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January/February 2016: Joy Perrin

Photo of Joy Perrin

TDL Member Profile: Joy Perrin

The January/February TDL Member Profile features Joy Perrin, Digital Resources Librarian at Texas Tech University Library. Below is the full member profile with background information and a question and answer session with Joy.

Background

Education

  • 2010: Master of Information Sciences, University of North Texas
  • 2005: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Texas Tech University

Professional Experience

  • January 1, 2012 – present: Digital Resources Librarian (Assistant Librarian), Texas Tech University Library
    • The Digital Resources Librarian position is responsible for leading and managing the Digital Library Unit of the library. The unit creates digital content for use by Texas Tech researchers and students, as well as researchers from across the world. I manage two Metadata Librarians, an Electronic Theses and Dissertation Librarian, Digital Stewardship Librarian, Digital Services Librarian, and the manager of the Digital Lab at Texas Tech University Library (five faculty members and one staff member). I increased the production of the unit from 2,481 items in 2012, to 10,891 items in 2013, and 15,636 items in 2014. These items were all items added by the unit to the various digital collections of the university, providing more resources for researchers and students.
  • December 1, 2010 – December 31, 2011: Virtual Library Research and Development Librarian (Assistant Librarian), Texas Tech University Library 
    • In this position I researched future trends for libraries. I researched and wrote reports to assist in decision-making. I investigated digital preservation and possible practical applications of semantic web technologies.
  • September 1, 2008 – November 30, 2010: Digital Lab Manager (Unit Coordinator), Texas Tech University Library
    • In the Digital Lab Manager position, I was in charge of digitization activities for the Texas Tech University Library. I supervised 13-40 student assistants, and maintained specialization in digitization equipment.
  • January 3, 2005 – August 31, 2008: Specialist III, Texas Tech University Library
    • I performed tasks to clean up and maintain the data contained in the Libraries’ central catalog. I supervised 8-11 student assistants, developed workflows, and increased efficiency of work through automating parts of the workflow.

Professional Affiliations/Memberships

  • American Library Association (May 2010- Present)
  • Texas Library Association (May 1, 2009 – Present)

Volunteer Work

  • Local Planning Committee for the 2014 Texas Electronic Theses and Dissertation Association Region 3 Joint Conference. Local Planning Committee Member. The conference was held at Texas Tech University March 27th and 28th.

Involvement with TDL

  • Committee Work
    • TDL Vireo Steering Committee, Member. (November 19, 2013 – Present)
  • Working Groups
    • TDL Preservation Working Group, Member. (2011)
  • Other Activities
    • TDL 2012 Survey Team, Member. (June 8, 2012 – December 31, 2012)

Recent Project

cover image of book, Digitizing Flat Media

I am a tenured track faculty member in addition to being a librarian, and that means there is a publication requirement for me to keep my job. While I’ve published a bit, I’m most excited about the publication of my book Digitizing Flat Media. I’m excited about this book because I think it will do the most good for people. I wanted to help people figure out the wide range of options they had when thinking about a scanning/digitization project. Since projects are often tied to grants or donors, I also wanted to help people plan out their project and have realistic expectations of how much they would cost and how long they would take.

Publications

  • Perrin, J. (December 2015). Digitizing Flat Media: Principles and Practices. LITA-Guide Series. Lanham, Maryland. Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. ISBN 9781442258099
  • Perrin, J., Clark, M., De-Leon, E., Edgar, L. (2014). Usability Testing for Greater Impact: A Primo Case Study. Information Technology and Libraries. http://dx.doi.org/10.6017/ital.v33i4.5174
  • Perrin, J., Winkler, H., Yang, L. (2014). Digital Preservation Challenges with an ETD Collection: A Case Study at Texas Tech University. Journal of Academic Librarianship. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2014.11.002
  • Yang, L., Perrin, J. (2014). Tutorials on Google Analytics: How to Craft a Web Analytics Report for a Library Web Site. The Journal of Web Librarianship, 8(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2014.944296
  • Brewer, J., Perrin, J., Popp, T. (2012). REDDNET and Digital Preservation in the Open Cloud: Research at Texas Tech University Libraries on Long-Term Archival Storage. Journal of Digital Information, 13(1). https://journals.tdl.org/jodi/index.php/jodi/article/view/5875/5877
  • Barba, S., Perrin, J. (2009). Great Expectations: How Digital Project Management Fosters Collaboration between University Libraries and External Entities. Texas Library Journal, 85(2), pp. 56-59. http://www.txla.org/sites/tla/files/pdf/TLJ85_2.pdf

Question and Answer:

1) Why did you choose to work in libraries?

  • When I was a student assistant in the library, I was impressed at how the library functioned. There seemed to be so many people working behind the scenes that students took for granted, and I was enamored of the complexity of the process. I was also excited by the idea of making processes more efficient, or figuring out what processes didn’t need to happen so that patrons could get more for their investment of time and resources into the library.

2) What projects or initiatives are you most excited about at your library?

  • My library is doing a lot of development of software and apps. Up till now, development has been slow due to a lack of sufficient technical resources, but now we have a full development team and excited librarians who are collaborating to make things. Some of the notable examples are OCCAM’s Reader, which was started at Texas Tech and has blossomed into a collaboration with University of Hawaii and Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA). A group of Librarians and Staff at Texas Tech received an award for an app they developed called Book Raider, and most recently, a group in my department worked with the development group to produce a streaming sound and audio player for restricted ETDs, which has allowed us to make our ETD collection more complete.
  • There are other things in development that are niche products that may have broader appeal. I’m excited about this trend because it’s new for Texas Tech to have the resources, and I’m encouraged by the number of librarians getting involved in software development.

3) What is your most memorable TDL experience?

  • I love going to TCDL every year. Every year is memorable. I remember when James Hilton came to speak at TCDL in 2012 about the Digital Preservation Network. I guess we were all staying in the AT&T Conference Center Hotel, because when we got to our room we found a plate of snacks and a very nice letter to James Hilton on our table. We had to call up to the front desk to tell them they put it in the wrong room. Mr Hilton’s presentation was also memorable, as it put in very clear terms the dangers that digital files were in. That presentation made it easier to talk to IT about digital preservation because I could use those arguments and they started to understand that there was a difference between backups and preserving something digitally.