Pelotonia 2015 – why it matters, and why OhioLINK is involved

Former Executive Director, OhioLINK
,
OhioLINK
Monday, August 17, 2015 - 4:00pm (updated Thursday, September 10, 2015 - 10:43am)
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Last Saturday (Aug. 8, 2015), I got on my bike with 7,980 other cyclists (including at least one unicyclist) and took to the road to raise funds for cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center—Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. 

OhioLINK Peloton rider Greg Boyd with other Pelotonia 2015 riders. [enlarge]

It was a very exhilarating and emotional ride. Riders, spectators and those who donate money include many cancer patients and survivors, their friends and family and those who have lost people close to them. It is a sobering thing to realize just how many people this disease touches in so many different ways.

David Chambliss, BGSU Trustee Steven Daley, Gwen Evans and Ryan Jolley at the opening ceremony. [enlarge]

Why did OhioLINK participate as a team when Ohio State, which benefits from the fundraising, is just one member among our 89 institutions? Eventually, the goal is to have a rider from each of OhioLINK’s 121 libraries all wearing an OhioLINK jersey. The work of OhioLINK and its members is directly related to supporting research of all kinds. Pelotonia is a highly visible event where our participation is both a reminder of the importance of libraries to the research endeavor and an indirect way of supporting the fundamental activities that result in published research in Ohio. OhioLINK and its libraries support a system of scholarly communication that results in real advances and real actions that can literally mean life or death for cancer patients.

Gwen Evans and OhioLINK Peloton Captain Meghan Frazer at the opening ceremony Friday, Aug. 7. [enlarge]

The cancer research done by people at the James and funded by Pelotonia is eventually published and disseminated through scholarly journals, books and conference proceedings. These published findings are part of OhioLINK’s shared content packages. That extremely valuable content from top publishers is delivered to students, faculty and staff at all OhioLINK institutions. These members include the Cleveland Clinic, medical and research facilities and hospitals at OhioLINK institutions, nursing and other health science programs at four year and two year institutions, related programs all over Ohio, as well as state agencies via the State Library of Ohio.

Gwen Evans, Meghan Frazer and Amy Pawlowski at the opening ceremony. [enlarge]

It’s tempting and wrong to think of library research materials as a closed system – researchers find and read, then publish their findings for other people to read. But in many, many cases, library research materials are used to make changes and advances in a wide range of industries, from healthcare to agriculture. Library materials are how breakthroughs are communicated within research communities. Others can then build on those breakthroughs and effect changes in the world. So, it seems appropriate for OhioLINK to participate in Pelotonia, to remind riders and supporters that libraries are an integral part of the research process and that Ohio has an enormous advantage in the shared collections and materials that OhioLINK and its members make possible. 

OPAL Poster wishing Tiffany "Good Luck!" [enlarge]

Libraries can also inspire. Take Josh Javor, an engineering student and OhioLINK user who received a Pelotonia undergraduate fellowship for his research in cancer-detecting technology. He “developed new curiosities” by using the OhioLINK journal collection. I invite you to read his research profile to get a glimpse of the integral part that library materials play in supporting Josh’s efforts to develop a microscope to enable oncologic surgeons to make more precise determinations of tumors in the operating room.

We started small at four riders this year, with only Tiffany Lipstrau from Otterbein University representing an OhioLINK library. But she had lots of support, both moral and financial, from her colleagues at OPAL, a smaller consortium within OhioLINK.

Heather Hampel, OSU Library Director Carol Diedrichs and Tiffany preparing for the ride Saturday, Aug. 8. [enlarge]

Tiffany wrote:

“The poster was extremely thoughtful and now hangs in my office.  I wanted to share with you my heartfelt thanks with a few pictures … and this video, which was shown at the opening ceremony:


“When you ride the route with people along the side cheering for you, many of whom are cancer survivors, holding up signs thanking you – your toughest job is to hold onto the handlebars until the tears subside.  This amazing movement was and is a true honor to be a part of, each year it grows – and this last one with the OhioLINK peloton adding to it and your contributions to it as “librarians united”! The video speaks to how the funds, 100% of them, feed research that saves lives – now and into the future.  I was humbled to be sitting with those of the 9k riders who were at [the] opening ceremony, with my sister (Heather Hampel), and to see her and her research highlighted within that video (minute 3:12 and 4:42) citing the lives that have been saved through identification of Lynch Syndrome.  Heather is an avid library user for her research and publications and last year when the new OSU Genetic Counseling grad program had its inaugural year she made sure to have a librarian speaker in class.  All that said as just one example of how the library, and the work we do supports the mission of Pelotonia.  Heather says ‘none of us researchers could do research without the library, from the hypothesis to background information to grant writing – truly from start to finish’. 

Team OhioLINK Riders - Greg Boyd, Julia Hathaway, Gwen Evans, Tiffany Lipstrau. [enlarge]

Heather doesn’t just support libraries and librarians in her professional life – she also helped the OhioLINK team along the 25-mile route before she went on for the rest of the 50-mile route.

Thank you Axia Consulting for sponsoring our jerseys and t-shirts! [enlarge]

So I invite you – the staff of member institutions, students, faculty and alumni – to join us next year on whatever Pelotonia route you’re ready for. Librarians in Ohio are an integral part in the research process, resulting in change for the better  – let’s get out and represent! #fastertogether #wedeliver

You can read more at Pelotonia.org about the history of Pelotonia and the more than $96 million raised that goes directly to fund research to treat and cure all kinds of cancer.  OhioLINK had two team members, myself and Otterbein Library Director Tiffany Lipstrau on the 25-mile route, and Julia Hathaway and Greg Boyd from the OH-TECH side of our house riding the 50-mile route.

OhioLINK Staff. [enlarge]

The entire OhioLINK office was involved in this event: Meghan Frazer was our virtual captain, Tasha Bryant-Willis and Amy Pawlowski volunteered at Pelotonia events, Elizabeth Coulter organized the marketing, events, and most importantly, jersey designs (thank you to Creative Digital Studios for the design and Axia Consulting for the jerseys and t-shirts), and the rest of the staff donated, helped fundraise, and cheered us on.

You can still donate to this year’s OhioLINK Peloton until October 9, 2015 at pelotonia.org/ohiolink