INFORMATION LITERACY "REACHES HIGH"

Due to the major 20th century change in global economies from industrial societies to information and knowledge societies, many of today’s jobs require formal education beyond high school. However, many students in the United States do not continue to post-secondary education, and many of those who do, leave before receiving a degree or diploma. For example, 2/3 of high school students enrolled in college. A little more than half of the students attending 4-year colleges finished their degrees in 6 years and only 31% of students at 2-year degree-granting colleges finished within 3 years.

Some of the factors that influence decisions about formal education beyond high school are gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, academic achievement, parents’ education and expectations, peer and teacher support, involvement in extracurricular activities and high school quality. Knowing how to find and use information can compensate for many of these factors.

Because of this, I was one of three people who met with Eric Waldo, Executive Director of First lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher Initiative, Zealan Hoover, Policy Assistant for Education for the Domestic Policy Council, and members of the United States Department of Education on June 18 at the Eisenhower Office Building on the White House grounds. The purpose of Reach Higher is to inspire more young people to begin and complete postsecondary education. Dr. Lana W. Jackman, president of the National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL) and Glen Warren, vice-president of the California School Library Association, and I discussed the relevance of information literacy to the Reach Higher initiative and our recommendation to include information literacy practice as part of this program. The people who met with us were very receptive and understood the importance of information literacy. They are planning to hold a second summit in Washington in December and we hope to be included in that program. The presentation will be available on the NFIL site and in Purdue e-Pubs.

References:
NCES. 2014. Immediate Transition to College.
NCES. 2014a. Institutional Retention and Graduation Rates for Undergraduate Students.
Shaw, et al. 2009. Describing students involved in the search phase of the college choice process. Journal of Advanced Academics 20(4):662-700.

MY GREAT EXPERIENCES IN PURDUE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

It was with great pleasure that I was invited by Dean of Libraries, Dr. James Mullins, to be a visiting scholar in data management at Purdue University Libraries. I'm so happy, appreciative and proud to have worked with the PURR (Purdue University Research Repository) team for the past three months. As a full participant in data services at Purdue, I have gained a wealth of first-hand experiences with library research data services, tools and practices. What I have learned from Purdue Libraries will be taken back to my home country and will definitely benefit my own library, Tsinghua University library.

The practical experiences I’ve received are based on the following activities:

• Involved in the actual operation within PURR platform, including creating research projects, describing and publishing datasets, and adding citations to related datasets in the PURR testing environment.
• Used the DMPTool to create ready-to-use data management plans for specific funding agencies in the PURR testing environment.
• Analyzed all the tags of datasets that were submitted to PURR by a professor whose research focuses on numerical mathematics.
• Traced some of the DataCite DOIs and tried to find out the current status of research data in the worldwide.
• Researched the data package for Linked data, as well as for MetaArchive (AIP).
• Joined the wonderful PURR CAMP where we discussed future plans for PURR.
• Attended the PURR team meeting once a week and shared my expertise with the team.

Those experiences have met and exceeded all my expectations. I can tell the world proudly now that I have learned the strategies, policies, services, and tools Purdue and other institutions use in the management of data throughout the research lifecycle.

In addition to my study at data services, I have also met with many Purdue librarians who focus on electronic resources management. This exchange of our insights and experiences in electronic resources management has expanded my professional perspective.

Libraries also provided an excellent opportunity for me to attend the ORCID outreach meeting 2014 in Chicago, where I was pleased to share the ongoing project — ThuRID in Tsinghua Library — with many specialists who are interested in the identities of academic scholars.

My past three months at Purdue has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was a great pleasure to have the time to get to know so many generous, kind and professional people. I have loved being part of the Libraries and hope I can enhance the further collaboration between Tsinghua and Purdue Libraries. I thank you for all the ways you’ve welcomed me into your community. It is my sincere hope that we will keep in touch doutf@lib.tsinghua.edu.cn.

LIBRARIES NEW STAFF

Gene Ann Fausett
Operations Manager
Archives and Special Collections

I was very excited to join the libraries on June 2, 2014 in the Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections. In my position as Library Operations Manager, I will be working with others to coordinate and manage the operations for the Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections. I will be accessioning new collections and working closely with Rich Bernier, Processing and Public Services Archivist, to get the materials ready for processing. I also will facilitate communication regarding any issues with facilities as well as assist with reference and customer service. Previously, I was the Public Records and Records Retention Administrator for the University in the Business Services department. Those three years gave me valuable business, communication and service skills that I am excited to bring with me in my position of Library Operations Manager.

I am originally from Lafayette, attended college at Purdue initially, but ultimately ended up at Indiana University. My undergraduate degree is in Anthropology with a minor in cultural diversity. I was awarded my MLS in 2009. I am passionate about creating greater access to resources and love to introduce others to new ways of finding information and resources. Despite a love for all things old, I love technology. I especially enjoy learning and testing new technological innovations. The Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections is a perfect fit for me and I am very happy to be here.

Some of my hobbies include gardening, renovating/updating my home, collecting vinyl records and classic movie posters, researching family history, entertaining and hanging out with my cats. I also tend to bake from time to time (everything from scratch and fresh ingredients ONLY) and typically bring many leftovers to work to share. I am located on the fourth floor of HSSE Library, STEW, room 475 and you may contact me at gfausett@purdue.edu.

Katie Van Kammen
Secretary
Libraries Administrative Offices

I am the new part-time secretary for the Library Administrative Offices and I am excited to join such a welcoming and friendly department. My duties include providing customer service to students, staff and patrons, coordinating library events, scheduling meetings and assisting with daily office operations.

My husband and I moved to Lafayette last August. He teaches economics at the Krannert School of Management. We are both originally from Wisconsin and grew up in the same small town. We lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for almost ten years before moving here. I was told that winters would be a lot milder here in Indiana, but I think I was lied to!

I graduated from Marquette University with a degree in Communications. I also have my paralegal certificate, and I previously worked for criminal defense attorneys both in Milwaukee and Lafayette. While this work was never dull, I welcome the career change offered with this new position at Purdue.

In my free time I enjoy road trips, art museums, aerial yoga, Frisbee golf, trying new foods and recipes (please feel free to email me your favorites!) and cheering on my beloved Wisconsin sports teams: the Milwaukee Brewers and the Green Bay Packers.

I would like to thank everyone for the warm welcome — my first month here has flown by. My desk is in room 271A of the Stewart Center, please stop by and say hello. My email is: kvankamm@purdue.edu and my phone number is 49-42900.

UNIVERSITY PRESS BOOK FEATURED AT ALA

Purdue University Press’ book “Spacewalker” was selected as one of 11 titles that was featured in the “Best of the Best from University Presses” session at the 2014 American Library Association (ALA) annual conference in Las Vegas.

Association of American University Presses (AAUP) University Press Books for Public and Secondary School Libraries, 24th Edition is now available in print. Librarians selected a total of 325 titles from 55 participating presses for this 2014 edition. The bibliography was distributed at the ALA Annual Conference and complimentary copies will be sent to more than 10,000 middle school, high school, public, reference and young adult librarians in the fall.

AAUP has coordinated the annual "Best of the Best from University Presses" session for the ALA conference. Four members of the University Press Books Committee presented a featured selection of 11 titles. NetGalley has created a special promotion highlighting the "Best of the Best" featured titles.

LCSSAC LINK LETTER UPDATE

The Link Letter is available for you to submit questions, comments, suggestions to the Libraries Administration. Your Link Letter goes to the LCSSAC Chair, Allen Bol, who then shares it with the committee to be discussed at the next scheduled meeting with the identity of the sender removed. The committee determines who in Libraries Administration should receive the letter for further action.

You now have the option to remain 100% anonymous so that not even the LCSSAC Chair will know who you are by using the new Link Letter address at go.lib.purdue.edu/LCSSAC/Linkletter.

For future use, a copy of the new Link Letter’s link is available on LCSSAC’s Intranet page. Keep in mind, that if you choose to remain 100% anonymous that it will not be possible for you to receive a direct response back.

Please direct questions to Allen Bol at rbol@purdue.edu.

JUNE SMILE AWARD

Brenda Meagher's name was randomly drawn from all those who were SMILED upon in June. 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.

BUILDING TOWARDS THE FUTURE

View of the Bell Tower from inside the North Heating and Power Plant, the future site of the Active Learning Center. Photo provided by Mark Simons, Purdue Office of Marketing and Media.