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July 25th, 2019
Many marketing instructors demonstrate how professional marketers incorporate Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in their approaches to product or service development for their target customer segments. So it’s not surprising that Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies Assistant Professor and Business Information Specialist Heather Howard developed the Midwest Business Librarian Summit to meet her fellow business librarians’ needs — belonging, esteem, and self-actualization — shown in the upper area of the famous pyramid hierarchy.
“Currently there are no national conferences that are business librarian focused, and the ones many go to, such as the American Library Association or Special Library Association, have limited content for business librarians or are prohibitively expensive for many librarians,” Howard explained.
Although she’s not a marketing instructor, at Purdue Howard teaches courses that incorporate business information concepts (marketing being an extremely important one), and she helps Purdue students and faculty navigate the complex web of information and data fundamental to business success. In 2018, she organized the Indiana Business Librarian Summit (held at Purdue), which about 25 individuals attended.
This year, she rebranded the July 24 event as the “Midwest Business Librarian Summit” (or MBLS) and featured David Hummels, the Dr. Samuel R. Allen Dean of the Krannert School of Management and Distinguished Professor of Economics, who welcomed those who attended. The new Dean of Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies and Professor Beth McNeil gave the keynote presentation. Both addressed the nearly 70 business librarians and information professionals who attended from areas across the region — a significant increase in attendees in only one year.
Clearly, Howard is on to something.
Below, she provides more detail about MBLS… and her plans for its future.
Q: Tell me about the Midwest Business Librarian Summit: how and why did you start it?
Howard: The Midwest Business Librarian Summit started in 2018 as the Indiana Business Librarian Summit. After attendees came from all over the area, it was rebranded in 2019 as MBLS to better represent the interest in the event.
I started the event because I saw a need for business librarians in the area to get together to talk about projects they are working on, databases and resources, and all things business librarian. This year I also organized the event, but I had the help of a committee of business librarians.
Q: Is this summit affiliated with other summit events for those business librarians who work, for example, in different geographic areas?
Howard: Nope, this is a standalone event. There are a few other groups of business librarians who also have meetings, including The Southern Academic Business Librarians Conference (SOUCABL) and the Michigan Area Business Librarians (who attended MBLS as their 2019 meeting), and there are rumors of one starting up in Colorado.
Q: Who is eligible to attend this summit/conference?
Howard: There is no limit on who can attend. We are open to anyone who is practicing business librarianship or is otherwise interested, including public, academic, and corporate librarians. Though we are called “midwest,” anyone who wants to make the trip to West Lafayette is welcome to attend.
Q: What do you hope that attendees were able to take away from the summit this year?
Howard: I hope that attendees had great conversations with one another, are inspired by work our colleagues are doing, and form new partnerships and collaborations.
Much of the content of MBLS is provided by those who are attending in the form of lightning talks, interest group conversations, and open forum talks, so the key takeaways are determined by what people discussed.
Q: Will there be an MBLS 2020? If so, will you follow the same format next year? change it up? or will that be up to you and your committee based on feedback from this year?
Howard: There will definitely be an MBLS 2020! We received quite a bit of positive verbal feedback at the event, and the committee and I will be sending out a survey to assess what people liked and what people would like to change in future years.
I can say that many people told me they appreciated how easy it is to get to Purdue and how nice our event space was, which was great to hear.
Follow the Midwest Business Librarian Summit on Facebook at www.facebook.com/midwestbuslib/ and on Twitter at twitter.com/MidwestBusLib.
Filed under: events, Faculty E-Newsletter, faculty_staff, generalJuly 18th, 2019
Editor’s Note: Content in this post is courtesy of Stephanie Hernandez McGavin via Shared BigData-Gateway
A team of Purdue University researchers is among the seven fellowship teams selected for the first class of the Collaborative Archive Data Research Environment (CADRE) Fellows.
These seven fellowship teams span across disciplines and offer compelling research that incorporates big data and bibliometrics. Each fellow team will access CADRE’s Web of Science (WoS) and Microsoft Academic Graph (MAG) datasets to achieve their research goals.
The three-member Purdue University team will work on the project, “Utilizing Data Citation for Aggregating, Contextualizing, and Engaging with Research Data in STEM Education Research.” The researchers are:
Per the description of their project: “Researchers will characterize citation of data from the literature in the field of STEM education research. A sample of relevant publication venues in the field will be identified from WoS and MAG. Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) of datasets registered with DataCite will be used to query and associate datasets with publications. The team will assess rates of citation for datasets that are cited using DataCite DOIs for each publication venue and analyze a sample of data citations and publications to determine suitability for providing an initial context to help a researcher who is unfamiliar with the data determine whether to use the dataset.”
The other six teams and their CADRE research projects are listed at https://blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/sbd-gateway/2019/07/18/cadre-first-fellows/.
The Fellows will present their research at the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI) 2019 Conference in Rome at either the workshop or tutorial that CADRE is hosting on Sept. 2.
Not only will these fellows show how CADRE helped advance their work, but they will also serve as integral use cases for how the CADRE platform is developed to suit the needs of every type of academic researcher.
The Shared BigData Gateway for Research Libraries (SBD-G) is a two-year Institute of Museum and Library Services-funded project to develop, seed, and maintain a cloud-based, extendable cyberinfrastructure for sharing large academic library data resources with a growing community of scholars.
SBD-G will achieve this through its platform, the Collaborative Archive & Data Research Environment (CADRE).
For more information, visit https://blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/sbd-gateway/2018/09/27/hello-world/.
Filed under: Faculty E-Newsletter, faculty_staff, general, UncategorizedJuly 12th, 2019
From July 18-20, Purdue University will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing with a variety of campus events, including a talk by Apollo 11 flight director Gene Kranz, a showing of a new “Armstrong” documentary, and a book signing/meet and greet with Purdue University Press authors.
Purdue University Press is proud to publish in space and flight with our book series, Purdue Studies in Aeronautics and Astronautics edited by James R. Hansen. Our books build on Purdue’s leadership in aeronautic and astronautic engineering, as well as the historic accomplishments of many of Purdue’s luminary alums.
The stories that can be told in connection with Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon are innumerable. Stories of those who sacrificed it all for us to get there, stories of the men and women working behind the scenes, and stories of the men and women inspired by the moon landing, continuing to their own “giant leaps”. Read on to hear more about these stories.
Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom
by George Leopold
On January 27, 1967, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee lost their lives in a fire during a launch pad test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft.
Gus Grissom, a Purdue University alumnus and one of the “Mercury Seven”, was a fixture of the early Space Race. There was a point in time when many thought NASA would eventually select Grissom as the first man to walk on the moon. Most now remember him for the tragedy that took his life.
“One of the cruel ironies, the central paradox of the Space Race, was that a launch pad fire actually saved the Apollo program,” notes George Leopold, Gus Grissom’s biographer, in a blog post earlier this year. “The reason was the evidence of what had been overlooked in Grissom’s ship—the faulty wiring, the leaking coolant, the lack of flame-retardant materials in the spacecraft, the clumsy, inward-opening hatch, and most important of all, NASA’s misguided engineering decision to use pure oxygen under pressure on the launch pad—all of it was there for the investigators to sift through.”
What NASA was able to learn from this tragedy helped lay the groundwork for the missions that put men on the moon.
Piercing the Horizon: The Story of Visionary NASA Chief Tom Paine
by Sunny Tsiao
Tom Paine was the administrator of NASA when man took their first steps on the lunar surface on the Apollo 11 mission.
Named acting administrator on October 8, 1968, and confirmed by the Senate as administrator on March 20, 1969, he was tasked with getting the program back on track following the Apollo 1 disaster, and stewarded the program through the first seven manned Apollo missions.
In the Foreword of Piercing the Horizon, James R. Hansen calls Paine “one of America’s greatest spaceflight visionaries”.
Spacewalker: My Journey in Space and Faith as NASA’s Record-Setting Frequent Flyer
by Jerry L. Ross with John Norberg
“On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 launched toward the Moon to attempt the first manned lunar landing. I read everything I could get my hands on about the mission. Any time there was information about the mission on TV, and I wasn’t working, I was there. I didn’t care if the coverage was just a shot of Mission control in Houston with no one talking. I loved what they were doing, how they were doing it, the suspense, and the technology.”
Jerry Ross, a Purdue University alumnus and Indiana native, shares the record for most spaceflights. Ross spent 1,393 hours in space, including 58 hours and 18 minutes on nine space walks.
Ross was a student at Purdue when he was inspired by Apollo 11 landing on the moon. Ross collaborated with Susan G. Gunderson to write an illustrated children’s version of his biography called Becoming a Spacewalker: My Journey to the Stars.
Wings of Their Dreams: Purdue in Flight, Second Edition
by John Norberg
“Every day you’re reminded that not only did Neil Armstrong walk these paths around Purdue, going to class every day, but so did Gus (Grissom), and so did a whole lot of others.”
Often referred to as “the cradle of astronauts”, Purdue University is inseparable with the history of manned spaceflight.
Wings of Their Dreams is the story of the human spirit taking flight, entwined with Purdue’s legacy in aviation’s history and its horizons. Author John Norberg reminds readers that the first and last men to land on the moon first trekked across the West Lafayette, Indiana campus on their journeys into the heavens and history.
Second Edition out October 15, 2019
Dear Neil Armstrong: Letters to the First Man from All Mankind
by James R. Hansen
Today, some 75,000 letters written to Neil Armstrong are preserved in the Purdue University Archives and Special Collections.
Dear Neil Armstrong: Letters to the First Man from All Mankind publishes a careful sampling of these letters—roughly 400—reflecting the various kinds of correspondence that Armstrong received along with representative samples of his replies.
Get 30% off any of these books when you order through the Purdue University Press website with the discount code PURDUE30.
Filed under: UncategorizedJuly 9th, 2019
Parrish 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 Morningstar Investment Research Center, brought to you by Morningstar, Inc.
Link: http://guides.lib.purdue.edu/az.php?s=71213 is the alphabetical list of the databases specially selected for those in a business program of study. Access the databases off-campus with your Purdue login and password.
Focus: Morningstar Investments Research Center offers up-to-date information on 20,000 stocks and mutual funds, and allows screening using a variety of criteria.
Tutorial: Click here see the basics of using Morningstar Investment Research Center.
Start with this hint: Direct links to stock analyst reports, fund analyst reports, and ETF analyst reports are available on the homepage.
Why you should know this database: Morningstar Investment Research provides minute-to-minute stock price data in addition to historical stock price information.
Related Resources
Some other resources you might want to explore, are:
This Featured Database comes to you from the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management & Economics. If you would like more information about this database, or if you would like a demonstration of it for a class, contact parrlib@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 parrlib@purdue.edu.
Filed under: database, general, MGMTJuly 2nd, 2019
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN — Faculty in Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies are part of a team of academic library faculty who recently were selected to receive a $249,179 award through the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program via the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Along with librarians at the University of Arizona and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies faculty librarians will collaborate on the project with university classroom instructors to develop disciplinary-based, information literacy curricula.
The results of the project, “Academic Librarian Curriculum Developers: Building Capacity to Integrate Information Literacy across the University,” will be shared with academic library professionals, administrators, and information literacy thought leaders across the nation. Project team leaders include: Clarence Maybee, project lead, Purdue; Michael Flierl, co-project lead, Purdue; Maribeth Slebodnik, co-project lead, University of Arizona; and Catherine Fraser Riehle, co-project lead, University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Preparing graduates to use digital information in their future work and lives requires teaching them to use information in disciplinary and professional learning contexts, the team leaders noted.
Maybee, associate professor and information literacy specialist at Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies, explained those involved in the project will apply a learning design model that underscores the role information plays in the learning process. The project will help academic library professionals collaborate with disciplinary instructors to integrate information literacy into courses and assess the outcomes of the resulting coursework.
“I am excited to receive this IMLS grant, as it allows us to expand the work we are doing at Purdue to integrate information literacy into courses to two other large research universities—University of Arizona, and University of Nebraska, Lincoln,” he added.
Dean of Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies Beth McNeil noted the award is an endorsement of the innovative information literacy work Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies faculty have been doing with such noteworthy programs as IMPACT (Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Information).
“Our librarian faculty are on the cutting edge of integrating information literacy into 21st-century teaching and learning styles,” McNeil said. “This award will enable our faculty to continue their transformational work and collaborate, and expand it, with librarians and instructional faculty at two other noted research institutions. Results of this important project will enhance current students’ information literacy skills, which they can apply to make better informed decisions and use to tackle tough future challenges in both their professional and personal lives.”
For more information about Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies’ involvement in the grant project, contact Maybee at cmaybee@purdue.edu. Information about the IMLS grant award is available at www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/re-13-19-0021-19.
Filed under: Faculty E-Newsletter, faculty_staff, general, press_release, UncategorizedJune 28th, 2019
“It can be challenging for instruction librarians to create sustained collaborations with instructors beyond the one-shot instruction session. The results from this study make a compelling case for why collaborating with disciplinary instructors on course design―such as working together to design meaningful assignments throughout the term―can provide benefits for students in gaining information literacy skills, as well as helping them engage more deeply with course content.” ― Melissa Harden, LIRT Top Twenty Articles 2019 Selection Committee
Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies Assistant Professor Michael Flierl, Associate Professor Clarence Maybee, and Instructional Designer Rachel Fundator, as well as Purdue Center for Instructional Excellence Instructional Developer Emily Bonem, were recently recognized by the Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT) for their research article “Information literacy supporting student motivation and performance: Course-level analyses.” Their research, published in the January 2018 issue of Library and Information Science Research, was listed as one of the “Top Twenty Articles of 2018” by LIRT in its June 2019 newsletter.
“This article describes the results of a large-scale study exploring the relationships between information literacy, student academic performance, and student motivation in the context of disciplinary courses,” notes the article abstract.
The abstract continues: “Data were gathered from over 3,000 students at a public research university through an end-of-semester survey that asked questions about learning climate, basic psychological needs, student motivation, and perceptions of relevance of course content to future careers. Instructors also completed a survey indicating how often students in their courses were expected to use information in various ways, including posing questions or problems, accessing information outside of assigned readings, evaluating sources, synthesizing information and communicating results, and applying the conventions of attribution. The responses to these surveys were analyzed in conjunction with student course grades to determine the relationships between information engagement and use, and student motivation and achievement.”
“The results suggest a positive relationship between students synthesizing and communicating information throughout the term and student perceptions of autonomy and motivation. Therefore, instruction librarians should encourage disciplinary instructors to design and create many opportunities for students to engage in higher-order skills, such as synthesizing and communicating information, throughout the term. These results suggest that the benefits for students gained from these types of learning opportunities include higher academic achievement and greater motivation to learn disciplinary content presented in their courses,” assert the authors.
LIRT is part of the American Library Association and was founded in 1977. According to its website, the organization empowers librarians, from all types of libraries, to become better teachers through sharing best practices, leadership and professional development, and networking.
For more information about LIRT, visit www.ala.org/rt/lirt.
Filed under: Faculty E-Newsletter, faculty_staff, generalJune 21st, 2019
In an interview with Vicki Hutton, the author of A Reason to Live: HIV and Animal Companions, we discuss the new book and relevant subjects, including the public perception of HIV/AIDS and the universality of the human-animal bond. A Reason to Live is the newest book in the popular New Directions in the Human-Animal Bond book series, edited by Dr. Alan M. Beck and Dr. Marguerite O’Haire.
Q: Could you briefly explain your book, for those who are not familiar?
Vicki Hutton: A Reason to Live provides a testament to the power of the human-animal relationship for eleven men living with HIV in Australia. In the 1980s HIV changed the lives of thousands of people in a way that could never have been predicted. For many people living with HIV, their animal companions followed them into this new and unexpected life and by doing so, provided some semblance of normality in a world turned upside down.
For others with HIV, their animal companions joined them further down the track, and provided the consistent and unconditional support that was not always forthcoming from other humans and the medical world. For this reason, animal companions are part of the narrative history of HIV, and part of the meaning-making around an epidemic that changed the world.
This collection of narratives spans the entirety of the HIV epidemic in Australia, from public awareness and discrimination in the 1980s and 1990s, to survival and hope in the twenty-first century. Each narrative is explored within the context of the latest human-animal research and theory in order to understand the unique bond between human and animal during an ‘epidemic of stigma’. A consistent theme is that these animals provided ‘a reason to live’: both for the long-term survivors and their past animal companions who offered unconditional love and support during this tumultuous period; and the current generation of HIV-positive narrators whose animal companions form part of the ‘wellness narrative’ of living and ageing with HIV.
Q: What compelled you to research and write about these stories?
Hutton: I could say that this was a logical outcome of my main areas of research interest: the human-animal relationship and stigmatized medical conditions, but it was far more than that. From the moment I visited a local HIV/AIDS support organization to check out the feasibility of conducting some research into stigma and the human-animal relationship, there was no going back. I was amazed by the willingness of so many people who jumped at the opportunity to describe the wonder and gratitude they felt towards their animal companions. The horrors of living with HIV, including the reactions of other humans, became almost incidental to the latest antics of their beloved animals. That first visit reshaped my research project, and I will always be grateful to the individuals who shared their time and their stories so openly and modestly. A Reason to Live is more than a cultural memory: it is a thank you to those individuals and a celebration of the human-animal relationship.
Q: What do you think are some of the most prevalent public misunderstandings surrounding HIV/AIDS?
Hutton: The first thing to remember is that there is not one HIV epidemic. It is experienced in different ways within and between countries, and according to race, gender, sexuality, age, income and decade. For example, a young woman living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa faces different challenges and public misconceptions to an older gay man living in US. Over the decades it has also attracted social meanings beyond the medical meanings, making any public misconceptions surrounding HIV and AIDS dependent on a range of factors.
With this in mind, I’ve noticed a common misconception that seems to straddle many of these groups is the tendency to assign ‘blame’ and ‘innocence’ to those with HIV. In the early years, the concept of blame and innocence saw those who contracted the virus as a result of lifestyle choices – such as unprotected sex or intravenous drug use – deemed less worthy of care and support than those who contracted it through circumstances that were perceived as out of their control – such as blood transfusions or childbirth. Fast forward several decades and blame may still emerge where a person is perceived as contracting HIV because they took avoidable lifestyle risks or failed to adequately protect themselves by adopting all the modern (medical) ways of avoiding HIV.
According to the men I spoke to, there can also be misconceptions around what it means to live and age with this stigmatized and incurable condition. They described how the medications can keep them physically healthy, but there are still challenges such as forming and maintaining relationships, and fears for the future. They described how the public perception in developed nations at least had moved towards HIV being a chronic but manageable condition – as long as a person maintains their medication regime. This perception that HIV and AIDS ares ‘over’ sometimes left them feeling ungrateful, isolated and unable to articulate the ongoing niggling anxieties that HIV can evoke (especially around ageing and cognitive decline).
And finally, I’d like to think that early public misconceptions about the ease of transmission of HIV have abated but according to some of the people I spoke to, this may not always be the case. They described how rules of physical contact were sometimes overtly or covertly reconstructed, leaving them feeling rejected and isolated. They acknowledged that negative experiences had definitely reduced over the years, but this sometimes made it all the more distressing when something unexpected happened. It seems that globally HIV still struggles to divest its misunderstood and demonized reputation.
Q: How do you feel these misunderstandings could be remedied?
Hutton: I’m not sure I’m in a position to make a meaningful response to this, given the diversity of the lived experience of HIV. I think if I make suggestions as someone who isn’t living with HIV, my response or suggestions could be perceived as trite and generic.
However, based on the stories I heard, perhaps learning from the actions of our non-judgmental animal companions could be a good starting place.
Q: Many are aware of the unconditional love that animals provide, but don’t quite grasp how much these animals can help. What are some of the most profound ways you feel these animals helped their humans or carers?
Hutton: Where do I start? These animal companions were lifelines for some of the men, providing a tangible anchor to the good parts of life that had been eroded following their diagnosis with HIV. Animals are without guile, and they can effortlessly cushion the fundamental human fears of separation and abandonment. They ask for nothing more than love and security, something all the men were delighted to give. In return, their affection remained predictable, and unaffected by their human’s circumstances or appearances.
An animal’s love can’t be faked – a tail wag, a purr, a nibble or affectionate head butt comes straight from the heart. If an animal is looking at you with love and anticipation, it’s easy to believe you are needed and still the same person you always had been. One man described being incontinent and bed-ridden, and how his animal companion lay on the bed and loved him regardless.
If an animal is expecting to be loved and fed, what better incentive to remain alive? One man acknowledged that with a non-existent social network following his diagnosis, his death by suicide would inevitably doom his young cat to starvation before anyone thought to check his apartment. The cat was his reason to live during those dark times.
And if you’re constantly having to care for, clean up after, and exercise an animal, what better way to keep fit? Many of the men described having to drag themselves out of bed in the morning to walk their dog, or feed the chickens, or just let the dog or cat outside to urinate. All acknowledged they probably would have just stayed in bed without this incentive – and felt so much worse for it.
Q: How do you feel traveling around Australia interviewing these eleven men most impacted you?
Hutton: This whole experience impacted me in a way that I had not expected. On many occasions I desperately missed the emotional support that my own animal friends would normally offer, especially after some of the more emotion-laden interviews. I longed to go home and cuddle my own animal friends, but this was impossible when thousands of miles away in a different state. I soon learned that no matter where I was, the emotion behind the stories was similar, and it was only the differences in weather and venues that differed – and the distance from my own animal support network.
But there were many fun times too. Whether I was in Sydney, Melbourne or any other state, I’d have to carry the same treats and goodies in my bag for those animal companions who came along to supervise the interviews. Many of the animals, especially the dogs, soon worked out where the treats were stored, and my travel bag became increasingly scratched and nibbled.
Some of these men are no longer alive. Where they lived interstate, sometimes I learned of their death accidentally or well after the event. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to hear their story, and it’s a timely reminder that even with twenty-first century medications, living and ageing with HIV still carries uncertainty and risk.
Q: Where there any interesting stories that came from the interviews that did not make it into the book?
Hutton: Some of the most interesting stories came out of our more informal discussions once the recording equipment was off. We shared stories of cat vomit and hairballs, anal glands and chewing habits, urination, defecation, muddy paw prints, scratched furniture and inequitable sharing of bed space – all the day-to-day minutiae that is so riveting for anyone who shares their living space with animal companions.
There were also some personal stories not related to the animal companions that were too harrowing to include in this book. Sometimes I was entrusted with information that a person had never shared before, and it would have been a violation of that trust to include these events. Each man’s story could have been a book in itself as they described their lived experience of HIV in a sometimes harsh and judgmental world. I’ve tried to do justice to those stories through the animals, while acknowledging that this was only one part of navigating life with HIV.
Receive 30% off you own copy of A Reason to Live by entering the promo code PURDUE30 at checkout on our website.
Filed under: UncategorizedJune 21st, 2019
The “Apollo in the Archives: Selections from the Neil Armstrong Papers” exhibit commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight that landed on the moon – where Purdue alumnus Neil Armstrong took those famed first steps – and coincides with Purdue University’s July celebration of the moon landing, as well as the University’s sesquicentennial celebration, 150 Years of Giant Leaps.
As part of the Apollo 11 commemoration on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus, Purdue Archives and Special Collections (ASC) is hosting an open house for the exhibit from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Friday, July 19. The open house will feature:
The open house is free and open to the public and ideal for children of all ages.
On Saturday, July 20 — the golden anniversary of the July 20, 1969, manned moon landing — Purdue University will host several Apollo 11-related events, which are listed at www.purdue.edu/apollo11/events/index.php. From 9 a.m.-noon (July 20), Purdue ASC will host additional exhibit viewing hours, as well as scavenger hunts.
Purdue Archives and Special Collections is located on the fourth floor of the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education (HSSE) Library in Stewart Center. For more information about the exhibit, contact Associate Head of Archives and Special Collections and Barron Hilton Archivist for Flight and Space Exploration Tracy Grimm at grimm3@purdue.edu.
Filed under: general, SPEC
June 14th, 2019
This blog post takes part in a blog tour hosted by the Association of University Presses (AUPresses) in recognition and respect of the sudden passing of the University of Virginia Press director Mark Saunders. As our professional organization gathered this week in Detroit for our annual meeting, search on Twitter with #WeAreUP to read more posts about our sorely missed colleague, Mark, and continue to follow @AUPresses and engage with #ReadUP.
I know who Mark Saunders was, but I did not know him.
That seems weird to say since I have been employed by Purdue University Press in various capacities for 22 years as of next month (hey, I’m not that old – the first three and a half years were as a student worker!). I never met Mark but saw him often from afar at one conference or another. Seeing the impact that Mark had on the publishing industry, specifically the university press industry, is awe-inspiring and makes me wish I had stepped out of my box to introduce myself to him; or asked a colleague to make the introduction. As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. But why should it be? The outpouring of grief, love, and admiration for Mark and the wonderful stories celebrating him as a leader, colleague, mentor, and friend from our community of AUPresses has caught me examining my own hindsight and asking the question, why do we wait to do so?
A little more than 11 years ago my colleague and at the time our managing editor, Margaret, lost her war with cancer. She won the first battle a couple years before that, but the evil disease finally won. She did not pass suddenly, like Mark, so we in the office knew this day would come but the shock was similar when we finally received the news. Stupidly, I did not take the opportunity to go and say goodbye. I grieved in my own way, I keep some things in a box like that for better or for worse. One part of grieving was that I volunteered to clean out her office and pack up her personal items in order to get them back to her family. In doing so, I came across a section of her file cabinet that was bursting with notes, cards, and letters sent to her by a plethora of authors, editors, and colleagues. These items were thanking her for the excellent job on a manuscript, sending good wishes at holidays, or sharing cute and cuddly cat pictures (like many publishers, Margaret was a huge cat person and an expert gardener). I knew that Margaret was good at her job. I respected and admired her, but in reading through these items my hindsight suddenly came into focus and became 20/20. I also realized, I should have picked Margaret’s brain more, asked her all the little questions I had about the industry. I thought they were silly, little questions that would waste her time. I missed the opportunity to receive a different perspective. More importantly, I missed the opportunity to express my admiration and respect to her through words; I missed the opportunity to wish her enough. Hindsight is 20/20.
Mark’s sudden passing and the outpouring of admiration, fun stories, and great respect for him as a colleague and friend throughout our industry brought Margaret back from my memories. What do I take away from this? What do I want others to glean from my short post here?
University presses are not run by one person nor do they succeed because of one person. From the smallest to the largest presses, it takes a team to succeed. If I tried to recall the names of all the staff members, interns, student workers, graduate assistants, and colleagues who I have worked with over the past 22 years I would surely miss several; so, I will not try. But to all of them, I say thank you and my apologies if I had not done so previously. To my current colleagues and friends at Purdue University Press: Becki, Katherine, Kelley, Chris, Matt, Susan, Sarah, Sebastian, Ashutosh, Nina, Marcy, and Justin – thank you for all that you do, for me personally and more so for our team. Our success is because of the whole team.
To all past, present, and future colleagues—at Purdue UP and the greater AUPresses family—: don’t wait for your hindsight to become 20/20. I wish you all enough.
About the author: Bryan Shaffer drove the official Purdue University mascot, the Boilermaker Special, to his interview for a student worker position at the Press in July 1997. He was hired on the spot to design advertisements and to pick-and-pack book orders. When he arrived for the first day of work and he switched on the dusty Apple IIc computer he wondered what in the world he got himself into. Almost 22 years later he is the sales and marketing manager for Purdue University Press and is said to be the “institutional memory” and “den bear” of the small family that makes up the Press. He now knows what he got himself into…..a caring family and greater community. He considers himself very blessed, fortunate, and lucky.
June 4th, 2019
Parrish 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 CareerBeam, brought to you by CareerArc Group LLC.
Link: http://guides.lib.purdue.edu/az.php?s=71213 is the alphabetical list of the databases specially selected for those in a business program of study. Access the databases off-campus with your Purdue login and password.
Focus: CareerBeam provides access to career assessments, resume and cover letter development tools, search strategies and research databases and integrates them into one portal. Please note that a person account or registration is required to access CareerBeam.
Tutorial: Click here see the basics of using CareerBeam.
Start with this hint: Complete your “Quick Profile” under the Career Exploration tab to access an analysis of your values, interests, and personality.
Why you should know this database: The tools and resources available through CareerBeam can help identify industries and areas you might work best in. It can also help you decide what you’re looking for in a career and where you begin.
Related Resources
Some other databases you might want to explore, are:
This Featured Database comes to you from the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management & Economics. If you would like more information about this database, or if you would like a demonstration of it for a class, contact parrlib@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 parrlib@purdue.edu.
Filed under: database, general, MGMT