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April 24th, 2019
This week, users of Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies’ website may have noticed a new feature, Proactive Chat. The service is now available via the home page and Primo (the interface to search the Purdue Libraries’ collections). Proactive Chat will pop out once during a user’s visit to the Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies’ home page or Primo. Patrons can use the service to ask questions about Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies’ collections and resources.
The debut of the new feature coincides with the celebration of the “Sweet 16” birthday of Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies’ “Ask a Librarian” digital reference service.
Join Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies staff for the celebration from 9 a.m.-noon Thursday, April 25 to enjoy free cookies just outside of the Humanities, Social Science, and Education (HSSE) Library in Stewart Center (west entrance), where more information about the digital reference services will be available.
Filed under: general, UncategorizedApril 18th, 2019
Take time out to relax and de-stress during prep and finals weeks this spring. Beginning Monday, April 22, Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies will host Hicks Study Breaks to help students take a break from studying in the Hicks Undergraduate Library. A full list of the events, with times and dates, is below.
All events are free and open to all Purdue students and will be held in the Hicks Undergraduate Library’s main common area.
Prep Week
Finals Week
April 12th, 2019
Faculty in the Purdue School of Engineering Education, Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies, and the Purdue Department of English engaged 53 engineering students in the Engineering in the World of Data Learning Community in compelling outside-of-the-classroom activities to enhance student learning.
University Residences at Purdue University recently recognized outstanding faculty, staff, and resident assistants involved in learning communities for their exceptional work during the 2018-19 school year.
Faculty and staff who led the Engineering in the World of Data Learning Community were honored with the Academic Connection Award, which recognizes the learning community that best connects courses to learning experiences outside of the classroom.
Instructors from the Purdue School of Engineering Education, Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies, and the Purdue Department of English organized a variety of active learning activities with the 53 engineering students in the learning community, including:
Faculty on the instruction team for the learning community include:
Learn more about the Engineering in the World of Data Learning Community at www.purdue.edu/learningcommunities/profiles/engineering/engineering_data.html, and more about learning communities at Purdue at www.purdue.edu/learningcommunities/.
April 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 Factiva, brought to you by Dow Jones & Company.
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: Factiva is a global information resource that provides full-text access to top national and international newspapers (including full text of the Wall Street Journal), newswires, business journals, market research reports, analyst reports and websites.
Tutorial: Click here see the basics of using Factiva.
Start with this hint: Create a simple search using the Home button and search by keyword, company name, or industry. Use the search options to narrow the results by sources or by date.
Why you should know this database: Factiva contains over 8000 publications with content from 118 countries in 22 languages and updated daily. 74% of Factiva’s premium news sources are not available on the free web and thousands more are available via Factiva on or before the date of publication by the source.
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, MGMTMarch 29th, 2019
On May 23, the Purdue University Graduate School and Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies are hosting an invitation-only symposium on the topic of non-traditional theses and dissertations. (A limited number of invitations are available. Visit www.lib.purdue.edu/etdgiantleaps to request an invitation.)
As universities and colleges have moved from print to digital, electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) present the opportunity to think beyond the limitations of traditional formats and processes in order to enable students to express their scholarship with greater creativity and impact.
This one-day symposium will feature keynote addresses by University of North Carolina (UNC) Greensboro Dean of Libraries and Professor Martin Halbert and Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies Professor Jean-Pierre Hérubel. Sessions will explore the challenges and opportunities of ETDs by bringing together faculty and staff directly engaged in supervising theses and dissertations and managing the processes and infrastructure for producing them.
There is no cost to attend, and lunch will be provided. For more information, visit www.lib.purdue.edu/etdgiantleaps.
Filed under: faculty_staff, generalMarch 28th, 2019
Courtesy of Purdue News Service
A former associate dean and professor at Purdue University will be returning to campus after being selected the new dean of Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies.
Beth McNeil, dean of library services and professor at Iowa State University, will join Purdue on July 1.
“Beth’s knowledge of the Purdue Libraries organization and our entire campus will be an enormous benefit as we continue to develop an integrated, campus-wide data science education ecosystem,” said Jay Akridge, provost and vice president for academic affairs and diversity. “Beth brings an impressive record of leadership excellence in library and information science to this important position.”
Previously, McNeil was Purdue’s associate dean for academic affairs and a professor of Purdue Libraries. Before her initial appointment at Purdue, McNeil was assistant, and then associate, dean of libraries for the University of Nebraska. She also has held positions in the libraries at Bradley University and the University of Illinois.
McNeil graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor’s degree in English, and her master’s in library from information studies. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Nebraska.
McNeil’s research has been published in numerous academic journals and has focused on areas such as librarians and scholarly communication, changes in libraries in the 21st century and performance management and career development.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues at Purdue as we collaborate to create innovative ways to further the work of our faculty, staff and students,” McNeil said. “Purdue is well-positioned to address the rapid development of data science and to lead the way in integrating information literacy into the curriculum.”
McNeil was one of four finalists for this position. In her role at Purdue, McNeil will lead faculty and staff focused on expanding teaching and learning in data and information literacy, digital scholarship, and undergraduate and graduate research. These efforts will be in conjunction with a University-wide Integrated Data Science Initiative in collaboration with all academic colleges.
By Abbey Nickel, see https://bit.ly/2HKKyq0
Filed under: faculty_staff, generalMarch 27th, 2019
In his new book The Notorious Ben Hecht: Iconoclastic Writer and Militant Zionist (Purdue University Press March 2019), Julien Gorbach examines the life of great twentieth-century screenwriter, playwright, and activist Ben Hecht.
Gorbach treats Hecht’s activism during the 1940s as the central drama of his life. His new book details the story of how Hecht earned admiration as a humanitarian and vilification as an extremist at this pivotal moment in history, about the origins of his beliefs in his varied experiences in American media, and about the consequences.
Read on to see our discussion with the author about Hecht’s life, career, and legacy.
Q. Who was Ben Hecht and why is he significant?
Julien Gorbach: Ben Hecht was a legendary screenwriter, who was also known for breaking the silence in the American media about the Holocaust, and for his militant Zionism. He invented the gangster movie and wrote classics like Scarface, Gone with the Wind and Hitchcock’s Notorious. Hecht was a prolific reporter, novelist, and Broadway playwright. During the Holocaust and the struggle to establish the state of Israel, he was a major force as a propagandist. He became notorious, because of his inflammatory rhetoric and his partnership with Mickey Cohen, a Jewish gangster. Together they smuggled weapons to Palestine in the struggle for a Jewish state.
Q. How did Hecht find himself in the newspaper business, and what was the Chicago School of journalism?
Gorbach: He was introduced to the business through his uncle and quickly took to the work. I think it’s too simplistic to just dismiss Hecht as a cynic, though he was certainly influenced by the hardboiled attitude of other newshounds in his early days chasing stories. Reporters would do anything for a story and, given the fierce competition for scoops, would concoct more than a few. But Hecht’s cynical style ultimately reflected a strain of Romanticism. It was a dark view common among those who came of age during the Great War, the so-called Lost Generation. Like many who lived through the carnage of those years, Hecht developed a grim view of human nature and he looked back at the liberal Enlightenment-era optimism about mankind as naïve.
Q. How was he later influenced by the intellectuals, poets, writers he met in New York? Was The Front Page his breakthrough?
Gorbach: He came into himself as a dramatist in New York. In the 1920s one way to prove yourself was to write a blockbuster novel. Another way was to have a hit on Broadway, which is what Hecht and other friends of the Algonquin Roundtable crowd did. But New York was publicity-oriented, and Hecht found the city more superficial than Chicago. He famously said that he and his friends “were fools to have left Chicago,” but he knew most Midwest writers had to go to New York for their careers. The Front Page was a huge hit and made him famous. At about the same time, his 1927 movie Underworld launched the gangster movie craze, and he won Best Original Story for it at the first Academy Awards in 1929.
Q. How did Hecht get to Hollywood?
Gorbach: Hecht’s first hit movie was silent. When the talkies came in, writers were in demand. There’s the famous story about the telegram he received from Herman Mankiewicz, who said there were “millions to be grabbed out here, and the only competition is idiots. Don’t let this get around.” For writers, Hollywood was almost too good to be true.
Q. What happened to Hecht’s artistic ambitions and political ideals in Hollywood?
Gorbach: He once said: “We didn’t write movies. We shouted them into existence.” This wasn’t so far off. The writer’s room was a kind of clubhouse, especially since so many of Hecht’s friends from New York also came to Hollywood. He did feel compromised as a writer in Hollywood, so why did he keep at it? The truth is that Hecht was polyamorous—a skirt-chaser. He liked women and ran around with many. His playboy lifestyle ended up getting a bit out of hand, and reached a point where he had a lot of work to do just to make ends meet, keeping up his lavish life with his wife and his affairs. He wrote some great movies but also doctored scripts, doing many uncredited, piecemeal jobs under the table. His time was not spent on novels, which back then, especially, was considered the only real measure of great writers. And he did reach a breaking point, when his personal crises with his marriage and career and the global situation with Hitler all kind of came together at the same time.
Q. How was Hecht prescient about the Final Solution?
Gorbach: Hecht wrote “The Little Candle,” a short story, after Kristallnacht occurred in 1938. No one took from the event that there would be a genocide. That was beyond the imagination, or as the historian Deborah Lipstadt put it in the title of a book, Beyond Belief. But Hecht’s short story vividly describes the Holocaust. Critics said it was a powerful story but Hecht had an insane idea—that the Germans would actually kill a half million Jews.
Q. How did Pauline Kael establish Hecht as a screenwriting legend?
Gorbach: That emerged because of her debate with Andrew Sarris. The 1960s Sarris/Kael debate made film a serious art form for critical consideration. A major question was who is the true author of a film, the “auteur” or the writer? Kael said it was the screenwriter and pointed to Hecht’s groundbreaking contributions, saying artists like him made the movies great.
Q. How might Hecht be reassessed as a writer with a political legacy?
Gorbach: He remains a politically controversial figure, but his significance is his message, which remains especially important now, in the days of the Trump administration. All of Hecht’s work as a writer and an activist is shot through with his concerns about the “soul of man,” which is so fundamental to all the questions we face today about democracy. If we want to remain liberal and democratic, we have to remember what liberalism and democracy are about. We rely on people to be good, but why does the United States also tilt the playing field, for example, by favoring rural people over urban people with our Electoral College and Senate systems? What are the implications for democracy if people don’t turn out to be as good as we expect them to be, or aren’t as good in the ways we expect them to be? What are the implications of our darker nature, our tribalism for example, for our free press and our social media? What are the implications for our ideas of rights, like the Second Amendment, or for our treatment of immigrants and people of different backgrounds? Are we reckoning with the dark side of human nature realistically in our foreign policy, in the way we talk about questions of war and peace? What does our treatment of the environment, and other species, tell us of our nature? These questions are still wide open, and in Hecht’s day, there was more room for error about them. With nuclear weapons, climate change, and the other issues that we confront now, the stakes have gotten much higher.
Q. Do you feel a revival is due of his works in a play or movie festival? How might The Notorious Ben Hecht introduce new audiences to a writer in some ways ahead of his time?
Gorbach: This is in a way three books rolled into one. It tells the story of his Jewish activism, and the implications of that story for Israel, America and Jews everywhere today. It’s the story of a great writer who has never been properly understood or appreciated. And finally, it’s the story of “a child of the century,” a kind of wild tour through all these worlds of the last 100 years—Capone’s Chicago, New York in the ‘20s, Hollywood, World War II, etc. But altogether this is just one big story of an extraordinary life, with an appropriately dramatic arc and ending. I think when people read the story and learn who he is, they’ll appreciate him. But they’ll also understand and appreciate the message that he has for us today. In this book, you can hear him speaking to us, now.
The Notorious Ben Hecht is now available. Check out a free preview of the book.
Get 30% off when you order directly from the Purdue University Press website and enter the code “PURDUE30” at checkout.
Filed under: UncategorizedMarch 21st, 2019
Courtesy of Purdue Today
Purdue University recognized Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies Assistant Professor Heather Howard’s contributions to student learning by honoring her with the Exceptional Early Career Award Tuesday, March 19. Howard was surprised with the news while she was teaching a class in the Wilmeth Active Learning Center.
The Exceptional Early Career Award recognizes outstanding undergraduate teaching among Purdue’s early career, tenure-track faculty. Recipients of the award will receive a $5,000 award with additional funds for a department business account.
Howard is among faculty in other departments being awarded this spring. For more information, visit the original piece in Purdue Today at www.purdue.edu/newsroom/purduetoday/releases/2019/Q1/howard,-harwood-honored-with-university-teaching-awards.html.
Filed under: Faculty E-Newsletter, faculty_staff, general, Uncategorized
March 20th, 2019
Visiting Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at the University of the Pacific Elham (Ellie) Sayyad Abdi will present “Immigrants: An Information Literacy Framework” at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 23 in Stewart Center, room 320, during her visit to Purdue University. The talk is open free to the public and is sponsored by the Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies.
Abdi’s research focuses on uncovering the ways in which different populations conceptualize and engage with information. Her presentation will cover her Australian Research Council-funded study, which explores immigrants’ experiences with information and information literacy to enable them to learn the structure of the new environment, make informed choices, and become active and empowered participants of a new society.
Currently, Abdi is the Australian Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at the University of the Pacific, California. She is an information researcher and working to pioneer the concept of information experience design (IXD), which is about designing and developing interventions for everyday life based on how people engage with information. Her research specifically examines the information experience among immigrant communities.
From 2014–18, Abdi served as an assistant professor in the School of Information Systems at Queensland University of Technology, Australia.
Abdi is a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), chairs the LIS Education in Developing Countries Special Interest Group at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), regularly serves as a reviewer for various information journals, and serves on the program committees of various information conferences.
For more information about this event, contact Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies Associate Professor Clarence Maybee at cmaybee@purdue.edu.
Filed under: faculty_staff, general, press_releaseMarch 18th, 2019
Courtesy of Purdue News Service
The public will have a chance to get a closer glimpse into Purdue alumnus Neil Armstrong’s life through an exhibit presented by Purdue Archives and Special Collections.
The free, public exhibition, “Apollo in the Archives: Selections from the Neil A. Armstrong Papers,” runs through Saturday, Oct. 12 in the Purdue Archives and Special Collections. It is located in Stewart Center inside the Humanities, Social Sciences and Education (HSSE) Library on the fourth floor of the library. The general exhibit hours are 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. On Saturday, Oct. 12, in celebration of Purdue University’s 2019 Homecoming, the exhibit will be open 8-11 a.m.
The exhibit commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight that landed on the moon – where 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.
“Neil wanted his collections to be used for both scholarship and research at his alma mater,” said Tracy Grimm, associate head of Purdue Archives and Special Collections and the Barron Hilton Archivist for Flight and Space Exploration, and curator of the exhibition. “Students and researchers have the unique opportunity to have a behind-the-scenes look at Neil’s life and legacy when they conduct research using Neil’s personal papers. This exhibition offers the public an opportunity to get to know Armstrong and the steps leading up to the Apollo 11 mission through access to Armstrong’s papers.”
The exhibition charts Armstrong’s experiences leading up to Apollo 11 mission, including training and coursework, planning for how and where to land on the moon, the success of the mission itself, and the impact it had on society. The following 11 items represent a portion of the items the public can expect to see on display at “Apollo in the Archives”:
In addition to the “Apollo in the Archives,” Purdue’s Ringel Gallery, in partnership with Archives and Special Collections, will present the exhibition “Return to Entry,” which will feature artwork inspired by Armstrong’s archival collection, March 25 to May 11, in the Ringel Gallery, Stewart Center. A reception and a panel discussion will be held at 5:30 on April 4.
For this exhibition, the artists’ challenge was to bring art, engineering, and science together to imagine new horizons informed by archival documents and artifacts contained in the Armstrong Papers and the papers of other astronauts and engineers. This exhibition will feature work by Frances Gallardo, Michael Oatman, and Jennifer Scheuer, who will be part of the panel discussion on April 4.
These exhibitions are one of many events celebrating Purdue’s Sesquicentennial, 150 Years of Giant Leaps. The yearlong celebration is highlighting Purdue’s remarkable history of giant leaps, while focusing on what giant leaps Purdue can take to address the world’s problems. The celebration concludes in October with an astronaut reunion.
Filed under: general, SPEC