Archives Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Lunar Landing

On Monday, July 20, Purdue University will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the lunar landing and first steps on the moon by Purdue alumnus Neil Armstrong. The Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center will be showcasing some of the most treasured items from Purdue’s proud history of spaceflight in an exhibit titled Purdue’s Place in Space: From the Midwest to the Moon, which opens on Monday and will be on display through October 30.

The exhibit will feature new acquisitions from the papers of Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan, as well as some items that are on loan from Purdue’s alumni astronauts specifically for the exhibit. Currently the Archives has received seven cubic feet of material from Armstrong, and expects more items to come in as he sorts through his collections.

Sammie Morris, head of Archives and Special Collections, said the exhibit will include artifacts that were carried in space flights, mementos signed by astronauts, photographs, a portion of a heat shield from the Gemini mission, a slide rule from Armstrong as well as handwritten notes from his course assignments, and Purdue textbooks

The exhibit in the Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center will open on Monday, July 20th, and will be viewable from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.

Digital Initiatives has a New Home

The Libraries Digital Initiatives group recently moved from the Archives space on the fourth floor of HSSE to Stewart 279. The move reflects the unit’s primary goal of providing digitization services to all of the libraries across campus and in some instances other University departments.

The Digital Initiatives Team consists of Carl Snow, digital initiatives librarian, and Jan Addison, metadata specialist, who work together under the direction of Paul Bracke, associate dean for information technology and resource services.

The Digital Initiatives group digitizes items including books, photographs, documents, maps, transparencies, slides, and audio and video tapes, and stores the contents online.

“We have digitized thousands of items,” says Carl. “One of the most interesting was the deed for the first 150 acres for Purdue University from John Purdue. I’ve learned a lot of Purdue history in the past several months scanning more than 100 photo binders from Archives and Special Collections.”

One current project involves scanning technical reports from the Engineering library. “The collection is set up using Contentdm,” says Jan. “We set up which fields we will use for the description; decide whether the fields will be controlled vocabulary fields; and what descriptive standards will be used. This is done in consultation with the ‘steward’ or librarian in charge of the collection, in addition to deciding together on an official name for the digital collection and deciding how the rights will be expressed." Jan is training Frances Christman, ENGR, on how to use Contentdm and enter data. Her work is then sent to an ‘Approval’ queue so that Jan can check on it before it goes into the collection.

Jan is also working with Shauna Borger in Archives and Special Collections, who will be doing descriptive work for their collections in Contentdm. Shauna is learning how to describe photographs, oral histories, and other archival materials.

The team is also working with the Schools of Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine to digitize their respective school magazines.

“The move has allowed more space for us to work,” says Carl. “At times we handle several large pieces that require us to spread items out and prepare them for scanning. We recently completed a project for the School of Veterinary Medicine that involved large composite portraits of graduating seniors that took up a lot of space.”

A steering committee will be formed to set guidelines for accepting new requests and prioritizing projects as they are received.

Pictured: Divine Eguzouwa, a student assistant, works on one of many projects for Archives and Special Collections.

Staff Enjoy ALA Bus Trip to Chicago

On Monday, July 13, 2009, 42 staff members took a bus trip to ALA in Chicago. Staff members roamed among the many exhibits checking out a variety of new products, collecting lots of freebies, meeting book authors, and just enjoying the opportunity to spend time with coworkers.

When asked what each attendee enjoyed most about the trip almost everyone commented that meeting coworkers and spending time with them was a great opportunity.  “Getting acquainted with Purdue Libraries staff in a relaxed, learning environment, and building relationships was most enjoyable,” said one staff member.

Staff also learned a lot that could apply to their jobs, mentioning the fancy scanner, learning about ExLibris, the talking robot, book recycling, updated furniture and book carts, new software, new products, and so much more.

Meeting representatives and the author book signings were also a big hit, but the biggest highlight appeared to be the endless supplies of freebies!

Ann Swain said, “I’ve never been to a library conference before.  Just seeing all the different library related stuff was a great learning experience.  I appreciated the opportunity to attend.”

Photos by Elaine Bahler

Gee, hasn’t the weather been great lately? Sure, it’s been hot during the day, but some of the nights have been very cool and pleasant. That said, it’s time to talk about air conditioning. 

The American Council for and Energy-Efficient Economy (ACE3) has an online “Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings” that includes tips for more efficient air conditioning, including ways to reduce your need for a/c.  

The government’s Energy Star web site has lots of info to help homeowners heat and cool their homes more efficiently. Included are suggestions for insulating the home, using programmable thermostats, and selecting the correct size of air conditioner for the house or room. 

And, as expected, The Mother Earth News has a recent article “Simple Ways to Cool Your Home and Save Big,” and links to other related MEN content. 

I hope these links will help you keep your cool this summer while saving some money and cutting down on CO2 emissions.  If you have good ideas for cutting down on a/c, send them to jkinkus@purdue.edu.

Summer Library Tours

Don't forget to register for the remaining library tours listed on the intranet.

July 21 — Physics Library, 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
July 23 — Archives and Special Collections, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
July 27 — Humanities, Social Sciences and Education Library, 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
July 28 — Management & Economics Library, 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
July 29 — Undergraduate Library, 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Aug. 3 — ITRS & ROP, 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Aug. 4 — Circulation Services & Hicks Repository, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Carolyn Laffoon, EAS, gives tour attendees a unique look at the campus from the rooftop of the Civil Engineering Building.

Photo by Patrick Whalen