Construction Brings Changes to Douglass Library

Sketch of Douglass Library, featured on the D21 construction/renovation website.

With Phase One construction/renovation work set to begin soon on the Douglass Library for the 21st Century (D21) project, we should anticipate a few significant changes.

During spring break the entire front half of the building will be closed to the public and will not reopen until after winter break (approximately January 2, 2004). The library front door will be blocked and a new entrance opened at the back of the library, i.e. the Laurie Library entrance. An ADA entrance will be also opened on the side of the building facing George Street at the end of loading dock area.

Douglass Library's resources and services will continue to be available to our users but transitional arrangements will be in place. Circulation services will move to the rear of the periodicals room as will the reference desk. The reference books and public computers will be moved to that area as well. At times, sections of the book stack areas will be closed to the public and users will be asked to place requests for materials with staff members, who will provide them as soon as possible. The Laurie Music Library and Media department will not be affected.

Due to the renovation work, there will be a loss of 300 seats from the library's first floor and the mezzanine section until the end of winter break. To compensate, the Douglass College Center has graciously agreed to open its Faculty Dining Room as a quiet study hall during the reading and exam periods from 3 PM to 12 AM Monday-Friday and 11 AM to 12 AM Saturday and Sunday.

Construction will begin in March, and there may be periods when the construction noise will be audible in nearby buildings. The renovated library should be fully operational by January 2004.

A D-21 renovation/construction update website can be viewed at: http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/douglass/D21.htm or as a link from the Douglass Library home page. The website was developed by Anthony Joachim with input from Myoung Chung Wilson, Stephanie Bartz and Marty Kesselman. Please bookmark the site if you wish to know the latest developments.

New Feature!

Starting with this issue, The Agenda will now include a new monthly column profiling Libraries personnel engaged in interesting, impactful, and unique projects. This column, One Minute With …, seeks to highlight the valuable work of specific colleagues and help us all become better informed on the diverse projects underway all across the Libraries.

One Minute With … Ruth Bogan Head, Database and Catalog Portal Management Section At Technical & Automated Services' Cataloging Unit

Pictured with Ruth Bogan (seated) are her staff members Virg Miller, Bonnie Spaventa, Brenda Carter, Hala Issa, and Susan Graham. Not present but represented in the photo are Nancy DeNicola (Bonnie is holding her snowman) and Linda Turzynski (Hala is holding her inflatable character, from Edward Munch's The Scream painting).

When did you arrive at the Rutgers University Libraries? Where were you working last and what was your role there?

“After moving here from the Chicago area, my husband and I got a hotel room at the Embassy Suites in Piscataway on a Sunday and the very next day, November 4, 2001, I began working at the Libraries. We lived at the Embassy Suites for six weeks, while the house we'd purchased was getting ready.”

“Previously I was the Technical Services and Facilities Manager at the Warren Newport Public Library, in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. It's one of the fastest growing public libraries in the Chicago area, with a budget of over $4 million and a circulation of over 1 million volumes a year.”

“We moved here because my husband Kelly was promoted in his company, Main Steel, and the executive offices are located in Tinton Falls. At the same time, I was interested in pursuing new professional challenges and broadening my experience in technical services. So the post at the Rutgers University Libraries was a perfect fit.”

What are your primary duties at the Libraries?

“Working with a very capable and flexible staff of seven, I oversee authority control, general trouble-shooting in the online catalog, and retrospective conversion. Through authority control, our task is to make sure that online catalog users can find what they're looking for even if they aren't sure of the correct spelling of the name or term involved. In our retrospective conversion work we are developing, refining, or properly linking records for the Libraries many holdings, so all of our resources are (or will soon be) accessible through IRIS.”

What is one of the more unexpected, unusual, or challenging projects you've been involved with here?

“We're immersed now in a retrospective conversion project involving official old New Jersey state documents. A number of the documents are frail, and many have never been cataloged in digital format, even by the Library of Congress. Currently, the only records for these documents at the Rutgers University Libraries are in a small, well-maintained card file kept near the document shelves at Alexander Library.”

“My group's job, in partnership with New Brunswick access and collection services departments, is to locate digital catalog records for these documents in the OCLC union catalog. If no records exist, we need to create one for each document. We're giving each document a barcode, entering all records into IRIS, and we're also working with Ian Bogus to assess each document's need for binding.”

“The project is supported by funding from Bob Sewell's collection development budget, and we started planning for it in December by deciding which individuals could do specific tasks. We hope to be finished with much of the work by the summer.”

What do you think are some of the greatest strengths of the Rutgers University Libraries?

“The Rutgers University Libraries are involved in many forward looking technological developments so I value the opportunity to work with technical service challenges that represent the future of libraries and academia. Great examples are Grace Agnew's projects, such as the Moving Images Collection and Digital New Jersey, which push our collective frontiers and lead to other exciting possibilities.”

Which colleagues do you work with most frequently?

“In my job I work with lots of people across the Libraries, and it's one of the aspects of my post that I enjoy the most - the collaborative, cross-departmental nature of the Libraries.”

“Certainly I'm in contact with my department on a daily basis, and I'm so grateful to work with them - Brenda Carter, Nancy DeNicola, Susan Graham, Hala Issa, Virg Miller, Bonnie Spaventa, and Linda Turzynski. They're a super group!”

What was the last book you read?

“My son, Drew, a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, recommended that I read So Long a Letter by Ivory Coast author Mariama Ba. He told me that it was the one book by a feminist, which he had to read for a class, that he actually liked. So I read it, and I really enjoyed it too.”

Librarian Wins Int'l Literary Award

Congratulations to Lourdes Vázquez, who was recently awarded the 2002 Juan Rulfo International Short Story Award in the category “Literate World” for her short story La Estatuilla.

The award, given by Radio France International (RFI) and the Mexican Institute in Paris, is one of the most prestigious awards in Spanish literature. Radio France International and the Mexican Institute, founders of this competition, announced that in 2002 there were 7,272 authors from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, France, the United States, and other countries who submitted their work for consideration in the various categories.

The story La Estatuilla (in English “The Oscar”) starts with the theft of the Puerto Rican actor José Ferrer's Hollywood Oscar from the lobby of the theater of the University of Puerto Rico. The story is a spellbinding narration entangled with suspense as the main character tries to identify the thief. The story takes place around the United States, Puerto Rico, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

In a recent article in El Nuevo Dia, the story La Estatuilla was praised: “Clearly the author brings issues such as globalization and the crossing of the borders, prejudice, and chauvinism to the narration. Her portrayals of contemporary daily life and pop culture offer a glimpse of the crossing of the borders and the modern Caribbean landscape.”

To learn more about the short story, please see:
Radio France Internacional
http://www.rfi.fr/fichiers/Langues/rfi_espagnol_concours4.asp
and
El nuevo dia/ La figura del momento
http://www.endi.com/perspectiva/

Research Roundtables at IJS

Librarians, staff members, and their friends are welcome to attend the following Jazz Research Roundtable presentation/discussion sessions, sponsored by the Institute of Jazz Studies and the Rutgers-Newark Department of Visual and Performing Arts:

Feb. 13: Jeff Sultanof: Birth of the Cool
March 13: Julia Scott: Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center
April 17: Kenny Washington: topic to be announced

All programs are free and open to the public and take place Thursday evenings from 7:00 - 9:00 pm in the Dana Room, on the 4th floor of the John Cotton Dana Library. Refreshments will be served. For more information, please call the Institute of Jazz Studies at 973/353-5595.

Staff Member's Grandson Hits the Big Time

If you ask B. Joyce Watson, bindery coordinator at the Library of Science and Medicine, she might tell you that she's always considered her grandson Keith to be a prince. But now hundreds of Broadway theater-goers will get a chance to consider him in the same light.

From February 5th through the 17th, Joyce's 12 year old grandson Keith Andes Woodard II, from Alta Loma, CA, will perform in the role of young Simba in “Lion King” at the Amsterdam Theater on Broadway in New York City. Keith auditioned for the role, and Disney Productions selected him. Disney then sent him for voice lessons and a theatrical skills class in preparation for the new role.

Keith has performed in the California cast of "Lion King" at the Pantages Theater since July 2001.

Congratulations, Joyce, on your grandson's step up to the big time!

Personnel Changes as of 02/03/03

Arrivals:

Resignations:

Libraries Faculty Awarded Sabbaticals

We are pleased to recognize the following librarians, who were awarded sabbatical leaves for 2003-2004:

We wish them much success!

	January 19, 2003 December 15, 2002 The Agenda Archive

Contributors for this issue were Mary Gerber, Margaret Hodes, Anthony Joachim, and Lourdes Vázquez. Contributions for future issues of The Agenda should be sent to Harry Glazer, editor of The Agenda, at hglazer@rci.rutgers.edu.