Campus Updates

[amlowe]

Please share your updates on this thread

[millerjaACC]

Danielle Thomas became our new full-time Library Services Assistant this summer. She work daytimes at the circulation desk and is responsible for processing new books and maintaining course reserves. Danielle has worked at the SUNY Adirondack Library in a variety of roles, advancing from student to professional roles. Danielle worked as a student assistant at the SUNY Adirondack Library since her first semester in Fall 2015. In December 2017, she received her Associate's degree in Liberal Arts: Humanities and Social Science from SUNY Adirondack. She then was hired as a staff person, as evening Library Specialist. In May, she graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Psychology. She joined the staff in July. Danielle plans to become a librarian, and ideally would like to work in a college environment.   

Reference Librarian Samantha Berry participated in the PRODiG ( Promoting Recruitment, Opportunity, Diversity, Inclusion and Growth ) Committee for SUNY Adirondack from February to July. Sam offered the unique outlook of a college librarian in the drafting of this profile and proposal. The proposal was accepted. It will provide grant funds to assist the institution with paying the salary of eligible new faculty, as well as in other respects. PRODiG is a system-wide initiative for SUNY-affiliated New York State college campuses to increase success in recruiting and retaining students and faculty of color. The initiative required each SUNY campus to compile and submit a comprehensive profile of themselves, demanding both qualitative and quantitative data ranging from the racial makeup of the college’s service area, to the amount of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion-focused professional development opportunities offered for faculty each academic year. The profile accompanied a proposal on how SUNY Adirondack would take its unique makeup into consideration and make strides in the realm of DEI.

Bailey Durham joined the staff as evening Library Specialist in September. She recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in History from SUNY Potsdam. She was previously a student worker in SUNY Potsdam’s Crumb Library circulation and interlibrary loan departments for three years. 

- Posted by Joyce Miller

[jenndevito]

For a second year, the University Libraries is partnering with the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS), Division of Information Technology (DoIT), and the Career Center on SBUHacks, a 24 hour hackathon held in the Melville Library. SBU Hacks will be held Friday and Saturday, 20 and 21 September.  https://sbuhacks.org/

New employees: Christine Fena, Undergraduate Success Librarian; Kimberly Kennedy, Content Access & Discovery Librarian; Claire Payne, Web Services & Data Librarian; Sonali Sugrim, Head of Content Acquisitions & Services; Renae Rapp and Timothy Kohn, User Services Supervisors.
New roles: Mona Ramonetti, Head of Scholarly Communication; Clara (Yuet) Tran, Associate Librarian

Positions open:
User Services Supervisor (part-time)
Electronic Resources Librarian
Dean of University Libraries

[erinsharwell]

Brockport: Mia Breitkopf resigned as Team Lead for Reference and Instruction in June, to take a job as Coordinator of Instruction and Research Services at St. John Fisher College. Diane Fulkerson began as Library Director of Drake Memorial Library on August 8th, coming from the University of South Florida.  Susan Perry retired from her position as Serials and ILL Librarian on August 22nd and will be providing support to all SUNY campuses via her new role with SLC beginning in September.  Erin Sharwell began her role as Head of Library Operations on August 1st, with responsibility for technical services, ILL, systems, circulation, and Brockport Downtown library services.

[AprilDavies]

Van Wagenen Library’s annual Chili Cook-off is happening October 9th. Come be a taster if you're in the neighborhood.

We are preparing to search for a new Outreach and Public Services Librarian as Mandy Babirad has chosen to move to the public library sector.

ILL and Archives Librarian Katherine Brent is co-chairing SUNY Cobleskill’s Middle States Steering Committee. 

Instruction Librarian Don LaPlant’s flash fiction piece, “Safety”, was recently published by Mystery Tribune (https://www.mysterytribune.com/safety-contemporary-crime-flash-fiction-by-don-laplant). His short crime fiction has been published previously in Thuglit magazine and online in the Akashic Books Mondays Are Murder series.

[sarahmorehouse]

Empire State College has a new president, Jim Malatras. He's shifted some things around in college operations, but not in Academic Affairs so far. Dr. Malatras not only comes to us from leading the Rockefeller Institute of Government; he brought it with him.

Our Interim Provost is now our provost-Provost. This is great - she's been much more invested in the library than any of her predecessors.

Dr. Lisa D'Adamo-Weinstein, Dean of Student and Academic Services and the direct supervisor of the four librarians (a number unlikely to increment up in the coming year) has been allowed to focus more on the library, to good effect on the morale and operations.

Some SUNY Office of Library and Information Services personnel are now housed at Empire State College facilities, which has been fun and interesting, and promises to foster neat collaborations. I hope that by next SUNYLA Conference, I can talk about that in some detail.

Alma is live! That was pretty epic. We had a last minute hangup with a minor technical detail while the relevant IT staff were on vacation, but we launched a few days after planned and things went perfectly.

[rnous]

New website
The University Libraries unveiled its new website in July! Check it out at: library.albany.edu.

Digital Scholarship: Opportunities and Challenges – Conference on October 11, 2019
The University at Albany Libraries will be hosting a one day conference on digital scholarship, developed in collaboration with Binghamton University Libraries, on Friday, October 11, 2019. This one day conference brings together scholars interested in exploring all aspects of digital scholarship. It will showcase new and important digital research projects, explore the potential of new and emerging trends in digital scholarship and investigate the technology, infrastructure, and support needed for effective scholarship.
Registration is required. The conference is free for students, and $40 for all other non-student attendees. For full schedule, speaker information, and to register, please visit: https://future.library.albany.edu/dsconf

Open Access Week events
The University at Albany Libraries will be holding a full week of programming in recognition of Open Access Week.
*Monday, October 21      12:00-1:00   Panel of Campus Advocates Speaking to Open Educational Resources at UAlbany
*Tuesday, October 22      12:00-1:00   Open Access Policy: From Directive to Draft
*Wednesday, October 23   9:00-12:30   Open Data Workshop: Intro to R and Python Using UAlbany’s Espy Collection
*Thursday, October 24   9:00-1:00           Reproducibility Symposium (Part 1): Building Transparency into Research, Teaching, & Learning
*Friday, October 25      9:00-1:00           Reproducibility Symposium (Part 2): Building Transparency into Research, Teaching, & Learning
These events are free and open to all, but registration for some is required. For more information on each program and for registration information, please visit: https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/open_access_week/2019/

Campus Conversations Series
The Libraries is continuing its Campus Conversations in Standish series this semester.
*Wednesday, October 2, 2019. Join Dr. Susanna Fessler, Professor of Japanese Studies, and the University Libraries for a talk titled "An Albany Yankee in the Tycoon's Court."
*Wednesday, October 30, 2019. Join Dr. David Carpenter, Director of the Institute for Health & Environment, and the University Libraries for a presentation titled "Are There Health Hazards Coming From the Rollout of 5G?"
*Wednesday, November 13, 2019. Join Dr. David Rousseau, Associate Professor of Political Science, and the University Libraries for a presentation titled "War and Rights: The Impact of War on Political and Civil Rights."
All Campus Conversations are held in the Standish Room of the Science Library from 12:35-1:30. These discussions are free and open to all. Light refreshments will be provided.

Personnel Updates
The Libraries welcomed a number of new folks over the summer. Ryan Clow joined our team as Digital Scholarship Center Training Specialist. Abigail (Abby) Adams is our new Subject Librarian for Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, Cybersecurity, and Criminal Justice. Kathleen Flynn is our new Subject Librarian for Physical Sciences, Math & Statistics, Computer Science, & Engineering. Katlyn Ira and Matt Dorry joined our Access Services team. Katherine Mules joined Library Systems as our Application Administrator/Developer.
Giovannine Matheron (Acquisitions) resigned to pursue other opportunities. Joyce Rambo (Dean’s Office) retired on August 9.