A GOAL WELL MET: HICKS LIBRARY GETS NEW LOOK

From the earliest meetings of Libraries and ITaP representatives, University planners and designers, the goal for the renovation of the Hicks Library has been to create a leading edge learning space with user centered services. Take a stroll most any time through Hicks — it’s open, as students requested, 24 hours 7 days a week — and you will see that the phase 1 renovation has gone a long way toward achieving this goal. Students, many with UnderGrounds beverages in hand, are everywhere, meeting in groups at the bistro style tables, working individually at workstations and using the standup quick access computers. The busy classrooms generate a large volume of foot traffic proving the attractive, high durability flooring an excellent choice. Many of the students stay after class to study or relax. All of these visitors to the space attest to the success of the plan to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere through contemporary design choices and by breaking the large area into more friendly, usable spaces.

Further conveying the message that this is a space for students, the service desk is at the east end of the library. In a one-stop customer service model, a library staff member works at the desk alongside ITaP student assistants. This configuration, new to the Libraries, reflects today’s increasingly blurred line between library services and technology. The two newly hired Libraries staff members who work in Hicks come to us with skills and experiences that will support the mission of Hicks Library and the excellent customer service we strive to provide. Danielle Schiewer, who will be located full-time in Hicks, holds a BS in human services and has worked for several years at Purdue’s International Center providing customer service to a diverse clientele. Kristen Cash, primarily located at Parrish but will work at the Hicks service desk several hours per week, holds an MLS and brings with her several years of experience working at libraries.

The Humanities, Social Science and Education Library (HSSE) complements the new character of Hicks by continuing to offer quiet places to study and a wealth of paper resources. HSSE staff members have stepped up to meet the challenges the changes at Hicks and Hicks Repository (HKRP) have meant for HSSE Library, which has seen a daunting increase in demand for shelf space as reserves are no longer housed at Hicks and the majority of HKRP requests are now being sent to HSSE. It is also a popular pickup location for the new holds service. To accommodate this influx of items, new shelving, now almost completely filled, has been wrapped around the area behind the service desk, and a new self-service shelving unit has been installed in front of the service area. Recalled/requested items are placed in manila envelopes, lending confidentiality to the system, and patrons retrieve their own items and check them out at the self-check or the service desk. This system speeds patron access to requested items and frees staff to respond to patron needs at the service desk.

UPDATE ON THE UNIVERSITY RECORDS PROJECT

As some of you may already know, the University Records Project is well underway, but as the Project Archivist for University Records, I would like to update everyone on the progress that has been made thus far in this initiative. The project is a Provost-supported initiative that aims to discover where Purdue’s important historical documents are stored and collect basic data about these holdings as well as collaborate with faculty and staff on proper methods for managing these records. The goals of the project are:

• Discovery of Purdue-created documents and records
• Documentation of all academic departmental records holdings
• Education of and outreach to departments concerning care and preservation of their materials
• Planning the feasibility of launching a university records program based upon survey findings

The goal of the project is not to transfer campus records to the Archives, but instead to locate and document the materials that are most significant to Purdue history and prioritize those records for preservation and improved access. There is, unfortunately, insufficient storage space for records transfers at this time, although all of the departments with whom I have spoken thus far are excited about the opportunity to transfer their records to the Archives and to continue to preserve their history within the framework of a more formalized records management system.

Currently, although the university has a records management program, there is no established campus policy for identifying historical documents to be retained. As a result, much of Purdue’s history is lost without formal representation in the Archives, and this makes conducting research on Purdue history and events incredibly difficult and, in some cases, impossible. Unfortunately, some of the university’s earliest departments have no records of their historical accomplishments and, in the worst cases, have no idea who their founding or early faculty and staff even were. Without the proper policies in place, this critical information has vanished, and the University Records Project seeks to prevent the future loss of Purdue’s historical record.

The project officially began surveying departments in March 2013, and to date, I have met with over twenty individual units on campus regarding their historical documents, both in analog and digital media, and have surveyed 2,000 cubic feet of records. I’ve encountered scenarios as wide-ranging as a department with a hundred years’ worth of history stored in a dusty attic whose floors are unable to bear the load weight of the materials, to departments that have existed for over a hundred years at Purdue and have nothing to show for it other than a lonely filing cabinet from the 1960s, to newer departments with entirely digital records. The most challenging and rewarding aspect of the project, however, is not uncovering that trove of 1870s faculty letters (though that is quite exciting!) but collaborating with faculty and staff across campus to discover these undocumented legacies at Purdue and work toward systematically preserving them.

As always, if you have questions about the University Records Project, please contact me at white323@purdue.edu or 49-42263. I welcome collaborating with liaisons and other Libraries staff regarding departments, and if you have a suggestion for contacts within departments or departmental records collections, I’d love to hear them!

DATA INFORMATION LITERACY SYMPOSIUM AT PURDUE

Purdue University Libraries hosted “Data Information Literacy Symposium” September 23-24 at Purdue. The symposium focused on the knowledge and skill sets on data management and curation that graduate students will need to acquire to be successful in their career, and on how librarians can help in teaching them.

The symposium is a component of a research project led by the Purdue Libraries and supported through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Librarians from Purdue University, Cornell University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Oregon have investigated this topic through developing and implementing data information literacy instruction programs for graduate students in a range of science and engineering disciplines.

“We are seeing an increased interest from funding agencies, publishers and others in making data available for discovery and re-use outside of the labs in which they were generated” said Jake Carlson, associate professor with the Purdue Libraries. “We believe that librarians, with our long history of managing, disseminating and preserving information, can play a role in helping students understand and address these new requirements.”

The audience for the data information literacy symposium were academic librarians and others who are providing research data management instruction for students, or librarians who are interested in doing so. The symposium helped librarians acquire an understanding of current issues in teaching data management and curation competencies to students. Through presentations, discussions and hands-on activities, attendees developed strategies for creating their own instructional programs suitable for the needs of their students and faculty. See more at: http://datainfolit.org

Photo: Jake Carlson presenting at the Data Information Literacy Symposium.

TYSON WOWS THE CROWD AT LECTURE

Neil deGrasse Tyson spoke to a crowd of 6,000 people at Elliott Hall of Music as part of the Libraries Distinguished Lecture Series. The free lecture was co-sponsored with Discovery Park and a variety of departments across campus. Tyson, a popular astrophysicist, received a standing ovation as he came onto the stage — a first for him. His lecture, “This Just In: Latest Discoveries in the Universe,” flowed from Pluto’s demotion, to the Higgs Boson particle and then to the possibility of asteroids slamming into Earth. The crowd laughed and applauded throughout the lecture and the Q&A that lasted for two hours.

The lecture was the eleventh in the series of Distinguished Lectures sponsored by the Libraries with funding from the Estate of Anna M. Akeley.

LIBRARIES NEW STAFF

Blythe Lee
Library Assistant
Resource Services

Having been Purdue adjacent for 10 years, I am happy to finally be a Boilermaker. Though knee-deep in Alma, invoicing and databases, I’m enjoying working with everyone in Acquisitions, Electronic Resources and the Business Office.

A transplanted Texan, I moved to West Lafayette in 2003 and started working at the West Lafayette Public Library (WLPL) as the Outreach Coordinator in 2004. I brought library materials to residents of local senior and daycare facilities in addition to staffing the Reference and Circulation Desks.

In 2004, as part of my job at WLPL, I taught an Intro to Computing class for the Wabash Area Lifelong Learning Association (WALLA). I have been heavily involved with WALLA ever since. I ran the Films and Friends monthly movie program at WLPL for 5 years and still lead a yearly three-day winter trip to an Indiana State Park. I’ve taught numerous classes in the past 9 years (except for that Florida year), including ones on Film Noir, Sherlock Holmes, Book Thieves, PowerPoint and Agatha Christie.

In 2010, we moved to Florida, where I worked at Florida State University as their first Preservation Librarian. We missed our friends and Purdue and quickly returned to West Lafayette. I’ve worked for the past year-and-a-half in the Assessment Center at Ivy Tech.

Come say hi in person in Stewart 176 and can be reached by phone at 49-42848 or at lee1722@purdue.edu.

Pete E. Pascuzzi
Molecular Biosciences Information Specialist
Life Sciences Library

I am excited to join the Purdue Libraries as the Molecular Biosciences Information Specialist. As many of you know, I have no training in the library sciences. However, in my short time here, I have found the Libraries’ faculty and staff to be a diverse and stimulating group, and they are eager to help. I see this position as a great opportunity to bridge the worlds of research in the life sciences with the expertise of information literacy and data management in the library sciences. I am already confident that I have made a good career decision!

I was raised in a rural, farming community in Southwestern Pennsylvania. After working in heavy and highway construction for several years, I returned to college and received a BA in Biology and Chemistry from Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania. I studied biochemistry and plant pathology at Cornell University, receiving my Ph.D. in Biochemistry. I then completed postdoctoral studies at North Carolina State University using bioinformatics to investigate DNA replication in plants.

My wife, Anjali Iyer-Pascuzzi, is an assistant professor in Botany and Plant Pathology and we have three boys: a lively three-year-old and four-month-old twins. As you can imagine, I have little time for my hobbies, but I am a film fan with special interests in foreign genre films and Hollywood’s Golden Age. I also have a large collection of genre fiction which I would love to unpack when I have time to read for pleasure again.

My office is in the Life Sciences Library, LILY L-31, and I can be reached at 49-43620 or at ppascuzz@purdue.edu.

Anna Seiffert
Library Assistant
Resource Services

I began working in the Resource Services department on July 1 and I work with e-resources; primarily providing usage statistics and collection analysis support. I have lived in the Midwest all of my life and moved to the Lafayette area to attend Purdue University. It has been a little surreal to be back on campus as staff rather than student.

I received my BA in Art History and Anthropology from Purdue University and I later attended IUPUI to gain my Masters of Library Science. I most recently worked at the Ivy Tech Community College Library working behind the scenes and with the public. My husband is also a Purdue graduate and is a facility engineer at SIA. When I can pry him away from work I enjoy traveling and doing adventurous things like skydiving and zip lining. Otherwise I can be found curled up reading a good e-book.

I am excited to have joined a great team that has been more than welcoming. I felt like I belonged from day one and look forward to meeting and working with the rest of the library staff as well.

I am located in Stewart Center, Room 176 and can be reached by phone at 49-3076 or at aseiffer@purdue.edu.

SEPTEMBER'S SMILE AWARD

Mary Sego's name was randomly drawn from all those who were SMILED upon in September. She received a $25 Von's Book Shop gift certificate.

All faculty, administrators and staff are invited to send a note of appreciation for a kindness or thoughtfulness given, assistance provided to or by a Libraries, Press or Copyright Office colleague.

To learn more about how to participate in our SMILE Program, please visit and bookmark this page on the Libraries Intranet: http://intranet.lib.purdue.edu/display/HR/SMILE+Program.

LIBRARIES STAFF A-Z