EBLIP9: Local Organizing Committee

Danuta A. Nitecki has been evolving a model academic library at Drexel University to respond to the challenges of the data age since 2010. Prior to assuming her current position at Drexel as dean of libraries and professor, College of Computing and Informatics, she has held library administrative positions at Yale University, and the Universities of Maryland at College Park, Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and Tennessee, Knoxville. Danuta has taught in library science graduate programs at Drexel University, University of Rhode Island, Simmons College, and University of Parma, as well as co-created and taught an Association of Research Libraries [ARL] Online Lyceum course on Measuring Service Quality. She has been active in national, state and regional associations and has published over eighty articles, books, and compilations on such topics as library spaces, user-based evaluation of library services, research methods, document delivery, and management of library services and information technology applications. With co-authors Robert E. Dugan and Peter Hernon, Danuta received the 2010 Best Book in Library Literature for Viewing Library Metrics from Different Perspectives: Inputs, Outputs, and Outcomes, awarded by the American Library Association. She holds a PhD and MS degree in library and information science, and an MS in communications.

Virginia Wilson is the Director of the Centre for Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (C-EBLIP) at the University Library, University of Saskatchewan (U of S), Canada. C-EBLIP supports librarians as researchers, promotes evidence based library and information practice, and provides avenues for librarians who conduct research to communicate, collaborate, and share. Virginia’s MLIS is from the University of Alberta and she has an MA in English from the University of Toronto. She has written evidence summaries and the EBL 101 column for the journal Evidence Based Library and Information Practice and currently writes the Research in Practice column for that journal. Virginia chaired the planning committee for the 7^th International Evidence Based Library and Information Practice conference which was held in 2013 at the University of Saskatchewan. She has established a program of research focusing broadly on evidence based library and information practice and conducts research as a faculty member at the U of S. As a working librarian who also conducts research, Virginia strongly believes that practicing librarians should be involved in conducting and using research to inform their own practice. 

Michael J. Krasulski is Assistant Professor and West Regional Center Librarian at the Community College of Philadelphia. He was previously Associate Professor and Access Services Librarian at the University of the Sciences, Philadelphia. Michael’s primary research interest is the educational and training needs and experiences of access services librarians, which he hopes will improve the status of these practitioners within the profession. Further, he has a variety of interests beyond academic librarianship, including urban history, transportation history, and the history of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods thru the lens of the Episcopal Church. He earned his MSLIS from Drexel University and has an additional master's degree from Temple University. Michael serves as the book review editor for the Journal of Access Services. Together was Trevor A. Dawes, he edited Twenty-First Century Access Services: On the Frontline of Academic Librarianship, which was published by the Association of College and Research Libraries in 2013.

John Wiggins is Director, Library Services & Quality Improvement at Drexel University Libraries, where he reduces costs and increases speed of services for the Libraries’ users, in part through his leadership of the processing and access units. He is particularly interested in normalizing the Libraries’ user feedback to support improvement planning, as well as tracking and visualization of library service metrics to engage users, and has interest in developing self-service solutions to users’ most common needs. John is chair of the Resources Committee of the Assessment Section of LLAMA (Library Leadership and Management Association, a division of the American Library Association).  He previously served as chair of the Data Collection committee, part of the precursor group to the Assessment Section.  As co-author of Assessment is not enough for libraries to be valued”, John earned an Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence: Outstanding Paper certificate, and he will be co-presenter of the short presentation “A Factor Analysis Approach to Persona Development using Survey Data”  at the upcoming Library Assessment Conference. Twitter: @jww27 ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8617-5247

Dr. Rick Stoddart is currently a reference and instruction librarian at the University of Idaho. He has a strong interest in library assessment and evidence-based practices. Dr. Stoddart is the current president-elect of the Pacific Northwest Library Association. His research interests include exploring critical reflection in librarianship, articulating new ways of library value/impact, and information literacy.

Jessica Rossi is currently Assistant Professor and Technical Services Librarian at the Community College of Philadelphia. She also serves as the Library Department Chair, in which she oversees library faculty and operations. Her professional interests lie in the commitment to the mission of community colleges and getting students excited about using the library. Outside of the library world, she is a long time supporter and volunteer of Girls Rock Philly. 

Darin Pfeifer, CMP, Executive Director of Protocol & Special Events at Drexel University, manages significant events both on and off campus.  Darin has previously done similar work at Swarthmore College and has worked in private industry managing hospitality.

Denise Koufogiannakis is Associate University Librarian at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. In this role she oversees collection strategies, bibliographic services, access services, and is a member of the Libraries’ Strategic Leadership Team. Denise received her PhD in Information Studies from Aberystwyth University, Wales, and MLIS from the University of Alberta. She also holds an MA (Queen’s) and BA (St. Francis Xavier) in English Literature. Denise co-founded the open access journal Evidence Based Library and Information Practice and has held several editorial positions since the journal’s inception in 2006, including Editor-in-Chief from 2009 to 2011. She has been actively involved with the international EBLIP conference, serving on the Program Committee, International Advisory Committee, and as Co-chair of the 2nd conference which was held in Edmonton in 2003. In 2007, Denise was named a ’Mover and Shaker‘ by Library Journal for her contributions to the evidence based librarianship movement.  With Alison Brettle, she co-edited the recent book Being Evidence Based in Library and Information Practice, published by Facet (2016)

M.J. Tooey is Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs and Executive Director of the Health Sciences and Human Services Library at the University of Maryland where she has worked in various library positions since 1986. She is also the Director of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine’s Southeastern/Atlantic Regional Medical Library under contract with the National Library of Medicine at NIH. She received her MLS from the University of Pittsburgh.Tooey served as president of the Medical Library Association (MLA, 2005-2006), is a Fellow of the association and was the 2016 Janet Doe Lecturer. She has also served as president of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL, 2012-2013). She is the 2011 recipient of Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Information Sciences. Tooey is the author or co-author of over 100 chapters, articles, presentations or posters. Her professional interests include leadership, emerging trends, library innovation and design, ethics, and mentoring.

Joel Nichols has been serving as the Data Strategy and Evaluation Administrator for the Free Library's Department of Strategic Initiatives since 2014. He has previously worked for the Free Library in multiple capacities, including service as as the Children’s Librarian for three libraries--Lillian Marrero, Parkway Central Children’s Department, and Charles L. Durham--and Acting Branch Manager and Branch Manager for Lillian Marrero and Charles L. Durham Libraries, respectively. He is interested in public library assessment, evidence-based public library practice and demonstrating the impact of public library services. He is the author of iPads in the Library and Teaching Internet Basics, both from Libraries Unlimited.