Lynema named 2016 EDUCAUSE Rising Star

Every time you search for resources in the library catalog and easily find what you're looking for, in addition to other resources you didn't know existed, you have Emily Lynema to thank.

When Lynema, NCSU Libraries’ Associate Head of Information Technology and Director of Academic Technology, came to NC State in 2006, online search used the same information system the old-school wooden cabinets full of 3x5 cards used. Lynema led the effort to reinvent search with user-focused ideas from e-commerce and web retail in NCSU Libraries' groundbreaking Endeca catalog, launched in 2006

“Emily was the first person to do that, and now it’s ubiquitous,” says Jill Sexton, NCSU Libraries Head of Information Technology. “It’s in every single library. It just swept across libraries all over the world, and that’s not an exaggeration.”

Lynema has been recognized with the EDUCAUSE 2016 Rising Star Award for her body of work over a decade at NC State, which includes foundational work in next-generation catalog search and leadership in the development of the James B. Hunt Jr. Library's technology-rich spaces.

EDUCAUSE, a national nonprofit of higher-education IT leaders and professionals, gives its annual Rising Star Award to an emerging leader in higher-ed IT whose work has grown the profession and increased levels of leadership and responsibility. Previous recipients have been information services vice provosts and IT directors for entire universities. Lynema is the first library IT person to be named the EDUCAUSE Rising Star.

“It’s unusual and noteworthy,” Sexton says of this distinction. “We’re known as one of—if not the most—technologically innovative libraries in the country. Something like the Hunt Library wouldn’t have been possible without having a dedicated IT staff and leaders like Emily.”

IT departments in academic libraries are often outsourced to their university’s centralized IT department. NCSU Libraries, however, has a dedicated IT group that drives innovation in its tech spaces and helps students, faculty, and researchers integrate those technologies into their learning and teaching.

“EDUCAUSE is the leading professional organization for Information Technology in Higher Education,” Sexton says. “NC State's IT community is very active in EDUCAUSE. When they hear that Emily’s won this award, they’ll be really impressed—and really proud.”

A sea change in the world of academic and public libraries, Lynema’s Endeca methodology and interface for the NCSU Libraries catalog brought search into the 21st century and garnered widespread recognition, including a 2007 “Movers and Shakers” award from Library Journal. Features such as relevance ranking, spelling corrections, and on-the-fly filtering and limiting of results had never been done before.

“It made library systems a lot more user-friendly, and it made it a lot easier for people to find the materials that are of interest to them,” Sexton notes. “And Emily led the first effort to develop that kind of system in a library.”

Lynema also spearheads the development of the Hunt Library’s spaces for large-scale visualization, immersive displays, and game development and testing. These spaces have brought international recognition to NC State, and Lynema’s future vision aspires toward more engagement and interactivity, including programming applications involving 3D visualization, acoustic modeling, and sensor systems.

“Emily and the staff she leads are a major reason why the Hunt Library, since its opening in 2013, has received international attention for its industry-leading technology plan and the competitive advantage that plan has afforded NC State’s students and faculty,” writes Vice Provost and Director of Libraries Susan K. Nutter in a nomination letter. “Emily is constantly engaging with the library and technology worlds for the betterment of our users and the profession.”

Lynema currently oversees the Discovery Systems unit, which develops core business applications for resource discovery, delivery, and wayfinding, and the Academic Technologies unit, which supports faculty and student use of advanced technologies for research, teaching, and learning, and provides in-depth assistance for faculty projects.

Lynema recently served as a co-PI, with members of NC State’s Engineering, Design, and Computer Science departments, on the Adaptive Learning Spaces and Interactive Content Environments (ALICE) project, which explores transformative ideas in content delivery and wayfinding in learning spaces using such tools as beacon technology. Imagine walking up to an exhibit in a museum and having personalized information served to your phone based on your language or knowledge level.

Lynema will attend the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference in Anaheim next month, where she will receive special recognition in a session that will highlight her unique accomplishments. She will also earn an EDUCAUSE digital badge, which marks a person’s ongoing community engagement, professional development, and accomplishments.