The driving force in my career is best described as striving to provide access to resources for users in academia. I started my career as a science subject librarian, then I moved onto collection development and collection assessment work, and most recently have moved back into working with users in my role as head of Research Services at Ohio State University Libraries.

My approach to librarianship is grounded in providing user-focused services to meet the existing and emerging needs of researchers at The Ohio State University and beyond. In being called to move Ohio State from excellence to eminence, I seek to lead and manage the Research Services department and to provide general oversight for research services throughout the OSU Library system in supporting user-centered traditional and emerging reference services. This manifests itself through encouraging and supporting librarians to develop deep engagement with their disciplines, providing research support models for faculty and students based on research in order to deploy services at the users’ point of need, and by assessing current services offered by OSUL to ensure that research support continues to remain user-centered.

While in this role I have:

• Overseen the creation of the Research Commons program that operates from the 3rd floor of the 18th Avenue Library from idea-stage to implementation
• Created and fostered partnerships with individuals from the Office of Research, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry, the Graduate School, the Discovery Themes, the Writing Center, and the Office of Responsible Research Practices.
• Regularly presented at orientations, research fairs, or other venues about existing and emerging research services provided by the libraries.
• Overall, my career trajectory has been shaped by users and their experience with library services and resources. I hope to continue to set program, department, and individual goals focusing on the improvement of access to resources and services, particularly as they relate to leveraging library resources and expertise for greater collaboration throughout the research process at the University.

Outside of my normal job responsibilities I am the co-founder and co-faculty director of OHI/O program (hack.osu.edu), which fosters a tech culture through hardware and software hackathons and other informal learning opportunities.