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Science librarians author most downloaded article
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Science librarians authored most downloaded article of 2013
 The article "Introduction to Altmetrics for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Librarians" authored by Linda Galloway, Janet Pease, and Anne Rauh, was the most widely read article in Science & Technology Libraries for 2013, according to a report from Tony Stankus, Editor-in-Chief of the London-based journal. Subscribers to the journal, which is the oldest and most cited in its field, number several hundred science librarians from hundreds of universities and research centers based in more than 50 countries. Stankus commended Syracuse University Libraries, saying,"Syracuse means to attract and retain the kind of talent that generates new knowledge for the professions, and it clearly did so here."
According to the authors, altmetrics are the tools that help track a scholar's influence and relevance beyond traditional citation metrics. Altmetrics can take the form of article downloads or saves, tweets, analysis and review, or simply article views. They provide immediate feedback because they rely on real-time data and interactions and can be quantified quickly. The importance of quantifying these interactions is evident as scholars begin to communicate more frequently and meaningfully via social media outlets. For more information on applying altmetrics, contact one of the authors: ( Linda, Janet, or Anne), or any subject specialist librarian.
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Reopened Carnegie Library Reading Room
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Reopened Carnegie Library Reading Room
On Monday, January 13, the refurbished Carnegie Library Reading Room and adjacent Libraries' service point on the second floor reopened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony ( watch the video). The main entrance to the Carnegie Library--through the front stairs and doors--reopened for the first time since the mid-1970s. The renovation has been years in the making, with contributions from librarians and staff across the Libraries, as well as many others at the University. The refurbished reading room will be dedicated to silent, individual study--a return to its original purpose. David Wolken, PhD student in Cultural Foundations of Education, was the first student to enter the new reading room following its opening. He shared the following impressions: "The renovated reading room in Carnegie is truly awesome in the sense of inspiring awe. The grand entrance is welcoming and gives a sense of academic seriousness, and the large, well-lighted tables effectively facilitate focused study. The bright yet classic decor engenders students' comfort as well as attentiveness. As a graduate student with many hundreds of pages of reading every week, having a space conducive to silent study is invaluable to me. I think that relative to the large and growing number of students at Syracuse, the university previously lacked ample silent study space. However, the new Carnegie reading room will greatly help in addressing this need.'
In addition to David's sentiments, Syracuse University posted a picture of the newly-renovated reading room on its Facebook page that garnered more than 1,100 likes, 190 shares, and 50+ comments. Below are some comments from students, alumni, and community members that were posted on various social media sites. Students- Beautiful Carnegie Library right here on SU's campus! pic.twitter.com/QxBcMWBuVD
- Ahh, Carnegie Library looks so beautiful now. pic.twitter.com/xsEvvVq9rk
- New Carnegie reading room looks fresh.
- Carnegie Library is gorgeous after reconstruction, digging this reading room for sure.
- Carnegie Library is TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR WORDS. #booksonbooksonbooks #canilivehere
- The New Carnegie Library is like the most beautiful building I've ever been in. I feel like I'm partly in Europe and partly in Hogwarts.
- SU's Carnegie Library Reading Room refurbished. A haven of silence, peace and beauty to 'think it thru.'
- Carnegie Library opens its doors and unveils its renovated Reading Room, possibly the quietest place on campus.
- New reading room in Carnegie Library. Beautiful and makes me want to study! pic.twitter.com/qKSc5czBdy
- Carnegie Library might be my new favorite place to do work on campus. Wonderful renovations.
- I'm very impressed with the Carnegie Library at @SyracuseU. I always love finding a new study space!
- Mind blown with the front doors [to Carnegie Library] in use.
- Looking forward to getting over and seeing the new Carnegie reading room.
- You can now walk in the front doors of Carnegie Library! Have to figure out a new prank for freshmen!
- Well their goes one primary mode of identifying freshman...
- The doors open now? Aww... That's no fun. Looks nice, but no fun.
- Now that the Carnegie Library doors work again, what tip will tour guides tell prospective students now?
- The Chamber of Secrets has been open #Carnegie #Library #cuseprobs
- Did the Carnegie Library hire special people to yell at you for having coffee on the study floor? Because it's freaking annoying...
Alumni and Community Members- Quite impressive! Almost makes me want to go to college again.
- That is absolutely beautiful. So proud of my alma mater.
- Beautiful! Wish it was open when I was there! I'll have to come see it soon!
- I need to find an excuse to get back to campus and see the remodeled Carnegie Library.
- Wow! What a change from Bird Library where I spent countless hours mulling and introspecting over heavy duty finance journals. Wish I was there to be a part of this.
- Beautiful! Would love to just sit there and write all day!
- Architecture and design are breathtaking! It looks like an ideal place to study.
- Gorgeous! I always used to study in Carnegie because it was so much quieter, even though it was a bit dingy. Now it is just beautiful!
- Great job. Carnegie was always the best place for quiet study.
- Beautiful reading room. Does remind me a little of the reading room at the New York Public Library.
- I'm so glad to see it being restored. It was depressing to see this great space underutilized.
- Remember studying there 45 years ago! Beautiful!
- This amazing!!! So bright and beautiful!!! It's great to use this magnificent bldg again!!!
- Badly needed...worked there in 1985 while attending SU and wow...what a difference..very nice.
- As a freshman, I hated this library and was so glad when "Big Bird" opened my sophomore year. This picture puts Carnegie in a different light. Well played, SU.
- I'm so happy to see this library reading room restored and returned to it's original use. Students are going to love it!
- Such a beautiful library!!!! Lucky students!!!!
- One of the most beautiful places to study at SU!
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The Archive in Motion exhibit opening
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The Archive in Motion exhibit opens
 Syracuse University Library's spring exhibition The Archive in Motion opens with a reception on Thursday, January 30, at 6 p.m. in the Special Collections gallery on Bird Library's sixth floor. Curated by Lucy Mulroney, curator of rare books and manuscripts, this exhibition explores the concept of movement through the materials held by SCRC.
Organized around a set of interlinked themes, the exhibition encompasses rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and original artworks spanning the fifteenth and twentieth centuries. From Albert Einstein's original handwritten research paper "On Rotationally Symmetric Stationary Gravitational Fields", through stunning photographs of ballet dancers Paul Draper and George Skibine, to pochoir prints hand-painted by Native Americans, this exhibition not only explores the representation of movement, but it reveals the archive as something that is itself always in motion.The exhibition will run through June 27, 2014.
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Correction
In the December 2013 staff newsletter, the article "Libraries' Holiday Reception recap" listed the recipients of the Dean's commendation awards. Bevan Angier and Kelley Lasher, who were also recipients of this year's Dean's commendations, were inadvertently omitted from the list. We apologize for this oversight.
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New staff
Ronald Figueroa, Interlibrary Loan Supervisor, in Access & Resource Sharing comes to us from the University of Miami Libraries where he was the Interlibrary Loan and Course Reserves Supervisor. During his time at the University of Miami, he had the opportunity to create and implement different procedures that helped improve ILL and Access services to higher standards. He has more than 13 years of experience in the areas of interlibrary loan, resource sharing, document delivery, copyright, course reserves, and software related to these areas. Ronald is currently working on a Computer and Information Science degree from Nova University located in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Alane Johnson, has returned to the SU Libraries as a Library Technician IV in Acquisitions & Cataloging.
Deborah Manion, Office Coordinator for Syracuse University Press, holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Iowa, where she also served as a visiting assistant professor of English for two years. Last year, she held that position at Knox College in Galesburg, Il, where she taught literature, theory, and film classes. She has also adjuncted at several other schools. She has published articles on Victorian literature, pedagogy, and James Joyce, and serves on the editorial board of the online journal Genders.
Please welcome Ronald, Alane, and Deborah to the Syracuse University Libraries!
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SU Press news
 Spring 2014 Catalog is Now Available!
Happy New Year from the Syracuse University Press office! We are excited to share the Spring 2014 Catalog. This season we have a diverse list of new titles in series such as Sports and Entertainment, Gender and Globalization, Television and Popular Culture, as well as many others. With our variety of titles and genres, there are books to interest all readers!
For television and film buffs, we have Reading Joss Whedon which explores the work of the exceptionally talented Joss Whedon. His works include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Much Ado about Nothing, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and most recently, the Avengers: the third highest-grossing film of all time.
For those looking to start or restart an exercise routine in the new year, you will find inspiration in Charles Kastner's book The 1929 Bunion Derby. This remarkable account of human endurance and long-distance running unfolds against the backdrop of America's swift decline from the heady Roaring Twenties to the devastating Great Crash, and is precisely the kind of underdog story that university presses bring to light.
Take a look at the full Spring 2014 book catalog for further information on these two books. In addition, check out any of the other new SU Press books coming this spring, they're worth a read!
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Newspaper databases slideshow
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Newspaper databases slideshow
A slideshow loop publicizing a range of licensed online news databases offered by SU Libraries, and relevant access points, is installed adjacent to the new books and current newspapers area in Bird Library's 1st Floor - Learning Commons. Thanks to Lesley Pease, Russell Silverstein, and LITS for logistics in getting that presentation up and running for the new semester. Appreciation to Scott Warren, Tasha Cooper, Nancy Turner, Interim Dean Dames and the Deans' Team for their input and support. Slides currently on display are compiled by Newhouse School subject librarian, Michael Pasqualoni.
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Save a tree, save money: 10 ways to print less
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Save a tree, save money: 10 Ways to print less
According to a recent post on the Business Computing World blog we're continuing to consume huge quantities of paper. Here are a few tips they suggested you can use to help keep the dead tree count down. - Reformat: Reduce font size and margins in your document before printing. If you must print out PowerPoint or other slideshow presentations, configure your print job to options like the Handouts View where you can choose a multiple number of slides to print per page. Some solutions cut out unnecessary information, such as banners and ads, when printing material from the web.
- Double up: Make double-sided printing your default setting.
- Portable Document Format: PDFs are the new paper. "Save as" or print directly to PDF. Scan paper originals to use, save, or distribute instead of making paper copies.
- Print preview: Take a few minutes to preview your print to avoid those single straggler lines of text on one page.
- Print on demand: Use print on demand capabilities. Publications and documents are not printed unless actually needed.
- Collaborate online: Use online collaboration tools like Google Drive or Dropbox to access and work on the same documents.
- Stop printing your email: Printing does not equal saving. Email is already storable, savable, and sendable. Plus mobile options these days give you easy access to email and calendars.
- Stop printing the Internet: Instead of printing online material, use services like Instapaper or Pocket, which will save and store articles and pages you want to read and provide easy-to-read online and mobile formats.
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Did you know?
 Kenya National ArchiveDid you know that Syracuse University Libraries is one of just two repositories of the complete microfilm collection of the Kenya National Archives? The Kenya Archive collections include archival material, many once confidential, documenting the colonial and post-colonial government of Kenya up to the early 1960's. The archive provides a full account of the social, political, economic, and religious problems of development in equatorial Africa. In addition to government documents, the collection also includes a large number of microfilm reels of newspapers, journals, and papers of assorted associations. The collection was produced in the 1960's through a joint grant with the National Science Foundation, the government of Kenya, and the Program of Eastern African Studies of Syracuse University (no longer in existence). Documents were collected and microfilmed by Syracuse University faculty and graduate students, as well as the Chief Archivist of Kenya, and sent to Syracuse University Library in 1966 and 1967. A more complete description and history of the collection can be found in "The Development of the Eastern Africa Collection at Syracuse University" by Robert G. Gregory ( The Courier, Vol. XIX, Number 2, Fall 1984, pp. 29-59), which is in SURFACE.
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Comments and complaints from the Interwebs
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Comments and complaints from the Interwebs
 Almost every day, SU students comment and complain about the Library using social media outlets, such as Twitter and Facebook. Many of their musings receive a reply from the Library's official Twitter handle, @SyracuseULib or the Learning Commons (@sulibrarylc). Here are some of the things that have been on their minds:
- Dear @SyracuseULib, I noticed your expansion of ProQuest historical newspapers to include @washingtonpost, @latimes, & @WSJ. Thanks, an ABD
- The new printers at Bird Library are a nuisance.
- Teacher is making us walk all the way to Bird Library so she can be at a talk that she wants to hear.
- I'm sitting weirdly close to a stranger in Bird Library who is asleep and wearing an angry bird hat. Mixed feelings.
- As per a report by the @dailyorange, there's a small amount of dangerous chemicals (PCBs) in the Bird Library basement. #changingmystudyarea
- Bird Library on a Friday night in the first week of school....who am I????
- It's only the 2 week of school and I already live at the library. #coolbeans
- My car's power steering was frozen, there was frost on the INSIDE of my car, I've been in Bird Library since 8 AND I got a parking ticket...
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Staff news
Got news? Please feel free to send us any news items that you would like to share with colleagues -- graduations, weddings, new babies, travels, and such. As always, we welcome your feedback, comments, questions, or story ideas. Send your contributions to libcom@syr.edu.
Many thanks for your interest!
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The Syracuse University Libraries Staff Newsletter
Editors:
Pamela Whiteley McLaughlin, Julie Sharkey
Contributors: Bevan Angier, Nicolette Dobrowolski, Annette Carbone,
Ronald Figueroa, Roberta Gwilt, Lisa Kuerbis, Deborah Manion,
Michael Pasqualoni, Lesley Pease, Bonnie Ryan
Click here to view past issues of the Staff Newsletter
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