With the approach of Purdue’s 150th anniversary, the Archives & Special Collections team has been busy selecting historical images, documents, and artifacts to be featured as part of the celebrations, promotional publications, and websites. Staff in the Archives are collaborating on the creation of a coffee-table book celebrating Purdue through the lens of the University Archives, featuring historical photos, documents, and artifacts. John Norberg, who has published several books on aspects of Purdue history, is writing a new updated history of Purdue and has been a regular presence in the Archives Reading Room. Both of these books will be published by the Purdue Press in 2018.

A major anniversary is always the time when university archives see the most action, in terms of requests from individuals in departments across the university and from designers, the media, and vendors working with the University on various ways to highlight the institution’s history. For the past couple years, the Archives & Special Collections team has been gearing up for Purdue’s sesquicentennial, anticipating this increase in demand for collections and services.

One of the most frequently sought types of material during an anniversary are photographs, and the Archives has an abundance of them. Some of them have been digitized, but many of the photographs of the first fifty years of Purdue history were acquired in the last seven years and are glass plate negatives that have not been scanned. To prepare for requests of these images, taken by the first Purdue photographer, J.C. Allen, the staff have worked diligently with assistance from many talented student employees, to prepare these images by creating inventories of them and placing them in supportive enclosures to protect the fragile glass supports. Staff have also worked on several large image collections received in recent years from Jane Beering, Purdue President Steven Beering’s wife and First Lady of Purdue. Jane Beering was a prolific photographer of Purdue events and people. We’ve also been working to create inventories and put into order the many decades of images from Marketing and Media and the University News Service that have been transferred to us in recent years. We are excited to collaborate with the digitization and metadata staff to scan as many of these images as we can so they can be used as part of the sesquicentennial celebration.

Another way the Archives staff have been preparing for the 150th anniversary is by creating, transcribing, editing, preserving, and putting online the collection of interviews from the Oral History Program. Through collaboration with the cultural centers, we have begun conducting interviews that will diversify our collections and ensure that a wide variety of voices and perspectives are represented. The University’s Sesquicentennial Committee is excited about featuring oral histories as part of the celebrations, and we expect to offer training on conducting oral history interviews soon for our colleagues at the regional campuses so that they can also contribute.

Staff in the Archives have been conducting mini-oral history interviews at events like the State Fair and home football games this year, seeking to grow the collection of recorded memories of Purdue alumni and retired faculty and staff. This has been a great way to engage with friends of Purdue and increase awareness of the Archives. The end goal of these interviews will be to place them online so that people can easily share and discover recollections from their Purdue years.

We will also feature special exhibits during the Sesquicentennial of Purdue, and increase partnerships with Marketing and Media, University News Service, the University Development Office, and the Alumni Association as we collaborate on ways to showcase Purdue’s history and make it more visible to the public and the University community.

In terms of campus-wide activities, Purdue has scheduled several signature events for the 150th anniversary year, so you may want to mark your calendars now! The celebratory centennial year of events begins with a kick off at the homecoming football game in 2018 (September 22). This will be followed by Charter Day on May 6, 2019.  Charter Day will be a fun-filled birthday party held on Memorial Mall, in honor of the date that Indiana Governor Conrad Baker signed the bill creating Purdue University. The celebratory year ends at homecoming in 2019 (October 12), with a postgame Block P party on State Street that will include live entertainment and a Purdue Marketplace of food and drinks.

Finally, the Libraries will be given a month in the celebratory year to highlight our own special events, initiatives, and programs. Teresa Koltzenberg is leading the team in the Libraries on planning Libraries-wide promotional messages and activities, so feel free to reach out to me or to Teresa if you have an exciting idea you’d like to share about how we can showcase the Libraries during our special month. Stay tuned for more information about ways you can contribute!

To learn more, visit www.Purdue.edu/150

In conjunction with Open Access Week 2017, Purdue University Libraries Scholarly Publishing Division invites you to attend a lecture by Brian Hole, CEO of Ubiquity Press.

Thursday, October 26
10:00-11 a.m.
Wilmeth Active Learning Center
Room 3121

Ubiquity Press was founded in 2012 by researchers at University College London who believe the aim of academic publishing should be the widest possible dissemination of research. Therefore, all Ubiquity Press publications are 100% open access. Ubiquity Press publishes research journals ranging from the humanities and social sciences through to sciences, technology and medicine.

Open Access Week is a global event highlighting the opportunity for the academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation in helping to make Open Access a new norm in scholarship and research.

“Open Access” to information – the free, immediate, online access to the results of scholarly research and the right to use and re-use those results as you need – has the power to transform the way research and scientific inquiry are conducted. It has direct and widespread implications for academia, medicine, science, industry, and for society as a whole.

Open Access (OA) has the potential to maximize research investments, increase the exposure and use of published research, facilitate the ability to conduct research across available literature, and enhance the overall advancement of scholarship. Research funding agencies, academic institutions, researchers and scientists, teachers, students, and members of the general public are supporting a move towards Open Access in increasing numbers every year. Open Access Week is a key opportunity for all members of the community to take action to keep this momentum moving forward.

If you have questions about the lecture contact: nkcollin@purdue.edu or (765) 494­-8511.

Purdue University Libraries announces its fifth “Why I Love Purdue Libraries” video contest.

This year, with the opening of the new Wilmeth Active Learning Center (WALC), the Purdue Libraries’ annual contest will have the theme: “Why I Love Purdue Libraries’ WALC.” The contest provides students the opportunity to show what they love about the new WALC and the Library of Engineering & Science.

All current Purdue undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled at the West Lafayette campus are eligible to enter.

Award categories are as follows:
1st Prize = $1,000
2nd Prize = $750
3rd Prize = $500

Deadline to enter is 11:59 p.m. Monday, Nov. 6. Winners will be announced in mid-November, early December.

Entry information and rules at http://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/…/2017/10/06/video-contest-2017/

Showing the Libraries’ Impact on Student Success
Michael Flierl, Learning Design Specialist, and Clarence Maybee, Information Literacy Specialist, presented at the fall meeting of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) on October 4 in Washington, DC. Their presentation was part of a panel on the library impact on student success chaired by Damon Jaggers from Ohio State University. The panel also included presenters from the University of Minnesota and the Greater Western Library Association. Flierl and Maybee’s presentation, “Information Literacy, Motivation, and Learning,” shared initial findings from research they are conducting with Rachel Fundator, Information Literacy Instructional Designer, and Emily Bonem, an instructional developer with Purdue’s Center for Instructional Excellence. The research explores the relationship between information literacy, student motivation, and student grades in courses that were redesigned through the Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation (IMPACT) program. The study examined data from over 3,000 students in 102 course sections from courses from across several colleges. The results suggest that activities such as searching or formatting citations may be demotivating, while other information literacy activities, such as synthesizing information and communicating the results, are positively related to student motivation and grades. The findings have implications for the Libraries work with instructors to integrate information literacy into Purdue courses.

Responding to the Changing Roles of Librarians in the Research Enterprise
Scott Brandt served on a panel at the ARL-CNI Fall Forum to respond to the topic of “Changing Roles of Librarians in the Research Enterprise.” The theme featured the library as an essential strategic asset in the university research enterprise. The focus was on how research libraries' staffing, budget, resource allocation, and organization is (or is not) reflective of current institutional research agendas. What kind of transformational change is needed to close the gaps, and how soon can we get there? The forum included programming on motivation and self-determination theory in order to underscore the vital role of staff agency in these transformations. Empowering librarians, archivists, and other professionals in the research library workforce; investing in their learning; and facilitating robust communities of practice are essential organizational strategies for libraries that aspire to assume a central role in university research advancement. Brandt noted that it was clear at the conference that the Purdue University Libraries continues to lead in defining new roles for academic librarians.

During the last month, which has been an extended goodbye, I have realized how many connections I’ve made on campus and in the community in my time here. It’s been 17 years and 2 months! I started one day after Martin Jischke, and would never have guessed I would see three university presidents during my time here.

During those 17 years, Purdue has provided many opportunities for me to develop as a librarian and teacher. In addition, I’ve had opportunities to develop my leadership and management skills that provided the foundation for this move to Harvard. I am looking forward to new experiences, a newly renovated space, consolidating and reworking department library spaces (sounds familiar doesn’t it?), and looking ahead a few years helping to design a new space for a library presence in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Other changes I’m looking forward to include, being closer to my family, riding public transit to work, and once again using the cross country skis that have been sitting in my garage for 17 years!

As I work on finishing my PhD, I’ll be sure to let people know about my defense, which will be here at Purdue and open for anyone who would like to attend. Please stay in touch, and I expect I will see many of you at conferences! I will pass along Harvard contact information once I have it, but for now my Purdue account will stay active with my student status.

Amy was the 2011 recipient of the John H. Moriarty Award for Excellence in Library Service.

Purdue Libraries is now accepting proposals for the 2017-18 Library Scholars Grant Program. The deadline to submit an application is November 10.

The program is for untenured tenure-track faculty members and associate professors tenured effective July 1, 2015, or later. More information is available at www.lib.purdue.edu/scholars.

Applicants are required to have a conversation with a librarian, who must write a letter of support for a proposal.
All proposals must be submitted by email to libraries administration at libinfo@purdue.edu, with this subject: Library Scholars Grant. All proposals must be received by 5 p.m. on Nov. 10.

Additional information about eligibility and submission guidelines is available at www.lib.purdue.edu/scholars/guidelines.

Sarah Eckhart
Instructional Developer
Parrish Library

Hello everyone! I am very excited to be back with Purdue Libraries, this time as an Instructional Developer. My main job duties include developing content, including website, LibGuides, online videos, tutorials and handouts for the HSSEB division, reference, and providing basic support for information technology resources within the Parrish Library.

I first started working for Libraries in August of 2015 as a Library Assistant in Parrish. I left the University in January of this year, but when I saw that the Instructional Developer position was open I felt it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I have a background in graphic design and a BA in Visual Communications Design from, guess where? Yes! Purdue University! Obviously, I love being on or near campus.

When I’m not working, I’m reading, cleaning, organizing, or spending time with my rambunctious two-year-old Dalmatian-Lab mix, Bonnie. My office is located in Parrish, Room 203, and I can be reached by phone at 49-42958, or by email seckhar@purdue.edu.

Lu Ann Gooden’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, 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/

HSSE Library Display
Purdue: Legends, Myths, Traditions and Facts.
By Patrick Whalen

HSSE Library has several tour groups that pass through every day and Pat created the display for visitors, parents and future Boilermakers to learn some trivia about Purdue and its campus.

Purdue University Press also has an illustrated book available about Purdue traditions, A University of Tradition: The Spirit of Purdue, Second Edition. For more information check their website at:
http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/titles/university-tradition-spirit-purdue-second-edition