Final candidate for KU Libraries dean to present Monday


LAWRENCE — The final of four candidates for the dean of KU Libraries position at the University of Kansas will make a public presentation during an upcoming campus visit.

Todd Grappone, associate university librarian for Digital Initiatives, Information Technology, and the Social Science Data Archive at the University of California Los Angeles, will deliver a talk at 3:45 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, in Watson Library 3 West. The topic is Vision and Aspirations for the Role of Libraries in the Next Ten Years at a Flagship State University Such as KU.

The dean of libraries search committee — led by Saralyn Reece Hardy, director of the Spencer Museum of Art — invites students, faculty and staff to attend the presentation and provide feedback of their impressions.

For the past two years Grappone also has been interim AUL for the College Library, Teaching and Learning Services and the East Asian Library at UCLA. In his role in the University of California Library System, he works closely with several campus libraries and the California Digital Library, and he serves as chair of the Direction and Oversight Committee. He is a successful grant writer and collaborator, with an extensive list of faculty collaborations spanning from digital humanities to system scientists and medical researchers. Grappone has a strong interest in unique international and born-digital collecting and enjoys working directly with students. He was a member of the 2014 cohort of the Senior Fellows program at the UCLA Department of Information Studies.

Grappone has significant experience in information technologies, data interoperability and networked information resources. He was appointed by the vice chancellor of research as the chair of the Research Informatics Strategic Plan working group on Campus Data Services. Grappone is known both nationally and internationally for developing robust and unique digital library programs, and he sits on the HathiTrust Program steering committee.

Prior to working at UCLA, Grappone was associate executive director, Information Development and Management, University Libraries for the University of Southern California; chief technology officer for Occidental College; and associate director for Wireless Computing Development and head of Computing and Network Systems, Information Resources & Technology for Lane Medical Library/Knowledge Management Center at Stanford University. 

Grappone has a master’s of library and information science and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and political science, both from the University of Pittsburgh.

Candidate presentations will be recorded and available for viewing online after the final candidate has appeared on campus. Evaluations of all candidates can be submitted online until 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 4.

KU Libraries is the largest library system in Kansas. KU Libraries offers more than 4.2 million print volumes in seven campus facilities, including a state-of-the-art offsite storage facility. The Libraries has extensive international holdings, including notable collections in Slavic, Latin America and East Asian studies. The Kenneth Spencer Research Library is recognized worldwide for its rare book, manuscript and archival holdings in history, literature and natural history. The Libraries employs 50 faculty, 100 staff and 175 student employees.

KU Libraries is a leader in the open access movement on campus, nationally and internationally. Open Access works to make scholarly research more accessible to researchers and the public by using the advantages provided by digital and electronic communication. The University of Kansas was the first public institution in the United States to adopt a faculty-led open access policy.

Fri, 10/30/2015

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Jill Hummels

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