Meet the Authors
Book Editors
Sarah Nagle is Creation and Innovation Services Librarian at Miami University in Ohio. She began her library career in public libraries, serving as Senior Creative Services Librarian at Pikes Peak Library District in Colorado. Sarah has over six years of library makerspace experience, and planned and opened a new makerspace at Miami’s King Library in 2019. Her work includes supporting maker learning and innovation topics through events, instruction, and outreach. Sarah founded and serves as chair of the Nation of Makers Libraries Working group, and is also a member of the CORE Maker Technology Interest Group. Sarah has a strong research interest in maker-centered learning, both in informal environments and as part of formalized curricula.
Elías Tzoc, originally from Guatemala, is a 2007 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, School of Information. He is currently the Head of the Create and Innovate (C+I) Department at Miami University Libraries, where he works/leads a group of 7 creative librarians and technologists working on innovative and entrepreneurial library services that support transdisciplinary and experiential learning. The C+I services include: Full Service 3D Printing and Scanning, Open Educational Resources, Maker Scholarship, Digital Scholarship/Humanities, Multimedia Production, and Copyright. He has published on topics such as web standards, emerging technologies, digital scholarship, open access, diversity, and technical skills for new librarians. His current research interest is centered around innovation, diversity, and leadership in higher education.
Chapter Authors
Matt Armstrong is the Online Learning and Experiential Studio Supervisor at the BYU Library. He manages a team of students who create a wide variety of learning resources for library instruction. He also supports interdisciplinary efforts in the library’s Experiential Studio, an active classroom for students and professors across campus. Prior to his position at the library, Matt worked on the exhibits team for the Thanksgiving Point children’s museums in Utah. He studied communications as an undergraduate, earned a master’s degree in instructional psychology and technology, and is currently completing a master’s in library and information science.
Susan Berstler is Technology Specialist for Libraries in Cabot Science Library at Harvard University. Much of Susan’s work is built around the creation and support of media-based classroom and student projects in Cabot, which was renovated and repurposed in 2017 with a focus on innovation and collaboration. She manages Cabot’s media studios and has opened an XR studio to introduce faculty, students, and staff to the world of virtual reality. Susan recently served on the Advisory Panel for NCSU’s Immersive Scholar program - a unique opportunity, funded by the Mellon Foundation, for libraries and museums to build a community of practice for those working with immersive technology in learning spaces. Susan holds a BA in Humanities from Johns Hopkins University and has done graduate work at the University of Freiburg, Germany, and language classes at the University of Szeged, Hungary. Additionally, she works as a visual artist and arts producer and has exhibited her work broadly. Her main arts interest is in transformative media, especially in the realm of public art.
Jennifer Brown is an Undergraduate Learning and Research Librarian at the University of California, Berkeley, where she employs critical pedagogies as part of her reference and instructional approaches. She received her MS in Information from the University of Michigan and her BA in Media Studies from UC Berkeley.
Matt Cook is Digital Scholarship Program Manager for Harvard Library. Matt’s personal research interests center on 3D data (e.g. photogrammetry, VR, etc.) and embodied cognition. After studying philosophy at the undergraduate and graduate level (at the Universities of Florida and Oklahoma, respectively), he began working full time in libraries and developing new tools and systems to augment research and instruction across disciplines. As a researcher, he also studies the state and trajectory of digital scholarship more generally, as well as what it takes to manage exploratory teams in libraries and the impact of new knowledge services related to physical fabrication and mindfulness.
Emily Swensen Darowski is the psychology librarian at Brigham Young University (BYU), where she teaches information literacy, supports student and faculty research, and develops psychology collections. She also teaches adjunct courses for the BYU psychology department, including Writing in Psychology and Cognition. Her research interests include writing instruction, higher order cognitive processes (e.g., working memory), and gender equity. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Idaho State university, followed by a master’s and doctorate in cognitive psychology from Michigan State University. After coming to BYU, she earned a master’s in library and information science from San Jose State University. She has served on local, state, and national library committees, including five years on the BYU Library steering committee that oversaw the development of the Experiential Studio. She chaired the committee in 2019 during the remodel and transition project.
Amy S. Van Epps is Director of Sciences and Engineering Services in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Libraries at Harvard University. Prior to moving into management, she developed extensive experience providing instruction for engineering and technology students. Her research interests include investigating different methods to support and promote non-traditional services as part of the mission of the academic library and finding effective methods for integrating information literacy knowledge into the undergraduate engineering curriculum. Ms. Van Epps has a BA in engineering science from Lafayette College, her MSLS from Catholic University of America, and a M.Eng. in Industrial Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Leanna Fry is an instructional design and instruction librarian, teaching information literacy both in person and online. Her research focus is information literacy and English language learners, and she teaches introductory composition classes as well as information literacy classes to first-year and advanced composition students. She has worked as a librarian in Paris and Utah and has taught composition in Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and Turkey. She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in English, a master’s degree in library science, and a doctorate in instructional design with a specialization in second language acquisition.
Zenobie S. Garrett received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from New York University. As Postdoctoral Fellow in Software and Research Objects Curation, she conducts research in digital archiving and software curation for virtual reality and 3D imaging applications. She works closely with staff from the university libraries as well as faculty and students to develop and incorporate best practices and standards of digital data curation and preservation in research, teaching, and learning. She also promotes collaborative projects using 3D and VR technology throughout the university and teaches and trains students, staff, and faculty on the significance of software integrity, transparency, and ethics. Her goal is to facilitate the development and use of innovative digital technologies in research and scholarship.
Jason Evans Groth is Digital Media Librarian for the Learning Spaces and Services Department at NC State University Libraries in Raleigh, NC. He helps to support creative making, especially with audio and video in several high-tech creative spaces. He earned his MIS/MLS from the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University in May of 2013. At IU he worked for the Media Preservation Initiative, at the Indiana University Libraries Film Archive, as a teaching assistant for the classes "The History of Rock and Roll: 70s and 80s," "History of the Beach Boys," and the "Music of Frank Zappa" (among others). Since 2001 he has toured the world as a guitar player and with many bands and artists, including Magnolia Electric Co, Jens Lekman, The Watson Twins, and The Impossible Shapes.
Anne Marie Gruber is Associate Professor of Library Services and Instruction & Liaison Librarian serving Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Earth & Environmental Sciences, and Physics as well as Social Work, Tallgrass Prairie Center, Center for Energy & Environmental Education, and Office of Community Engagement. She is also responsible for advancing Open Educational Resources (OERs) campuswide. Her research interests include the library’s role in community-based learning and intersections between library services and student success.
Stefanie Hilles is the Arts and Humanities Librarian at Wertz Art and Architecture Library at Miami University, where she liaisons to the art, architecture and interior design, and theatre departments, manages their collections, and instructs information literacy sessions. Previous to her role at Miami, Stefanie was the Library and Archives Manager at the Akron Art Museum, an Associate Lecturer in Art History at the University of Akron, and Part-time Faculty in Art History at Kent State University. She holds an M.A. in Art History from Case Western Reserve University and an M.L.I.S. from Kent State. Stefanie is active in the Art Librarians Society of North America (ARLIS/NA), having served as Chapter Liaison on the executive board, chair of the Ohio Valley Chapter, and on the membership committee. She has presented at ARLIS/NA, ARLIS/UK & Ireland, IFLA, LOEX, and ALAO and been published in Art Libraries Journal and Public Services Quarterly.
Chris Holthe is the Experiential Learning Librarian at the Northern Arizona University Cline Library where he oversees the library’s Experiential Learning Unit and associated spaces and services, including the Cline Library MakerLab and Studios. Chris has a background in educational programming design and has managed experiential learning programs and spaces in both public and academic libraries for the past ten years. His research interests include experiential learning, emerging and immersive technologies, extended reality applications for education, 3D printing, research services in libraries, and user experience. Chris received his master’s in library and information science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Eric Johnson (he/him/his) is the Head of the Innovative Media department of Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries, where he manages a state-of-the-art, library-based multimedia studio and makerspace called The Workshop that opened under his guidance in late fall 2015. His previous experience includes work as head of outreach & public services in the Scholar's Lab at UVA Library and in librarian and social media positions at Thomas Jefferson’s historic home, Monticello. His research interests include creativity in libraries; communicating scholarship through creative technologies; museum and library history; and hospitality theory as applied to libraries and museums. He has an MA in US History from George Mason University and an MSLIS from Florida State University.
Oscar Keyes (he/him/his) is the Multimedia Teaching & Learning Librarian Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. He is currently a Ph.D student in Art Education at VCU, where he researches the role of embodied learning in digital-based methods of making. He has taught digital arts in a variety of spaces, including higher education, K12 schools, summer camps, community-based arts organizations, and detention centers. When he’s not busy teaching, Keyes still makes movies with his friends, having worked on award-winning short and feature-length films.
Bohyun Kim is the associate university librarian for library information technology at the University of Michigan Library. Formerly, she was the chief technology officer and professor at the University of Rhode Island Libraries. She is the author of three books: Moving Forward with Digital Disruption (2020), Understanding Gamification (2015), and Library Mobile Experience: Practices and User Expectations (2013) and the former president of the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA). She writes the “Technology & Power” column for Online Searcher magazine and is a frequent speaker at library technology conferences.
Annalise Phillips is the Maker Education Service Lead at the University of California, Berkeley. Her role there is to develop and run Maker programming that seeks to reach the novice user and encourage diversity, equity and inclusion in Making. She is responsible for both the space and its programming and takes pride in creating workshops and lessons that are accessible and inviting.
Vanessa Rodriguez is a Librarian Assistant Professor at the University of Miami. As the Head of Creative Studio, she provides instruction to the UM community in multimedia software, hardware, copyright, design, and emerging technologies. She is also the librarian liaison for the Interactive Media department in the School of Communication, manages the library collection in those materials as well as the Graphic Novel collection, and teaches an Introduction to Visual Design course. She received an MLIS from the University of South Florida in 2006, and her BA in Art Photography and Creative Writing in 2000 from the University of Miami.
Dr. Joshua Sebree received his Ph.D. from Purdue University in chemistry in 2011. After a two-year postdoc at NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center researching the moons of Saturn, he took a faculty position at the University of Northern Iowa in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Dr. Sebree’s research focuses on understanding the formation and transport of organic molecules that are important for life with regards to space exploration and understanding extreme life in underground caves. In his teaching, Dr. Sebree strives to make chemistry relatable to students at all levels with the inclusion of hands-on research projects and guided inquiry problem sets.
Andrew See is the Head, User Services and Experience at the Northern Arizona University Cline Library. He has spent his entire career focusing on creating exceptional experiences for end-users in every aspect of systems and services an academic library can provide. With a broad and holistic understanding of library values and operations, Andrew leverages a design thinking approach to making data driven decisions in creating user centered services. Andrew received his master’s in library and information science at the University of Arizona and is a published author and national/regional presenter on such topics as organizational and operational effectiveness, user experience, and data-driven decision making.
Kelsey Sheaffer (she/her/hers) is an artist and educator in rural South Carolina, where she works as the Creative Technologies Librarian at Clemson University. She also directs the Adobe Digital Studio and the Cooper Makerspace at Clemson. She received her BA in Art from Davidson College and her MFA in Kinetic Imaging from Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work investigates contemporary and historical interdisciplinary creative spaces and the pedagogy of line, sound, media, and movement. Kelsey is also a member of Tiger Strikes Asteroid Greenville, which is an artist-run gallery space focused on the southeast.
Emily Thompson is the Director of the Studio and Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Originally from Montana, Emily got her BA in Theatre from Drake University. After spending several years working as a costume designer and director, she moved to South Korea to teach English. She then moved to Taiwan before heading to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor to get her MSI in Library and Information Services. Prior to UTC, Emily was the Learning Technologies Librarian at the State University of New York at Oswego.
Shu Wan recently graduated from the graduate program in the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Iowa. Originally coming from China, he takes intense concerns about the encounters of non-English-speaking patrons with academic libraries in the United States. In his current research, he intends to explore the potential of technology in providing multilingual services to patrons of diverse backgrounds. His former publications have been present in different online platforms. They include Hack Library School, Social Responsibilities Round Table (SNRT) Newsletter, Library Services to Multicultural Populations Section Newsletter, Intersections: Advocacy, Legislation & Issues, and Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, and ALCTS Metadata Interest Group’s Metadata Blog.
Kristi Wyatt (B.F.A., University of Tulsa, 2001; M.F.A., Ohio State University, 2005) currently serves as an Emerging Technologies Librarian and Head of the 3D Scanning Lab in Bizzell Memorial Library at the University of Oklahoma. Her areas of specialization include 3D scanning, photogrammetry, hardware prototyping, and 3D preservation and curation. She led the planning, foundation, and continued development of OU’s Scanning Lab, where she collaborates with faculty and students on coursework and research projects. Her recent initiatives also include ArtEdge (a multidisciplinary art and technology experience for school children), VR projects (e.g. exploring Native American archival material and empathy-based experiences on the lives of international students at OU), and various initiatives for accessibility and inclusion. Kristi previously worked for seven years as an Exhibition Designer and Preparator for the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.