Bookmark Newsletter - Spring/Summer 2022 Edition

From the Dean's Desk

Big Hairy Audacious Goals

This past semester a colleague asked me, “What’s your BHAG?” I pointed to our 52-point strategic priorities and watched the expression on his face and knew that one can’t have 52 big hairy audacious goals without diluting their audaciousness. I posed to myself, “If I could only focus on 3 goals this year what would they be?” Without hesitation I listed: student success; advancement of equity, diversity, and inclusion; and changing scholarly communication. University Library is uniquely poised to have a significant impact in these areas as they have long been expertise areas for us, where we’ve led locally and nationally.

Student Success at IUPUI

Core to academic libraries mission is support of student research, providing the collections for that research and the expertise to guide use of those collections. Over time academic libraries have become deeply involved in teaching information literacy in the classroom. We recognize our space as a central, comfortable place with food, technology, and expertise that supports study and relaxation which is core to a students’ college experience and success. The library is often a location for high school campus visits and we embrace our role in introducing Indiana’s high schoolers to college life at IUPUI. Finally we’ve come to fully appreciate the value we bring to students by offering robust on-campus employment that doesn’t just provide a much-needed paycheck but also connects to coursework and prepares one for their post-IUPUI careers.

DEI at IUPUI and within the Library Profession

University Library has always embraced IUPUI’s commitment to our Indianapolis community. We call attention to the ground on which the Library resides was once home to a vibrant Black community by sharing the history of their displacement through digital collections and presentations. We embrace our role in feeding a welcoming campus for all who live, work, play, and visit here and that includes checking our own assumptions on what being welcoming means. We affirm that knowledge and a wealth of experiences come from working and learning with folks from diverse backgrounds and experiences. We strive to live out these values in our daily work, for example by reviewing library processes and policies through an anti-racist equity lens and changing when issues are revealed. We believe that for libraries to be great they must include diverse voices and representation in their workforce and so we collaborate with other Indiana leading libraries to strategically celebrate librarians of color while at the same time learning how to promote librarianship as a career to BIPOC communities. We recognize we aren’t always successful in living out these values but we get up and try again the next day because acknowledging a falter and committing to doing better is key to lasting change.

Change in Scholarly Communication

University Library has been a national leader in library-enacted change in scholarly communication through support of open access, open science, open data, and reimagined scholarly metrics. Our librarians and programmers are lead voices and regular contributors to the national development of open scholarly communication tools and networks. We are uniquely skilled to continue to be at the forefront of this change and have progressively shifted our budgetary model to continue to invest time in this quite literally, life-impacting work.

Embrace a Hybrid World

I know, I know, I said there were only 3 BHAGS. I’m adding a 4th as it connects to all the above and again I see us as leaders in area. University Library has modeled a robust hybrid work environment. Our remote work plan includes the opportunity for all to work from home on a weekly basis and has demonstrated that we can do so while maintaining our high level of service. I know we can do even better. How do our library classrooms and meeting spaces change if we commit to hybrid as the norm? How does our internal communication and culture-building alter when we assume we will regularly and simultaneously interact with colleagues in person and online? We can design our space and work in this new environment, demonstrate its value to retention, work-life balance, and top-level service and be a model for both academic libraries and other Indiana University units.

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If you are a diehard racecar fan and this year's Indy 500 really energized you, check out some of these collections related to the Indy 500 & Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

• 500 Festival 
• Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection

  As the ladies of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. prepare to usher in their 100th anniversary (November 12, 2022), they shared some of the Indianapolis alumnae chapter's history (Alpha Sigma Chapter) as part of the 2022 Hoosier Women at Work Play History Conference. Part of the history that was shared included newspaper articles about their chapter from the Indianapolis Recorder digital collection, housed and managed by University Library. We love being able to help organizations maintain and share their history.

 

For more information on the organization see the Alpha Sigma chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho, Inc webpage.

Residents of the State of Indiana aged 18 years or older can get an IUPUI University Library Borrower’s Card if they visit our Reference Desk to complete an Indiana Resident Library Card/User Agreement and provide a photo ID and proof of current address.