Advancement and Marketing news

BY SANDY HOWARTH

PILLAR: Infrastructure

In my last article I shared with you the process of development and the mission of advancement (to enhance continuously the private giving to Purdue University in support of Purdue's faculty, student, research and facility financial needs). In this article I would like to further discuss advancement and how the dean of the Libraries and I work in concert to communicate with our alumni, donors and potential donors to provide information about our new strategic plan and the various initiatives we are engaged.

In its simplest form, Advancement occurs through various engagement opportunities such as Archives and Special Collections receptions, the Distinguished Lecture Series, Faculty Research, announcements of new releases from the Press and our annual publication VOLUMe. It is through these opportunities that Dean Mullins and I engage our alumni, donors and library prospects and assist in their understanding about the exciting happenings that are propelling Purdue University Libraries and Purdue University Press forward and are establishing us as one of the most exceptional academic research libraries throughout the country and around the world.

Through the above-mentioned engagement opportunities the Dean and I are able to build and maintain positive relationships with many individuals, corporations and foundations. And, it is through these important relationships that we identify their various interests and passions which enable us to then ask for gifts that will simultaneously satisfy our constituents philanthropic desires while providing support to our students (scholarships and fellowships), faculty (named and endowed positions and research funding), various programs (PULSE) and facility/renovation needs that we have within the Libraries and the Press.

As you can imagine, the advancement process definitely requires thoughtfulness, strategy and diligent research with the utmost respect given to our alumni, donors and potential donors to the libraries. Also, with any gift received there must be intentional and continual stewardship to insure confidence within our donors so they will know that their gift(s) have been managed properly and utilized as intended. This could require a thank you note from a student recipient of a scholarship or fellowship, a phone call from the dean, a photo of a building that was only capable due to a generous gift, a DVD of an archives event or even providing information of additional items collected for an already existing collection. So, as you can see, Advancement is a very detailed process requiring a team to reach our annual goal of (at minimum) $2,000,000. That team includes the Dean, Associate Deans, Division Heads, myself as the Director of Advancement and the Advancement and Marketing team: Kate Kester, Marketing Associate; Elaine Bahler, Events Planner; Teresa Brown, Communication Coordinator; and Kim Weldy, Development Coordinator.

I also want to mention a few recent changes within the structure of the Advancement and Marketing team which have allowed for a more efficient and proper alignment of responsibilities. These changes have provided enhanced support for the Advancement process and will assist in meeting our financial needs to support our students, faculty, research efforts and renovations or new facilities.

Of note is that Elaine Bahler has taken on additional responsibilities and the Events Planner for the Libraries. In this capacity she is responsible for all Libraries events that have a development, engagement or stewardship component. Kim Weldy joined our staff in January as the Development Coordinator. Both Weldy and Bahler report directly to the Director of Advancement. Kate Kester is our Marketing Associate and in this capacity she is responsible for all marketing of the Libraries brand and initiatives that move us forward as they relate to our new strategic plan, as well as coordinating our press releases with Purdue's Marketing and Media office. As our Communication Coordinator, Teresa Brown is the editor of our internal newsletter that keeps us all informed of staffing changes, various initiatives and all the internal happenings of the libraries.

PILLAR: Scholarly Communication

Purdue Libraries belongs to a consortium (the CIC) comprised of all universities in the Big Ten as well as the University of Chicago. Together, we are implementing a federated catalog and direct consortial borrowing service known as UBorrow. This system allows users to search for, and request, available books from all CIC libraries and the Center for Research Libraries. The process is much like traditional interlibrary loan for book loans, but with a couple of major benefits. First, items requested through UBorrow are guaranteed a 12 week loan period with one four week renewal period. Second, because availability is determined as the request is submitted, items should be received within 5-7 days maximum.

Users can request print books that are available in circulating collections that are not owned by Purdue or are currently unavailable — checked out, missing, on order. If an item is available at Purdue, UBorrow provides the call number and location of the item. If all CIC copies are unavailable, UBorrow automatically makes the request a traditional Interlibrary Loan request. Users should be advised that requests that must be filled through traditional Interlibrary Loan channels will have varying loan periods and turnaround times.

Links to the service are located on the Libraries’ home page under the catalog section and on the ILL page, or you can simply bookmark http://go.lib.purdue.edu/uborrow.

Participating institutions are listed below:

• University of Chicago
• Indiana University
• University of Iowa
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Michigan
• Michigan State University
• University of Minnesota
• University of Nebraska
• Northwestern University
• Ohio State University
• Penn State University
• Purdue University
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Center for Research Libraries

We are very excited to share this new service with our users!

Logging out after 44 years: Carl Snow retires

PILLAR: Infrastructure

On September 3, 1968 Carl Snow started work as Film Librarian in the Audio Visual Center (AVC) a division of the Purdue University Libraries. He had just graduated from Indiana University and had lived in the Midwest for a little over a year. His wife, Connie, and he moved from Central New York so he could attend IU.

Snow’s first office was located on the ground floor of Stewart Center. “It was a very safe place to work. I remember the first time I heard the tornado sirens go off. I was leaving work and I just turned around and headed back to my office and called my wife. This was a new experience for us. I must admit that I over the years I have become more comfortable with the warnings, to the point that my neighbor and I have stood on our front lawns watching tornados skip across the northern part of the county,” said Snow.

His first major project was to complete the automation of the Film Library catalog. The project had been underway for about three years and David Moses, director of the AVC, was anxious to complete it. Snow recalls that several people pounded away at the project and had the conversion finished within a year. The next step was to convert the all upper case data files to upper and lower case. The AVC was being called upon to provide more and more service but without increasing resources. The solution seemed be to automate the scheduling operation. He proceeded to work on a computer program to generate the needed paperwork first for projection services operations and then for the Film Library.

In May 1982, the Film Library became the Instructional Media Center (IMC) and moved into the newly completed John W. Hicks Undergraduate Library. Soon after moving into the basement of Hicks, the first automation work for film scheduling was completed. “We were also asked to take on services for the visually impaired and learning disabled students with a variety of curriculum-related support services not otherwise available in the University or local community. This proved to be incredibly time consuming, yet very rewarding. The service expanded when the Vice President for Instructional Services asked the Libraries to add computing services for the visually impaired. In 1987, the Libraries received a President’s Annual Affirmative Action Award of $7,000.” The service became known as the Adaptive Learning Programs (ALPS).

In 1994, Snow was made the Network Access Librarian and worked at creating the first online information service, GOPHER which was quickly replaced by the Libraries first website. In 2005 he became the Digital Initiatives Librarian and began working with Sammie Morris and Jan Addison to initiate e-Archives. “We have put together a treasure trove of University history. The collections include Amelia Earhart, the Debris, the Board of Trustees minutes and thousands of images of Purdue’s West Lafayette campus.”

“Connie and I will be residing here in town and enjoying time with our grandchildren. Connie will continue to work as a kindergarten teacher in the Lafayette school district. One of our grandchildren will be playing basketball for Indiana Wesleyan so I expect we will be watching those games online and in person. I am working at Connection Point Church on a website team and with the church leadership on communications. I certainly must say that when I started work here I did not expect to be spending nearly 44 years in the job. It has been rewarding because of the varied tasks that I have had during my tenure and I appreciate all the kind folks I’ve been able to work with. I will most likely see you around town.”

Some of his coworkers and colleagues write:

“He has been an innovator and provided leadership to the Libraries in adopting new technologies and formats throughout his 44-year career with the Purdue Libraries. His work with digital technologies, including his pioneering work with GPO Access, was important for positioning the Libraries to be successful in a web-based environment.” - Paul Bracke

“I started working for Carl in the film cataloging department in 1981. For the next ten years we worked together to provide professional and friendly services to students, University faculty, extension agents, universities from coast-to-coast, national news service organizations and patrons who wanted to borrow our media. It was educational, frustrating, challenging and hard work but at the end of the day it was always fun. We had a great team of coworkers. The most important thing I learned from Carl was to always listen to all the options and then make your decision. And, it was okay to disagree, just be respectful about other’s opinions and ideas,” - Teresa Brown

“Here’s to our colleague Carl Snow-
Who’s worked on digital efforts high and low.
He made Undergrad’s Apple network faster,
He’s the Libraries’ past Gopher Master;
May his retirement be more analog and less techno!” - Scott Brandt

PILLAR: Scholarly Communication

Next month marks the retirement of Dr. David Nichols, the Robert C. and Charlotte P. Anderson Distinguished Chair in Pharmacology, a central figure involved in building the Psychoactive Substances Research Collection, part of the Libraries Archives and Special Collections.

Nichols has researched the chemistry and pharmacology of psychoactive substances such as LSD, MDMA, DMT, psilocybin and other hallucinogens for almost 40 years and is a world renowned expert on dopamine and serotonin research. His work in this area has been instrumental in furthering the current medical applications of psychoactive substances, which include treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, death anxiety in terminal cancer patients, obsessive compulsive disorder and other conditions.

Growing from Nichols’ idea to permanently store and make accessible the manuscripts, laboratory notes, photographs and correspondence of the pioneers of psychedelic research who were active in the 1950s and 1960s, the Psychoactive Substances Research Collection came to fruition with financial support from the Betsy Gordon Foundation in 2007. Since its inception, the Collection has grown to include more than thirty archival collections, a comprehensive collection of rare books pertaining to psychedelics and the history of psychoactive substances and several oral histories. Stay tuned for a brown bag that will highlight some of the materials in the collection. In the meantime, many happy wishes to David Nichols in his retirement.

LCSSAC welcomes new members

PILLAR: Infrastructure

The Libraries Clerical Service Staff Advisory Committee (LCSSAC) was formed in 1993 to serve as a communication link between the Libraries’ administration and the clerical service staff. To learn more about LCSSAC, visit the page on the Libraries intranet. From this site you can contact any member of LCSSAC, check on Library events, access the By-Laws, read minutes from monthly meetings and use the LINK Letter to make suggestions and voice concerns.

Each library unit has been assigned to a district with a representative being elected to a three year term by members from their district. A sixth district is represented by an at-large representative elected to a three year term by all clerical service staff.

Please extend congratulations to new members, Shannon Miller, District 5, and Allen Bol, District 6, as they begin their three year terms.

District 5
Shannon Miller works in the Resource Sharing. She has worked full time in the Libraries since May 2011 and as a student in the Engineering library until her graduation from Purdue in 2010. "This a great opportunity for me to learn more about the Libraries and my coworkers and to be a positive presence here in the Libraries." Contact Shannon at mille218@purdue.edu.

District 6
Allen Bol works in the Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Sciences Library as well as Digital Initiatives. He has worked for the Libraries for about four years. “I am excited to be serving on LCSSAC and am looking forward to providing fun, fellowship and being a representative for all the clerical and service staff.” Contact Allen at rbol@purdue.edu.

Continuing members include:
District 1 – Dacia Wiesler, AA, dwiesler@purdue.edu
District 2 – Linda Foster, ADM, foster2@purdue.edu
District 3 – Teresa Balser, PRSH, tbalser@purdue.edu
District 4 – Sharon Sturgeon, CHEM, ssturgeo@purdue.edu

If you have suggestions, concerns, etc. please feel free to send a LCSSAC LINK Letter to lcssac@purdue.edu. Not sure what the LINK Letter is, check it out here.

Thank you to retiring members, Laura Patnaude and Mary Sego, chair, for their dedication to making LCSSAC a success.