Education

MS, Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009 

BA, Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007

Professional Experience

Princeton University

Assistant Director for Library Assessment and User Experience, University Library, Princeton University, April 2022 - present 

  • Designs and leads a program to conduct both ongoing and targeted assessment of Library services. 

  • Leads, designs, and participates in the collection, analysis, and documentation of quantitative and qualitative assessment data which help the library administration make informed, data-driven decisions about services and priorities. 

  • Works with Library staff to develop criteria for assessment that align with stated goals which are in line with Library’s Mission

  • Collect and prepare data to fulfill annual reporting obligations to consortial partners (e.g. IPEDS, ARL, ACRL)

  • Continuously analyzes workflows and business processes, identifying opportunities for efficiency gains and ensuring appropriate staffing levels 

  • Develop and help implement strategies to ensure long-term storage of assessment data to facilitate retrospective analysis and predict future trends

  • Coordinate the work of library colleagues engaged in improving the user experience while helping to create a culture that leverages data to make service improvements.

Texas A&M University

Service Design Librarian, Texas A&M Libraries, January 2017 – April 2022 (tenure awarded: 2020)

  • Develop and maintain the organization's ideas and project portfolio as well as project management documentation in conjunction with the Libraries' Project Management Team

  • Lead user experience program for the Libraries' online environment including assisting teams/individuals with the development of different tools from idea documents to user stories, journal maps, and other documents

  • Co-implement web accessibility program with the Digital Services Librarian

  • Facilitate training programs in the areas of: accessibility; creating quality online content; project management; service design; and user experience

  • Coordinate Web Governance Team meetings and manage Team projects as needed

  • Advance the user experience of learners and researchers within the Libraries' environment

Interim Director of the Dee J. Kelly Law Library,  School of Law, Texas A&M University, November 2018 – August 2019 (concurrent with Service Design Librarian appointment)  

  • Managed overall operations and planning for the Law Library including supervising 6 faculty members (tenure and non-tenure track) and 3 staff members.

  • Oversaw a $1.4 million budget including both operations and materials. Developed the new budget for the fiscal year, including a $200,000 mandatory reduction. 

  • Promoted a positive work environment and foster collaborative and collegial work relationships including addressing issues between faculty and staff. 

  • Supported and coached 2 faculty candidates through the promotion process. 

  • Conducted annual performance reviews for all faculty and staff. 

  • Established policies and programs to serve the research and educational needs of the School of Law students and faculty.  

  • Built partnerships between the Law Library and the School of Law programs and the University Libraries services.  

  • Investigated and implemented the latest technologies in services and collections. 

Special Project Assignment, Texas A&M Libraries, January 2016 – December 2016

Developed framework for User Experience Program for the Libraries’ online presence including implementing the Web Presence Policy document and mechanisms for agile and iterative design; Explored options for course-integrated library instruction initiatives, such embedding the library’s presence in the university’s course management system, Blackboard; Developed web training program in areas such as accessibility and creating quality online content as well as programming that strategically interfaces with instruction training; Recommended potential services, technology and resources needed to provide services for distance education students.

Instructional Design Librarian, Texas A&M Libraries, January 2014 – December 2015

Develops instructional materials and participates in library instruction and outreach activities for a broad audience of students. In collaboration with team members, facilitates the development of online learning materials and multimedia objects; Assists in course-integrated library instruction initiatives, such embedding the library’s presence in the university’s course management system, Blackboard; Develops training and support for subject liaisons in regards to online pedagogy, instructional technologies, and instructional design practices; Recommends potential services, technology and resources needed to provide services for distance education students; Participates in the planning and promotion of library resource materials and services to distance education students; Enhances library instruction to meet the needs of the evolving scholarly landscape, taking into account new forms of scholarship and changes in academic publishing; Works closely with team members to provide appropriate information literacy training and support for the Libraries’ subject librarians and public services staff.

 

University of Houston

Web Services Coordinator, M.D. Anderson Library, November 2010 – January 2014

Coordinates, supports, and advances the Libraries’ web-based applications and services; Explores, evaluates, and encourages the deployment of emerging technologies to engage library users and staff in new ways; Provides training and support for library staff on the Libraries’ current and new web-based tools, as well as on emerging technologies; Explores and develops opportunities to integrate library resources and services into the university’s course management system, online learning, and other campus initiatives; Collaborates with the Libraries’ staff, committees and departments to discern user needs and to translate their needs into web and application functions and services; Supports the integration of multimedia, text messages, handheld devices, and social networking platforms within the Libraries’ numerous applications; Serves as a project manager on information technology projects; Engages in usability testing and assessment of the Libraries’ website and other services.

 

 

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Visiting Aquifer e-Scholarship Librarian and Assistant Professor of Library Administration, University Library, May 2009-November 2010

Responsible for software support, software transfer and adaptation, and development activities connected with the Digital Library Federation Aquifer project, an Open Archives Initiative aggregation of digital primary resources; Oversaw and developed the selection of materials to be added to the aggregation; Transformed  university  researchers’ personal datasets into static repositories to be harvested; Conducted user studies of various library services including the Aquifer interface and library mobile services; Developed workflow for the inclusion of librarian created content to be integrated into Easy Search results; Creatively worked with library units on the integration of Easy Search, a locally developed metasearch engine, with  e-scholarship initiatives; Provided in-depth and ready reference to students, faculty and staff in person at Grainger Engineering Library and virtually though instant messaging using a variety of sources including licensed databases, technical reports and standards.

 

Technical Writer, Graduate Hourly, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, April 2009-May 2009

Created and maintained documentation for software designed for migration of metadata records from one digital repository to another; Updated and edited METS profiles submitted to the Library of Congress; Maintained and developed project website.

 

Graduate Assistant, Grainger Engineering Library, August 2007-May 2009

Provided in-depth and ready reference to students, faculty and staff; Created web interfaces for local databases; Supervised and managed student assistants; Programmed metasearch tool for computational scientists; Contributed to the design and programming of database-driven personal information pages for faculty and research groups.

 

Research Programmer, Graduate Hourly, Grainger Engineering Library, May 2008-May 2009

Contributed to the design and programming of the metasearch search tool Easy Search; Worked with a team to perform analysis each semester on the Easy Search transaction log to discover trends in user behavior; Reprogrammed Easy Search for use at the University of Illinois at Springfield; Implemented the NISO Metasearch XML Gateway best practice standard for Easy Search; Created a federated search system for the NSDL Pathways project.

 

Copy Cataloger, Student Extra Help, Technical Services, August 2007 - May 2008

Engaged in cataloging of analytics, added volume, added copy and children monographs; Searched and imported new and updated records from OCLC Connexion.

 

Publications

German, Elizabeth and John Ballestro, editors. Project Management in Technical Services: Practice Tips and Case Studies. Chicago:  ALA Editions. 2022. 

Bankston, Sarah, Elizabeth German, Shelby Herbert, Sierra Laddusaw, John Watts, and William H. Weare. “Space and Place: a case study of a specialized service desk.” Reference Services Review 50(2):190-210, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-11-2021-0065.

Lowe, David B., James Creel, Elizabeth German, Douglas Hahn, and Jermey Huff, “Introducing SAGE: An Open-Source Solution for Customizable Discovery Across Collections” Code4Lib Journal 52, 2021. https://journal.code4lib.org/articles/15740. 

Graves, Stephanie J. and Elizabeth German, “Evidence of Our Values: Disability Inclusion on Library Instruction Websites” portal: Libraries and the Academy 18(2):559-574, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pla.2018.0033. 

German, Elizabeth and Sarah LeMire, “Sharing the Value and Impact of Outreach: Taking a Multifaceted Approach to Outreach Assessment” Journal of Academic Librarianship 44(1):66-74, 2018. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2017.11.001. 

German, Elizabeth, “LibGuides for Instruction: A Service Design Point-of-View from an Academic Library”, Reference and User Services Quarterly: 56:3, 2017.

Anders, Kathy Christie, Elizabeth German, and Stephanie J. Graves, “Using Student Volunteers in Library Orientations”, Practical Academic Librarianship 6(2):17-30, 2016. https://journals.tdl.org/pal/index.php/pal/article/view/7025.

German, Elizabeth and Stephanie Graves. “Library Instruction Training Program: Teaching and Training Lens” User-Centered Design for First-Year Library Instruction Programs. Eds.  Cinthya Ippoliti and Rachel W. Gammons. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO/Libraries Unlimited, 2016. 

German, Elizabeth and Stephanie Graves. “Infusing Pedagogy into LibGuides” Integrating LibGuides into Library Websites. Eds. Aaron W. Dobbs and Ryan L. Sittler. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.

Brett, Kelsey, Elizabeth German, and Fredrick Young, "Tabs and Tabulations: Results of a Transaction Log Analysis of a Tabbed-Search Interface" Journal of Web Librarianship 9:1, 2015.

Dethloff, Nora and Elizabeth M German, “Successes and Struggles with Building Web Teams: a Usability Committee Case Study” New Library World 114:5/6, 2013.

Prilop, Valerie, R. Niccole Westbrook, and Elizabeth German, "Collaborative Project Development in the Creation of an Interdepartmental Digitization Workflow" Collaborative Librarianship 4:2, 2012.

Westbrook, R. Niccole, Valerie Prilop, Elizabeth M. German, "Nerd thrill your users: Collaborating with liaisons to create an appealing gateway to digital collections", Reference Services Review  40:3, 2012.

Mischo, William H., Mary C. Schlembach, Joshua Bishoff and Elizabeth M. German. "User Search Activities within anAcademic Library Gateway: Implications for Web-scale Discovery Systems." Planning and Implementing Resource Discovery Tools in Academic Libraries. Eds. Mary Pagliero Popp and Diane Dallis. Hershey, Pa: IGI Global, 2012. 153-173. doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-1821-3.ch010.

 

Conference Presentations

Tabacaru, Simona, T. Derek Halling, Susan Goodwin, and Elizabeth German, “Democratizing Collection Development Methods at a Large Research library: Empowering Users in Research Decisions” Presentation at QQML International Conference, Athens, Greece, May 2022.  

German, Elizabeth and Khalilah Gambrell, “Accessibility Testing 101” Presentation at WOLFCon, College Station, Texas, January 2020.

German, Elizabeth, Kelly Drake, and  Karen Newbery, “Planning and Implementation: Considerations and Challenges of FOLIO Project Management” Presentation at WOLFCon, College Station, Texas, January 2020.

Mistlebauer, Holly, Anya Arnold, Zak Burke, Kelly Drake, Anton Emelianov, Elizabeth German, Mike Gorrell, Siska Humlesjö, Jason Root, Lisa Sjögren, and Mike Veksler, “Supporting FOLIO Community Testing/Implementation” Presentation at WOLFCon, College Station, Texas, January 2020.

German, Elizabeth and Khalilah Gambrell, “Universal Design for Quality UX: a FOLIO Case Study” Presentation at EBSCO User Group Meeting, San Antonio TX, October 2019. 

Wilkinson, Jaci, Elizabeth German, Anna Speth, and Abigal Shelton, “How does UX work make an impact?” Lightning Round Presentation at Digital Library Federation Forum, Tampa, FL, October 2019.  

Kasdof, Bill, Barbara Zunder, Elizabeth German, Aaron McCollough, Brad Turner, and Jack Bernard, “Federating Accessible Resources Among Libraries, Presses, and Repositories” Panel presentation at Association of University Presses Annual Meeting, Detroit, Michigan, June 2019.  

German, Elizabeth and Emma Waecker, “Telemetry and User Insights:  How New Product Management Tools are Advancing Library User Experience” Presentation at Electronic Resources and Libraries, Austin, Texas, March 2019.  

Blakiston, Rebecca, Elizabeth German, Joe Marquez, and Anne Downey, “Talking Design Thinking and Service Design with Library Administration” Panel presentation at Design for Digital, Austin, Texas, March 2019. 

German, Elizabeth, “Facilitating Transparency in Library Assessment: A Web User Experience Case Study” Lightning Round presentation to ARL Library Assessment Forum at American Library Association Midwinter Conference, Seattle, Washington, February 2018. 

German, Elizabeth, “Change the Transformation: Integrating Formal Project Management into Library Innovation” Poster session at American Library Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, June 2018.  

German, Elizabeth, Sunny Carito, Margaret Girgis, and Stephanie Graves, “Make It So: Insights into Successful Leadership of Emerging Tech Programs” Panel presentation to RUSA Emerging Technology Section Chair’s Program at American Library Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, June 2018.  

German, Elizabeth and Julie Mosbo, “Conversion and Inclusion: Expanding Access of Digital Collections”. Presentation to ALCTS PARS Digital Conversion Interest Group at American Library Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, June 2018.

German, Elizabeth and Eric Hartnett, “Disability Inclusion and Library Collections: Initiatives for Greater Access for All” at Charleston Library Conference, November 2017.

German, Elizabeth, Douglas Hahn, Michael Bolton, Susie Goodwin, and Patrick Zinn, “Building an Ecosystem: Strategies for Managing Complex Web Environments” at Texas A&M Tech Summit, Galveston, Texas, February 2017

LeMire, Sarah, Michael Hawkins, Shweta Kailani, Stephanie Graves, Elizabeth German, and Rhonda Newton, “Finding Techachu: Exploring the Potential of Augmented Reality in Education” at Texas A&M Tech Summit, Galveston, Texas, February 2017

German, Elizabeth M. and Stephanie Graves, “Providing Support: Large Scale Retraining for Better UX” at Driving Library Change with User Experience Design Amigos Online Conference, Amigos Library Services, December 2016.

LeMire, Sarah, Chance Medlin, Stephanie Graves, Elizabeth German, and Kathy Anders, “To Surveys and Beyond: Strategies for Assessing Large-Scale Outreach Events” at American Libraries Association Annual, June 2016.

German, Elizabeth M., et al., “Usability, the User Experience & Interface Design: The Role of Reference” Panel presentation at  American Libraries Association Annual, June  2013.    

German, Elizabeth M., Tracy Gilmore, Lesley Moyo, and Andrew Nagy, “What would Google do? Data mining, discovery and search suggestions: Proactively improving search relevance and the user experience” at Electronic Resources & Libraries, Austin, Texas, March 2013.

German, Elizabeth M., Anita Dryden and Damon Camille, “Gaining Insight to Technology Ownership and Use for Planning and Purchasing” at LITA National Forum, Columbus, Ohio, October 2012.

German, Elizabeth M., Josh Bishoff, and William Mischo, "Exposing Library Content with the NISO Metasearch  XML Gateway Protocol" at Electronic Resources & Libraries, Austin, Texas, February 2010.

Mischo, William H., Mary C. Schlembach, Josh Bishoff, and Elizabeth M. German. (2009). “Metasearch Gateway Development” at National Science Digital Library Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, November 18th 2009.

Mischo, William H., Elizabeth M. German, Josh Bishoff, Mary C. Schlembach, and David S. Vess, "The role of custom transaction log analysis in the design and implementation of a locally developed open source metasearch application" at LITA National Forum, Salt Lake City, Utah, October 2009.

Mischo, William H., Mary C. Schlembach, Camilla Fulton, Elizabeth M. German and Josh Bishoff, "Custom Services and Tools to Support Researchers using Computational Methods and Technologies" at CIC Conference on E-Science, Purdue University, May 2008.

 

Poster Presentations

Anders, Kathy, Stephanie Graves, and Elizabeth German, "Dancing, Dogs, and Disco Balls: Sustaining a Happy Library Outreach Community" at Association of Research Libraries, March 2015. (image)

Dryden, Anita, Elizabeth M. German, and Damon Camille, “Assessing Technology Ownership and Use to Gain Insight for Planning and Purchasing” at Library Assessment Conference, October 2012.

Ke, Irene, Elizabeth M. German, and Sean Watkins, “Faculty Case Tracker: An Online Tool For Effective Outreach” at American Library Association Annual, June 2012

German, Elizabeth M., Valerie Prilop, and R. Niccole Westbrook, “Reframing the Digital Library: Making Digital Collections More Relatable to Users” at Texas Conference on Digital Libraries, Austin, Texas, May 2012.

Ke, Irene, Elizabeth M. German, and Sean Watkins, “Faculty Case Tracker: A Software Program to Help Liaison Librarians” at Texas Library Association Annual Conference, April 2012

German, Elizabeth M., "Little (Networking) House on the Prairie: How service learning at PrairieNet contributes to career development" Community Technology Workshop, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, December 2007

Grants and Funded Research

“Federated Repositories of Accessible Materials for Education II” (PI: John Unsworth, Sub-award: Elizabeth German and Justin Romack). Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Grant: $1,750,000, Sub-award: $16,500, 2021.

“Libraries and Veterans National Forum”  (PI: Sarah LeMire, Co-PI: Stephanie Graves, Investigator: Elizabeth German). Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grants for Libraries. $150,000, 2019.   


“Federated Repositories of Accessible Materials for Education” (PI: John Unsworth, Sub-award: Elizabeth German and Justin Romack). Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Grant: $1,000,000, Sub-award: $20,000, 2018.

Professional Associations

 

Memberships:

  • American Library Association

  • Reference and User Services Association

Committee Assignments:

  • ALA, RUSA, Nominations Committee (Chair, 2021-2022) 

  • ALA, RUSA, Definition of Reference Task Force (2019-2021)

  • ALA, RUSA, RUSA Archivist Recruitment Team (2020-2021)

  • ALA, RUSA, President (Elected, 2019-2020) 

  • FOLIO, Support Special Interest Group (Member, 2019-2022) 

  • ALA, RUSA, Vice-President (Elected, 2018-2019) 

  • DLF, Assessment Interest Group, User Experience Working Group (Member, 2018-2021)

  • FOLIO, Accessibility Special Interest Group (Member, 2017-2019, Chair 2019-2022)

  • ALA RUSA Volunteer Development Committee (Chair, 2017-present)

  • ALA RUSA Recommendations Implementation Task Force (Chair, 2017-present)

  • ALA RUSA Membership Committee (Member, 2015-2017)

  • NISO Education Committee (Member, 2015-present)

  • ALA RUSA Website Review Task Force (Chair, 2014-2015)

  • ALA RUSA Budget and Finance Committee (Member, 2014-2017)

  • ALA RUSA Organization and Planning (Representative, 2013-2015, Chair 2015-2017)

  • ALA RUSA Learning Opportunities and Knowledge Coordination Task Force (Member, 2014-2015)

  • ALA RUSA Publications and Communications (Member, 2012, Chair, 2012-2014)

  • ALA ACRL Professional Development Committee (Committee Member, 2012-2014)

  • ALA ALCTS CaMMS Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (ACRL Representative, 2011 - 2013)

  • ALA ACRL Virtual Institutes (Vice-Chair, 2010 - 2012)

Technical and Professional Skills

Project Management: PMI Project Management Professional certification, 2017-present 

Languages: .asp; .aspx; Visual Basic; VBScript; VBA; XML; HTML; JavaScript; AJAX; PHP; CSS; SQL; MySQL ; Python

Standards: OAI-PMH; OpenURL; NISO Metasearch XML Gateway

Metadata Schema: Dublin Core; TEI; MODS; METS; MARC; MARCXML

Software: MS Office Suite; MS Access; MS SQL Server; oXygen; File Maker Pro; Weka; ArcView; Morae; Camtasia; Voyager ILS; OCLC Connexion; Drupal; Serials Solutions Client Center; LibraryH3lp; CONTENTdm; dSpace; Articulate; Basecamp; Teamworks

CMS: SpringShare LibGuides CMS, LibAnswers, LibCal; OpenCMS; Custom Drupal CMS, Wordpress

 

Community Involvement

Area Coordinator, State Employee Charitable Campaign, July 2014 - October 2014

Bassist, Heights Community Orchestra, September 2012 - January 2014

Group Fitness Instructor, Tellepsen YMCA, December 2012 – December 2013

Interim Executive Director, Champaign County Operation Snowball, July 2009 – February 2010

Supervise volunteers and staff in the delivery of services at weekly support group meetings and biannual weekend retreats; Set priorities and goals for fiscal year; Determine appropriate evaluation and outcome measures; Discover, write and apply for funding grants; Collaborate with other human services agencies; Serve on Mental Health Agency Council; Prepare grant reports; Oversee fund development activities including implementing the annual campaign and maintaining donor database; Lead public relation development including the administration of the organization’s website.

Board Member, Champaign County Operation Snowball, February 2008 – November 2010

Serve on board of directors for teen mentoring and prevention program; Chair of Public Relations committee; Member of Fundraising committee; Design and plan semiannual newsletter; Compile and analyze statistical teen behavioral information for quarterly and annual grant reports; Maintain Behavioral and Fundraising databases.

Volunteer Researcher, Community Informatics Initiative, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 2008-July 2008

Traveled to Sao Tome and Principe, Africa to conduct research on how teachers use information and communication technology; traveled with three teenagers from East St. Louis as citizen scientists; deployed eleven small computer labs in secondary schools throughout the country; helped teach basic computer skills program at the national high school.

IT Volunteer, Prairienet, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 2007 – July 2008

Supported the activities of Prairienet, an outreach service from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science that provides internet access, computers and basic computer skills training to low income individuals; Refurbished donated computers; Updated training curriculum and manuals; Provided technical and troubleshooting support to users.

Principle Bassist, Parkland Community Orchestra, September 2001 – November 2010