Ariana Santiago

Ariana Santiago, head of Open Education Services at University of Houston Libraries, was selected to the competitive 2024 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Leadership and Career Development Program. As one of 24 awardees, Santiago will participate in a 13-month fellowship designed to facilitate advancement of the fellows’ leadership goals within research libraries and archives.

“I am excited to be selected for the ARL Leadership and Career Development Program, as it is a unique and valuable experience for supporting leadership growth,” Santiago said. “I look forward to the learning opportunities I will have as a fellow and expanding my impact as a leader in research libraries.”

At UH Libraries, Santiago provides leadership and strategy for open education services, collaborating with Libraries and campus partners to advance open education and pedagogy, including the adoption and creation of open educational resources (OER). Santiago has published, presented, and contributed professional service in the areas of open educational resources, information literacy, and library outreach.

“I’m thrilled to support Ariana’s participation in this program,” said UH Libraries interim dean Christina H. Gola. “The Association of Research Libraries offers premier leadership development programming that elevates leadership capacity across the profession. UH Libraries has a long history of supporting librarian participation in ARL leadership programs, so I am confident that Ariana and the Libraries will both benefit greatly.”

Santiago earned a Master of Arts in Applied Learning and Instruction from the University of Central Florida, a Master of Arts in Library and Information Science from the University of South Florida, and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Central Florida. Before coming to UH, she was the Residency Librarian for Undergraduate Services at the University of Iowa. She was a 2017 American Library Association Emerging Leader.

University of Houston librarians and staff are actively engaged in scholarship and service to the profession, demonstrated through presenting, publishing, and community engagement; and recognized through fellowships, honors, and leadership roles.

Taylor Davis-Van Atta accepted a one-year extended appointment as a chair of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Digital Scholarship Section Professional Development Committee.  

Davis-Van Atta presented at Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) Forum on “Directions in digital scholarship: Support for digital, data-intensive, and computational research in academic libraries.”

Orolando Duffus co-presented “Gathering for action: A presentation on how to identify and take advantage of career growth opportunities for BIPOC librarians” with F. Foster, S. Webb, J. Thacker, and C. Jacobs as a pre-conference workshop panel at Joint Conference of Librarians of Color (JCLC).

Duffus co-presented “Employing pedagogical approaches towards inclusivity in library instruction for business and related disciplines” with A. Kraft, R. Peri, and W. Pothier; and “Mentorship: Creating pathways and expanding opportunities for historically underrepresented minority groups” with C. Guy, L. Xu, and R. Hankins as panels at ACRL Conference.

Wenli Gao co-presented “Bringing Asian Pacific American library workers together: An overview of ‘Path to Leadership’” with L. Pelayo-Lozada, L. Ruan, and R. Pun; and “Moving forward together: CALA’s actions towards EDI” with H. Yao, M. Huang, and G. Liu at JCLC.

Gao received the JCLC Advocacy Award.

Edward Gloor and Carolina Hernandez co-presented a poster, “Reconsidering LibGuides: From Pathfinders to Learning Opportunities,” at ACRL Conference. 

Gloor and K. Adams will co-present a breakout session, “Building Community: DIY Punk Strategies for Critical Information Literacy,” at LOEX Conference; and a column titled “Building Community: DIY Punk Strategies for the Library Classroom” will be published at College & Research Libraries News.

Rachel Helbing co-wrote “In-person and online escape rooms for individual and team-based learning in health professions library instruction” with Stefanie Lapka, K. Richdale, and C.L. Hatfield which was published in Journal of the Medical Library Association.

Helbing co-wrote “Response to school-based interventions for overweight and obesity: A systematic scoping review” with K.R. Arlinghaus, A.B. Cepni, L.P. Goodman, T.A. Ledoux, and C.A. Johnston which appeared in Clinical Obesity.

Helbing and A. Corral co-wrote a book chapter, “Maintaining continuity through institutional growth and personnel changes,” which appeared in Accreditation in the health sciences: A handbook for librarians, edited by D. Schmick.

Helbing presented with A. Corral “Chaos is a friend of mine: Creating and planning services for a new medical library space” at Medical Library Association and Special Libraries Association Joint Meeting; and is a member of the UH Population Health Internal Advisory Board.

Carolina Hernandez presented a paper titled “Need not apply: Identifying barriers to application in academic librarian job postings” at ACRL Conference.

Hernandez participated in a virtual panel titled “Navigating research incentives: IRB, institutional support, and funds” hosted by Institute for Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL); and co-presented a session with Veronica Arellano Douglas titled “What are they really saying and why? An interdisciplinary approach to critical visual literacy” at Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) Annual Conference.

Susan Hoover was selected for the 2023 Institute for Research Design in Librarianship and is serving on the planning committee for the 2023 LD4 Conference on Linked Data. Hoover will present a lightning talk, “What’s behind door number 2? Discovering and using hidden APIs to automate repetitive tasks,” at the annual Texas Conference on Digital Libraries.

Natalia Kapacinskas will co-present “Tending to our roots: Collective care, crip time, and disability in the library classroom” with Brea McQueen and Anna Boutin-Cooper at LOEX Conference.

Kapacinskas and Gloor co-wrote “Pandemic Professionals: Beginning a Librarian Career in a Crisis,” which was published in Journal of New Librarianship.

Stefanie Lapka co-wrote “Assessing for developmental language disorder in the context of African American English” with I. Francois, N.B. Ratner, and M.T. Mills which appeared in EBP Briefs.

Lapka led the Health Science Libraries’ spring webinar series, Scholarly Profiles: Communicating Your Research Impact While Meeting Funder Requirements, presenting three sessions geared toward UH health professions faculty, researchers, and students: “Researcher & Author Identifiers, Profiles and Social Networks: Maximize Your Impact,” “Developing Biosketches: How to Create a Biosketch for NIH/NSF Grant Proposals,” and “Creating and Using Your ORCID iD.”

Andrea Malone began five-year term on the Executive Committee of the Modern Language Association’s Libraries and Research Forum.

Malone presented “Trends in research impact librarianship: Developing new programs and services” at LibLearnX 2023; moderated a panel titled “BIPOC experiences in library/archive leadership: Centering the voices & perspectives of Black women” for the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Leadership and Career Development Program; and co-led a workshop with Taylor Davis-Van Atta for the UH College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences titled “Strategies for improving research visibility and impact.”

Mary Manning presented “Clifton’s blues: Blending Acadian sounds with blues, R&B, and popular music in southeast Texas” at the Texas Historical Association Annual Meeting.

Manning wrote “’Agents of Change: Celebrating Innovation at UH’s Centennial,’ a collaborative exhibit bringing 100 Years of Stories project full circle” which appeared in Houston History Magazine.

Ariana Santiago presented on an ACRL Conference panel titled “Opening Doors: From Library Residencies to Open Education” and co-edited a book (two volumes), Exploring Inclusive & Equitable Pedagogies: Creating Space for All Learners.

Mea Warren was appointed to the ACRL National Student Engagement Survey Committee.

Jerrell Jones

Jerrell Jones, digitization lab manager at University of Houston Libraries, is the 2022 recipient of the competitive Texas Library Association (TLA) Ray C. Janeway Scholarship and the TLA Summer School Scholarship. Both are intended for a graduate student enrolled in a library education program. Jones is completing a Master of Science in Information Science from University of North Texas.

Jones brings a combination of digitization experience and a background in fine art photography to his role at UH Libraries, where he provides management of digitization efforts and library assets supporting the digital curation of UH Special Collections materials; and management of the digitization space and personnel, which includes training, project management, equipment purchasing, and maintenance. Jones has served on several committees at UH Libraries, including search committees, the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CoDI), and task forces for the Digital Asset Management System and Theses and Dissertations digitization projects. One of his current projects is the digital library migration from a legacy ContentDM system to a Hyrax platform digital library. His service to the profession includes committee work for the Texas Conference on Digital Libraries (TCDL).

In addition to the TLA scholarships, Jones is the recipient of the 2021 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Julia C. Blixrud Scholarship and the 2021-2022 American Library Association (ALA) Spectrum Scholarship.

Annie Wu

Annie Wu, head of Metadata and Digitization Services (MDS) at University of Houston Libraries, has been awarded the Ambassador Kenneth Franzheim II and Mrs. Jorgina Franzheim Professorship, effective March 1.

The Franzheim Professorship was established in 2006 to support a full librarian in the MD Anderson Library at the University of Houston. The candidate must have exceeded the requirements to achieve the rank of full librarian, and must be recognized as an individual who has advanced their discipline and whose opinions are highly regarded.

“Annie Wu’s appointment reflects her singular influence in the field of librarianship,” said Athena Jackson, dean of UH Libraries and Elizabeth D. Rockwell chair. “The breadth and intention of the Franzheim endowment provided with this professorship mirrors the potential Ms. Wu will have to expend the funds in ways that advance the Libraries’ mission through her enterprise-wide scope of work that entails rich, meaningful, and inclusive descriptions of all our collections. I am very pleased that we will now have the opportunity to support Annie, and UH Libraries, through this appointment.”

In her role, which she has held since 2013, Wu is responsible for strategic direction, initiatives and planning for MDS. She has published and presented on various topics relating to information organization and discovery, digital systems, linked data, digital preservation policies and programs, metadata practices and standards, and staff competences, training and orientation. Wu has served on local, state, and national library association committees and task forces including serving as councilor-at-large of American Library Association (ALA). Wu is a fellow of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Leadership Fellows Program as well as the ARL Leadership and Career Development Program. Wu served as the co-principal investigator for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)-funded “Bridge2Hyku Toolkit: Developing Migration Strategies for Hyku” grant project. Prior to UH, Wu served as the operations manager at the Technical Information Center at Corning Inc., and as cataloging supervisor at University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Wu holds a master’s degree in Library and Information Studies (MLIS) from University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Kenneth Franzheim II was a Houston oilman and philanthropist. He served as ambassador to New Zealand, Western Samoa, Tonga and Fiji from 1969 to 1972. Franzheim was also a friend and supporter of UH Libraries, with a strong belief in higher education. His father was the prominent Houston architect whose best known building was the downtown Foley’s Department Store, and whose collection of rare architecture books is preserved in the Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room at the William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design, and Art Library.

Jerrell Jones

From ARL News: “The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has awarded Jerrell Jones the Julia C. Blixrud Scholarship to attend the ARL Fall Forum 2021. The scholarship was established in 2015 to honor the memory and extend the legacy of longtime ARL staff member Julia C. Blixrud. This year’s Blixrud Scholarship recipient, Jerrell Jones, is a cultural-heritage digitization specialist and professional photographer focused on utilizing digital imaging to inform, elevate, and empower.” Read the ARL Article

Reid Boehm

Reid Boehm, PhD, research data management librarian at University of Houston Libraries, is the 2021 recipient of the Rooks Early Career Librarian Fellowship.

The fellowship endowment was established by former UH Libraries dean Dana Rooks and spouse Charles W. (Mickey) Rooks, PhD and is designated to support a UH librarian in professional development and research opportunities, such as memberships, conference fees, travel costs, research assistance, specialized equipment, and technology.

“Receiving this fellowship is an honor and a wonderful opportunity to expand my research interests with resources and a three-year plan of action while also working to strengthen research data management (RDM) services and better advocate for researchers at UH,” Boehm said. “My hope is to expand this to the greater RDM community in scholarship, leading to some gradual shifts in service practices.”

Boehm’s research addresses gaps between funder data management requirements for research grant projects and the resources available to academic researchers. Often funders and RDM practitioners approach requirements from the scholarly defined ideals presented in the data science and library and information science disciplines. While this is the ultimate aim, Boehm’s focus is on what researchers are experiencing in reality. The goal is to learn more about these gaps pertaining to how the University and other public Research 1 academic institutions work with researchers. With attention to context in service and training, by learning from research partners instead of simply presenting best practices, there is greater potential to increase advocacy and communicate more clearly to funders about these realities.

Boehm holds a PhD in Information Science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she studied information equity and methods for evaluating government agency information on complex problems such as Colony Collapse Disorder and Livestock Identification for all citizens. Boehm became interested in data management and curation while working with a NASA data archive and later as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Notre Dame Library. Prior to UH Libraries, Boehm worked as a data management consultant at Johns Hopkins University.

Wenli Gao

Wenli Gao, data services librarian at University of Houston Libraries and 2021 – 2022 president of the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), is the co-lead on a project titled Path to Leadership: National Forum on Advancing Asian/Pacific Islander American Librarianship, which was awarded a grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Gao and colleagues Ray Pun, Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) president, CALA executive director Lian Ruan, and APALA executive director Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada, submitted the application on behalf of their organizations. The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program National Forum grant in the amount of $100,000 will provide the opportunity for 50 library and information science students and professionals to build strategies to develop Asian American and Pacific Islander American (APIA) library leaders and solutions for the barriers that they experience.

The Path to Leadership National Forum will take place in conjunction with LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience (LLX) in San Antonio, Texas in January 2022. Participants of the forum will discuss the current representation of APIA workers in the library field; identify specific leadership traits of APIA librarians; explore barriers to leading; and generate ideas which will be captured in a white paper that will lay the groundwork for the development of an APIA-specific leadership development curriculum.  

Following participation, attendees will continue to build on the Forum work through a series of virtual monthly meetings, followed by a final gathering at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference 2022, both also supported with IMLS funding. In addition, webinars sharing the findings of the forum and the white paper will be offered throughout the year following the grant period. 

The significance of the forum, Gao noted, is its focus on giving historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups tools to combat structural racism and discrimination. By convening to capture the voices and perspectives of APIA library workers in leadership and management roles, and those striving to be leaders, the Path to Leadership National Forum aims to shape the conversation of library leadership by sharing the experiences of APIA library workers and increasing APIA presence in library leadership positions.

“I am excited to have this grant that aligns with CALA’s plan and build this strategic collaboration with APALA during my CALA presidency,” Gao said. “Advancing diversity, equity and inclusion are critical components of University of Houston Libraries’ mission and organizational development. I am happy to get involved in this grant to support our goals as well.”