IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN

Serials pricing increases and the Libraries materials budget: April projections bring May reflections

In September 2007 I wrote my very first article for INSIDe. The topic was scholarly communication. I had just arrived at Purdue that August to be the new associate dean for information resources and scholarly communication and I was eager to work with my new Purdue colleagues to tackle scholarly communication issues.

In the article I described the ACRL/ARL Institute on Scholarly Communication that I had attended that summer in Washington DC, where I met with Jim Mullins, Tomalee Doan, Kristine Anderson and Kayla Gregory, my soon-to-be-new-colleagues for a three-day conference focusing on developing a plan to address SC issues on our campus. I noted then that “...by participating in the University-wide discussion of these issues, we will become a more valuable and more visible part of Purdue’s research community. We’ve made many great efforts so far with e-Pubs and our own faculty members’ involvements on interdisciplinary research projects. Working with the University to address scholarly communication issues will be one more step toward our strategic plan goals.”

In the 7+ years since that INSIDe issue we at Purdue Libraries have made significant progress in some of the areas, including access, new/emerging opportunities, intellectual property and engagement. I’ll list just a few, such as:

• Our liaisons, research specialists, PURR faculty and staff, Dave Scherer, and Donna Ferullo continue to engage with departments to discuss a variety of issues, promote our repositories and services and generally advocate for increased knowledge on our campus of scholarly communication issues
• Scholarly Publishing Services becomes a new imprint, with Purdue University Press, in the Libraries’ Publishing Division, and focuses on supporting publishing by Purdue centers and departments
• Programming around International Open Access Week each October
• Initiated the annual Leadership in Open Access Award to celebrate open access successes at Purdue
• IRC makes purchasing decisions to participate in OA-related new efforts, such as BioMedCentral, PLoS, Knowledge Unlatched, OHS, etc.
• And, in 2012 the University Senate unanimously endorsed an open access policy recommending that campus administration adopt a mandate for deposit of faculty-authored peer-reviewed journal articles into Purdue e-Pubs. While not yet a policy at Purdue, this was an important step in the direction of increased understanding by faculty of the issues surrounding traditional publishing and monopolistic vendors/publishers.

But now, once again, as we deal with the annual serials pricing challenge, I am reminded there is still work to be done. As we do our best to negotiate with publishers and vendors for lower annual increases for the journals and databases, resources that Purdue faculty, researchers and students need, we must also continue to inform and educate our Purdue colleagues about the unsustainable costs of journal subscriptions and other resources from monopolistic publishers/vendors and to promote options such as open access. Clearly, the university-wide conversations around these issues are as important now as they were back in 2007.

PURDUE DAY OF GIVING — LIBRARIES

Purdue Day of Giving an annual university-wide effort to build a better, stronger, more affordable Purdue will be taking place on April 29. For 24 hours, students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents and friends come together to grant opportunities and transform lives. Through challenges, interactive leaderboards, and some good old-fashioned rivalry, participants are motivated to give back in hopes of pushing their favorite campus, college, school, program or unit to the top.

The Libraries will be seeking support for our Active Learning Center, Archives and Special Collections and Unrestricted Fund (Dean’s Priorities for Libraries and Press) — key Libraries areas that impact the lives of students and scholars across all disciplines, while furthering the global reach and impact of learning and scholarly communication.

Look for more information and communication on the Libraries’ plan for Purdue Day of Giving in upcoming all-staff meetings and via email.

DATA STORIES SEMINAR WITH DR. STACY REBICH HESPANHA

Join Purdue Libraries Seminar Committee in learning more about how data stories can be used for effective data management techniques and education through a seminar and workshop presented by: Dr. Stacy Rebich Hespanha, research associate at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at UC Santa Barbara.

Seminar
Data Stories: Researcher Stories Highlight Conflicts and Barriers to Effective Data Management and Sharing
April 20
10 a.m.
HSSE 353
STEW

In this presentation, Dr. Hespanha will emphasize in particular those difficulties for which no adequate technical solutions currently exist, or for which technical solutions do not seem to be appropriate, in the hope that our analysis of these stories will stimulate dialogue about the kinds of technical, social and cultural solutions most needed to accelerate growth in better data management and sharing.

Technically-inclined disciplinary scientists, informaticians and advocates of open science have already begun working together to develop tools and best practices that help to pave the way for a new era in data management and sharing. In spite of these innovative (and mostly technical) advances, researchers who wish to effectively manage and re-use data, or who are obligated by funding requirements to do so, still face many challenges.

The DataONE Data Stories project (http://notebooks.dataone.org/data-stories/) is focused on collecting researchers’ stories about conflicts and successes that they encounter when managing data and making efforts to share or re-use data.

Research finds better known obstacles such as the technological and design limits of information management systems intersect with a range socio-cultural norms and dynamics to present researchers with a complex set of challenges. From these stories, we can collect useful insights into the kinds of tools and skills that researchers will need as they venture into projects that involve data management and sharing.

Workshop
Using Data Stories to Support Professional Development in Data Management and Sharing
April 20
2-4 p.m.
HICKS G959

In this workshop, Dr. Hespanha will provide examples of how she and her colleagues have prepared some of the researchers’ data stories for use with the topical lessons in the DataONE data management curriculum. Use of stories can support higher levels of engagement with the material and foster discussion among researchers about the complexities of the challenges they will likely encounter as they explore the world of data stewardship and reuse. After reviewing story-based instructional materials already created, participants will collaboratively design a new story-based set of discussion questions and/or learning activities based on a data management topic and Data Story that participants find relevant to their needs.

IN MEMORY OF EDWIN D. POSEY

Mr. Posey was the Engineering librarian at Purdue University Libraries for 26 years. He was instrumental in the planning and moving of the Siegesmund Engineering Library, which merged six individual engineering libraries and the Goss Collection into its current location in the A.A Potter Engineering Center.

Ed always appreciated the work of his staff and often times went beyond the “boss/employee” relationship to help or provide guidance when needed. At his retirement luncheon his comments were not about his role but rather his staff, naming every staff and student employee that had worked for him during his tenure at Purdue Libraries.

THE LIBRARIES SMILE AWARD — SEND A THANK YOU TO A FELLOW EMPLOYEE!

Would you like to express appreciation to someone you work with for their help on a project, or maybe tell them “great job” on solving a problem or assisting a student with a difficult question?

Two and a half years ago, on October 1, 2012, the Libraries SMILE (Staff Morale In Libraries Environment) Program began as a way for Libraries employees to acknowledge — and to demonstrate immediate and spontaneous appreciation for — the contributions of fellow employees.

Every Libraries employee (with the exception of student employees and graduate assistants) may participate in the SMILE program. You can be on the giving end by sending a SMILE note to a colleague. You also can be on the receiving end of a SMILE note.

When something a co-worker did makes you want to say “thanks a lot” or “you really made a difference,” consider sending this person a SMILE. It’s easy to do! Just click on this link: https://purdue.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5cMqdlEVJg9geRD  which, starting this month, will be found in every issue of INSIDe. When you submit a SMILE, the Libraries human resources coordinator turns your SMILE submission into a personalized email, including your message of appreciation and your name, and sends the SMILE on to the recipient.

Additionally, on the first day of every month, the human resources coordinator holds a random drawing from a bag of numbered slips of paper, with each number representing a SMILE submitted in the past month. Based on this drawing, one of the people who received SMILEs during the month is awarded a $25 gift certificate. This monetary award comes from the Dean as a gift to the awardee.

Note: The human resources coordinator, dean, and associate deans are not included in the monthly drawing for the gift certificate. However, while they aren’t eligible to receive these SMILE monetary awards, they may submit SMILE notes and they are eligible to receive them.

You can find further information about the SMILE program on the Libraries intranet at https://intranet.lib.purdue.edu/display/HR/SMILE+Program and if you have questions about the program, please contact Nancy Hewison nhewison@purdue.edu.

LIBRARIES NEW STAFF

Maria Soscia
Library Assistant IV
Digital Programs

Hello, I am the new library assistant in Digital Programs. I assist the department with various digitization projects.

I grew up on the East Coast where I studied English Literature before earning my master’s degree in Library and Information Studies. Shortly after graduation, I moved to Austin, Texas and worked as the Assistant Photographic Archivist at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

Outside of work, I enjoy reading, writing screenplays and taking photographs. I am especially passionate about the history of photography and have taken a number of workshops in various nineteenth century photographic processes.

My office is located in STEW 256, and I can be reached by phone at 49-60525 or by email at msoscia@purdue.edu.

CCO CAREER CLOSET ACCEPTING CLOTHING DONATIONS FOR STUDENTS

The Center for Career Opportunities (CCO) has a new initiative to aid in the success of Boilermakers students who may be in need. The CCO Career Closet will provide professional clothing for students who are unable to financially afford proper interview attire. As part of this initiative, we are reaching out to Purdue faculty, staff and alumni for donations of gently used professional clothing.

We are asking for clean and wrinkle-free donations of:

• men’s and women’s business suits
• women’s blouses and men’s dress shirts
• dress pants (men’s and women’s)
• belts, ties, scarves and other accessories
• gently worn shoes

Donations can be brought to the CCO in Young Hall 132 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. For any questions, please contact Tamara Clarkson (tclark@purdue.edu).

AROUND THE LIBRARIES

Lieutenant Keene Red Elk from the Purdue University Police Department presented Active Threats Training to HSSEB faculty and staff on Thursday, April 2. This was the second of two sessions. Workplace Violence Awareness, Part 1, took place Nov. 21, 2014. If you are interested in scheduling a group program with the campus police, visit http://www.purdue.edu/ehps/police/programs/index.html.