May 2007 SLIC
Library sections gave a tour open to all State Library staff on May 16 entitled “Treasures of the State Library.” Originally intended for new employees, the tour was enhanced to give busy staff from other departments a closer look at the research library’s history and mission, its collections and the services it offers state government officials and personnel, New Jersey residents and to visitors of the library. As part of the tour, SLIC staff opened the State Library’s vault and told an interesting story surrounding an 18th century broadside that offered a reward for the return of the state treasury. Participants on the tour visited the special collections of law, U.S. Documents, Grant Information for Non-profits, Jerseyana and New Jersey State Documents as well as the reference, non-fiction and periodicals sections. The tour explained about the special services available to state employees with a State Library card including access to electronically formatted book and journal collections, the reservation and renewal of books and how to request materials from other libraries.
• The State Library announced it summer schedule of topical training sessions offered at mid-day. Sessions are one hour in length. They are held in the computer training lab at noon and repeated the next day at 1 p.m. Registration is open to the public but space is limited. Upcoming programs are: Using American Fact Finder to Get the Data that You Want, Conducting Genealogy Research at the State Library, Creating a Family Genealogy Project, Using Census Records in Your Genealogy Research, Navigating Legal Databases, Researching New Jersey Statutes and Regulations and Lexis Basics (online database). The schedule and registration are available at our website or contact ebeckett@njstatelib.org.
• The first year of the Library’s project to reach out and establish liaison with each state department is ending with positive results. Elements of this project included making an introduction, establishing a departmental contact and arranging departmental distribution of library literature, news and a survey. Measurable outcomes included:
1) 67% increase in interlibrary loan transactions for state employees
2) 8% increase in the number of library cards registered to state employees
3) 7.4% increase in number of information contacts by state employees.