New Jersey Academic Librarian

How Can NJLA Serve the Needs of Academic Librarians?

2011-10-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

Would you like to share an idea or a comment on how NJLA can better serve the needs of academic Librarians? We’d like to hear from you.

Send an e-mail to Gary Schmidt, the NJLA College and University Section Representative to the NJLA Executive Board, at gschmidt [at] ocean [dot] edu. Your feedback will be used to structure further inquiry and help strengthen our relationship.

Apple's iPad set to rock e-reader biz, says survey

2010-03-05T14:10:00.000-08:00

What's in store? Kindle, Nook, Reader, watch out?

Is This the Future of Textbooks? Electronic E-Textbooks on Tablet PCs | AceOnlineSchools.com - Online Education

2010-02-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

Is This the Future of Textbooks? Electronic E-Textbooks on Tablet PCs | AceOnlineSchools.com - Online Education

Is your library mobile ready?

2009-03-24T05:58:00.000-07:00

Think about implementing low-cost or even no-cost solutions to support users of smart mobile devices such as the iPhone, Blackberry, and others. Possible applications include text or instant messaging, alternative web sites that can be easily read by smart mobile devices, a mobile friendly OPAC or online catalog. and mobile-friendly Web sites as reference resources.

Articles:

NJ Multimedia Firm Releases New Metasearch Tool

2008-08-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

NJ Multimedia Firm Releases New Metasearch Tool [http://www.gnosisarts.com/m0rpheme.html]: m0rpheme is a metasearch tool conceived by the developers of Gnosis Arts Multimedia Communications LLC. The tool enables you to compare searches across four different search engines [Gnostix Navigator, hakia, Gnostikon, Dogpile] for more comprehensive search results.

The Gnostikon finds .edu and .gov domains, based on keyword. A superb research tool when you want information from only the most reliable sources.

Search hakia, the semantic search engine. One of the first of its kind, hakia has many features of comprehensive, relevant semantic search, including images, a "who else has searched for this term" feature. and a "recommended most relevant site" feature.

Try Dogpile, a metasearch engine created by the developers at InfoSpace.Com. Dogile delivers results from several of the major search engines for more comprehensive search results.

The Gnostix Navigator delivers search results from the nation's top academic libraries. It is a custom-built mini search engine - called a search roll. College and university databases frequently contain more reliable and contain more thorough, rigorous information.

[Source: m0rpheme: opiate of the masterminds]

Serials Solutions to Offer ebrary Titles Through KnowledgeWorks

2008-08-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

Today, ebrary(R), a leading provider of e-content services and technology, has announced that it has become the first e-book provider to become Serials Solutions KnowledgeWorks Certified. As a KnowledgeWorks Certified content provider, ebrary will provide more flexible ways for customers to find and access titles in their subscription e-book databases through Serials Solutions e-resource access and management services. Serials Solutions and ebrary's mutual customers may now access their subscription content directly through Serials Solutions KnowledgeWorks, the most comprehensive and authoritative knowledgebase of content for the library market. Read more here...

College P2P: A Hard Lesson

2008-08-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

A new bill threatens to crack down on P2P downloading at colleges, but administrators say that Congress is misguided. Read more...

College Opportunity and Affordability Act

VALENJ: From Open Stacks to Open Source

2008-03-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

VALENJ: From Open Stacks to Open Source - Discussion of the Virtual Academic Library Environment (VALE) Open Source ILS initiative.

State tech Web site in danger of closure

2008-01-31T08:47:00.000-08:00

State tech Web site in danger of closure: Librarian asks $1 million from Legislature

A free, state-funded Web site popular with fledgling biotechno logy companies, small business entrepreneurs, scholars, students and medical professionals will go off-line Feb. 29 unless the Legislature and Gov. Jon Corzine come up with $1 million to keep it going.

That was the warning from State Librarian Norma Blake, who described the New Jersey Knowledge Initiative as the only state- fund site of its kind in the nation. It is provided free for use by anyone at 50 New Jersey college libraries.

To read the entire article, click here!

State tech Web site in danger of closure: Librarian asks $1 million from Legislature
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
BY TOM HESTERStar-Ledger Staff
[http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1201671443279680.xml&coll=1]

Library to receive grant for software upgrade

2008-01-26T08:15:00.000-08:00

The College of New Jersey was awarded a grant to possibly begin updating the library's system software. On Sept. 25 the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent agency of the federal government, announced the College would receive a $24,417 grant in order to investigate the development of an open source Integrated Library System (ILS). Read the entire article here.

The Signal. Student Newspaper of The College of New Jersey. Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: News

Carnegie Mellon Libraries: Digital Library Colloquium

2008-01-23T07:52:00.000-08:00

Carnegie Mellon University is well-known for their excellent School of Information Sciences and since 2001 they have sponsored the Digital Library Colloquium lecture series. This site allows users to view the various lectures in their entirety and learn more about the participants through short biographical sketches. The subjects covered run the gamut from digital library initiatives to the intriguing subject of creative commons and machine-readable law. Visitors can browse through the lectures by year, and they will most likely find something that piques their own interest in the field of information science. It's an ambitious effort, and one that will be enjoyed by persons in the field and those who might be thinking about joining the field in the future. >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2007. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Symposium on the Future of the Integrated Library System

2007-11-06T08:48:00.000-08:00

Symposium on the Future of the Integrated Library System - was a very successful event and broke expected attendance numbers undoubtedly due to the timeliness of the content. Those who were unable to attend now have a second chance to hear the presentations due to Lincoln Trail Libraries System having recorded the sessions and having now placed the podcasts on a website for access by all: http://lincolntrail.typepad.com/ilssymposium/ Included are presentations by: Carl Grant, President of CARE Affiliateson the ILSmarketplace, from a vendor perspective and a second presentation on OpenSource Software as well as presentations by Karen Schneider, author of Free Range Librarian, Rob McGee, President of RMG Consultants, Chip Nilges, OCLC and several others. "I thoroughly enjoyed this Symposium and believe there was valuable content for all librarians." said Carl Grant, President of CARE Affiliates, "I know I've talked to many people who said they wished they could have attended and I think it is to be commended that they now have the chance to virtually attend those presentations through the excellent work of the Lincoln Trail Libraries System."

Tags Help Make Libraries Del.icio.us

2007-10-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

Social bookmarking and tagging boost participation
By Melissa L. Rethlefsen -- Library Journal, 9/15/2007

Traditional library web products, whether online public access catalogs, library databases, or even library web sites, have long been rigidly controlled and difficult to use. Patrons regularly prefer Google's simple interface. Now social bookmarking and tagging tools help librarians bridge the gap between the library's need to offer authoritative, well-organized information and their patrons' web experience.

A very interesting and thought provoking article. Read the entire article here: Tags Help Make Libraries Del.icio.us

Teaching Portfolios for Librarians

2007-10-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

This Friday, October 19, is the deadline to register for the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) online seminar, "Teaching Portfolios for Librarians," to be offered October 29-November 16, 2007.

Teaching Portfolios for Librarians will introduce the concept and structure of teaching portfolios, which are dynamic works of selected documentation and commentary that demonstrate teaching performance. This course will lead participants in activities designed to help them compose a teaching philosophy, write a portfolio narrative, and outline a plan for supporting documentation. Participants will have the opportunity to examine the mentoring process and identify strategies for successful mentoring and explore the value and use of the teaching portfolio in academic librarianship for self-improvement and tenure/promotion.

More info (including registration) is available here: http://www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/acrlproftools/portfolios.cfm

Storage: From Highway Robbery to Runaway Bargain

2007-10-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

Interesting item from PC Magazine (2 October 2007 pg. 21) - "Back in 1956, Don Larson pitched the only World Series perfect game, Elvis broke into the music charts with "heart-break Hotel", and a 5MB IBM hard drive cost $50,000. The price of digital storage has plummeted: Now you can have a terabyte for less than $200. If car prices had followed the same curve, you could buy an SUV with pocket change."

Implications of this have been obvious to the library world - Google Book Search is possible (along with Flickr, etc.) because storage costs are a small fraction of what they once were.

Article here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2184654,00.asp

Watch Out for Online Ads That Watch You

2007-10-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

Online ads are not only booming--and scrolling, spinning, shaking, shouting, and singing--they are also watching you even as you are viewing them, capturing your click patterns to create more detailed profiles than traditional browser cookies do.

Behavioral marketing networks such as BlueLithium, Revenue Science, and Tacoda display ads based on your browsing habits. Spending on these behavioral ads will grow from $1.5 billion in 2007 to more than $2 billion next year, according to eMarketer, a market research firm. And the company expects video ads to account for more than a third of that total.

This could be a topic for an information literacy session...

[Information in this post has been taken driectly from an article in PC World, Watch Out for Online Ads That Watch You: New Web ads respond to your activities--and this has privacy advocates worried, written by Dan Tynan, March 2007, p. 26 - Available online: Watch Out for Online Ads That Watch You

MILEY CYRUS is pregnant!

2007-10-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

It is not as if we librarians need another reason to illustrate to students the pitfalls of the Internet, but what the heck, here is another one anyway!

It seems that someone altered an article from J14 magazine, changing the text to read that "Hannah Montana" star Miley Cyrus is pregnant. Needless to say, publicist and J14 deny the rumor. Before the denial however, the damage was done and the rumor was all over the Internet and Blogosphere. As I always point out to students, don't believe anything you see on the Web unless it is from a verifiable, reliable source.

Before passing on something contained in an email, http://www.snopes.com/snopes.asp is a great place to check to dispel the urban legend hoax.

Google Books: Collect, share, and discover books

2007-09-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

By this time and I am sure than most, if not all, of you are familiar with Google Book Search (GBS). Putting aside temporarily the intellectual property issues that have been raised by many, I would like to bring you up to date on a new feature of GBS. As of 6 September 2007, some new features have been that go beyond search so you can collect, share, and discover new books.

In effect, GBS now allows you to create your own online library of books, and then share your collection with others. For example, an academic library or professor might create a library of nursing books available online. For example, I have created a short list or library of books related to the history of nursing. Click this link to see my example. Keep in mind that many of the full view digitized book available in GBS are non-copyrighted because they have aged out. That means they are no longer covered by copyright law. Even though this may be the case, the books may still be valuable for research purposes.

Google has also launched a way to let users select copy and embed segments of public domain books (like the Newton quote) in any web page.
The addition of these features makes GBS a more robust and useful product. The information contained in this post is taken from Collect, share, and discover books Posted by Adam Mathes, Product Manager 9/06/2007 06:33:00 AM http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/collect-share-and-discover-books.html

A few other helpful links:

Create and search your own library on Google Book Search

About Google Book Search

Steal this book? Don't bother

2007-07-31T06:46:00.000-07:00

When it comes to outsmarting the content establishment, your library may be your best accomplice.

Libraries are offering more free search services, database access, articles, photos, eBooks, audiobooks, music and museum passes than ever. Chances are you are buying, subscribing to, or stealing something you can get for free with a library card.

While general search engines may seem more convenient, pointed search tools can provide more reliable information more quickly than repeated searches in which the user tries out different terms. According to Gary Price, founder and editor of the ResourceShelf blog and director of online resources at Ask.com, casting that wide Web net can pick up spam and unreliable information presenting itself as an authority. It may also be burying or missing good information.

For example, do you call it soda or pop? The soft drink industry or the beverage industry? Databases have a structure to take care of that problem. Many have a controlled vocabulary of terms that a human indexer assigns to each article, said Price.

While indexes of articles from both general publications and academic journals can be found on the Internet, users are often brought to an abstract summary of the article including publication info, but not the full text. The majority of library databases offer full texts of articles, so when you do find what you are looking for, you can immediately have access to all of it.

Searching in an academic realm has also become more user friendly. You no longer have to bother with Boolean search terms or complicated retrieval options. Database search methods have been replaced with easy point and click filtering in addition to the usual time frame option. Results offer links.

All of the information in this post is taken directly from an article written by Candace Lombardi, CNET News.com dated 23 July 2007. The entire article is available by clicking on this link.

The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln

2007-07-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

I just want to take a minute to share this electronic resource with you. As a librarian, I am always on the look out for excellent quality resources to share with students and faculty. This is indeed a superlative effort:

The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/] - In 1953, the Abraham Lincoln Association published The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, a multi-volume set of Lincoln's correspondence, speeches, and other writings. Roy P. Basler and his editorial staff, with the continued support of the association, spent five years transcribing and annotating Lincoln's papers. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln represented the first major scholarly effort to collect and publish the complete writings of Abraham Lincoln, and the edition has remained an invaluable resource to Lincoln scholars. Through the efforts of the Abraham Lincoln Association, the edition is now available in electronic form.

The Collection may be searched by simple words or phrases, Boolean searches, proximity searches, and word index to find the occurence of unique words.

The information in this post is provided by the hosting website of The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln.

Consensus: Podcasting Has No 'Inherent' Pedagogic Value

2007-07-12T13:03:00.000-07:00

Consensus: Podcasting Has No 'Inherent' Pedagogic Value - A bevy of recent studies on students' experience listening to recorded lectures via podcasts confirms what many lecturers already know: that the pedagogical value of podcasts depends almost entirely on student motivation and the learning "context" of the application.

In a comprehensive survey of the latest academic studies on the impact of podcasting on learning and teaching, Ashley Deal, a researcher in the Office of Technology for Education & the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence at Carnegie Mellon University, found that podcasting follows the pattern of many campus technology innovations."As with any educational technology, whether and how podcasting impacts the quality of the learning experience and/or educational outcomes depends largely upon how the technology is put to use," Deal wrote.

So, does podcasting enhance education? "The answer to that question depends entirely on the educational context, including goals and appropriate learning activities, and on how the tool is implemented," said Deal."Podcasting does not contain any inherent value. It is only valuable inasmuch as it helps the instructor and students reach their educational goals, by facilitating thoughtful, engaging learning activities that are designed to work in support of those goals."

Citation: Paul McCloskey, "Consensus: Podcasting Has No 'Inherent' Pedagogic Value," Campus Technology, 7/9/2007, http://www.campustechnology.com/article.aspx?aid=49018

A Provost and Librarian Walk Into a Meeting...

2007-06-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Chief Academic Officer (who isn’t my own):

I’m the head college librarian. I’ve been here for years, even outlasted several provosts. Just got in good with the last one — then she left. Now, a new person is on his way and I don’t want to lose any ground. Should I meet with him right away, and what should I say? Please help.

Speaker after speaker in the audience posed variations on that scenario Monday at a session of the American Library Association’s annual conference that was part roundtable, part “Ask Amy.” During “The Art of Persuasion: Strategies for Effective Communication with Chief Academic Officers,” organized by the Association of College and Research Libraries, the provosts and vice presidents for academic affairs on the panel shared a list of their do’s and don’ts when approaching new college officials in their positions.

To read the entire article, and the do's and don'ts, click here.

The information in this post was taken directly from an article written by Elia Powers in inside highered.com dated 26 June 2007.

When ‘Digital Natives’ Go to the Library

2007-06-25T05:59:00.000-07:00

College and university librarians got some unconventional advice Saturday: Play more video games.

At a packed session for academic librarians attending the annual meeting of the American Library Association, in Washington, the topic was how to help students who have learned many of their information gathering and analysis skills from video games apply that knowledge in the library. Speakers said that gaming skills are in many ways representative of a broader cultural divide between today’s college students and the librarians who hope to teach them.

George M. Needham, vice president for member services of the Online Computer Library Center, stressed that he was not suggesting that college libraries “tear up the stacks to put in arcades,” but that they rethink many assumptions.

“The librarian as information priest is as dead as Elvis,” Needham said.

Fortunately, Needham offered thoughtful suggestions on how librarians can meet digital natives on their turf. You can read these, and the entire article (from which all of the information in this post was taken) by clicking...here (Inside Higher Ed, 25 June 2007, written by Scott Jaschik

Proposal to Reduce NJKI Funding

2007-06-20T11:41:00.000-07:00

In all likelihood, funding for The New Jersey Knowledge Initiative will be reduced from $3M to $2M for fiscal year 2007-2008. Voting on the budget is scheduled for 21 June. If funding is reduced, it is obvious that the number of databases available to businesses and residents of New Jersey will also be reduced. If information is indeed power, a diminished number of high-quality information resources available to our many small business entrepreneurs, university and college students, pharmaceuticals, and others can only lessen New Jersey's appeal to future residents and businesses.

Read the resolution to reduce funding here (PDF)

The New Jersey Knowledge Initiative Website

Find your New Jersey legislator here

In rare turnabout, student accuses teacher of plagiarism

2007-06-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

This story reads like a soap opera.

Passing off someone's work as your own is a cardinal sin in college research. Students can be expelled. Professional reputations can be wrecked. While student plagiarism grabs headlines, allegations against teachers happen more than people realize, experts say. Because students rarely fight back, most accusations fade in the grumbling over beers after class.
This time, though, the student is suing.

Scheduled for trial this summer in Anoka County (MN), Mary Swenson's lawsuit against Sharon Bender may offer an unvarnished look at who controls ideas in the give-and-take of college research. It also may open a window on the complex ties between teachers and students who need a mentor's help and influence - and who understand they are unlikely to get the benefit of the doubt.

Swenson, 46, didn't expect confrontation in 2000 when she signed up at Capella, a for-profit, online university based in Minneapolis. Already a consultant based in Ham Lake, she liked the flexible scheduling she could have online. Capella offered a doctoral program in organizational psychology; the school said it was seeking accreditation from the American Psychological Association. It all seemed to fit nicely. (Capella has not received the accreditation.)

All the information in this post is taken directly from an article by Paul Tosto at TwinCities.com dated 18 June 2007. Read the entire article by clicking here.

The End of Books as We Know Them?

2007-06-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Bill Gates recent prediction that all reading will soon be done online gives us plenty of food for thought.

"Reading is going to go completely online. We believe that as we get the smaller form factor, the screen has gotten good enough. Why is reading online better? It's up to date, you can navigate, you can follow links." stated Gates at Microsoft's Strategic Account Summit in Seattle.

Yet to be perfected is the device that will bring all this knowledge to our fingertips. According to futurist Ray Kurzweil, one the best devices currently on the market is the Sony Reader. For more on ebook readers see the article, E-books, has your time come? from C/Net News.

Wanted: Savvy Grads in Math and Science

2007-06-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

As this year’s college and university graduates head into the work force, New Jersey’s pharmaceutical and medical technology companies continue to be a leading source of jobs, offering excellent pay and benefits and promising career opportunities. The industry employs 60,000 workers statewide and modest growth is expected in all job categories for 2007-2010. The question is, will New Jersey’s graduates have the right educational preparation, especially in math and the sciences, to compete for jobs in this important sector?

A new report issued by the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ) warns that there may not be enough qualified workers to fill projected job openings during the next several years.

Five of the six high-demand occupations identified in the report, titled “The Workforce Needs of New Jersey’s Pharmaceutical and Medical Technology Industry,” require a solid grounding in both math and science. However, relatively low numbers of New Jersey college graduates earn bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry, chemistry, animal science and marketing.

Gov. Jon Corzine’s administration and HINJ member companies are committed to developing a far-reaching work force development strategy to address these concerns. The New Jersey Commission on Higher Education is also supporting an Innovation Partnership Institute in the Life Sciences, housed at Rutgers University, whose purpose is to increase the number of graduates in critical fields of study.

The information contained in this post is taken directly from an article at NJBIZ.com dated 11 June 2007. The entire can be found here.

As stays in college get longer, costs grow

2007-06-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

Only one in three college students in America gets a bachelor's degree in four years. In fact, the federal government uses a six-year rate to measure graduation success, but still only 56 percent ever graduate from the college they entered as freshmen.

"We need to ask ourselves: Why has six years become the norm?" said Danette Gerald of the Education Trust, a Washington, D.C. think tank. "We have a good deal of success in getting students into college, but not in getting them out."

Overall, New Jersey's state colleges have rates that are closely aligned with how selective they are in the first place. The College of New Jersey in Ewing Township, the most selective, has a four-year graduation rate of 66.2 percent, while New Jersey City University, one of the least selective, has a four-year rate of just 7 percent.

The state's private schools also have rates that closely reflect how selective they are. Princeton University, one of the most selective in the country, tops the list in New Jersey with a four-year graduation rate of 89 percent and a six-year rate of 96.4 percent. Bloomfield College has the lowest four-year rate of 5.5 percent and a six-year rate of 33.5 percent.

All of the information in this post has been taken directly from an article in NorthJersey.com dated 27 May 2007. The entire article is available here. The article includes some tips on graduating in four years.

Stanley Measure Creating Task Force on School-University Partnerships Released

2007-06-07T07:07:00.000-07:00

The Assembly Education Committee today released legislation Assemblyman Craig Stanley sponsored to establish a task force to study and promote best practices for school-university partnerships that seek to improve the education of public school students in low-income communities.

"In some urban neighborhoods, partnerships among universities and local public schools are bridging gaps for young students," said Stanley (D-Essex), who chairs the education panel. "Whether they provide after-school, tutoring, or mentoring programs, these partnerships need to effectively meet the needs of the community."

"Some of the country's finest institutions of higher education sit within a stone's throw of some of New Jersey's neediest schools," Stanley continued. "The resources and people available at our colleges and universities must be utilized to effect real, positive changes in our elementary schools students."

The bill (A-2082) was released by a vote of 10-0. It now goes to the Assembly Speaker, who decides if and when to post it for a floor vote.

The information in this post was taken directly from PoliticsNJ.com dated 21 May 2007. The entire article is available here.

Presidential Candidates' Positions on Higher Education

2007-05-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

Let me begin by offering this disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the John Edwards for President Campaign nor do I endorse Edwards for President. I am putting this upfront because over the next few months I would like to explore the positions of the major candidates for president regarding higher education. The issue of education is of the utmost importance for the United States in the 21st century.

Wehave seen that many of the things that candidates say before they are elected is often disconnected from what actually happens after they are elected. However, we can use their public position statements as indicators to what may happen in the future.

As part of the 2008 campaign, John Edwards has announced his College Opportunity Agenda. Details about the agenda can be found on Edwards's website. I would just like to take a second to summarize.

Edwards hopes to make college more affordable for everyone. His "College for Everyone" initiative would pay for one year of college tuition, fees, and books for any student who is willing to work hard and stay out of trouble. The initiative is based on the College for Everyone initiative in Greene County, North Carolina. Edwards first discussed the idea in his 2004 campaign. Edwards is also proposed a number of other initiatives to help students prepare for college. These include: simplifying the application process for student aid, and the assigning of counselors to help students choose the correct track further college experience; and, require all students to borrow directly from the Department of Education, which would eliminate bank subsidies on student loans and free up almost $6 billion a year to make college more affordable.

"The chance to go to college meant everything in my life, and I want every young person to have the same chance," said Edwards. "Unfortunately, for too many families, this chance is out of reach. College for Everyone will open the door to a higher education for millions of young people, so they have the opportunity to realize the American Dream. Every young person who is willing to work hard should have the chance to get an education and get ahead."

Details about the plan are available as a fact sheet on Edwards's website.

Additional items:

College for Everyone in the USA (News & Observer, NC)
Higher Ed and 2008 (Inside Higher Ed)

New Information Literacy E-jourmal

2007-05-10T06:28:00.000-07:00

The peer reviewed journal, Communications in Information Literacy or CIL, made its online debut earlier this week. Featured in the first issue, is an article coauthored by TCNJ librarian, Jacqui Weetman DaCosta. Developing students’ information and research skills via Blackboard is available in full text at: http://tinyurl.com/2cc6bh.

Congratulations Jacqui!

Copyright Clashes on Campus

2007-05-09T06:35:00.000-07:00

Just as I often find many articles relevant to the library profession in Wired magazine, I also make sure to read a current copy of Information Today. Both of these publications always have something in them that is educating, entertaining, and interesting.

In a short article in the May 2007 issus of Information Today, K. Matthew Danes recaps and summarizes some of the current battles concerning copyright on college and university campuses. Of concern to many librarians, Danes reports that the issue of electronic reserves has developed into a contentious one.

As many other types of digital media have made there way into e-reserves, including video and audio, the boundaries of so-called "fair use" have blurred. As institutions have grappled with this issue, a watchdog group, the Association of American Publishers has taken exception to some e-reserve systems, including the University of California-San Diego and Cornell. The AAP claimed the systems infringed copyright.

As libraries struggle with preserving and archiving many different formats of information, and also providing access, the concerns about copyright are not about to disappear. The issue of copyright infringement will continue to be a challenge.

The information contained in this blog post can be found in "Copyright Clashes on Campus," Technology Today, May 2007, 24(5), 19-20.

Additional resources:

Association of American Publishers Copyright
Association of American Publishers Copyright Resources
Copyright Clearance Center

NJ Student Loan Scandal

2007-05-08T07:45:00.000-07:00

The New Jersey attorney general said on Friday he issued civil subpoenas to 61 colleges, 17 student loan firms and a state authority seeking information on potential misconduct in the student loan market, a target of widening investigations nationwide.

Social Networking for Academic Libraries

2007-05-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

Interested in using Facebook or Myspace to engage your campus community? Check out the latest in web2 applications on Friends: Social Networking Sites for Engaged Library Services, a new blog from ISU's Science and Technology Librarian Gerry McKiernan.

Viewpoint: The knowledge gap narrows

2007-04-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

A 200-year-old American publisher is completing the circle of knowledge. Peter Booth Wiley, chairman of John Wiley & Sons in Hoboken, New Jersey, has academics in India developing a new series of customized, electronic books that may one day become remedial text in U.S. universities.

India today represents Wiley's fastest-growing market, expanding at an annual 25 percent pace. That compares with a two-year average growth rate of 4 percent in Wiley's U.S. sales, Bloomberg data found. India is also emerging as a key center for developing educational content.

Wiley's new series of textbooks will be delivered electronically - as PDF files. They will be tested initially at second-rung engineering universities in India before being taken to China. If the experiment succeeds, the U.S. market may be the next destination, Wiley said.

Read the entire article (International Herald Tribune/Marketplace by Bloomburg)

Web 2.0: Which will be the next killer site?

2007-04-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

Web 2.0

There seems to be little doubt at this point that participation websites are the biggest Web thing going right now. Google's purchase of YouTube for over $1B has certainly put the betting money on so-called user generated content sites.

In what direction is all of this taking us and who will be the next big Web 2.0 players? Hitwise is an online competitive intelligence service that provides daily insights on how 25 million people interact with over 900,000 websites in 160+ industries. Their research indicates that early adopters of the now legendary websites Wikipedia, Flickr and YouTube are now using six websites that may be the next big thing.

Using demographic categories such as Money and Brains, Young Digerati and Bohemian Mix, in their analysis, Hitwise identified the following six websites that these categories are drawn to: Yelp, StumbleUpon, Veoh, WeeWorld, Imeem and Piczo.

Yelp describes itself as the fun and easy way to find, review and talk about what's great (and not so great) in your world. People know that asking friends is the best way to find restaurants, dentists, hairstylists, and anything local. Yelp makes this fast and easy by collecting and organizing friends' recommendations in one convenient place. As of this time, it appears that the site is limited to major metropolitan areas.

StumbleUpon describes itself as a sharing and recommendation site. StumbleUpon uses ratings to form collaborative opinions on website quality. When you stumble, you will only see pages which friends and like-minded stumblers have recommended. This helps you discover great content you probably wouldn't find using a search engine. Some stumblers have favorite library pages.

Veoh is another video sharing site. Veoh is a suite of applications for collecting, publishing, and watching a vast selection of HD-quality video programming. Veoh is a diverse, virtual community of indie publishers coming together with their new audiences. Veoh.com and the Veoh Player software (installed on PCs or Macs) combine as a virtual television network that organizes, showcases, and delivers clear, full-screen video programming to anyone with a broadband connection.

imeem is a self-described online community where artists, fans & friends can promote their content, share their tastes, and discover new blogs, photos, music and video.

WeeWorld and Piczo are also social networking sites. Their focus is on a younger teenage audience so I will not describe them here.

As I looked at four sites, I tried to imagine their value for academic librarians. StumbleUpon seems the most likely site that an academic librarian could use. Numerous sites can be tagged and recommended by a member and then shared with students, faculty and colleagues. I will give it a try and share my experience with you in the future.

Related article: YouTube, Flickr & Wikipedia killers revealed (PC Advisor, 18 April 2007)

Get an A in Customer Service at ACCC

2007-04-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

Press of Atlantic City, April 16, 2007 - Atlantic Cape Community College, in conjunction with the National Retail Foundation, recently opened its Institute for Service Excellence at the Hamilton Mall, Mays Landing.

ISE students receive comprehensive training in everything from business math to interpersonal communications. NRF certification is awarded upon program completion.

Read more about the ISE here.

Library 2.0 An Academic's Perspective

2007-04-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

Library 2.0 An Academic's Perspective is a blog maintained by Laura B. Cohen, Web Support Librarian, University at Albany, SUNY. This blog is an exploration of Library 2.0 from the perspective of academic librarianship. L2 presents academic librarians with - you guessed it - challenges and opportunities, and this blog shares ruminations, speculations, news, proposals, and anything else that's relevant to blogging about this topic. [Description provided from L2 blog: http://liblogs.albany.edu/library20/about.html] You may want to RSS or Atom Feed Laura's blog. As we all know, it is difficult to keep up with the constantly and rapidly changing information environment. L2 does a great job of addressing many issues of interest to librarians, including Wikis, social networking, podcasts and multimedia, and research tools. Unlike many other blogs I come across, content is updated regularly. The last entry, dated 12 April, is a discussion of Web 3.0. Yikes! I am just getting my brain around Web 2.0!

Economics 101: Hire part-timers

2007-04-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

Economics 101: Hire part-timers - Adjuncts in Higher Edcuation - Cash-strapped colleges and universities in New Jersey are relying more on low-paid, part-time instructors, with more than a third of classes statewide taught by adjuncts.

The staff split is even higher at some community colleges, where as many as 50 percent of teachers are part-time lecturers.

Read the entire article (NorthJersey.com) here.

Related resource: Paul D Umbach (2007). How Effective Are They? Exploring the Impact of Contingent Faculty on Undergraduate Education. Review of Higher Education, 30(2), 91-118.

The Show Must Go On! - Despite State Budget Cuts

2007-04-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

Friday, April 6, 2007, Herald News - The Pioneer Players of William Paterson University will present the musical, Seussical beginning April 12, despite recent state budget cuts which meant reductions in theatre staff and programming.

"It took away the most important thing in college for all of us," said communications major, Andrea Corbo. "We decided as students to take everything in our hands."

When an 800 signature petition and a round of meetings with administration proved unsuccessful, the Pioneer Players presented the Student Government Association with a business plan requesting a $30,000. The funds were approved making it "the biggest payout in SGA history."

For more on the remarkable Pioneer Players, read the full story here.

Contact the Pioneer Players at 973-720-2524 or at pioneer.players@gmail.com
Show information: http://www.ymha-nj.org/special_events.htm#seussical

Hold on a second and let me look up the meaning of the word...

2007-03-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

This usually meant going to a print dictionary and looking up the various meanings of a word, and perhaps even the etymology. In these Google days the meaning of a word is right at our fingertips. That does not mean there are not a large number of folks who still prefer to haul out the Webster's and look up the word. How many different kinds and types of dictionaries can there be? The Library of Congress catalog lists thousands. To truly get a feel for the dictionary, consider visiting a new exhibition at Rutgers Archibald S. Alexander Library at 169 College Avenue in New Brunswick (NJ): Everything from A to Z: The Edward J. Bloustein Dictionary Collection.

Edward J. Bloustein, Rutgers' seventeenth president, was an avid and informed collector of dictionaries. While focusing on general English-language dictionaries, he also collected more specialized works such as compendia of slang, originally published to help understand the speech of criminals; dictionaries of biography; and dictionaries of synonyms, the ancestors of today's thesauri. In 2004, his daughters Elise and Lori Bloustein donated his collection to the Rutgers University Libraries. The collection includes over 170 titles, dating from Thomas Cooper's Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae (1573) to the controversial Webster's Third International (1961).

To learn more about the exhibition, running through 21 June 2007, click here.

Budgets & Dollars Have Huge Impact on Libraries

2007-03-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

A Hostile Environment for Documents: Why is the EPA's library being decimated? This article explores the tremendous negative impact of cutting $2 million of the $2.5 million budget for EPA libraries.

The EPA shutdowns depleted reference materials that might be indispensable in an emergency. In the EPA's library, for example, are at least 50,000 one-of-a-kind primary source documents.

The article is written by Glenn McGee, director of the Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College, where he holds the John A. Balint Endowed Chair in Medical Ethics.

Click here to read the entire article (The Scientist, Magazine of the Life Sciences)

Related link: Environmental Protection Agency EPA Libraries & Repositories

Rutgers creates smaller seminars on 'hot topics' for its undergrads

2007-03-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

Freshmen at large research universities are notoriously left to flounder in colossal lecture halls, far from faculty stars.

As part of a sweeping effort to treat undergraduates better, Rutgers University will institute specialized, small seminars on everything from computer gaming to global warming.

The seminars are a central part of the university's transformation of undergraduate colleges in New Brunswick and designed to acquaint first-year and transfer students with cutting-edge research, interdisciplinary study and senior faculty.

Click here to read the entire story (Newark Star-Ledger)

Funding for Higher Education on the Rise, Except for NJ

2007-03-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

Inside Higher Ed, 3/08/2007 - Despite the gloomy predictions of last year, support for higher education appears to be on the rebound. At least, that's what a newly released study from State Higher Education Executive Officers claims. Nationally, support for FTE students has increased to $6,325, in fiscal year 2006. That equates to a 5.1% increase in aid over 2005. Unfortunately, New Jersey is one of the seventeen states that experienced a five-year decrease in appropriations per FTE student. Read the full story here.

Rutgers forms center for study of gambling

2007-03-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

As college basketball fans prepare to immerse themselves in March Madness, Rutgers University today announced the creation of a new Center for Gambling Studies, which will delve into everything from sports betting to Internet poker to gambling's social and legal effects. (Star-Ledger, NJ)

Lia Nower, a nationally-known scholar on gambling and director of the new center, said the research is important because legalized gambling is a huge economic engine in New Jersey and both legal and illegal gambling are growth industries.

Related article:

Rutgers’ School of Social Work establishes Center for Gambling Studies (Focus, The Faculty & Staff Publication of Rutgers)

Information Commons Resources

2007-02-28T06:03:00.000-08:00

Thinking about renovations to your library? Looking for resources on the latest hot architectural concept for academic libraries? Jennifer Macaulay, currently a graduate student in the masters of library science program at Southern Connecticut State University, has compiled and posted ths type of info on her blog. Her really nice blog is titled Life as I Know It and reflects her thoughts as she journeys through graduate school. The resources listed include books, journal articles, and web links. It is very handy to have in one place. Thanks Jennifer!

Click here to access Jennifer's Information Commons Resources list.

Affordable college education on the horizon for students

2007-02-16T12:55:00.000-08:00

New Jersey college students are in for a huge break on their federal student loans with the recent approval by the House of Representatives of the HR-5 College Relief Act of 2007.

The bill calls for a reduction in interest rates on federal student loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent with an increase in the maximum Pell grant offer to $5,100 for low-income homes. The same bill also calls for a reduction in parent loan interest rates from 8.5 percent to 4.25 percent.

The bill was voted on by the House on January 17 and approved. It now awaits a vote and approval by the Senate. If approved, the bill would go into effect immediately and loans being taken out as of July 1 will have the new interest rates implemented.

Click here to read the entire story (The Whit Online, The Independent Student Newspaper at Rowan University)

Rutgers Dean Authors First Book on Genetics and Nursing Practice

2007-02-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 02/04/07 - Felissa R. Lashley, Rutgers College of Nursing Dean, is the proud author of "Essentials of Clinical Genetics in Nursing Practice". According to Medical News Today, this is the first book of its kind to be published within the field of nursing education.

"To provide the best nursing care it is essential that practitioners and students have a basic knowledge of genetics and how it affects the major areas of nursing practice," stated Lashley. "Genetic factors can cause disease or affect an individual's susceptibility and resistance to disease and even treatment."

Lashley is the author of over 300 publications and the recipient of several awards including the Nurse Researcher Award from the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care which she received in 2000.

Read the full article here

Monmouth University to Host Annual Diversity Conference

2007-02-02T16:30:00.000-08:00

Monmouth University will host the Annual Statewide Diversity Issues in Higher Education Conference of the American Conference on Diversity on Friday, March 2, 2007. The keynote speaker will be Major General Joseph A. McNeil, one of the original North Carolina A & T students responsible for the student sit-in movement in the 1960s. His actions became the catalyst for a major social movement and challenged racial segregation in the South.

Click here to read the entire story (About Monmouth).

President Named Education Forerunner

2007-02-02T16:25:00.000-08:00

Cole Gets N.J.'s Leader in Education Award by Garden State Woman Magazine - In recognition of her work at Montclair State University, President Susan A. Cole has recently been named New Jersey's Leader in Education for 2006 by Garden State Woman magazine.

Garden State Woman, which is published bi-monthly with a readership of around 100,000, first started recognizing New Jersey's most successful women in 2005, with the first recipient being former First Lady Mary Jo Codey.

Click here to read the entire story (The Montclarion Student Newspaper).

OCC raises tuition 2.2% in $48.9 million budget

2007-01-24T18:44:00.000-08:00

Students at Ocean County College this fall will pay an additional $2 per course credit — an additional $30 per semester for the typical full-time student — under a budget for the 2007-08 school year approved by the board of trustees Monday.

The $48.9 million operating budget does not include any increases in student fees. College administrators said the tuition increase to $90 a credit — a hike of 2.2 percent — shows a relative easing compared to recent years, when OCC was boosting its spending and contending with cuts in state aid.

Click here to read the entire story (Asbury Park Press).

New cafe feeds minds

2007-01-17T15:11:00.000-08:00

Montclair State University students have a new place to study on campus -- a "learning cafe," where students can get help from a librarian while ordering coffee.

Student Government President Angelo Lilla, 22, cut the ribbon Tuesday on "Cafe Diem," a 4,300-square-foot facility attached to the Sprague Library. The cafe -- a windowed structure with comfy chairs and long tables -- dishes up soups, sandwiches, Starbucks coffee and desserts, while providing high-speed Internet access and a place where students can unwind.

I'll have a coffee and a Camus!

To read the entire story from the North Jersey Media Group, click here.

Related stories:
Library cafe mixes learning, lattes
MSU Opens Cafe Diem Library Cafe

Four-Legged Students Study At Rowan University

2007-01-10T19:13:00.000-08:00

Higher education can always use a little more diversity, this time of the canine variety. It does sadden me though, to read that the pups-in-training "happily ignore the library on a nice day." Well, hopefully they at least know LC classification. Enjoy reading the full article from CBS3 Philadelphia by clicking here.

Winter Mini-mesters Gaining Popularity

2007-01-08T15:21:00.000-08:00

Star-Ledger, 01/07/07 - Earn three to four credits in two weeks? That's right. Winter intersessions or mini-mesters are now in demand across the state. Classes offered on campus are approximately 4 hours long and meet on a daily basis. Online classes provide working students with far greater flexibility in terms of scheduling.

"The class is demanding," claims Norma Guevara, a South Plainfield resident who is taking an online course at William Paterson University which will allow her to graduate earlier than anticipated.

Winter intersessions have come along way since the 1970's when the concept was a novel one. For an interesting retrospective read Pancakes and Plumbing, an article from the January 24, 1977 issue of Time Magazine.

Claims put urgency into merger talks

2006-12-21T07:34:00.000-08:00

As lawmakers review a bid to restructure Rutgers and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, some higher-education leaders on Tuesday counseled caution while others called for an immediate and dramatic overhaul.

Calling UMDNJ "a sinking ship," the CEO of the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals urged lawmakers to put the beleaguered institution's operations under the control of Rutgers and Seton Hall universities.

Click here to read the entire story at courierpost

The Media Age: Brought to You by the US Census Bureau.

2006-12-15T18:19:00.005-08:00

InformationWeek, Friday, 12.15.06 - Almost half our lives are spent watching television, listening to the radio and surfing the Web. At least that's how the latest Statistical Abstract has quantified our media hungry society. Yet books still rank high on the consumer scale. According to the Census Bureau, "the book will still interest many U.S. consumers, who will spend $55.5 billion on 3.17 billion books in 2007."

Another wonderful article on our lives by the numbers appears in today's New York Times.

Winter reading

2006-12-15T16:37:00.000-08:00

While the weather has not been particularly frightful (at least here in New Jersey), I am certain we will have a few days in the months ahead when the weather is too nasty to venture outdoors. What better time then, to catch up on some reading? Of course, it would be great to snuggle up with a bestseller. Alas my fellow librarians, we also need to feed, nourish and improve our professional lives.

Because of your busy schedules, you may have missed the July 2006 article by Dane Wood (Assoc. Dean for Public Services, Milner Library, Illinois State University) titled Revisioning Information Literacy for Lifelong Meaning. According to Wood, “information literacy includes information processes that explicitly address meaning, motivation and quality of life. A more robust notion of the concept delivers significant opportunities for libraries and instructional programs.”

Wood gives voice to many of the concerns librarians have expressed about information literacy. Search out a copy of this six-page article. Some of it will reinforce what many of you may already know and feel, and some of it will challenge your thinking, which is of course, a good thing.

When Should Information Not Be Free?

2006-12-13T18:11:00.000-08:00

Dan Gainor, writing for the Business and Media Institute, provides some thoughtful and provocative commentary on the Federal Research Public Access Act. The proposal, sponsored by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), would mandate “free online public access to such final peer-reviewed manuscripts or published versions as soon as practicable, but not later than 6 months after publication in peer-reviewed journals.” According to Gainor, this Act, if passed, would have far-reaching and perhaps unintended consequences.

Click here to read the entire article.

College library finds papers signed by Washington, Jefferson

2006-12-13T18:02:00.000-08:00

This is not the first time I have read a story like this. Perhaps we librarians should poke our noses into a few of the forgotten corners of our libraries.

An employee at southeastern Ohio's Marietta College has made a stunning discovery, just by looking deep into a file drawer. In a library file cabinet marked "Unidentified Deeds," Linda Showalter found two land deeds signed in 1792 by President George Washington and his secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson.

Click here to read the entire story (WKRC.com).

Qualls Named NJ Prof of the Year

2006-12-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

Barry Qualls, literature professor and vice president for undergraduate education, Rutgers, New Brunswick was recently named NJ Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

“Dr. Qualls is the single best citizen of Rutgers University, and certainly a large part of that is his teaching,” said Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick. “Barry is known for his lively classroom style and his ability to engage students in Victorian novels and prose, works that students often initially resist because of a perception that they lack relevance to their own lives.” Read the full story here

NJ families brace for possible loss of tuition deduction

2006-12-06T06:12:00.000-08:00

Kathy Marsico of Emerson NJ has $1,000 riding on whether Congress extends a tax deduction for college tuition that expired at the start of the year. That's how much she was able to lower her taxes by using the deduction for her two sons' tuition last year, and how much more she'll have to pay by April 15 if Congress does not act.

Click here to read the entire story.

Related story:
Killing tuition deduction an insult to middle class (Rochester Democrat)

New film offers eye-opening look at New Jersey’s largest city — Rutgers Focus

2006-12-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

New film offers eye-opening look at New Jersey’s largest city — Rutgers Focus - “The Once and Future Newark,” a documentary hosted by history professor Clement A. Price, premiered on NJN Public Television October 4 - The program follows Price as he tours the city with colleagues, visiting 18 historical, cultural, and, in some cases, uniquely Newark sites. These include Branch Brook Park (shown in a postcard view 1904), the Ironbound, Weequahic High School, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, New Jersey Performing Arts Center NJPAC, Essex County Courthouse, and Rutgers’ Newark campus, where Price is Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor specializing in urban history, African-American history, and New Jersey and Newark history.

The film is available in DVD format only and may be purchased.

Report: Students struggle with information literacy

2006-11-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

Despite the assumption that today's students are tech-savvy, many fall short in demonstrating the information literacy skills necessary for success in college and the workforce, a new report says. The report comes from an evaluation of responses from students nationwide to an information-literacy assessment tool developed by the nonprofit ETS. Click here to read this article.

Related link:

College Students Fall Short in Demonstrating the ICT Literacy Skills Necessary for Success in College and the Workplace

Study Claims States "Shortchange" Colleges

2006-11-28T06:19:00.000-08:00

Star-Ledger, Tuesday, 11.28.2006 - A national panel comprised of representatives of both both parties blames the states for being reactive instead of strategic when it comes to funding education. The panel's recent report, "Transforming Higher Education: National Imperative -- State Responsibility" claims New Jersey is one of the most expensive states in which to attend college.

"This report does not surprise me," said Assemblyman Bill Baroni (R-Mercer). "If anything, New Jersey can be held up as a state Legislature that has done everything wrong."
For more information on this report, please read the full article here.

Scandals bolster calls for merger

2006-11-25T13:23:00.000-08:00

Ongoing revelations of improprieties at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey could hasten a possible merger with Rutgers and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Allegations that UMDNJ sought to resuscitate an ailing cardiology program at University Hospital in Newark by paying referring doctors $5.7 million in illegal kickbacks gives higher-education reforms more urgency, said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Elizabeth.

Click here to read the entire article at The CourierPost Online.

Give the students credit: bill to ease transfer from community to four-year colleges

2006-11-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

Assemblyman Mike Doherty, R-Warren County is among the bipartisan sponsors of a bill that would create a universal system for transferring credits, mandating that college credits earned at community college be accepted at the state's four-year public colleges.

Click here to read the entire article from The Express-Times.

Innovative Aquifer Energy System Planned at Stockton

2006-11-16T14:41:00.000-08:00

Press of Atlantic City, 11.13.2006 - Another environmental first is on the horizon at Richard Stockton College. Plans for building the nation's only aquifer thermal energy storage system are now in the works. The system, which will rely on the vast Cohansey aquifer, will save the college an estimated $90,000 annually.

“Stockton is indeed an (organization) that we would consider a leader in the state,” said Doyal Siddell, of the NJ Board of Public Utilities. “They (already) have one of the world's largest closed geothermal systems. ... They are (also) known for their fuel cell, solar, wind turbine ... and their energy efficiency upgrades in their buildings .... The college is a leader in the application of new and alternative technology.” Read the full story here.

Seton Hall Hosts Executive Seminar on Outcomes Assessment

2006-11-09T18:42:00.000-08:00

11.09.2006 - The soon to be released Blackboard Outcomes System was the topic of a seminar recently held at Seton Hall. For more details on this event and to see an ongoing discussion of Blackboard's new assessment product, visit the company's blog at http://www.educateinnovate.com/blackboard/.

Merging of three major New Jersey colleges to be examined - Newsday.com

2006-11-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

Merging of three major New Jersey colleges to be examined - Newsday.com State lawmakers this week will begin studying a potentially massive shake up of New Jersey's college world; merging Rutgers University, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Rutgers College Governing Association Urges Students to Make Their Voices Heard

2006-11-03T06:30:00.001-08:00

Daily Targum, Friday, 11.3.2006 - Recent cuts in educational funding have prompted the Rutgers College Governing Association to remind students that both their voices and votes can have a powerful influence on state lawmakers.

"The last thing we want is another cut like last year," stated association chair, Karen Gilbert. "In an ideal world, every student would meet with their legislators."

Association members have been busy distributing the League of Women Voters' "New Jersey Citizens Guide to Government" which contains contact information on statewide representatives as well as the basics on the state political process.

"By having students contact their legislators and express their concern, that knowledge will be carried to the budget decision in January," said senior Sharo Atmeh, the association parliamentarian.

Read the full story here

UMDNJ First to Offer Doctorate in Nursing Practice

2006-10-25T06:55:00.000-07:00

Courier-Post, Wednesday, 10.25.06 - In response to increased enrollment, UMDNJ now offers a Doctor of Nursing Practice program in addition to its new BSN/MSN accelerated program for non-nurses. The university's DNP program is the first of its kind in New Jersey. The accelerated or fast track BSN/MSN program, allows students to earn their bachelor's degree in less than 15 months. It includes three required master's courses, for easy transition to a master's specialty. For more information, please visit http://sn.umdnj.edu/academics/accelmsn/index.htm.
Read the full story here.

College tuition, fees up more than 6%

2006-10-24T16:03:00.000-07:00

Daily Record - Updates - College tuition, fees up more than 6%- Figures for four-year public schools show financial aid isn't keeping up - In New Jersey, tuition at public, four-year schools rose 9 percent, from an average of $8,563 to $9,298. Tuition for two-year schools rose 8 percent, from $2,954 to $3,187, and four-year private schools rose 5 percent, from $23,857 to $25,155. Read the entire article in the Daily Record, click here.

Many parents ill-prepared to pay for kids' college

2006-10-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

Many parents ill-prepared to pay for kids' college
Sunday, October 22, 2006 By HEATHER HADDON - HERALD NEWS

New Jersey is one of the most difficult states for families to save for college because of the high cost of living and expensive tuitions, which at public colleges average around $9,000. Financial advisers worry that parents underestimate how far their savings will go, or that some may have to sacrifice their retirement to do it. The picture, however, is not all gloom and doom. Read the rest of the story here.

NJCU Dedicates Weiss Childrens and YA Literature Center

2006-10-24T06:46:00.000-07:00

Jersey Journal, Tuesday, 10.24.06 - NJCU recently named it's Center for Childrens and Young Adult Literature in honor of professor of communications emeritus, M. Jerry Weiss.

"I'm very honored and very grateful to the faculty, board of trustees and administrators for making possible a center whose mission is to promote literacy by helping young people discover the wealth of good books and find pleasure in reading."

Weiss is also a past recepient of the International Reading Association’s Arbuthnot Award

Read the full story here

To teach tech-savvy Millennials, forget boring books and lectures

2006-10-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

To teach tech-savvy Millennials, forget boring books and lectures - They [the Millenials] are the most diverse -- and perhaps the smartest -- generation in U.S. history. And Richard Sweeney thinks the nation's colleges and universities need to start making changes to teach them better.

Sweeney, the university librarian at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, specializes in documenting the behavior of Millennials, the generation born between 1979 and 1994 or so. Over the last few years, he has become a popular speaker on the academic lecture circuit, touring the nation to talk to college faculties and higher education groups about closing the widening gap between Millennials and their Baby Boom professors.
"I believe there is a real incentive in trying to engage these kids," said Sweeney, 60. "These are consumers. They want to learn."

Click here to read the entire story.

Princeton Justice Project Works for Equal Marriage Rights

2006-10-17T08:11:00.000-07:00

Daily Princetonian, Tuesday 10.17.06 - Backed by a majority of students, The Princeton Justice Project submitted an amicus brief on behalf of plaintiffs in the Lewis V. Harris case. The New Jersey Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case which deals with same sex marriage within the next few weeks.

"I think our brief had a major impact, and I think it would be exciting, if [the plaintiffs] win the case, to know that we contributed to such a landmark decision," Chris Lloyd '06, former head of the Gay Family Rights Project of the PJP, said in an interview last night. "A lot of the issues the judges had discussed were issues addressed in our brief."

Read the full story here

Rutgers squashes report of demise of Freehold facility

2006-10-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

Contrary to a published report concerning the impact of state budget cuts on higher education, Rutgers University does not plan to cut back or eliminate its program at the Western Monmouth Higher Education Center, Route 9, Freehold Township, according to a university official. To read the full story, click here.

Princeton University - Two weeks of festivities celebrate 250th anniversary of 'Princeton in Princeton'

2006-10-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

Princeton University - Two weeks of festivities celebrate 250th anniversary of 'Princeton in Princeton' - Two decades before America began its fledgling democracy, a school in its own infancy took up residence on a small parcel in Princeton, N.J. The land became the home of Princeton University's Nassau Hall and Maclean House, which remain today as symbols of the region's past and its progress.Celebrating this heritage and the enduring relationship with its Princeton neighbors, the University will join with community groups to host the 250th anniversary celebration of "Princeton in Princeton" Oct. 21 to Nov. 4. Click here to read the entire story.

Drew president: University needs 'pep in its step'

2006-10-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

Daily Record - Morris County - Drew president: University needs 'pep in its step' - In his second year as president of Drew University, Robert Weisbuch said it's time to stop talking about change and start acting. Weisbuch announced three new initiatives on Thursday and challenged the faculty, staff and students to chart a vision for the Drew of 2020.

"The university requires, I believe, some immediate pep in its step, an adrenal charge," Weisbuch said in an annual university address in the campus concert hall. Read the full story here.

Stockton Introduces Homeland Security Training

2006-10-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

Atlantic City Press, 10.9.06: Richard Stockton College now offers a homeland security concentration as part of its graduate criminal justice program.

New resident expert, Maj. Mark Anarumo of the U.S. Air Force Security Forces has been assigned to Stockton for a three year tour of duty. “Right now, we are sending people to a lot of criminology programs, which are more theoretical than practical,” Anarumo said. “And the process is more disjointed. We would like to promote this as the definitive program for military security forces and civilian operations.”

The program will include courses and workshops on topics such as airport security, crime-mapping and cybercrime.

Full story

Princeton welcomes Della, Orangena and Hecate

2006-10-05T06:17:00.000-07:00

Actually, we are not talking about people but supercomputers. Part of the Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering PICSE, the powerful supercomputers will establish the University "as one of the nation's leading university-based research computing centers." Della, with 512 processors, is a product of Dell Computing; Orangena incorporates aspects of its original name and one of Princeton's colors ; and, Hecate was a Greek goddess of magic and spells. To read more, click here.

Related stories: One of world's fastest supercomputers to aid Princeton researchers (Princeton University News@Princeton November 10, 2005)
Princeton establishes leading research computing facility (Princeton University News@Princeton Oct 2, 2006)
Princeton unveils supercomputers (Newark Star-Ledger Oct 3, 2006)

Colleges Build Better Facilities to Compete for Students

2006-10-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

According to a recent American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) colleges and universities are building classrooms, dormitories, student centers and athletic centers at faster rates, in hopes of attracting students, who consider first-rate facilities more important than ever.

Montclair State University in New Jersey has spent $144 million since 1999 to more than double the space in its campus buildings, to 3 million square feet from 1.3 million. In January, the university opened a seven-story, $80 million University Hall, which increased classroom space by 40 percent. The university is now building a $28 million recreation center. “I don’t think there’s a lot you can do in higher education these days without state-of-the-art facilities,” said Susan Cole, president of Montclair. To read the entire article, click here.

Local Entrepreneur Pledges $1 Million to Rowan Tech Park

2006-09-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

Atlantic City Press (26 September 2006): Samuel H. Jones, Mantua Townhip resident and venture capitalist has pledged $1 million dollars toward the construction of the South Jersey Technology Park at Rowan University.

“The Technology Park is important for technology and growth in our region,” state Jones. “It will be a place for people with an entrepreneurial spirit to make things happen.”
Read the full story here.

State isn't doing enough to keep college costs in check

2006-09-26T06:34:00.000-07:00

Asbury Park Press (13 Sept 2006): Two reports recently issued are critical of New Jersey's commitment to higher education. One report is the 2006 report for New Jersey Policy Perspective by Anastasia Mann and Mary Forsberg called "Flunking Out: New Jersey's Support for Higher Education Falls Short." This report cites a steady drop in support for higher education from 9.8 percent of the state budget in 1983 to about 5.3 percent currently.

The second is a just-released report of the National Conference on State Legislatures that singles out the Garden State, with a 2.5 percent drop in appropriations, and Texas, with a 0.7 percent drop, as glaring departures from the average 6.3 percent growth nationally in general fund support for higher education between FY 2006 and FY 2007.

New Jersey is not living up to its obligation to share the costs of funding quality state colleges and universities. We now have among the highest four-year public college/university tuition rates in the nation. We are cutting back at a time when other states are investing in higher education. It is time for the state and colleges and universities to work together more closely.

Read DARRYL G. GREER's analysis and recommendations for improving the situation, click here.

Princeton Challenges Harvard’s African-American Primacy

2006-09-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

Princeton Challenges Harvard’s Af-Am Primacy - It took just a week for Princeton to take Harvard’s cue in abolishing early admissions—but 37 years after Harvard established a black studies concentration, Princeton is only now following in its Cambridge rival’s footsteps. The New Jersey school is establishing a new Center for African American Studies and expanding its faculty in the field from 5 to 11—challenging Harvard’s position as the premier hub of black studies.

To read more, click here.
Related story here.

Economics send more students to WCCC

2006-09-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

Economics send more students to Warren County Community College (WCCC) - A 70 percent increase in Warren County Community College's enrollment over a six-year stretch is threatening to reignite a debate over expanding the college. Fueling the growth are changing attitudes about community colleges, school President Will Austin said, as more students recognize that a less expensive alternative is available.

To read more, click here.

A Trans-Atlantic Research Alliance Comes to Fruition

2006-09-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

A Trans-Atlantic Research Alliance Comes to Fruition: Universities from the state and England team up to develop innovative health care products - The White Rose Health Innovation Partnership (WHIP), has paired universities and health care companies along their respective Atlantic Coasts in an effort to facilitate the commercialization of medical research. The White Rose University Consortium, made up of three British research schools, chose the Garden State’s health care community to be part of the effort in March.

Spearheading the Partnership on U.S. soil are the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. WHIP will disperse about $9 million, largely in the form of grant awards, won from the Higher Education Funding Council of England.

To read more, click here.

UMDNJ gets $1.8M in Grants

2006-09-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

UMDNJ gets $1.8M - Star-Ledger (19 September 2006) - The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey has received two federal grants totaling nearly $1.8 million for nursing education programs.

The grants are supporting a new Doctor of Nursing Practice program, as well as a new Accelerated Second-Degree BSN/MSN program on the Stratford campus.

To read more, click here.

NJ Clean Energy School of the Year: Monmouth University

2006-09-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

NJ Clean Energy School of the Year: Monmouth University (West Long Branch, NJ)

Award criteria: A public or private educational institution that demonstrates that energy efficiency and/or renewable energy is just plain smart when it comes to saving energy, lowering costs, and protecting the environment.

Monmouth University, a small liberal arts college in West Long Branch, NJ is recognized for its commitment and energy leadership encompassing renewables and conservation. The recent installation of a 454 kw solar PV system is noted as being the largest installation at an institution of higher education east of the Mississippi River - saving the university an estimated 468,569 kwh a year or $150,000 in electricity costs. In addition, the University has undertaken extensive building upgrades and renovations that will save 1,302,386 kwh annually and about $150,000, which contribute to the University's environmental stewardship and the reduction of greenhouse gases.

From: Clean Energy is Smart Business in New Jersey; Clean Energy Conference and Awards Highlight Business Leaders, Renewable Energy and Public Benefits (19 September, 2006)

John Hurley Appointed to NJLN Review Board

2006-09-18T05:48:00.000-07:00

Rutgers Trustee and Woodbridge Township Library Director John Hurley was recently appointed to the New Jersey Library Review Board.

"I look forward to the opportunity to provide the State Library with a local perspective on ways to leverage tax dollars to expand the services provided by the Library Network," Hurley stated. Hurley is also past president of the Eastern New Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, INFOLINK.

Read the full story here

TCNJ to receive $5 million donation

2006-09-11T06:59:00.000-07:00

The College of New Jersey is slated to receive a $5 million gift, the largest in its history, school officials said. Tom and Carol Loser of Langhorne, Pa., whose donation in honor of their 25th wedding anniversary was announced Friday, are to give the money to the college's School of Nursing, Health and Exercise Science during a campus ceremony. Read more here!

University libraries will be quieter this semester.

2006-09-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

Effect of aid cuts evident at Rutgers Home News Tribune Online - Real cuts are having real consequences for students and faculty alike. "People will take a hit," said Michael Joseph, a rare-book librarian at the New Jersey Reading Room in the Alexander Library building on College Avenue. "Reduced hours means reduced availability." Read more about the impact of budget cuts at Rutgers, the State University.

NJ Supreme Court Disciplinary Decisions Now Online

2006-08-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

The Rutgers Camden Law Library has made available a full text archive of Attorney Disciplinary Review Board Decisions from December, 1998 to the present.

"The posting of these decisions represents a significant change for the board," stated Rutgers Camden online librarian John Joergensen. "Traditionally, there has been some debate within the legal community as to whether these documents should be made public."

Read the complete article here

High Schools Not Preparing Students

2006-08-24T02:50:00.000-07:00

El Diario/LA PRENSA "Too many kids graduate from New Jersey high schools ill-equipped for the workplace or higher education. That’s what New Jersey colleges and employers have been telling Gov. Jon Corzine, and he is right to see it as a message the state dare not ignore."

The Chronicle: Daily News Blog: New Jersey to Consider Anew a Plan to Merge 3 Public Universities

2006-08-24T02:41:00.000-07:00

The Chronicle: Daily News Blog: New Jersey to Consider Anew a Plan to Merge 3 Public Universities: "Could the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey be nearing its end as a stand-alone institution? State legislative leaders have appointed a committee to study whether to merge the public-health university with Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the state’s other two public research universities."

How feminist artists shook up the art world

2006-08-22T17:10:00.000-07:00

A major exhibition of trail-blazing American Feminist art opened July 28 at the Monmouth Museum in Lincroft. "How American Women Artists Invented Postmodernism 1970-1975" will run through Sept. 3 at the museum on the Brookdale Community College campus.

The exhibit focuses on work created by American women artists who were pioneers of Feminist Art and Postmodernism in the crucial five-year time span between 1970-1975.

"We have worked to bring together signature works from the early 1970s by each artist," said Ferris Olin, feminist art historian, librarian and head of the Margery Somers Foster Center at Rutgers' Mabel Smith Douglass Library, the co- curator of the exhibition.

To learn more, click here.

Rutgers archives hold wealth of N.J. history

2006-08-22T17:04:00.000-07:00

Nearly 2,100 boxes line shelves in a chilly storage room at Rutgers University, stacked seven high and two deep in places. For years, the library's annex has held reams of paper that document the tenure of Harrison A. Williams Jr., the longtime New Jersey senator whose career some may remember more for how it ended -- in the Abscam bribery scandal -- than the legislation it produced.

Now, archivists are burrowing through those boxes, discovering a discarded Bronze Star, a screenplay and records of the social welfare laws Williams championed -- from pension reform to coal mine safety.

To learn more about the important role that Rutgers Special Libraries plays in providing access to historical information for the public, students, and scholars, click here.

Rutgers University library's special collections receives grant

2006-08-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

Rutgers University library's special collections and archives received a $117,900 grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission. The Thomas Edison Papers project at Rutgers-Piscataway also received $109,000. To read more and learn about the other recipients, click here.

Rutgers-Newark Online

2006-08-21T08:17:00.000-07:00

Rutgers-Newark Online - The State University of New Jersey: "The Newark campus of Rutgers will mark the 60th anniversary of the merger of the University of Newark with Rutgers University by expanding its presence in the city with the addition of a major academic building and its first new residential housing in nearly 20 years.

The opening this September of the university’s new state-of-the art Life Sciences Center and its 13-story University Square residence hall will bring the total of Rutgers-Newark buildings to 33. The modern facilities are a sharp contrast to the original campus that was dispersed throughout the city, where classes were once held in a converted beer brewery, a former razor blade factory, old stables and brownstone residences."

HealthyNJ Receives National Recognition

2006-08-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to UMDNJ Library's HealthNJ for winning the prestigious Health Information Award from the National Commission of Libraries and Information Science. HealthyNJ debuted in 1999 and offers an ever expanding spectrum of current topics in health and medicine. The HealthyNJ Reference Desk offers links to directories, statistics and much more, making it an especially useful resource for librarians everywhere.

Web site manager, Micki McIntyre attributes much of HealthyNJ's success to constant maintenance. "I just have to keep on adding," she said. "We need to make it easier to read. Now, we have more than half our topics represented in Spanish. We're hoping to serve everyone in New Jersey." Read the full story here.