Introducing Courtney Earl Matthews

Courtney Earl Matthews joined the Library in September 2014 as the digital repositories librarian in the Digital Initiatives department.

Courtney Earl Matthews, digital repositories librarian, Digital Initiatives, 519-888-4567, ext. 30185.

Courtney came to Waterloo from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where he served as digital data repository specialist for Purdue University Research Repository (PURR). In that role he was responsible for coordinating the daily operation of the PURR project, including campus outreach and advocacy, data management planning consultation, and most crucially, collaborating with subject specialist librarians to meet the data stewardship needs of Purdue researchers.

Courtney holds a Master of Library Information Studies (MLIS) from Dalhousie and prior to his work at Purdue, served in multiple capacities at the University of Prince Edward Island’s Robertson Library with a special focus on the Islandora Project. Islandora is an open-source digital content management framework developed by the Robertson Library and used to collect, curate, preserve, and present digital collections and research.

“The multi-faceted nature of the digital repositories librarian role is what attracted me to this position,” writes Courtney. “Based in the Digital Initiatives department I have the opportunity to work with a wide range of individuals and groups from across the entirety of the university, ranging from software developers, systems administrators to graduate students, librarians, and faculty researchers.  Though challenging, this work is crucial and requires a collective input and effort. Only by working with and tapping the expertise of these groups am I able to advance the development of the Library’s repositories and services and increase our ability to capture, describe, present, and preserve the digital research and scholarship produced by our university.”

Courtney and his wife Melanie have lived in various parts of Canada, Scotland, Ireland, South Korea, and the United States. When he is not at work he enjoys running and completed his first marathon in October 2011.