Ka-Neng Au
Microcomputer Coordinator
John Cotton Dana Library
Annual Report
FY1997/98
Highlights |
CIF |
CD-ROMs |
Presentations |
Webpages |
Duties |
Goals |
Statistics
This past year, I had the opportunity to teach an undergraduate course at the School of Management:
Computer Network Applications, 29:623:375.
In return, the SOM provided compensation for Dana Library to hire a temporary reference librarian.
Several new PCs were installed, primarily to support staff working with the new IRIS. Staff PCs
had their operating systems upgraded from Windows 3.11 to Windows 95; public PCs are to be similarly
upgraded next fiscal year.
This program, run by Rutgers University Computing Services-Newark, allows the Dana Library
to have several student assistants available to serve library users of electronic resources,
as well as computer hardware upgrades when necessary. In return, computer workstations are
available to students for non-library academic computing activities when they are not used
for access to the Libraries website. Applications software available include two office suites
and various utility programs; students can also do e-mail and FTP. All PCs received additional
memory this year, and their operating systems were then upgraded to Windows 95.
Dana Library continued to benefit from the presence of the student assistants in the
Reference Area. During the school year, the students provided approximately 70 hours a week
of coverage; student assistants were also on duty during the Summer months, for about 35 hours
a week. New hires this year were Utpal Dhruve, John Li, Darshana Patel, Ketan Patel, and Manpreet
Singh. They joined Stanley Johnson, Eric Peterkin, Manish Vakil, Vincent Kong, Avinash Wadhwa,
Shirley Ortiz from last year, and answered well over 9,000 queries.
RUCS also implemented a pilot project at Dana, by establishing a Site Manager to oversee the
staffing and operation of the two CIF labs. The two student assistants who were hired for this
position in the Spring Semester were Vincent Kong and Avinash Wadhwa. This project is currently
being evaluated and may receive further funding next year.
The collection grew to more than 300 titles this year. Notable acquisitions of the year
included several full-text databases:
- Crime in the United States, 1995-1996
- STEP into the Future: Small Business Tax Education Program
- World Factbook, 1997
Additional titles continued to stream in from the Government Printing Office, including
many from the US Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
I gave presentations on three occasions:
- Tipton, Roberta, and Ka-Neng Au.
"Librarian/Faculty Partnerships in the Academic Setting". New Jersey Library
Association, College and University Section, Annual Spring Program, Ewing, NJ, April
16, 1998.
- Au, Ka-Neng.
"Searching the Internet". New Jersey Library Association, Reference Section,
Annual Fall Workshop, Somerset, NJ, November 4, 1997.
- Au, Ka-Neng.
"Uncle Sam to the Rescue". Documents Association of New
Jersey Annual Conference, New Brunswick, NJ, October 24, 1997.
I also conducted the following workshops:
- Au, Ka-Neng, and Warren Mayer.
"Creating your own Website". Rutgers School of Communication,
Information and Library Studies, Professional Development Studies Program, New Brunswick, NJ,
June 11-12, 1997.
- Au, Ka-Neng, and Theo Haynes.
"Best Business Sites on the Internet". South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, Technology
Training Center course, Voorhees, NJ, June 9, 1998.
- Au, Ka-Neng, and Theo Haynes.
"Best Business Sites". Rutgers School of Communication, Information and Library
Studies, Professional Development Studies Program, New Brunswick, NJ, May 28, 1997.
- Au, Ka-Neng.
"The Realities of Networking CD-ROMs". Rutgers School of Communication,
Information and Library Studies, Professional Development Studies Program,
Newark, NJ, April 14, 1998.
- Au, Ka-Neng.
"Creating a Home Page for Your Business". Rutgers Cooperative Extension, New
Jersey Farm Management Program, New Brunswick, NJ, January 16, 1998.
- Au, Ka-Neng.
"The Realities of Networking CD-ROMs". Rutgers School of Communication,
Information and Library Studies, Professional Development Studies Program,
East Brunswick, NJ, November 19, 1997.
Three times I was invited as guest lecturer:
- Tipton, Roberta, and Ka-Neng Au. "The Future of Reference is Now."
Guest lecture for Basic Information Sources (17:610:531),
New Brunswick, NJ, April 30, 1998.
- Au, Ka-Neng. "Business Research Strategies." Guest lecture for Research
Methodologies: An Honors Course (61:090:371), New Brunswick, NJ, October 28, 1997.
- Tipton, Roberta, and Ka-Neng Au. "Tales From the Trenches". Guest lecture for
Basic Information Sources (17:610:531), New Brunswick, NJ, November 14, 1997.
I maintain five subject Webguides on the Rutgers Libraries website, all of which
were recently revised (one was created this year):
- Au, Ka-Neng.
Banks and Financial Services, created March 1995; last revised June 1998, --96 links.
[http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/socsci/busi/banks.html]
- Au, Ka-Neng, and Theo Haynes.
Rutgers University Libraries Business Resources, created November 1994; last revised June 1998, --230 links.
[http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/socsci/busi/business.html]
- Au, Ka-Neng.
Business Electronic Journals and Newspapers, created August 1997; last revised May 1998, --310 links.
[http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/socsci/busi/busejour.htm]
- Au, Ka-Neng.
Stock and Commodity Exchanges, created April 1996; last revised April 1998, --110 links.
[http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/socsci/busi/stocks.html]
- Au, Ka-Neng.
Resources for Entrepreneurs & Small Business, created April 1995; last revised February 1998, --80 links.
[http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/socsci/busi/smallbus.html]
I also maintain several shorter Webpages that serve as an introduction to
resources on the Internet. The following pages were created or revised this year:
-
Other Electronic Journal Directories, created May 1998.
[http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/ej-other.shtml]
- Internet Resources for
Electronic Commerce, created February 1998; last revised May 1998.
[http://newark.rutgers.edu/~au/ecomm.htm]
- Using the Internet For Job Searches,
created October 1996; last revised April 1998. [http://newark.rutgers.edu/~au/jobs.html]
With the help of Ray Schwartz and Wen-Hua Ren, the
Dana Library webpages are being kept up to date on the RUL website; the URL of the
homepage is http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/abtlib/danlib/dana.html
As the Microcomputer Systems Librarian, I have overall responsibility in evaluating, selecting,
recommending, installing, and maintaining all microcomputer software and hardware at Dana.
This year, the total number of machines in Newark rose to 135, mostly as a result of the staff PCs
installed for the new IRIS integrated online library system (see Table A),
in Circulation, Technical Services, Periodicals, and the Inter-library Loan office.
During the Spring semester, I assisted Roberta Tipton in conducting the FASN-sponsored
Faculty Training Program, a series of
workshops designed to improve the computer literacy of Newark College of Arts and Sciences faculty.
In addition to providing technical support, I also taught three of the workshop topics.
I am in the middle of a three-year term of office as an appointed member of the Planning Committee,
and a two-year term as an appointed member of the Scholarly and Professional Activities Committee.
I continue to serve as the Newark representative to the Coordinating Committee, and as a member of the
PC Working Group.
- To oversee the transition to Windows 95
- To continue to improve the computer literacy of library staff
- To assist in the planning of the CIIT
KNA: 980630