University Libraries Advances Campus Partnerships

University Libraries is a vibrant hub for studying, research and conversation on both the South Orange and Nutley campuses. A twelve-person faculty librarian team and two data specialists provide research and instruction services to the Seton Hall community. The Research Data Services team continues its steady growth, branching into new services such as research computing. As the University Libraries continues to provide innovative services, there are three current partnerships to highlight.

Department of Education Leadership, Management, and Policy

University Libraries and the Department of Education Leadership, Management, and Policy (ELMP) teamed up this October to provide ELMP graduate students with a series of research-focused workshops. The topics included research data management, copyright and using APA guidelines. These hybrid workshops were held online through Teams and in-person at the Walsh Library Common Area.

“The ELMP Workshop Series, which addresses wide ranging topics, from conducting literature reviews to publishing dissertations, provides a tremendous resource for current and returning graduate students. The initiative demonstrates our librarians’ continued commitment to supporting students and faculty,” states Randy Clemens, associate professor and department chairperson, ELMP. Feedback from students and faculty about the workshops was positive; one faculty member noted that the ELMP workshops “were extremely helpful” and he would like to see them repeated. Look for more ELMP workshops in the spring 2025 semester. For more information, check the University Libraries events calendar at the beginning of the spring semester.

Department of English

The University Libraries and the Department of English have had a long-standing relationship to provide library instruction to First Year Writing (English 1201 and 1202) classes. The initiative was recently updated to provide classes with an alternative instruction method. While continuing in-person instruction, the Libraries also developed online instruction modules for First Year Writing instructors to opt into instead. The modules provide the same, high-quality instruction that students receive during an in-person session while promising greater flexibility to both students and instructors. “I can say that the modules contain valuable information for first-year students’ research needs, and we are thrilled to have the flexibility that the modules and other options provide for library instruction,” states Kelly A. Shea, Ph.D., associate professor of English and director of First-Year Writing.

Lead Instruction Librarian Maria Barca says “We find the reception to the modules from students and First Year Writing instructors to be heartening. Since the modules' launch one year ago, instructors have repeatedly used them for their classes, and it's been exciting to see how the students do on the modules' exercises. It gives the Libraries a glimpse into the present state and needs of our students as they develop research and information literacy skills and allows us to respond accordingly to ensure they graduate from Seton Hall as informed, literate citizens." Faculty interested in providing instruction modules in their classes can reach out to Maria at maria.barca@shu.edu. 

School of Diplomacy and International Relations

Since 2020, University Libraries has partnered with the School of Diplomacy and International Relations in support of the DiploLab, a collaborative undergraduate research space led by Diplomacy faculty members Joseph Huddleston and Brandon Valeriano. Participating students assist with faculty research and publications by transcribing and coding interviews, conducting preliminary data analysis and visualization, reading and annotating scholarly literature, and putting together case summaries. Students also develop and write their own original scholarly and news publications with advice and input from faculty and their peers.

The Research Data Services team housed in University Libraries provides workshops on data skills and software training including statistical programs like STATA and qualitative analysis programs like ATLAS.ti, giving students transferable skills they can apply not only in the lab, but also to their other coursework and postgraduate careers. Additional research support is provided by Diplomacy liaison librarian Michael Murphy, who provides advice and consultations for all on-going projects.

Brandon Valeriano, assistant professor, School of Diplomacy and International Relations and DiploLab co-head states, “Modern research requires a clear collaboration with the University Libraries' programs and staff. Access to important resources is now often only available online, facilitated through University access. Becoming an expert in a field and producing up to date scholarship often requires a deep investigation and examination of online databases and resources.” Valeriano continues “we also benefit greatly from our direct relationship with Michael Murphy who is an important resource for our students and has taken the lead in producing seminars such as online coding for our DiploLab students.”

Past publications from students include articles found in The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, the Georgetown University Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, and most recently The Diplomat. According to Joey Huddleston, associate professor, School of Diplomacy and International Relations and DiploLab’s founder, "Learning how to do research, the process of going through developing your ideas and testing them, it sharpens you in all other aspects of life as well. It makes you take ideas more seriously in general and interrogate ideas."

University Libraries

Every day, librarians provide assistance with conducting research, how to find journal articles, finding data and citation help. These services include in class instruction within courses ranging from Biology to Diplomacy. In 2023-24, librarians taught over 354 classes reaching over 5300 students in classes covering literature reviews, submitting theses and dissertations, and Python workshops. The librarians also provided over 420 research consultations to students and faculty from all disciplines. Research Guides, online toolkits that provide direction for locating journals, booking a study room and finding primary sources had over 316,000 views in 2023-24. RDS provides consultations about software that can help the SHU community analyze and visualize data. Software supported includes Stata, R, ArcGIS, Qualtrics and Atlas.ti.

To request librarian help, please contact ask@shu.libanswers.com. To reach our Data Services team, please email dataservices@shu.edu.

Categories: Campus Life