"I'm in favor or progress; it's change I don't like." — Mark Twain

As we read and listen (in various meetings and workshops) about the activities encompassed in the Transform Purdue initiative, it is hard to miss that change is afoot at Purdue. More locally, since I arrived to work at Purdue University Libraries in January 2017, we have been operating amid much change, i.e., the opening of the Wilmeth Active Learning Center, the consolidation of libraries in the now operating Library of Engineering and Science, and the retirement of our longtime dean, Jim Mullins, to list a few of the major changes).

This all being the case, I believe it is a good time to change up our communications and publications, which we produce and use to share Libraries' news internally and externally. Many communicators and marketers in colleges, units, and departments at Purdue produce a periodic digital publication (an e-newsletter, i.e., Purdue Today) to share news. Because it is an accepted and common way to communicate within the Purdue University "market," my team and I will follow suit.

In August 2018, we plan to debut the monthly, digital iteration of VOLUMe (formerly our bi-annual printed publication that featured contributions from Libraries faculty and administrative staff). While the publication name will stay the same, the communication will feature more content about faculty research and teaching, important and impactful Libraries' services and resources, and how our organization is integral to Purdue's pillars of discovery, engagement, and learning. Of course, there will still be room for faculty contributions, but they may appear in the form of a regular column, opinion, or editorial piece... maybe even a podcast series! (Faculty members with ideas, please feel free to contact me!) Additionally, I will still send out the monthly call for faculty and staff publications, awards, accomplishments, and this content will be used for VOLUMe.

At this point, we are still fleshing out the full anatomy (so to speak) of the next iteration of VOLUMe, but we do know that we will use Wordpress as the content management system for it. We will disseminate it monthly (and digitally) to subscribers (who will include not only Libraries faculty and staff, Purdue alumni, and other stakeholders, but also Purdue administrators, faculty, and staff in other departments, and, hopefully, interested Purdue students and faculty/staff at peer academic library institutions).

With the change in our communications and marketing staff over the last few months (Teresa Brown, longtime INSIDe editor and former communications specialist, retired last winter, and Lindsey Organ was hired as our creative services manager), we no longer have the capacity to produce a monthly externally targeted newsletter and a bi-monthly internally targeted employee newsletter (INSIDe). But the idea of "decommissioning" INSIDe entirely just did not set well with me, as (I have learned over my time here) it provides an important way we share news with each other about our faculty and staff and our internal events and activities.

So, to help carry on the production (and the tradition) of INSIDe, members of the Libraries Clerical and Service Staff Advisory Committee (LCSSAC) have graciously agreed to take over the production of INSIDe. Last month, I met with Liz Lukens (president) and other LCSSAC members to "pitch" them the idea. A few weeks later, LCSSAC members let me know they are on board!

Under their management, INSIDe will change a bit, too, as it will only be produced and disseminated four times per year (about once a quarter); however, it will continue to serve as an important internal communication for Purdue Libraries personnel.

The last issue of INSIDe produced by Libraries communications staff (aka me) will be disseminated June 20. After that, the publication will be on hiatus as it transitions to the members of LCSSAC so they can plan, produce, and deliver the next iteration of INSIDe this coming fall semester.

Please feel free to reach out to me (Teresa K.) with any questions or concerns.

The Purdue United Way campaign is just around the corner. Our Interim Dean Rhonda Phillips is the chair of the Purdue United Way Campaign this year, and I am chair for the Libraries, with Sandy Galloway serving as junior chair. Team captains (now referred to as "champions") in the Libraries include: Teresa Balser, Angie Ewing, Ashley Hutchcraft, and Dan Rotello. We all attended a May 17 training session for the upcoming campaign, and as always, found it be an informative event with great stories shared about how the United Way helps many in our community! The United Way supports many organizations in the Greater Lafayette area. For the complete list, please see www.uwlafayette.org/partner-agent. It is good to know that such a support system exists in our community and continues to help many!

This year the kickoff will be implemented a little differently, and we need your help! The University kickoff is set to start at 10 a.m. (Wednesday, Sept. 12) at the entrance of Hovde Hall, with a speech delivered by Provost Jay Akridge. Representatives in each department, school, or unit have been asked to have their own kickoff events or activities after the University's official kickoff event concludes. The Libraries will host a second-grade class from Vinton Elementary (Lafayette) during this event, and our United Way team members will present them with books as part of the Read to Succeed program.

The Vinton Elementary students are a representative group of children who have benefitted from the program. The children’s teacher, Laura Gullion, was truly touched to be asked to come to campus to receive the books on behalf of the Purdue Libraries and the Read to Succeed program. She said it is not uncommon for many teachers to spend close to $1,000 from their own pockets for books for their classrooms and school libraries.

We are the Purdue Libraries, so it only seemed fitting that we would focus on books and the Read to Succeed program. President Daniels has always supported this program, even allowing Purdue employees time away from work to volunteer.

We need your help collecting books before the event and during the campaign. Since we would like to present each of the children a new book, possibly signed by President Daniels, we are asking for second-grade specific books before September 12. We will then continue to collect books for other grades after the kickoff.

Please consider donating a children’s book to help change a child’s life. Donations and/or questions may be directed to any of the chairs or team captains listed above. We are striving to make the Libraries' kickoff event a memorable one, while helping those in our community. Stay tuned to learn more about the September 12th event!

With sincere thanks from your Libraries United Way 2018 Team!

Purdue University senior Jacob Nolley (pictured on the left) is in no danger of lacking entrepreneurial ideas and endeavor. Nolley—a dual marketing and management major in the Purdue Krannert School of Management and president of the Purdue Honors College Mentor Council—and his business partner and best friend, Collin Clevenger (who attends Ball State University, pictured on the right), have both embodied the entrepreneurial spirit since they were in fourth grade together many years ago. Back then, the Shelbyville (IN) natives started a business selling lollipops and pencil erasers to their elementary-school classmates. The pair’s business partnership continued into their high school years, when they founded a headband business together and sold their headband products to fellow students and friends.

Most recently, Nolley and Clevenger started the product-development venture The Graphite Lab, through which they hope to help other young entrepreneurs take their product ideas to market successfully. As a proof of their product-development company concept, Nolley and Clevenger have developed their very own product, the GripIt (pictured on the left), a holder for mobile devices, which they describe as “the most comfortable, customizable, and care-free way to hold your device.” Sleeker (for carrying a device in one’s pocket) than the popular pop-up holders—and still creating a more secure grip on one’s valuable mobile device—GripIt attaches easily to mobile devices (including tablets) and features 16 different band colors. Nolley said, too, those who order GripIt in bulk orders (for giveaways and brand awareness “swag”) will have even more customizable options (e.g., printing the bands and/or more color options).

Recently, the pair launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to help them purchase start-up capital, including a printer so they can make some of the product pieces themselves. But before they could start marketing GripIt (and the services of The Graphite Lab) and launch their Indiegogo campaign, Nolley and Clevenger needed a product prototype to show to prospective investors and to take to manufacturing partners. That’s where the 3D printing resources in the Purdue University Libraries’ Data-Visualization Experience Lab of Purdue (D-VELoP) proved to be integral. (D-VELoP is part of the Library of Engineering and Science in the Wilmeth Active Learning Center.) After creating a design using OnShape online product-design software, Nolley used D-VELoP’s 3D printing resources and the D-VELoP staff members’ expertise to help him hone the prototype.

“Libraries personnel, like [Instructional Developer] Aly Edmondson [pictured on the left] helped me a great deal,” Nolley explained. “I talked with her and other D-VELoP personnel about what they would recommend for this particular prototype design. Through this process, I learned how to design a product to be manufactured, as there are lot of different things that need to be implemented in this type of design—one that will be 3D printed and injection molded— for it to work. I went through about 25 iterations before I came to the final prototype design, and every time I sent a design to be 3D printed, I got it back promptly, and they gave me great feedback, which was super helpful,” he added.

Nolley—who is also minoring in creative writing and completed Purdue University’s Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program—not only credits D-VELoP’s resources and personnel for helping him and his partner get to this point with the start-up The Graphite Lab and the GripIt product, but he also noted that many people, resources, and services at Purdue have been invaluable during his college career.

“No one has helped me more at Purdue than Debbi Bearden, my academic advisor in the Krannert Leaders Academy. She has helped provide me with all the many, wonderful opportunities I have benefited from as a Purdue student. Debbi has made my time at Purdue absolutely the most fruitful experience I have had in my life,” he noted.

Nolley also took advantage of Purdue University’s Foundry, which, according to the Purdue Foundry website, “exists to help Purdue students, faculty, and local alumni move ideas to the marketplace more quickly.”

“My freshman year at Purdue, I founded ‘Jacob’s Loom,’ a start-up project that I ended up closing because of financing problems, which is part of the inspiration for using the crowdfunding approach for Collin’s and my current start-up project,” he explained. “The resources at the Purdue Foundry and the staff there—like Tim Peoples, Purdue Foundry managing director, and John Hanak, managing director of Purdue Ventures—were pivotal in providing me with the skills to be successful with The Graphite Lab and GripIt.” (Pictured on the right is a promotional photo from The Graphite Lab, in which Jacob poses with friends to demonstrate how the GripIt works to take selfies with mobile devices.)

Nolley also credits his former Purdue instructor Beth Carroll (who now works in the retail sector)—who taught courses in Purdue University’s Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program—for helping him learn and hone his entrepreneurial knowledge and skills.

“She is one of the most helpful faculty members I have ever worked with,” Nolley said.

Nolley and Clevenger launched their Indiegogo campaign just this week, and they only have short window, about a month, to get to their fundraising goal of $15,000. The good news is that, as of June 1, they already have close to 100 backers and have raised more than $1,000.

“We used Indiegogo because we wanted to show it is possible that you do not have to sell your ideas and efforts to get your company off the ground. That is what we want to do with our customers of The Graphite Lab,” Nolley explained. “So, when people bring their products to us, we want to help them get their ideas off the ground and sell their products through our sales channels, but we do not want to own their products. Many times, what happens with young entrepreneurs, in order to get their ideas to market, they have to ‘sell their souls to the devil,’ so to speak, and sell off their companies and product-development ideas and efforts. So, in the long term, they do not earn those profits. We want to lead by example, and we are trying to show young entrepreneurs that they do not have to sell their companies and/or ideas. We are providing them with another option through The Graphite Lab.”

For more information, check out the GripIt Indiegogo campaign at www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-gripit-iphone-security#/ and/or contact Nolley at JacobNolley@gmail.com or Clevenger at CollinAClevenger@gmail.com.

Editor's Note: The following were messages sent to Liball in the last two weeks.

Due to the upcoming HVAC renovation in Stewart Center, the Metadata Services and Acquisitions & E-Resources departments (STEW 364 and 370) have temporarily moved to the basement of Potter and will be there for the duration of the project, which is scheduled to be completed next year. Cheryl Sagendorf, rightsizing coordinator, whose office was in STEW 370, has also moved to the basement in Potter. Staff will move back to Stewart Center upon completion of the renovation project.

Additionally, the now-closed ENGR library in Potter is typically locked during the day, so if you need to meet with staff, please contact with them first so they can meet you at an entry door.

Those on the third floor of Stewart who have not yet moved but will need to eventually (dates and locations TBD) include: Dean Lingley and Anna Subramaniam, the Digital Collection Services department (STEW 370); and Lisa Purvis and the Instruction & Digital Programs department (STEW 363).

We will keep you updated with moves as they occur. — Rebecca Richardson, Assistant Dean for Collections and Access

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Margaret Danao, the Project Manager, has shared the most recent schedule from the contractor for the HVAC project. We are about one month behind schedule, and some phases will last a little longer than we previously thought. However, the good news is that the two air handlers will be changed out in November of 2018 and March of 2019 – when there is a reasonable assumption that we won’t need air conditioning.

As always – take these dates with a lump of salt as we don’t know what the conditions will be once walls are opened.  Right now our best guess is:

• Phase 1 started 5/14/2018 + Convos
• Phase 2 starts 8/6/2018
• Phase 3 starts 11/15/2018
• Phase 4 starts 3/4/2019
• Phase 5 starts 8/5/2019
• Substantial completion on or about 10/7/2019

Candy, and the PLF team are working hard to make sure everyone has a desk to work at during the project.  Details about actual moves will come when we are closer to the phases.  Right now it is just too soon to know specifics.