Attendees: Aman Kaur, Allison Ameduri, Allison Ryan, Alice Chunn, Emily Mervis (officers);
Kathleen Difillio, Marisa Hall, Jennifer Berry, Samantha Kannegiser, and Dana Eckstein


Dr. Valenza, our guest speaker, reiterated her intention to help students:

  • network and get connected,
  • gain an edge in the job market,
  • build a community,
  • establish a professional presence online and in-person.

NJASL Fall Conference October 26-27: Valuable opportunity for us to take part in the professional discourse of library and information science (conference offers a student rate).

NJASL “UnConference”: Dr. Valenza is in charge of the NJASL “UnConference” segment taking place in the afternoon from 1-3 p.m. on Monday, October 27. The concept of an “UnConference” is that it is informal: participants write on a sticky note describing what they “would like to have a conversation about ___” or “would be comfortable leading a conversation about ___” or “want to learn more about ___” topics of their choice. She requested two student volunteers to help her assemble the conversations.

NJASL “Smackdown”: On that same Monday from 4-5 p.m., the conference will conclude with a smackdown—a forum for conference attendees to lead conversations for 10 minutes on topics related to library programs/web or social tools/successful teaching strategies.

Dr. Valenza encouraged us to get involved with our state/national organizations, emphasizing the value and importance of learning outside of the classroom.

Project promotion/asking for interest: Dr. Valenza and Samantha Kannegiser are putting together LibGuides as a resource that will hopefully draw national/international attention and collaboration. If students have any “passion project” or topic they want to gather resources for, contact either Dr. Valenza (joyce.valenza@rutgers.edu) or Samantha (Samantha.kannegiser@rutgers.edu).

Dana Eckstein intends to produce some promotional/library videos in the same vein of recent viral videos such as “All about the books.” This is a fun opportunity to incorporate learning objectives into videos that can serve as resources for librarians. If interested in writing lyrics, filming, acting or any other aspect of this video-making project, email Dr. Valenza or Dana (dana.eckstein@rutgers.edu).

Our next meeting is Wednesday, November 12 and Dr. Todd will be coming to speak with us about the School Library Media specialization (including the field experience component) and how to obtain certification.

Finally, RASL’s RSS feed is now available in the MLIS LibGuides.