News

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

September 18, 2020 by PALNIDCM

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.

Butler Faculty Member Publishes an Open Textbook with PALSave Program

September 15, 2020 by PALNIDCM

Butler University faculty Brian Weidner reduces the student textbook cost burden by creating an open access book for his course, “Brass Techniques 1,” after receiving a PALSave Course Redesign Grant. Using an open-access textbook, each student in this course will save $50 with a total savings of $550 for Fall 2020.

Brass Techniques and Pedagogy Book Cover (Author Brian Weidner)

PALSave combats rising textbook costs at the twenty-four PALNI supported institutions using free materials like open educational resources (OER) instead of expensive commercial textbooks. Along with receiving a Course Redesign Grant, Weidner was the first in the consortium to use Pressbooks, an open-source, open-access publishing platform provided by PALNI, to create his textbook. Pressbooks allows editing and remixing of existing material, providing faculty with the ability to customize their course materials to meet their students’ needs.

About the course redesign process Weidner states, “Redesigning this course around a custom-made OER has allowed me to flip the classroom as the textbook meets the exact needs that my students have. While it has taken me time to build a brand new text as there were no open textbooks out there already, my students have expressed how excited they are to have a resource that they do not need to pay for, and colleagues at other institutions have discussed adopting this text to support their students as well. I look forward to having this text improved by others who choose to use it in the future.”

PALNI is hosting and supporting Pressbooks for current Course Redesign Grant awardees, and this fall the service will be available to any faculty member at a PALNI-supported institution. To encourage faculty to create their own, original open textbooks, PALSave Textbook Creation Grants will also be announced this fall.

PALNI’s Pressbooks service is made possible by two of its collaborative groups, the OER Publishing Task Force and the Publishing Services Administration Team. The PALSave program itself is supported with funding from the Lilly Endowment, Inc.

To view Brian Weidner’s open textbook, “Brass Techniques and Pedagogy” please see: https://pressbooks.palni.org/brasstechniquesandpedagogy/

About Butler University: www.butler.edu

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.

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

August 21, 2020 by PALNIDCM

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

August 14, 2020 by PALNIDCM

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 Librarians Recognized as OCLC Community Center Top Contributors

July 14, 2020 by PALNIDCM

In a recent post by the OCLC Next blog article about OCLC’s community center, three PALNI librarians are mentioned as top contributors: Heather Loehr from Hanover College, Laura Vogler from Wabash College, and Lisa Gonzalez from PALNI.

Laura Vogler’s article quote summarized the value of the community:

“Each reply to a discussion post essentially becomes the basis for a global database of knowledge, thus a more detailed response not only helps the individual who created the post but anyone who might search the discussions in the future. … The saying ‘knowledge is power’ describes the value of OCLC’s Community Center. The more we share and help each other, the more we learn, and that in turn helps to improve the services we provide to our individual institutions and adds value to the work we do. By helping each other, we are also helping OCLC to improve the products we use, and I personally appreciate the fact that OCLC encourages and welcomes each library’s contribution to the conversation.”

Congratulations to the three of them for their contributions and the power of PALNI in making up such a strong representation in the OCLC community top 16 contributor list!

Read the full article: http://www.oclc.org/blog/main/the-oclc-community-center-at-five-years-your-extra-colleague/ 7

Shared: Nationwide Alliance Launches New Video to Highlight The Value of Library Print Collections During the Time of Pandemic

June 26, 2020 by PALNIDCM

June 25, 2020 – Written by Rosemont Shared Print Alliance and the Partnership for Shared Book Collections (of which PALNI is part of)

The Rosemont Shared Print Alliance and the Partnership for Shared Book Collections today launched a two-minute video highlighting the importance of shared print collections in libraries as a key component to ensuring ongoing and future access to the scholarly record and to the future of research, teaching, and learning. The video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/Ie8qm_idkDU (or below).

“Most people access scholarly information online these days, and even more so since much of the world has been in some form of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” commented Judy Russell, Dean of Libraries at the University of Florida and Chair of the Rosemont Alliance Executive Committee. “But you can only digitize something if the original print copy has been safely retained.” Libraries have been collaborating to determine the proper level of redundancy of their print collections, ensuring that collections are protected and maintained while offering individual libraries flexibility in what to keep on their shelves. According to the Center for Research Libraries, there are currently 49 Shared Print Programs registered with the Print Archive and Preservation (“PAPR”) Registry.

Read the rest of the article…

Heather Loehr appointed to COUNTER Board of Directors – May 28, 2020

May 29, 2020 by PALNIDCM

COUNTER has appointed Heather Loehr to the Board of Directors, May 28, 2020. Ms. Loehr is the Electronic Resources Librarian and Coordinator of Library Instruction at Hanover College as well as the Coordinator of the Analytics Administration Team for the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana Inc. (PALNI).

Her PALNI work providing support for analytics, data gathering, and reporting for a consortium of 24 small private college, university, and seminary libraries has been valued by the PALNI supported institutions and the OCLC community. Ms. Loehr is a strong supporter of usage standards and contributes actively to the OCLC member community in the areas of Reports and Analytics. Her leadership in the successful creation of a common set of ACRL and IPEDS reporting instructions and guides for all OCLC users has been recognized and appreciated by many.

In announcing the nomination, COUNTER Project Director Lorraine Estelle stated, “The Board were very pleased to nominate you, not only because of your work as a member of PALNI, but also because it is important to have representation from a smaller university.”

The appointment was made at COUNTER’s Annual General Meeting, held virtually, on May 28, 2020. Ms. Loehr will serve a 3-year term ending in 2023.

About COUNTER
COUNTER is a non-profit organization supported by a global community of library, publisher and vendor members, who contribute to the development of the Code of Practice through working groups and outreach. The COUNTER Code of Practice helps librarians demonstrate the value of electronic resources by facilitating the recording and reporting of online resource usage stats in a consistent and credible way. For more information about COUNTER please visit https://www.projectcounter.org/about/

PALNI Releases Freely Available Library Impact Assessment Tool

October 7, 2019 by PALNIDCM

The Private Academic Library Network Inc (PALNI) recently worked with The IDEA Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving student learning in higher education, to create a freely available assessment survey focused on the educational role and institutional effectiveness of the library. The results of the Assessment of Library Impact and Value survey provide insights on how best to implement improvements, allocate resources, and communicate with campus stakeholders at PALNI institutions. PALNI created the survey with the intention of making it open access, available for use, and remixing by other institutions.

Many libraries are facing reductions in areas such as staffing, budget, and resources. While there are several assessment tools already available to assess library value, they are often cost prohibitive for smaller institutions. In response to this cost issue, PALNI convened a group to create a low-cost tool to assess user needs and behaviors to help libraries develop a strategy to improve and demonstrate effectiveness, relevance, and value of libraries to home institutions.

Utilizing the “ACRL Standards for Libraries in Higher Education” principles as a starting point, the committee limited the focus of the survey to those principles of most interest to both library directors and administrative stakeholders. The committee crafted questions from the top principles identified, “Institutional Effectiveness” and “Educational Role.” PALNI contracted with IDEA to craft appropriate questions, use the correct academic language, and create the survey and reporting structure.

Administrative stakeholders were interested in assessing much of the same principles that the library directors were with the exception of “Institutional Effectiveness” which was ranked lower by the administrators. One administrator commented that they had no idea that libraries could be effective in ways other than the Educational Role. This comment encouraged the committee to include that principle to help our stakeholders become better acquainted with what libraries can and will do for their institutions.

Ten of the twenty-four PALNI libraries used the survey during the spring semester, 2019. The remaining libraries will be given the opportunity to administer the survey in the fall after which the committee will gather suggestions for improvement. IDEA will continue to report out the findings to the individual (PALNI) libraries and aggregate the responses to inform how best to use consortial resources to support the PALNI institutions.

“After administering the survey at each of our schools and seeing the results from the other PALNI participants, as well as the aggregated data for PALNI, we believe that we are on track to address our purpose of measuring our effectiveness and informing our faculty and administrators,” says task force member and Grace College Library Director Tonya Fawcett.

Under the Creative Commons license, any library, group, or interested user may adopt, adapt, and administer the survey instrument on the platform of their choice.The survey can be administered by other groups, consortia or individually through IDEA. Those libraries interested in implementing a similar project on their campus, individual or consortially, can find more information on the toolkit libguide: https://libguides.palni.edu/libraryvalue/.

The current aggregated PALNI report can be found here: https://libguides.palni.edu/ld.php?content_id=49385397

More about The IDEA Center can be found on its website – www.IDEAedu.org

PALNI Awards 2019 Innovation Grant to Butler University Library Photogrammetry Project

August 14, 2019 by PALNIDCM

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

July 26, 2019 by PALNIDCM

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