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Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies News

HSSE Featured Database: History Reference Center

HSSE Featured Database: History Reference Center

January 23rd, 2020

Humanities, Social Science and Education Library’s Featured Database will give you a very brief introduction to the basic features of one of our specialized subscription databases. This time we’re featuring History Reference Center, brought to you by EBSCO Industries, Inc.

Link: https://guides.lib.purdue.edu/db/histrc

Access the databases off-campus with your Purdue login and password.

Focus: This database provides full text from more than 1,620 reference books, encyclopedias, and non-fiction books. There is also full text for more than 150 leading history periodicals, nearly 57,000 historical documents, and biographies for over 78,000 historical figures. The database also includes historical photos, maps, and video.

Tutorial: Click here see the basics of using History Reference Center.

Why you should know this database: This database features full text for thousands of primary source documents and informational texts.

Quick tip: Be sure to locate the “Cite” button for any article you are planning to use in your research. It will bring up a window with a drop down menu listing various citation styles. You can select the style that you need, then cut and paste the citation to your bibliography.

Related Resources:

Another database you might want to explore is:

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This Featured Database comes to you from the Humanities, Social Science and Education Library. If you would like more information about this database, or if you would like a demonstration of it for a class, contact hsselib@purdue.edu. Also let us know if you know of a colleague who would benefit from this, or future Featured Databases.

Since usage statistics are an important barometer when databases are up for renewal, tell us your favorite database, and we will gladly promote it. Send an email to hsselib@purdue.edu.


Wilmeth Active Learning Center Open August 7

August 2nd, 2017

The Wilmeth Active Learning Center houses the Library of Engineering and Science.
The Wilmeth Active Learning Center houses the Library of Engineering and Science. Photo courtesy of Trevor Mahlmann.

Purdue University’s newest building, the Thomas S. and Harvey D. Wilmeth Active Learning Center (WALC) will open to the public Monday, August 7.

Over the summer, Purdue Libraries faculty and staff consolidated the Chemistry; Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS); Engineering; Life Sciences; Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Sciences; and Physics libraries to form the Library of Engineering and Science in one location at the heart of campus.

The WALC houses 27 collaborative active-learning classrooms and will be a daily academic destination for approximately 5,000 Purdue students and faculty. (Read more about the background of the facility at www.lib.purdue.edu/walc/.)

The WALC exemplifies Purdue University’s commitment to undergraduate education. The 1924 Heat and Power Plant (HPN), with its iconic smoke stack, stood for nearly 90 years on the site of the WALC. HPN not only provided power and heat to the dynamic university community, but it also served as a laboratory for engineering students. Today, we would refer to that learning experience as “active learning.”

Below are some FAQs about the new facility.

.Q. What does the Library of Engineering and Science offer?

A. The Library of Engineering and Science (LOES) in the WALC holds approximately 30,000 print volumes, emphasizes the focus on provision of digital resources, and consolidates the holdings and services of six formerly separate libraries into one easily accessible location.

The materials selected for the physical collection of the Library of Engineering and Science have been evaluated by Libraries faculty with input from departmental faculty. The books, reference collection, and standards have been identified as high-use, high-demand materials that best support the teaching and learning goals of the curricula within the schools and departments.

LOES also houses Libraries faculty and staff members, who specialize in access to information resources in engineering and science, as well as in instructing students on how to identify, locate, critique, and retrieve scholarly information. In collaboration with their faculty colleagues in the colleges and schools, the Libraries faculty teach specialized courses and/or participate as team faculty members.

Although the focus of LOES is to provide access to information in engineering and science, the use of resources and space is open to all Purdue students and faculty.

The Library of Engineering and Science is located on the second floor of the WALC.
The Library of Engineering and Science is located on the second floor of the WALC.

Q. How are the active-learning classrooms different from what many would consider a “traditional” classroom, with student seating and a lectern for the instructor?

WALC’s design reflects the most contemporary methods for teaching and learning. The 27 active-learning classrooms are designed with flexible, collaborative seating options that offer a range of team-based learning experiences. Library spaces are adjacent to classrooms throughout the WALC.

At the close of regular instructional hours, the entire WALC, including the classrooms, becomes a library, with all spaces providing opportunities for individual and collaborative study. The WALC is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week nearly the entire year, with a few exceptions.*

Q. What else does the Wilmeth Active Learning Center offer for Purdue students and faculty?

View of the Purdue University Bell Tower from inside the Wilmeth Active Learning Center's Reading Room.
View of the Purdue University Bell Tower from inside the Wilmeth Active Learning Center’s Reading Room.

Reading Room: Since their inception, a traditional element of libraries has been the large reading room. Here, students and faculty can consult materials held by the library, as well as work in a space designed to be conducive to thinking, reflection, and writing. The Reading Room in the WALC serves as a link between the historic role of libraries and the dynamics of an active-learning environment. The view of the iconic Clock Tower, with its bells denoting each hour and at the beginning and end of a class session, serves as a unique reminder that one is truly at Purdue University.

Data Visualization Experience Lab of PurdueData Visualization Experience Lab of Purdue (D-VELoP): D-VELoP provides a space where students, staff and faculty can explore different visualization tools designed to turn their data into knowledge. D-VELoP includes a staffed, open-use 16-seat teaching computer lab. The computers are loaded with visualization programs, and each set up includes large and/or multiple monitors enabling the viewing of data at different scales. A 3×3 tile wall of 4k monitors can be used for presentations, class discussions, or exhibits of data visualizations. Technological tools, such as micro-controller kits and GoPro cameras, allow students to experiment without having to purchase their own. Additionally, four Lulzbot TAZ6 3d printers allow students to visualize their data and designs in a tactile, manipulatable format.

Robust workshops and training programs, in coordination with other maker-related units on campus, help students and faculty to become familiar with technologies they can employ in order to carry out their class projects, pursue personal interests, or advance their research programs.

Hiler Theater: Designed to accommodate an audience of 308 people, the Hiler Theater can serve as a venue for such active-learning instructional activities as drama, film, and lectures during the day, as well as special evening programs for the campus and community. The seats are equipped with tablet arms to accommodate note-taking during presentations and lectures.

Artifacts and Audio Tour: The walls of the WALC are rich with reproductions of historic photographs of the Purdue University campus from the Purdue University Libraries’ Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center. Artifacts and photographs from the working 1924 Power and Heating Plant can be found throughout the building. These items memorialize the rich legacy of this central site on the Purdue campus.

A smartphone tour enhances the exhibits in the WALC by providing information and interactive activities designed to make a visitor’s experience an extension of the WALC active-learning philosophy.

An Au Bon Pain Café is located on the main level of the WALC. It is known for serving fresh baked goods, as well as other morning and lunchtime sandwiches.

Additionally, the 164,000-square-foot facility offers 100 ITaP computers,  both open and enclosed group study spaces, large monitors/screens and whiteboards for group collaboration, poster printing and other printing resources, and much more!

Purdue students can work together in groups in the study spaces offered in the Purdue University's new Wilmeth Active Learning Center.
Purdue students can work together in groups in the study spaces offered in the Purdue University’s new Wilmeth Active Learning Center.

Q. With the consolidation of libraries, how many libraries are open on the West Lafayette Campus?

A. Below is a list of the libraries on Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus before and after the WALC:

The Purdue Libraries on West Lafayette campus before WALC
The list of Purdue Libraries as of August 2017 (opening of WALC)
Archives and Special Collections Archives and Special Collections
Aviation Technology Aviation Technology
Black Cultural Center Black Cultural Center
Chemistry* Engineering and Science**
Earth, Atmospheric, Planetary Sciences (EAPS)* Hicks Undergraduate
Engineering* Humanities, Social Science, and Education (HSSE)
Hicks Undergraduate Mathematical Sciences
Humanities, Social Science, and Education (HSSE) Parrish Management and Economics
Life Sciences* Veterinary Medical
Mathematical Sciences
Parrish Management and Economics
Pharmacy, Nursing, Health*
Physics*
Veterinary Medical

* These libraries were combined in the new Library of Engineering and Science** in the Wilmeth Active Learning Center.

Q. What are the libraries’ hours?

A. The hours of each of Purdue University Libraries are listed at www.lib.purdue.edu/hoursList.

*After the Fall 2017 semester begins, the WALC will remain open 24 hours per day (with PUID card swipe), and, as of Sunday, Aug. 20, the Hicks Undergraduate Library will no longer be open 24 hours per day.

***


Looking Forward: Change Underway in the Purdue Libraries

May 5th, 2017

The Thomas S. and Harvey D. Wilmeth Active Learning Center (WALC)

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” — John F. Kennedy

 

Today and this weekend will be one that is bittersweet for many on the Purdue University campus–and especially so for many in Purdue University Libraries.

Many students are wrapping up their final exams and will soon head home for the summer, leaving their college lives behind for a time. Those who are graduating next week are preparing for commencement and are likely looking toward their new lives in the work world or in advanced degree programs.

And, here in Purdue Libraries, today and tomorrow, we are closing the buildings of six of our libraries–to start the process of the move to the new Wilmeth Active Learning Center (photo above).

The newly consolidated Library of Engineering and Science, along with the many active learning resources available in the Wilmeth Center, will officially open to the public Monday, August 7.

Information about the individual libraries that are closing, as well as for Purdue Libraries’ users, is just below.


Today (Friday, May 5), the Chemistry; Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS); Life Sciences; Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Sciences; and Physics libraries will close at 5 p.m; the Engineering Library will close at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 6.

The libraries that will remain open during the move to the Wilmeth Active Learning Center include:

  • Archives and Special Collections
  • Aviation Technology Library
  • Black Cultural Center
  • Hicks Undergraduate Library
  • Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education (HSSE) Library
  • Mathematical Sciences Library
  • Roland G. Parrish Library of Management and Economics
  • Veterinary Medical Library

From May 7-June 11, Purdue Libraries’ users who need materials from the closed libraries can search for and retrieve materials by using the secure Interlibrary (ILL) System or UBorrow. An active Purdue Career ID is required for login. You will be notified when the material you requested is ready for pick up at the ILL Office in the Humanities, Social Science, and Education (HSSE) Library or is ready for download. For currently employed West Lafayette faculty, staff, and visiting scholars, we deliver the research material you need to your desktop or office quickly and efficiently.

From June 12 through the opening of the WALC (August 7), users will be able to submit requests for the materials located in the closed locations and pick up their materials from an open library of their choosing. After the WALC opens, materials in the closed libraries can still be requested in the Libraries catalog and will be delivered to an open library of their choosing. Office and desktop delivery for currently employed West Lafayette faculty, staff, and visiting scholars will continue.


Here’s to the future, Purdue!

— Teresa Koltzenburg, Director of Strategic Communication

 


PowerShift Case Competition Celebrates Inaugural Gender-Focused Competition

April 25th, 2017

Purdue University students, all in the Krannert School of Management, competed in the inaugural PowerShift Case Competition April 21. The contest was co-sponsored by Purdue University Libraries and co-developed by Purdue Libraries Assistant Professor Ilana Stonebraker. Members of Libraries faculty also served as judges.
Purdue University students — 14 teams in all and all studying in the Krannert School of Management — competed in the inaugural PowerShift Case Competition April 21. The contest was co-sponsored by Purdue University Libraries and co-developed by Purdue Libraries Assistant Professor Ilana Stonebraker. Members of Libraries faculty also served as judges.

Last Friday, a project that Purdue University Libraries Assistant Professor Ilana Stonebraker has been working on for the last couple of months culminated with 14 teams of Purdue Univeristy students competing in the Krannert School of Management. The project was the PowerShift Case Competition and was sponsored by Accenture, the Jane Brock-Wilson Women in Management (WIM) Center, Purdue Libraries, and the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence.

“Our goal for the competition was to bring discussion of gender issues into the competitive environment of the case competition and encourage students to base their practice in management research,” explained Stonebraker, who co-developed the competition and is a Business Information Specialist at Purdue Libraries and an affiliated faculty member with the WIM Center.

For the inaugural contest, which was held in the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management and Economics, students were asked to research a Harvard Business Review Case that focused on a case of gender discrimination in a law firm. During the competition, student teams offered strategies for managing the fallout of the discrimination and presented plans for future implementation of gender-equal policies at the firm. The winners of the PowerShift Case Competition were named after the daylong event and included:

  • 1st place — KIME Consulting: Monika Meng, Isaac Tang, Kana Wei, Ruoxuan Zhao ($3,000)
  • 2nd place — Fantastic Five: Megan Smith, Cooper Dixon, Jared Andrews, Alyssa Walther, Carrie Zylstra-Skinner ($2,000)
  • 3rd place — Team Esteem: Shannon Kane, Grant Longacre, Nadia Duke, Natalie Burgos ($1,000)

Judges for the PowerShift Competition included: Julia Hipps (formerly of Eli Lilly), Jacqueline Lemke (BASi), Patrick Mosher (Mosher Enterprises), Tom Puterbaugh (formerly of Spensa Technologies), Nina Swanson (PayPal), Heather Howard (Purdue Libraries), Michael Flierl (Purdue Libraries), Ilana Stonebraker (Purdue Libraries), and Cara Putman (Krannert).

For more information about the Jane Brock-Wilson Women in Managment Center, visit www.krannert.purdue.edu/centers/women-in-management/home.php. Learn more about Purdue Libraries at www.lib.purdue.edu.


Faculty Spotlight: Maybee Selected as Instructor for ACRL Immersion Program

March 7th, 2017

In a society named for the ubiquity of information, it is essential that everyone knows how to use information to continually learn in order to be successful in their professional, personal, and civic lives.” — Clarence Maybee, Assistant Professor of Library Science, Information Literacy Specialist, Purdue University LibrariesClarence Maybee, Information Literacy Specialist at Purdue Libraries

Information literacy is Clarence Maybee’s “thing” at Purdue University Libraries. He is, after all, the Purdue Libraries’ information literacy specialist.

So, it was with much excitement that he recently accepted a faculty position with the Association of College and Research Library’s (ACRL) Information Literacy Immersion Program. The week-long teacher development program is designed for academic librarians who want to enhance their teaching or programming skills related to information literacy. Maybee, who applied for the position in the ACRL’s recent national search for Immersion Program faculty, interviewed for the job at the American Library Association‘s annual Midwinter Meeting in January. He readily accepted the offer last month.

“As a faculty member in the Immersion Program, I will help craft the Immersion curriculum, work with the other Immersion faculty to facilitate the program, and mentor participating librarians in their teaching and programming roles on their campuses,” he explained.

In the Immersion Program, Maybee joins nationally recognized faculty, from college and research libraries around the nation, who lead the program, which provides instruction librarians the opportunity to work intensively for several days on all aspects of information literacy.

Below, Clarence shared a bit more information about his new opportunity with the ACRL and how his work in the Immersion Program will help serve the students and faculty at Purdue University.

Q. Tell me a little bit about your background, e.g., your work in libraries, as a librarian, a faculty member, as well as specifically what interested you in information literacy.

Clarence: I became a librarian in 2005 after completing my MLIS at San Jose State University (SJSU). Under the mentorship of Dr. Mary Somerville, then assistant dean of the library at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), I completed a master’s thesis in which I studied undergraduates’ experiences of information literacy. The research made me aware of how essential it is to understand the experiences of the learners for whom we are designing instruction. I began my career in librarianship in the role of Information Literacy Librarian at Mills College, and I served in a similar role at Colgate University before coming to Purdue.

Based on my research, which reveals that learners use information in more sophisticated ways when learning about course content, I focus my work at Purdue on integrating information literacy into Purdue courses. With colleagues from the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE) and Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP), I manage the Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation program (IMPACT), which aims to make undergraduate courses more student-centered. In 2015, I received a PhD from Queensland University of Technology (QUT). My dissertation thesis, “Informed learning in the undergraduate classroom: The role of information experiences in shaping outcomes,” received QUT’s Outstanding Thesis Award for its contribution to the discipline and excellence demonstrated in doctoral research practice.

Q. How do you think taking part in the Immersion program will help you in your position as an information literacy specialist at Purdue Libraries? How do you think it will help students and faculty at Purdue?

Clarence: Great new ideas come from diverse minds sharing and discussing the possibilities. The Immersion Program Faculty is comprised of nationally known information literacy experts. A cornerstone of the Immersion Program is bringing together academic librarian participants from across the U.S. and beyond. No doubt, the learning experiences generated by this group will give me insights and new perspectives to bring back with me to my work at Purdue.

Q. Tell me something that people may be surprised to learn about you…

Clarence: I used to be a poet in San Francisco.

Q. What do you know about yourself and/or your work now that you wish you would have known when you first started your career?

Clarence: Understanding learning theory better has really advanced my own teaching, as well as helped me in my work with librarians and other instructors.


Read more about information literacy at Purdue University Libraries at www.lib.purdue.edu/infolit, and learn more about the ACRL Immersion Program at www.ala.org/acrl/immersion.


Recent American Libraries Magazine Article of Interest on Libraries as Publishers

October 9th, 2013

In a recent American Libraries magazine article, Meredith Farkas, head of instructional services at Portland (Oreg.) State University, discusses the changing publishing landscape and libraries as publishers.