PALNI Grants Support Textbook And Teaching Efforts

Open textbook, digital media projects receive grant support.

Multiple Wabash College faculty and staff members have received grant support from the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI).

The PALNI grants, financed with support from Lilly Endowment, will spur efforts in the areas of open textbook design and digital media alternatives to written research papers. 

The competitive grants were awarded to Jennifer Abbott, professor of rhetoric, Todd McDorman, Dean of the College and professor of rhetoric, Jeff Beck, director of the Lilly Library, Andrew Taylor, educational technologist, and Laura Vogler, associate director of the Lilly Library.

Abbott, McDorman, and colleague David Timmerman, Provost, Chief Academic Officer, and professor of rhetoric at Carthage College, will develop a second edition of their textbook, “Public Speaking and Democratic Participation: Speech, Deliberation, and Analysis in the Civic Realm (2nd ed).” The textbook will be freely available online.

Abbott, McDorman, and Timmerman were among eight recipients of the PALSave Textbook Creation grant.

“We believe the book’s emphasis on democratic participation through ethical and productive speech is more relevant than ever,” said Abbott. “The grant will help us update, improve, and shorten the first edition, while PALNI’s investment will help students save money and access the information they need to thrive in their public speaking classes.”

PALNI also awarded one of three Library Innovation Grants to Lilly Library. 

Support for “Beyond the Research Paper: Supporting Digital Media Creation at Wabash College,” seeks to create alternatives to the basic written research paper by developing a videography studio along with support and training materials. This project will encourage more faculty to explore digital media as another option for assessment of student learning.

“We are excited to offer a video recording studio to complement our active podcast studio.” said Beck. “This project supports the expansion of student digital literacy skills and offers students new approaches to demonstrate their knowledge. Faculty may also record their own content to accompany classroom learning and contribute to open pedagogical practices.”

PALNI is a non-profit that supports collaboration for library and information services for 24 colleges, universities, and seminaries throughout the state. Since 1992, this collaboration has been a key avenue for its supported institutions to contain costs while providing more effective library services.