Seton Hall University Libraries Receives Technology award

I am pleased to announce that the Rethinking Resource Sharing (RSS) Innovation Award Committee has recognized Seton Hall University Libraries “for their process of innovating across all library services” with an Honorable Mention in this year’s award cycle.  The notification e-mail stated that:

“The pool of nominations for the Innovation Award is always competitive and this year was no exception.  We are pleased to inform you that we have awarded you an Honorable Mention…..  We are impressed with the work you have done and would like to acknowledge and celebrate your efforts within the Resource Sharing community.  … Congratulations to you and your team and thank you very sincerely for your efforts to improve resource sharing overall.” 

Seton Hall’s application was for “the entire process that led us to numerous, small-scale, problem-solving innovations of importance to libraries our size from a challenging baseline” over the course of several years.  The letter of support from OCLC noted that “SHU was critical in ensuring that their new cloud-based management service would work well with the legacy client-server software that allowed for material fulfillment for their users”,  and EBSCO’s letter of support noted that SHU was “focused on building a library system which leveraged technology, a good user experience, and a long range plan. That progressive Seton Hall vision led EBSCO and OCLC by improving their partnership surrounding API interoperability” – among other large and small innovations over the years.

The RSS Innovation award (RRS Manifesto) is sponsored by Atlas Systems, and this year’s winners were the Information Delivery Services (IDS) Project, based primarily in the State University of New York system, and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Libraries for developing an automated alternative to paper-based archival resource sharing.  A fellow Honorable mention went to the University of Ottawa Libraries.

Click to view the 2018 Innovation Award Honorable Mention [pdf]

Dr. John Buschman
Dean of University Libraries
Seton Hall University
973-761-9005

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Library Hours for August

#SHU_Libraries Our hours in August change just before the start of the Fall Semester:

Thursday August 9: 8a-10p
Friday August 10: 8a-5p
Saturday August 11: CLOSED
Sunday August 12: CLOSED

Monday August 13—Friday August 17: 8a-5p
Saturday August 18: CLOSED
Sunday August 19: CLOSED

Monday August 20—Friday August 24: 8a-5p
Saturday August 25: CLOSED
Sunday August 26: CLOSED

Monday August 27: 8a-2a Fall Semester begins!

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Library Weekend Hours for Fall Semester

#SHU_Libraries  We are announcing changes to our weekend hours of operation, for Fall 2018:

1. Starting Saturday, September 1st, 2018 Saturday hours will be returning permanently to 11a-7p (from 9a-5p), during Fall & Spring Semesters.

2. Starting Sunday, September 2nd, 2018 Sunday hours will be changing permanently to 11a-2a (from 12p-2a), during Fall & Spring Semesters.

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Newark’s Catholic Advocate Now Digitized and Searchable

Printed and microfilm versions of the Catholic Advocate in Seton Hall University Special Collections

Printed and microfilm versions of the Catholic Advocate in Seton Hall University Special Collections

Based on research by Professor Alan Delozier

Selections from the Catholic Advocate, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Newark, have now been digitized in a cooperative project between Seton Hall University’s Special Collections and the Catholic Research Resources Alliance (CRRA).  The newspaper has been published regularly since 1951; however, the issues selected for this digitization project were limited to the years 1958-1964, the era of the Second Vatican Council, enabling researchers to examine this period and its impact on the Newark Catholic community.  The project digitizes newspapers from around the country, enabling scholars to examine differences and similarities between regions during this period.

Screenshot of Catholic News Archives
Screenshot of Catholic News Archives

Seton Hall Special Collections and University Library staff selected the best quality images to scan and provided description of the materials to allow for the detailed searches that are now possible.  As part of the digitization process, the text was captured using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to allow for keyword searches of the entire text of each article, not just the titles.  If a word or name is mentioned anywhere in an article or even in a photograph caption, it will be found in the powerful search engine used in the portal.  However, because the contents were read by machine, interpretive errors are possible in the text.  Therefore, the public is invited to read and correct the text, and particularly active commentators are acknowledged on the website in a “Hall of Fame.”

Article text interface
Article text interface

The CRRA has digitized many more newspapers as part of its project, including the San Francisco Archdiocese’s Monitor, the Clarion Herald of New Orleans, and the Catholic Telegraph of Cincinnati, among others.  The project and the construction of the Catholic News Archive website was the recipient of a Catholic Communications Campaign grant from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Student working with online resources
Student working with online resources

The digitized materials are currently being utilized in classes at Seton Hall University.  Professor Alan Delozier, University Archivist, has introduced students to this new resource in his class “New Jersey Catholic Experience,” offered through the Department of Catholic Studies.  Students are able to use this powerful new tool to conduct in-depth research on the history of the Catholic New Jersey community.

The new portal and all of its content can be explored here; the Catholic Advocate content specifically be found here.

SHU_Libraries Receives Certificate of Appreciation from JESPY House

SHU_Libraries has been recognized with a Certificate of Appreciation from JESPY House, in South Orange.

JESPY House held its annual Community Appreciation Night recently, where Seton Hall University Libraries received the award. Accepting the award was Prof. Martha Loesch, who spoke about a JESPY employee who started on a volunteer-trainee basis in the library, and is now  a valued, paid employee.

JESPY house provides adults with disabilities a well-rounded program of support services.

Read the press release: JESPY House Thanks Community at Annual Appreciation Dinner in South Orange.

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DH Summer Symposium: Storytelling With Data

The Digital Humanities Committee Presents: “DH Summer Symposium: Storytelling with Data”, Tuesday, June 5 – Thursday, June 7 in Walsh Library.

This symposium is a collaboration between the Digital Humanities Committee, the Teaching, Learning and Technology Center and University Libraries.

Whether you are an experienced user of digital tools and techniques, or you are just beginning to incorporate them into your teaching and scholarship, the DH Summer Seminar will provide an array of tools, tips, and project ideas to stimulate you.

Members of the New Jersey Digital Humanities Consortium are invited to attend the Tuesday and Wednesday sessions.

For details and to register please visit:  http://blogs.shu.edu/technology/2018/05/25/digital-humanities-summer-symposium/

 

Library 24/7 Hours Ends Wednesday, May 16

#SHU_Libraries 24/7 period will end tonight–Wednesday, May 16 when the library closes @ 11p.

The library then operates on reduced hours for the next week:
Thursday, May 17 8a-5p
Friday, May 18 8a-5p
Saturday, May 19 CLOSED
Sunday, May 20 CLOSED
Monday, May 21 8a-5p

Tuesday, May 22 8a-10p (Intersession I and Summer I begin)

You can view the library’s complete hours here.

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