Grand Challenges Research Teams Announced in Mellon Grant

February 10th, 2017

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded $1.4M to date to support a unique approach to global grand challenges research, scholarly publishing and communication at Purdue.Purdue Scholarly Publishing, a division of Purdue Libraries, and the Purdue Policy Research Institute have announced the final proposals selected for funding under the grant “Breaking Through: Developing Multidisciplinary Solutions to Global Grand Challenges.”

Four proposals have been selected for funding, which was made possible through a project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The four projects are as follows:

• Big Data Ethics Detecting Bias in Data Collection, Algorithmic Discrimination and “Informed Refusal”: Led by Chris Clifton, professor of computer science, this research team is addressing grand challenges through a multidisciplinary study of the ethical issues involved in the use of big data and predictive algorithms to make decisions affecting individuals.
• From Global to Local to Global: Attaining Long Run Sustainability in U.S. Agriculture: Led by Thomas Hertel, Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Economics, this research team is leveraging existing knowledge, models and data to understand and communicate the interplay between global change and local sustainability of U.S. agriculture in the context of alternative national, state and local policies affecting agricultural productivity and environmental quality.
• Global Temperature Goals to Avoid Climate Tipping Points: A Serious Game to Support Serious Decisions: Led by Manjana Milkoreit, assistant professor of political science, this research team is engaging in a first-of-its-kind project that merges a creative knowledge co-production process between scientists and decision makers on urgent questions in global climate change governance and a scientific assessment of the effectiveness of this science-policy interaction.
• Decision Support for Flood Risk Mitigation: Automated Data Collection and Visualization Tools: Led by David R. Johnson, assistant professor of industrial engineering and political science, this research team is developing automated data collection tools and interactive decision support systems to tackle the grand challenge of increasing coastal flood risks and address the need for better risk communication.

This three-year program enables multidisciplinary teams to tackle grand challenges in new ways. It also embeds policy experts, publishing professionals, and libraries faculty in the scholarly research and communication process, in order to provide researchers with expert assistance in communicating results directly to the public and key stakeholders.

The Scholarly Publishing Division of the Purdue University Libraries, the Purdue Policy Research Institute in Discovery Park, the College of Liberal Arts and the Purdue Systems Collaboratory are partners on the grant.

Peter Froehlich, director of Purdue Scholarly Publishing, and Laurel Weldon, director of the Purdue Policy Research Institute, are principal investigators.

Both lead PIs are pleased with the outcome of the competition, which was intense.

“So many excellent proposals were submitted in response to our call for proposals, it ended up being a difficult choice. The four proposals selected are outstanding, and we are excited to be able to launch these innovative, interdisciplinary projects,” Weldon says.

Froehlich also highlighted the unique aspects of the program, including the integration of communication planning — how key stakeholders will receive results — from the onset of each project.

“Getting actionable new information to stakeholders sooner, in the most well-targeted, intelligible, digestible and sharable manner possible, will allow us to better impact the challenges we face,” he says. “We’re thrilled to be working with top researchers on this innovative approach to scholarly communications.”

For more information, visit grandchallenges.lib.purdue.edu/index.php.

Researchers and media can direct questions to Froehlich and Weldon at humstem@purdue.edu.

Purdue Alum to Present Feminist Data Structures, Data Literacy Talk Feb. 23

February 8th, 2017

As the first installment of the 2017 Library Seminar series, Purdue University Libraries will host Purdue alumna Dr. Christine Masters Thursday, Feb. 23, for her talk, “Feminist Data Structures and Data Literacy.” Masters, who earned her Ph.D. in English rhetoric and composition from Purdue, will present her lecture from noon-1 p.m. (Feb. 23) in the SWAIM Instruction Center, located on the fourth floor of the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education (HSSE) Library (in Stewart Center).

Masters—whose dissertation is titled “Encounters Beyond the Interface: Data Structures, Material Feminisms, and Composition”—published the article “Women’s Ways of Structuring Data” in the November 2015 issue of Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology.

“Just as infrastructures are often invisible, women’s roles within them traditionally have been rendered even more invisible. Whether or not it has been articulated with this particular vocabulary, a goal of feminism has been to make visible our ubiquitous cultural, political, social, and economic infrastructures and the roles of women within them. While infrastructures are usually transparent, the structures within them—including collections of data—can be more consciously designed from feminist perspectives,” Masters explained. “My talk will examine some of the rhetorical and cultural issues surrounding data literacy—a key term that I define as an understanding of how collections of data are compositions that involve rhetorical choices to include or exclude certain criteria. Especially in university settings, we need to understand how data literacy fits into the larger project of information literacy. Students should be encouraged to think about databases and data sets as culturally situated compositions that can either support or work against social justice issues. To this end, I propose ways that educators and information specialists can use rhetorical frameworks to encourage critical analysis of data resources.”

Masters is an assistant professor of English at Francis Marion University, and she coordinates the professional writing program there. She earned her B.A. in English from the University of Washington and her M.A. from Western Illinois University.

WALC Sign in Place

February 1st, 2017

It’s a sign… that the new Thomas S. and Harvey D. Wilmeth Active Learning Center (WALC) will open in 2017!

Located in the heart of campus, the WALC (when it opens later this year) will serve as a central location for classroom and library space. The 164,000-square-foot facility houses 27 classrooms designed for active learning. Library study and collaborative spaces are interspersed with the classrooms throughout the building. The WALC will be open 24/7 (with some exceptions during the year), and the design of structure creates highly efficient use of university space.

The building will combine six disciplinary libraries (Chemistry; Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences; Engineering; Life Sciences; Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences; and Physics) in the Engineering and Science Library. In planning for the WALC, Libraries faculty and staff consulted learning design expertise, based on the creation and success of current active learning classrooms.

In addition, an Au Bon Pain café and bakery will provide food services on the first floor and will open onto the patio adjacent to the building.

Learn more about the innovative vision for the WALC – “a learning commons for the 21st century” and the first of its kind in higher education – at www.lib.purdue.edu/walc.

You Could Win $1K! “Why I Love Purdue Libraries” Video Contest Deadline Feb. 1

January 26th, 2017

Why do you love Purdue Libraries? Show us in a 1-3 min. video and you could win $1,000. Prizes for second and third place are $750 and $500, respectively.

The deadline is coming fast! Enter your video on or before Feb. 1 for a chance to win.

Complete rules and guidelines available at www.lib.purdue.edu/videocontest.

Below are winners from previous years…

2015

First Place

Second Place

Third Place

2014

First Place

Second Place

Third Place

Open Access Advocate to Speak at Purdue University Libraries Jan. 26

January 20th, 2017

“Open Access is the free, immediate, online availability of research articles coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment. Open Access ensures that anyone can access and use these results—to turn ideas into industries and breakthroughs into better lives.” — Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)

Long-time Open Access Advocate Ada Emmett will discuss the challenges and opportunities in scholarly communications and Open Access at Purdue University Libraries from 2-3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26 in the Stewart Center, room 313. The event is open free to the public.

In her presentation, Emmett — who currently serves as the head of the University of Kansas Libraries’ Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication & Copyright — will talk about the opportunities (on both the national and international scenes), advances made, and the current challenges in Open Access and scholarly communications

Emmett currently serves on the steering committee for SPARC.

“Maps and the Human Experience” Now Open in Archives and Special Collections

January 19th, 2017

Located in the Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center (fourth floor of the Humanities, Social Science and Education [HSSE] Library in Stewart Center), the exhibit features maps, books, documents, and artifacts.

Featured in the exhibit are maps that progress from days of “looking down,” with traditional aerial maps; “looking out,” with the expansion of exploration and technology (such as railroads and canals); and “looking up,” with star charts, flight plans, and lunar maps.

Surveying tools, cloth maps used by a World War II pilot, and map pins used by Lillian Gilbreth, the first female engineering professor at Purdue University, are also included in the exhibit.

For more information, contact Adriana Harmeyer at 765-494-2263.

Purdue University Press Book Previews

January 18th, 2017

Purdue University Press Book Previews is a new initiative from the Purdue University Libraries Scholarly Publishing Division and their open access text repository, Purdue e-Pubs. PUP Book Previews, created from the first proofs of the book to include several pieces of the front matter and first chapter, will provide an early look at forthcoming books.

To begin this new initiative, PUP has posted previews of books from very late 2016 and forthcoming books for early 2017. New books will be added monthly to coincide with the 25 new books published by Purdue University Press annually.

The first five previews posted are:

The Writers, Artists, Singers, and Musicians of the National Hungarian Jewish Cultural Association (OMIKE), 1939 – 1944 by Frederick Bondy

From Shtetl to Stardom: Jews and Hollywood by Vincent Brook and Michael Renov

Leaders of the Pack: Women and the Future of Veterinary Medicine by Julie Kumble and Donald F. Smith

Advances in Research Using the C-SPAN Archives by Robert X. Browning

Mishpachah: The Jewish Family in Tradition and in Transition by Leonard J. Greenspoon

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with new previews and information from Purdue University Press.

Purdue University Press Book Previews

January 18th, 2017

Purdue University Press Book Previews is a new initiative from the Purdue University Libraries Scholarly Publishing Division and their open access text repository, Purdue e-Pubs. PUP Book Previews, created from the first proofs of the book to include several pieces of the front matter and first chapter, will provide an early look at forthcoming books.

To begin this new initiative, PUP has posted previews of books from very late 2016 and forthcoming books for early 2017. New books will be added monthly to coincide with the 25 new books published by Purdue University Press annually.

The first five previews posted are:

The Writers, Artists, Singers, and Musicians of the National Hungarian Jewish Cultural Association (OMIKE), 1939 – 1944 by Frederick Bondy

From Shtetl to Stardom: Jews and Hollywood by Vincent Brook and Michael Renov

Leaders of the Pack: Women and the Future of Veterinary Medicine by Julie Kumble and Donald F. Smith

Advances in Research Using the C-SPAN Archives by Robert X. Browning

Mishpachah: The Jewish Family in Tradition and in Transition by Leonard J. Greenspoon

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with new previews and information from Purdue University Press.

New Year’s Reading Resolution

January 9th, 2017

Happy New Year!  It’s officially 2017! The new year is a new beginning, a fresh start. It is all about resolutions, change, and challenging yourself. Kick off this year and make it your resolution to become a more avid reader.

You can do this by reading an array of books, books by the same author, or even by completing a reading challenge. Purdue Press is here to help, below are ideas to get you started accompanied with some of our published books.

Reading Ideas

• Read a biography/autobiography.
  • Check out “Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom” by George Leopold
  • “Spacewalker: My Journey in Space and Faith as NASA’s Record-Setting Frequent Flyer” by Jerry Ross and John Norberg
• Read a historical book.
  • “From Shtetl to Stardom: Jews and Hollywood” by Vincent Brook and Michael Renov
  • “Twenty Years with the Jewish Labor Bund: A Memoir of Interwar Poland” by Bernard Goldstein, Translated by Marvin Zuckerman
• Read a book on an unfamiliar subject.
  • “Re-Visioning Terrorism: A Humanistic Perspective” by Elena Coda and Ben Lawton
  • “Creating Moments of Joy Along the Alzheimer’s Journey: A Guide for Families and Caregivers, Fifth Edition, Revised and Expanded“ by Jolene Brackey
• Read a book about the state of Indiana.
  • “A Place Called Turkey Run: A Celebration of Indiana’s Second State Park in Photographs and Words“ by Daniel P. Shepardson
  • “Enriching the Hoosier Farm Family: A Photo History of Indiana’s Early County Extension Agents” by Frederick Whitford, Neal Harmeyer, and David Hovde

More Ideas for Books to Read

Reread a book from your childhood.
Read a book from a new genre.
Read a book that became a film.
Read a previously banned book.
Read a book by your favorite author.

Purdue University Press publishes in a variety of areas to help you tackle your 2017 New Year’s Reading Resolution: aerospace, agriculture, animal science, Purdue and Indiana, and more. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to discover what’s to come in 2017! #PurdueUP #ReadUP

Purdue & Indiana’s Community: University Press Week 2016

November 17th, 2016

It’s University Press Week 2016 and this year’s theme is community. University presses have long supported all communities whether they’re local, intellectual, or cultural. Purdue University Press continues to celebrate Indiana’s community with our books and projects featuring hidden stories of Hoosier heroes, Purdue traditions, and Indiana history.

We have decided to highlight books that represent the Purdue and Indiana community in our blog along with our favorite places to read them, for University Press week. It’s a treasure trove of the striking Indiana landscapes, university traditions, and biographies of famous alumni including Official Endorsed Bicentennial Projects celebrating Indiana’s rich heritage.

Read: A Place Called Turkey Run: A Celebration of Indiana’s Second State Park in Photographs and Words by Daniel P. Shepardson — Official Endorsed Legacy Project
Where: The horticulture garden near Pao Hall.

Read: Enriching the Hoosier Farm Family: A Photo History of Indiana’s Early County Extension Agents by Fredrick Whitford, Neal Harmeyer and David Hovde — Official Endorsed Legacy Project
Where: The Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center where you can read and also explore more Indiana and Purdue history.

Read: Slow Ball Cartoonist: The Extraordinary Life of Indiana Native and Pulitzer Prize Winner John T. McCutcheon of the Chicago Tribune by Tony Garel-Frantzen — Official Endorsed Legacy Project
Where: Enjoy a refreshing cup of coffee and calming atmosphere at a local coffeehouse.

Read: Spacewalker: My Journey in Space and Faith as NASA’s Record-Setting Frequent Flyer by Jerry Ross and John Norberg
Where: Take a break near Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering.

Read: Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom by George Leopold — Official Endorsed Legacy Project
Where: Relax on a bench near the Class of 1939 Water Sculpture on Purdue Mall.

Read: The Deans’ Bible: Five Purdue Women and Their Quest for Equality by Angie Klink
Where:  Curl up by the fireplace in the Purdue Memorial Union on a chilly day.

Read: A University of Tradition: The Spirit of Purdue Second Edition compiled by the Purdue Reamer Club
Where: At Reflection Park next to the Bell Tower.

Read: Just Call me Orville: The Story of Orville Redenbacher by Robert W. Topping
Where: At Hicks Undergraduate Library in the study spaces.

As the holiday seasons begins find all the titles above and many more that represent several forms of community in our Winter Gift Catalog. Purdue University Press will continue to support community. Find out more on current and upcoming projects by following us on Facebook and Twitter and signing up for our Newsletter.