COLUMBUS, Ohio – After an eventful year during which the organization changed leadership and assisted its member libraries as they dealt with unprecedented COVID-19 changes, OhioLINK announces a reorganization that promotes three long-time staff to leadership. Judy Cobb, Joanna Voss, and Theda Schwing will move into newly created Associate Director roles.
“Judy, Joanna, and Theda stepped up to guide OhioLINK and its member libraries through pandemic-created challenges with their technical expertise, strategic thinking, and empathy,” said OhioLINK Executive Director Amy Pawlowski, who assumed directorship in February after serving as Deputy Director since 2013. “I’m confident in their capacity for even greater contributions as we strengthen OhioLINK’s member-driven community and its leadership in providing shared content and services for higher education libraries across the state.”
Damon Jaggars, Vice Provost & Dean of University Libraries at The Ohio State University, and chair of OhioLINK’s Library Advisory Council Coordinating Committee said, “We congratulate OhioLINK’s new Associate Directors and look forward to working closely with them as part of the consortial leadership team.” The Library Advisory Council, which consists of library directors from all public and two private universities with representatives from independent and two-year colleges, reviews and approves all policy recommendations, major funding measures, and strategic planning.
OhioLINK, Ohio’s statewide academic library consortium, manages the acquisition and access to e-resources for 117 academic libraries and the State Library of Ohio, and delivers those scholarly resources for $52 per student—less than the cost of a single textbook. The reorganization eliminates the deputy director position within the organization and redistributes responsibilities. The new Associate Directors will become members of OhioLINK’s collaborative leadership team, working with member institutions and the Ohio Department of Higher Education on the organization’s direction and continued success.
The promotions include:
Judy Cobb, Associate Director of Operations and Platforms. Cobb will lead the implementation of policies and procedures for the operational support and assessment of internal OhioLINK services, as well as prioritize projects for future development across the entire OhioLINK services portfolio. Her responsibilities include directing OhioLINK’s content platforms, member support, and eTutoring services. Cobb joined OhioLINK in 2016 after working with OCLC and as the Assistant State Archivist for Ohio. She earned her master’s degree in library science from the University of Buffalo.
Joanna Voss, Associate Director of Licensing and Analytics. Voss will lead data analysis initiatives, including ensuring vendor data quality and consistency, to support effective evidence-based decision-making. She also will manage collection and data analysis on consortial e-resource content and OhioLINK key performance metrics. In addition, she will co-negotiate licenses and contracts for consortial purchases with the Executive Director. Voss received a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Ohio State University and a master’s in library and information sciences from Kent State University. She joined OhioLINK in 2014 from The Ohio State University Libraries. Voss also serves on the advisory board of CC-PLUS, a federal Institute of Museum and Library Services-funded initiative to develop a tool for consortia to manage usage statistics.
Theda Schwing, Associate Director of Discovery and Delivery. Schwing will lead OhioLINK-member technology integration, OhioLINK’s member support site, and shared library services, including the OhioLINK central library catalogs, authentication, document delivery, and discovery services. Her responsibilities also will include managing operations with library vendors. Before joining OhioLINK in 2013, Schwing was the Technical Services Librarian at East Central University in Oklahoma. She earned her master’s degree in library and information sciences from Kent State University.
The newly appointed Associate Directors will play key roles in the organization’s upcoming strategic planning for Academic Year 2021-2022, slated to begin in June. In lieu of strategic planning for 2019-2020, OhioLINK’s library directors chose to invest in developing a well-received white paper published in January 2020 that challenged software vendors to develop integrated library systems that support the academic library’s evolving role in the higher education ecosystem. OhioLINK leadership anticipates continued work with its member libraries’ deans and directors on this initiative over the next year.
About OhioLINK: Connecting libraries, learning and discovery
Established in 1992, the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) is Ohio’s statewide academic library consortium, serving 88 institutions plus the State Library of Ohio. Delivering both IT infrastructure and content negotiation, OhioLINK provides students, researchers, faculty, and staff with access to valuable digital research collections at a fraction of the cost if those collections were purchased by individual institutions. OhioLINK also connects library services, print and digital collections among its member institutions and manages collaborative services aimed at reducing students’ cost of higher education in Ohio, including eTutoring and Affordable Learning. A member of the Ohio Technology Consortium of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, OhioLINK creates a competitive advantage for its member institutions and supports student and researcher success across Ohio. Learn more at ohiolink.edu.
