Executive Council Bios
PRESIDENT
Mary Ochs is the Director of the Albert R. Mann Library at Cornell University www.mannlib.cornell.edu . The Mann Library supports research and teaching in Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences , College of Human Ecology and overall life sciences community. Mary has been a member of USAIN since 2000. She served as a Director on the Executive Committee from 2004-2006 and as co-leader of the NEH-funded USAIN Preservation projects. Mary is active in the international agricultural information community, and has served a leadership role in the recently formed USAIN International Agriculture Interest Group, and in both TEEAL www.teeal.org and AGORA www.aginternetwork.org , programs which provide free or reduced-price access to scientific agricultural journals for developing world libraries.
PAST-PRESIDENT
Allison Level is the Natural Resources College Liaison Librarian at Colorado State University. She has a BSPA from the University of Arkansas, an MEd from Kent State, and an MLS from Emporia State University. Prior to joining CSU, Allison worked in science and technology reference at the Library of Congress and as Head of Reference at Southwest Missouri State University. She has been active in USAIN since 2000. She was a USAIN Director from 2005-2009. Previous USAIN activities include: Convener of the AgNIC Interest Group, Co-Convener of the Collection Management Interest Group, member of the USAIN Awards Committee, member of the Communications Committee, Chair of the USAIN 2003 Pre-Conference Planning Committee and was a member of the 2001 Pre-Conference Planning Committee.
Allison has been active in state and national library organizations including ACRL-STS and IS. Some of her activities include: membership on the STS Oberly Award Committee, membership on the IS Research and Scholarship Committee, STS Conference Programming Committee, and as member then chair of the Legislation and Government Information Committee. During 1996-1998 she served as Vice-Chair then Chair of STS. Her research interests include information literacy, scholarly communication, and science education. She works collaboratively with three AgNIC websites on topics of wildlife damage, Colorado Rangelands, and agricultural water conservation. Additionally she is on the Editorial Board for the open-access refereed journal: Communications in Information Literacy.
PRESIDENT-ELECT
Eileen Herring is the head of the Science and Technology Department and a reference librarian at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is responsible for collection development, instruction and reference for all areas of agriculture as well as biological sciences and ecology. Eileen has been at UH Manoa Library since 1993. Prior to that she was a reference librarian at Hawaii Medical Library. Eileen has a BA from the University of California, San Diego and received both her MLIS and MS in Horticulture from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Eileen has been a member of USAIN since 1995. She served as Secretary/Treasurer from 2002 to 2006 and has served on a variety of USAIN committees and task forces. She has been the UH Manoa institutional representative to AgNIC since 2003 and is responsible for the institution’s AgNIC Web site, Traditional Pacific Island Crops. She also works collaboratively with the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources range specialist on the Hawaii Rangelands Web site. Eileen has been a team member of the USDA grant supported project Agricultural Development in the American Pacific since 1995. As part of this project, she provides library services to extension agents and land grant researchers at Pacific land grant institutions in American Samoa, Micronesia, Guam, and the Northern Marianas. In 2004 to 2005, Eileen developed and coordinated the library enhancement activities of a USAID funded project in Iraq. Additionally, she is a Review Editor for the Journal of Agricultural and Food Information.
SECRETARY/TREASURER
Anita M. Ezzo is the Science Collections Coordinator/Food Science and Technology Librarian at Michigan State University. In that capacity she oversees the science materials budget; supervises several science librarians; serves as liaison to the University's Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, National Food Safety and Toxicology Center, Institute for Food Laws and Regulations, and School of Packaging; co-teaches a Research Methods course for MSU's online Professional Masters Program in Food Safety; and is responsible for collection development, reference, and library instruction in food science/human nutrition, packaging, and clothing/textiles.
Anita has been a member of USAIN since 1996, doing stints as Director (1998-2000) and member of the Preservation Project Committee (2000-2004), the Communications Committee (2005-2006), and the Task Force for the Assessment of a National Agricultural Information Infrastructure (2005-2007) and Co-Chairing the 2008 Conference in Wooster, Ohio. She served as Co-PI and Project Manager for Michigan's Phase III and IV participation in the National Preservation Program for Agricultural Literature, compiling the bibliography and overseeing the microfilming effort. Anita has also been active in the Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition (FAN) Division of the Special Libraries Association, holding a variety of leadership positions--including Chair-Elect/Chair/Past-Chair (2000-2003)--and earning the FAN Distinguished Member Award in 2006.
Additionally, Anita serves on the CABI Publishing North American Library Advisory Board and as Editor for the Journal of Agricultural & Food Information.
NAL REPRESENTATIVE
Christopher Cole is the Acting Deputy Director at the National Agricultural Library. In addition, he serves as the Associate Director for Technical Services overseeing the Cataloging, Acquisitions, and AGRICOLA Indexing operations. Before joining NAL in February 2005, he was a Digital Project Coordinator at the Library of Congress from 2002-2005. Prior to entering the Federal Service, Chris was a Cybrarian at the Intel Corporation and worked at Maricopa County (Arizona) Library District (1990-2000) as the County Librarian and Associate Director. He received a BA from Kalamazoo College and an MLS from the University of Illinois – Urbana.
Chris served as a member of the OCLC Record Use Policy Council that drafted a new policy on WorldCat Rights and Responsibilities for the OCLC Cooperative. He also served as a member of the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control that issued their report – On the Record in January 2007. He co-chaired the US RDA Implementation Committee that completed extensive testing process involving 26 institutions of the new cataloging code RDA: Resource Description and Access. The result was that once certain pre-conditions are met, the national libraries will adopt RDA in 2013.
DIRECTORS 2010-2012
Connie Britton is the librarian for the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, the agricultural research arm of the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, a position she has held since 1981. She has a BA from Kalamazoo College, an MLS from Western Michigan University and an MS (Education) from Central Michigan University.
She has been a member of USAIN since 1988 and previously served as a Director from 1999 to 2001. Recently, she co-chaired the conference planning committee and chaired the local arrangements committee for the 2008 USAIN conference that was held in Wooster Ohio. She was the co-PI on the Ohio portion of the USAIN agricultural literature preservation project, phases 4 and 5. She is also involved in AgNIC, representing Ohio State University on the coordinating council, serving as a member of the Executive Board, 1999-2002 and as Chair, 2005/06. She manages the Bees and Pollination site for AgNIC. She was awarded the OARDC Outstanding Staff Award in 2005.
Valrie Davis is the Outreach Librarian for Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida’s Marston Science Library and the National Implementation Coordinator for the VIVO project. Her duties at UF include collection management, reference and instruction for all off-campus faculty, staff and students in UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) which includes 13 Research & Education Centers, 67 County Extension offices and approximately 230 distance learners. She also provides library services to several on-campus agricultural science departments, including Agronomy, Environmental Horticulture, Horticulture, Food Science & Human Nutrition, and Plant Pathology. Val’s primary focus is the enhancement of library services, as well as the identification of successful methods for marketing, to her off-campus populations.
Before coming to UF, Val was a Collection & Research Services Librarian at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania. She holds an M.L.S. from Florida State University and received her B.A. in English from University of South Florida. She is a member of USAIN, AgNIC, and IAALD and is currently serving as chair-elect for SLA’s Food, Agriculture, Nutrition Division.
Claudine Jenda is the librarian for the College of Agriculture at Auburn. She also serves as the Assistant Head of Reference & Instruction Services, Auburn University Libraries. Claudine has worked at Auburn since 1989 where she has held a variety of positions in public services such as: Department Head of Science and Technology; Reference Librarian, Government Publications; and Information Specialist, InfoQuest Fee-Based Services. She completed a two-year Fellowship Librarian position in 2001, as a patent fellow, at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program in Washington, D.C. Claudine holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Malawi; and the Master of Science degree in Information Science from The City University, London.
Claudine has been a member of USAIN since 1993. She has served on membership committees, conference planning committees, and as a co-convener on the Technology Trends Interest Group.'
DIRECTORS 2011-2013
Madeleine Charney is a Research Services Librarian at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and serves as the liaison to the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, the Stockbridge School of Agriculture and all things "sustainable." Her online library research guides cover topics such as Food Systems, Renewable Energy Ecovillages, Permaculture, Green Building & Infrastructure and Climate Change. She is the founder and moderator of SustainableUMass, campus-wide listserv. She has been at the UMass Library since 2004.
Prior to that she was the solo librarian at the New England Small Farm Institute which houses the premier agriculture library in the Northeast. Madeleine has a BA from Binghamton University, an MLS from the University of Rhode Island and an MA in Sustainable Landscape Design and Planning from the Conway School of Landscape Design. Her research interests include information literacy, scholarly communication and food systems. With a passion for growing food, she is certified in Permaculture Design and completed the training program offered by the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association.
Madeleine has been a member of USAIN since 2005 and she serves as Chairperson for the Legislative and Governmental Relations Committee. She is on the Steering Committee of PVGrows, a fast-growing network devoted to strengthening the viability of healthy food systems in Western Massachusetts and is also Chairperson for PVGrows Higher Education Working Group. Additionally, she is the Book and Internet Review Editor for the Journal of Agricultural and Food Information.
Hope Jansen is a Regional Sales Manager at CABI Publishing whose territory includes Canada and 25 states. She has been with CABI since 2007 and has a BA in English from University of Vermont and MLS from University of Brighton in the UK. She has been a member of USAIN since 2007 and is also a member of SLA’s Food, Agriculture and Nutrition Division, currently serving as Secretary and Public Relations Chair. Previous to working at CABI Hope was Freedom of Information and Data Protection Officer for Allerdale Borough Council and a public librarian with Cumbria County Libraries, both in the UK.
Marianne Stowell Bracke is the Agricultural Sciences Information Specialist at the Purdue University Libraries, where she holds the rank of Associate Professor. She has been at Purdue since 2006, and has held similar positions at the University of Arizona, University of Houston, and University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign prior to this. At Purdue, she is the liaison for nine departments, including Ag & Biological Engineering, Agronomy, Animal Sciences, Biochemistry, Botany & Plant Pathology, Entomology, Forestry & Natural Resources, Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, and Youth Development & Ag Education. Her research focuses on the shifting nature of liaison work, especially as it applies to information literacy and data services in agriculture.
She received both her B.A. (History) and her M.S.(Library & Information Science) from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.