Previous: Biography
The Ursula C. Schwerin Library supports City Tech students in their research and academic pursuits. This is accomplished by providing print materials, such as books, periodicals, and other monographs, the library’s collection of media materials, eBooks, and access to online electronic databases. These resources are selected by faculty library subject-specialists, providing research assistance in disciplines and programs of study at the college. Additionally, the library offers reference services, information literacy, research, and library instruction. Each library faculty member holds both faculty rank –for example, Assistant Professor – as well as a functional title.
Supporting the Library’s Mission
As the IT/ILL Librarian, my position includes many responsibilities that support teaching and learning at the college even though I do not teach in a typical classroom setting.
I oversee our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services, through which we are able to borrow materials for students as well as faculty from libraries around the country that they would not otherwise have access to. This supports students through their assignments and research, enriching the kind of materials they are able to engage with. Through Interlibrary Loan, I assist students and faculty with their research and also teach them how the system works. I help students understand the different kinds of resources available to them through our own collection, the greater CUNY library collections and then from outside libraries through Interlibrary Loan. Under my supervision, we piloted a program this past year to begin borrowing books for students through Interlibrary Loan for the first time at CityTech (previously we were only able to borrow articles for the students).
I also oversee our Information Technology services in the library and head our library Tech Team. I am responsible for the library’s annual Tech Fee request ensuring that we have technology that meets the needs of our students. I also support day-to-day technology operations in the library through my leadership of the Tech Team. Through this work, I am direct supervisor for our IT Assistant Anderson Uribe-Rodriguez and help supervise our IT Associate Yi Chen and Interlibrary Loan Assistant Anita Rolling.
I am also administrator for our backend library systems (Alma, ILLiad, Connexion) through which we keep the functions of the library running from ordering library resources all the way through to getting the materials onto our shelves or our website for students’ use. I chair the library department’s Tech Team, Tech Fee and Systems Committees, comprised of library faculty and IT staff, which direct the work in these areas. Through our systems migration, configuration and ongoing integration of library systems in more streamlined and beneficial ways, I have been sharing information from our University-wide Office of Library service committees back to educate library staff and faculty about these matters, and now doing the reverse and sharing out to these committees and libraries on other campuses, as I begin piloting and testing these integrations. The end result of will be a smoother backend experience for library staff but also an easier experience for students to find and request materials from other CUNY libraries as well as through ILL.
During the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, we had to adapt quickly to the change in how we were able to work and offer library services. Under my leadership, the library Tech Team, with our very limited resources and small team, were able to get everyone in the library connected with access to our unique systems all within the first week of shutdown (while other campuses with more resources took months). This enabled us to transition immediately into offering library services and resources remotely. Similarly, when we reopened the physical library first with a 50% in person staffing model and now 70%, under my leadership the Tech Team has had to rethink and adapt our technology and related services. These student services have evolved and improved in a responsive way under my direction and continue to do so.
Through supervising, I have developed a teaching/learning reciprocity with the IT Staff Anderson and Yi as well as with the ILL Assistant Anita. I am able to share my expertise and they theirs, and then collaboratively we are able to use this to creatively problem solve and inform our work.
Within my position I am also responsible for the subject areas of Chemistry and Gender & Sexuality Studies. In addition to being in charge of selecting books to purchase for these collections, I also teach instruction sessions in these areas. Students or faculty in those areas reach out for one-on-one research assistance as well. I have created the Gender & Sexuality Studies LibGuide to provide information and teach students about the library resources we have in these areas but have also grown it to include queer community services and organizations.
I also work reference desk shifts and help to teach students one-on-one with their research in that way. Sometimes this includes more in-depth research, but also I am also teaching information literacy skills in various ways including how to use OneSearch (our online catalog) to find library resources and materials as well as how to use library technology.
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