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Helmke Library's 40th Anniversary: the Book Walk
 Forty years ago, a new library was about to open on the campus of IPFW. The four-story building, now known as the Walter E. Helmke Library, was structurally complete but lacked one thing - books. On September 20 and 21, 1972, students, staff, and faculty came together to remedy that situation. Using professional movers would have cost $5,000 - $10,000 and may have taken one to three weeks. Instead, the library staff organized a Book Walk. Participants literally carried, by hand, the entire library collection from Kettler Hall (called the Main Education Building at the time) along the half-mile path to the new library building. It was estimated that it would take 20,000 trips with each participant carrying about five volumes at a time. It took just over half that, 11,000 trips and a total of 5,500 miles walked in the process. In high spirits, the first trip was led by the brass unit from Concordia High School's marching band and Purdue Fort Wayne Dean Roger Manges and IU Fort Wayne Chancellor Ralph Broyles. A total of 100,000 books were moved; 85,000 on the first day. Sixty-seven groups and organizations competed to see who could make the most trips. The Geology Club recorded 1,097 trips by its members for the first place trophy and Roger Montgomery of the Circle K Club made 75 trips to take top individual honors. And yes, some of the current library staff participated, some as students. Can you guess who?
The Book Walk is digitized in mDON- don't miss the sideburns and the VW bugs in the shots!
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Welcome New Student Employees!
The Helmke Library welcomes two new student employees, Linda Picklesimer and Stephanie Wells. Linda and Stephanie will both be working at the Service Desk. Linda is a senior, and is majoring in General Studies. Stephanie, also a senior, is majoring in Fine Arts.
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Open Access Demystified Part Four
By Cheryl Truesdell
Earlier articles on the Open Access (OA) Movement which highlight the individual and institutional benefits of open access repositories and publishing appeared in the April, May and June 2012 issues of Helmke Highlights.
 Just five years ago the role of OA in scholarly literature was questionable, but recently The Guardian wrote that everyone agrees that publicly funded research should be freely available, ("Open access plan is no academic spring," The Guardian, 18 July 2012) and the question is not whether OA is an option, but how it should be implemented.("Open access in research: catch up on the debate," The Guardian, 10 August 2012) The reason for this bold statement is a series of broad initiatives launched this summer 2012 in Europe and the United Kingdom. In quick succession, Denmark's five research councils, the European Commission's EU research program (worth $98 billion), and the UK's seven research councils announced that researchers will be required to publish their grant-funded research findings in either an OA journal or deposit into a publicly accessible institutional repository. This followed an announcement by the Wellcome Trust, one of the world's largest nongovernmental research foundations, that it will make OA publishing or deposit in an OA repository a condition of their grants. In the United States, currently, only the National Institutes of Health requires grant-funded research to be published in OA journals or deposited in an OA repository, but a bill (Federal Research Public Access Act) before Congress that has bipartisan support will require free public access to all tax-payer funded research.While many agree with the Budapest Open Access Initiative that "Removing access barriers to this literature will accelerate research, enrich education, share the learning of the rich with the poor and the poor with the rich, make this literature as useful as it can be, and lay the foundation for uniting humanity in a common intellectual conversation and quest for knowledge," the means of implementation and the impact on the traditional model of scholarly communication is still very much in debate. This will be the topic of my next installment. |
Dual Purpose Library Classroom, Room 440A
 This summer the library opened its Electronic Information and Training Classroom (EITC, LB440A) as a student computer lab when it is not in use for instruction sessions. In partnership with IPFW's Information Technology Services (ITS), the 4th floor Library classroom / open access student computer lab (LB440A) provides faculty or staff a facility with hands-on computers for up to 23 participants. The room has been equipped with new workstations running IPFW's suite of software. Faculty and staff are eligible to reserve the classroom computer lab for class or meeting sessions. We are happy to maximize the use of this university resource.
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Apps-olutely
Since IPFW is still a PC campus, many of us have scoured the internet for iPad apps that can stand in for Microsoft Office products. Presentation apps are in particularly high demand, given our interest in using iPads to impact the classroom. Some faculty members have found Office-like off-brand applications, while others have converted to Apple's Keynote product. Still others are exploring non-linear alternatives like Prezi.
 SlideShark is another app that can fill this gap. Create a PowerPoint on your desktop, upload it to Slideshark, and you'll be able to view your presentation on your iOS device. The app also lets you share your work, tracking on-demand views (like SlideShare, but mobile). Slideshark offers a finite amount of cloud storage (100MB), with additional storage available when you refer someone else to the service or upgrade to the paid version.
If you author PowerPoint presentations on your computer but want to view them on the go, SlideShark is worth a try. Create an account at www.slideshark.com; the app is free in the App Store. (For extra storage from the start, sign up with this invitation link.)
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The Eagle:
Government Resources Discovery
One of the cornerstones of American democracy is the right of all citizens to vote for those who will represent them at the local, state and national level. Indiana residents can register to vote online, or can download the Voter Registration Form and send it to their county's voter registration office. You can also use the Federal Voter Registration Form to register to vote in Indiana. If you're too busy to wait in line to vote on election day or cannot get to the polls that day, don't fret. The Indiana Election Division also has guidelines and forms for absentee voting, which allows you to vote absentee by mail or absentee-in-person. More information is available from the Indiana Election Division or through the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
Now that you're registered, it's important to know who is running and understand their positions on issues important to you. A list of candidates on the statewide ballot can be found on the Indiana Secretary of State website. Two non-partisan websites that compile data on candidates and issues are Project Vote Smart and the League of Women Voters. Finally, don't overlook the candidates own websites, or party websites, such as www.gop.com or www.democrats.org for more information.
Important dates:
October 9, 2012
Voter Registration Deadline
First day to vote absentee-in-person
October 29, 2012
Deadline for absentee by mail ballots to reach County Election Board office
November 6, 2012
General Election
Happy searching!
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Macy's Diversity Award to NIDL
 The Northeast Indiana Diversity Library (NIDL) has received a $2,500 donation from Macy's to support diversity in the local community. The funding will support the NIDL's work in providing access to materials for the Fort Wayne lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and allies, and preserving the local LGBT history and culture. NIDL is accepting student volunteers to assist with indexing its archives. Contact the NIDL at 260-481-0783; by e-mail; or visit room B41 in the Helmke Library during NIDL Hours.
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