The importance of communicating

BY JIM MULLINS
 

PILLAR: Infrastructure

Dean of Libraries, Jim MullinsIn today's fast paced world, a week, a month, a year passes in a flash. How often have you felt as if an event happened just yesterday only to realize that in fact it happened six months ago? I make this observation not to raise concern about the passage of time, but to encourage all of us to value the simple things that we do for each other here at work, with our families and in our community.

Good communication keeps us centered, yet it is all too often that we overlook the importance of a simple conversation, an email, or a note that can communicate news or appreciation. In a few months, as we begin our new strategic plan, I encourage you to consider one of the most important components of the next five years…the importance of communicating. During the next several months we will be exploring ways in which we can increase communication from the administrative offices, divisional heads and the many units that comprise the Libraries, Press and Copyright Office.

At every opportunity, become a part of our new communication model and explore ways to communicate with colleagues throughout the Libraries, Press and Copyright Office...and, encourage them to do the same.

 

2011 Library Scholars Grant recipients

PILLAR: Robust Research & Scholarship Program and New Relationships

The Library Scholars Grant Program was established in 1985 by the 50th anniversary gift of members of the Class of 1935, and the class has been continuously supportive of this fund for the past 26 years. This program supports access to unique collections of information around the world for untenured and recently tenured Purdue faculty in all disciplines, from the West Lafayette, Calumet, Fort Wayne, IUPUI, and North Central campuses. The grants cover the expenses associated with the cost of transportation, lodging, meals and fees charged by the library or other collection owner.

Recipients for this year will be recognized at a luncheon on Wed., Apr. 13. Last year’s recipients will also make presentation about how the grant helped their research.

2011 recipients!

Robin AdamsROBIN ADAMS, assistant professor of engineering education, was awarded $4,960 to study a unique case of how a complex and novel design project evolved over time and across perspectives. The Apollo Lunar Module was crucial in achieving the unimagined goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely back to earth. It is also a historically and theoretically unique case of design iteration — there was no precedent for imagining space travel or the moon environment, this was a high-risk single unit design project with no room for error or public criticism, but with a high payoff potential, and the process involved navigating distributed teams, competing constraints, and emergent goals and rapid technological advances. The goal of this project is to analyze archival work documents at the University of Houston Library, in partnership with the Johnson Space Center, to understand the drivers and processes by which the Apollo Lunar Module design project evolved. 

“Learning from the past can guide how we prepare future designers as well as contribute to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing and Purdue’s global history of space travel.”

 

Ahmed Idrissi AlamiAHMED IDRISSI ALAMI, assistant professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, teaches Arabic language and culture. Alami’s research focuses on the issue of tradition and modernity in the Arab world. In his current research work, he investigates the interaction between the region of the Maghreb, Morocco in particular, and the West/Europe. He has been awarded $5,000 to access governmental and religious documents and unpublished manuscripts in the National Library in Rabat and the Qaraween Library in Fes, both located in Morocco. Some of these texts are primary texts concerning travel to European nations and describe engagement with governments and their representatives in European cities. Other works he will review include commentaries, newspaper articles and religious fatwas concerning the issues and tensions articulated above.

"This grant has made a difference in my research. It would be instrumental to the completion of my project. Thank you."

 

Rebecca BryantREBECCA BRYANT, assistant professor of dance, was awarded $1,765 to conduct research at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library. The NYPL’s collection is the most comprehensive archive in the world devoted to the documentation of dance, and its materials must be studied on the premises. Bryant’s research project consists of viewing recordings of improvisational dance performances and collecting data on the performers’ use of space (level, shape, groupings and landmarks) and time (tempo, duration, rhythm and repetition). This project is part of her ongoing investigation into the differences between improvised and pre-determined choreography as manifested in performance.

“Of particular interest to my research are a set of 29 performance DVDs from multiple years of Improvisation Festival/NY,” says Bryant.  “These discs contain a unique and comprehensive representation of performance by renowned improvisers, and offer the opportunity to examine the formal qualities of these ephemeral events.”

 

Mohammed ErrihaniMOHAMMED ERRIHANI, assistant professor in the Department of English and Philosophy (Calumet campus), is an applied linguist specializing in language policy and second language learning and teaching. He was awarded $4,250 to travel to Morocco to research the role that language “academies” and government agencies play in the implementation process of top-down language decisions. He will also investigate these agencies’ efforts at reviving, standardizing and promoting Berber, the indigenous language of North Africa in light of the 2003 language policy that requires all school-aged children to learn Berber, regardless of their linguistic or ethnic background.

"I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to conduct research in Morocco, especially in light of the pro-democracy movements currently sweeping North Africa and what they might imply in terms of sociolinguistic changes."

 

Kendall LeonKENDALL LEON, assistant professor in the Department of English, whose research interests lay at the intersections between Chicana rhetoric, community and professional writing studies, was awarded $2,751 to research the archival collections of one of the first Chicana feminist organizations, the Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional (CFMN), housed at the UC Santa Barbara’s California Ethnic and Minority Archives Special Collections. To gain a broader and more accurate understanding of the scope and internal workings of the organization, Professor Leon will also study the archival collection of the CFMN’s well-known chapter organization, Comisión Femenil de Los Angeles, housed at UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center library. Through studying the internal and programmatic documents of the organization, she will investigate the way that Chicana identity helped build and shape an organization and its practices; at the same time, the way that being an organization shaped the emergence of Chicana identity.

“While the CFMN’s leaders are well known as activists, academics, government and public officials; and their testimonies, newsletter articles and activist writings are anthologized and referenced in Chicana studies, little is known of the internal workings of this organization,” Leon says. “Doing this archival research allows me to analyze Chicana practice in the nuances and mundane details of the organization and in their act of archiving.”

 

Jeffrey TurcoJEFFREY TURCO, assistant professor of German, is a specialist in medieval German and Scandinavian literature that also focuses on the modern reception of medieval culture. He was awarded $5,000 to support research at the Deutsche film Aktiengesellschaft (DEFA) Film Library at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and at the DEFA-Stiftung in Berlin. He is investigating the image of the Middle Ages in the popular culture of the former East Germany, particularly the tension between official disinterest and popular fascination that surrounds the idea of the Middle Ages under East German state socialism.

“Modern audiences have always reinvented the Middle Ages to suit their own needs. This is a rare opportunity to see that process of reinvention in progress, not only in scarce and unreleased films, but also in production notes, promotional materials, directors’ notebooks and collections of contemporary reviews.”

Turco is also editing a volume of essays on medieval Icelandic literature, New Norse Studies, forthcoming in the Islandica series from Cornell University Press.

 

NADÈGE VELDWACHTER, an assistant professor of French literature specializing in Francophone Studies, was awarded $4,947 to conduct research on the Vichy period in France and investigate the participation of Caribbean colonial troops in the liberation of France during World War II. In response to General de Gaulle’s Appeal of Jun. 18 1940, young men from the former French colonies of Guadeloupe and Martinique fled their occupied islands to join the Free Allied Forces in North Africa, Italy and metropolitan France. Many of them became prisoners of work camps or victims of concentration camps. Despite the undeniable contribution of these soldiers on the battlefront, this part of Caribbean history has been silenced by most French administrations and historians. Her objective is to visit the national and colonial archives in France and the Caribbean, as well as the National Memorial Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., to construct a history of black victims of the Holocaust from a Caribbean perspective.

“This opportunity will allow me to broaden my research by creating links between literary texts, historical and military contexts. Exploring France’s interconnected histories of fascism and imperialism also provides great potential for new and comparative investigation in the fields of African diaspora, decolonization and European history of genocide.”

 

Libraries launch e-Book patron-driven acquisitions

BY SUE WARD

PILLAR: Robust Local Collections

The Libraries recently launched a pilot project for e-book patron-driven acquisitions (PDA). Working with our primary book vendor, YBP, and one of the major e-book aggregators, Ebook Library (EBL), the e-book PDA implementation team developed a profile of e-book publishers and book types to include in the pilot. The result was a load of about 11,000 new e-book titles into the catalog, with 100-200 new e-book records expected weekly. Patrons will discover these e-book records in the course of normal catalog searching. Depending on the length and depth of patron activity in each title (browsing, downloading, printing, checking out), use triggers what is essentially a rental fee. Upon the third significant level of usage, patron activity triggers a purchase that permanently adds that title to our e-book collection.

e-Book PDA is a natural progression from the Books on Demand program that began in 2000 with the purchase of print books that met certain criteria when patrons placed interlibrary loan requests. Analysis of those books has shown that not only were almost all of them good additions to our collection, but also that most of them subsequently circulate at a higher rate than similar books acquired through routine collection development. Since the pool of e-book titles available for selection meets librarian-crafted profiles, we also expect that the patron-selected titles will be good titles to have in our permanent collection. The expectation is that patron-selected e-books will show the same strong subsequent use patterns. 

The e-book records in the OPAC for the pilot project books look the same to users as do the records for other e-books that the Libraries have already purchased, so patrons will not be able to distinguish between those titles that we already own versus the ones added through the project. Only when sufficient patron activity occurs will a book actually be purchased.

To see an EBL e-book that we have already bought, search the catalog for Goat Science and Production.

WorldCat will show titles in the e-book PDA pilot as being held by the Purdue Libraries, so patrons searching WorldCat or staff searching OCLC will see that we have access to these titles. In addition, YBP’s Global Online Bibliographic Information (GOBI) database will include a note in records for titles in the PDA project, so that staff searching for or ordering books can easily see which titles are already available to patrons.  Unfortunately GOBI will not reflect the 11,000 titles in the initial load, however, but will indicate titles in the weekly updates.

The pilot project will run for the rest of this semester and possibly into the summer as well, funds permitting.  Members of the e-book PDA implementation team will evaluate the pilot in a few months and make a recommendation about whether or not the Libraries should continue to fund e-book patron-driven acquisitions as a cost-effective way to offer users immediate access to a wide array of electronic books and to build the collection based on those titles that patrons choose to support their research and learning needs.

If you have questions about the e-book PDA pilot, please ask one of the team members: Robert Freeman, Jeremy Garritano, Diana Grove, Rebecca Richardson, or Sue Ward.

 

LCSSAC LINK Letter: a communication tool

BY BECKY HUNT

PILLAR: Infrastructure

At Libraries Clerical and Service Staff Advisory Committee's (LCSSAC) recent “Breakfast with the Deans” it was pointed out that many library staff are not aware of the existence of the LINK Letter, nor of its intended purpose.

A LINK Letter is a confidential way to express a suggestion, question or concern about the Libraries work environment. It can be sent anonymously to lcssac@purdue.edu and goes only to the chair of the LCSSAC.

The letter is presented at the next LCSSAC meeting, without identifying the sender, for discussion. In order to ensure a timely response, if the next meeting is more than one week away the letter is sent via email for an online discussion.

If necessary, the LINK Letter is forwarded to the appropriate member of the Libraries administration. They address the suggestion, question or concern and relay the response back to the LCSSAC chair. The response is then sent to the individual who originated the letter. If the letter/response is something that would be beneficial to all of the clerical/service staff, it is sent via the clerical/service listserv and added to LCSSAC’s intranet site.

All ideas, questions or concerns are welcomed. All emails are treated with the utmost respect and privacy. Suggestions for library activities, questions about Libraries/University policies, concerns about changes in the job or library environment. . . anything that matters to you, matters to us!

LCSSAC is an avenue and voice to the Libraries Administration. Please share your suggestions, questions or concerns with LCSSAC so that we can make the Libraries an even greater place to work!

LCSSAC members include: Becky Hunt (chair), Laura Patnaude, Sharon Sturgeon, Mary Sego, Dacia Weisler, Jill Begley and Linda Foster.

 

Copyright in the News

BY DONNA FERULLO

It’s been a long time coming but after a year of waiting for a decision on whether the Google Book Settlement with publishers would be approved by the Court, Judge Chin finally issued a ruling on Mar. 22. The Court ruled that the settlement was unfair and would give Google too much of an advantage. One of the major areas of concern for the Court was Google’s business model of having authors opt out if they did not want their books scanned and put into the Google database. Under copyright law copyright holders have the right to pick and choose how their works are to be used. They can choose to opt in to a program such as Google Books but they should not be forced to have to opt out. Such a concept is a reversal of the copyright doctrine and an infringement under copyright law. So what does Google do now? They have numerous options available to them. They can appeal Judge Chin’s decision. They can draft another settlement agreement that would take into account the objections that Judge Chin raised in his ruling. Google can decide to withdraw the project. They can also decide to use their considerable resources to lobby Congress to pass an orphan works bill that would provide them with some measure of security against infringement claims for a large part of their database should they choose to continue the project. We are all waiting with great anticipation to see what their next move will be.

Contact Donna Ferullo with questions.

 

Libraries Distinguished Lecture Series speaker, T. C. Boyle

T.C. Boyle book signing, March 29, 20111

T. C. Boyle, award winning author, autographs books for lecture attendees after his performance on Mar. 29 as part of the Libraries Distinguished Lecture series. Boyle talked about his most recent book, When the Killings Done and performed one of his short stories, “The Lie” from his book Wild Child. Boyle was the eighth speaker in the series, which began in 2005.

Photo by Mark Simons

 

 

CONTENTS
  • 2011 Library Scholars Grant recipients
  • Libraries launch e-Book patron-driven acquisitions
  • LCSSAC LINK Letter: a communication tool
  • Copyright in the News
  • Libraries Distinguished Lecture Series speaker, T. C. Boyle
  • Off the Shelf
  • Service Anniversary
  • One Book Higher Reminder
  • Announcements
  • Libraries in the News
  • Staff Publications and Presentations
  • Libraries Staff A-Z
  • Connect with Libraries
  • What's Cooking?

 

OFF THE SHELF

New Listings

Continuing Vacancies

Promotion

  • JoAnne Carow, A/P Assistant to the Dean, Apr. 4.

To view all Purdue job postings visit the Purdue employment page. If you have additional questions, contact Julie Hillgrove or 494-2903.

 

SERVICE ANNIVERSARY

Laurie Sadler, AA, is celebrating 15 years at Purdue.

 

ONE BOOK HIGHER REMINDER

To present a poster, contact Angie Ewing before Apr. 11.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

All-Staff Meetings
Apr. 7
1:30-3 p.m.
HIKS B848
or
Apr. 8
9-10:30 a.m.
HIKS B848

Purdue Press Hosts Panel Discussion
"The Jewish Jesus"
featuring
Professor Zev Garber
Apr. 12
5:30-7 p.m.
HIKS B848

Libraries Spring Seminar
Liaison Librarians and the Future:
Where Are We Headed and How Do We Get There?
featuring
Janice Jaguszewski
Apr. 14
2 p.m.
HIKS B848

One Book Higher
Apr. 25
10 a.m.-12 p.m.
PMU North Ballroom

Annual Staff Recognition Luncheon
Apr. 25
11:45 a.m.
PMU North Ballroom

From Master Mix to Farming Tips:
100 Years of Agricultural Extension
Exhibit
Archives and Special Collections
Mar. 3-May 31
HSSE 4th floor
STEW

 

LIBRARIES IN THE NEWS

Purdue Parents and Families Newsletter, Mar. 2011
Incoming students get summer reading assignment; Common Reading book
Purdue Parents Fund assists with study space for HSSE Library

Purdue Today, Mar. 25
Did You Know?: 'The Spirit of the Land Grant College'; HSSE Library

Lafayette Journal & Courier, Mar. 27
Campus briefs: 100 years of Extension exhibit; pg. C9

Lafayette Online, Mar. 25
Fiction novelist T. Coraghessan Boyle event scheduled for March 29

Purdue Exponent, Mar. 29
Well-known author to ‘perform’ on campus; pg. 2

LogiXML, Mar. 31
Purdue University Libraries Selects LogiXML To Meet High Demand for Library e-Resources; quotes Paul Bracke
Also appeared:

UNS Press Release, Apr. 1
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet to speak at 2011 Literary Awards  

Connecticut News blog, Apr. 1
A man, his dream and the little school that could in Brewster; book published by Purdue University Press

UNS Press Release, Apr. 4
Author to speak about distinctions between Judaism and Christianity; book published by Purdue University Press

UNS Press Release, Apr. 4
Purdue Solar Racing enters new car in Shell 'Eco-marathon'; Purdue Libraries a sponsor
Also appeared:

Conference Circuit, Apr. 4
E-Science–How Can We Teach It?; presentation by Michael Fosmire at ACRL Conference

 

STAFF PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Weiner, Sharon. A., Stephens, Gretchen and Nour, Abdelfattah Y. M. Information-seeking behaviors of first-semester veterinary medicine students: A preliminary reportJournal of Veterinary Medical Education 38(1):21-32, 2011.

Bracke, Marianne Stowell (2011). “Emerging Data Curation Roles for Librarians: A Case Study of Agricultural Data.” Journal of Food & Agricultural Information 12 (1), 65-74.

 

LIBRARIES STAFF A-Z

Katie MarkeeKATHERINE “KATIE” MARKEE
Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center
Oral History Librarian

Q. What do you enjoy most about your job and why?
A. Interaction with the Purdue community. Each interviewee has their own story to tell about their area of specialization.

Q. How long have you worked in the Libraries and Purdue?
A. 42 years — all in the Purdue Libraries.

Q. What is one unforgettable experience that has happened to you or your coworkers while working in the library?
A. Receiving the John H. Moriarty Award. He was the Library Director who hired me in 1968.

Q. What’s your favorite book, web site, movie or database?
A. John Wayne movies. I have seen more than 40 of his films plus I have videos of his 1930-1940 series.

Q. Coffee, tea, water or soft drink?
A. Coffee

Q. What do you like to do for fun?
A. Attend home football games in Ross-Ade stadium on fall afternoons.

Q. Include any information about yourself that you would like to share with the staff?
A. Enjoy each and every Day. Boiler UP!

 

CONNECT WITH LIBRARIES

 

WHAT'S COOKING?

Master Mix Recipes from Purdue's Home Extension — Oatmeal Cookies
Visit the Libraries Intranet site for this recipe.

Send recipes to Teresa Brown.

 

COPY DEADLINE

Copy for the Apr. 20 issue is due by Apr. 18. Send to Teresa Brown.