Wow, it’s finally happened! The semester is over, everyone is trying to catch up on sleep after yet another successful 24-hour library stint and the doors to six of our libraries have closed for the final time. I couldn’t have said it better than one of our students who wrote on our whiteboard, "Thanks for the memories Potter!"

I think everyone in our Division is feeling a little nostalgic about the transition. ‘I can’t believe for the first time in twelve years, I won’t be opening the doors when I come in on Monday.’ And, it might be a little eerie to work in a locked library until the new one opens, when our purpose has always been to be there for our students. Nonetheless, I think we will all be too busy moving books from one place to another, cleaning up collections, discovering and addressing all the items that weren’t actually in the catalog, to be too nostalgic for too long.

As we are gearing up for the opening of the new space and all the exciting opportunities it will provide to interact with our community in new ways, I wanted to step back and acknowledge how many people (like, actually, everyone in the Libraries) have been involved in the process of transitioning these libraries. I don’t think any of us realized just how many areas of the Libraries the move to the WALC would impact, but I do know how much we appreciate everyone’s contributions and willingness to help solve the challenges that cropped up. RaeLynn Boes and Erla Heyns certainly deserve kudos for providing a landing spot for our print map collection and state surveys, not to mention the HSSE librarians for making room in their stacks for some of our titles. Joe Kinzig has admirably accommodated our never-ending requests for more space while juggling challenges of keeping the shelves stable and the repository water-tight. Acquisitions has kept the flow of re-cataloged books going and Cheryl Sagendorf has been instrumental in helping us review our collections and make the best decisions.

IDPS is making sure the technology gets to where it needs to be and that all the infrastructure is in place. PLF has been and will continue to be orchestrating all the movements of everything, keeping us up-to-date on changes and developments in the new building, and offering suggestions for reconfiguring spaces to address, for example, our print map collection. Even, ILL for agreeing to take on the responsibility for meeting patron needs when our physical collections are offline during the actual move of books to the WALC. Communications for bringing out a coherent and comprehensive message to the campus community, so they know what is going on during the transition. And of course, our own PSET and HLS staff members who have been working at breakneck speed to pull and ship materials to their final resting place, always keeping the pressure on our librarians to make decisions in a timely manner, a much needed reminder. I’m sure I’ve forgotten many others who have been impacted by the move and have worked to positively help the Libraries get to where we need to be. It truly does take a village to move a library.

So, to everyone, all over the Libraries, a big thank you from us!

The Purdue University Libraries takes a vested interest in transforming teaching and learning at Purdue! The Libraries work with partners across campus to create Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation (IMPACT), a course redesign program that focuses on making courses at Purdue more student-centered.

The program is a joint effort of several campus units, including the Purdue Libraries, the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE), ITaP Teaching and Learning, the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment, and Effectiveness (OIRAE), Digital Education, and the Evaluation and Learning Research Center.

Within IMPACT, interdepartmental teams work closely with Purdue instructors to help them redesign courses following evidence-based educational practices. In addition to helping instructors adopt a student-centered approach to their courses, team members from the Libraries work with instructors to uncover how students use information to learn within the course. Approaching courses holistically, the Libraries team members work with instructors to develop informed learning solutions to allow students to engage with information in sophisticated and purposeful ways.

To read more about select IMPACT courses designed to teach students how to use information to learn within their disciplinary or professional areas, check out the Libraries’ information literacy blog.

Contact: Clarence Maybee, Associate Professor of Library science and the Libraries’ IMPACT coordinator.

Back Row: Clarence Maybee, Michael Flierl, Jane Yatcilla, Amy Van Epps, Dave Zwicky and Larry Mykytiuk. Front Row: Nastasha Johnson, Rachel Fundator, Bethany McGowan, Wei Zakharov and Jason Reed.

Excerpts from this release was written and first appeared online by Purdue News Service on May 1, 2017

A new book series from Purdue University Press will explore cutting-edge topics in aeronautics and astronautics enterprises, tell unique stories from the history of flight and space travel and contemplate the future of human space exploration and colonization.

The series, “Purdue Studies in Aeronautics and Astronautics,” will be edited by James R. Hansen, author of “First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong”(Simon & Schuster, 2005, 2012). Hansen, the authorized biographer of Neil A. Armstrong, in 2008 donated 55 hours of one-on-one tape-recorded interviews with the famed astronaut to the Purdue University Libraries’ Division of Archives and Special Collections. “First Man” spent three weeks on The New York Times best-seller list. A new edition of “First Man,” from Simon & Schuster, is planned to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing.

"I am thrilled to edit such an innovative series for the Purdue University Press," Hansen said. "These titles will build on past titles from Purdue and showcase Purdue's deep connection with space travel and innovation."

The first title to be released in the series is “Piercing the Horizon: The Story of Visionary NASA Chief Tom Paine,” by Sunny Tsiao.

"This series on aeronautics and astronautics that span from science and engineering to policies and the human spirit will inspire the next generation of pioneers, explorers and champions to dream and achieve the impossible. I cannot think of a better person to lead this exciting series than Jim Hansen," said Tom Shih, head of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue.

The series builds on Purdue University Press’s recent successful titles, such as “Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom,” by George Leopold (Purdue, 2016), and “Spacewalker: My Journey in Space and Faith as NASA’s Record-Setting Frequent Flyer,” by Jerry Ross with John Norberg (Purdue, 2013).

 "An international research center and aeronautics and astronautics program like ours, with such a rich tradition and such active ongoing research, deserves a fine publishing program. It will not only celebrate our institutional and national heritage, but also our human heritage and, indeed, bring important new thinking to new audiences,” said Peter Froehlich, director of Purdue University Press. "Our team is excited to be working with Jim Hansen on this new series for Purdue.

"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 THE CHEMISTRY LIBRARY

In 1924, the general policy of the University involved the centralization of the books and their uses for reference in the Main Library Building. In certain instances however, there were departures from this policy and collections of books were placed in other buildings on campus.

The most important of these collections was the Chemistry Library, located in the Chemistry building. It was the oldest and largest of the department libraries. Practically all the usable books and periodicals relating to Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, about 2,000 in all, were housed in this library where they were readily accessible for reference to the students at work in the laboratories of the department. University Librarian William M. Hepburn believed departmental libraries sprang from the “rapid growth of library collections without a corresponding increase in the size of the Main Library Building.”

In 1929, a complete dictionary catalog and shelf list were prepared for the books shelved in the Chemistry Library, and it was planned to include cards for the chemical books kept in the General, Chemical Engineering and Agricultural Experiment Station libraries. A tri-weekly messenger service was established to deliver books and periodicals to departmental libraries and to deliver and pick up periodicals circulated to 20 departments for faculty use.

In 1930, for the first time the Library leadership provided a part-time assistant to users of departmental collections in Chemistry and Pharmacy. According to M.G. Mellon’s autobiography, the first Chemistry librarian was Bernice Dunten, who had been a WWI Army Nurse. She remained the librarian until 1940, when she moved to the Pharmacy Library. Mellon noted that, in the hot summers of 1934 and 1936, she ejected students (presumably male) from the library for going “topless.”

Ms. Dunten was followed by Ruth Power (1940-49), a graduate (like Dunten) of the University of Illinois Library School. She was followed (perhaps) by someone named Dunbar – Mellon is not clear about this in his autobiography.

In 1948-49, responsibility for the Chemistry Library shifted from the department head to the Director of Libraries John Moriarty.

The new Chemistry building was completed in 1955 at a cost of over $4,500,000, and the Chemistry Library moved into its new home with Librarian Fred J. Bassett (1951-56) overseeing its grand opening. The departmental library, with a capacity of 40,000 volumes, was located on the third floor of the new building. The description of the library in the open house brochure read as follows: “On entering it (the library) one finds oneself in a large, acoustically treated, air-conditioned reading room with bookshelves around the sides and long study tables and chairs in the center. The Librarian’s desk is immediately to the right, and behind this are two small rooms where books may be repaired or prepared for binding. At the left in the reading room is a long alcove for abstract journals. Beyond this is a separate small reading room with current journals and magazines arranged on open shelves. To the west of the main reading room is the stack room. The stacks are constructed in three tiers and extend from the third floor to the ceiling of the fourth floor. A small service elevator has been installed to facilitate the transportation of books between the several levels of stacks. This room is also supplied with 21 study carrels, seven on each tier. There is no laboratory above any part of the library so that a leakage of water and chemical cannot occur in such a way as to damage the books and manuscripts.”

Bassett was followed by James Van Luik, who was there for two years (1956-58). He was presumably followed by Dorothy Kreman, who served until John Pinzelik started in 1960 and retired in 1993. Bartow Culp followed until his retirement in 2009. In 2003, Michael Fosmire was appointed as Head, Physical Sciences, Engineering and Technology Division, with Jeremy Garritano serving as Chemistry librarian (June 2004-May 2014). Currently David Zwicky is assistant professor liaison for the Chemistry department.

The Chemistry library has undergone some cosmetic updates over the years including a new circulation desk and study carrels. As a teaching and research library, it has continued to stay up-to-date with the services it offers to the Purdue staff and students and surrounding community. In 2007, The Mellon CyberChemistry Lab was opened and featured 10 PCs with software specifically related to chemistry, math, and citation management. The core objective of this space was to help users more effectively apply the information that was available to them, and as a result make their assignments and their research more meaningful.

Craig Leavell
Secretary
Libraries Administration

I am happy to be back working on a permanent basis in the Libraries Administration Office where I worked as a temporary staff this past winter. I will be providing support to the Libraries administrative staff, as well as providing customer service in the administrative office. I am a proud native Hoosier, who grew up in Richmond and graduated from Ball State University. I have worked for many years in youth development in residential children’s facilities and in Boys & Girls Clubs.

I have many interests that keep me busy, including tinkering around in my yard, drawing/painting, photography, camping, motorcycle riding and “trying” to learn to play the guitar. I am married to my beautiful wife, Julie, who is a nurse and have 2 grown sons, one who is an artist and the other will be attending Wright State University this fall.

I am located in the Libraries Administration office, STEW 277 and can be reached at cleavell@purdue.edu or by phone at 49-61127.

Audrey Grisham’s name was randomly drawn from all those who were SMILED upon in April. She 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/

Hicks Library Study Break Activities
Students enjoyed the activities and refreshments sponsored by the Libraries during prep and finals week.