John Cotton Dana Library
Rutgers-Newark Campus
Student Employee Handbook
September, 2009
Ann Watkins
With assistance from Maggie Harris and Joyce Watson
John Cotton Dana Library
The John Cotton Dana Library, located in the center of the Rutgers-Newark Campus
plaza, was named in memory of John Cotton Dana. Known as Newark’s First Citizen, Mr. Dana
contributed to the city’s cultural and educational life during the early 1900s as the Public
Library’s director and as the founder of the Newark Museum. He was a strong advocate for
post-secondary and adult education in Newark and served on the board of Dana College, the
city’s first four-year college. Dana College evolved from the two-year preparatory school for the
New Jersey Law School and, shortly after Mr. Dana’s death in 1929, was renamed Newark
College of Arts and Sciences. However Mr. Dana’s name continued to be associated with the
library.
Dana Library’s purpose is to support the programs of undergraduate and graduate
education offered by the Campus with the exception of law. The collections providing
informational support include 350,000 books, 1,200 current journal titles, 245,000
government documents in print, and 18,050 media programs. As a part of the Rutgers University
Libraries, Dana Library offers access to electronic indexes and databases as well as electronic
journals.
The original part of the library building, the South Wing, was opened in June 1967. An
addition, today’s North Wing, was completed in April 1977. An expansion to the North Wing in
1994 included a new space for the Institute of Jazz Studies and the Media Services Department
and renovated areas on the First Floor and the Lower Level.
Services offered by Dana Library combine people, print and technology. The reference
librarians help students and faculty with their research by locating items or providing instruction
so the library user can find information independently. The staff members in the Circulation and
Serials Departments also work with students and faculty, helping them locate specific journal
issues, charging out books, or instructing them in the use of the Reserves and MY ACCOUNT
section of the online catalog. When library users are interested in reading a book or journal
article not held by Dana Library, the members of the Rutgers Delivery Service/Interlibrary Loan
Office obtain the item for them. The University Libraries offers remote access to the electronic
resources including journal indexes and electronic journals. In order to view these records in the
library, PCs are available to users on the First Floor. In addition Campus Computing Services
manages two lab sites in Dana Library (Reference Room and Fourth Floor), making thirty PCs
accessible to Rutgers students and faculty.
Facility
Dana Library has five floors. On the Lower Level, you will find the periodicals (or
journals or serials or magazine) collection. Current issues are on display. Bound volumes of
older issues are also available. There are also some older journal and newspaper holdings in
microfilm. All of the journals are arranged by title in alphabetical order. There are two public
service desks, Serials and Copy Services.
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The Circulation Desk, the Reference Room and a quiet study area are located on the First
Floor. In the lobby, public telephones and photocopiers are available. Around the central
staircase, you will usually see exhibits on view. New books are displayed in a special section.
The lobby also has comfortable seating where students like to study or socialize. The quiet study
area is in the South Wing behind the Circulation Desk. Students have access to Computing
Services’ wireless network in the South Wing.
On the Second Floor you will see the circulating book collection. The books are arranged
by call numbers from the Library of Congress classification schedule. There are many study
carrels as well as four group study rooms. Recently the library added comfortable seating in the
area between the two large windows over the entrance doors.
The Fourth Floor has been called the library’s showcase. The space is beautifully
appointed with a wood paneled exhibit gallery, group study rooms, and a conference room for 70
people. Dana Library’s Media Services Department is located on the Fourth Floor. Their
collections offer media in many formats, most extensively in VHS. The Institute of Jazz Studies
is also housed on this floor.
Floor plans are included at the end of the Handbook with important locations indicated.
Dana Library’s hours of operation during the spring and fall semesters are:
Monday through Thursday
8 AM – 12 AM (midnight)
Friday
8 AM - 7 PM
Saturday
10 AM - 6 PM
Sunday
12 PM (noon) - 8 PM
Hours during the summers, inter-sessions, and vacation periods are shorter. They are always
posted and available to library users as handouts.
Collections
Student employees often work with print and multimedia collections held by Dana
Library. Each group of materials may be organized in a different manner, influencing how you
find individual items on the shelf.
Bound journal volumes and current journal issues are kept in two separate areas on the
Lower Level. To find out what journal titles are owned and for how long, you may look up the
title on IRIS, the online catalog. Both the issues and the bound volumes are arranged on the
shelf in alphabetical order by title. When you find the journal title you want, you may use the
publication date or the volume number to determine which bound volume will have the article.
The books in the reference collection are usually consulted for quick answers and on a
frequent basis. They are arranged by call number. The call number system used to group the
books by subject on the shelf comes from the Library of Congress. There are two other
collections in the Reference Room. The New Jersey documents collection contains publications
from various New Jersey government agencies with the exception of legal materials. Records
for all of these items are accessible through IRIS where they are identified as DOCNJ. The
publications are in Library of Congress call number order.
The remaining collection housed in the Reference Room is the Government Documents
Collection. The Government Printing Office makes publications available to libraries and Dana
receives 51% of these titles. The publications come in various formats including print and
microfiche. They may be located using a call number from the Superintendent of Documents.
Instead of grouping materials by subject, this call number system gathers together publications in
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series from a particular agency. Recently the University Libraries began adding records for
government documents to IRIS. Earlier publications may be located by using the Catalog of
U. S. Government Publications (Monthly Catalog),which is available on the University
Libraries’ Indexes and databases page.
Books shelved on the Second Floor are arranged by Library of Congress call numbers.
Records for most of these books are available in IRIS. Dana Library’s book holdings in IRIS are
complete from 1984 to the present. Records for earlier publications may also be available if
someone has already charged them out. The complete record of Dana Library’s holdings prior to
1984 is available from the card catalog in the Reference Room.
The media collection on the Fourth Floor is kept in a closed stack arrangement. In other
words, full time staff or student employees only have access and must retrieve items for library
users upon request. The different formats are stored separately according to an accession
number. This is a sequential number assigned by the order of receipt. Staff and users may
identify the media item they want by consulting IRIS.
More information about locating and handling books
Finding books by using call numbers
Books in the circulating collection are arranged on the shelf according to a call number.
Each number is unique to the book title and places it next to other books on the same subject.
The call number is assigned according to the Library of Congress Classification Schedule that is
commonly used in large academic libraries.
The Library of Congress Classification Schedule derives from the Library’s role as the
information source for Congress. In the very early days of our government and before the
Library of Congress was established, representatives in the Continental Congress used the
Library Company of Philadelphia to find information. The Company’s books were organized
using a system based on Bacon’s and D’Alembert’s works. Both men devoted much time to the
logical order for human knowledge.
In 1801 the Library of Congress opened its doors. The collection of 964 volumes was
arranged on the shelf by size and then by accession number (a number assigned from the order of
the book’s receipt). As the collection grew to 3,000 volumes in 1812, some subject organization
was recognized as necessary and the system from the Library Company of Philadelphia was used
as a model. In August 1814, the Library of Congress became a casualty of war when the British
burned the Capitol. Most of the collection was destroyed. A month later, former President
Thomas Jefferson offered to sell his personal book collection of 6,500 volumes to the Congress.
When the collection was acquired, Jefferson had already organized the books according to his
own classification system which he had adapted from Bacon and D’Alembert. There were few
modifications until the Library of Congress moved out of the Capitol to a new building in 1897.
The collection, now numbering one million volumes, needed reorganization with a more specific
classification schedule. Work on the new schedule was completed in the 1920s and continues in
use today.
There are some common points when you look at a call number assigned from the
Library of Congress classification schedule. First there are one or two letters to designate a
broad subject area. These subject areas include the following:
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A - General Works
B - Philosophy / Psychology / Religion
C - Auxiliary Sciences of History
D - History: General and Old World
E - History: United States
F - History: Americas
G - Geography / Anthropology / Recreation
H - Social Sciences
J - Political Science
K - Law
L - Education
M - Music
N - Art
P - Language and Literature
Q - Science
R - Medicine
S - Agriculture
T - Technology
U - Military Science
V - Naval Science
Z - Library Science
Then a number between 1 and 9,999 refines the broad subject to a very specific one. Next you
will see a decimal point followed by a letter and then a number. These usually refer to the
author’s last name, the first word in the book title, or a narrow subject. When this is the case,
you will see a second letter and number to indicate the author’s last name or the first word in the
title. The publication date will be in the last line. You may also see a volume number or a
section part number added to make the call number more accurate and unique. An example
follows:
HQ 1420 (HQ= sociology, HQ1420=history of women)
.R67
(Rothman, the author’s last name)
2003
(date of publication)
Each element in the call number is taken in sequence to find the book on the shelf. Please
remember the significance of the decimal point. Although it precedes a letter, it applies to the
numbers that follow the letter. .A785 falls after .A7846 and before .A8.
When the book you want is listed in IRIS as “in-library” and yet not on the shelf, you
might check the New Books display in the lobby or the sorting area just behind the Circulation
Desk. The Circulation Dept staff would be glad to help you in searching these shelves.
Handling books
By following a few guidelines when you handle books, you will preserve the library’s
book collections for use by other students who, at the moment, may be in kindergarten.
 Protect the books by keeping them away from food, beverages, and water. This includes
keeping your work area neat and your hands clean.
 Mark pages in books or bound periodical volumes with slips of paper and not with pens,
pencils, paper clips, or Post-Its.
 When you photocopy, please place the volume gently on the copier glass surface. Forcing
the volume to open will damage the spine.
 When you place a book on the shelf, please make sure it is standing upright or lying flat with
bigger volumes on the bottom.
 To help the book remain in an upright position on the shelf, please use a bookend to secure
the books on the shelf.
 When you are retrieving books or bound journal volumes from the shelf, please carry just a
few at a time. If the stack is too big, one book may escape and fall. Then all the other books
will crash to the floor.
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 Book trucks may be hazardous to your health as well as to the condition of the books. They
tip over very easily. Please don’t overfill the book trucks or make them top heavy. It is best
for both you and the books if they are standing upright on the truck shelf and held in place
with a bookend.
 If you come across a damaged book, please bring it to the staff at the Circulation Desk. They
will process it for repair or replacement.
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Dana Library Departments
Administration
Supervisor: Christine Ingram (973) 353-5222
Located in the South Wing on the First Floor, the Administration Office contains the
office of the library director and her support staff. Student employees assigned to the
Administration Office answer the telephone, receive visitors to the office and fulfill basic typing
tasks.
Circulation
Supervisors: Maggie Harris (day)
(973) 353-5161
Joyce Watson (evening) (973) 353-5161
The Circulation Department is located in the lobby of Dana Library. The staff are
responsible for the loan of the library's books to qualified library borrowers. They also share in
collection management activities with the shelving of bound journal volumes, searching for
missing items, and preserving the usefulness of the books. Student employees provide routine
information and circulation services at the public services desk. They may also be assigned to
special projects such as records management, book preservation activities, pulling books for
reserves or recording in-house use of the circulating book collection.
Copy Services
Supervisor: Gerard Drinkard
(973) 353-5917
Copy Services is located on the Lower Level. Student employees staff the public
services desk, instructing library users in the use of the photocopiers and microform readers.
They also monitor the operation of the copier equipment on the First Floor and Lower Level,
troubleshoot equipment failures and resupply the machines with paper. Student employees also
make deliveries of copy paper to departments upon request.
Media Services
Supervisor: Gerard Drinkard
(973) 353-5917
The Media Services Department on the Fourth Floor houses a collection in various
formats as well as the equipment necessary to view the programs. The videos, DVDs, CDs and
diskettes are kept in a closed stack arrangement. Student employees staff the public services
desk and answer any media related questions. They retrieve any programs requested by students
and set up the appropriate viewing equipment.
Rutgers Delivery Services/Interlibrary Loan
Supervisors: Carolyn Foote (RDS) (973) 353-5903
Dorothy Grauer (ILL) (973) 353-5902
The staff in the RDS/ILL Office on the First Floor fulfill resource sharing arrangements
organized within Rutgers libraries and with other academic libraries. They make available items
requested by Dana Library's users from other libraries. Since these sharing agreements are
reciprocal, the staff are also fulfilling requests from patrons at other libraries who want to use
Dana's collection. Typical assignments for student employees include pulling books from the
circulating collection, locating and photocopying journal articles, and packing up books to send
out.
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Reference
Supervisor: Yoshiko Ishii (973) 353-5910
Located on the First Floor, staff in the Reference Department maintain the reference book
collection and the government documents collection which includes state and federal
government publications. Student employees may be assigned data entry as well as shelving
print and microform documents. They may work as assistants to the librarians who may ask for
help with basic secretarial tasks or preliminary filtering of potential book purchases. Students
also assist the librarians at the Reference Desk by logging in the users of the public workstations.
Technical Services
Supervisor: Iliana Bernal
(973) 353-5905
The Technical Services Department on the Lower Level is responsible for collection and
records management. The staff make sure books are processed properly so library users may
find them both in the online catalog and on Dana Library's shelves. The department also
monitors the receipt and the binding of current journal issues. Typical assignments for student
employees include staffing the public services desk, answering questions regarding the
availability and location of journals, shelving current issues and circulating selected current
issues and newspapers for use in the library. They may also process books by applying call
number labels to the spine or cover.
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Student Employee Information
General Information for FSWP Student Employees from the Financial Aid Office
The following is general information about the Federal Work Study Program (FWSP).
Information was compiled based on the most frequently asked questions. You are
responsible for all information presented. Please take particular note of the
information listed under the sections "Recording Your Hours Worked" and "Prohibition on
Studying while Working."
Any questions you have should be addressed to staff in the Student Employment Office in
New Brunswick and the Financial Aid Offices in Newark and Camden. References to "the
office" or "our office" refer to the three offices. Addresses, hours, and phone numbers of
the three offices appear on our website at
http://studentwork.rutgers.edu/FWSP/student_employment_loc.htm
Placement - Students are placed in departments that are authorized to have FWSP
employees. Only the Student Employment/Financial Aid Offices can authorize placements.
Before you begin working, you must sign an Employment Authorization Form (EAF). Your
request to work in a specific department will be considered whenever possible, but you may
be placed in another department if the one you chose has already received the maximum
number of students it is authorized to have. See "Survey of Continuing Students" for
information on web EAF's.
Survey of Continuing Students - During the spring semester, an email survey of
continuing students is conducted. Students are asked whether they want to return to the
same FWSP job in the following academic year, whether they want a different job, and if
they are not sure at the time of the survey. Students who request to return to the same
job and who are requested to return by the department will receive a web EAF rather than a
paper EAF. Both the web EAF and the paper EAF authorize the student to work.
Prohibition on Studying while Working - The term "work study" refers to the fact that a
FWSP employee is a student with a job. All FWSP jobs are real part-time jobs and require
students to work to earn the funds. Students are not permitted to study while being paid
FWSP funds.
Payroll Authorization - When you receive your EAF, your payroll status will be noted on
the top of the form. If you need to complete payroll papers, you must do so before you can
begin work. The department in which you will be working will assist you. When you go to
the department, you will need to bring your Social Security card and one other form of
identification. (If you do not currently have your Social Security card, contact our office and
we will advise you.) If your EAF indicates that you are currently on payroll, you do
not need to fill out these forms.
Amount of Funds - Your EAF lists the amount of FWSP funds for which you are eligible.
Arrange your hours with your supervisor so that you can earn what you need, up to the
maximum amount allowed. You are not guaranteed this amount of money; you must
schedule your work with your supervisor so that you can earn the amount.
Work Schedule - Your work schedule is determined in conjunction with your supervisor,
whose name is listed on the EAF. Be honest and realistic about the time that you will be
available to work. Students and supervisors should arrive at a schedule that allows the
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department to benefit from the student's availability and that allows the student to earn the
necessary amount of money. The amount of funds available, the hourly wage, and the
number of weeks you are available to work should all be taken into consideration at the
time that you are setting your schedule. If a change in work schedule is required, it is
your responsibility to notify your supervisor as soon as you know about the
change. Although circumstances may come up that require you to request an immediate
change in schedule, a week's notice is preferable.
Recording Your Hours Worked - You are responsible for accurately recording the hours
that you worked. Your supervisor is responsible for verifying that the hours are correct.
Your employing department will instruct you in the procedures for recording your hours.
Recording hours that you did not work is fraud. Signing someone else's name to a time
report form is forgery. If you participate in either of these activities, you will be dismissed
from your job and you will be required to reimburse the university for funds that you
received. Additionally, you may be charged with a separable offense under the University
Code of Conduct and you may no longer be eligible for future FWSP funding.
Maximum Hours per Week - During the summer, students may work up to 35 hours per
week. Students are not required to work 35 hours per week but, as mentioned above,
should arrive at a schedule that is mutually agreeable to student and supervisor. During
the academic year, students may work up to 20 hours per week.
Departmental Rules - As an employee of the department, you are expected to adhere to
the rules within the department to which you have been assigned. These include but are
not limited to rules about who to call in case of absences, rules governing confidentiality,
attendance requirements, and rules about the use of computers and phones.
Absences - If you know in advance that you cannot work on a day you are scheduled to
work, it is your responsibility to notify your supervisor as early as possible (preferably no
less than 24 hours before the fact). If you are ill, call your supervisor as early in the
workday as possible. If you are requesting time off in advance, please remember that it is a
request and may not be able to be granted. Repeated absences (or lateness) can be cause
for dismissal from your job.
Getting Paid - In any two-week pay period in which your department submitted a time
report form, a check will be generated and sent to the department in which you work.
Checks for students working off campus will be sent to the Student Employment/Financial
Aid Office. You will only be paid for hours that you work (breaks, lunches, holidays, and
absences will not be paid for). The amount of your paycheck will be determined by your
hourly wage multiplied by the number of hours you worked within the two-week pay period.
If you work at more than one job within the university, only one check will be issued for the
entire amount earned in both departments. Check with both departments to determine
where the check will be delivered. If you do not receive pay to which you are entitled, you
or your supervisor must contact our office. If you are not going to receive a check because
your payroll forms are incomplete or have not had time to hit the payroll system, you will
receive all pay to which you are entitled on the next pay date after payroll forms have been
completed and entered into the system. Your department can advise you of that date.
Cancellation of Assignment - Once you have received your EAF with your assignment
information, you must get in touch with your supervisor to establish your work schedule and
starting date, even if you cannot begin immediately. If you do not contact your supervisor
within a week of assignment, your assignment will be canceled. You will only receive
consideration for alternative placement after all initial assignments have been made and
then only if job opportunities are still available.
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Resigning - If you need to resign from your FWSP position, give your supervisor two weeks
notice. Two weeks notice is standard employment practice. You must also notify the
Student Employment/Financial Aid Office as soon as possible so that we are aware that the
department has a job opening.
Reassignments - If you feel that you have a legitimate reason for not accepting your
assignment or for not continuing in your FWSP job, make an appointment to speak to an
administrator in our office. This appointment is not a promise of reassignment; it is an
opportunity to discuss and explore various solutions.
Declining - If you cannot accept a job in the FWSP and you have already received an
assignment, please notify us so that we can make the job available to other students.
Specific Information for FWSP Participants Assigned to Dana Library
Library Policies
Dana Library’s administration has established a set of policies for users to assure an
appealing, comfortable and safe environment for everyone. It is vital that everyone who works
in the library complies with the policies. Other students will see you as a role model.
There is no eating in Dana Library to preserve the usefulness of the collections, to
protect computer equipment and to maintain a clean study environment. Drinking beverages in
the library is permitted as long as the container is closed and spill-proof. Library staff and
student employees are asked to keep their food and drinks concealed when they are in public
areas. You are also asked to limit eating and drinking to staff rooms. Usually each department
has a spot out of the public view for this purpose.
No cell phones are to be used in the library building with the exception of the lobby.
Ringing bells and conversations are distracting to those library users who wish to study. While
you work in the library, please turn off your cell phone.
All library users are expected to exit the building using the west (Campus Center)
egress doors only. This includes full time staff and FWSP students.
Confidentiality
Students working in various areas of the library, particularly the Circulation and Media
Departments, use patron information to charge out library materials. All patron information is
confidential and protected by law. Any discussion of patron information with someone other
than the patron is grounds for immediate dismissal.
Absences
If you are unable to come to work at your scheduled time, you should phone the
department well in advance of your reporting time. You should speak to your supervisor or
another full time staff person. Phone numbers are given in the department description section.
During the winter months, a weather emergency might arise. To find out if the Campus
is closed, you may review the Campus’s homepage (www.newark.rutgers.edu) for any alerts. If
the Campus is closed, Dana Library will also be closed.
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Pay Rates
Pay rates range from $6.15 to $12.50 per hour. The pay rate for each FWSP job is
determined by the degree of skill or experience required for the job and the number of years the
student has been participating in the FWSP program at Rutgers. Students receive pay increases
if they work 200 hours in a Rutgers FWSP job or earn 75% of a standard FWSP offer ($2,000 for
undergraduates and $4,000 for graduate students). Pay increases occur once a year when the
student is assigned to a job. (from the FWSP Student Employment web page)
Time clock (ClocTrak)
When you report to work, you should sign in using the ClocTrak pc that is located in the
back of the Circulation Department. After double clicking on the icon, you will be invited to
enter your University ID number. You should also enter your times in and out on the sign-in
sheet which is kept on the shelf under the pc. After you sign in, you should report immediately
to the department where you have been assigned to work.
Students must take a lunch break of a half hour or longer if they work more than six
hours. You should sign out on the sheet and on ClocTrak when you leave for your lunch break
When you return to work, please sign in on both the sheet and on ClocTrak.
During the summer months when you might work a 35 hour week, you must take at least
a half hour lunch, a fifteen minute break in the morning, and a fifteen minute break in the
afternoon. You do not clock in and out for breaks. If you are working part time (up to 3 hours at
a time), you may take a 10-minute break. Please notify your supervisor or another full time staff
member before you leave the department for your break or for lunch.
Payroll
Your first paycheck will arrive no more than three weeks after you begin working. You
will continue to be paid every other Friday. You may pick up your check from the Circulation
Department supervisor. For your security, you must pick up your own paycheck. If you have
not picked up your check after one week beyond the pay date, it will be mailed to your home
address.
Telephone/photocopiers/computers
Telephones are important tools of business and are used by staff to provide information to
our patrons. Your supervisor will include the approved form of greeting and the answers to
typical questions in your training. The phones are not to be used for making or receiving
personal calls. This also applies to your cell phone.
Library photocopiers are needed to complete library related tasks by staff. They are not
available for personal use.
PCs at public service desks and in staff areas are made available to full time staff and
student employees to transact library business. They are not to be used for any homework, web
surfing, games, or non-library related email.
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