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Aaron Krebeck Named as Deputy Director
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Effective Feb 1, 2025, Aaron Krebeck will take on a new role as WRLC's Deputy Director.
In this position, Aaron will be responsible for integrating Information Technology and User Services staffing and operations into a single unit. Aaron will apportion resources to support the new WRLC Strategic Plan, library partner needs, and WRLC committees.
As part of the WRLC Leadership Team, Aaron will work closely with the Executive Director and Director of Finance and Administration to ensure that WRLC provides sustainable and cost-effective services.
Aaron came to WRLC in 2014 as Digital Services Librarian. In 2019, he stepped into a new position as Director of Library and User Services. Upon the retirement of Mark Jacobs in 2022, Aaron served as WRLC's Interim Executive Director through May 2023.
Congratulations Aaron!
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On January 6th of this year, WRLC shut down the public interface of our shared Islandora environment. Home to more than 65 terabytes (TB) of shared digital books, documents, photos, audio, and video objects, this platform served the WRLC community for nearly ten years! Going live in the summer of 2015 with just 4 TB of content, the platform benefited from active and engaged collaboration between 5 WRLC partners. As the storage volumes increased to include institutional repository content, oral histories, and video, the number of partners also increased. During its life, WRLC Islandora was home to collections from DC Public Library, National Security Archive, and the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI). The end of life date for Islandora's Drupal 7 backbone meant all tenants would need to move to a new digital collections platform. While the I-5 (as they were collectively known) decided to go their separate ways, Islandora stands as an important consortial achievement and a testament to collaboration. Aaron Krebeck would like to thank Don Gourley (WRLC), Leslie Nellis (AU), Shanyun Zhang (CUA), Christopher Shea (GAL), Mason Yang (MU), and Michael Fitzgerald (UDC) among many others for their contributions to the success of this service over its lifetime.
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Twice per year, Ex Libris refreshes all Sandbox environments. A refresh means that all data and configurations are copied from the corresponding production environment to the sandbox; these replace any data and configurations already existing in the sandbox.
Our first refresh of the new year is scheduled for Sunday, February 9th, 2025.
WRLC will do its best to recreate all consortial user accounts created in the past six months (login information will be emailed to all applicable users), but if you find that you do not have access to the sandbox after Tuesday, February 11th, you can fill out the WRLC Sandbox Access Request Form to request a new sandbox user account.
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Register for webinar featuring UDC's Meghan Kowlaski
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Libraries thrive because of the amazing people behind them. However, library professionals often focus on their organizations without promoting themselves, which can hinder individual growth and limit organizational potential. In this session, Kowalski will explore how to amplify your team by identifying their strengths, promoting their work, and helping them overcome challenges like self-doubt and imposter syndrome. She will also discuss the mutual benefits of promoting others for both individuals and organizations. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to highlight their team’s skills and projects, fostering growth and collaboration within and beyond the library community.
Panelist:
Meghan Kowalski is the Outreach and Reference Librarian at the University of the District of Columbia. Previously, she worked at The Catholic University of America's Mullen Library where she held positions in both public and technical services. She is the author of the newsletters “Content Prompt” (https://contentprompt.substack.com) “The Weekly Wrap” (https://meghankowalski.substack.com/). You can also visit her website (www.meghankowalski.com) to see a portfolio of her work and read her blog.
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How the Gallaudet Archives Assisted the Deaf President Now! Documentary
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When Gallaudet alum Nyle DiMarco, ’13, began developing his new documentary, Deaf President Now!, he contacted the Gallaudet University Archives to ask if they had any historical items to share.
Archives Director Jim McCarthy laughed.
“Of course, we had plenty,” Jim recalls. “After talking with Nyle, there was no question whether or not Archives would be involved. It worked out quickly, and we started sharing materials.”
Deaf President Now! will premiere on January 28 at the Sundance Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. The film captures the Deaf President Now (DPN) protests in 1988 through interviews and archival footage. It was made possible with the help of the Gallaudet Archives, a rich library of over 2,000 historical items. The Archives library captures not only Gallaudet history, but also the history of the Deaf community.
Jim loves seeing new Gallaudet students experience the Archives for the first time. “My favorite part of this job is connecting with the community,” he says. “Gallaudet has an important role in American Deaf history. It’s not just Gallaudet history. It’s my history. My daughter’s history. Your history, too.”
After the Gallaudet Archives staff agreed to support the film, executive producers from award-winning Concordia Studios flew to Washington, D.C. The Archives team brought out all the DPN materials they had. Together, archivists and producers spent a week going through old memorabilia, photos, and hundreds of hours of video footage.
The footage included captures of the DPN protests in action, as well as some negotiations that happened behind closed doors between the protest leaders and Gallaudet administration. While it was fascinating, the sheer amount of footage was too much for even a dedicated historian like Jim. “I didn’t watch all of it. I have a full-time job!”
After Concordia Studios identified the materials they wanted to use in the film, the Archives team carefully packed it up and shipped it across the country to Los Angeles, where the film was produced. In Los Angeles, a dedicated archivist scanned photos and converted old footage into digital files, then shipped everything back to Washington, D.C. The back-and-forth continued for over a year.
“We really cherish our collection,” Jim says. “Sending so much of it cross-country required a lot of trust. We had to weigh the risks and benefits to the community. It was a hard decision to make. I’m proud of what we did.”
Jim felt relieved when he realized the level of detail Nyle and the producers were seeking. “They asked us lots of questions, like, ‘What type of TTY was used in 1988? What brand? What did it look like?’” The Archives team scoured old DPN photos and found some that showed a TTY in detail. “The producers wanted that specific TTY, and we had it in our collection,” Jim says. It was shipped to Los Angeles for display in the film. “When you watch the film, the items in it are the real deal.”
It wasn’t easy, but thanks to the Gallaudet Archives staff, the entire world will soon see the trailblazing impact of Deaf President Now. How does Jim feel now?
“One and a half years of work! I’m looking forward to watching the movie!”
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Share your Events!
Are you presenting? Hosting a webinar? We'd like to know and share in upcoming newsletters! Please use the link below to share your upcoming presentations, webinars, or other events!
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Highlight a WRLC Colleague
Do you have a colleague that goes above and beyond? Do they contribute to the WRLC in a special way that deserves to be highlighted? Share their story (or yours) in the questionnaire below to be featured in a future newsletter!
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