NCSU Libraries Focus Online

Volume 22 number 2 - Winter 2002

Andrew K. Pace, Head of the Systems Department

Andrew K. Pace became head of the NCSU Libraries' Systems Department on May 1, 2001. Pace, who leads a staff of fifteen employees, ensures the smooth integration and maintenance of emerging services and delivery of information technology to a diverse constituency.

Most recently, Pace served as assistant head of Systems at the library, where he shared responsibility for managing the department and coordinating operations assigned to the librarian for the integrated library system and the librarian for database resources. In addition, he served as the primary liaison to the Digital Library Initiatives Department and to the Triangle Research Library Network's Taos Planning Group and Reciprocal Borrowing Task Force.

As assistant head, Pace received national recognition for coordinating the integration of new features and functions into the Web catalog and course reserves interface; he redesigned the "Electronic Resources by Subject" section of the Libraries' Web site, resulting in a 124 percent increase in electronic resource usage; and he created a Web service for patron self-authentication for reciprocal borrowing across the UNC system. Pace joined the NCSU Libraries in 1999 as systems librarian for digital projects and databases. Before that, he held several positions at Innovative Interfaces, Inc., in Emeryville, California.

Pace received an M.L.S. from Catholic University of America, where he worked for two years as assistant to the head librarian of Catholic University's Library and Information Science Library. He received a B.A. with high distinction in rhetoric and communication studies from the University of Virginia. Pace is active professionally, and his forthcoming book Strange Bedfellows: When Dot-coms and Libraries Meet, is slated for publication by the American Library Association in 2002.

May M. Chang, Web Development Librarian

The NCSU Libraries appointed May M. Chang as its Web development librarian, effective July 2, 2001. Chang, who works primarily with the Digital Library Initiatives Department, implements emerging Web technologies to provide leading-edge access to digital resources and services. She coordinates the content, organization, and structure of the Libraries' Web pages and plans and implements usability testing of new products and services. She also directs the work of a programmer assigned to integrate Web access with other delivery mechanisms and digital resources.

Chang served as senior librarian and then head of the Design Center at the Trade Development Board in Singapore and as administrative support for the executive secretary and secretariat at the Consortium of University Research Libraries in London. Most recently, she was a librarian and technology consultant at Kenyon College in Ohio.

Chang received an M.S.L.I.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she worked as library Webmaster in the Digital Library Initiatives Department and as principal investigator of an award-winning project to create an electronic finding aid for the Advertising Council Archives. She earned a B.A.S. in information and library studies from the Curtin University of Technology in Australia, with a minor in business systems (computer science). She is active in professional organizations.

Honora Nerz, Head of the Burlington Textiles Library and Engineering Services

The NCSU Libraries appointed Honora Nerz as head of its Burlington Textiles Library and Engineering Services on July 9, 2001. Nerz leads in the design and delivery of services and programs to fifty faculty and 950 students in the College of Textiles, while also supporting other faculty, students, and corporate partners located on NC State's 1,000-acre Centennial Campus.

Nerz's responsibilities include the development and management of the research collection in the Textiles Library and collaboration with faculty on the delivery of digitized information to classrooms. Nerz also provides reference service to faculty and students with research interests in textiles design, engineering, electronics, chemistry, management, and computer science.

While serving as textiles and engineering services librarian at the Textiles Library since 1998, Nerz designed and marketed library services to faculty and students, assisted faculty in developing curriculum-integrated instruction, and provided advanced reference services. She implemented the Ford Motor Company Engineering Information Internship--established through a Ford grant to teach an NC State engineering student the information skills necessary to succeed in academia and industry--and supervised the program's first intern. As a former design engineer at Bechtel Corporation, Nerz led design projects associated with mechanical systems in nuclear power plants.

Nerz received an M.S.L.S. from Catholic University of America and a B.E. in mechanical engineering from Manhattan College. In 1999 she received the Digital Librarian Award from the Ford Motor Company. She is active professionally, and she and a colleague received the "Best Paper Award" in 2001 from the American Society for Engineering Education.

Scott T. Watkins, Educational Technologies Librarian

The NCSU Libraries appointed Scott T. Watkins as its librarian for educational technologies, effective July 30, 2001. Watkins works with the Digital Library Initiatives Department to develop appropriate content for NC State's learning technology and distance education environment. He gives demonstrations of digital and multimedia resources and software, creates sample course materials, and serves as liaison between NC State's Learning Technology Service, faculty, and librarians in all subjects.

Watkins also serves as the library's team member to the Learning Technology Service, helping to identify and organize a working collection of information to assist the Learning Technology Service in carrying out its mission. He provides research services, assists with distance education projects, and supports the integration of information management tools into the online teaching and learning environment.

Watson worked as a library technician at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library in Louisiana before moving to Wisconsin, where he worked as a network support professional at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Division of Information Technology. He later began his graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and served as an assistant Internet cataloger on the Internet Scout Project. He holds an M.L.I.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.A. in education from Louisiana State University, and a B.A. in English from Southern Methodist University.

Karen E. DeWitt, Head of the Harrye B. Lyons Design Library

Karen E. DeWitt became head of the Harrye B. Lyons Design Library on July 30, 2001. She provides innovative services to sixty-five faculty and more than 700 students in the College of Design. Working closely with the college's faculty, students, and administrators, DeWitt manages the library's book, journal, and slide collections; creates services that incorporate new information technology to meet user needs; and updates the art, architecture, and design content of the MyLibrary@NCState Web portal. Additionally, she provides leadership for a team from the NCSU Libraries' Digital Library Initiatives and Cataloging departments to digitize selected images from the Design Library's slide collection and to create access to the images through a structured database. She is a member of the College of Design Library Committee and other library committees.

During four years as architecture librarian at Texas Tech University, DeWitt's duties included overseeing the expansion of the facility into the university's first branch library. She held a graduate assistantship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Ricker Library of Architecture and Art, where she provided reference services and participated in acquisitions activities. As a research assistant to the director of the Ricker Library, she assisted in preparing Belgium, the Golden Decades for publication.

DeWitt earned an M.S.L.I.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A National Merit Scholar, she completed a dual-degree program at Cornell University, receiving a B.A. in the history of art and a B.F.A. in painting. DeWitt is active professionally.

Karen M. Letarte, Assistant Head of the Cataloging Department

Karen M. Letarte became assistant head of the Cataloging Department on September 3, 2001. Letarte shares responsibility for managing the department, assists with in-house training, and is responsible for one of the department's three sections.

Since 1997 Letarte served as an assistant professor and cataloger at the libraries of Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. She also taught principles of cataloging and classification in the university's Department of Library Science.

Letarte began her professional career as acting director of the School of Library and Information Studies Library at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has been a cataloger at the Instructional Materials Center in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked on a retrospective conversion project at the University of Kentucky Libraries that required the conversion of 10,000 serial titles into the NOTIS database.

In addition to writing successful grant proposals for teaching, Letarte has published articles and presented papers and workshops at professional meetings. She earned a B.A. with honors in English and elementary education from Dartmouth College and an M.A. in library and information studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is active professionally and serves on the American Library Association’s Council Committee on Minority Concerns and Cultural Diversity.