The SEBS Team was formed in the spring of 2017 in response to emerging needs at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) on the Cook campus. In the absence of a dedicated subject specialist for each discipline taught and researched at SEBS, a group of librarians took the challenge to experiment with a holistic approach to meet evolving library and information needs at SEBS. Benefiting from the support of SEBS administration, departments, faculty, and staff, the team managed to forge relationships on the Cook Campus quickly.
The team provides reference via the newly minted science group email, sciencereference@libraries.rutgers.edu and pop-up reference. Library instruction includes partnering with the SEBS Office of Academic Programs and research support for graduate students on topics such as citation management and systematic reviews. Along with the SEBS Office of International Programs, the team hosts orientations for international students. In addition to fulfilling collection requests, the SEBS team has also established demand-driven acquisition in the sciences as an experiment.
The SEBS team has been working with student groups on redefining the library as a space and making the Chang Science Library more welcoming and responsive to students’ current needs. This includes physical changes, such as moving bound periodicals to storage, as well as engaging students in various ways, such as offering Drop-in resume reviews by Career Services and an Open Mic night.
In the future the team is planning to continue to integrate NBL services into the SEBS curriculum and engage with library users on the Cook Campus.
The SEBS team leader is Judit H. Ward. The current members members are Rebecca Gardner, Karen Hartman, Mei Ling Lo, Megan Lotts, Laura Bowering Mullen, Laura Palumbo, Ryan Womack, and Connie Wu.