Welcome to KSL and the world of academe.

As the director of the Kelvin Smith Library (KSL) and as a Personal Librarian, my goal is to make our academic library an inviting and interesting place for all of our students and faculty.  The KSL mission is to be the knowledge and creativity commons of the University, and our vision is to be an information aboratory for knowledge collection, connection, creation and curation.  Students should find KSL to be a place not only for quiet study and research, but also a place to gather and share in the process of intellectual discovery of existing knowledge.  At KSL you can study intensively, but we also encourage you to take a break to relax, reflect and refresh your mind.  Explore the artwork, pick up some leisure reading, or just grab a bite to eat.  It is all part of the knowledge discovery process so you can form your own perspective, create new ideas, and to think beyond the possible.

Besides being a librarian, I am an avid travel photographer, and I enjoy reading, art, music, and the theater.   By profession and practice I enjoy exploring new technologies and finding creative ways to apply them.  I will be interested to learn about your interests, and look forward to ensuring you receive high quality services that enrich your academic experience.

Arnold Hirshon has been the Associate Provost and University Librarian at Case Western Reserve University since August 2012.  His previous positions included service for ten years as Executive Director of NELINET (a library consortium) where he launched many new programs, including consulting services, digital services, and open source software support and hosting.  After NELINET merged with LYRASIS in late 2009, he became Chief Strategist and Executive Consultant.

Prior to NELINET and LYRASIS, Hirshon served as Vice Provost for Information Resources (Chief Information Officer) at Lehigh University, where he was responsible for university computing and libraries.  He also was University Librarian at Wright State University (chief administrator for both the academic and medical libraries), Associate Director of Libraries at Virginia Commonwealth University, and served in library administrative posts at Duke University and Wayne State University. 

Hirshon is a Past President of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services.  Among his many other service assignments, he was a member of the Executive Committee of Counter, and the Vice-Chair of the OhioLINK Library Advisory Committee.  He recently was named as a member of the Management Board of EIFL.NET, an international association of library consortia in fifty developing countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia.

A highly experienced international consultant on issues of organizational, strategic and business planning, facility redesign, operations management and assessment, and technology integration. Hirshon currently was the chief advisor for a Carnegie Foundation-funded project to develop new ways to employ technology to advance faculty research at major research universities of South Africa. In addition, Hirshon served as a consultant for EIFL.NET.  Within the United States, his clients included many major academic insttutions

Hirshon has an extensive scholarly record that includes many monographs, including the Library Strategic Planning Toolkit (co-author: Stephen Spohn), and Outsourcing Library Technical Services (co-author: Barbara Winters).  He is also the author of numerous articles about strategic management, organizational design, technology, leadership, information service integration, assessment and optimization of operations, and non-profit management.

A frequent lecturer nationally and internationally, Hirshon has given lectures in nearly forty countries on six continents on a wide range of topics, including organizational management, trend spotting and analysis, technology planning, and operations assessment and optimization.

After spending my career in the Investment Management industry, I recently joined Kelvin Smith Library as Director of Development.  As a native Clevelander, I am an enthusiastic supporter of our region and have recently become the President of the Rotary Club of Cleveland.  Growing up in Shaker Heights, I am a graduate of Shaker Heights High School and St. Lawrence University.  After returning to Cleveland to begin my career, I graduated from the Weatherhead School of Management in 1990 and served on the WSOM Alumni Board for over 10 years.  Married for 25 years, I have a Daughter who is a Sophomore at Ohio University and a Son who is playing Jr. A hockey in Northern Virginia.

Experienced sales and marketing executive well versed in the financial services industry...building trust, delivering advice. Over the past 30 years working with clients and professional advisors alike, developing and cultivated relationships designed to deliver thoughtful, informed and well reasoned advice. Using an integrated, collaborative approach to business development, new opportunities are identified, needs assessed and solutions provided...now on the development team at the Kelvin Smith Library of Case Western Reserve University, I can deliver legacy planning solutions and creative ways to support the Library and University in the 21st Century.

I have been at CWRU since February of 2005. Within the Kelvin Smith Library, I am the Team Leader for Research Services. My team consists of all the librarian that buy materials for the collection, assist with reference questions, work with the faculty, and teach people how to use the library and its resources. I am also a librarian for engineering faculty and students, specifically chemical and macromolecular engineering.

I am currently a student myself. I am working on a MBA in Weatherhead. Previously, I earned a Masters in Library & Information Science from Kent State University and a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from the University of Akron. I also teach sources for the School of Library & Information Science at Kent State.

I live in Akron with my wife, 2 cats, and a dog. I enjoy hiking, running, gardening, and technology. I am into trail running, and have completed a couple mararthons (Cleveland and Columbus) and a 50K trail run on the Buckeye Trail.

Find more information about me, including Research Guides I use to help students in engineering and other disciplines at http://researchguides.case.edu/profile/bcg8.

William Claspy holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in English from Case Western Reserve University in addition to a Masters in Library Science degree from Kent State University. He has worked for the CWRU University Library since 1988 and is currently the Humanities librarian at the Kelvin Smith Library.

Hello & welcome to Case! I came to Case in 1996, a few months before KSL opened and I had the good fortune to be in the building before we opened for business in June, moving the collections together & setting up new online services. I know just about every inch of our 30 miles of compact moveable shelves & what's on them, and enjoy showing them to people who need to find things in KSL!  

It was the late summer of 1996 when we got our first online journals (several dozen physics titles) but before I came to Case, I was online at NASA Research Center here in Cleveland. It was the very early internet days for the general public, when the browser still fit on a disc!  I plunged into it all and developed new internet and business & industry specialties for the library and the Center.  That was an exiciting, truly groundbreaking time, and KSL always has been, too–I'm still always looking at what's new, and for ways to optimize my research time. It's always changing.

I'm an advocate of newspapers and read several different ones a day, but I try to save time for fun things too. Like you, I don't sleep much and I like knowing about a lot of things–you'll be exploring research at Case that way, too, so bring on your questions.

Stop by KSL, call, or email–it's a quick way to get ahead on some things that are new to you, to get some tips about KSL & what happens here and around the community. My voicemail will tell you if I'm at Weatherhead teaching or working in the Peter B. Lewis lobby, otherwise my door's always open on the 2^nd floor at KSL.

I'd love to show you my top tips in using Case's research resources. You're investing a lot of time and money to be here–it's worth it, when you learn how to use great new tools. With a few new techniques, I guarantee I can save you time, help you stay on your topic-track, and work efficiently and effectively. That's a good thing, because among other things, it frees up time for other new things going on in your life.  

See you soon: 201-H 368-5309karen.oye@case.edu

I began my career here in Cleveland at the NASA Lewis Research Center (now renamed NASA Glenn at Lewis Field), in the main library. I worked on projects from Headquarters, wrote the 50 year anniversary history of the Lewis Library, and began my graduate studies while employed there as a contractor. Working in a research environment and being supported by the contract and civil service librarians helped to shape my professional career, as did a vastly new resource. The internet for the general public emerged during that time and I developed a collection to support the center, investigated then-new online ways to do our research, and did special business projects for the division and Center administrations.

I came to a new customer services position at the Kelvin Smith Library in the spring of 1996 and oversaw the move of the former libraries' collections and services into one new model, and instituted new online services and took others paperless with new advances in technology and software like ILLiad, implemented 24x7 service at KSL, and worked  to increase KSL visibility on campus via the library facebook and blog, and by working with various student and campus groups.

Case is one of the founding members of the OhioLINK academic consortium, and I've represented the university on the InterCampus Services Committee for 15 years, with an appointment as Chair for 2 years in 2007-2008. During that time, my goal was to dramatically reduce interlibrary loan paper article delivery amongst the 89 members and help them to do that by a series of statewide learning sessions. By 2012, 69 OhioLINK members used Odyssey for electronic article delivery, and around the world over 555 libraries use Odyssey for electronic resource sharing.

After working with the Office of General Counsel on e-reserves copyright statements, further discussions with them led to my working on a copyright statement that in 2003 became the new university copyright compliance policy. Copyright@Case on the KSL homepage hosts the policy plus helpful pages that serve as general awareness for our community. 

I've been invited to speak and present at local, state, national and international conferences on customer services in libraries, ILLiad resource sharing, and copyright. More recently, I incorporate new interest in scholarly publishing and Open Access environments into copyright awareness, with a new focus on author's rights. 

Currently at KSL, I'm the liaison for the Weatherhead School of Management, providing research and collection services for the faculty, staff, and students of the school. I teach classes through the Career Offices, in faculty classrooms upon invitation, hold Lunch 'n Learn sessions through WSOM IT for general awareness of research resources at Case, and partner with colleagues to bring business research to related fields like science entrepreneurship programs. Research Librarians at KSL are now focusing on experimenting with new technologies to bring our expertise online so they can be used as needed, anywhere-anytime.

My primary professional association is the Special Libraries Association (SLA), as a member of the Leadership and the Business & Finance divisions, and former President of the Cleveland SLA chapter. Since joining Case, I've also maintained a membership in the American Library Association (ALA) in the Leadership and Management Association, Reference and User Services Association, and the Business Reference Services Section.

Karen started her career in 1986 at the Brooklyn Public Library after graduating from the Pratt Institute. Upon moving to Cleveland to be closer to her family, she started work at CWRU

as a part-time reference librarian there she remained until 1997 when she started work at Kelvin Smith Library as head of Governent Documents.

She now is a member of the Research Services Librarian covering the sciences.

In her spare time, Karen likes to read, garden and cook.

I have been at CWRU since Fall 1988. Within the Kelvin Smith Library I am the director of Kulas Music Library, a branch of Kelvin Smith Library housed on the first floor of Haydn Hall. I am the Research Services Librarian for the performing arts (music, dance and theater) and classics. As such I am responsible for developing the collections in those areas, providing reference services and instruction in library resources, and acting as the library's liaison to those departments.

My educational background includes degrees in music and historical musicology (Washington U. in St. Louis), librarianship (U. of Illinois at Campaign/Urbana), and performance (Dutch Royal Conservatory in The Hague).

I am still active as a performing musician (lutenist) and have a special interest in chamber music and song of the 17th century. I direct my own quartet, Ensemble Lautenkonzert, which specializes in chamber music c. 1700. The ensemble consists of Lisa Rainsong, soprano; Tina Dreisbach, baroque flute; Janet Winzenberger, viola da gamba and myself, lute.

I grew up in St. Louis, but have lived in Cleveland for the last 27 years. I currently live in Cleveland Hts. with my wife and Harley the cat. I am a vegan and have a keen interest in science fiction (in all formats).

I started my career as a Science Librarian in KSL at CWRU in July 2011 after working at and graduating from Indiana University. Now I am a Reserch Services librarian and I cover Chemistry, Biology and Environmental Studies. In my free time, I like shopping, sports, reading and cooking. Please feel free to contact me for any questions you have about KSL!

Hi, I am Daniela. I am one of the librarians in the Research Services Department, covering most of the engineering departments. Like you, I am a new to the CWRU community as I have just started working here but I already know that CWRU is a nice place to be. I am passionate about traveling, technology, flower photography, and gardening – ground hogs, deer and other critters permitting! I’ll be happy to assist you with any KSL, CWRU, and Cleveland related questions.

Hello. I'm Rich, and work at the Kelvin Smith Library, where I've been for over 4 and a half years. Currently, I am the Team Leader for Acquisitions and Metadata at the library. This basically involves overseeing cataloging, new materials purchased for the library, electronic resources (for example, e-journals, e-books, databases), government documents, metadata (or, information for resources put on teh web), and special collections cataloging. 

  While I and my team do much of the work behind the scenes at the library, we are more than happy to assist library students, faculty, and staff. 

  Prior to working at CWRU, I was a reference and instruction librarian at Bowling Green State University, working with departments in math, computer science, education, and psychology, among others. So if you have refernence questions about these subjects, I may be able to assist you. If not, I can direct you to one of our subjects specialists here at Kelvin Smith Library. 

  If you have questions about how to start research, feel free to ask. Prior to being a librarian, I taught college English for several years, and earned a doctorate in English from Michigan State University, so I'm happy to assist someone who is starting research.

 I currently reside in Akron (long daily commute), but if you have questions about the area, let me know (and again, if I don't know the answer, I can direct you to someone who might). 

Even before I saw my first episode of the original Star Trek series, I was fascinated by the notion of untethered communication ("Beam me up, Scotty!"). This interest was nurtured by my voracious reading of early science fiction masters, and by my study of the literature of traditional West African societies, in which untethered communication is a major theme. That interest has remained with me through three degrees and related studies:

• B.A., English
• M.A., English
• M.S.L.S., Library Science, CWRU (Received the Jesse Hauk Shera Award for promise of future scholarly contribution to librarianship)
• Digital Storytelling, Center for Digital Storytelling
• Oxford Round Table, International Round Table on Education Policy, Oxford, England.  >>At Oxford, all our meals were taken at Pembroke Hall— think of Harry Potter’s Great Hall at Hogwarts, just without the floating candles.

Since the advent of the Web, I've linked my interest in communication modes to the phenomenon of the digital divide—the gap that exists between those with and those without access to the Internet and associated devices.  More recently, digital divide scholars are focusing their attention not just on gaps in access and technology, but on the disparities that exist between those who are fluent in the digital environment and those who have limited functionality there. So, digital literacy is a growing concern among educators and others who know that in order for our youth to compete globally they must be fluent in multiple communication modes.

Here at the Kelvin Smith Library, I manage electronic resources, particularly online journals and databases. I keep current with standards of online scholarly communication in order to ensure that Case users are able to access the information that they need at any time, from any location, and from multiple devices. 

I am also passionate about:

• Environmental issues, especially the water quality of rivers and streams
• Classical jazz vocalists (Billie Holiday should have a national monument)
• Ice cream— never met an Ice Cream I did not like. I can eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and frequently do, especially in the winter.

Follow this link to see citations to some of my work. 

Mary Burns holds a BA of Liberal Arts from Hamline University, an M.A. in Early Music Performance Practice from Case Western Reserve University and a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Kent State University. She started working in the University Library in 1985 in serials and acquisitions and then in the cataloging department in May 1986.  Mary has been doing special collections cataloging since 1991 and spent eleven years working in the Department of Special Collections.  In 2002 she took on the responsibility of audio-visual cataloging.  In addition to her work for the Kelvin Smith Library Mary has worked on music cataloging projects for the Cleveland Institute of Music and cataloged the rare book collection held by the Cleveland Botanical Garden. Her interests include Medieval and Renaissance history and art, the history of the book and rare botanical books.  As time permits she enjoys doing programs of English, Italian and French lute songs of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Mary Burns holds a BA of Liberal Arts from Hamline University, an M.A. in Early Music Performance Practice from Case Western Reserve University and a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Kent State University. She started working in the University Library in 1985 in serials and acquisitions and then in the cataloging department in May 1986.  Mary has been doing special collections cataloging since 1991 and spent eleven years working in the Department of Special Collections.  In 2002 she took on the responsibility of audio-visual cataloging.  In addition to her work for the Kelvin Smith Library Mary has worked on music cataloging projects for the Cleveland Institute of Music and cataloged the rare book collection held by the Cleveland Botanical Garden. Her interests include Medieval and Renaissance history and art, the history of the book and rare botanical books.  As time permits she enjoys doing programs of English, Italian and French lute songs of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Hello, My name’s Suzhen Chen. I am a Cataloging and Metadata Librarian at Kelvin Smith Library. I obtained my Master degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009. In 2010, I joined the team of Acquisition and Metadata Services at Kelvin Smith Library. I’d be very happy to assist you with your research, answer library-related questions etc. Please feel free to contact me. 

Stephanie Church is an Acquisitions and Metadata Services Librarian at Case Western Reserve University.   Her undergraduate degree is in Communications from John Carroll University and her master’s degree is in Library and Information Science from Kent State University.  She has worked at the Kelvin Smith Library since 2009. 

Jennine is the Team Leader for Access & Delivery Services at Kelvin Smith Library.  As your Personal Librarian, she is excited to begin working with you and is available to help you with any questions you may have about using the library.

Welcome to Case Western Reserve University!

Roger began his career in Education Technology and Distance Learning where he became the Director of Information & Learning Technology at HealthSpace Cleveland.  During that time, he completed a dual Masters Degree in Library & Information Science and Information Architecture & Knowledge Management.  He joined the Kelvin Smith Library Staff in May of 2006.

In his spare time, he writes The Zender Agenda (http://www.thezenderagenda.com) a local music blog focusing on Live Music and New Releases.

Hello,
I’m Mahmoud Audu, Personal Librarian.  I am an Alumni if CWRU, so I am
quite familiar with the campus and surrounding areas. My favorite sport is football (soccer)
and like my favorite team wears the same color as the school team, GO BLUES (CHELSEA FC) Whoo!!!
I do enjoy all kinds of sports, video games and I am very easy to talk to, so don't be shy.
I am always eager to learn something new, and you should be the same.
I look forward to working with you on how to navigate the information environment
(print and electronic resources) @ KSL.

If you see me arround campus, stop me and say hello. :D

I have a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, where I had 7+ years of solid experience programming in languages such as C++, Java, and C#, matlab, R/S+ as well as operating system environments such as Unix/Linux. I also have experience with programming languages such as Verilog and VHDL, and expanded my knowledge of programming by personally learning HTML/XML and Actionscript (Macromedia Flash’s scripting language). More Programming languages skills, such as ASPX .NET C# and VB, and PL/SQL (the oracle database scripting language), were aquired recently in the real world setting.

I have previously worked at the university at the BRB medical building for the Genetics Department where I helped with coding and organizing data using the mathematical software R/S+. I created scripts that ran and helped organized as much of the given data available.

Another position I held in the university High Performance Computing Cluster (HPCC) that was used by both students and faculty. In this job, I integrated Windows designed software (mainly math software such as Matlab and Mathematica) on the Linux/UNIX cluster environment, wrote basic scripts to be used on the cluster for testing, validating, and implementing the functionality of updated software. This gave me the opportunity to interact with fellow students, staff and faculty, as coworkers and clients.

For more information Feel free to contact me, I will be more than happy to provide as much information as needed

Jared Bendis is an award-winning installation artist, photographer, teacher, playwright and filmmaker. He is a specialist in photography, virtual reality, and computer graphics and serves as the Creative New Media Officer for Case Western Reserve University’s Kelvin Smith Library. As the Creative New Media Officer, Jared weaves together cutting-edge technologies with proven, innovative pedagogical strategies to create rich multimedia experiences. Jared serves as the senior media expert for the campus, developing digital media strategies for media creation (and use) by researching and developing new-media applications for education. Jared also holds adjunct appointments in the CWRU Art Studio, Music, and SAGES departments where he teaches courses on multimedia, instructional technology, and New Media Literacy. Jared received his B.A. from Case Western Reserve University in Psychology with minors in Music and Art Studio and his M.A. in Art Education from the Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Institute of Art joint program. As a visual artist Jared focuses on the way people see, augmenting their reality via technology and visual perception. As a photographer he prefers to view the world though a wide-angle lens and specializes in spherical panoramic and stereoscopic photography. On his first trip overseas, in March 2000, Jared visited the Chateau de Pierrefonds in France and became driven (if not obsessed) with capturing and sharing cultural and architectural experiences and has photographed over 400 architectural, archeological and cultural sites (primarily castles) in 14 countries. Jared’s art practice also includes creating immersive installations that provide interactive social and sensory experiences for viewers. As a practicing commercial artist, Jared is lead developer, designer, and co-owner of Lemming Labs Limited that develops interactive media applications for the iPhone, iPad, and Android platforms. His mobile applications include: “Mandalas,” “EasyDraw,” “HoopDreams,” “Carve-It,” “Egg Draw,” “Hex Doodle,” and “Mow-It” to name but a few…

Virgina manages the digital repository for Case Western Reserve University, and also coordinates digital projects that include not only KSL library collections, but also those of Dittrick Medical Museum, WRHS and other departments outside of the library. Virginia received a Master's in Museum Studies from the University of Leeds ('03) and a Master's in Library and Information Science from Kent State University ('07). She has continued her coursework on topics of Digital Libraries, Digital Preservation and Digital Curation through a certificate of Advanced Studies of Library and Information Science at Kent State (currently undertaking). She also is adjunct faculty in the Library and Information Science department at Kent State University.

Virginia has also served as Chair Elect, Chair and Archivist for the local ASIST chapter in Cleveland, Ohio. She also regularly volunteers at Squire Vallevue Farm with the Farm Food Program. During the summer of 2012, she was also volunteering on a mural for the Haymaker's Farmer's market in her hometown of Kent, Ohio. Virginia has been with Case since March 2008.

Virginia previously worked at the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans, and at a private art gallery in Los Angeles before coming to Case.

In her free time, she loves to cook and garden, and spend time with her husband in their Geauga county residence.

Ann is a native Clevelander who lives near campus and has worked at CWRU since 2005.  When not working at KSL, she enjoys going to see exhibits at one of the University Circle museums, catching a concert, or attending a play at one of the many venues around Cleveland.  At home her 1-year old toddler and 3-year old sheepdog keep her busy.  She frequently takes them for walks to the Coventry playground.

Ann Holstein is a GIS Specialist at the Kelvin Smith Library’s Freedman Center.  In her role, she educates the CWRU community on using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for research and coursework.  She has built and maintains a growing collection of GIS data housed at the library, which campus members can utilize for their GIS and digital mapping projects.  She frequently collaborates with faculty and others engaged in digital scholarship and research that involves GIS.  Holstein holds a BS in Geology and an MS in GIS and Remote Sensing from the University of Pittsburgh.  She spent several years working as a GIS Specialist and GIS Project Manager before coming to CWRU in 2005.

A proud Cleveland native, Cheryl began her career path in libraries at Cleveland Public Library as a Page while in high school. Still employed at CPL throughout college, it was a natural progression to continue her education onto Kent State University to obtain a Masters of Library and Information Science. Before joining KSL’s Digital Learning & Scholarship Team as a Librarian, Cheryl previously worked as a Library Assistant in the circulation and reference departments at Kelvin Smith Library.  She looks forward to helping you get to know the beautiful campus of CWRU and navigate the Library and all of its resources. And don’t forget to get out and discover the revitalization of her home town—it’s a great time to be in Cleveland!

When Cheryl’s not helping patrons in the Freedman Center or exploring topics in digital scholarship, you can find her she spending time with her Pug, Sassafras, trying out a new DIY craft, moving and grooving at a Zumba class, or trying a new restaurant around the city.

Mike's library career has been truely organic. With nearly 20 years service contribution to the University, Mike has continually grown his skills from librarianship to one of the main resources for library technology support. Arriving at Case in 1983, Mike began earning his Undergraduate degree in Biology which he later completed in Jan 1989. In Fall 1988, Mike started working customer service at the Freiberger library before earning a promotion to work in Interlibrary Loan department. It is there that Mike forged an excellent relationship serving the research community within Case. In the Mid 90's Mike had taken personal interest in working with computers; specifically computer support. Mike had worked through on-line tutorials as well as hands on training to assume the role of an Analyst Programmer I.  Mike is currently the administrator of Case Libraries on-line catalog, as well as the Interlibrary Loan system. Mike functions as the main desktop support person for all library staff and public terminals, all aspects of KSL's classroom/meeting room environments, as well as the Freedman. Mike's greatest strength is his relentless commitment to customer service. Mike has been acknowledged in numerous publications written by Case Western faculty and doctoral candidates thanking him for his efforts. Mike is a living example of how one person can greatly impact an entire organization. We look forward to many more years of his continued service.

Acknowlegements:

• http://catalog.case.edu/search/X?searchtype=t&searcharg=author+art+and+the+m&SORT=D&submit=Search
• http://catalog.case.edu/search/X?searchtype=a&searcharg=meng,sara&SORT=D&submit=Search
• http://catalog.case.edu/search/X?searchtype=t&searcharg=acts+of+god&SORT=D&submit=Search
• http://catalog.case.edu/search/X?searchtype=a&searcharg=berger,mol&SORT=D&submit=Search

Hi, my name is Patrick and I began at Case as a student in 2008 studying electrical engineering and German. In 2009 I began working at KSL as a student programmer and after graduating I began working full time at the library. In addition to working at the library I spend my time working on unmanned quad-rotor drones, backpacking, and skiing. 

Truth in advertising requires that I admit I'm not a librarian, but an archivist. Like spies, archivists spend a lot of time reading other peoples' mail and email. We also do research and write reports on topics assigned to us by other people (sound familiar?) The library has an amazing range of information, but it can sometimes seem a little overwhelming. I'm happy to help you get started on a research project, navigate the library's resources, or work around "researcher's block."

Jill Tatem is currently University Archivist at Case Western Reserve University. She is a Certified Archivist with over 30 years of experience. Jill has a B.A and M.A. in history from the University of Dayton and an M.S.L.S. with a concentration in Archives Administration from Case Western Reserve University.

Eleanor (Nora) Blackman is a certified Archivist with 25 years experience in public, federal and academic libraries and archives.  Her AB degree in History is from Ohio University and her MA degree, also in History with a concentration in Archival Administration, is from CWRU.  Nora is currently a member of the Scholarly Resources & Special Collections team. 

Though currently based in the University Archives, I have worked for the Schools of Nursing and Medicine and the College of Arts and Sciences (when it was known as Western Reserve College). I love sports especially baseball, football, and soccer and though a loyal Cleveland fan, I will assist all - even a New York Yankees fan!

Helen has worked at Case Western Reserve University for 29 years, 23 in the University Archives. She is a Certified Archivist and holds a B.A. in English and History and a M.A. in History with a concentration in Archives Administration.

Sharlane Gubkin is the Preservation Officer for Kelvin Smith Library. She received a Masters in Library and Information Science from Kent State University and a BA in Art Studio from Cleveland State University. During her early years of employment at the library, she had an intensive six-year formal apprenticehip in Library Preservation. Sharlane's interests include creative art, human behavior, foreign cultures, medicine, history of media, bookbinding and preservation of library materials.

Education

Bachelor of Music (Organ Performance), Drake University, 1974
Master of Science (Library Science), Case Western Reserve University, 1977
Master of Arts (Music History), Case Western Reserve University, 1977. 

Experience

Music Cataloger, SUNY at Stony Brook, 1977-1980
Music Librarian, Kulas Music Library, Case Western Reserve University, 1980-1986
Head of Cataloging, Freiberger Library, Case Western Reserve University, 1986-1988
Assistant Director for Technical Services, CWRU Libraries, 1988-1998
Deputy Director,  Kelvin Smith Library, 1998-2011
Associate Director for Academic Engagement, 2011-date 

Besides my library career I maintain a parallel career as a professional church musician, organist and choral director.  I was Director of Music at the Euclid Avenue Congregational Church in Cleveland from 1983-2010.

Professional Organizations

American Library Association
Library Information Technology Association
Library Administration and Management Association
College and Research Libraries Association
American Guild of Organists 

Welcome to CWRU and the Kelvin Smith Library.

I am the Associate Director for Public Engagement Services and Library Administration. My areas of responsibility cover overseeing human resources, planning, financial management, assessment, marketing and communications, facilities and administrative operations. I am also involved with many campus committees, such as the Common Reading for first-year students, Staff Grievance Committee, CWRU Sexual Harassment Committee and the Martin Luther King Campus-wide Program Advisory Board. I earned both a Masters in Library & Information Science and Master of Nonprofit Organizations during the many years that I have worked at the University.

I’m a reference librarian at heart. If you have a question about what the Library collects, if you’re having trouble starting a research paper because you can’t find the right sources, if you want help preparing a bibliography, just ask! Every subject interests me, so I can help you find peer-reviewed articles on recent scientific research, digital images for your art paper, statistics for your poli sci class and even arguments pro and con for debates.

I am also active in my sorority, Delta Sigma Theta where I serve on several committees and have mentored teen mothers for nearly 15 years.