Meet Amy, one of our new librarians!

Hello! I’m Amy James and I am the newest Assistant Professor/Librarian here at the Albertsons Library. Not only am I brand new at Boise State, but I am also new to this area. I was born and raised in Michigan (just outside of Ann Arbor—Go Blue!). I have lived in Michigan my entire life, so coming out to Boise was a huge adventure for me. My husband, Grant, and our cat, Sutton, were excited to come along for the ride (well…not so much the cat—but that’s another story!).

I received my undergraduate degree in English Literature and my Masters in Library and Information Science from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. As a graduate student, I concentrated my coursework on academic librarianship and emerging technologies. When I graduated in 2012, I worked as a librarian and branch manager for one of the Genesee District Library’s 18 branch locations in Flint, Michigan. But, I always wanted to work in academia…so I decided to continue to pursue academic librarianship. About a year later I ended up with a tenure track Emerging Technologies Librarian position at a small private Christian Liberal Arts College in south central Michigan called Spring Arbor University. SAU was a great place to launch my career as an academic librarian. I was there for two years before ending up here at Boise State.

My position here focuses mostly on instructional design for information literacy sessions. I also help to incorporate technology into library curriculum, create library instruction video tutorials, and help students and faculty with their information needs! I am currently serving as the liaison to the Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning (OPWL) department.

Okay, okay…so besides working, I love to run. I have enjoyed running through the foothills and on the greenbelt since arriving. I am excited to run in the City of Trees Half Marathon here in Boise this October. I also love hiking, biking, kayaking, reading, drinking coffee…lots of coffee, learning about different cultures and trying new foods! Please stop by the library and say ‘hi’ if you get a chance—I’d love to meet you!

Meet Amber, one of our new librarians!

Hello! I’m Amber Sherman, and I’m delighted to be the newest librarian at Albertsons Library. I've always been an East Coaster, so living here will be quite an adventure!

Accepting this position has made me truly realize “it’s a small world” because I have two close friends from Idaho - one was a roommate in undergrad and one in grad school. They both love Idaho and have made me even more excited to make Boise my new home.

I received my BA in History and Sociology from the University of Virginia and my Master’s Degree in Library Science from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. I've worked for academic libraries, non-profits, and even a bank, but all of my jobs revolved around capturing and accessing digital information, which fits in well with my primary responsibility of managing ScholarWorks for Boise State.

I wholeheartedly believe in open access publishing and look forward to working with faculty and students to showcase their scholarly output. ScholarWorks is an amazing service for the Boise State University community, so if you have any questions about the project or what we can help you with, please contact me. Or even better, stop by for a chat and a piece of cake during the ScholarWorks’ Million Downloads Celebration Thursday, November 6th starting at noon! 

Meet Deana, one of our new librarians!

Hello, I’m Deana Brown, the newest Librarian and Assistant Professor at Albertsons Library, and I'm super excited to be at Boise State! I’m from Oregon, but have also lived in New Mexico, and could have ended up in Kazakhstan. That’s a story for another time. I have been working in both public and academic libraries since 2004, and came to Boise State after serving as the Reference/ Instruction Librarian at Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico.

You might know me from such blog posts as, “Yarn bomb the Library!” I believe, and research shows, you retain more of what you learn when you’re having fun, and what better place to learn than the library? I have a B.S. in Fine and Applied Arts (Photography and Visual Design) with a minor in Arts Administration from the University of Oregon, and a Masters of Library Science from Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas. This might seem like an odd combination, but I see them as a perfect fit. Art is all about problem solving and telling stories, and so are libraries!

I look forward to helping students navigate the library's resources while achieving their academic goals, and serving as the liaison to the Philosophy and Psychology Departments. I’m interested in breaking down physical and mental barriers to access, developing instruction tools that effectively incorporate technology, and discovering areas where art and design intersect with librarianship. I don't know everything, but will go to the ends of the earth to help you find it!

Another long story is my name. I’m going to guess about half of you pronounced it wrong in your head upon reading it above. So, since I have you here, I thought I'd clarify, in hopes of helping you avoid that awkward moment when you aren't sure how to spell/ pronounce it.

It is indeed spelled with one "N". Two N's would be De-anne-a.
It is pronounced - Dee-na. Alternately, Dean (like a man's name) and then "uh" (as in, "Uh, you have food stuck in your teeth.")

Don't worry if this doesn't stick, we'll just keep working on it.

I’m looking forward to seeing you around campus and at the reference desk!
- Deana

Meet our newest Archivist/Librarian

My name is Gwyn and I’m so happy to be joining the Boise State community as an Archivist/Librarian in Special Collections and Archives at Albertsons Library.

I’m a long way from where I grew up on the coast of Maine! I received my BA in Theatre and Drama at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and my Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from Long Island University in 2010. After a brief stopover in Cleveland for a summer internship at the Library and Archives at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, I moved to Ashland, Oregon in 2011 where I was an archivist at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Four weeks ago I moved to Boise and began my new role here at Boise State.

I’m having a blast exploring the amazing things Boise State's Special Collections and Archives holds and I’m looking forward to sharing these materials with you.

As a timely example of why I love my work, I’m posting a scan of something I just happened to come across today: an invitation to the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. With the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination being remembered around the world today, this era in history has obviously been on a lot of people’s minds lately. And then, there I was at work in Albertsons Library and found myself holding a small piece of this history right in my hands.

Boise State's Special Collections and Archives are chock-full of interesting gems such as this, as well and boxes upon boxes of materials loaded with information that can benefit your research—and make it more fun too.

Whether you’ve been here to Special Collections and Archives before or are a first-timer, I hope you'll feel free to come by soon to explore the variety of things we have and to see how we can help you with your projects.

Hope to meet you soon!
Gwyn
gwynhervochon@boisestate.edu or 208-426-1674

Librarian featured in top field publication

Albertsons Library librarian Margie Ruppel co-authored an article that has been selected by the American Library Association (ALA) Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT) as one of the Top Twenty publications in the field of instruction and information literacy published in 2011.

The selection committee indicated their article exemplified the criteria of "quality writing, useful research and stimulating ideas."  You can read a synopsis of the article “Information Literacy Follow-Through: Enhancing Preservice Teachers’ Information Evaluation Skills through Formative Assessment.” in Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian 30.2 (2011): 72-84. and the other top 20 here: http://fleetwood.baylor.edu/lirt/lirtnews/2012/jun12.pdf

Congratulations, Margie!