My lecture on How to Find Physical and Thermodynamic Properties of Substances

I must have given this lecture every semester since I've started at NJIT. I do it in the lecture which is a co-requisitie for the physical chemistry laboratory. Here is my Powerpoint of this lecture. Over the years I have compiled a list of resources that are helpful in located sources of physical property data. The frustrating thing is that students rarely ask questions, so I never know if they are disinterested or not grasping the subject material. I do my best to reach the students.

Cited References and the promotion and tenure process

I certainly understand that faculty are very anxious when they submit their CV's to be considered for promotion or tenure. Obviously if someone is denied tenure, the employment as a faculty member will be terminated. In academia, a person is given a terminal contract for the next academic year. In buiness, if a person is terminated, they get the notice on Friday afternoon with a severance package and must immediately leave.

As a librarian I have done many cited reference searches in support of faculty. There is no magic number of cited references that are needed for tenure, but faculty often want us to leave no stone unturned in determined their number of cited references. However, the Promotion and Tenure Committee uses many criteria in evaluating a candidate. Today I revised a search that I did for someone in biomedical engineering since he found 4 articles that were not on his original bibliography. I remember one person who had a mediocre publications record and was promoted to full professor. Another person had an excellent publication record with numerous cited references and was denied tenure and had to leave.

Today's Activities

Today I met Urs Gauchat, Dean of the NJIT School of Architecture, on the New Jersey Transit train in Penn Station. He now resides in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. It is very rare when I meet someone I know on the way to work. For years I would occasionally encounter Lynn Mullins the head librarian at Rutgers-Newark, but she retired. Sometimes I ran into Eric Blitz who lives in the Bronx, but he often drives to work. I had a nice conversation with Urs about various university issues.

I finally was able to resolve Zaven's problems in accessing the web version of Scifinder Scholar. I also went to the chemistry department seminar to announce to the graduate students the availability of the new version. The speaker lectured on carbon nanotubes, a very hot area of research.

An alumnus phoned me about accessing the databases remotely. He just didn't know that library services are not available remotely to graduates. He wanted to use the library's databases to search for companies where he could apply for a position. I explained that he could use his local public library.

Trying to solve problems logging into Scifinder on the Web

One of my favorite people at NJIT is an adjunct professor of chemistry who is having problems. One must establish an account for Scifinder from an NJIT e-mail account. Since he is an adjunct he apparently lost his e-mail temporarily. I just found out from the Human Resources department that his problem was resolved. Another student had a problem logging in from another computer lab on campus. I invited her to come to my office. I guided her through the process of logging into Scifinder, and everything seemed to be OK.

Assistant Editor of the Chemical Information Bulletin (CIB)

A couple of months ago I volunteered to be the editor of the Chemical Information Bulletin published by the American Chemical Society division of Chemical Information (CINF). It comes out twice a year and previews the division's activities of the forthcoming American Chemical Society national meeting. Over the last few days I proofread the copy before it is sent to the printer for publication and eventual distribution to the membership.

Mazel Tov to the NJIT Basketball Time

After 51 losses since February 2007 the NJIT Highlanders beat Bryant College 61 -51. If they had lost one more game they would have tied the record for consecutive losses in Division I. Let's hope they go on a winning streak.

Woody Paige of ESPN Comments On NJIT Basketball

I have no further comment

My Professional Biography

Biography of Bruce Slutsky

I obtained my Bachelors degree in Chemistry from the City College of New York in 1972. My research project as an undergraduate involved the photochemistry of 1,4-napthoquinone. Immediately upon graduation I enrolled in the chemistry masters program at the University of Rhode Island. During my two years there I worked as a graduate teaching assistant working in the general and organic chemistry laboratories with undergraduate students. My master’s thesis was titled “The Reaction of Aldehydes on Activated Alumina.” The following article was based on my dissertation:

Lamb, Frederick A.; Cote, Philip N.; Slutsky, Bruce; Vittimberga Bruno M. Oxidation - Reduction of 9 - (p-methoxyphenyl)-9-fluorenylacetaldehyde on activated alumina. Journal of Organic Chemistry; 1974; 39(18): 2796-7.

After I completed my master’s degree in chemistry I pursued a position as a laboratory chemist. My first position was with Rhodia in New Brunswick, NJ where I was involved with the scale-up synthesis of bulk chemicals used as perfume ingredients. I moved on to UOP Fragrances where I worked as a synthetic organic chemist. My job was to synthesize novel substances to be tested for their suitability as perfume ingredients. My third job as a chemist was with Pfizer Central Research in Groton, CT. where I synthesized substances to be tested for medicinal activity. I became very interested in searching the literature for documentation of chemical substances. I had to check the literature to see if a target compound or intermediate had already been synthesized. I became very interested in literature searching and chose to pursue it as a career path.

I pursued a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn while I worked as a Library/Information Scientist as Schering-Plough Corporation in Bloomfield, NJ. I provided an information link with laboratory, medical and regulatory personnel to support research programs of and projects by searching the biomedical and chemical literature by using online bibliographic databases offered by DIALOG or the National Library of Medicine.

My next position was with the Science and Technology Division of the New York Public Library. At this position I responded to requests for information by library patrons, phone calls, and letters. I selected books and periodicals for the collection in chemistry, chemical engineering and related disciplines. I moved up to Coordinator of Collection Development where I assigned subject and language responsibilities to the reference staff and reviewed their selection decisions. I later became Coordinator of Online Services for the division.

I moved on to St. John’s University where I was Supervisor of the Science Division. I supervised the operation of the Science Department of 1.5 FTE librarians and 2.5 FTE clerks to insure that students, faculty and other library users are able to fully meet the academic goals of the university.
For the last 16 years I have been Senior Science/Engineering Librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. At the time I started this position in Fall 1992 libraries were rapidly moving into the “Internet era” Over the years I have authored numerous web sites which list resources in chemistry, chemical engineering, environmental science, civil engineering, and environmental engineering.

Start of the Spring Semester

The beginning of the Spring semester is not as hectic as the start in the Fall. There are relatively few newcomers, so most of them know their way around the campus. My first question, of course, was on the availability of a textbook. I understand that they are expensive, but the professor feels that it is in the students' best interest to own the book. There will be less information literacy classes in the spring.

My Preference - No Shop Talk at Lunch

I see my lunch hour is a break from the work day. I can either eat lunch with colleagues or go out on my own. I don't mind if I have to eat lunch by myself. I like to take walks during my lunch hour to clear my mind and be refreshed for the afternoon. If other people prefer to talk shop at lunch, it is their prerogative. Any comments?

Report from the VALE Meeting

Marianne Gaunt, University Librarian at Rutgers, in her keynote address reported on the accomplishments of VALE in its first 10 years of existance. She mentioned current projects such as the Open Library Environment (OLE). She called for more collaboration among the member institutions. I picked the following breakout sessions:

• OLE Project Update
• Using OPAC Search Logs and Google Analytics
• Moving Beyond the Reference Desk

People I met at today's VALE Meeting

VALE is a consortium of New Jersey academic libraries. Every January there is a large meeting at the Busch campus of Rutgers. Today I will report on the people I met there. I will describe the sessions I attend in Monday's entry:

Former NJIT Library People with their current affiliations:

• David McMillan - Caldwell College
• Ellen Johnston - Caldwell College
• Josine - Union County College
• Carol Nurse Montclair State
• Ray Schwartz - William Paterson University

Some Facebook friends:

• Valerie Forrestal
• Linda Benninghove
• Ellen Parker
• Grace Agnew who I met for the first time
• Laura Kortz

Of course there was a big contingent from NJIT. I believe every librarian was there.

Reference Retreat Yesterday

Yesterday we had annual reference retreat at a conference room in the Campus Center. The five reference librarians talked about issues such as:

• Information literacy for the basic humanities classes
• Information literacy for advanced classes in the technical disciplines
• The transition of Scifinder Scholar to the web version
• The use of Moodle (course management software) in the future

After the meeting we went to a Portugese restaurant in the Ironbound section of Newark

Hey New Jersey Transit Police - Get Your Priorities Straight

I have expressed my opinion that New Jersey Transit uses a very primitive and cost ineffective method of collecting fares on the Newark Light Rail. Yesterday, I observed 6, yes you read correctly 6 fare inspectors at the Warren Street station by NJIT waiting to write summonses for fare evaders. Isn't this a waste of manpower? I can understand 2 there, one to write the summons and the other to make sure the fare evader deosn't run away. Today I observed 3 New Jersey Transit police officers at the same spot waiting to apprehend people who may be guilty of theft of service for $1.35.

Aren't there better ways deploying police officers? Can't they patrol Newark Penn Station, a major public transit hub which is a potential target for terrorists? Can't they throw out the panhandlers who harass passengers? Can they patrol parking lots at train stations where women may be attacked?

Hey New Jersey Transit Police - Get Your Priorities Straight

Kam Sirkar - Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering

When I arrived today after the long holiday break I received an e-mail request from Kam Sirkar to get a count of his cited references. I think I have done this once a year for evey year I have been at NJIT. Last April there were 4274 references citing his publications. I am certain this number will rise. His work has had a great impact on the chemical engineering profession. He certainly has earned the title of Distinguished Professor.

NJIT Basketball Team Loses Again - this sounds familiar

NJIT lost today to Vermont 73-47. Maybe the team can do some skiing while they are up there so the trip wouldn't be a total loss.

Men's Basketball Team Loses Again

The NJIT men's basketball team lost yesterday to Lehigh 66-38. I have no further comment.