PALNI

PALNI Receives 2020 Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grant for Digitization of Rare Materials

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Librarian of Saint Meinrad Theological Seminary showcasing one of the many books in the library's "Rare Book Room"
Librarian of Saint Meinrad Theological Seminary showcasing one of the many books in the library’s “Rare Book Room”

The Private Academic Library Network of Indiana, INC (PALNI) is the successful recipient of a 2020 Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant for the digitization project entitled, Collaboratively Preserving Rare Scholarship in Religiously Affiliated Libraries: PALNI Last Copies. The project will expand upon existing workflows established through the ALI-PALNI Shared Print digitization project and digitize 240 scarcely-held circulating monographs from PALNI’s supported institutions via the Internet Archive in Fort Wayne.  

Phase one of the project, Data Analysis, will start as soon as possible in Fall 2020.  PALNI will research scarcely-held titles to identify a picklist for each institution of unique-in-Indiana titles in the public domain and not yet digitized. Between October and January, each PALNI library will select ten books each from the scarcely-held list and send them to the Internet Archive in Fort Wayne for digitization.

About Indiana State Library Services and Technology Act Grants: https://www.in.gov/library/lsta.htm
The Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) was signed into law September 30, 1996 as part of the Museum and Library Services Act. As a result, federal LSTA funds are distributed from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to states for the purposes of increasing the use of technology in libraries, fostering better resource sharing among libraries, and targeting library services to special populations.

PALNI Executive Director to Serve Another Term on the Partnership for Shared Book Collections’ Executive Committee

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PALNI Executive Director Kirsten Leonard to continue her leadership service on the Executive Committee for the Partnership for Shared Book Collections. The Partnership was formally launched in January 2020 to ensure the long-term preservation of, access to, and integrity of monographic print resources. A founding member of the original steering committee, Leonard has been elected to chair the executive committee of the newly formed organization to provide valuable governance and organizational expertise as the new partnership advances.

The Partnership is leading initiatives on best practices, research on cost and risk, and communication on the value of the print monograph. The Partnership has grown to 14 shared print program members representing over 346 libraries and will continue to grow. The Partnership for Shared Book Collections and PALNI will continue working together to retain access to collections across North America.

Ms. Leonard joins Daniel Dollar of Yale University (Vice Chair), and Susan Stearns of EAST to form the executive leadership team.

More information on the Partnership is available on the website https://sharedprint.org/

Four New Inductees to the PALNI Hall of Fame

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The Private Academic Library Network of Indiana Inc. (PALNI) inducted four library staff into the PALNI Hall of Fame at the virtual OPAL/PALNI all-staff meeting, August 7th, 2020. Awardees have had long-standing service or broad investment in advancing PALNI as a whole or a major impact on a PALNI initiative over multiple years. The “Hall of Fame” award is given to those who have helped to create the collaborative environment, strategic direction, and success PALNI has achieved and embody the PALNI culture of respect and innovation. This year’s awardees include:

Laura Vogler, Wabash College

Laura Vogler has had a longstanding and active involvement with PALNI.  Her contributions to the PALNI community conversation and shared knowledge have spanned the gamut from technical system functions and configurations, to identifying areas to improve workflow efficiencies, to providing keen insight on strategy and trends in academic librarianship. Laura’s approach to issues is strongly evidence based and she is never afraid to ask “Now, why are we doing it that way?” Laura has been an important member of the leadership of the PALNI Fulfillment steering committee and the Digital Lending task force. She has been a key addition to the PALNI community to challenge us to always look to improve and to do so collaboratively and by leveraging our collective expertise.  She was also recently honored by OCLC as a leading contributor to the OCLC community site.  

Erin Milanese, Goshen College

Erin’s knowledge and contributions to the PALNI, the PALSave program and the instructional technology advisory group have been vital to its strong success. She has served as the coordinator of the PALSave program, and has served on the steering committee of the instructional technology advisory group. Erin is being honored for the work she has done to develop meetings and summits, and for her key contributions to the creation of the instructional Tech Tools website.  Erin’s consistent efforts to share her knowledge and engage with others in PALNI has advanced collaboration in many avenues, between librarians, between instructional technologists, and faculty. Her knowledge and dedication to these projects are exceptional.

Vanessa French, Butler University

Vanessa French has served on the KnowledgeBase/License Manager group on the steering committee and on the Collection Management Policy Team. She is one of PALNI’s liaisons to the ALI Resource Advisory Committee. Vanessa is another one with a strong voice and vision to find a way to improve. She won’t be bullied by vendors and serves as a powerful partner in negotiations. She is a data whizz, is constantly exploring new tools and resources, and steps up to support the analytics needs of PALNI as we try to improve our current deals and prospective collection collaboration. Her knowledge and expertise have been invaluable to our renewals and strategy development. She works extremely smart on behalf of Butler and shares what she has learned with others in PALNI. She almost always presents a new way of handling a situation that benefits us all.

Jeff Siemon, Anderson University

Jeff has provided significant contributions to the PALNI and wider body of knowledge through presentations, thought provoking and insightful written pieces in the PALNI and OCLC communities, identifying and advocating for collaborative solutions, and offering librarians assistance and advice on individual issues. Jeff has also served on the KnowledgeBase/License Manager group and on the Collection Management Policy Team. He has been a major contributor to OCLC knowledgebase accuracy. He served as one of the two liaisons to the INSPIRE advisory group. State Librarian Jake Speer commended him on his knowledge, expertise, and dedication to libraries of all types in the state of Indiana. Jeff not only prepared detailed analysis of the proposals, but also developed strategy for review and negotiation. The members of the PALNI Collection Management Team commended him for his work and also for the work he has put in to improve the next RFP cycle for INSPIRE. Jeff’s work has been full of challenges. Data cleanup and statewide government bureaucracy. But he continues on, makes headway, and benefits people worldwide.

Many congratulations to the awardees and thank you for your exemplary service.

PALNI Awards 2019 Innovation Grant to Butler University Library Photogrammetry Project

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The Private Academic Library Network of Indiana Inc. (PALNI) has awarded the 2019 PALNI Innovation Grant to Butler University for their proposal, Making Cultural Heritage Artifacts into 3D Digital Objects using Photogrammetry.  The grant aids initiatives that optimize library resources and services in ways that significantly expand the ability of supported organizations to support teaching and learning at PALNI institutions.  Funded programs, projects, and initiatives must align with PALNI strategic priorities and promote PALNI deep collaboration.

Butler’s interest in using photogrammetry to teach, preserve and give access to 3D special collection materials was cross-departmental between the Library, Center for Academic Technology, and the Butler Art Committee. The photogrammetric process provides a non-contact approach to digitize materials by creating a 3D digital surrogate of an analog object via photography and special software. The project will allow increased access and allow for potential hands-on use of items found in Butler University’s art collection without risking damage to priceless items. 

These two images showcase the setup for data acquisition on smaller object, which the team modeled after the setups created by both IUPUI and IUB. The Butler team has had a lot of success in taking photos using a lightbox, diffused lighting, and a turntable. (Photo provided by Butler University Library)
Butler University student worker, Tatum Turner, completely data acquisition on two costumes from the Ballet Russe costume collection. (Photo provided by Butler University Library)

“The Innovation grant has been essential to this project. The salary for our student employee, Tatum Turner, was funded through the grant, and Tatum has been instrumental in experimentation with the photogrammetry process and in researching best practices,” shares grant recipients Scholarly Communication Associate Olivia MacIsaac and Academic Technology Specialist Kristen Allen. “Furthermore, through the Innovation grant, we have experimented with various lighting sources to find the best to recommend to other institutions.”

MacIsaac, Allen and Turner have been documenting the process and best practices throughout the project and plan to build an open Canvas course for other PALNI libraries to use as training by the end of Fall 2019 (tentative). In keeping this project as affordable and accessible as possible, they are also looking into different models of collaboration between PALNI libraries ranging from virtual access to the special software, centrally processing photosets, and/or implementing regional trainers to assist in the process. The goal is to have the collaboration model in place by Spring 2020 where the other PALNI institutions will be able to learn about this exciting opportunity at the tentatively planned PALNI bi-annual staff meeting. 

By the end of Summer 2019, Butler will have at least 10 objects digitized and in the online collection. They are excited to scan more of the Butler Art collection and potentially the Eliza Baker collection. All 3D scans can be found in Butler’s SketchFab portal (https://sketchfab.com/libcat) and eventually fully integrated into CONTENTdm to be included in the library’s digital collections: https://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/ButlerArt.

Terracotta Seated Male Figure by an Nayarit artist going through the photogrammetric processing using the open source photogrammetry software, Meshroom. (Photo provided by Butler University Library)

About Butler University: Located in the heart of the Indianapolis Butler-Tarkington neighborhood, Butler University seeks to provide the highest quality of liberal and professional education and to integrate the liberal arts with professional education, by creating and fostering a stimulating intellectual community built upon interactive dialogue and inquiry among students, faculty, and staff. In 1855  attorney and abolitionist Ovid Butler founded the school on the principle that everyone deserves an excellent education, regardless of race or gender—a bold idea in pre-Civil-War America. Today, we’ve built on Butler’s vision to create a community of students and faculty that learn by doing—a community that values hard work as an essential building block for success, whether in the classroom, on the field, or out in the world. Butler University is the only Midwest Regional University to earn the U.S. News designation as Most Innovative School, according to the magazine’s 2018 rankings. For the eighth consecutive year, Butler ranks No. 2 overall among 171 Midwest Regional Universities. Butler is also recognized among the best in the nation for four co-curricular programs that enhance the educational experience for students. For more information, visit www.butler.edu.

PALCI and PALNI Receive IMLS Grant to Develop the Hyku Open Source Institutional Repository

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The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has awarded $172,172 to the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. (PALCI) in partnership with the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) for Scaling Up a Collaborative Consortial Institutional Repository as part of the National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program. IMLS received 138 preliminary proposals requesting more than $33 million in funding, and selected 36 applicants to receive awards during this grant cycle. With this award, the partners will develop and pilot an affordable, open-source, and collaborative institutional repository solution based on the Hyku software.  

An institutional repository (IR) provides the academic community a place to capture, preserve, and make accessible the important research, special collections, and other types of information they create. Libraries and campuses benefit from having the infrastructure and tools provided in an IR solution to manage assets and disseminate them to the larger public. However, many libraries do not have an institutional repository. PALNI has long examined the institutional repository environment, beginning with a needs analysis led by Brooke Cox of DePauw University. Findings showed 70% of the PALNI libraries did not have an IR solution due to cost, inefficiency, or overly-rigid solutions.  PALNI Executive Director Kirsten Leonard notes, “Hyku development steered by PALNI’s partnership with PALCI is our best opportunity to meet the needs of our institutions and allow us to collaborate to reduce costs.”

This grant project will develop a model for ultra low-cost hosting, discovery, and access to digital material for member libraries. The consortial IR service developed in Hyku will allow individual libraries to customize and brand the IR as their own, while sharing the underlying infrastructure, hosting, and administration costs across institutions. The project partners will work to scale Hyku software to create the functionality and configuration options needed to create a centralized collaborative repository infrastructure with multiple, library-based portals. This will reduce administration costs for libraries, increasing the likelihood of adoption and long-term sustainability. Initial development efforts will focus on support for Open Educational Resources (OERs) and Electronic Theses & Dissertations (ETDs).

Jill Morris, Executive Director of PALCI is excited at the opportunity to increase the value of consortial membership to libraries. “This project pushes the traditional work of consortia to new areas and extends collaboration beyond our normal boundaries. PALCI’s work on this project with PALNI furthers the missions of our member libraries by offering a highly scalable, easily adopted IR service, and, in turn, supports broader IMLS goals to build the capacity of libraries, increase public access to information, and support lifelong learning.”

“As centers of learning and catalysts of community change, libraries and museums connect people with programs, services, collections, information, and new ideas in the arts, sciences, and humanities. They serve as vital spaces where people can connect with each other,” said IMLS Director Dr. Kathryn K. Matthew. “IMLS is proud to support their work through our grant making as they inform and inspire all in their communities.”

The project will build on the efforts of a community-based Hyku Task Force charged with leading and scoping the development effort. “The first phase of the project includes defining requirements, features, workflows, and metadata templates. We are grateful to our engaged community members and excited to have IMLS support in this endeavor,” states Amanda Hurford, Scholarly Communications Director for PALNI.  Updates for the project will be made available at https://www.hykuforconsortia.org/.

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services:

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. Our vision is a nation where museums and libraries work together to transform the lives of individuals and communities. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. (PALCI):

PALCI (legally named the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc.) was formed in 1996 as a grassroots federation of 35 academic libraries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Today, the PALCI membership consists of 70 academic and research libraries, private and public, in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York. PALCI’s mission is to build access to our shared collections through collaboration among academic libraries in Pennsylvania and the neighboring states. PALCI Members serve over 800,000 students, faculty, and staff, through a variety of programs including the highly-regarded E-ZBorrow resource sharing service. PALCI also serves as the home for PA Digital, the Pennsylvania hub of the Digital Public Library of America, and the new Affordable Learning PA program, creating a community of practice for open textbooks and related educational resources. http://palci.org

About the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana, Inc. (PALNI): 

PALNI is a non-profit organization supporting collaboration for library and information services to the libraries of its twenty-four supported institutions. Over time, the library deans and directors who sit on the PALNI board have adjusted the organization’s strategic direction as the internet and information services landscape have changed. PALNI has expanded beyond providing a resource management system to sharing expertise in many areas including strategic planning, reference, information fluency, outreach, data management and configuration, and has identified greater collaboration in acquisitions as a key goal. www.palni.edu

About the Hyku Task Force

The Cross-Consortial Hyku Task Force is a group of interested memberlibrary representatives from the PALCI and PALNI consortia who will meet together in order to inform and guide the development of the Collaborative Consortial IR (CC-IR) Hyku Pilot.

Hyku Project Leadership:

Jill Morris, PALCI Executive Director

Gretchen Gueguen, PALCI Digital Projects and Communications Manager

Kirsten Leonard, PALNI Executive Director

Amanda Hurford, PALNI Scholarly Communications Director

Current Members of the Hyku Project Team (CC-IR Task Force):

Allen Jones, The New School

Edward Mandity, Marian University

Janelle Wertzberger, Gettysburg College

Janice Gustaferro, Butler University

Jerry Nugent, University of Indianapolis  

Jennifer Duplaga, Hanover College

Jennifer Raye, Butler University

Keiko Suzuki, The New School

Linda Poston, Messiah College

R.C. Miessler, Gettysburg College

Robert Smith, Concordia University

Sarah Myers, Messiah College

Private Academic Library Network of Indiana’s Affordable Education Initiative Garners Support from Lilly Endowment

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Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded $520,000 to the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) for PALSave, an affordable education initiative that will combat rising textbook costs and their detrimental effects on student success and retention.

“The PALSave program will provide education and funding support to the faculty of the 24 private Indiana colleges, universities, and seminaries to adopt, adapt, and create affordable learning materials,” said Kirsten Leonard, Executive Director of PALNI. “The five-year funding from Lilly Endowment will enable PALNI to make a real difference to student success and reduce debt by supporting the implementation of course materials that are free to students and customizable by faculty.”

The average cost of textbooks annually is about $1,300. While only a portion of the overall price for college, the cost of textbooks can have a negative effect on student success.  Research from The Student Public Interest Research Groups and U.S. PIRG Education Fund shows that some students have to borrow more to pay for college, are likely not to buy required materials at some point, and might even drop a class because of text prices. PALNI is pleased to offer the PALSave program in response to this need and to help provide a proactive solution to textbook affordability.The grant will enable PALNI to support course transformations using course materials which are free to students, focusing on Open Educational Resources (OER) worldwide. OER are openly licensed and fully customizable course materials.

Amanda Hurford, PALNI’s Scholarly Communications Director and project lead states, “Recent research demonstrates that students provided with open course materials show improved academic outcomes and retention. By providing faculty education about affordable course material options, and offering support and incentives to implement them, we envision a big impact on student success and savings.”

The project will develop expertise, tools, and content to be used in the course redesign process, and also build community around affordable learning within the twenty-four PALNI-supported institutions.  This collaborative structure between faculty, instructional technologists, librarians, and institutions will allow for innovation and rapid growth over the five-year program. In addition, Ms. Hurford is sharing PALNI’s work with two regional groups, the Academic Libraries of Indiana and the Midwestern Higher Education Compact. Progress and impact will be provided and updated on the PALSave website: https://palsave.palni.org/

About Lilly Endowment Inc.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family — J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons J.K. Jr. and Eli — through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. More information can be found at www.lillyendowment.org.

About the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI): www.palni.edu

PALNI is a non-profit organization supporting collaboration for library and information services to the libraries of its twenty-four supported institutions. Over time, the library deans and directors who sit on the PALNI board have adjusted the organization’s strategic direction as the internet and information services landscape have changed. PALNI has expanded beyond providing a resource management system to sharing expertise in many areas including strategic planning, reference, information fluency, outreach, data management and configuration, and has identified greater collaboration in acquisitions as a key goal.

PALNI Supported Institutions:

Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary | Ancilla College | Anderson University | Bethel University | Butler University | Concordia Theological Seminary | Christian Theological Seminary | DePauw University | Earlham College | Franklin College | Goshen College | Grace College | Hanover College | Huntington University | Manchester University | Marian University | Oakland City University | University of Saint Francis | Saint Mary’s College | Saint Meinrad’s Seminary and School of Theology | Taylor University | Trine University | University of Indianapolis | Wabash College

Protecting Scholarly Books: New Federation Aims to Unify Comprehensive Book Retention

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PALNI is one of many to develop this partnership to protect and preserve scholarly print books. Read more in the EAST (Eastern Academic Scholars’ Trust) press release:

Boston, MA, January 23, 2019 – Academic and research libraries have long collaborated to preserve and protect the print scholarly record.  The newly formed Partnership for Shared Book Collections (https://eastlibraries.org/partnership-shared-book-collections) takes this work to the next level by coordinating collaboration for the protection of print books.

Preservation and storage facilities such as the Research Collections and Preservation Service (ReCAP), large scale digitization and preservation initiatives such as HathiTrust, and programs such as the Eastern Academic Scholars’ Trust (EAST) have all focused on long-term retention of books while ensuring they are accessible for scholars, faculty and students.  More recently, collaborations among consortial shared print programs are being formed, such as the Rosemont Shared Print Alliance which is focused on archiving print serials and journals. The Partnership for Shared Book Collections complements the Rosemont initiative with a focus on the print book.

Read More…

code4lib Journal Article Featuring PALNI Staffs’ OneButton Creation

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Read the full article: https://journal.code4lib.org/articles/13951

OneButton: A Link Resolving Application to Guide Users to Optimal Fulfillment Options

Like many consortia, institutional members of the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) provide multiple fulfillment options to obtain requested items for their users. Users can place on shelf holds on items, or they can request material that isn’t held by their institution through a group circulation resource sharing network (dubbed PALShare) or through traditional InterLibrary Loan (ILL) (through WorldShare ILL or ILLiad). All of these options can be confusing to users who may not understand the best or fastest way to get access to needed materials. A PHP application, OneButton, was developed that replaces multiple fulfillment buttons in institutional discovery interfaces with a single OpenURL link. OneButton looks up holdings and availability at a user’s home institution and across the consortium and routes the user to the optimal fulfillment option for them. If an item is held by and available at their institution, the user can be shown a stack map to help guide them to the item on the shelf; if an item is held by and available at the consortium, the user is routed to a group circulation request form; otherwise, the user is routed to an ILL request form. All routing and processing are handled by the OneButton application – the user doesn’t need to think about what the ‘best’ fulfillment option is. This article will discuss the experiences of one institution using OneButton in production since fall 2017, analytics data gathered, and how other institutions can adopt the application (freely available on GitHub: https://github.com/PALNI/onebutton).

by Lauren Magnuson, Karl Stutzman, Roger Peters, Noah Brubaker

Our Location

PALNI staff and coordinators work out of home offices or their home institutions spread across the states of Indiana and California. However, our legal address can be found at Butler University:

Private Academic Library Network of Indiana
c/o Irwin Library
4553 Clarendon Rd.
Indianapolis, IN 46208

Internal Tools and Workspaces

Majority of collaboration occurs in our private space, PALNI Community.

PALNI uses QuestionPro for survey software. QuestionPro provides unparalleled insights and just launched enterprise features including Communities, Customer Experience, Workforce and Mobile.

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