Final Thoughts as I Retire and Leave the Profession of Reference Librarianship

I am writing this on Wednesday, December 20^th, two days before my last day.  I am retiring from my position at NJIT and am also leaving the profession of reference librarianship.  I started this blog in August 2008 to reflect on my experience as a reference librarian.  As the years went by, the number of postings I have made has declined.  The reason for this is that number of reference questions has declined dramatically.  I remember years ago we used to get a steady flow of questions at the reference desk.  Now, at best there is a trickle of transactions with most of them being very simple questions about the availability of a specific book.  The dramatic decline of students who come in and ask for me has bothered me more.  Years ago a student would come in and say Professor X suggested that I come to see you to discuss my research.  This rarely happens these days.

The concept of information literacy has frustrated me greatly.  When I teach classes, I sense a disinterest or indifference by the students.  Perhaps they don’t take it seriously since their regular professor is not teaching this class.  At the end of each lecture, I show a slide which gives me name and contact information for students to reach me.  They rarely do.  I am being cynical by thinking that information literacy is a concept created by librarians in response to the declining reference transactions.  They must substantiate their existence.  I also feel that assessment of information literacy is an overkill.  It is a skill that is obtained over time and if it is to be evaluated, it should be done at the senior level by a standardized exam.

Students at a tech school are obviously “information savvy” and can search the database with minimal assistance.  It seems very often they just “Google away”.

I must admit that I am sorry that I stayed in this profession as long as I did.  I guess as people age, they become complacent and fear change.  I found out the hard way that it is difficult to make a career move at an older age.  For a 4 year period, I sent out resumes and interviewed at a few places.  It probably was just as well, that I didn’t change jobs since I really valued the job security that my university offered.  I was bored and frustrated, but at least wasn’t let go as I traveled on the dreaded career plateau.  I made the best of it by collaborating with a colleague at another university on research projects.  I am proud of my contributions to the American Chemical Society and the Metropolitan New York Library Council.

I have looked into some organizations that offer volunteer opportunities,  I will definitely not be a reference librarian again.

This will be my last post on this blog.  I will leave it up so I can share my thoughts with others.  I doubt if there are any regular readers to this blog since I have posted very sporadically over the past years.  If anyone wants to keep up with me they can do so on my personal blog

Thanks for reading.

Accepted for Publication

I got the word yesterday that the paper that I wrote with Selenay Aytac titled "Nobel, Priestley, and Perkin Medal Winners in Chemistry: Their Publication Productivity for the Years 1992-2016" was accepted for publication in Science & Technology Libraries.

I guess this will be my "Swan Song" as I will be retiring and leaving the profession in a month.  I guess I should leave the door open a little bit.  Maybe I will work or volunteer as a librarian in a different capacity.  I certainly don't want to be a reference librarian again.

My Last Lecture

On Monday, October 16 I gave my last scheduled class at NJIT.  It was my standard lecture on the literature of chemical engineering to graduate students.  I have given this once a year in the 25 years I have been there.  This class was limited to new students who have never heard my lecture before.

I explained that in order to become proficient in learning to use information resources, the students must follow up on what I taught them.  One can not learn to search Scifinder or any other database by just listening to someone.  This lecture was another disappointment as most students appeared disinterested.  On several occasions, I asked if there were any questions, but there were none.  A few student were rude by pecking away at their laptops.

There is nothing more I can do.  Hopefully, a few students gained something out of it.

I Announced My Retirement Today

Today, went to the Human Resources Department and filled out the necessary paperwork to retire as of January 1, 2018.  My last day of work will be Friday, December 22 which is the last day before the holiday break.  My career spanned about 41 years including 3 years as a chemist and 38 years of a librarian.  My early career was checkered, but I ended up with 25 years at NJIT.  I am 68 years old an want to enjoy whatever time the good Lord has given me.  Thankfully, I am in good health and will spend my time doing what I really enjoy.

Today is My 25th Anniversary at the NJIT Library

Where did all these years go?  Sometimes it seems like it has been forever since I started at the NJIT Library on September 14, 1992, and other times it seems like yesterday.  The university has certainly grown tremendously over a quarter of a century.  The student body is much larger than it was back then and there are much more buildings on campus now.  The Wellness and Event Center is nearing completion which will hopefully attract more students.  There has been so much technological change over 25 years.  Back then the internet was in its infancy with primitive e-mail and slow and text based browsers.

Time marches on.

Random Comments for August

It’s the end of August as we are only one week away from the beginning of the fall semester.  There were more people on campus today as the International Students Orientation was taking place.  Today I arranged for my first lecture of the new semester.  It will be in Chemical Engineering 396 where I give a general introduction to the literature of the discipline.  My feeling is that undergraduates don’t use the primary literature as they learn mostly from textbooks and laboratory manuals.

This will likely be my last semester at NJIT as my plan right now is to retire at the end of 2017.  I have worked for 41 years since I got my masters in chemistry and 25 years at the same employer.  At least I finally established a stable employment record.  Back when I first started in the 1970s, I had a checkered job history, but eventually, things worked out.

I think it’s time to transition to the world of rest and relaxation.

Opening for Associate University Librarian at NJIT

Associate University Librarian for Digital Services at NJIT

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) seeks applications and nominations for the position of Associate University Librarian for Digital Services.

Position Summary:

The Associate University Librarian (AUL) for Digital Services is the chief technology officer for the university libraries. The AUL reports to the University Librarian and has overall responsibility for the management, operations, and direction of technical services, including: collection budget, acquisitions, cataloging, and metadata creation; digital initiatives including digitization projects, preservation, and scholarly communication; and library information systems.

Qualifications Summary:

The ideal candidate must possess an ALA-accredited MLS/MLIS or equivalent degree; a minimum of five years of administrative experience including responsibilities in staff management, technical services, digital and information systems in an academic library, with demonstrated ability to lead, evaluate and direct staff through organizational change. Candidates must also have a track record of demonstrated leadership, strong analytical and decision-making skills, with the capacity to anticipate and adapt to priorities and the changing needs of an academic library.

University Libraries:

The Robert W. Van Houten Library, NJIT’s university library, houses a core collection of print books, group study rooms and has an Information Commons computer lab with more than 120 computer workstations and wireless access throughout the building. The Barbara and Leonard Littman Architecture, Art and Design Library, a branch of the university library, maintains a core collection of architecture, art, and design resources. The Libraries have a staff of 24, who are committed to developing innovations in access services, information literacy, and digital initiatives. The Libraries operate with a budget of $4.4 million and spend over 90% of the materials budget to acquire electronic resources for anytime, anywhere access. The collection comprises over 390,000 volumes with 34 full-text databases, over 55,000 electronic journals, 168,000 ebooks, and 222,000 physical holdings.

Application Procedure:

Apply at https://njit.jobs, posting #0604065.  In addition to a cover letter and vitae, candidates are asked to submit a one-page summary of their vision for an evolving digital and technology strategy to provide 21^st century library resources and services in support of 2020 Vision: A Strategic Plan for NJIT.

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until a candidate is selected. Only candidates of interest will be contacted.

To build a diverse workforce, NJIT encourages applications from individuals with disabilities, minorities, veterans, and women. EEO employer. 

Random Comments for July

3 of the last 4 research consultations that I gave were to high school students in the summer programs here.  They all seemed to be very enthusiastic about learning how to use information resources.  I was concerned that high school students could not understand the technical details in a journal article.  One student was interested in finding thermodynamic properties of fluorinated compounds.  Another was researching high-temperature superconductors.

This summer we made the transition to version 2 of Libguides.  There was somewhat of a learning curve, but there is more flexibility in the new version.

We are also revising the library's website.  There is some redundancy so some pages should be removed.

Before you know it, classes will resume.

Why Do Students Prefer Google Scholar?

It seems that students love Google Scholar.  Let me relate an incident to you about a chemical engineering student who was referred to me by his professor.  I showed the student how to do his search on a topic related to nanotechnology in Scifinder and Scopus.  After this was completed he told me he had already done the search in Google Scholar.  He said that he attended my seminar last fall when I discussed the subscription-based databases.  I looked into my records and saw that just after the seminar he opened a Scifinder account, but apparently never used it.

Go figure!

Congratulations to David McMillan on Receiving His Doctorate in History

I met David McMillan in February 2001 when he worked as a temporary librarian at NJIT for about 3 months.  Since then he has moved on and has worked at a number of public and college libraries.  In 2009 he started to pursue a doctorate of history at Drew University.  After 8 years of hard work he defended his dissertation today and received his Doctor of Letters degree.

Hearty congratulations to Dave and I wish him well in all his professional endeavors.

Bruce Slutsky's Publication List May 2017

Aytac, S., & Slutsky, B. (2017). Authorship Trends of Research Articles Published in Seven Scientific, Technical, Engineering, and Medical (STEM) Library Journals: Analysis of STEM Library Research from 2011–2015. Science & Technology Libraries, 36(2), 114-134

Slutsky, B., & Aytac, S. (2016). Bibliometric Analysis and Comparison of Two STEM LIS Journals: Science & Technology Libraries and Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship (2005–2014). Science & Technology Libraries, 35(2), 152-171. doi:10.1080/0194262X.2016.1171191

Aytac, S., & Slutsky, B. (2015). Research in Academic Reference Librarianship: Review of the 2008–2012 Published Research. The Reference Librarian, 56(3), 205-215. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/02763877.2014.1002730

Aytac, S., & Slutsky, B. (2014). Published Librarian Research, 2008 through 2012: Analyses and Perspectives. Collaborative Librarianship, 6(4), 147-159.

Slutsky, B., & Aytac, S. (2014). Publication Patterns of Science, Technology, and Medical Librarians: Review of the 2008–2012 Published Research. Science and Technology Libraries, 33(4), 369-382. doi:10.1080/0194262X.2014.952486

Osorio, N. L., Slutsky, Bruce. (2012). A Tribute and BioBibliometric Study of Ellis Mount, the First Editor-in-Chief of Science & Technology Libraries. Science and Technology Libraries, 31(4), 394-411. doi: 10.1080/0194262x.2012.730385

Slutsky, B. (1993). Communicating Science to the Public: An Address to Non-Science Librarians. The Reference Librarian(No. 40), 73-87

Slutsky, B. (1991). The American Chemical Society Career Consultants Program. The Indicator, 72(8), 24
.
Slutsky, B. (1991). A Careers in Chemical Information Workshop. Journal of Chemical Education, 68(1), 43-45.

Slutsky, B. (1991). How to Avoid Science Anxiety Among Science Librarians. Science and Technology Libraries, 12(1), 11-19.

Slutsky, B. (1990). Asksam in the New York Public Libary. In M. Fox (Ed.), Exploring Asksam (pp. 43-58). New York: Future Communications Systems.

Slutsky, B. (1990). Informed Career Choices. Chemical and Engineering News, 68(2), 3.

Slutsky, B. (1990). Other Chemical Information Careers. Chapter One, 4(3), 32.

Slutsky, B. (1989). A Chemical Abstracts Training Seminar for Science Librarians. Science and Technology Libraries, 10(1), 55-76.

Lamb, F. A., Cote, Philip N., Slutsky, Bruce, Vitimberga, Bruno M. (1974). Reduction of 9 - (p-methoxyphenyl)-9-fluorenylacetaldhyde on activated alumina. Journal of Organic Chemistry, 39(18). doi: 10.1021/jo00932a026

New Publication

Aytac, S., & Slutsky, B. (2017). Authorship Trends of Research Articles Published in Seven Scientific, Technical, Engineering, and Medical (STEM) Library Journals: Analysis of STEM Library Research from 2011–2015. Science & Technology Libraries, 1-21. doi:10.1080/0194262X.2017.1323070

It has not yet been placed in an issue of this journal

Ann Hoang is Appointed University Librarian at NJIT

Personally, I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate Ann on her appointment to University Librarian at NJIT.  She has been interim University Librarian since the untimely death of Richard Sweeney last May.  She did an excellent job especially since there were several long-term absences of key people over the last year. I was impressed when she attended two of my graduate student seminars in chemical engineering and physics.  I certainly wish her success in her new role.

Below is the announcement made by Provost Fadi Deek:

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Ann D. Hoang to the position of University Librarian, effective July 1, 2017. She has served as interim University Librarian for the past year.

Ms. Hoang has been serving as the Assistant University Librarian at NJIT since December 2006, where her responsibilities have included initiatives related to open source library management systems with other NJ academic libraries and overall library management. Her emphasis has been on library user satisfaction, systems and technology infrastructure, workflow design analysis, and service and process evaluation. Ms. Hoang is a current member of the American Library Association (ALA), Library Information and Technology Association (LITA) and serves on the LibraryLinkNJ Website Advisory Taskforce.  Ms. Hoang is also an active participant in the Virtual Academic Library Environment of NJ and her contributions to the VALID project were recognized when she received the Technology Innovation Award in 2013.

Ms. Hoang has gained administrative experience in positions of increasing responsibility, from Reference and Materials Delivery Coordinator to Library Supervisor at Rutgers University; from Manager of Information Commons and Library Systems to Associate Director at Brookdale Community College; to Assistant University Librarian, and to interim University Librarian at NJIT. In these positions, she has been actively involved in budget management, library technology development, staff hiring and evaluation and forward-thinking concepts related to the future of academic libraries.

Ms. Hoang earned a master’s degree in Business Administration, a master’s degree in Library and Information Science and a bachelor’s degree in Economics, all from Rutgers University.

Please join me in congratulating Ann Hoang as University Librarian.

Thank you,

Librarians and Open Educational Resources (OER)

Certainly, much has been written about Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Access Textbooks (OAT) to be specific.  Textbooks have become more expensive as the price increases exceed the rate of inflation.  Publishers are in business to make money, but I really think they are ripping off students.  What bothers me is the constant updating of textbooks in basic subjects.  For example, the recent 14^th edition of University Physics by Sears and Zemansky costs about $200.  This basic textbook was first published in 1949.  Does basic physics change over a short period of time?  I can understand some revisions, but by issuing newer versions the publishers stifle the used textbook market.

Open Access Textbooks is one way of helping students to save money.  However, it is not a panacea.  Is the quality of OATs as good as that of traditional sources?  At least students would not have to schlep them from home to school J.

What should be the role of librarians in this movement?  They should always disseminate information about printed and electronic resources to those who need them.  Thus faculty in all discipline should be made aware of the OER option.  Librarians never should tell faculty what textbooks to use but should make them aware of all the options.

Random Comments for March

It is now the end of March and we are past the halfway mark of the Spring Semester.  Three candidates were interviewed for the open position of University Librarian.  Two of them are internal while the other is from another academic library.  I am assuming that there will be another interview with the President of the university before an appointment is made.  This has created some anxiety among the staff as we don’t know who will be our boss.

We also have a new reference librarian on our staff.  He has many years of experience working for Merck, but none in an academic library.  I realize that it takes time for any new employee to get adjusted to a new job.

Apparently Students are Night Owls as We will be Extending Library Hours To Respond To Their Requests

 There is a saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin -  "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."  It seems that college students are night owls and want to "burn the midnight oil."  A few weeks ago I was at a feedback session run by the Student Senate and heard first hand that the NJIT students want longer library hours.

Beginning Monday, February 27, 2017 – April 15, 2017, extended hours will be:

Monday through Thursday   7:30 am – 1:45 am (2 additional hours each night)
Friday                                   7:30 am – 7:45 pm
Saturday                              10:00 am – 8:45 pm
Sunday                                 1:00 pm – 11:45 pm

The Robert W. Van Houten Library will extend hours every day to support students studying for finals. From Monday, April 17, 2017, to Wednesday, May 10, 2017, the library will be open:

Monday – Thursday 7:30 am – 2:45 am
Friday 7:30 am – 10:45 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 11:45 pm
Sunday 1:00 pm – 2:45 am

Students will Sign Up For Scifinder Accounts Only If an Assignment is Given which Requires Its Use

Over the last two weeks, I gave my standard lecture to two undergraduate chemical engineering classes that consider the organization of the literature, journals in the field, and the databases that we provide including Scifinder and Scopus.  The professor didn’t want me to give an assignment since she felt that the workload for the course is heavy enough.  I gave the students some sample search problems to try in the two databases.

Every month I get a statement from Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) which tells how many people signed up for new Scifinder accounts  Out of 60 students in the two classes, only 2 signed up for Scifinder classes.  I think this shows that an assignment must be given for information literacy classes to be effective.  Again, I observed one student sleeping and other playing with their smart phones.

I had better luck in an undergraduate chemistry class titled “Applied Computational Chemistry and Molecular Modelling”.    3 of the 8 students in the class stated they already had experience with Scifinder.  When I looked at the report from CAS, I saw that the other 5 people in the class signed up that day for accounts.  The professor gave an assignment that required them to search the literature.

Random Thoughts at the Start of the Spring Semester

As the spring semester has just begun at the NJIT Library, we are somewhat shorthanded as two of our colleagues are on family leave.  We have been short staffed before and we made it through.  One of my reference colleagues will resign at the end of the month and move on to Baruch College.  We started a search for the permanent position, but the response was small.  We will also start a search for a temporary research and user services librarian.

There is also a search for a permanent University Librarian since the tragic passing of Rich Sweeney.  I am not aware of the status, but I suspect the position will not be filled until the summer.

There is usually a slightly smaller number of students in the spring semester as we have lost more to graduation more than we have gained from new enrollments or transfer students.  Of course, there are so few reference questions.

My first class will be in Chemical Engineering 396.  I only have 70 minutes so it will be impossible to go into depth into the resources that I will discuss.  Also, the professor does not want me to give an assignment to the class.  Thus, it is impossible to do any assessment of information literacy skills.

If everything goes alright, I will retire as a librarian at the end of 2017.  I think after working since 1974,  I need time for rest and relaxation.  

Undergraduate Students in Environmental Engineering Show Poor Information Literacy Skills

For many years I have taught information literacy skills to students in a course called Introduction to Environmental Engineering.  I discuss the various formats of the literature, the scholarly, communication process and the databases that the university provides that cover technical disciplines.  I always describe in detail the peer review process and tell how web sites do not undergo a rigorous evaluation before they are published.  Students are assigned to groups of 3 or 4 and must write a paper on one of these topics:

• BP Oil Spill - Ethics and Safeguards
• Reduction of Greenhouse Gases
• Life Cycle Analysis of Hybrid vs Conventional Batteries
• Bottled Water vs Tap Water
• Landfilling: Municipal and Hazardous Waste
• Arsenic in New Jersey
• Flint Michigan Water Crisis
• Deepwater Horizon Disaster

I asked the professor to give me the papers after the semester so that I can evaluate the information literacy skills. Only 25% of the references cited were from peer review journals.  I guess the student just prefer to use the web sites that they find by searching Google.  Also students made comments in the paper and did not substantiate them with literature references.

It is quite sad that even after getting information literacy training in freshman courses and in this environmental engineering class, students’ writing skills are poor.  Will they ever learn to use peer reviewed journal articles?