Susan Sharpless Smith, 2015 Candidate for LITA Director-at-large

Susan Sharpless SmithStatement: 

In my current position as an associate dean, I get a global view of how technology is woven into all aspects of providing library services. I would like to help LITA to continue its transformation into a stronger organization that offers a high value to professionals from all walks of librarianship.

Current Position:

Associate Dean, Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University

Previous Positions:

Director of Research, Instruction and Technology Services, Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University, 2008-2011;
Head-Information Technology, Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University, 1999-2008; Electronic Resources Librarian, Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University, 1996-1999

Degrees and Certificates:

George Washington University, MA Educational Technology Leadership, 1999; University of North Carolina-Greensboro, MLIS Library and Information Studies, 1992; University of Maryland-College Park, BA English, 1973

ALA and/or ALA-APA Activities:

LITA Financial Advisory Committee, Vice-Chair, 2014-2105; LITA Hi Tech Award Committee, Past Chair, 2014-2015; LITA Hi Tech Award Committee, Chair, 2013-2014; LITA National Forum Planning Committee 2013, Past Chair, 2012-2013; LITA National Forum Planning Committee 2012, Chair, 2011-2012; LITA National Forum Planning Committee, Member, 2008-2010; LLAMA/BES Library Interiors, Furnishings & Equipment Committee, Member, 2008-2010; ACRL ULS ALA Conference Program Planning Committee, Member, 2012-2014; ACRL Instruction Section, Instructional Technologies Committee, Member, 2006-2008

Honors and Awards:

Kovacs Award for Outstanding Alumni Achievement, University of North Carolina Greensboro Library and Information Studies Alumni Association, April, 2011; ACRL Instruction Section Innovation Award. Z. Smith Reynolds Library’s “Embedded Librarian Project: Social Stratification in the Deep South”, ACRL Instruction Section, June, 2008

Major Accomplishments:

Throughout my career as a librarian, technology has been at the center. This evolved from teaching people how to use technology to thinking more about how to integrate it into instruction and to develop ways to facilitate the value of technology in academics. My particular interest is in web-based instruction. To that end, I authored three editions of "Web-Based Instruction: A Guide for Libraries" (ALA Editions). I also was an early advocate of using social media to engage students and was fortunate to win the ACRL Instruction Section Innovation Award for my work using these technologies while traveling with an undergraduate sociology course that studied stratification in the Deep South.

Publications:

Smith, Susan Sharpless (2010). Web-based instruction: A guide for libraries (3rd ed.). Chicago: American Library Association; Smith, Susan Sharpless (Ed.) (2012). Data Curation [Special Issue]. Journal of Web Librarianship, 6(4); Smith, Susan Sharpless, & Sutton, Lynn (2011). The embedded academic librarian. In D. Zabel (Ed.), Reference reborn: Breathing new life into public services (pp. 93-104). Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

Links for further information:

Personal Web Page: http://www.susansharplesssmith.info/
ZSR Library Faculty Profile: http://zsr.wfu.edu/directory/susan-smith