Purdue News
Purdue News
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September 3, 2003 Libraries' event to celebrate undergraduate library birthdayWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University Libraries invites students to visit the John W. Hicks Undergraduate Library on Friday (9/5) for the facility's 21st birthday celebration, called Check it Out @ UGRL. Food and music will be provided from 4-6 p.m. at the "UGRL @ 21 " event. "For more than two decades the undergraduate library has been serving students' information resource and technological needs," said Scott Mandernack, undergraduate librarian. "Last year the UGRL's gate count was more than 1.3 million, and we hope to serve even more people this year. We want to kick off the year with a celebration to honor the library's history and to let students know about the latest services, resources and technology at the library." Last fall the undergraduate library teamed with Information Technology at Purdue to open the Digital Learning Collaboratory, a center for creating multimedia content such as Web pages and digital video. The collaboratory, in Room B-853 of the undergraduate library, is a wireless instructional area with small group work rooms and individual work stations available for students to use independently or with classes. The small group rooms are equipped with computers, and white board and white board capture capability, which allows students to immediately save to their laptops the intricate designs and diagrams they create. The collaboratory's active learning environment provides work stations with scanning capability, image capture, 3-D rendering software and digital video editing and animation. Last year laptops were checked out more than 1,000 times, and digital cameras were borrowed 490 times. "The undergraduate library, in partnership with the Purdue community, creates a dynamic and innovative learning environment that bridges the social and academic elements of the undergraduate college experience," Mandernack said. "We strive to motivate and encourage student exploration and active learning of effective research skills, which leads to success at Purdue and in a global environment." The undergraduate library also maintains a multidisciplinary collection supporting basic, introductory curricular and research needs. There are more than 63,000 books in the collection. The periodical collection consists of general interest magazines and some scholarly journals. Current subscriptions to newspapers from major U.S. cities are housed in the undergraduate library. Also available are gift publications from international student groups on campus. A contemporary fiction collection, located in the Bookstall, consists primarily of American and English, as well as English translations of international literature. The library also houses a children's literature collection. The undergraduate library opened in the summer of 1982, following a student-supported campaign for a general campus library. "The students were guided by Purdue executive assistant and legislative lobbyist John W. Hicks," said Judy Schumaker, director of development and public relations. "He encouraged the students to participate in a letter writing campaign to the state Legislature to fund a library for undergraduates. In 1990, the board of trustees renamed the library for Hicks to honor his contribution to the establishment of the library and his support of undergraduate students." Writer: Amy Patterson-Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu Sources: Judy Schumaker, (765) 494-7987, jschumkr@purdue.edu Scott Mandernack, (765) 494-6728, sbm@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu Related Web site:
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