Volume 2015

Purdue LibrariesActive Learning Center
Mitch Daniels
Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. 12th President, Purdue University

Foreword – Message From the President

Welcome to the fourth annual edition of VOLUMe, which highlights the innovative, dynamic, and transformative work of Purdue University Libraries for our faculty, staff, and students as well as library leaders around the world.

In this issue you will learn about:

Plans for our new Thomas S. and Harvey D. Wilmeth Active Learning Center (ALC), a centerpiece envisioned for our educational enterprise. In the heart of campus the ALC will provide new collaborative-style, multifunctional, active learning classroom and library spaces, and flexible workspaces. The ALC will offer streamlined library resources as well as gathering and exhibition spaces. It will systematically support our Purdue IMPACT program, which targets introductory undergraduate courses with large enrollments, facilitating course redesign that incorporates student centered teaching and active learning.

Research involving information literacy. Student-centered learning requires teaching students how to find, evaluate, interpret, and apply information to solve problems and construct new meanings. Libraries faculty collaborate with other faculty across campus to design courses to improve learning.

Efforts to help our researchers use and manage data in new ways. This is critical in our knowledge-based world where it seems that discovery moves at the speed of sound. Libraries’ Geographical Information Systems (GIS) provides guidance and collaboration with our researchers to help integrate geographical data into their research.

Collaboration between two faculty members, one in Agronomy and the other in the Libraries, to build a database documenting groundwater for agriculture.

Growth of the Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections by a significant gift of an artifact from the last moon landing and funding from a Purdue alumnus to document the historic buildings and landscape of Purdue.

Open access, which shares our research via the Internet, increasing the rapid exchange of ideas and discovery. And unlike the subscription method with many scholarly journals, it is free and open to everyone, not just other scholars. Purdue e-Pubs now comprises over 42,000 digital documents. In the past year, there have been over 2.8 million downloads. You can watch the fascinating, by-the-second activity on a world map at http://docs.lib.purdue.edu. We are proud that Purdue University Libraries received recognition by being chosen for the 2015 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Excellence in Academic Libraries Award in the university category through its creativity and innovations to meet the needs of the Purdue University community. In addition, our Libraries serve as an international leader through innovative advances in teaching, learning, research and scholarly communication. Purdue Libraries plays a critical role in the fast changing world of information.

ALC views
Views of the ALC – both inside and out

Purdue Libraries Mission & Vision

Mission: Our mission is to advance the creation of knowledge for the global community through provision and preservation of scholarly information resources; teaching of information literacy; research in library, archival and information sciences; and the development of dynamic physical and virtual learning environments.

Vision: We will be recognized as an essential leader in the advancement of the University’s core strengths and global mission by leading in innovative and creative solutions for access to and management and dissemination of scholarly information resources, and for the provision of information literacy and the creation of leading-edge learning spaces, both physical and virtual, and will be regarded as a leader in the national and international research library community.

Strategic Goals

Learning: Libraries faculty lead in information literacy and learning space implementation, research and scholarship.

Scholarly Communication: Libraries facilitate and enhance the continuum of the scholarly communication process.

Global Engagement: Libraries faculty lead in international initiatives in information literacy, e-science, information access and data management, and collaborate on Purdue’s global initiatives.

Please share any comments, questions, and inquiries about Purdue Libraries and VOLUMe with Shannon Walker: walker81@purdue.edu | 765.494.2900

Thomas S. Wilmeth
Thomas S. Wilmeth, 2013, in his 100th year

Active Learning Center to Honor Brothers

At its April meeting, the Purdue University Board of Trustees approved naming the Active Learning Center for two brothers, both College of Engineering alumni, for their long-term commitment and generous support of the Purdue University Libraries.

The naming recognizes and honors the late Thomas S. (Tom) Wilmeth, who earned an electrical engineering degree in 1935, and the late Harvey D. Wilmeth, who earned a chemical engineering degree in 1940. Tom Wilmeth passed away this past January at the age of 101.

The Thomas S. and Harvey D. Wilmeth Active Learning Center (ALC) will be dedicated in fall 2017 upon completion of the $79 million classroom-library project-ranked since July 2012 as the University’s number 1 capital project. Besides having 27 active learning classrooms, the Wilmeth Active Learning Center will consolidate six engineering and science disciplinary libraries. It is anticipated that the ALC will be a daily academic destination for 5,000 Purdue students and faculty.

“It is appropriate to name the Active Learning Center-a library-classroom prototype of the future-after two brothers who personified and exemplified the creative problem solving, ingenuity and entrepreneurship of Purdue engineers,” said Purdue President Mitch Daniels.

The brothers founded Scot Industries, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1949. Tom ran and built the business with seed money provided by the wise investments of younger brother Harvey. Scot Industries is a worldwide quality and technological leader in the specialty metal tubing and bar business. Scot Industries continues to grow as a privately held company with 13 plants worldwide.

“The Wilmeth family has had a long-term commitment to Purdue University Libraries, and their gifts affirmed that commitment,” said James L. Mullins, dean of Libraries and Esther Ellis Norton professor. “They recognized the vital need for active and life-long learning and the important role libraries have to achieve that goal.”

Tom Wilmeth’s support for the Purdue University Libraries began in 1991, when he made a contribution to fund the Libraries’ first electronic database. In 1993 he joined the Libraries Dean’s Advisory Council and served for 10 years.

Purdue awarded him an honorary doctorate of engineering information literacy in 2013 in recognition of his understanding and appreciation of the need to use published research outside of academe to advance industrial methods and to create new engineering processes and technological applications. In 2004 he received the President’s Council Distinguished Pinnacle Award for his philanthropy to Purdue University Libraries.

“My philanthropy has always been intended to offer opportunities to others through the resources and services of the Purdue University Libraries,” said Tom Wilmeth. “I believe the essence of education is developing the ability to train and teach oneself to learn. Thanks in large part to the training we received at Purdue, our successes have allowed my brother and me to help others achieve their own success.” Tom attributed the brothers’ success to “continual self-education, creative ideas, extraordinary determination, hard work, a little luck and the willingness to take risks.”

employeePhoto
Purdue Libraries Faculty and Staff

Purdue Libraries Name 2015 ACRL Award Winner

In January, Purdue University Libraries was chosen for the 2015 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Excellence in Academic Libraries Award in the university category.

“Purdue University Libraries succeeds by being experimental, taking risks, innovating, and leveraging collaboration with their faculty, graduate and undergraduate students to push the boundaries of what research university libraries can accomplish for their community, locally and globally,” said Steven Bell, chair of the 2015 Excellence in Academic Libraries Committee and associate university librarian for research and instructional services at Temple University. “Whether it’s their information literacy initiative that features their participation in Purdue’s IMPACT (Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation) curriculum, a commitment to renovate and create library spaces that are highly intentional about student learning and collaboration with faculty or engaging in course redesign with their faculty, what most impressed the committee was Purdue’s profession-leading and cutting-edge work in the area of research data services. Where Purdue excels among this year’s strong pool of university applicants is in their support of faculty research, through their Library Scholars Grant Program, which provides faculty members with grants for travel to special collections at other institutions in support of their growth as scholars.”

“The faculty and staff of the Purdue University Libraries are proud of the progress we have made to define the role of the 21st-century research library within its university community,” said James L. Mullins, dean of libraries, who also is the Esther Ellis Norton professor at Purdue. “To have our creativity, innovation and dedication recognized through this important award is a wonderful honor.”

Shannon Walker, MS
Director of Strategic Communication
Purdue University Libraries
walker81@purdue.edu
Jane Yatcilla
Jane Yatcilla

Redefining Librarianship

The opportunity to work on very different kinds of projects has provided me with a career that is varied, dynamic and always interesting.

One project I am involved with is HABRI Central, an online collaborative space for researchers of the human-animal bond (HAB). Currently I am working on a bilbliometric analysis of Anthrozoos, one of the first journals dedicated to HAB research. I hope to discern trends in the literature with regard to methodologies used, and the targeted human demographics or animal species. This work is setting the stage for a broader study of HAB research across multiple disciplines that I will conduct in 2015.

I co-teach SCI360: Great Issues in Science and Society, in the fall semester. This course addresses the social, political and economic aspects of climate change, energy issues and other grand challenges faced by human society. The curriculum has been influenced by my involvement on the IMPACT Support Team as well as my co-instructor Saad Haq’s participation in IMPACT to redesign another course. Saad and I revised our learning outcomes, and we evaluate classroom activities based on how well they support the learning outcomes. We expect the students to do work outside the class to learn about the topics, and this allows for more in-class time for students to work on group projects. Recently we polled our students to find out what topics interest them. Building some flexibility into the syllabus enables us to tailor content, resulting in a fun learning environment where the students are involved not only in learning, but in influencing our teaching.

My experiences with HABRI Central, IMPACT, and classroom teaching have enriched my perspective on my own place within the University. Now when people ask me what I do for a living, I don’t say that I’m a librarian; I say, “I work in higher education.”

Jane Yatcilla
Associate Professor
Life and Health Sciences Information Specialist
Purdue University Libraries
janeyat@purdue.edu
glsac
2015 Undergraduate Student Libraries Advisory Council (USLAC)

USLAC // GSLAC

The Undergraduate (USLAC) and Graduate Student Libraries Advisory Councils (GSLAC), formed by Dean Mullins shortly after his arrival in 2004, are comprised of highly engaged and committed students to strengthen the services, facilities and resources of the Libraries.

“I believe it is vital for the student voice to be heard on this level to help the administration better accommodate current and prospective students. Dean Mullins shares this belief, which is why the USLAC is in existence,” said Holden Aven, USLAC member, Accounting, Krannert School. “I also worked alongside Dean Mullins during the planning phase of the Active Learning Center.”
There were several instances when the ALC Planning Committee needed student input in order to make effective student-centered decisions. Students from both USLAC and GSLAC provided vital perspectives on everything from classroom layout and study spaces to furniture and interior design.

“I was fortunate enough to make a two-day trip to view libraries at other universities that would serve as a model for how parts of the ALC would be designed,” said Trent Low, USLAC member, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering. “The majority of this team had more than 20 years of experience in each of their respective fields. Considering the huge age gap between myself and the designers [and Dean Mullins], I felt that the trip would be somewhat boring and full of awkward silence, with forced small talk. Within the first day, everyone was cracking jokes at each other and talking as if they had known each other for months, not hours. That was the first time in my life that I realized there was no reason to be nervous around anybody in a position of power, because at their core those people are human, just like anyone else. I feel that learning that will translate well to the workforce. So long as I perform well in any job I hold, there is no reason to fear a boss. They are just your everyday guy or girl after all.”

“I have really appreciated being a part of the process to provide vital input on the tools that will truly help the ALC be effective and successful,” said Andrew Martin, GSLAC member, Civil Engineering, College of Engineering.

Shannon Walker, MS
Director of Strategic Communication
Purdue University Libraries
walker81@purdue.edu
Catherine Frasier Riehle
Catherine Frasier Riehle

Developing a team-based Publishing course

As part of the inaugural semester of Purdue University’s Honors College, I was invited to develop and teach a new, interdisciplinary honors course on academic and scholarly publishing that would be both theoretical and practical, and would culminate in a student-edited publication. Supporting the development of information literacy competency in undergraduate students, via teaching, partnerships and curricula, is a strategic goal for Purdue University Libraries, as it is for many college and university libraries.

I partnered with Charles Watkinson, the former director of the Purdue University Press and head of Scholarly Publishing Services, to teach and develop this new course because of my experience co-teaching freshman honors seminars, my membership on the advisory board of the Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research (JPUR), and my expressed interest in undergraduate students’ knowledge and perceptions of scholarly communication topics. Together, we set out to build and provide a learning experience that would immerse students in the world of scholarly publishing, from practical issues to philosophical challenges. Throughout the semester, students heard from and participated in discussion with us and a variety of invited experts. These included archivists, directors of other university presses, local authors, Purdue’s University copyright officer, scholarly repository specialist and a number of staff from Purdue University Press.

A major project that set the stage for our course was the publication of a print and electronic book. Charles and I partnered with Kristina Bross, associate professor of English, who in fall 2013 taught Interdisciplinary Writing, an Honors College course during which students engaged in archival research to discover and write mini-biographies of students of Purdue’s class of 1904. Our students began the spring 2014 semester with a book proposal and raw Microsoft Word files of these biographies, and shepherded this real-life project, a volume of the biographies, to publication.

Little Else Than a Memory: Purdue Students Search for the Class of 1904 was published in April 2014 and became available for download via Purdue’s institutional repository, Purdue e-Pubs, soon after. To culminate the semester, our class traveled to Bookmasters, a publishing services company in Ashland, Ohio, where students spent a day touring the facility and talking with publishing professionals. There we were able to pick up the first copies of our book, hot off the press.

By acknowledging where and how and by imagining unrealized possibilities, opportunities abound for librarians and strategic campus partners to engage students in the conversation that is scholarship. By doing so, we may not only support the development of information literacy competency and savviness in real and meaningful ways, but prepare a future generation of academics, researchers, professionals, and especially users and producers of information.

Catherine Fraser Riehle
Associate Professor
Instructional Outreach Librarian
Purdue University Libraries
cfriehle@purdue.edu
Amy Van Epps
Amy Van Epps

Distinguished Service in Engineering Education

Amy Van Epps, associate professor and engineering information specialist, Libraries, was awarded the 2014 Homer I. Bernhardt Distinguished Service Award by the Engineering Libraries Division of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Award Committee. Founded in 1893, the American Society for Engineering Education is a nonprofit organization of individuals and institutions committed to furthering education in engineering and engineering technology.

Each year at the ASEE Annual Conference, the Engineering Libraries Division presents an award that recognizes work that contributes to the advancement and development of excellence in engineering libraries.

The nomination letter for Van Epps stated, “I strongly believe her numerous and ongoing contributions over the years since she joined in 1995 lead to this honor. Her academic work and professional service are so woven into the fabric of our division that it is hard to picture the group functioning without this phenomenal librarian. I was so impressed when reviewing her portfolio that I feel remiss in not nominating her years ago.”

One of Van Epps’ colleagues at Purdue University stated, “Amy’s enthusiasm extends to her work within the Libraries at Purdue. She joined the PhD program in engineering education about five years ago, and she wasn’t shy about sharing her library expertise in the classroom, developing an entire cohort of engineering education students (and future faculty members) with an enhanced understanding of information literacy skills and the importance of passing those on to her students.”

A colleague within the ASEE Engineering Libraries Division commented, “Amy is a consummate mentor without the word ever being mentioned. My personal experience as a brand new engineering librarian over a decade ago was enriched immeasurably by the many interactions I’ve had with her, both at ASEE conferences as well as by telephone when I would call her for expertise and advice.”

About the Homer I. Bernhardt Distinguished Service Award: Homer I. Bernhardt was head of the Bevier Engineering Library at the University of Pittsburgh from 1966-82. Bernhardt’s professional activities contributed to engineering and librarianship at the University of Pittsburgh and at ASEE. His commitment to the field is recognized in Engineering Libraries Division’s decision to name its Distinguished Service Award in his memory, established in 1990.

Amy Van Epps
Associate Professor
Engineering Information Specialist
Purdue University Libraries
vanepa@purdue.edu
Nicole Kong
Nicole Kong

GIS Resources at Purdue help researchers map and organize data

Purdue students and faculty in all disciplines can benefit from using geographic information systems, or GIS, to visualize and interpret data, and Purdue University Libraries offers vast resources to help them harness this power. GIS Services at Purdue include a wide array of support, from learning the basics about GIS to outlining and creating complex GIS tools for researchers’ specific projects, says Nicole Kong, GIS specialist and assistant professor of library science.

“The usefulness of GIS spans disciplines, from agriculture to engineering to anthropology to art history,” Kong says. “No matter the subject of a project, there’s a good chance that GIS can help researchers map and organize data so they can better understand relationships, patterns and trends-it can make their research easier as well as help spur new discoveries and ideas.” GIS resources and knowledge are helpful for students and faculty alike, Kong continues. In fact, she partners with faculty in the academic departments to co-teach classes that help students learn how they can use GIS tools to aid their specific needs. She also offers GIS-related workshops for various groups on campus. Recent workshops have been geared toward faculty and students in the social sciences and toward students affiliated with the Visual Analytics for Command, Control, and Interoperability Environments Center, or VACCINE.

For faculty, Kong often works one-on-one to help them develop GIS solutions to aid their ongoing research. All faculty and students are welcome to use the resources housed at the GIS Services Web page, Kong says, and Libraries provides the technology and information resources needed for projects.

In addition to tools available now, Libraries is building a geospatial data portal that allows the searching of multiple GIS databases simultaneously. Once it’s ready next year, students and faculty will have much easier access to geospatial information that exists around the world. Further, to continue to spread the word about Purdue’s GIS Services, Libraries held its seventh annual GIS Day on November 7, 2014.

In the future, GIS Services at Purdue will expand, Kong says. The operation will move from its location in Hampton Hall’s Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Library to the Wilmeth Active Learning Center, which is scheduled for occupancy in August 2017. In addition to all current GIS Services, the center will contain a GIS and visualization lab, where students will have convenient physical and virtual spaces to access more GIS learning resources and create their own GIS tools as needed.

More information about current GIS services at Purdue can be found at: https://www.lib.purdue.edu/gis. The page details all GIS resources at Purdue, including access codes for free Web-based training modules from Esri, a leading supplier of GIS software and geodatabase management applications.

Nicole Kong
Assistant Professor
GIS specialist
Purdue University Libraries
kongn@purdue.edu
ALC at dusk
Active Learning Center at dusk

Library of Engineering and Science in Wilmeth Active Learning Center

For the past ten years a goal of the Purdue University Libraries was to bring together in one location the engineering and science libraries that were scattered across the campus. With the increased access to digital resources and the changing and reduced need to have print materials immediately available to researchers, the opportunity was afforded to merge six of the engineering and science libraries. When the opportunity arose to build upon the site of the old Power Plant and ENAD, it was logical not only to meet the need for new classrooms to provide ideal space for active learning, but it was the opportunity to consolidate six libraries: Chemistry; Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; Engineering; Life Sciences; Pharmacy, Health Sciences, and Nursing; and Physics. By combining these libraries efficiency will be gained in management as well as bringing to one location Libraries faculty who specialize in these disciplines and who can collaborate more easily with each other and with their disciplinary faculty colleagues.

The unique aspect of the Wilmeth Active Learning Center is the integration of library/study spaces adjacent to active learning classrooms. During the day, about 40% of the ALC will be available for team and individual study and learning with the balance being classrooms where students and faculty practice and benefit from the latest active learning methodologies. After classes end for the day in the late afternoon, the classrooms become team and individual learning spaces, or library spaces, significantly increasing the efficiency of the building. Although the existing six libraries hold about 700,000 volumes, only 30,000 print volumes will be shelved in the Wilmeth ALC.

The computer-generated renderings shown provide a view of the ALC atrium, reading room, active learning classrooms, and study spaces. The floor plan of the second floor (one of four levels) illustrates the integration of library study/learning space with classroom/instructional rooms. The two-story reading room is a traditional design element that anchors the building to its library heritage while still addressing the changing needs of 21st-century Purdue students.

The Wilmeth Active Learning Center through its provision of integrated classroom/library spaces is unique. It will likely become a model for others to follow. Purdue is a leader in transforming how students learn through the application and combination of new pedagogies and spaces.

James L. Mullins
Dean of Libraries
Esther Ellis Norton Professor
Purdue University Libraries
jmullins@purdue.edu
Eugene Cernan / Tracy Grimm
Eugene Cernan / Tracy Grimm

Alumni astronaut Cernan donates Lunar Mapbooks from Apollo 17 lunar mission

Eugene Cernan, the most recent person to walk on the moon, donated an Apollo 17 Lunar Roving Vehicle mapbook to Purdue University this past spring. Cernan, a 1956 Purdue graduate, donated his personal papers to the Barron Hilton Flight and Space Exploration Archives in January 2009. He followed up with the donation of the Apollo 17 mapbook this past year.

The maps are mounted in a custom-made book and are accompanied by several contextual documents and photographs. The maps provided the crew with bearings and ranges to each investigation site on the lunar surface during more than 22 hours of exploration.

Cernan was commander of Apollo 17, which blasted off from Kennedy Space Center on December 7, 1972. The Purdue alumnus performed three moonwalks, exploring the barren landscape in a lunar rover. Technically, he is the most recent person on the moon since he was the last to reenter the lunar module Challenger after the mission’s third and final moonwalk with crewmate Harrison Schmitt.

Purdue named Cernan a distinguished engineering alumnus in 1967. He holds honorary doctorates from Purdue and three other institutions, along with numerous honors, including the Navy Distinguished Flying Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal with Star, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. He has been inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, the National Aviation Hall of Fame, Naval Aviation Hall of Honor, and the International Aerospace Hall of Fame.

The Barron Hilton Flight and Space Exploration Archives was established with gifts from Barron Hilton and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and in addition created the position of Barron Hilton Archivist for Flight and Space Exploration, held by Tracy Grimm. It is part of the Purdue Libraries’ Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center. In addition to being home to the largest collection of Amelia Earhart papers in the world, the Archives include the papers of engineers, aviators, aviation professionals, scholars and alumni astronauts including Neil A. Armstrong and Cernan-the first and last persons to walk on the moon—Jerry Ross, the late Janice Voss and Roy Bridges Jr.

Tracy Grimm
Barron Hilton Archivist for Flight and Space Exploration
Purdue University Libraries
grimm3@purdue.edu
Richard L. Funkhouser
Richard L. Funkhouser

Commitment to Scholarly Communication

I gave to specific Purdue University Libraries projects for several reasons.

First, as a former Purdue University Libraries faculty member for over 44 years, I remember the many buildings that are now gone-the original Heavilon Hall, Michael Golden, Fowler Hall, Purdue Hall, Pierce Conservation, and others. As a librarian and researcher, I understood the importance of documenting campus buildings, interiors as well as exteriors, before that information disappears.

Second, I realized in my faculty role that the Purdue University campus, especially its buildings, were among the top inquiries received by the Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections division. Therefore, I felt compelled to give toward a critical campus project, funding the Purdue Buildings and Landscape Collection. This collection will chronicle the history of Purdue buildings and landscape architecture on the West Lafayette campus.

When this archive is online, researchers all over the world will be able to access directly these historical documents. This will increase the depth and scope of scholarly communication at Purdue University and beyond.

I have known the Purdue campus since the 1940s, having grown up on a farm 25 miles from the area. In 2013, I was honored with the Purdue University President’s Council Pinnacle Award in recognition of my gift of farmland to the University. This land was purchased by my great-great grandfather William Whistler in 1853 and has been owned by five generations of the Whistler-Funkhouser family. I am very pleased to know that this gift has benefited the Libraries, Archives, Joseph M. Dagnese Memorial (for Libraries faculty), and WBAA at Purdue University.

An often quoted phrase is, “If you find a job you like, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” I spent 44 years enjoying my work in the various positions I held in the University Libraries. The support of this archive is my “thank-you” to the University for not having to “work” a day in my life.

Richard L. Funkhouser
Professor Emeritus
Purdue University Libraries
rlf@purdue.edu
Marianne Stowell Bracke
Marianne Stowell Bracke

Designing data sharing platforms for the future

I am thrilled to be working alongside such forward-thinking faculty as Sylvie Brouder, professor of agronomy, Purdue University, to establish consistent and mainstream data practices for research and collaboration within the fields of agricultural science and agronomy.

Access to well-organized and searchable data is essential to support research in the 21st century. In my expanding librarian role, I work to address the critical need for data management within these fields.

Agricultural sciences, specifically, the field of agronomy does not have a history of consistent data management platforms or practices in place. With pressure from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other federal agencies to establish such standard measures for research and innovation, Brouder, myself and a team of researchers, librarians and colleagues from across the industry convened last fall in Washington, D.C., to start a conversation about the current and future landscape of data management within this discipline.

Key presenters at this inaugural data management symposium included representatives from organizations such as the Cochrane Collaboration, a not-for-profit organization with collaborators from over 120 countries working together to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest.

There was an immediate and abundant response to the symposium. Our team was very encouraged by the open and frank conversations taking place, and discovered new opportunities and partnerships to help keep the conversation going.

A key outcome from the symposium is the interest in the expanding role of librarians as it relates to data management services and support. I have been able to help connect researchers and colleagues with data management resources and support within many universities and industries across the country.

It’s exciting to be a part of this significant transformation in the role of a librarian. The opportunities are endless.

Marianne Stowell Bracke
Associate Professor
Agricultural Sciences Information Specialist
Purdue University Libraries
mbracke@purdue.edu
Sylvie Brouder
Sylvie Brouder

Designing data sharing platforms for the future

The need for well-organized and searchable data within the field of agronomy has increasingly come to the forefront.

My personal experience with helping to facilitate consistent data management platforms began in 1997-98 in working with the Purdue Water Quality Field Station (WQFS), a Purdue Core Facility that is highly instrumental and data driven.

My role in facilitating use of the WQFS made me keenly aware of the large volumes of data that could be applied to important research but were not simply because they were inaccessible. Gradually, I realized how pervasive this situation was in agronomy, and, that with the sheer volume of data, there was a critical need for functional workflows to take data from the field to durable repositories-to both create standard data management platforms and to properly disseminate research and scholarship.

At that time I decided to go directly to the experts in knowledge management and preservation/curation and involve Purdue University Libraries to help us organize, standardize and annotate our data. With Libraries partners such as Marianne Stowell Bracke, agricultural sciences information specialist and associate professor of Library Science, Purdue University Libraries, we were then able to create ways to organize, archive, annotate and disseminate our data and research.

Over the past few years, we have continued to grow and evolve in our data management efforts. With added pressure from federal agencies to establish standard measures for research and innovation, Bracke and I, in collaboration with other Purdue agronomy and Libraries colleagues, decided to bring key people in the data value chain-funders, colleagues, industry leaders-to the table to discuss current data sharing platforms and the extent to which they do or do not meet the needs of the data creators. This helped us to establish our data management needs, understand the real cost to managing data and foresee any opposition and/or barriers.

As a result of this inaugural data management symposium, we found many common threads. We realized more than ever that libraries/libraries faculty partners play a critical role in distilling, synthesizing and creating open access to this data. We also established a continuing, open dialogue of how to best translate science into knowledge for recommendations and policy, and to create the transparency that is increasingly being demanded by the general public for the process of converting data into useable guidelines for decision making.

Sylvie Brouder
Professor of Agronomy
Department of Agronomy
College of Agriculture // Purdue University
sbrouder@purdue.edu

Purdue E-pubs surpasses 9 million downloads

With so many groundbreaking discoveries and research findings occurring at Purdue University, there is one place on campus providing free, global, online access to this scholarship-the Purdue e-Pubs institutional repository. Recently, Purdue e-Pubs surpassed 9.0 million downloads and 42,000 objects, continuing to advance the impact of scholarship at the global, national and local level. Purdue University Libraries began providing the Purdue e-Pubs service to the campus community in 2006 as a means to openly share research and scholarship in a stable, citable format.

As many funding agencies change their requirements to ensure open accessibility to funded research findings (rather than through paid subscription databases that limit access), Purdue e-Pubs provides several services to faculty to fulfill these requirements to openly share previously published research. Support is offered by Libraries staff in checking permissions and copyright, tracking down copies of papers, and uploading them to the repository on behalf of faculty members. Faculty and students can learn more about open access and how Purdue e-Pubs makes their materials open by visiting the Purdue Libraries open access portal at http://lib.purdue.edu/openaccess.

Another critical function of Purdue e-Pubs is to provide online publishing support for original publications, including niche open access journals, technical reports, white papers, conference proceedings, posters, and student scholarship. Value-added publishing services are provided in collaboration with Purdue University Press, and all content is indexed by Google Scholar.

Measuring and reporting impact is an important part of the Purdue e-Pubs service. Purdue e-Pubs issues automatic monthly download notifications to authors and administrators, documenting the reach of their scholarship, not only to academic colleagues and administrators, but to taxpayers, policymakers, and media outlets. A real-time readership activity map is displayed on the homepage of Purdue e-Pubs showing items in the repository being downloaded from around the world. The readership activity map can also be displayed on collections, journals and series allowing colleges, schools, departments and research centers the opportunity to monitor the real-time global downloads of their materials from around the world.

Purdue e-Pubs works in tandem with other Libraries services and repositories, including e-Archives and Purdue University Research Repository (PURR), to serve the full spectrum of the Purdue community’s scholarly communication needs. As the repository continues to garner more downloads and objects, faculty, staff and students are encouraged to consider adding their research and scholarship. To watch the real-time readership activity map live in action, please visit www.purdue.edu/epubs. For more information about Purdue e-Pubs and adding additional previously published items, please contact me.

David Scherer
Scholarly Repository Specialist
Purdue e-Pubs
Purdue University Libraries
dscherer@purdue.edu
Hui Wang / Tianfang Dou
Hui Wang / Tianfang Dou

Visiting Scholars from across the globe

It is with great pleasure that I came to the Distributed Data Curation Center (D2C2) and learned from Purdue University Libraries. I have spent almost six months at Purdue, and I am impressed by everyone’s enthusiasm and thoughtfulness. Thank you all for being so generous with your time and attention. I appreciate the studies, ideas and experiences you have shared with me.

The following is what I have gained during my visiting period:
Data service plans, projects and practices of U.S. academic libraries and other information service organizations

The challenges, issues and best practices in data service

The strategies, policies and services of PURR

Practical experience in data services at Purdue

The tools Purdue uses in the management of data throughout the research lifecycle.

Based on what I’ve learned at Purdue, I wrote and submitted an article for publication to a library science journal in China, and I am getting ready to submit another case study of PURR in Chinese that I co-authored with Michael Witt [Purdue] and Tianfang Dou, the other visiting scholar from Tsinghua University. We began a new research study that we hope will result in a third publication in an English library science journal later in the year.

Hui Wang
Visiting Scholar
National Science Library
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing, China

It was with great pleasure that I was invited by Dean of Libraries Dr. James Mullins to be a visiting scholar in data management at Purdue University Libraries. I’m so happy, appreciative and proud to have worked with the PURR (Purdue University Research Repository) team for the past three months [April through June]. As a full participant in data services at Purdue, I have gained a wealth of firsthand experiences with library research data services, tools and practices. What I have learned from Purdue Libraries will be taken back to my home country and will definitely benefit my own library at Tsinghua University.

Those experiences have met and exceeded all my expectations. I can tell the world proudly now that I have learned the strategies, policies, services and tools Purdue and other institutions use in the management of data throughout the research lifecycle.

I loved being part of the Libraries and hope I can enhance the further collaboration between Tsinghua and Purdue.

Tianfang Dou
Visiting Scholar
Tsinghua University Library
Beijing, China
Jan Olek
Jan Olek

Afterword – Message from the University Library Committee Chair

My introduction to the University Library Committee (ULC) began in the fall of 2004 when I first responded to the call from the University Senate asking for volunteers to serve on various committees. I was lucky enough to be appointed and quickly learned that the ULC plays a very important role in advising the dean of Libraries on the policies related to print and digital collections, research and instruction. Members of the committee represent faculty and students, both graduate and undergraduate, across the campus. Serving on the ULC was a very rewarding experience and an excellent opportunity to learn about the challenges and opportunities facing the library system at a major research university.

During my three years of service on the ULC, it became obvious that the traditional function of the library, that is to collect, organize, preserve and offer assistance with the use of information, was rapidly changing. These changes appeared to be transformative in nature and included issues ranging from challenges posed by technology to new approaches to research, learning and options for disseminating information.

It was mostly a desire to be a part of this transformative process that motivated me to volunteer (in the fall of 2013) for a second term on the ULC. The changes I learned about and was able to observe during this past year have been even more extensive that I expected. This is particularly evident in the area of teaching and learning. The current generation of students makes extensive use of various digital resources that redefines the concept of traditional information literacy and presents libraries with a unique set of challenges to address the need for such specialized skills. Recent progress in the science of learning resulted in the University wide initiative to integrate active learning to redesign and transform the way the courses are being thought. The Libraries faculty and staff actively participate in this initiative and the forthcoming Wilmeth Active Learning Center (ALC) will offer a truly modern, state-of-the-art facility to foster these changes.

With a number of ongoing initiatives, Purdue University Libraries provides national leadership in changing the existing paradigm and is actively working to explore new ways to meet the needs of 21st-century researchers and students. I’m pleased as chair of the University Library Committee to represent the faculty as Libraries meets present and future challenges for advancing learning and scholarship.

Jan Olek
Chair, University Library Committee
Professor of Civil Engineering
College of Engineering