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January 23rd, 2025
On January 14, a reception was held to celebrate former Dean Beth McNeil’s professional accomplishments and honor the relationships she built, the lives and careers she touched, and the legacy she leaves behind as she enters the next phase of her career.
Beth served as dean of Purdue Libraries for 5 ½ years. She first came to Purdue Libraries in 2007, serving as associate dean for information resources and scholarly communication, and became associate dean for academic affairs in 2009. She remained at Purdue for eight years, leaving in 2015 to become dean of library services and professor at Iowa State University. In 2019, Beth returned as dean of Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies and Esther Ellis Norton Professor of Library Science.
Throughout her tenure, Beth has led the Libraries to many accomplishments, including the launch of the 2022–2025 strategic plan, the formation of the new Information Studies minor, the expansion of Open Access opportunities for Purdue faculty and researchers, and the renovations of campus libraries. Her commitment to Purdue students will remain evident in library spaces that provide them with flexible study spaces, and the ongoing curriculum development to meet their academic needs.
Reception recap
Mark Puente, associate dean for organizational development, and Rebecca Richardson, associate dean for collections and access, began with opening remarks. Two of McNeil’s former colleagues submitted their remarks to be read in place of their absences: Scott Brandt, Libraries professor emeritus, and Jim Mullins, dean of Libraries emeritus and Esther Ellis Norton professor emeritus. Five additional speakers followed to commemorate and speak of Beth’s accomplishments, character, and friendship:
“She’s been an incredible advocate and mentor for faculty and staff. She encourages folks to take risks, embrace opportunities, and strive to be the best you can be while always keeping in mind that a work-life balance is important, too,” said Ferullo.
“There’s a lot that’s been said about her leadership, but to me, that’s the most impressive, “said Akridge. “She led with intelligence, passion, grace, and good humor.”
Beth has consistently led with integrity, vision, and care for everyone around her. Under Beth’s leadership, Libraries has experienced tremendous growth, innovation, and an enduring sense of belonging and purpose within the Purdue community.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsJanuary 8th, 2025
Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies and The Eleventh House coffee shop is proud to partner with Corey Ewing, Indiana visual artist, to bring an exciting poetry slam and workshop opportunity to the Lafayette area. We invite all members of the community to apply to be a part of a cohort of 20 people who will participate in the workshops and final poetry slam event!
Ewing will offer two poetry slam workshops and a community-wide poetry slam where participants will perform their poetry created in the workshops. Participants will also receive instruction on how to use the equipment in the letterpress studio in the John Martinson Honors College at Purdue (the PrintBay), so they can design and print a publication that showcases their work.
The workshop involves two sessions on March 6 and 7, 4:00–6:00 PM at The Eleventh House, 116 N. 3rd St., Lafayette, IN; the poetry slam will be held on Wednesday, April 16, 4:00–6:00 PM at The Eleventh House as well. If you would like to be considered as a participant for this event, please fill out this form by midnight on Monday, February 3.
Workshops
Dates: March 6 and 7, 2025
Time: 4:00–6:00 PM
Location: The Eleventh House
Poetry slam
Date: April 16, 2025
Time: 4:00–6:00 PM
Location: The Eleventh House
About the artist
Corey Ewing is a native of Indianapolis, IN and supports various poetic projects, including Indianapolis Poetry Slam, Word As Bond, Fighting Words Poetry, Cafe Creative and curates Vocab. Currently an artist at work with the Kheprw Institute, Ewing continues to teach, coach, and create as an interdisciplinary artist focusing on poetry and photography in Indy. Learn more about his work here.
January 7th, 2025
As part of its ongoing efforts to improve campus spaces and better serve students, Purdue Libraries has successfully relocated a significant portion of its collection to a new off-campus repository. This move, which took place throughout 2023 and 2024, helped to create more student-focused spaces within the HSSE Library in Stewart Center, freeing up room for additional seating and study areas.
The relocation process has been managed by Hallett Movers, a professional library moving company. The bulk of the move was completed in February 2024, and as of December 2024, over 70% of the relocated collection is now discoverable, a significant increase from the 52% available in August. This steady progress ensures that more materials are becoming accessible to patrons each day.
RaeLynn Boes, print collections manager, said “The biggest improvement was getting out of a basement that had leaks and no longer having to fight humidity. We had leaks from things like restrooms and when a pipe burst on Mitch Daniels Blvd., and we were constantly worrying about these materials being damaged.”
About the repository
The relocated materials are now housed at a new facility located at 2550 Northwestern Ave., in the former State Farm Insurance building. With nearly one million items now stored off-campus, this transition marks a major shift in how Purdue Libraries manages its collections. The majority of the materials that were transferred came from the HIKS and Archives repositories, as well as from the HSSE Library in Stewart Center itself.
In the new facility, Purdue Libraries has implemented a unique organizational system that departs from the traditional library classification methods. Instead of using call numbers and location codes, materials are organized by individual row numbers on shelves. While this approach may seem different from what students and faculty are accustomed to on campus, each item retains its original shelf number, ensuring a straightforward transition when retrieving materials.
How to access materials
Despite the materials now being housed off-campus, accessing books and other resources has not become more difficult for patrons. Purdue Libraries Facilities (PLF) makes two trips each day between the campus and the off-campus repository to retrieve requested items, which are then made available for pickup at the patron’s chosen library. More than 1,300 items were requested during the Fall 2024 semester, highlighting the continued demand for these resources.
Looking ahead
While the transition to the new facility is ongoing, the changes have already had a positive impact on the HSSE Library in Stewart Center’s environment. With more room for student study areas and collaborative spaces, the library continues to evolve to meet the needs of Purdue’s academic community.
For more information and instructions on how to request materials, please visit the Purdue Libraries borrowing website.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsDecember 20th, 2024
Effective January 2025, Dr. Beth McNeil is stepping away from her position as dean of Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies. She will begin a sabbatical and return in January 2026 to Libraries faculty.
Beth’s tenure
Beth has served as dean of Purdue Libraries for 5 ½ years. She first came to Purdue Libraries in 2007, serving as associate dean for information resources and scholarly communication, and became associate dean for academic affairs in 2009. She remained at Purdue for eight years, leaving in 2015 to become dean of library services and professor at Iowa State University. In 2019, Beth returned as dean of Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies and Esther Ellis Norton Professor of Library Science..
Throughout her tenure, Beth has led the Libraries to many accomplishments, including the launch of the 2022-2025 strategic plan, the formation of the new Information Studies minor, expanding Open Access opportunities for Purdue faculty and researchers, and the renovations in campus libraries. Her commitment to Purdue students will remain evident in library spaces that provide them with flexible study spaces, and the ongoing development of a curriculum to meet their academic needs.
Beth’s impact extended beyond Purdue’s campus; she served on the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) Steering Committee (2020–22) and remains a member of the Academic Libraries of Indiana (ALI) board. She is a past board member of the HathiTrust, the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA), Western Regional Storage Trust (WEST), the Rosemont Shared Print Alliance, and served as chair of the 2021 ACRL National Conference, “Ascending into an Open Future.” She serves on several BTAA Center for Library Programs committees, including as vice chair for the Executive Committee during 2024. She was elected to the Midwest Center for Library Services (MCLS) board in 2024. Additionally, Beth served as president-elect (July 2022–23), and president (July 2023–24), and is serving now as past president (2024-2025) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).
Joanne Troutner, chair of the Purdue Libraries Dean’s Advisory Council, reflects, “I have had the privilege of witnessing Dean McNeil’s steadfast support for staff and her ability to highlight the remarkable projects and achievements of the Purdue Libraries team. She has successfully steered the Information Studies minor through the rigorous approval process, further broadening academic opportunities for Purdue students. It has been both an honor and a pleasure to work alongside Beth and her vision, professionalism, and dedication.”
Willie Reed, dean emeritus of the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine and professor of comparative pathobiology, notes, “It has been an honor and privilege to work with Dean McNeil. She is a consummate professional who tirelessly worked to support Purdue faculty and students. Her efforts to enhance the learning environment for students will be impactful for many years to come. In the face of many obstacles, Dean McNeil never wavered in support of her team. She was a strong partner with the College of Veterinary Medicine and fully understood the unique needs of professional students. I am forever grateful for her support and friendship and will miss my interactions with her.”
During her sabbatical, Beth plans to work on editing a book on library leadership from a global perspective and write a 4th edition of “Fundamentals of Library Supervision.”
Interim leadership
Vice provost for faculty affairs Sunil Prabhakar will serve as interim leader of Purdue Libraries. Professor Prabhakar served as head of the Department of Computer Science during its time as a Purdue Move and was the inaugural director of Purdue’s Integrative Data Science Initiative (2019–20). Sunil’s interests and expertise in data, data science, and data literacy proved indispensable in his prior service on the search advisory committee that brought Dean McNeil back to Purdue.
The search for a new leader will commence in due course, and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate this transition.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsDecember 18th, 2024
As of July 2024, UBorrow has been replaced with a new system for sharing materials that will happen seamlessly for requests submitted to interlibrary loan, where all incoming requests are now searched automatically against other Big Ten libraries’ catalogs. Purdue Libraries continues to prioritize libraries that lend materials for the longest period of time and requests will be filled as quickly as possible.
Purdue’s resource sharing agreement offers:
Reciprocal borrowing is the ability for Purdue users to borrow materials from BTAA libraries as though they were members of those libraries’ communities both in-person and online. Purdue’s commitment to its BTAA resource-sharing agreements includes several important priorities:
In summary, this shift represents a step forward in how Purdue Libraries supports resource sharing. As Libraries continues to strengthen its partnerships with BTAA libraries, users can expect even greater access to academic materials in the future.
For more information on how to use this service, visit the Purdue Libraries answers website or view the BTAA’s announcement.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsDecember 16th, 2024
In honor of Black History Month, Purdue Libraries and the Black Cultural Center invites you to attend a lecture by Sheryll Cashin titled, “Residential caste: How West Lafayette can transcend segregation and opportunity hoarding” on Wednesday, February 19, 10:30–11:30 AM in STEW 202.
About the lecture
How does a community with a history of segregation and disenfranchisement move forward to heal, repair, and transform?
West Lafayette is not different from other cities where Black migrants landed. As a professor of law at Georgetown University, Cashin has experience applying her theories to the particulars of multiple communities, with examples of hope, transformation, and repair from other cities. Repair requires building a multiracial coalition that supports policies that include and lift up vulnerable people. Dismantling and repairing residential caste requires perfecting local mulitracial democracy, or what W. E. B. DuBois called abolition democracy.
About Sheryll Cashin
Author of works centered around race relations and inequality in America, Sheryll Cashin is a professor of law at Georgetown University. Her latest book “White Space, Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding and Segregation in the Age of Inequality” published in September 2021 shows how the government created “ghettos” and affluent white space and entrenched a system of American residential caste that is the linchpin of U.S. inequality, while issuing a call for abolition.
Cashin is an active member of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council; worked in the Clinton White House as an advisor on urban and economic policy, particularly concerning community development in inner-city neighborhoods; and served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. She was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, where her parents were political activists, and currently resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two sons.
View her website to learn more about Cashin and her work.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsDecember 12th, 2024
Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies collaborates with instructors to locate affordable course materials to support student success. During the fall 2024 semester, Purdue Libraries saved students over $930,000 in textbook fees by acquiring required course materials for Libraries’ electronic collection, including over $36,000 in savings for more than 470 students at Purdue Indianapolis.
The cost of course textbooks can place a significant financial burden on college students and impede their academic opportunities. According to the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, “65 percent of students reported skipping buying assigned course material—a textbook, an access code, or both—during their time at school because of its cost.” Libraries provides access to a wide range of library-licensed materials, including over 800 new ebooks and streaming videos since July 2022. These materials are accessible via the Brightspace integrated electronic reading list, Leganto, where students can readily find and read them in the context of other course assignments and activities.
Affordable course materials website launched
To help instructors create more equitable learning environments, Purdue Libraries launched an affordable course materials website. This resource offers guidance and tools for instructors on how to integrate affordable materials into Purdue courses.
For more information about affordable learning materials or to schedule a consultation with a librarian, please contact Emily Little, open education and affordable content librarian.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsDecember 10th, 2024
2024 Eli Lilly Case Competition winners announced
The Eli Lilly Case Competition is a longstanding component of the Intro to Management and Information Strategies course (MGMT 110) and is organized in collaboration with Libraries assistant professors Zoe Mayhook and Annette Bochenek, Eli Lilly and Company, and the Larsen Leaders Academy Executive Board.
In MGMT 110, students focus on the development of their academic and professional goals, while building and sharpening their information-gathering skills, by developing systematic methods for finding, evaluating, and presenting information. The Larsen Leaders Academy offers high-achieving business students a community of like-minded peers and professionals dedicated to fostering their natural aptitudes and encouraging their success.
The case competition presents a complex pharmaceutical investment case that requires students to conduct comprehensive business research, including analyzing company financials, evaluating patents and regulatory environments, assessing scientific risks, and examining industry and competitive landscapes and market and consumer profiles. It includes two rounds: an initial virtual presentation round, followed by an in-person, final round for the top six teams. This year, 16 teams competed, six advanced to the final round, and three teams earned top placements. The teams that earned top placements include:
1st Place:
2nd Place:
3rd Place:
As a member of the 3rd place team, Sara Negishi reflected on her experience and said, “Participating in the Eli Lilly case competition pushed me to become a well-rounded researcher by challenging us to analyze five key metrics (scientific risk, legal risk, competitive profile, market size, and financial profile), each requiring its own, unique research strategy. For example, my team studied clinical trial data for scientific risk and evaluated similar drugs, analyzing their efficacy and safety to assess competitive profile.”
Information literacy is a key component of this case competition. Very little data or information is provided, and students must fill in the gaps with research and informed assumptions. This requires students to spend time locating different types of business information, synthesizing and analyzing their findings, and using that information to make evidence-based decisions and recommendations.
Also reflecting on his experience participating in the competition, MGMT 110 student Gregory Kotsiviras said, “By participating in the Lilly Case Competition, I developed a strong repertoire of research skills and applied critical thinking to develop strategic solutions. Moving forward, I intend to leverage the valuable insights I gained to inform my approach to future case competitions.”
A special thank you to Yana Petrova, Katarina Nikolovski, Preston Holb, Bailey Harris, Maggie Viewegh, and Brynna Walthers at Eli Lilly and Company for their contributions to this event. We are proud of all students who participated, and congratulations to the three teams who earned top placements. Well done!
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsDecember 6th, 2024
Purdue Libraries, as a result of its membership in the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA), has partnered with Google to digitize books in its collection that are rare, out of print, and generally unavailable and are no longer needed in print at its facilities. Google aims to digitize these books from libraries across the world and make them searchable on Google Books to promote accessibility and advance the knowledge of users worldwide.
In September 2021, Libraries began the process of sending books to Google in test shipments to solidify logistics and project workflow. The project officially began in March 2022, and Libraries selected and sent over 40,000 books to Google to be digitized until October 2023. The project was then paused to categorize and move books to Libraries’ repository, and will restart in May 2025.
More about the project
The Google Library Project makes it possible for users to search through millions of books written in different languages via Google Books. If a book from the Library Project is in the public domain, Google will make it fully available to the public to read in its entirety. If a book is not in the public domain, the book will still be text-searchable, but Google Books will only display a few lines of text to show the user where their search appears within the context of the book.
Sometimes rights holders of copyrighted books grant permission to show more than a few lines of text; in those cases, a percentage of pages from the book or the entire book may be available for viewing. Also, if a book exists but has yet to be digitized, basic bibliographic information about the book will be available for users to view.
Google works with a number of libraries throughout the world to digitize their collections—once digitized, the libraries also receive a copy to preserve and make available to their patrons as copyright law allows. To learn more about the Google Library Project, visit its website.
December 5th, 2024
On December 3, Purdue Libraries celebrated the contributions of its faculty and staff at the annual Libraries staff recognition event held in Stewart Center. This long-standing tradition honors those who have demonstrated exceptional service to the Libraries, showcases the creativity of Libraries staff members, and recognizes new hires, retirees, and promotions throughout the year.
The event featured a craft show, where Libraries faculty and staff had the opportunity to browse and appreciate the talents of their colleagues. Handcrafted jewelry, original paintings, crocheted stuffed animals, abstract prints, and more were on display, highlighting the creativity of Susan Zeyher, Jessie Scott, Sarah Merryman, Will Ferrall, Ann O’Donnell, Morgan Richert, and Patricia Swanson.
The event also recognized those who reached significant service milestones in 2024. Employees who have contributed their talents and dedication to Purdue Libraries were acknowledged for their invaluable service. These milestones were a testament to the lasting impact of their hard work and commitment to the Purdue community.
Service recognitions
We are proud to recognize the following staff members for their outstanding years of service to Purdue Libraries. Their years of service enrich the library community and continue to foster an environment of learning, creativity, and innovation.
10 years of service:
15 years of service:
20 years of service:
25 years of service:
30 years of service:
35 years of service:
40 years of service: