Staff updates in Digital Programs and Information Access

BY PAUL BRACKE

PILLAR: Infrastructure

I am pleased to be able to give the Libraries an update on a couple of important new hires we have made over the last several months.

First, in May, Amy Hatfield joined us as an assistant professor and Metadata Specialist. In this role, she will be leading the Purdue Libraries’ efforts in developing approaches to developing and applying metadata to digital projects across campus, and in leveraging metadata to enhance access to digital collections and develop new services. She is already contributing to changes in digitization workflows and Purdue University Research Repository (PURR). She is also currently wrapping up work on a very interesting Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant and hopes to present the results locally sometime this fall.

Hatfield has been working on a variety of sponsored projects related to health and medical information through IUPUI in recent years. Please read more about her below under “Libraries new staff.”

More recently, George Stachokas joined the Purdue Libraries as assistant professor and Head of Resource Services at the beginning of July. He will be leading Resource Services and will be playing an important role in the deployment of Alma.

Stachokas was previously Electronic Services Librarian at Indiana State University, and had prior experience in cataloging at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Chicago. He received his Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Arts in History from Indiana State University and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Purdue. His office is in STEW 175 and can be contacted at gstachok@purdue.edu or 49-42812.

 

Successful staff transitions

PILLAR: Infrastructure

Teresa BalserTeresa Balser
Library Assistant
Parrish Library of Management

I was approached about splitting my time between Hicks and at that time the Management and Economics Library (MEL) to help out when Cindy Smith retired in 2011. As I began learning what it would take to split between the two libraries, I was unsure if I could manage this change. It was difficult, but I told myself it would only be until the end of spring semester when MEL would close for renovations. I would soon learn that this was one of the staff transitions we had all been hearing about.

In May 2011 the MEL staff and collections were moved into Hicks for a temporary stay, while renovations were completed. I thought I was returning “home” to my regular position. At this time, we at Hicks had experienced, and still were undergoing many changes ourselves. There had been staff and collection transfers, position vacancies and responsibility shifting; to me it seemed that both staff and books had been flying out of the libraries. The cutbacks at Purdue didn’t help the situation. As we moved two families, if you will, along with our work necessities into one space, there were many days that you could feel a bit of unease in the air. It soon became clear that my assistance to MEL wouldn’t end in May as each separate library still had collection and supply needs.

As 2011 started to draw to an end, I thought the task that had been presented had been accomplished but was told that the newly named Parrish Library would like to keep me on to cover circulation, student supervising and supply maintenance. Nervous and unsure if this was the right fit, I moved forward. I hadn’t anticipated this temporary position to become permanent with increased responsibilities. This past May, during the extended hours of prep and finals weeks something fell into place, I started to feel like I belonged.

It was difficult; I liked my job and amazing group of coworkers at Hicks and was unsure of this move. I’ve learned a lot and have new experiences to add to my knowledge bank. In the end, I’m glad that I faced this challenge and am grateful to everyone for their training and encouragement. All in all, the transfer went pretty smooth and I made it through the spring semester with only minor scratches.

Change is definitely an opportunity to grow. I’ve learned that keeping an open mind is important while going through change, along with pulling from your resources. We bank a great deal of knowledge through our life experiences and a time of transition is a great opportunity to not only draw from those experiences, but to add to our individual knowledge banks as well. If you find yourself on the cusp of an unexpected job transition, rely on your friends, have faith in yourself and do your best. You can do it!

If you would like to share your Libraries experience, please contact Teresa Brown at tmabrown@purdue.edu.

 

Ask a Librarian — PUL QuestionPoint Digital Reference Service Expands

PILLAR: Scholarly Communication


Ask A Librarian homepage 2012Customer Service is NOT declining, it is becoming VIRTUAL! Starting this fall semester, Purdue Libraries will begin a text message reference service. Get a “brief answer to your simple question.” TEXT Purduelib at 66746 to get started, TRY IT NOW! Six reference staff members will be answering these texts through our current QuestionPoint digital reference service.

The Roland G. Parrish Library of Management and Economics will begin the operation of their own QuestionPoint digital reference service. The patrons who need management and economics reference assistance will be directed to this service, either directly through their website and page or referred. This will be a great addition to our current digital reference service since it will provide the patron with more immediate assistance and during hours that correspond to the Parrish Library.

Purdue Libraries’ reference service has many options available, whether the physical library is open or not. In fact, we are never closed to people who need information — they just need to enter through a different door. Choose TEXT for short answers, CHAT for 1:1 conversational assistance or EMAIL for more comprehensive assistance.

Purdue Libraries’ NEW Ask a Librarian website focuses on letting the student choose the assistance which fits their needs! For more information visit: http://www.lib.purdue.edu/askalib/

 

LCSSAC news

PILLAR: Infrastructure

At the July meeting new leadership roles for the Libraries Clerical Service Staff Advisory Committee (LCSSAC) were filled. They include: Sharon Sturgeon, chair; Teresa Balser, vice chair; Dacia Wiesler, secretary; and Allen Bol, web assistant.

If you have suggestions, concerns, etc. please feel free to contact any LCSSAC member.

District 1: Dacia Wiesler, dwiesler@purdue.edu
District 2: Dan Rotello, drotello@purdue.edu
District 3: Teresa Balser, tbalser@purdue.edu
District 4: Sharon Sturgeon, ssturgeo@purdue.edu
District 5: Shannon Miller, mille218@purdue.edu
District 6: Allen Bol, rbol@purdue.edu

Watch for an announcement about the LCSSAC Annual Picnic on September 18.

 

Libraries new staff

PILLAR: Infrastructure

Dianna Gilroy 2012Dianna Gilroy
Production Editor, Purdue University Press
Managing Editor, "Shofar Journal of Jewish Studies"

The first thing anyone learns about me is that I am crazy for dogs. I have a rescued English redtick coonhound named Quiver, who came to me as a shivering, fearful two-year-old but has transformed into a goofy, huggable couch and bed hog who is only afraid of thunder. As dog owners know, once your dog circles and circles and finds the perfect spot and makes herself comfortable and spreads out, you are lucky to have about eleven inches of the bed to sleep on. I have a picture of Quiver online if you would like to see what this adorable space hog looks like.

I can give you a bit of that David Copperfield kind of, um, stuff, if you really want to hear about it. I was born and raised in Bedford, Massachusetts, a town with a slight inferiority complex, being wedged between the much more famous Lexington and Concord. I understand that Paul Revere was planning to take his famous ride to Concord via Bedford's Great Road, but he was told that Lexington had a better late-night baked beans and pease porridge joint. And that is why he never made it to Concord. Bedford's major claim to fame is having the oldest intact battle flag in the United States and the first flag flown in the Revolutionary War. All of Bedford's school children take a field trip to solemnly view this flag, and all leave the library wondering if they had bubble wands in the eighteenth century.

When I am not spending time with my floppy-eared roommate, I can be found in one of my two offices, peering intently at a computer screen. I have been working here as a graduate student in English since 2008, and have been hoping since then to get a full-time position, because editing suits both my perfectionist and know-it-all tendencies. To plumb the secrets and mysteries of the “Chicago Manual of Style,” 16th edition, is such a pleasure that I sometimes take this five-pound book with me to the park to review the hyphenation rules or other consequential matters.

Other than that, I am about 40% nerd and speak the dialects of Star Trek, Firefly, Blade Runner, Game of Thrones, Galaxy Quest, Sheldon Cooper and many others. If it were not for the facts that the occasional series editor comes into my office and on rare occasions an astronaut walks past, I would probably bring my life-size stand-up figure of the EMH (character from Star Trek) to keep me company. For now I make do with a two-inch Borg cube and a miniature “Lost in Space” robot. Another 40% of me is deeply involved in watching and analyzing our bizarre political culture, but you really don't want to hear me get started on that.

You can find me in the offices of the Purdue University Press, STEW 370, or reach me at dianna@purdue.edu or 49-42035.

 

Amy Hatfield 2012Amy Hatfield
Metadata Specialist
Purdue University Libraries

This past spring — when it was nice and cool (remember that?) — I enthusiastically joined Purdue University Libraries as Metadata Specialist. You may ask yourself, what is a metadata specialist? Well, it will be my pleasure to show you over the coming years through exciting and collaborative projects.

My last position was at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Ruth Lilly Medical Library as Digital Initiatives Librarian. I worked at the Medical Library for seven years — just enough time to gain promotion and tenure. Prior to that, I was a programmer. I was a consultant in a local IT firm for a huge insurance company client. My first programming job was to recode custom software modules from Assembler to COBOL. Did I just date myself…?

In my Metadata Specialist position I am not formally associated with any particular library, but rather I am a partner in all the libraries. This allows me to engage with faculty, researchers and staff in digital projects in terms of expertise in digitizing as well as in metadata assignment and implementation. I find this to be a most challenging and compelling charge.

I am extremely pleased to be a part of Purdue University Libraries. All colleagues I have met thus far have been wonderful, and if I haven’t met you yet, I hope to soon.

On a personal note, I just moved to Zionsville from Indianapolis and commute to work. The commute is not bad and I am enjoying my new home. I have twin 4-year-old daughters (not identical) and an almost 3-year-old son. I have also recently become mommy to three baby guinea pigs (any guesses how that happened).

My office is located in Stewart Center, Digital Initiatives, Room 279. Please contact me at hatfiea@purdue.edu or 49-46333.

 

Research Grants awarded to Libraries faculty

PILLAR: Global Challenges

These most recent proposals were reviewed by Research Council and approved for research support.

Suzanne M. Ward, “Proposed Model of e-Book Pricing with Special Considerations for Patron-Driven Acquisitions Plans.” at NISO E-Book Renaissance II Forum in Boston, MA, October 2012.

Michael Witt, “Cataloging research data repositories in Databib,” two Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) School of Library and Information Sciences (SLIS) internships, Fall 2012.

 

Libraries Staff A-Z

Stewart Saunders 2010Stewart Saunders
Liaison Librarian for African American Studies, Mathematics and Statistics
Humanities, Social Science and Education Library and Mathematics Library

Q. What do you enjoy most about your job and why?
A. I get my greatest pleasure when a student says, “Great, this is just what I need!”

Q. How long have you worked in the Libraries and at Purdue?
A. My first day of work was January 2, 1978. It has been a good 34 years.

Q. What is one unforgettable experience that has happened to you or your coworkers while working in the library?
A. It would have to be during the remodeling of the Library. Brad Heiss and I wrote the request proposal for repositioning the shelving for the newly renovated Humanities, Social Science and Education Library (HSSE). We worked together to successfully move the ranges of shelving around the library. Have you ever seen an entire range of shelving, fully loaded with all of its books, raised on jacks and moved to the opposite end of the library?

Q. What’s your favorite book, website, movie or database?
A. That’s a hard one. Of recent movies I really liked “True Grit.” Of older movies I liked “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Hester Street.” How can I have a favorite book? Aren’t librarians supposed to like all books? The question should be, “What is my favorite library?” I recently enjoyed reading a graphic novel by J. C. Penny. The graphics were great; the plot was rather hard to follow. I think it had to do with how the main character was able to save 20%.

Q. Coffee, tea, water or soft drink?
A. Have you ever known me to drink anything but coffee? Even at McDonald’s I order coffee.

Q. What do you like to do for fun?
A. I have a good collection of LPs and CDs. I enjoy everything from piano trios to rhythm and blues. I attend performances by the Bach Choral, the Lafayette Chamber Singers, the Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society, the Purdue Jazz Band and the Fiddler’s Gathering. If I have a chance I will drop in on a session at Blue Chicago. I don’t play an instrument, but we have a piano at home and I enjoy listening to my wife play.

Q. Feel free to include any information about yourself that you would like to share with the staff?
A. As many of you already know, I have decided to retire at the end of the current fiscal year.

 

 

CONTENTS
  • Staff updates in Digital Programs and Information Access
  • Successful staff transitions
  • Ask A Librarian — PUL QuestionPoint Digital Reference Service expands
  • LCSSAC news
  • Libraries new staff
  • Research Grants awarded to Libraries faculty
  • Libraries Staff A-Z
  • Off the Shelf
  • Congratulations
  • Events
  • Publications and Presentations
  • Redesign: Do you have news?
  • Libraries in the News
  • What's Cooking?

 

OFF THE SHELF

New Listing

  • Digital Preservation and Electronic Records Archivist (A/P) (Posting #1201126) Accepting applications
  • Library Assistant V, Patron Service Coordinator (Clerical) (Posting #1201125)

Continuing Vacancies

New Staff

  • Jamie Seebald, Receptionist Libraries Administration Offices (7/5/12)
  • B. Dewayne Branch, CLIR/DLF Data Curation Post-doctoral Fellow (7/16/12)

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

 

CONGRATULATIONS

“Determining Data Information Literacy Needs: A Study of Students and Research Faculty” has been selected as one of the Top Twenty Articles, by the Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT).

The article, co-written by Libraries faculty members, Jake Carlson, Michael Fosmire, Chris Miller and Megan Sapp Nelson, was published in portal: Libraries and the Academy in 2011 and introduced the concept of data information literacy, providing some preliminary insight into how data information literacy might be defined.

LIRT’s Top Twenty Committee published their annual annotated bibliography of top publications in the field of instruction and information literacy in the June 2012 edition of LIRT News. The Committee is responsible for monitoring the library instruction literature and identifying high quality library-instruction related articles from all types of libraries.

 

EVENTS

Herbert C. Brown: A Nobel Laureate's Life and Legacy
Archives and Special Collections
June 4-August 24
HSSE 4th floor
STEW

Purdue Day at the Indiana State Fair
August 10

Information Literacy Research Symposium
Featuring Dr. Christine Bruce
August 13
1-5 p.m.
More information forthcoming

Libraries Distinguished Lecture Series
Featuring Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran
"Need, Speed and Greed: Welcome to the Innovation Economy"
October 18
7 p.m.
Fowler Hall
STEW
Free and open to the public

All Staff Meeting
October 29
1:30-3 p.m.
East Faculty Lounge
PMU
or
October 30
10-11:30 a.m.
East Faculty Lounge
PMU

Sagamore West Farmers Market
Wednesdays, May 2-October 31
3-6:30 p.m.
Cumberland Park on Salisbury Street
West Lafayette

Purdue Farmer’s Market
Thursdays, May 3-October 25
10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Centennial Mall

Lafayette Farmers Market
Saturdays, May 5-October 27
7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Fifth Street at Main and Columbia
Lafayette

 

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Marianne Stowell Bracke; Sharon A. Weiner; Judith M. Nixon; Scott Deatherage. “Criteria for Evaluating Journals in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and the Life Sciences.” International Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 6(2), July 2012.

Matthew Kroll, David Minor, Bernie Reilly and Michael Witt. “ISO 16363: Trustworthy Digital Repository Certification in Practice.” 7th International Conference on Open Repositories, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. (2012).

 

REDESIGN: DO YOU HAVE NEWS?

Did you know you have the power to affect our newsfeed? We have contributors across Libraries that can help upload news, or you can be provided access as well. Check out today’s news: http://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/news/.

Marketing elements can be found at: http://intranet.lib.purdue.edu/
display/adv/marketing

If you have any questions, no matter how small, about the redesign elements, please contact Libraries Marketing Associate, Kate Kester at kkester@purdue.edu or 49-69610. If you have a question, more than likely, someone else does.

 

LIBRARIES IN THE NEWS

Purdue Today, July 12
Information Literacy symposium August 13

Purdue planning $89M classroom, library project.

 

WHAT'S COOKING?

Summer Squash Mushroom Casserole
Visit the Libraries Intranet

 

COPY DEADLINE

Copy for the August 8 issue is due by August 6. Send to tmabrown@purdue.edu