems here: https://berkeleycollege.libguides.com/virtualpoetryplatform
Ramapo College of New Jersey - George T. Potter Library - Hilary Westgate
Following our Fall 2020 development of the Global Talks Virtual Reading Group (link to the Fall 2020 CUS article about the series), we continued this series in Spring 2021, with some slight changes. We decided to select an overall uniting theme for the stories/poetry of each meeting, with authors from multiple countries and regions represented in each meeting. This replaced our Fall approach of focusing on one country or region per meeting. We also integrated poetry, and we continued to use freely accessible short stories online. We created and shared discussion questions beforehand, and we kept running lists of any suggested related resources that participants mentioned in meetings.
Our Spring series included these meetings:
Mon., March 8, 1-2 p.m. - Readings on Ghosts - Short stories from Greek, Haitian and Japanese authors.
Mon., March 29, 1-2 p.m. - Readings on Animals - Short stories from Mexican, Gambian and Syrian American authors.
Mon., April 19, 1-2 p.m. - Readings on Family - Poetry and short stories from Pakistani, Singaporean and Brazilian authors.
We also continue to support the information-sharing and fundraising efforts of the College on behalf of our future Learning Commons and Library: https://www.ramapo.edu/learning-commons/. There are two informational videos on that page that show a bit of the building in development, as well as fundraising opportunities. We continue to share these updates on our library’s social media and look forward to planning outreach, events, and promotion for the opening of the building in Fall 2021.
Bergen Community College - Joan Dalrymple
In honor of Women’s History Month, Joan Dalrymple, Dr. Annemarie Roscello, and Lynn Schott of the Sidney Silverman Library partnered with history professor Dr. Christine Eubank for the college’s first Library of Congress By the People Transcribe-a-thon on March 10th. Participants learned the basics of transcribing and reviewing primary source materials while contributing to the “Suffrage: Women Fight for the Vote” campaign of the Library of Congress By the People crowdsourcing project. The transcribe-a-thon supports many learning goals, such as developing civic awareness, enhancing research skills, cultivating curiosity in historical events, and contributing to future scholarship by making materials available to all. We plan to hold transcribe-a-thons in the future to continue exploring the value of primary sources with students and other members of the college community. For resources about how your library can host a transcribe-a-thon, see the By the People site: https://crowd.loc.gov/resources/
Each spring, Raritan Valley Community College honors outstanding student work from across the curriculum with its Nota Bene exhibit and celebration. Last year’s event had to be cancelled because of the pandemic, with some student work displayed on the RVCC Library’s Nota Bene LibGuide, normally used to showcase photos taken at the event.
With far more time to plan for a virtual event this year, librarian Janelle Bitter collaborated with Dr. Izabela Zieba, Assistant Professor of English and organizer of the event, to create an online exhibition. As Dr. Zieba received student work from faculty nominees, she shared it with Janelle to add to the Library’s Omeka site--Omeka was selected for its excellent item-level description and display capabilities.
In addition to the works themselves, Janelle was granted access to submission forms, which contained metadata such as original format and the courses for which the works were completed. After deciding which Dublin Core fields to use and what order to display them in, Janelle uploaded and described the files, which were comprised of PDFs of essays and fiction along with JPGs of student paintings and digital designs.
The student work also included video files, which could not be uploaded to the hosted omeka.net site due to file size. Luckily, these videos were available on YouTube or in a Google Drive, so they could be linked to from one of the metadata fields using HTML.
To create an appealing online exhibition, Janelle added the exhibit plugin to Omeka and chose a “night” theme, surrounding the student work in a dark background reminiscent of a formal event. Works were organized by format to allow viewers to locate and browse items of interest.
The online exhibition opened on April 16 and was well received by many on campus. Janelle was even able to recommend Omeka to a faculty colleague who inquired about the platform used. She hopes others on campus may be similarly inspired to use digital exhibits in their teaching and scholarship and will reach out to her for recommendations or support.
Latin for "noteworthy,” Nota Bene acknowledges the creative strength and ingenuity that exists at Raritan Valley Community College. The exhibit is available online here: https://rvcclibrary.omeka.net/exhibits/show/notabene21. Please take a look for yourselves!
By Theresa Agostinelli
Super Library Supervisor Series
LibraryLinkNJ’s Super Library Supervisor Series kicked off its first-ever, all-virtual format on Monday, April 19th. This series is being offered in two identical, virtual tracks with 35 participants in each and is designed for supervisors with up to five years of supervisory experience.
Some seasoned trainers have returned, and new trainers and topics have been added. Here is our roster of topics and trainers:
● What it Means to be a Supervisor and Know Your Why: Motivating and Supporting Your Staff
Trainer: Tonya Garcia, Director, Long Branch Free Public Library
● Personnel Documentation & Evaluation and Defining Your Mission and Setting Goals
Trainer: Sara Sigler, Assistant Director, The Ocean County Library
● Self Care for Supervisors
Trainer: Kate Jaggers, Director, Highland Park Public Library
● Communications and Resolving Staff Conflict
Trainer: Cindy Czesak, Independent Consultant; Program Manager (P/T) at NJ Library Trustee Association
● Running Successful Meetings
Trainer: Amanda Piekart, Director, Research & Instructional Services, Berkeley College
● Human Resources Basics That Every Supervisor Should Know
Trainer: Deborah Blackwell, Training Officer, The Ocean County Library
The Super Library Supervisor Series is offered on a recurring basis so if you missed it this time around, you will have the opportunity to attend sessions in the future.
I have been working with my co-Programming & Outreach Specialist, Darby Malvey on reenergizing our social media channels, and opening up lines of communication with other library organizations in New Jersey. Please feel free to contact us with your ideas about ways that LibraryLinkNJ can better serve New Jersey academic librarians and library workers.
You can follow us on social media via the following channels:
Take care.
Theresa Agostinelli (she/hers) is the Programming & Outreach Specialist at LibraryLinkNJ. She can be reached at theresa@librarylinknj.org.
In Spring 2000, Mary Mallery was chapter president, and in April 2021, she was elected to the ACRL Board of Directors as Director-at-Large. Many concerns then ring true today, such as diversity and the multicultural campus, as well as the role of and value of academic libraries in Middle States accreditation. Enjoy the issue!
Jennie Pu, Dean of Libraries, Hudson County Community College & Board member, LibraryLinkNJ, presented the program "Solidarity & Support for our Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities" on March 24, hosted by NJLA and LibraryLinkNJ, and led a conversation about how to support and be an ally to our Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and staff.
Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IOw-b8lFWeZdRoYQgsIDZT5daOd2ufg7/view
Presentation Slides: https://librarylinknj.org/AAPI-03242021.pdf
Please also find the COVID-19 Anti-Asian Racism Resources at: https://tinyurl.com/y7dbtfab
This list is from the APALA & ALA ODLOS webinar “Confronting Xenophobia and Supporting Asian and Asian/Pacific American Communities during COVID-19” by Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen at St. Catherine University.
By Janelle Bitter
Faculty and staff at Raritan Valley Community College’s Evelyn S. Field Library are preparing for a significant update to OCLC’s Discovery interface. In 2021, OCLC will modernize WorldCat Discovery, a discovery layer used by libraries that subscribe to OCLC’s library services platform WorldShare Management Services (WMS). The Evelyn S. Field Library uses WMS to manage patrons and materials, and treats Discovery as a “catalog +,” allowing for searching of physical materials such as books and DVDs as well as their electronic counterparts—eBooks and streaming video.
Since last spring, OCLC has been working with their customers to recommend and evaluate updates to the new Discovery interface. These enhancements will improve user experience and ensure Discovery is in compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1. RVCC Systems & Technical Services Librarian Janelle Bitter has been participating in meetings with OCLC representatives and librarians around the world to help guide decision making and voice the needs of RVCC’s diverse library patrons. Surveys and virtual meetings have focused on topics like place hold workflows, configuration of search results and item details pages, edition grouping, fulfillment and access options, search history and saved search alerts, and the My Account page. Janelle has also contributed to asynchronous discussions taking place in OCLC’s Community Center, where OCLC customers and employees can troubleshoot issues and suggest enhancements.
In addition to contributing to OCLC discussions, Janelle has kept her RVCC library colleagues informed of changes and proposals. Initially, this entailed sending lists of updates via email or the library’s Slack channel, since in-person collaboration was significantly limited due to the pandemic. Although recorded OCLC webinars were often available to illustrate updates, they did not demonstrate how the new interface would play out in a local context. Luckily, OCLC rolled out the modernized interface for library staff, allowing for viewing and testing of real-time institutional data prior to the official unveiling. While communication methods have not changed significantly since last year, the addition of a live modernized interface for library employees has allowed Evelyn S. Field faculty and staff to experience the updates firsthand. Not only can they see the changes Janelle emails them about, they can also share feedback with her or directly within the OCLC Community Center, as OCLC continues to seek recommendations for improvement.
By Caroline Mann, SCARLA Secretary (photo credit: Deandra Tan)
The Student College, Academic, and Research Library Association (SCARLA) at Rutgers University has presented a slate of monthly virtual programs during the academic year for students interested in academic librarianship in the Rutgers Master of Information program, as well as for the wider Rutgers library community.
This year SCARLA has been led by Co-Presidents Meredith Magenheim and Jennifer Coffman, prior to Coffman’s graduation in December 2020. Magenheim continues to serve as sole President in spring 2021. Our Vice-President is Wafa Fatima Isfahani. Victoria Sun is serving as Treasurer, and Caroline Mann is Secretary. Professor Marie Radford continues to advise the club.
During the 2020-21 academic year, SCARLA’s goals have been two-fold: we aim to provide regular programs as a venue for collaboration and conversation between Rutgers students, faculty, and library workers throughout the pandemic, and we aspire to educate ourselves and our communities on how to cultivate a professional practice which will promote justice in the context of academic libraries.
In honor of Banned Books Week in October 2020, SCARLA teamed up with Rutgers University Libraries, the Library and Information Science Student Association (LISSA), and the Rutgers School of Communication and Information Alumni Association to offer Banned, a read-out event that included audience-chosen selections from banned books, flash talks on zines and academic freedom, and games. Art Librarian Megan Lotts has compiled a LibGuide on Banned Books Week and the history of Rutgers’ Banned Books events.
Also in October 2020, late-stage graduate students in the Master of Information program formed a panel in order to provide guidance to newer students about course selection and to offer perspectives on how to make informed choices during our time at Rutgers for a student-only event called Course Conundrum.
One of SCARLA’s guiding principles is that we should use our platform to support racial and social justice. As part of this initiative, in December 2020, Dr. Nicole Cooke, the Augusta Baker Endowed Chair at University of Southern Carolina, led a conversation on Social Justice in Librarianship in the Master of Information Colloquium series. She offered perspectives on topics ranging from how to address microaggressions in the workplace, the importance of offering material support to prospective BIPOC librarians, and courses she has taught on serving diverse populations in libraries.
In February of this year, members of the NJLA-CUS/ACRL NJ executive board joined SCARLA for a discussion of the role of organizations in the library profession, the inner-workings of the board, as well as how and why to become involved even as students. Cara Berg, Katie Cohen, Christina Connor, Maria Deptula, Joe Louderback, Adriana Mamay, Gary Marks, Nicole Potdevin, Alyssa Valenti, Karen Venturella, and Hilary Westgate participated in the panel. We want to thank all of the panelists for their generosity and for welcoming this newsletter entry, which originated at that event.
We debuted our #CritLib Collective in March. The Collective is a reading group for students, faculty, and library workers at Rutgers dedicated to reading and discussing topics related to critical librarianship. Our first reading selection was Danya Leebaw and Alexis Logsdon’s Power and Status (and Lack Thereof) in Academe: Academic Freedom and Academic Librarians. We plan for the reading group to be a recurring semesterly event.
News about SCARLA’s activities can be found at scarla.rutgers.edu, and we always welcome new members as well as contact from academic librarians and others working in the field who are interested in collaborations.
Caroline Mann is the SCARLA Secretary. She can be reached at cpm144@scarletmail.rutgers.edu.
by Adriana Mamay, Cara Berg, Bonnie Lafazan, Amanda Piekart, Alyssa Valenti, and Hilary Westgate
Throughout the past year, each of us has navigated the unanticipated effects of a pandemic that continues to uproot our personal and professional lives. We have all experienced circumstances and challenges without precedent and have had to adapt to a new normal. Fostering connections with others is critically important during this time, especially when opportunities for in-person interactions are limited.
As the spring semester began, members of the NJLA CUS/ACRL-NJ Executive Board discussed ways in which they could support the mental health and well-being of librarians in a reassuring and uplifting virtual environment. Inspired by Tracie Hall’s keynote address Open, Adaptable, and Resilient: A Self-Care Playbook for Leading in these Times at the 2021 VALE/ACRL-NJ/NJLA CUS Users’ Conference and a Roundtable Discussion entitled Beyond the Job: New Skills, Hobbies, and Reads in the COVID-era hosted by Hilary Westgate and Adriana Mamay at the same conference, members of the Executive Board created Wellness Wednesday Check-Ins.
These bi-monthly check-ins are participant-driven and intended to be a place where librarians come together to discuss work and personal matters. Additionally, activities such as meditation, chair yoga, coloring, games, journal activities, and hobby discussions are used to further engage attendees. Wellness Wednesday Check-Ins provide opportunities to connect with colleagues and alleviate pandemic-related fatigue. Each Check-In is limited to 12 people to ensure that everyone who wants to share has the opportunity to do so. Moderating responsibilities are rotated each session and anybody who would like to lead a Check-In is able to do so.
The first Wellness Wednesday Check-Ins were held on March 3rd, March 24th, and April 21st. Participants discussed different hobbies they’ve taken up during the pandemic and shared recommendations of books, movies, television shows, and podcasts. Academic and public librarians participated, and it was heartening to connect with supportive colleagues after a tumultuous year. Attendees felt a sense of camaraderie and agreed that a break, however brief, from everyday responsibilities to focus on our well-being was a welcome necessity. Bonnie Lafazan of the Berkeley College Library states: "With no in-person connections to my work colleagues or NJ librarian colleagues for close to a year, the Wellness Check-Ins served as a much needed reprieve from work responsibilities. I love having the opportunity to connect on a personal level and not feel so alone during these times!"
The next Check-In is scheduled for April 28th, 1-2 PM. To participate or moderate, fill out this form. We look forward to seeing you virtually soon!
Adriana Mamay is a Reference and Instruction Librarian at Middlesex County College. Cara Berg is the Business Librarian/Co-Coordinator of User Education at William Paterson University, Bonnie Lafazan is the Director of the Woodbridge Campus Library at Berkeley College, Amanda Piekart is the Director of Research & Instructional Services at Berkeley College, Alyssa Valenti is the Electronic Resources & Web Services Librarian & Library Chair at Raritan Valley Community College, and Hilary Westgate is the Reference, Instruction, and Outreach Librarian at Ramapo College of New Jersey.
The CUS/ACRL-NJ Newsletter is edited by Joan Dalrymple, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Bergen Community College; Katie Maricic Cohen, Interlibrary Loan, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Ramapo College of New Jersey; and Liz Siecke, Reference and Instruction Librarian/Serials Coordinator at Ramapo College of New Jersey.
Editors Joan Dalrymple and Katie Cohen pose for a picture during the Summer 2015 Marketing and Communications Committee Meeting at Monmouth University Library.
