David Hovde’s mention last month of the Libraries’ first CD-ROM product got me reminiscing about technology, and how far we’ve come. He noted that back in 1989 we got ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), which provides an index to education resources. CD-ROM was all the rage in the late 1980s, shortly after an influential book was published: CD ROM. The New Papyrus. The Libraries created a task force in 1987 to assess the impact of the technology on Libraries’ services. Then Director Joseph Dagnese, who was skeptical of the new technology, said the final report was “one of the most thorough reports I have ever received,” and it helped persuade him to approve the purchase of ERIC on CD-ROM. (I have a copy of the report if you want to see it.)

It’s been an interesting technological ride ever since. Of course, we had online access to our catalog before that (first with LOOK UP, a locally written program to read OCLC tapes, and then NOTIS) and to indexes though DIALOG — the afore mentioned report provides an appendix that gives a snapshot of how many searches were done in 1986-1987. And we moved from dumb terminal mainframe access to using PCs in the early 1990s. Those early PCs allowed librarians to do searches in their libraries, rather than centrally, and also to experiment with primitive software to track student hours (until Excel came).

The Libraries have been on the leading edge when it comes to technology. We’ve seen the transition from print to digital to online, and we’ve usually been early adopters of formats and tools. Back in 1984, we had three different “online catalogs” in the Libraries (one in Engineering, one in the Undergraduate Library and one in Physics). We had a Gopher server in 1992, and were one of the first libraries anywhere to have a data repository, PURR (circa 2011). It is mind boggling to see how many servers, software packages and applications we now maintain — take my word for it, it’s a lot! And we’re about to embark on supporting more. There will be a lot of new technology in the Wilmeth Active Learning Center — GIS servers, a data visualization wall, a space dedicated to 3D printing, and lots of new software and applications.

But it’s not just about the technology. It’s also about how we adapt to interact with students and faculty in the support of learning, research and day-to-day services in continually changing ways. It’s about understanding how they’re now using different skills and tools for information seeking and use in the creation of knowledge. We’ve adapted for years by changing approaches to information literacy and collaborations, working with people in different ways, adapting our workflows and processes to keep in rhythm with the campus. In fact we’ve been on the leading edge in so many areas related to learning, teaching, research, archives and spaces, and not just at Purdue, but in the country (ahem, 2015 ACRL Excellence in University Library Award). And as we enter the brave new world of computationally savvy students and faculty — big data, APIs, data visualization, AI, semantic web, Internet-of-Things, DH, sensor technology, cloud services — I hope we’ll remember that we managed to go from floppies to CD to USB to cloud; from Windows NT to 98 to XP to 10; from LOOK UP to NOTIS to Voyager to Alma.

According to Wikipedia, “Technology can be most broadly defined as the entities, both material and immaterial, created by the application of mental and physical effort in order to achieve some value.” We’ve done a darn good job of making technology work for us to support the university’s information needs! Jim has said it before, but I’ll say it again, "We are a hard-working and resilient team!"

“Missing You: Navigating Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight and Enduring Legacy” is about the journey. The journey of an ambitious, passionate and articulate woman who followed her own path breaking barriers and records. The journey of a navigator, Frederick Noonan, and his new wife as he undertook the role of a lifetime. The journey of a modern power couple, Amelia Earhart and George Palmer Putnam, both equally driven, entrepreneurial, and equal partners in the business of Amelia Earhart. This exhibit is also about a journey across the globe of 1937 – through sometimes turbulent skies and turbulent nations where colonial governments and corporate titans would play host to the Earhart team.

The mystery surrounding Amelia Earhart’s disappearance often overshadows her legacy as a pioneer aviator, vocal advocate for women’s opportunities in the workplace, in the university and at home — a legacy we do not want to miss. On this 80th anniversary of Earhart and Noonan’s disappearance, “Missing You” explores their last flight through their “eyes” via letters, telegrams, photographs and logs sent home. The exhibit also examines the unique role Earhart played to promote women’s rights during the 1920s and 1930s. Amelia Earhart was, and remains, a role model for young women and men.

“Missing You” includes items documenting Earhart’s relationship with Purdue University, never before seen letters sent home from navigator Noonan during the flight, photographs Earhart took with her own camera, as well as Earhart’s last known communication, telegrams from Lae, New Guinea prior to their departure for Howland Island.

This exhibit is made possible through the support of Purdue Libraries’ Susan Bulkeley Butler Women’s Archives and the Barron Hilton Archives for Flight and Space Exploration.

Special thanks to Purdue Archives student workers Amanda Wegener and Devyn Maugel who helped curate the exhibit.

This year members of the Libraries Instructional Support Working Group, with staff representation from every Libraries division, returned to the 5th Annual Lafayette Regional E-Learning Conference at Jefferson High School June 7-8, making this the third consecutive year that Purdue Libraries Staff has attended this event.

This E-Learning Conference, geared toward K-12 educators, allows staff who support faculty instruction and outreach to learn more about what our future students are doing in (and out) of their K-12 classrooms and is great in helping to curate a list of resources we can use in instruction, outreach and professional development here at Purdue Libraries.

We’ve added — and continue to add — to our Instructional Support and E-Learning Tools Libguide which features tools for video assessment, screen sharing, content creation and productivity; as well as content and style help; inspiration and examples of these tools at work; accessibility information; and a calendar of professional development opportunities.

This year’s session included information about E-Learning and maker-space tools, the importance of student choice and voice, emotional agility and technology adaptation, and creating authentic engagement with technology tools. Staff had an amazing time learning about new tools and how to implement them in instruction.

Please check out our Libguide full of tools and/or contact any one of the people listed on our Libguide for help in implementing new ideas for projects and engagement in your instruction and outreach! And a very special thanks to the Libraries Administration for supporting this valuable professional development opportunity!

"To build up the future, you have to know the past." — Otto Frank

Over the next few months as Purdue University Libraries relocates six libraries into the Wilmeth Active Learning Center (WALC), INSIDe will feature a brief history about each library.

A LOOK BACK AT LIFE SCIENCES LIBRARY

The first wing of the Lilly Hall of Life Sciences building was under construction beginning in 1951 and was first occupied in 1954 by the Agronomy Department. Other parts of the building were constructed as tax funds were made available. Walter Scholar, a local firm, was the architect for the building and Adolph Wolter, an Indianapolis sculptor, designed and made the aluminum mural hanging in the main foyer. The building was dedicated on September 18, 1959 with such dignitaries in attendance as Dean Earl Butz, Governor Harold Handley, and Purdue’s president, Dr. Frederick L. Hovde. The building’s basement, ground floor, and three floors above contain 499,877 square feet of floor space, or 11.5 acres, and 750 rooms.

Records indicate that the Life Sciences Library’s first beginnings were a collection of about 1200 volumes of Herd Records of all the principal American breeds of cattle, horses, sheep and swine and were housed in the Agricultural Building. In the 1904-1905 annual report of the library William M. Hepburn, librarian, reported that the agricultural and mathematical “collections” had just moved to the Main Library from the other campus locations. At the time, the expenditures for the books, periodicals and binding totaled $2,120. Of this, $1,061 was spent for books, the expenditures by department were $285 for engineering, $275 for sciences, $263 for humanities and social sciences, $35 for agriculture, $25 for pharmacy, and $285 for reference books. The average price paid per volume purchased was $1.57.

The 1908-1909 annual library report noted that a shelf-list of books on agricultural subjects was kept in the office of the Dean of the School of Agriculture and a catalog of biological literature was on file in the office of the Dean of the School of Science, in addition to the card catalog maintained in the Main Library.

In 1922, recognizing a growing need by students in the technical and professional fields for specialized reference assistance, Mr. Hepburn proposed to develop departmental libraries “under the main roof of the Main Library” by setting apart certain portions of the building for specific subjects. The first, (and possibly the only) subject area to be set apart was for agriculture. The old “study room” in the southwest corner of the building was converted to an “Agriculture Reading and Reference Room” with the agricultural collection located in the adjacent first “old” stack level.

In 1927, the establishment of the Biology Library was set in motion when Dr. Stanley Coulter donated
250 volumes to the Biology Department for use by students and staff in the various offices and laboratories in the Biology Department.

By 1942, several other departments had established their own collections within their offices and buildings in order to satisfy the growing needs of their students and staff as well as a means of meeting accreditation requirements.

In 1944-1945, the holdings of the Agricultural Experiment Station Library were listed for inclusion in the General (Main) Library catalog. The Experiment Station Library remained completely independent of the campus library system until 1948-1949.

Planning began in 1954 for the Life Sciences Library. The new library would be a combination of several department libraries and private collections that would fall under the supervision of the Director of Libraries, John Moriarty, and the Life Sciences Librarian. The library’s move from Stanley Coulter Hall was completed in time for the dedication ceremony of the Lilly Hall of Life Sciences in September 1959.

The Life Sciences Library, housed in Room 2-400, has not seen any major structural changes since its initial move. The library occupied three floors within Lilly Hall. Circulation, Reserves, current periodicals, reference materials and staff offices occupied the first floor. The second and third floors house study tables and carrels, the remaining collections and librarians’ offices.

By 1980, the Library included departmental collections from Agriculture and Biological Engineering, Agronomy, Animal Sciences, Biological Sciences, Botany and Plant Pathology, Entomology, Forestry and Natural Resources, and Horticulture. The Biochemistry Department continued to provide housing for its collection with daily operations and maintenance of the library falling under the supervision of the Life Sciences Librarian until 2004 when the space was vacated and the collections moved to the Life Sciences Library. When the Consumer and Family Sciences Library (CFS) closed in 2007, a portion of that collection (nutrition sciences) was added to Life Sciences.

In 2009, the 4th floor journal collection was shifted to create room and adequate growth space for the LC books.

Life Sciences Librarians since 1959, include James Martindale (Agricultural Experiment Station Library), Henry Murphy, Thomas Marshall, Henry Murphy, Chuck Schaeve, Ruth Ahl, Martha Bailey, and Sarah Kelly. In 2005, Vicki Killion became Head of the Health & Life Sciences Division which includes Life Sciences, Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences, and Veterinary Medical Libraries.

On June 26, thirty-nine staff members from across the Purdue University Libraries traveled by bus to the ALA Conference in Chicago. We enjoyed a day of browsing and visiting with vendors at the exhibit hall before returning back to campus that afternoon. Special thanks to Carole Tolley for making the arrangements, Allen Bol for ensuring everyone was accounted for on the bus and to Dean Mullins for opening this trip up for all Libraries staff.

Photos provided by Angie Ewing

Dean Lingley’s name was randomly drawn from all those who were SMILED upon in June. He received a $25 Von’s Book Shop gift certificate.

All faculty, administration 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/

Celebrating Our Staff

The month of June brought retirement and farewell celebrations in the Libraries. In all, the totals represented 109 years and 9 months of dedicated service to the Libraries and Purdue. Our sincere thanks and best wishes to our colleagues.

Pictured left to right top row: Nancy Hewison (32 years), David Hovde (28 years), Terry Wade (18 years)
Pictured left to right bottom row: Mary Dugan (21 years), Marianne Stowell Bracke (10 years and 9 months)