Monday, June 25, 2018
Alison Hitchens has been appointed to the newly-redefined senior administrative portfolio of Associate University Librarian, Collections, Technology and Scholarly Communication at the University of Waterloo Library, effective June 25, 2018. In this role, Alison will provide leadership in the areas of collections, access, technology, assessment, bibliometrics, and scholarly communication.
Alison has been with the Library for 13 years, giving her extensive experience in library management and leadership—most notably as Acting Associate University Librarian, Research & Digital Discovery Services and member of the Library’s senior administrative team since 2016. Her academic career began at University of Waterloo, where she received the Department of Anthropology’s Silver Medal award, and she holds a Master’s degree in Information Studies from the University of Toronto.
In an email to Library staff, University Librarian Beth Namachchivaya detailed Alison’s combination of professional and academic qualifications:
Alison Hitchens, Associate University Librarian
“Alison’s twenty years of experience in the rapidly-evolving areas of cataloging and metadata, information discovery and delivery, digitization, digital preservation and curation, brings a critical perspective as we shape our future in a highly innovative, research-intensive university environment."
Beth goes on to say that "through Alison’s collaborative leadership, she has been instrumental in developing and deepening the University of Waterloo’s initiatives in research data management, bibliometrics and research impact, digital access and discovery, and academic technologies.”
Alison’s professional and community service is extensive, including leadership roles in several Ontario and North American library professional organizations, including Ex Libris Users of North America (ELUNA) and the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL), and she has published and presented extensively on the topics of Linked Open Data in libraries, bibliometrics, and research impact. Currently, Alison is actively engaged in shaping our digital future through leadership roles on the Tri-University Group (TUG) Steering Committee and the OCUL Collaborative Futures (OCUL-CF) Procurement Committee.
