Minutes of May 30, 2013 Meeting

Present:

Joseph Abraham (guest), Grace Agnew, Katie Anderson (Co-Chair), Natalie Borisovets, Joseph Deodato, Mary Fetzer, Bonnie Fong, Tom Glynn, Melissa Just, Kerry O'Rourke, Fernanda Perrone (recorder), Jane Sloan, Roberta Tipton (Co-Chair)

Excused:

Judy Gardner, Cathy Pecoraro, Tibor Purger, Li Sun

K. Anderson called the meeting to order at 10:10 am. The agenda was approved.

The Council reviewed progress on the year's goals.

1. The Instruction Community of Practice has reconvened.
2. A streaming media service has been selected and will be available by the fall.
3. LibGuides have been assessed and statistics have been distributed. J. Deodato reported that an author manual has been created and will be reviewed every year. The question of enforcement of guidelines will be considered by USC next year.
4. The goal of providing contextual help in searching has been accomplished. Widgets have been added to Ebsco and Pro Quest databases and are being used.
5. The Core Responsibilities report has been completed and sent to Cabinet.
6. Further development of the mobile Web site has been put on hold because of the Libraries Web site redesign and integration with UMDNJ libraries.
7. The Libraries Web site redesign has been completed and changes were made based on USC feedback.
8. The selection of a Web scale discovery product is in process and feedback will be sought from USC. The July 25 USC meeting will focus on this topic.
9. The READ working group has been created and met once.

M. Just reported on the South x Southwest conference in March, where she attended the emerging technologies section. Highlights included a presentation by Stephen Wolfram, founder of the Wolfram Alpha Data Search Engine, a natural language search interface. Wolfram is developing a data repository using a commercial model, which may have implications for academic data repositories. Also relevant to libraries were sessions about privacy and personal data and the implications of the use of facial recognition software. Google's Head of Search reported on developments in the mobile search environment, including the use of contextual searching; Google Now, a new search engine for android devices; and Google Glass, a wearable computer with an optical head-mounted display.

Awards for breakout technologies included the Leap Motion Controller, a small, touch-free, inexpensive, gesture-based device that can be used with various operating systems. This technology may be helpful for disabled patrons; it was suggested that one be purchased for experimentation purposes. Discussion followed of another noteworthy trend, 3-D printers and scanners, which could be used for replicating special collections items. The Speaker of the Event was Newark Mayor Corey Booker who spoke about the role of emerging technology in government. M. Just concluded that a major topic of the conference was work-life balance. Speaker Anne-Marie Slaughter of Princeton University noted that work-life balance is not only a women's issue and advocated a culture of compassion for everyone. The issue has implications for library patrons-for example in decisions about library hours--as well as for library faculty and staff.

J. Abraham reported on the need to make faculty members and students aware that they are using Rutgers-provided resources. He showed examples of banners that could be easily made to appear on Rutgers-provided databases. The Council supported the use of such a banner, although noted that implementation will be delayed by the introduction of the new Web site and Web scale discovery system. The banner will be proposed to the Web Board after the website release.

G. Agnew gave the Integrated Information Systems report. Everyone has been very busy with the integration with UMDNJ. A prototype of a portal in the library catalog for the Health Sciences Libraries has been created. The team is working on making all databases accessible to everyone by January 2014. Certain clinical databases will be available only to UMDNJ in the interim. The team is working on an error message that will appear when an attempt is made to access these databases. It was suggested that a note be added that individual articles can be ordered and delivered rapidly. G. Agnew reported that the e-learning discussion has been completed and thanked everyone who attended. The results will be written up and presented to both councils. A model e-learning pedagogy will be developed, possibly based on the Protein Data Bank.

In response to a question about the digitization of New Jersey newspapers, it was decided to revisit the possibility of applying for funding through the National Digital Newspaper Program.

M. Just reported on Research and Instructional Services. As regards integration, the services team is compiling a Frequently Asked Questions document. The new Web site will be launched on June 26. Many issues throughout the university remain to be resolved before July 1. Two new positions in New Brunswick Libraries, a digital humanities librarian and an undergraduate experience librarian, have been posted and search committees are being formed. The Mabel Smith Douglass Library is redesigning the circulation and reference service points.

In response to a question about support for citation management software, it was agreed that USC will look at this issue next year.

F. Perrone announced that Bonita Grant, New Jersey Bibliographer at Special Collections and University Archives has retired and that she and Ronald Becker will be covering Bonita's responsibilities until the position is filled. The New Jersey Room will be closed for a few weeks in July for the installation of new carpet and painting. Exact dates will be forthcoming.

K. Anderson will begin a six-month sabbatical on July 1. Rebecca Gardner will fill in as General Reference representative on the Council. R. Tipton will be seeking a new co-chair.

The next meeting will be held June 27.