IRIS Photos

IRIS Reorganization


Anne R. Kenney

At the beginning of this month, IRIS launched a major reorganization. I had been mulling over some proposed changes for a while, but recent events coincided to bring about this reorganization quickly: Lenore Coral's death; Martha Hsu's announcement of her impending retirement; Susan Greaves' new job as maps/GIS librarian at Queens University, in Kingston, Ontario; Bob Kibbee's expressed interest in the maps librarian position; and David Block’s acceptance of the Huntington Free Library curatorship in RMC.

Although the reorganization has been announced, there will be a transition period, while some things take several months to work out, and probably some course correction along the way. But for now, here’s the new IRIS administrative chart.

The most significant changes include the development of two new departments within IRIS. First, Pat Schafer has agreed to become the director of unit libraries and Access & Delivery Services. She will remain responsible for Olin Access Services and ILS, as well as Africana, Fine Arts, and Music. Hotel, JGSM, ILR, and the Asia Collections will be added to the mix, bringing all the unit libraries within IRIS under one umbrella.

Second, a new department, tentatively called "Information Services," will combine reference, instruction, outreach, and collection development (the Olin 504 group). This department will work closely with public services staff in the IRIS unit libraries to improve services and support for users. There will be a national search for a director for this department. In the interim it will report to me, and the following individuals have agreed to serve as coordinators, working closely with me in defining this new entity:

Collection Development—Kizer Walker
Instruction—Tony Cosgrave
Outreach—Ida Martinez
Reference—Nancy Skipper

Martha Hsu will become the acting music librarian. A Music Librarian Search Committee has been formed, chaired by Gordon Law and including David Banush, Thomas Hahn, and Martha Walker, as well as Neal Zaslaw and Jim Webster from the Music Department faculty.

Peter Hirtle will become the IRIS technology strategist with responsibility for assessing how the changing technological environment will affect public services. He will maintain his duties as the intellectual property officer as well as history selector. Peter will continue to report to me and serve on the IRIS Cabinet.

Bob Kibbee will become the maps librarian, reporting to Barbara Eden as the head of Preservation and Collection Maintenance. He will continue to work part-time in the new Information Services department.

Xin Li will remain the director for service innovations and resource planning, and the IRIS administrative support staff will report to her.

Barbara Eden and Nancy McGovern are being promoted from associate directors to directors of their respective departments, and Carla DeMello will continue to serve as the head of the IRIS design team.

There will be a number of changes in collection development responsibilities, in large part resulting from Martha Hsu’s move to the Music Library. Although she was only half-time in collection development, it’s taking five people to replace her. Kizer Walker will take over her German selection duties, Will Sayers will assume Scandinavian and Dutch selection, Thad Dickinson will take on psychology, Bob Kibbee will assume geography, and Peter Hirtle will become the selector for bibliography and information science. In other changes, David Block will take over Native American selection and also continue as the Latin American bibliographer, Ida Martinez will focus on border studies, and Lance Heidig will become the anthropology selector.

It's a lot to take in, I realize, and the devil is always in the details. I look forward to working with many people across the system to ensure a successful transition and will appreciate your patience and support as we move through this process.