In this issue:
Our new Electronic Reserves feature is now fully functional. You
will find the "Eres" link on our library home page listed under "Library
Services". Eres gives our students access to documents in the reserve collection
from any connected terminal which runs Adobe Acrobat Reader. For our Eres
trial this semester, we have decided to post our traditional reserve holdings
along with our PDF files so that students wil have a complete catalog of
reserve items for every participating course. Course web sites containing
scanned documents will be password protected to comply with copyright regulations.
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The Guggenheim Library is happy to announce the addition of JSTOR to our array of electronic resources.
JSTOR provides a deep electronic archive of scholarly journal literature. Each journal in JSTOR can be searched or browsed back to its first issue. JSTOR is entirely full-text.
It is important to note that JSTOR is an archive of articles, and not a source for the most recently published issues. In most cases, the lag between the most recent print issue and the most recent JSTOR issue, known as a “moving wall,” is between 2 and 5 years. JSTOR provides convenient and reliable access to over 5,000,000 pages in over 120 journals in these 15 academic disciplines:
African American Studies
Anthropology
Asian Studies
Ecology
Economics
Education
Finance
History
Language & Literature
Mathematics
Philosophy
Political Science
Population Studies
Sociology
Statistics
To access JSTOR, simply go to the Library Home Page, click on Electronic
Resources and choose JSTOR from the alphabetic list of resources. http://bluehawk.monmouth.edu/~library/ElectronicResourcesGateway.html
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Collection Development / Liaison Program
Upon the retirment of Susan Kuykendall, Rachel Gardner, Associate Librarian, has assumed coordinating responsibiltites for the selection of books, serials and electronic resources for purchase by the Library. Aurora Ioanid is in charge of technical services, which includes the ordering and processing of new items. Assisting are the following librarians who act as liaisons and consultants for the various departments.
Michael Banick
History, Anthropology, NJ Collection, Psychology
Cynthia Guigno
Juvenile Collection
Hugh Holden
Chemistry, Medical Technology & Physics,
Computer Science, Mathematics, Philosophy, Software & Electrical Engineering
Aurora Ioanid
Architecture, Art
Susan Kadezabek
Communication, Criminal Justice, Interdisciplinary
Studies, Law, Nursing and Health Sciences, Political Science, Social Work
Maria Larson
Accounting & Business Law, Management
& Marketing, Economic & Finance, Biology, Languages & Literature
Dawn Popoff
Education, Religion
Sue Stehle
Accounting & Business Law, Management
& Marketing, Economics & Finance, Sports, Music, Theatre &
Dance, Film
Sara Swijter
Careers Collection
The Library, much like the University, is an evolving organism. The passage of time, changes in curriculum, new scholarship and space limitations necessitate the addition of new materials as well as the withdrawal of dated or superseded resources. Librarians and faculty share responsibities for the Library's collection. Liaisons from both the library and the departments must work together to promote communication and to ensure that the collection supports the current research needs of the academic community.
Faculty, students and administrators are all encouraged to suggest books, journals and other materials for purchase. We will also be soliciting assistance from faculty to assist in "weeding" ( library term for the process of identifying materials for removal or replacement).
Please keep in touch and get involved!
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Did you know that the Guggenheim Library is constantly addiing links
from GOALS to the Web? Our catalog is not just a series of records for
our holdings. For example, if you go to "Economic Indicators" as a title,
you will notice a line prompting you to "Click on the online version."
This linking is currently available for more than just government documents.
Look at "The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy," for example. As more
of our holdings become available electronically, more links will be added.
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Dean Terry Webb has published a new book entitled "Re-Membering Libraries." It is a collection of essays and unpublished papers looking back on his 24 years in the library profession. The title derives from Dr. Webb's conviction that libraries need to be "re-membered" as he says "taken apart, examined and reassembled in order to reach the new levels of service that will be required in the future that is barreling toward us."
Dean Webb also was a speaker this summer, July 8-15, at the
5th WSWS/IEEE World Multiconference at Rethymnon, Crete, where he presented
a paper entitled "An Overview of Library Digitalization Projects
and the Current State of the Digital Library."
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A warm welcome to two new members of the Guggenheim Library:
Hugh Holden- Assistant Librarian, Digital AccessSusan Kadezabek, Assistant Librarian, Reference and Government Documents, has been appointed to a tenure-track position.
Dawn Popoff - Instructor, Reference & Information Services
Librarian Michael Banick Visits Brazil
I was invited by the Rotary Club District 7500 of Central New Jersey to participate in their 2001 Group Study Exchange Program. From April 24th – May 23rd, I was in Brazil, along with four other New Jerseyans, visiting six cities in three northeastern states: Natal and Mossoro in Rio Grande do Norte; Joao Pessoa and Campina Grande in Paraiba; and Carauru and Recife in Pernambuco. For four weeks, my fellow team members and I lived with families in Brazil, toured many cultural, educational and industrial facilities and spoke to hundreds of people about life in New Jersey and the United States.
I visited six academic libraries in these three states. As a librarian, I took great interest in these institutions. What can I say about libraries in Brazil? If these institutions are representative of Brazilian libraries in general, the libraries tend to be small, particularly when measured against the breadth and depth of their programs and especially when compared to academic libraries in the United States. For example, the Universidade Federal de Pariaba II (UBFP II), in Campina Grande, offers both undergraduate and graduate coursework. There are 26,000 students and 3,000 faculty on this campus. It is the second largest university in the state of Paraiba and is the third largest federal university in Brazil. The library, however, has only 50,000 books: 20,000 non-circulating books and 30,000 circulating books. This number surprised me. Monmouth University’s Guggenheim Library, which supports a liberal arts university of 5,600 students, has nearly 250,000 volumes, and Monmouth does not even offer Ph.D. programs. The academic libraries in Brazil tended to be small and understaffed. The director of one of the libraries even commented on their staffing situation, stressing how there was far too much work for only six librarians.
Something else that struck me about the libraries was the condition of their collections. Many of the books were badly damaged, suffering from separated covers, broken spines or loose pages. In some of the libraries, the materials were shelved in a way that possibly damaged the items even more. For example, carts were overflowing with heaps of books waiting to be reshelved, and books in some areas were so loosely shelved that they were listing to one side, damaging the hinges and spines. In other areas, shelves were so tightly packed that books were laid across the tops of other books on the shelf. And the heat and humidity in the air only contributed to the preservation problems.
Most of these conditions could be corrected with awareness, institutional support and, perhaps, user education. Maintaining a suitable climate for the books, cleaning the shelves regularly and teaching staff and users proper handling techniques would extend the life of these materials. Spending a little time, care and concern for prevention could save a lot of money in repair or replacement costs of collections in the future. This, of course, is true not only in Brazil, but in libraries everywhere.
On a more cheerful note, I observed that the libraries tended to be busy places, teeming with patrons and engaged readers. Much can be said about a country by the policies governing access to information, including access to libraries and books. The libraries I visited were all open, with free access and anonymity. Access to the collections themselves varied from institution to institution, though. Two libraries were “closed stack,” meaning the shelves were not open to patrons. Instead, library staff would retrieve requested books. This practice is not entirely uncommon – especially in academic or research libraries. The other four libraries were “open stack,” allowing full access to the books and collections. But whether the stacks were open or closed, the libraries themselves were open, welcoming places.
As we know, libraries are more than just books now. This is true in Brazil, too. Five of the six libraries I visited had online Web-based library catalogs and the sixth library was preparing to launch their online catalog this year. Public access to computers was available and myriad databases provided online access to articles, much like the systems provided here at the Guggenheim.
This trip to northeastern Brazil was a fascinating and rewarding
experience for me on many levels. Believe me, there are many more
recollections than the library ones highlighted here. All of them,
together, provide an education and a happy diversion that I will be able
to call on for many years. The trip was a chance to learn: about
another culture, about my own culture and about myself; and a chance to
teach: about life in New Jersey, life in the United States and, now that
I’m home again, about life in another country. I hope that I was
an acceptable ambassador. I am very glad for the friendships that
I made during this program – friendships both in Brazil and friendships
with my fellow GSE Team members. It is my fond hope that these, like
the many memories of this trip, will indelibly endure.
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Using Electronic Library Resources from Off-Campus
Access to more than 20 electronic databases
licensed by the Library are now available from off-campus. Many of these
resources include select full text of journal, magazine and newspaper articles
as well as other important research materials. (Electronic
Resources Information page for more information). To use this service
you must have Internet access, a web browser, and a Hawkmail account. Click
on Remote Access Help
from the Library home page for detailed instructions on how to configure
your computer.
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A few changes have been made to the Special Collections webpage. The Mumford Collection note has been modified to reflect the continued unavailability of the materials, but work will begin soon on our building.
The Map Collection has been added to the array of Special Collections. The searchable web-based map database is available for browsing thanks to Cary Harr and Wayne Elliott in the Web Factory. The database can be viewed at: http://www2.monmouth.edu/libmaps/
The Guggenheim Mansion Vitual Tour has been
enhanced. The floorplans of the mansion have been modified so that clicking
on a room on the plans will take right to a photo. The photo pages then
give the option of going back to either the floorplans or the tour index
page. The tour begins by clicking on the photo at: http:bluehawk.monmouth.edu/library/GuggenheimTour.html.
Thanks to Wayne Elliott for his help with the enhancement.
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Contributors to this issue: Librarians Mike Banick, Rachel Gardner, Aurora Ioanid, Maria Larson, Dawn Popoff, Sue Stehle and Dean Terry Webb.
Questions or comments - Please contact Rachel Gardner, Associate Librarian, Information Services & Collection Development.