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January 17th, 2019
Explore the power of annotation for your research and instruction in a new “Annotating the Humanities” workshop courtesy of the Purdue University Libraries’ Tinkering Humanist Digital Humanities (DH) Workshop Series.
“Annotating the Humanities” is set from 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, in the Data Visualization Experience Lab of Purdue (D-VELoP) in the Wilmeth Active Learning Center, room 3045. Registration is required.
According to Matthew Hannah, assistant professor of digital humanities in Purdue Libraries, the session will cover the challenges of building new digital tools with special guest Hongshan Li, graduate student in the Purdue University Department of Mathematics, who will share a new tool he built to annotate documents.
“These tools are perfect complements for courses because they require students to focus on texts and ‘mark up’ their reading. Hongshan will also share an exclusive first look at his annotation tool designed for classroom application,” Hannah explained. “In this session, we will also discuss the unique challenges of building DH tools.”
Register online at https://bit.ly/2Jja8m6. For more information, contact Assistant Professor Hannah at hannah8@purdue.edu.
Filed under: faculty_staff, general, HSSE, Uncategorized
January 16th, 2019
Due to a scheduled power shut down to install new equipment, Stewart Center, which houses the Humanities, Social Science, and Education (HSSE) Library, will close at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22; Wednesday, Jan. 23; and Thursday, Jan. 24.
All individuals in Stewart Center and the HSSE Library will be required to exit the building at 10:45 p.m. before power to the building is shut off at 11 p.m.
January 22-24 the HSSE Library will re-open at the regularly scheduled time (8 a.m.).
Filed under: general, HSSEJanuary 14th, 2019
A new Purdue Archives and Special Collections exhibit that focuses on the experience of international students at Purdue University throughout the institution’s history is open!
“Around the World in 150 Years: Purdue’s International Footprint” highlights a variety of cultures, countries, activities, and time periods represented in the holdings of Archives and Special Collections, with a special focus on students who were among the first from their home countries to attend Purdue. Items on display include photographs, articles, and publications by or about international students, as well as artifacts given to the university by alumni groups from around the world.
According to Archivist for University History Adriana Harmeyer, the idea for the display came about as Purdue archivists have been considering the University’s Sesquicentennial, which is being commemorated through Homecoming 2019. She noted that a team of individuals in Purdue Archives helped curate the exhibit.
“As we mark Purdue’s 150th anniversary, we are looking back and celebrating the people who have made the University what it is today. The international student population has been a presence on campus for a longer period of time than many people realize, and international students have made amazing contributions to the academic and social life of campus,” she noted.
The exhibit includes materials from some of the earliest international student groups on campus, including the Cosmopolitan Club (established in 1909) and publications by the 1920s-era Chinese Students Association, including a “Chinese Students Year-Book” from 1927, Harmeyer added.
“Around the World in 150 Years: Purdue International Footprint” will run weekdays (Monday-Friday) from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. through Friday, March 8. The exhibit is on display in the Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center, located on the fourth floor of the Humanities, Social Science, and Education (HSSE) Library.
For more information, contact Harmeyer at aharmey@purdue.edu.
Filed under: general, SPECJanuary 8th, 2019
Courtesy of Purdue Marketing and Media
Four finalists for dean of Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies will be on the West Lafayette campus for two-day interviews in late January and early February.
David Reingold, chair of the search committee and the Justin S. Morrill Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, says that as part of the process, each finalist will make a 35- to 40-minute public presentation and then take questions from the audience.
The Board of Trustees approved a new name for the unit — now called the Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies — during its meeting on Dec. 7. “The new name better reflects the teaching and scholarly contributions the Libraries faculty and staff are making to the broader University,” Reingold says.
Each candidate’s full curriculum vitae is on the search website, where a link for livestreaming of the candidate’s presentation can be found as well. Feedback on the candidates is requested, and an online feedback tool is located at the same site. The feedback link will be live after each candidate’s presentation.
“Learning technology, digital scholarship and data science are already having a material impact on our faculty, staff and students — and changing the role of libraries nationwide,” says Jay Akridge, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity. “We are a leader in many of these areas, and I’m looking forward to working with the new dean to help our Libraries and School of Information Studies move to even higher levels of national leadership, impact and service.”
Finalists and their presentation details are below:
* Beth McNeil, dean of library services and professor, Iowa State University — 11 a.m. Jan. 14, Stewart Center, Room 206.
* Maria Bonn, associate professor, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois; former director, Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan — 11 a.m. Jan. 28, Stewart Center, Room 302.
* Stephanie Walker, dean of libraries and information resources, University of North Dakota — 11 a.m. Jan. 31, Stewart Center, Room 218ABC.
* Evviva Weinraub, associate university librarian for collections and technologies, Northwestern University — 11 a.m. Feb. 4, Stewart Center, Room 206
Filed under: faculty_staff, generalDecember 13th, 2018
We’ve all been there—in that situation where a last-minute change to a project or a plan can evoke panic-inducing visions of the entire thing going up in flames. For college students, end-of-semester papers and projects can be rife with this kind of hiccup, and many times, at such a critical juncture, the support and resources provided by faculty and staff can make or break such an assignment.
Recently, when Gabriel Ng (Overland Park, KS), a senior biomedical engineering major, and his fellow group-project members in Purdue’s Mechanical Engineering (ME) 444, “Toy Design,” course had a last-minute change to a toy product prototype, he and his team received such support from staff in Purdue Libraries—support that was critical for the project’s success. With the help of Library Assistant Robin Meher and her fellow employees in the Data Visualization Experience Lab of Purdue (D-VELoP) located in the Wilmeth Active Learning Center (WALC), the students were able to get the project—the “Fidget Cube”—completed and turned in on time.
“We had been working on a large semester project in ME 444, and I came into the WALC just before Thanksgiving break because our team had a last-minute change that forced us to send a significant amount of our nearly 50 parts to the 3D printers in D-VELoP for printing,” Ng explained. “Robin was the one in the room at the time and was incredibly helpful in answering my questions, detailing the quotas and constraints of your system, and helping me organize the prints so we could get everything printed on time to complete the project.”
According to Joseph “Joey” Baietto (Crystal Lake, IL), a senior mechanical engineering major, for their project, the team wanted to design a challenging, complex, and creative toy that would celebrate Purdue’s 150-year anniversary. Other team members include Delaney Sunbury (Seymour, IN), a senior mechanical engineering major, and Rohit Srivastava (St. Louis, MO), a senior biomedical engineering major.
“Our preliminary designs for a toy each focused on one aspect of Purdue and Purdue’s icons,” Baietto explained. “However, with the Fidget Cube, we could incorporate most of the Purdue icons into a single toy! As a result, we chose this concept as our toy. The resulting toy was an astounding success. We were able to incorporate Purdue’s Sesquicentennial, the Purdue XTRA Special, Purdue Pete (twice), and an ‘IU SUCKS’ banner all into the toy. The team incorporated many concepts we learned in class into the design, as well. Because there are six sides to the cube and all are unique and independent, all of us had the opportunity to design our own sides on the toy. As a result, each person was invested equally in the project,” he added.
Earlier this week, Ng sent Meher an email, thanking the staff in D-VELoP for their help with the team’s toy product prototype, and he included a photo of the prototype.
“Right now, the size of the prototype is rather large, but in the future, the size of the product will be reduced greatly,” Ng added. “The Fidget Cube has four sides: a fully functional fidget spinner; a 150-years push button (users can push the 1 and 0 back and forth); a maze feature that, when you complete the maze successfully, the LED array around the maze lights up; and a train side that, when a user spins the wheels, a Purdue Pete pops up and down, which is based on a scotch yoke mechanism in the inside of the face. There is also a drivetrain on the bottom to drive the cube around.”
The course, ME 444, teaches students about computer aided design and rapid prototyping and uses toy design projects for student learning. Such courses at Purdue often require students to create product prototypes. Many times, Purdue students use the 3D printing and data visualization resources provided through D-VELoP (part of the Library of Engineering and Science in the WALC) for their assignments.
“The creativity and ingenuity of Purdue students never fails to amaze us in the print lab,” Meher noted. “We have printed architectural designs, tools for shaping clay, parts for robot cars, and so much more. Printing prototypes like the Fidget Cube is especially enjoyable, as we can imagine the day when the items come to market. For a lot of prints, especially parts, we don’t know what the final product will be–so seeing the finished cube is very cool. Props to Gabriel, Joseph, Rohit, and Delaney for their vision and design! It was a pleasure working with them.”
To learn more about the resources provided at D-VELoP, see www.lib.purdue.edu/d-velop. Information about and instructions for 3D printing through the Library of Engineering and Science is available at https://guides.lib.purdue.edu/3dprinting/Home.
Filed under: faculty_staff, general
November 30th, 2018
You know it’s going to be a good week when your university’s head basketball coach crashes your Monday morning class as a guest lecturer. That’s what happened recently to students Alex Ishac (Chandler, AZ) and Rebecca Hanna (Chicago, IL), who are two of the 53 individuals enrolled in the “Engineering in the World of Data” Learning Community at Purdue University.
Purdue Men’s Basketball Head Coach Matt Painter crashed a class of the first-year engineering course, ENGR 103, which was held in Mackey Arena to demonstrate the application of data science in sports. The course, “Developing Your Data Mind,” was designed by Libraries faculty Michael Witt and Nastasha Johnson as a part of the learning community, in collaboration with colleagues from the Purdue College of Engineering, Department of English, and University Residences.
Painter spoke to the class about how data drives the decisions he makes as a coach—everything from recruiting to scouting opponents to shot selection and how individual players position their bodies on the court. Andrew McClatchey, statistical analyst for the men’s basketball team, also talked to students about the state-of-the-art technology and techniques in sports data collection and analysis and his experience in pursuing a career in data science.
In the course, students were learning how to make effective decisions using data. The night before the lecture, they joined the faculty of the learning community for popcorn and to watch the movie “Moneyball,” which is about the 2002 season of the Oakland Athletics baseball team that set a record for winning 20 games in a row by employing data analytics.
“The learning community brings together a cohort of first-year engineering students who have a shared interest in data science,” said Witt. “It gives us the opportunity to incorporate experiences outside of the classroom to bring the material to life.”
In addition to ENGR 103, students in the learning community take special, data-themed versions of required first-year engineering courses, including ENGR 131 and 132, “Transforming Ideas to Innovation I & II”; the English course ENGL 106, “Academic Research and Writing”; and ENGR 195, “Computational Methods of Data Science for Engineers,” which is a specialty course just for the learning community.
“Being in the community means that you take these classes together with the same group of students, resulting in opportunities to form close relationships with each other,” Ishac noted. “We’re learning while forming these friendships, and then we have activities like going to Mackey Arena and getting to talk to Purdue’s men’s head basketball coach and the team’s data analyst. I think the idea—to make these types of connections to interesting people who we can learn from—is really impactful,” he said.
“Our focus was to provide students with an early exposure to data science ideas and applications with an emphasis on how engineers use data to make evidence-based decisions,” said Engineering Education Professor Tamara Moore, who leads the learning community with Witt. “The instructors worked together to align the curriculum so that students would learn many facets of engineering in the world of data from the appropriate experts, integrated across these five courses.”
Another example of a learning community activity was the students’ recent participation in Purdue’s annual Dawn or Doom conference. Students attended presentations and ate lunch with one of the conference speakers, as well as discussed whether they were optimistic or pessimistic about advances in technology and its impact on their lives.
“I really enjoyed the ‘Presenting Data Effectively’ talk at Dawn or Doom,” Hanna said. “All the events that the learning community hosts are fun, and I learn something new. Although the learning community requires some extra work, I think it is definitely worth it,” she added.
Ishac concurs there is significant return on his investment in the “Engineering of the World of Data” learning community.
“The chance to be part of the ‘Engineering in the World of Data’ learning community the past several weeks has made my Purdue experience so far incredible for me,” he added.
Upcoming activities for the learning community include a field trip to the Cummins Technical Center to learn about product testing and simulation data, as well as “Learn Python with a Python” programming boot camp, in which students will be introduced to the Python scripting language by working with animal-management data and visit with an actual python from Columbian Park Zoo.
The “Engineering in the World of Data Learning Community” will begin accepting applications for the 2019-20 school year in January. It is open to incoming students admitted to the First-Year Engineering Program or to Pre-ABE in the College of Agriculture. For more information, visit www.purdue.edu/learningcommunities/profiles/engineering/engineering_data.html.
Filed under: faculty_staff, general, UncategorizedNovember 28th, 2018
Take a break from final exam stress with the Fall 2018 Hicks Undergraduate Library Study Break events. Pet therapy dogs or learn about the tradition of Purdue “Senior Cords” and decorate your own corduroy swatch to show your Purdue spirit! Cookie decorating and other crafting activities are also part of the Fall ’18 Hicks Study Breaks’ lineup.
All events are free and open to all Purdue students and are held in the Hicks Library’s main common area.
In addition to the above-listed events, art-relaxation stations, puzzle stations, bubble wrap, and a Lego station will be set up around the library.
Filed under: events, general, UncategorizedNovember 28th, 2018
Courtesy of Abbey Nickel, Purdue Marketing and Media
Imagine being able to open a time capsule with just a click of a button.
The newly launched Purdue Campus Facilities and Buildings Historic Database allows users to take a closer look at the metamorphosis of Purdue’s buildings over the years that goes beyond just maps and illustrations.
Neal Harmeyer, digital archivist in Purdue University Libraries’ Division of Archives and Special Collections, debuted the historic online database this month that documents the historic grounds and structures of Purdue’s West Lafayette campus. The project took five years to complete.
Using an interactive map, researchers will be able to find and sort campus buildings by architects, contractors, university president at time of construction, building materials and keywords. Each building has data related to his specific history, including construction information, renovation information and images from various stages of their use.
Harmeyer has helped lead the creation of the exhibit, which was funded by a 2013 gift from Richard Funkhouser, professor emeritus.
Through studying the history of Purdue’s facilities, Harmeyer said the intention of the database is to help researchers understand and visualize Purdue’s growth over the years — and perhaps study how those facilities will impact Purdue’s future.
“The Historic Database will provide all members of the Purdue community the opportunity to experience the West Lafayette campus from an entirely new perspective,” Harmeyer said. “As the university has changed over its existence, the places Purdue students, faculty, and staff have visited, studied and lived have also changed. For the first time, there is a resource to search and study the physical campus, re-visit, and even share those experiences.”
Haymeyer said data has been gathered from archival collections, reports and publications regarding all known structures throughout the West Lafayette campus history. Priority is given to academic buildings, but the project encompasses non-academic buildings as well.
The database is entirely online. Digitized campus maps have been created to visualize the history of campus. Meanwhile, Purdue Libraries information technology staff have worked alongside those from Archives and Special Collections to create a database to incorporate that information.
Harmeyer hopes the database is also used for educational purposes in addition to traditional research.
“For example, Purdue Polytechnic or Engineering faculty can use the database to learn more about construction materials and building techniques over time,” Harmeyer said. “Or, political science students can analyze building numbers in micro or macro scales to determine economic trends in campus buildings infrastructure.”
And, of course, former Purdue students can check out just how much campus has changed since their days at the university.
The University Development Office and Archives and Special Collections are partnering to provide donor information data for different buildings on campus. All information related to donors is maintained and managed by the development office, and information is being added or amended in the Database incrementally.
Harmeyer said the database will continue to be maintained, and information will be added on an annual basis to reflect new buildings or demolition of older buildings.
Purdue Libraries’ Geographic Information Systems and Digital Programs also assisted with the development of the project. Explore the Purdue Campus Facilities and Buildings Historic Database at http://collections.lib.purdue.edu/campus/.
Editor’s Note: The article is also posted at www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2018/Q4/travel-back-in-time-with-purdue-archives-new-online-building-database.html.
Filed under: general, SPECNovember 14th, 2018
Libraries faculty members Clarence Maybee and Michael Flierl are collaborating with their Purdue colleagues in the University’s innovative and touted IMPACT program.
Transforming OSHA material to make it engaging for Purdue students studying construction management is a daunting task. But, according to Purdue Libraries Associate Professor Clarence Maybee and Assistant Professor Michael Flierl, through IMPACT—Purdue University‘s “Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation” program formally established in 2011—Libraries faculty and staff have helped other Purdue faculty members do just that: make what may seem like tedious (but nevertheless integral) content motivating for college students.
One example is Flierl’s work with James Jenkins (associate professor of construction management in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute) to redesign a construction management course. Through the course, students are able to earn important career-advancing certification from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); however, federal law requires faculty teaching such courses to base their pedagogy on specific OSHA materials.
“When Professor Jenkins and I initially met, he showed me a manual printed in green and black ink, then said, ‘This is what my students have to deal with. They are just not engaged with this material,'” Flierl explained. “Through our work together in IMPACT, we changed that. Professor Jenkins and I created a variety of different ways to make the content the students were required to learn more dynamic. For example, we incorporated information literacy concepts into hands-on, gaming activities, as well as developed open-ended problems for them to solve.”
Flierl’s work with Jenkins is just one illustration of how the campus-wide IMPACT program has been employed at Purdue. Highlighted in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s October 21 “Education’s 2018 Innovators Special Issue,” IMPACT was described by George D. Kuh, professor emeritus of higher education at Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research, as a “textbook illustration of how to successfully deliver timely, substantive, high-quality professional-development experiences over an extended period of time to a particularly discerning audience.”
At the tactical level, through their work in the program, faculty learn how to refine learning outcomes and are equipped with new and innovative tools to engage their students, Maybee explained.
“Libraries faculty have been involved with the program from the very beginning,” he said. “Of course, librarians are interested in the information literacy part of learning and improving instructional design to incorporate information literacy, which improves the learning experience if you do it right. But that isn’t the only thing we have done and are doing in the program. As Michael mentioned, we help instructors think through their pedagogy. We have had a lot of success with that.”
According to the IMPACT website, since 2011, “IMPACT has grown into an institutional transformation program positively impacting every college/school with nearly 9 out 10 of all undergraduate students taking at least one IMPACT course.” The latest data from the program (listed at the bottom of the IMPACT website, www.purdue.edu/impact) show that more than 580 courses have been transformed and over 330 Purdue instructors have participated in IMPACT.
Maybee, who based his 2018 book IMPACT Learning: Librarians at the Forefront of Change in Higher Education (published by Elsevier), said he has been working in the program, along with colleagues from the Center for Instructional Excellence, ITaP (Information Technology at Purdue), as well as faculty from across the University, since he joined IMPACT in 2012. Their investment is proving to be fruitful for faculty and students. The Chronicle’s piece states, “[a]ccording to a recent outside evaluation, Impact-affected courses generally have higher end-of-course final grades and fewer students who withdraw or earn Ds and Fs.”
“In this collaboration, we have used information literacy concepts and instructional design principles to help transform such foundational courses as COM 114 (“Fundamentals of Speech Communication”), English 106, and Tech 120 (a foundational course in technology), which are important building blocks for thousands of Purdue students,” Maybee added. “Overall, Libraries faculty, and the many others involved in IMPACT here at Purdue, have enhanced students’ learning experiences significantly.”
Filed under: Faculty E-Newsletter, faculty_staff, generalNovember 7th, 2018
Join Purdue Libraries for “The American Soldier Transcribe-a-Thon,” a Digital Humanities event in commemoration of Veterans Day.
From 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13 in the Humanities, Social Science, and Education (HSSE) Library (Stewart Center, room 142), individuals are encouraged to come and transcribe original and uncensored commentaries written by soldiers who served during World War II and were asked to reflect on their service.
The transcribed commentaries will be saved and made available digitally to students and scholars around the world, providing an important resource for future research.
“These commentaries provide a wealth of information about the soldiers’ lives, their hopes and anxieties about returning to civilian life, and their thoughts about the Army,” explained Purdue Libraries Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities Matt Hannah.
“The American Soldier Transcribe-a-Thon” at Purdue is sponsored by Purdue Libraries and is open free to the public. No technical expertise required, but participants are asked to bring a laptop computer on which to transcribe. Registration is available at https://go.lib.purdue.edu/events/americansoldier.
The annual event is organized by Virginia Tech, and many individuals and entities across the U.S. participate every year.
Learn more about the project at www.zooniverse.org/projects/tkotwim/the-american-soldier/about/research.
Filed under: events, general, HSSE, Uncategorized