I first heard about Purdue University's sesquicentennial anniversary during my interview (November 16-17, 2016) for my position in Purdue Libraries. Then Dean of Libraries and Esther Ellis Norton Professor James "Jim" Mullins filled me in about the upcoming milestone during our after-dinner conversation, and he emphasized the fundraising and marketing goals, which (I have learned in my 25+ years of working in communications and marketing) are often tied in with such commemorations in higher education and non-profit organizations. Back then, when talking with Jim, I remember thinking it was an opportunity… and I still think that now.

While the planning and preparation process (at the University and unit levels) has evolved significantly since I first arrived in early 2017 and, shortly after, joined the University-level sesquicentennial action committee, the plan is now to implement "150 Years of Giant Leaps," which is "inspired by Neil Armstrong’s historic statement on the moon." The University-wide content-marketing campaign (summed up in this new "brand tagline"—a statement that "concisely communicate[s] the core essence, position, and/or value of the organization," per Forbes) has the potential to enhance Purdue University's reputation and position in the higher education market, and beyond, even further. That is the overarching goal.

To rewind just a bit, because of the significance of the milestone, early on in my time here, I assembled an internal, sesquicentennial sub-committee (perhaps more of a working group) to collaborate with Libraries faculty and staff about how best to leverage 150th-anniversary commemoration activities for advancement and marketing messaging. During our monthly meetings, we discussed many interesting event-based activities (which were, at the time, in line with the University-level plans for the yearlong, Sept. 2018-Oct. 2019, anniversary celebration). With "150 Years of Giant Leaps"—only first introduced to Purdue marketers and communicators in mid-April of this year—our internal group's plans (for the Libraries and its divisions) have significantly changed. Now, for the anniversary celebration, the marketing messaging/platforms in the campaign will be primarily digital in nature (meaning content, i.e., videos, infographics, articles, multimedia pieces…) and will be "80% looking forward, 20% looking back." In order to accomplish this successfully, I (we) need input from many more in our Libraries' organization.

Late last week, I learned, as our point person for "150 Years of Giant Leaps," by early next week, I need to provide (to Purdue's internal and external representatives planning the celebration) information about "key focus areas" ("recent initiatives, news of note, research, etc.") and key events within the next 6-12 months. "We will use this data to help build our listening infrastructure and test the data to see what content ideas might generate the most conversation," explained Kelly Hiller, the director of sesquicentennial communications.

Earlier today, in a special meeting with AdCom (our internal committee of dean and associate/assistant deans), we decided to request input to get a better handle on all the research and work (by Libraries faculty and staff) that could contribute to and comprise the content. This content will be prominently disseminated (by Purdue) in our "editorial" month, March 2019, during the celebration. We will use the input to provide the information we need to by next week, as well as develop and refine the content concepts, and eventually, the content forms (video, article, etc.) we implement.

But there is a catch. Our editorial content must align with and/or support "at least" (but preferably all, in different forms) the four "Ideas Festival" themes (also part of the "150 Years of Giant Leaps" commemoration), which have been disseminated through Purdue Today and via Purdue's news service. For convenience, I have listed them below.

While I recognize this a short turnaround time, I would greatly appreciate your input—a brief write-up of your research projects and plans, etc., and how your work aligns with/supports the themes listed below—by the end of the day this Friday, June 22. This will give me time to assemble, and then vet the information through our internal sub-committee and through AdCom before I need to have it to the University-level sesquicentennial communications and marketing team.

Please send your input directly to me at tkoltzen@purdue.edu. And thank you in advance for your help!

150 Years of Giant Leaps: Ideas Festival Themes

Giant Leaps in Space, Earth, Exploration, and Economics
The future of life on Earth and the challenges of expanding into space holds high economic, social, and scientific rewards if we assuage the risk and meet the technological challenges. Can we reach beyond our solar neighborhood? Is a self-sustaining space economy emerging to support this frontier? Can the geopolitical regulations for safety and access be built on the Outer Space Treaty?

Giant Leaps in AI, Algorithms and Automation—Balancing Humanity and Technology
Innovations in digitization, machine learning, robotics, and artificial intelligence are profoundly reshaping every aspect of life. While these advances hold tremendous promise to help tackle critical issues such as poverty and disease, they are also likely to introduce new concerns, such as automation of jobs, cyberwarfare, and tyrannical social engineering. Will we control tomorrow's machines, or will they control us? Finding the right balance between humanity and technology will be critical.

Giant Leaps in Health, Longevity and Quality of Life
Could a child alive today live to 150? Recent advances in genomics and technologies have ushered in a new era of biomedical research to assess, detect, prevent, and treat diseases while optimizing the quality of life over the life course. Discussions around this topic will examine evidence-based methods to prevent and cure disease and optimize quality of life. Scientific frontiers to enable longer and higher-quality human life—including genomic medicine and neurogenesis in later life, as well as behavior change, robotics, and community development—will be addressed.

Giant Leaps to a Sustainable World—Innovate Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow.
In the last 200 years, our population has grown from one billion to 7.6 billion and is projected to be nearly 10 billion by 2050. We will need to adapt to meet the rising demand for food, water, and energy. At the same time, rapid, exponential advances in science and technology continue to revolutionize how we live, think, and work. Can technology, innovation, and the marketplace converge to continue to generate economic growth areas in the global economy? Can humankind create a future in which the demands for food, energy, clean water, climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity, and poverty reduction are reconciled?

Breaking News! This is the last issue of INSIDe as we know it!

Very soon, members of the Libraries Clerical and Service Staff Advisory Committee, or LCSSAC, will take over publishing the Libraries' internal newsletter, which, for the past several years, has been known as INSIDe. In the June 6 issue of INSIDe, Teresa Koltzenburg explained this change.

After LCSSAC members agreed to take over the production of the internal newsletter, our members decided that we will rename the publication, and it have more of a focus on staff members' added voices. The new iteration of the newsletter will be published quarterly (unless we need a special edition added) starting in August 2018.

We are looking for interesting articles, events, and happenings from our fellow staff members. This will be "our" newsletter, and all will be welcome to add to it! We look forward to this new endeavor. Wish us luck!

One of the hallmarks of Digital Humanities is the notion of “tinkering,” of exploring new tools and technologies that faculty and educators can use in their scholarship and teaching. In a series of workshops sponsored by Purdue University Libraries, Purdue Libraries Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities Matthew Hannah (pictured on the left) will introduce you to these new tools and discuss some ways to implement them in your research and pedagogy.

The individual workshop descriptions, with time/date location information, are listed below. All workshops are open free to Purdue University faculty members, students (undergraduate and graduate), and staff members, but registration is required and is available online at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6. Please complete one registration form for each workshop you plan to attend.

Topic Modelling with Voyant Tools

3-4:45 p.m. Wednesday, June 27
Wilmeth Active Learning Center (WALC) 3045

Have you ever wished you could simply press a button and see the major topics of a novel or book of poetry? With this workshop on Voyant Tools, you can easily create topic models of any text. A topic model shows the most frequently used words in any given body of text, which allows scholars and teachers to design interesting and innovative lesson plans. Professor Hannah will begin with a discussion of “data” in the humanities, and he will direct you to some great online resources for accessing the plain text documents you will need for analysis. Workshop participants will then create a topic model of a corpus of poems, including word frequencies, text visualizations, and word tracking. Instructor will provide text to analyze. No technical expertise required. Register (required) at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6.

Social Network Analysis Using Gephi

3-4:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 11
WALC 3045
Social network analysis is one of the growing areas in Digital Humanities research. Scholars and teachers are increasingly looking for easy-to-use software to visualize connections and relationships. In this workshop, you will learn the basic theory behind social network analysis including how to generate and insert data. We will create visualizations of some data provided by the instructor or you can bring your own! We will conclude by considering the pedagogical possibilities of social network analysis for the humanities classroom. No technical expertise required. Register (required) at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6.

Digital Publishing with Scalar

3-4:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 25
WALC 3045
If you have ever wished you could have your students build a multimedia project for your class but weren’t sure how to do it, this workshop is for you! We will discuss the basics of Scalar, a free software platform for innovative digital publishing. With Scalar, you can add photos, text, music, videos, and other media to an essay, creating a hyperlinked rhizomatic publication that fully immerses the reader in a topic through a multitude of media. Even more exciting, Scalar allows you to visualize your materials, and we will consider the ways that adding quantitative data to your project’s benefits or detracts from your work. Because Scalar is so widely adopted by online repositories such as Hathi Trust, you can access the materials in the workshop or bring your own. We will also discuss the pedagogical possibilities for Scalar and look at some sample student projects. Materials needed: digital objects videos, sound files, and pictures. No technical expertise required. Register (required) at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6.

Mapping Time with Timemapper

3-4:45 p.m. Wednesday, August 1
WALC 3045
Timelines are important components of humanities education and research. Whether charting the transmission of knowledge or the march of history, timelines allow us to visualize vast periods of time into easy-to-read infographics. With this workshop, participants will create their own timeline visualizations using Timemapper, a free and accessible timeline software. The skills you learn here will allow you to assign your students new explorations into the humanities and social sciences. No technical expertise required. Register (required) at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6.

Digital Archiving with Omeka

3-4:45 p.m. Wednesday, August 22
WALC 3045

Have you ever wanted to incorporate archival research into your classroom? With Omeka’s free archiving platform, you can assign students to upload content and create their own archive. This easy-to-use platform offers exciting possibilities for your lesson plans, allowing students to explore original material using the Dublin Core metadata standards used by libraries and museums for digital content. In this workshop, we will discuss what Dublin Core is and how to access and use Omeka. Each participant will bring three digital items (music, video, PDFs, texts) to begin creating an original archive, and we will discuss the various metadata categories, as well as the plug-ins, offered by Omeka. Materials needed: 3 digital items. No technical expertise required. Register (required) at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6.

For more information, contact Hannah at hannah8@purdue.edu.

On Monday, June 18, with a balmy outdoor temp hovering around 98 degrees F, incoming Purdue University students and their parents gathered in the Wilmeth Active Learning Center (WALC) for the Summer Transition, Advising, and Registration Program--also known at STAR here at Purdue.

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