1. Pilots and Partnerships:
University Academic Computing (IS&T)
and University Libraries
Chris Freeland
Senior Director, University Academic Computing
Twitter: @chrisfreeland
Chris Huels
Manager, Student Technology Services

2. Purpose of session
 Overview of my background in & around libraries
 Describe new role in IS&T and initiatives
 Review the recent STS Help Desk pilot in Olin Library
(Explain why you’ve seen me in suite 314)

3. Library as community center
 Library as social space
 Field trips
 Reading programs
 Not just materials for loan
 Library as service provider
 Air conditioning in 1970s
 Wifi/labs in 2010s

4. Background
M.S., Biological Sciences
Eastern Illinois University, 1997
B.S., Environmental Biology
Eastern Illinois University, 1996
Circulation staff, Booth Library
Director, Center for Biodiversity Informatics
Missouri Botanical Garden, 2007 – 2012
Technical Director
Biodiversity Heritage Library, 2007 – 2012

5. Center for Biodiversity Informatics
Mission: Provide innovative technology solutions to
the global community of life science scholars in
order to collect, mobilize, integrate, and repatriate
data about the world’s biodiversity.

6. Funding
 All expenses funded through the support of private
foundations and US federal agencies, including:

7. Cornerstone Projects
 Tropicos
 Botanical data
from collecting
expeditions
 Biodiversity Heritage Library
 Published Literature
 1400s – 2010s

8. Tropicos manages:
Gerrit
Davidse
People
Angel
C.
González
Specimens
Davidse
19490
27
Nov
1981
Venezuela,
Anzoategui
10°01'N
064°13'W
-­‐
10°02'N
064°17'W
(10.0166600,
-­‐64.2166600)
Loca8ons
Distrito
Libertad:
Road
from
El
Vigia
to
Buenos
Aires,
8-­‐15
airline
km
ENE
of
Bergantán.
Mountain
savanna
(Trachypogon,
Byrsonima,
Curatella)
interdigitaMng
with
deciduous
forest
in
the
drainages.
Rhipidocladum
sibilans
Davidse,
Judz.
&
L.G.
Clark
Names
(Poaceae)
References
Images

9. • SQL Server backend
• C# .NET web & client
• Multiple APIs
• Integration with ESRI ArcGIS

11. Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL)
 Consortium of world’s leading natural history
libraries, founded in 2007
 Goal of digitizing public domain biodiversity
literature, and in-copyright materials where
negotiable
 Pre-1923 in US, other dates internationally
 Built to provide page-level access & deep linking
 Text mining, data mining, semantic markup
 Open scholarship, open data
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org

12. MARC
MARCXML
PDF
OCR
JPG

13. >100,000 books,
> 39 million pages,
> 70TB data

14. Original Description
Memoir of a Tour to Northern Mexico: connected with Col. Doniphan's Expedition in 1846 and 1847 107. 1848.

15. Using scientific namefinding algorithms:
- TaxonFinder by uBio.org
- NetiNeti by Marine Biological Laboratory
Have identified more than 100 million scientific
names within 40 million scanned pages.

16. Impact of Tropicos + BHL
for scientists:
Single-click access to
library resources &
scientific data

19. “I arrived back at work from holidays today to be
greeted by Michael, an [sic] colleague researching
wasps. He was excited that he had discovered in the
Biodiversity Heritage Library a copy of an obscure
1860s book:
Saussure, H. de & Sichel, J. (1864). Catalogue des espèces
de l'ancien genre Scolia, contenant les diagnoses, les
descriptions et la synonymie des espèces, avec des remarques
explicatives er critiques. Genève & Paris : Henri Georg &
V. Masson et Fils pp. 1–350
This book was not in our library, probably not
in Australia, and almost impossible to get hold
of without travelling to the northern
hemisphere. Thanks to the BHL for their work in
providing access to works of importance. Michael is
now able to use detailed content of this book in his
work.”
-John Tann, Australian Museum
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/9323

22. Thinking about change

23. New role:
Sr. Director, University Academic Computing,
Information Services & Technology
 IS&T worked with other campus leaders to define a
need for enhanced organization around
administrative and academic computing:
 Efficiencies in the way WUSTL staff use systems
 Modernization of systems to benefit students
 Why on tech side?
 Connections to existing infrastructure and
development teams

24. WUSTL Information Services & Technology
University Network Customer IS&T
Administrative & Services Services & Administration
Academic Shared
Computing Technologies
Application Network People Care
Workstation support
Development Engineering &
Operations Financial Care
Data Warehouse/ Training
Info Analytics Communications
QA
Computing Infrastructure
Operations & SW Licensing
Infrastructure Network Security Shared Solutions
University Academic Telecom Services Media Services
Computing Incident Response
Technologies
Denise Hirschbeck Craig Hager Rick Tyler Marsha Koch

25. IS&T University Academic Computing
Student Student
Undergraduate
Information Technology
Admissions
Systems Services

26. New Initiatives
 Blackboard & Blackboard Mobile
 Portfolio pilot & launch
 Degree audit integration
 Data analytics, data warehousing
 Pulling together data from across the University, make
available for reporting & analytics
 SU involvement
 SyllabiCentral Making systems
 iTunes U more student-friendly
 Mobile computing (mobile)
 Circ app for iOS (Android in dev)
 WUSTL Courses app in iOS and Android

27. Collaborating with students to solve tech problems

28. Circ app

29. Help Desk Pilot
Chris Huels
Manager, STS

30. Decide the need for STS support services on the
Danforth Campus.
Determine if Non-South Forty students need basic STS
services.
Examine if STS student staff could support this service
long term.
Determine technical collaboration between STS and
Library.

32. STS Student Staff
Library Staff
Customer

33. 9
8
7
6
5 Wireless - 6
Printing - 8
4
Email - 4
3 Other - 8
2
1
0
Tickets Recorded

34. Twenty-two not living on the S40, and four S40 students
were assisted
Students Helped
4
Non-South 40
South 40
22

35. • Develop communication strategy
• Scope of service
• Clarify lines of responsibility

36. • STS student staff felt comfortable and still part of
the STS “TEAM” while working there
• Library staff was able to refer technical questions
to the STS desk
• Students that received service were very satisfied

37. Questions?
Chris Freeland
Senior Director, University Academic Computing
Washington University in St. Louis
Email: chris.freeland@wustl.edu
Twitter: @chrisfreeland
Blog / info: chrisfreeland.com
Chris Huels
Manager, Student Technology Services
Washington University in St. Louis
Email: cjhuels@wustl.edu