People in the News – DigitalKoans

John Unsworth to Retire: “After Managing UVA’s Biggest Library Challenges, Dean Turns Final Page”

When Unsworth accepted the dean position at UVA, he knew the main library on Grounds would close for a nearly four-year renovation. What he didn’t know is that the COVID-19 pandemic would shutter the facility – and all of Grounds – even earlier.

When the virus was thought to spread through touch, he oversaw a book quarantine where recently handled volumes were kept out of circulation long enough to let any viral remnants die. As the understanding of the virus evolved, Unsworth’s staff began separating students in the then-Alderman Library’s spaces, a challenging task in a space where Hoos like to study together.

Finally, when the University switched to online learning, more than 50 members of the library staff volunteered to ensure the technology worked correctly. The staff also ramped up its plans to digitize library resources to assist remote professors and students.

https://tinyurl.com/2msyecpv

"Director of University of Texas Libraries and Open Access Champion Lorraine Haricombe Announces Retirement"

Lorraine J. Haricombe, an innovating leader in academic libraries, has announced her retirement as Director and Vice Provost of the University of Texas Libraries, marking the conclusion of a distinguished career spanning decades. . . .

Among her many achievements, she expanded the development of Texas ScholarWorks, the university’s digital repository, which has significantly enhanced the accessibility and impact of the university’s scholarly output. Haricombe also championed the implementation of advanced data management services, providing critical support for the university’s research community in managing, preserving, and sharing their data. . . . .

One of Haricombe’s most notable accomplishments as a library leader was her advocacy in advancing open access initiatives. She played a key role in the establishment of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Working Group, which has been instrumental in reducing the cost of educational materials for students and promoting the adoption of OER across the campus. . . .

Before her tenure at The University of Texas at Austin, Haricombe served as the Dean of Libraries at the University of Kansas from 2006 to 2015. At Kansas, she was a driving force behind the implementation of the university’s open access policy, making it one of the first public universities in the United States to adopt such a policy.

https://tinyurl.com/2296efah

"Kara Whatley Appointed Mu Vice Provost and University Librarian"

Whatley is currently the university librarian at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and serves as the chief executive of the Caltech Library system.

Whatley’s previous roles include positions of increasing leadership at Texas Tech University Libraries and New York University Libraries.

https://tinyurl.com/42nxuvpd

"Rob Ross Named Dean of University Libraries for Ohio University"

Ross currently serves as the executive director for NC LIVE for the NC State University Libraries. In this position, he serves as the chief administrative officer for the 209-member library cooperative that provides electronic resources, library software, and professional development to all UNC System universities, private colleges, community colleges, and public libraries in North Carolina. . . .

Before joining the NC State University Libraries, Ross served as the director of implementation programs for OCLC, Inc., in Dublin, Ohio; as interlibrary loan supervisor for Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts; and as library associate for the University of New Orleans.

https://tinyurl.com/f8kr8v4w

UC Davis: "William Garrity Named University Librarian and Vice Provost of Digital Scholarship"

William Garrity, deputy university librarian and the library’s chief operating officer, has been selected as the next university librarian and vice provost of digital scholarship for UC Davis. Garrity, who has served as interim university librarian since July 2023, will officially start on May 15. . . .

Garrity, who joined UC Davis in 2014, has decades of experience elevating the role of libraries in the research, teaching, healthcare, and service missions of higher education. As deputy university librarian and the chief operating officer, he oversaw most of the library’s 160 academic and non-academic employees and held broad responsibility for divisions focused on faculty and researcher support, student learning and success, space and capital projects, and communications, human resources, and administrative operations.

https://tinyurl.com/mtkhxv67

"Christina H. Gola Named Interim Dean of University of Houston Libraries"

University of Houston (UH) has appointed Christina H. Gola interim dean of UH Libraries. . . . Prior to this appointment, Gola served as the associate dean for Organizational Development, Learning, and Talent (ODLT). She has worked with UH Libraries for 15 years and was promoted to full librarian in 2021. Gola is leading the “Reimagined Libraries” endeavor, which focuses on enhancing spaces and leveraging campus partnerships for the benefit of students and scholars.

http://tinyurl.com/m33w5x6v

"Athena Jackson Named UCLA University Librarian"

Athena N. Jackson has been named UCLA’s Norman and Armena Powell University Librarian. Her appointment will begin March 1.

Jackson, the former director of special collections at UCLA Library, has served since 2021 as dean of libraries at the University of Houston, where she holds the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Chair. . . .

At the University of Houston, Jackson was responsible for oversight of the library’s administrative activities, a team of more than 125 and an annual budget of $21 million, providing programmatic and strategic leadership while playing a critical role in development activities. She was also active in open-scholarship dialogues at state and national levels, drawing on her rich background in rare and archival collections.

http://tinyurl.com/2u3j67p7

"UC Berkeley Chooses Suzanne Wones as New University Librarian"

UC Berkeley has chosen a new University Librarian, Suzanne L. Wones, who is associate university librarian for discovery and access at Harvard Library. Wones, with 20 years’ experience as a leader in academic libraries, will start her new post July 1, following University Librarian Jeffrey MacKie-Mason’s retirement.

Berkeley’s commitment to open access— the free, immediate, online availability of research published in journals and books — attracted Wones to the position, as well as the many other ways the campus strives to remedy global inequities.

http://tinyurl.com/c58xn7c6

"New Vice Provost for UW–Madison Libraries Chosen"

Erla P. Heyns, associate professor and associate dean for learning at Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies in West Lafayette, Ind., has been selected as the next university librarian and vice provost for University Libraries. She will join the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus on Jan. 1, 2024. Heyns has been with Purdue University since 2016. Previously, she was at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, serving as the director of the Flower/Sprecher Veterinary Library and the coordinator for the engineering, math and physical sciences libraries. Before that, she was the head of Indiana University’s Health, Physical Education and Recreation Library.

https://tinyurl.com/44met6bt

| Research Data Publication and Citation Bibliography | Research Data Sharing and Reuse Bibliography | Research Data Curation and Management Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

Harvard Library: "Yuan Li Appointed University Scholarly Communication Officer"

Yuan comes to Harvard from Princeton, where she served as the Scholarly Communications Librarian, leading and managing Princeton University Library’s efforts in scholarly communication innovations and reforms. During her tenure she established the Scholarly Communications Office and launched several open-access programs and services, including the Princeton Open Access Repository, Princeton Open Access Publication Fund Program, Princeton Open Access Publishing Program, and PUL Copyright Services. She also helped establish the groundwork for Princeton Research Data Services, which evolved into a robust program that provides data curation, data education, and open data services. . . .

She holds a master’s degree in library science and information studies from the University of Rhode Island, a master’s degree in computer science from the National Computer System Engineering Research Institute of China, and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Yanshan University in Qinhuangdao, China. Additionally, she is currently pursuing a PhD in organizational leadership from Liberty University.

https://tinyurl.com/2j9r3yfh

"USC Appoints Alumna Melissa Just as New Dean of Libraries"

Library veteran Melissa Just has been named USC’s new dean of libraries, effective Nov. 27. Just — a Trojan who received her doctoral degree from the USC Rossier School of Education in 2007 and spent several years early in her career at USC Libraries — has worked in academic libraries for nearly three decades.

Just, who will hold the Valerie and Ronald Sugar Dean’s Chair of the USC Libraries, joins the university following 6½ years as library dean at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada. In that role, she oversaw the strategic, fiscal and operational success of a library system serving 26,000 students and 1,000 faculty across 17 colleges, schools and professional programs.

https://tinyurl.com/37mb2cz4

"Wayne State Names Paul Bracke Dean of School of Information Sciences and University Libraries"

Paul Bracke has been selected to serve as the next dean of the Wayne State University School of Information Sciences (SIS) and University Libraries. . . . Bracke will join Wayne State on Oct. 16, 2023.

Bracke is currently dean of the Foley Center Library, the primary library for Gonzaga University’s Spokane, Washington, campus, a position he has held since 2016. For the last two years, he has also served as associate provost for the Institute for Research and Interdisciplinary Initiatives. . . .

Bracke was previously an associate dean at the Purdue University Libraries. At Purdue, he provided leadership in technology, digitization, research services and assessment and developed internationally recognized research support services, including data management services and institutional and data repositories. He also directed projects that explored the intersections of digitization and open access publishing and of digitization and scholarly workflows in the social sciences.

https://tinyurl.com/2b5379yc

"UC Berkeley University Librarian Jeff MacKie-Mason Announces Retirement Plans"

Among the hallmarks of MacKie-Mason’s tenure at the Library has been his commitment to open access. As co-chair of the University of California’s publisher negotiation team, he was instrumental in the university system securing a groundbreaking deal with publishing giant Elsevier. To date, UC has struck open access deals with 15 publishers, including all of the top five publishers of UC-authored articles. Together, these agreements make it possible for 54 percent of all UC-authored articles to be published open access, so they are freely available to anyone, anywhere in the world.

https://bit.ly/3IoEfGm

Elizabeth Kiscaden: "Dean and University Librarian Named to Lead University of Cincinnati Libraries"

Elizabeth Kiscaden, MLIS, AHIP, has been named dean and university librarian of the University of Cincinnati Libraries, effective Aug. 14, pending approval by the UC Board of Trustees.

Kiscaden currently serves as university librarian and assistant vice provost of library services at Creighton University. While at Creighton, she has worked to modernize legacy library systems and infrastructure to support an anytime, anywhere, any device philosophy and is overseeing the development of a single library enterprise, bringing together campus and health sciences libraries.

https://bit.ly/3oMzD5B

University of Kansas: "Carol Smith Selected as Next Dean of KU Libraries"

The University of Kansas has selected Carol E. Smith to be the dean of the KU Libraries. Smith currently serves as university librarian at Colorado School of Mines, an institution with a Carnegie classification of very high research activity. Her appointment as dean of KU Libraries is effective July 3. . . .

Smith comprehensively reorganized the Colorado School of Mines library and museum in direct support of strategic goals. She established the Scholars Hub, a center for scholarly communications and open initiatives, and created a new engagement librarian role responsible for student outreach and robust curricular and cocurricular programming, including book discussions, workshops and more. She recruited new leadership that turned a static campus museum into a top regional family attraction with a K-12 outreach program.

https://lib.ku.edu/new-dean-carol-smith

UNC-CH "María Estorino Named Vice Provost for University Libraries and University Librarian"

We are excited to share that María R. Estorino has been appointed vice provost for University Libraries and university librarian, effective Jan. 30. She has held this role in an interim capacity since May and will continue to provide collaborative and community-focused leadership on our campus.

Estorino has been a leader in academic libraries for more than 20 years. She joined the University Libraries in 2017 as associate university librarian for special collections and director of the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library.

https://www.unc.edu/posts/2023/01/26/maria-estorino/

"Elisabeth Long Appointed Sheridan Dean of University Libraries, Archives, and Museums at Johns Hopkins University"

Long has served as associate university librarian for information technology (IT) and digital scholarship at The University of Chicago (UChicago) since 2016, where she began her career in 1998. She currently oversees digital scholarship services for students and faculty at UChicago and is responsible for the library’s IT infrastructure that supports the preservation of digital archives, books, and data. She also served as interim library director and university librarian from December 2021 through April 2022.

https://cutt.ly/0NJJCUK

| Research Data Publication and Citation Bibliography | Research Data Sharing and Reuse Bibliography | Research Data Curation and Management Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

"Lyrasis Announces John Wilkin as New Chief Executive Officer"

Lyrasis, a mission-driven, community-led nonprofit serving libraries, museums and research communities, is pleased to announce the appointment of John Wilkin as the organization’s new CEO. He will begin the role effective December 1, 2022.

Wilkin, who is currently Dean of Libraries and University Librarian at the University of Illinois, brings deep experience in building community-driven programs with a focus on increasing access to knowledge, a core tenet of the Lyrasis mission. Wilkin played a key role in the creation of HathiTrust, a nonprofit collaborative digital library that preserves and provides access to 17+ million digitized items, serving as its first Executive Director. He has long been an advocate for open source and open access initiatives, developing pioneering digital library systems and spearheading open access to content such as Making of America. Wilkin was the recipient of the 2011 LITA/Library Hi Tech award for Outstanding Communication in Library and Information Technology and the 2019 Hugh Atkinson Memorial Award.

https://cutt.ly/zNjGtcA

| Research Data Publication and Citation Bibliography | Research Data Sharing and Reuse Bibliography | Research Data Curation and Management Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

Donald J. Waters Appointed: "Announcing CNI Senior Scholar Program"

Our intention is to appoint a series of CNI Senior Scholars—currently we are thinking in terms of 12–18-month appointments, with at most 1–2 Senior Scholars active at a time—who will explore broad research questions that align with CNI’s program and interests.. . .We are extraordinarily fortunate that Donald J. Waters has agreed to serve as the inaugural CNI Senior Scholar beginning November 1, 2022. As a CNI Senior Scholar, Don will study and report on the state of scholarly information infrastructure in higher education to address societal grand challenges. His research will help to identify the information infrastructure that research universities need to establish and expand programs in which faculty spanning a diverse range of disciplines partner with policymakers and members of the public to address enormously pressing and complex issues such as climate change, pandemics, and related societal challenges.

https://cutt.ly/bBNMvgj

| Research Data Publication and Citation Bibliography | Research Data Sharing and Reuse Bibliography | Research Data Curation and Management Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |

UC Davis: " University Librarian and Vice Provost of Digital Scholarship MacKenzie Smith to Retire in June 2023"

“MacKenzie has led our library during a period of transformative change in how scholars create, access and share research,” said Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan. “She has made substantial contributions to the campus’s research enterprise at every level, from data science and informatics to the establishment of an undergraduate library research prize. MacKenzie has also elevated our library’s leadership role, within UC and far beyond, in advancing free and open access to research. We will miss her leadership and collaboration, but wish her all the best in her retirement.”

https://cutt.ly/yBQnEcD

| Research Data Publication and Citation Bibliography | Research Data Sharing and Reuse Bibliography | Research Data Curation and Management Bibliography | Digital Scholarship |