May 2010 Continuing Education Program Team Member Bios

Name(in alphabetical order)  
Wei Bender ,Presenter
Kuei Chiu, Presenter
Xiaofang Han , Presenter
Paula Kaufman, Presenter
Karen Wei, Presenter
Jo Bell Whitlatch, Presenter

Wei Bender is a Senior Segment Analyst at OCLC, Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Some of her responsibilities include developing and delivering marketing programs, promotions and campaigns to build awareness and generate demand, as well as to extend understanding and knowledge of issues related to libraries, information industries, and economic impacts. Her team works directly and closely with member libraries and library staff to provide marketing outreach strategies and promotional materials for their library services. Wei has worked at OCLC since 1989. This 20-year experiences at OCLC as a CJK cataloger, Asia Pacific User Support Specialist and Senor Segment Analyst have greatly enhanced her knowledge and capabilities in technical services, operational user support, public relations and marketing. She obtained her MLS degree from Kent State University, and a Master’s degree in Education from The Ohio State University. She is currently enrolled in a MBA program at Franklin University. She is a CALA life member and the treasurer of Midwest chapter since 2006.

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Wei Bender

Kuei Chiu taught Modern Greek in a Chinese university before coming to the U.S. While working on his Master of Liberal Studies in Modern Greek Studies at the Ohio State University, he discovered that the Master of Library Science degree from Kent State University was offered on the same campus. After receiving both degrees, he joined the California Newspaper Project under the U.S. Newspaper Program administered by the Library of Congress. As the principal cataloger of the project, he surveyed and cataloged many newspaper collections in California including many in foreign languages. Later, he became the founding Asian Studies Librarian at University of California, Riverside (UCR), and assumed various responsibilities including bibliographer, subject specialist, reference librarian, and interim head of preservation services. He has also been working as an adjunct faculty at a local community college for many years. Over the years, Kuei has gained extensive experience in collection development, library management, preservation services, reference, faculty outreach, and bibliographic instruction. Currently, Kuei is the interim head of Collection Development Department at UCR. In addition, Kuei is productive in his research and has published numerous articles on library related topics, and has presented locally, nationally as well as in international library conferences. As a life member, Kuei has been actively involved in CALA and was the president of the California chapter in 2005. He played an instrumental role in creating two CALA chapters in California, and subsequently served as the first president of CALA Southern California chapter.

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Kuei Chiu

Xiaofang Han is the Senior Subject Department Librarian/Assistant Manager of the Foreign Literature Department at the Cleveland Public Library. She has ten years of professional public service librarian experience serving a multicultural clientele. She has received much praise for her work to improve library services to local communities, including a certificate from the City of Cleveland Mayor Jackson. Her efforts include initiating e-mail and other services to local communities and establishing the “Windows of Shanghai” collection in her library. She has been a featured speaker at CALA Southwest Chapter /Texas Library Association’s Annual Conference, and CALA’s first public library workshop for its 21st Century Librarians Series in Yunan China. She is also a recipient of the NEO-RLS Leadership Development School and has been featured in her library’s newsletter. She has a M.L.S. in Library and Information Studies from Queens College at the City University of New York, and a M.A. in Communications from Pittsburg State University (Kansas). She is a life member of CALA.< br/>
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Xiaofang Han

Paula Kaufman, Paula Kaufman is the Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Dean of Libraries and University Librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a position she has held since 1999, with a break in 2006/07 when she served as the University’s Interim Chief Information Officer. Before joining the faculty at Illinois, she spent eleven years as Dean of Libraries at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Prior to taking that position she served the Columbia University Libraries as Acting Vice President, Director of Academic Information Services, Director of Library Services, Acting Head of the East Asia Libraries, and Head of the Business Library. She also has considerable experience in the private sector, at McKinsey and Company and as co-founder and partner of Information for Business. Dean Kaufman has written and made presentations on a number of issues pertaining to Library ROI, scholarly information, privacy, copyright, research libraries, recruitment, and leadership. Her recent presentations include “Carpe Diem: Seizing Opportunities From Crisis;” “University Investment in the Library: What’s the Return? A Case Study at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign;” “Service is Sovereign: The Future of Academic Research Libraries;” “Role and Mission of Academic Libraries: Present and Future;” “Everything Old is New Again, or is It?; ”and “Quo Vadis? Scholarly Communication and Trends in Research Libraries.” Among her recent publications are Paradoxes of Prosperity: Wealth-Seeking Versus Christian Values in Pre-Civil War America, co-authored with Ratner, Lorman A. and Teeter, Dwight L., Jr. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press (in press); “The Library as Strategic Investment: Results of the Illinois Return on Investment Study.” LIBER Quarterly, 18:3/4, 2008. (http://liber.library.uu.nl/); “It’s Not Your Parent’s Library Anymore: Challenges and Opportunities in the New Webs of Complexity.” Journal of Library Administration 46:1, 2007; “Copyright in the United States and Japan: Storming the Barriers to Access.” in Marcum, Deanna and George, Jerry. Development of Digital Libaries: The View From Kanazawa. Libraries Unlimited, 2006; “9/11 Legislation and Technology: The Academic Impact,” with Peter Siegel Educause Review, Sept/Oct. 2002; "New Encroachments Recall Old Ones." Library Journal October 1, 2002; “Where Do the Next ‘We’ Come From? Recruiting, Retaining, and Developing Our Successors,” ARL Bimonthly Report, April 2002; “Whose Good Old Days Are These? A Dozen Predictions for the Digital Age,” Journal of Library Administration 2001; "Looking Over Electronic Shoulders: Privacy in 21st Century Libraries" in The Ethics of Electronic Information in the 21st Century, (Purdue University Press, 1999); and Structure and Crisis: Markets and Market Segmentation in Scholarly Publishing," In The Mirage of Continuity: Reconfiguring Academic Information Resources in 21st University Universities by Hawkins, Brian and Battin, Patricia, (CLIR and AAU, 1998). Dean Kaufman has served the profession with board memberships in the Center for Research Libraries (chair), the Association of Research Libraries (president), the Council on Library and Information Resources (chair), the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois, the Illinois Computer Services Organization, the Research Libraries Group, the Society for Scholarly Publishing, CAUSE, and Solinet (chair). She has served on numerous committees at the University of Illinois, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Columbia University, and the Committee on Institutional Cooperation.

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Paula Kaufman

Karen Wei project Co-PI, is Head of the Asian Library, Coordinator of the Area Studies Division, and Professor of Library Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is responsible for the administration of the unit and coordination of the public and technical service activities in the Asian Library. She is a China specialist and has more than 20 years experience in collection development and management of Chinese information resources and services. She is a CALA life member and a recipient of the 2004 CALA President Recognition Award.

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Karen Wei

Jo Bell Whitlatch has a Ph.D. in Library and Information Studies and an M.A in Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests and areas of special competence are: information seeking needs and behavior, user studies in libraries, evaluation of service organizations, and management of academic libraries. Publications include two books, The Role of the Academic Reference Librarian (1990), Evaluating Reference Services (2000), and articles in RQ, College & Research Libraries, Journal of Academic Librarianship, and the Reference Librarian. Her extensive library experience covers three academic libraries and many areas, including collection management, acquisitions, cataloging, circulation, reference, interlibrary loan, and library management. From 1987-2009, she also taught at various times, Information Organizations & Management, Advanced Information Resources & Services, Reference & Information Services, and Information & Society, in the San Jose State University Graduate School of Library & Information Science. She is also a member of the Evergreen Education Foundation Board of Directors:http://www.evergreeneducation.org/Evergreen/organization.htm

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Jo Bell Whitlatch



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