Opening for a Technical Reference Librarian at NJIT

Newark, NJ -- Technical Reference Librarian needed at NJIT

The New Jersey Institute of Technology is seeking a Technical Reference Librarian who resprts to the Director of Reference and works primarily as the library's liaison to assigned engineering or other academic departments for reference, information literacy instruction, assessment, collection development, and user satisfaction.  Also performs literature searching and citation analysis, creation of online subject and course guides and tutorials, and other duties as necessary.

Qualifications Required:

1.    Masters in Library or Information Science (ALA Accredited)

2.    BA/BS degree (in science, mathematics or engineering highly desirable)

3.    Significant successful professional academic reference or research service experience.

4.    Extensive knowledge and experience in one or more scientific and technical disciplines taught at NJIT.

5.    Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

6.    Excellent personal and interpersonal skills (energy, creativity, initiative, friendliness, etc.).

7.    Teaching experience.

8.    Public service oriented; maintains collegial professional relationship with library faculty, students, NJIT staff, library staff, and administrators.

9.    Excellent computer skills. (e.g. Windows, Microsoft Office, E-learning authoring software such as Camtasia,  course management software, content management software). Excellent searching skills (e.g. citation databases, full text/image databases and integrated library systems). 

10. Extensive internet and web searching experience.

11. Keeps current as professional librarian.

Full-time, Monday-Friday. Typical work week includes one evening (until 7pm) per week during fall and spring semesters and two weekends per year.  

The position is by contract, non-tenured (Librarians are not eligible for tenure at NJIT.)  Selected candidate must become a New Jersey resident within 365 days of appointment.

To apply for the permanent position please refer to the complete job description including preferred qualifications and essential characteristics.  Apply online through the NJIT employment system.  https://njit.jobs/   Posting Number:  0600742.

It is often impossible to assess information literacy skills

Assessment of information literacy is important for accreditation reports. But very often it is just impossible to do. Yesterday I gave a seminar to new chemistry graduate students. I gave my standard lecture where I describe the organization of the technical literature and point out the resources offered by the NJIT library. I concluded by demonstrating sample searches in Scifinder Scholar and Scopus and showing how they can retrieve the full-text of the references found to be relevant.

I stated the skills need to search and evaluate information need to be developed over a period of time. The students could not become proficient by just listening to a one hour lecture. I suggested they practice searching the databases before they actually need them for a research question. As my lecture ended a student approached me since he was having a minor problem establishing his Scifinder Scholar account. About an hour later he approached me at the reference desk and asked for my Powerpoint presentation. I just love the “eager beavers”.

I will not be able to test these students on the skills in my lecture. I will never be able to observe their using the databases. Hopefully, some of them will approach me for assistance in the future when they want to hone their skills. Thus, information literacy assessment in this case is just impossible.

Some Thoughts About the New Jersey First Act

The New Jersey First Act which went into effect on September 1, 2011 requires all state employees including those in colleges to be New Jersey residents. Any employee who resided outside NJ on September 1 is exempt. Since I have lived in New York since I was employed by NJIT in 1992, I will not have to move. Anyone who starts working for the state after September 1 must establish residency within one year.

There are two loopholes:

1. The move to New Jersey would create hardship for the employee
2. If a candidate from out of state provides a unique skill, he/she can be exempt from the residency requirement.

The law does not apply to temporary employees of the university including adjunct professors.

Last Spring the newspaper reports stated that many in NJ government felt that if a person was earning a living from NJ state taxes, he/she should live in the state and contribute to the local economy. I feel that this law may create more harm than good. New Jersey is a small state which could get good applicants from New York, Pennsylvania, or Delaware who may decline a job offer if compelled to relocate.

Explanation from Human Resources at NJIT

Full Text of the Act

METRO Science Librarians SIG will meet Friday October 21 at 2 PM

The next meeting of the METRO Science Librarians SIG will be:

Friday October 21 2:00-4:30 PM. It will be a research forum with the following speakers:

· "Open Access Initiatives in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia," John Carey, Hunter Health Professions Library, Hunter College

· "Internet Filtering and Liberal Education in the South Caucasus," David Donabedian, Hunter College

· “Bridging the Gap from Wikipedia to Scholarly Sources: A Simple Library Bookmarklet", Valerie Forrestal and Barbara Arnett, Stevens Institute of Technology

It will be at METRO Headquarters at
57 East 11th Street – 4th floor
New York, NY

Please register at http://www.metro.org/en/cev/101

You may see our web site at http://libguides.metro.org/science_librarians
For further information, please contact

Bruce Slutsky
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Robert Van Houten Library
323 Martin Luther King Blvd
Newark, NJ 07102

Bruce.Slutsky@njit.edu

Phone (973) 642-4950

Fax (973) 643-5601


Follow me on Twitter at NJITREF

First Day of Classes at NJIT

It is hard to believe that summer is almost over as classes begin today at NJIT.  The students are not getting younger; I am getting older.  The semester begins with the President's pancake breakfast outside the campus center.  Students will inevitably cone to the library looking for their textbook.  I really don't want to discuss that issue again.  Sometimes, situations don't change.  Back to work now.