Will be Working Shorthanded this Summer

The NJIT Library had 5 reference librarians until March 2010 when one of my colleagues resigned.  Since this position has not been filled and may be lost permanently, we have worked with just 4 for over a year.  Since that time, the technical services librarians have helped out by each working one reference shift a week.  We also use students at the reference desk who call us when there is a question they can't handle.  One of may colleagues is leaving next week on family leave and will not return until August leaving just 3 of us.  During better financial times, the university administration would have let us hire a temp to fill in.  Obviously over the summer people take vacation.  So there will be several weeks when there will be only two reference librarians.  All I can say is "when the going gets tough, the tough get going."  Library usage is much slower over the summer anyway.

Famous Quote "I couldn't find anything searching Google"

I think all reference librarians have heard that several times in the course of an academic year.  Today a student approached me asking how to find a case study on deceptive marketing practices by a company.  "I couldn't find anything searching Google."  I should him how to use Business Source Complete to find the information that he needed so he could easily pick out a case study.

It is just disappointing that students just think of Google whenever they have a research question. How can information literacy steer students away from this "Google way of thinking"?

Opening for an Architecture Library Specialist at NJIT

NJIT seeks an energetic, self motivated and service-oriented Architecture Library Specialist at the branch library located within the College of Architecture and Design. This facility houses over 21,000 books, 80,000 slides, 18,000 digital images, and numerous other materials. Working under the supervision of the Architecture Library Director, the successful candidate will be able to multi-task in a fast paced, challenging environment while being responsible for day-to-day operations during the closing shift and in the absence of the Director. Current hours during the academic year are 12:30 pm - 8:30 pm Monday through Thursday and 10:00 am - 6:00 pm on Friday. Hours vary during summer and break periods. See our web site at http://archlib.njit.edu//.


The successful candidate will be delivering services to more than a thousand undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students in architecture, art, and design disciplines. Typical responsibilities include individual and group instruction, reference assistance, and maintenance of digital collections. Other shared responsibilities will be processing library materials, training and supervising student assistants, and occasionally circulating library holdings and equipment. Preferred qualifications: MLS from ALA accredited program; knowledge of art, architecture, and design, experience with digital projects, ability to communicate clearly and concisely; excellent writing and computer skills; good organizational skills. Competitive salary depends upon experience and qualifications.

View full job description. Position is open until filled.


The university reserves the right to substitute equivalent education and/or experience at its discretion. NJIT is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer and encourages women, minorities, persons with disabilities and Vietnam era and disabled veterans to apply.

Apply Online Now

Top 25 Journals with Publications by NJIT Scientists

I searched Scopus to determine the top 25 journals where NJIT scientists published.  Likely publications from  the School of Management and College of Architecture and Design were not covered exhaustively in Scopus.


Astrophysical Journal 225
Solar Physics 87
Applied Physics Letters 78
Journal of Physical Chemistry A 77
IEEE Communications Letters 50
Powder Technology 45
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 44
Physical Review B 42

Journal of Applied Physics 41
Pattern Recognition 39
Journal of Membrane Science 38
Journal of Fluid Mechanics 35
Transportation Research Record 35
Physical Review E 34
Physics of Fluids 33
Physical Review Letters 31
IEEE Transactions on Communications 30
IEEE Transactions on System Man and Cybernetics 27
Electronics Letters 26
Combustion and Flame 25
SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics 24
IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications 24
AICHE Journal 24
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 24

IEEE Communications Magazine 23

James Neal - Prospects for Systemic Change Across Academic Libraries

I monitor the hits on the entries of this blog by using Google Analytics.  Many of my readers landed on my commentary of Jim Neal's talk at the VALE annual meeting in January.  Many of the points that he discussed at that meeting including the National Digital Library were considered in an article in the March/April 2011 Educase Review .  He also said that many academic libraries continue to maintain redundant and inefficient library operations.  I was disappointed that "Information Literacy - Stop the Madness" was not discussed in the article. 

QANDANJ Chat Reference to Cease Operations on June 30, 2011

We received this annnoucement today from Cheryl O'Connor:

This project, developed and managed by the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative under the direction of SJRLC Executive Director Karen Hyman and funded by the New Jersey State Library, was the first of its kind in the nation. Launched in 2001, it was a model for many other statewide virtual reference services that emerged all over the country. The QandANJ project grew in popularity as word of mouth spread about its existence. To keep up with demand SJRLC continued to recruit and train reference librarians throughout the state. Without all of the volunteer librarians who took on this new challenge, the service would never have become truly statewide.


Even with all of the volunteer assistance, the program still has the fixed costs for a coordinator, public relations and marketing and software licenses to name a few. When state budget cuts were enacted last year, the decision was made to keep QandANJ active at least through June of this year in order to incorporate NJLA’s South Jersey Works initiative. With local libraries experiencing budget cuts it has become more difficult to allow staff the work time to participate. These reasons have resulted in this very difficult decision being made by the State Library and disseminated by the grantee, LibraryLinkNJ.

The main issues that I have with chat reference that I have disccused here is:

1. Many questions had to answered by the patron's library.  I think many users of the chat service did not realize they were chatting with somebody at another institution.
2. So many patron's were very impatient.  They would often log off if they didn't get their answer right away.
3. Very few if any were NJIT students.  Thus I spent NJIT time working with students at other universities.
4. On the other hand I did receive many interesting reference questions from appreciative customers.

April Fool's Day at the NJIT Library

Our wonderful circulation clerk Maria Denaro really has a sense of humor.  Early this morning she e-mailed a letter of resignation to Rich Sweeney, the University Librarian.  In her letter she stated that her family bought an Italian restaurant.  It didn't take Rich long to figure out that this was an April Fools Day prank.

Later in the day, she came back from lunch saying "Guess who I met outside?  It is Madalyn who retired several years ago.  I just found out the Madalyn got married to a young guy."  It took me a few minutes to realize that this was another April Fools Day joke.

Remember, Laughter is the best medicine.