ellern@email.wcu.edu 

jillern@yahoo.com

130 Spalding Road, Sylva, NC 28779

Home: (828) 399-1286 Work: (828) 227-3746

Louisiana State University – Baton Rouge, LA – MLIS – Master of Library and Information Science – 1986

West Virginia Wesleyan College – Buckhannon, WV – BS – Library Science and Computer Information Science -1985

Systems Librarian – Western Carolina University

Associate Professor Hunter Library, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC

1994-present

• Supervise the Systems Unit that is responsible for all aspects of library IT activities including planning, consulting, budgeting, designing, developing, implementing, training, and problem-solving assistance in hosted and local servers, personal computers, networking, library website and application and library software for the library. Lead the ongoing technology efforts and involved in development of solutions in all areas of the library technology including managerial leadership and expertise in strategic technology management, creative problem solving, workflow analysis, device and software selection and purchase, user training, vendor relationships, and reporting.
• Implement, administer, coordinate and troubleshoot the library’s participation and continual activities with regard to all aspects of its integrated library system Western North Carolina Library Network (WNCLN).  Represent WCU interests in WNCLN with everyday policy, procedural, troubleshooting, and committee decisions.
• Implement, administer, coordinate and troubleshooting the library’s use of its ILS Sierra, ArchivesSpace and CONTENTdm.
• Manage the support for upwards to 270+ library PCs.  This includes model active learning classroom, multiple service desks and upwards to 70+ public area research station with an annual technology budget that fluctuates between $0-$80K.

Coordinator of Library Automation – Western Carolina University

Assistant Professor Hunter Library, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC

1990-1994

• Coordinate library activities dealing with the online library system and other library automation activiites.

Assistant to the Automation Systems Coordinator  – Library of Congress

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Washington, DC

1987-1990

• Provided technology support, training and application creation at NLS/BPH and throughout its 160-member library network.

Intern – Staff Training and Development Office – Library of Congress

STDO -Madison Building, Washington, DC

1987

• Implemented the Library of Congress’s first Microcomputer Training Laboratory and evaluated the microcomputer situations and produced strategic plan for the training office.

“No Strings Attached? Challenges and Successes in Creating a Flexible, Wire-free Active Learning Classroom” by Gillian (Jill) D. Ellern and Heidi Buchanan.  Vol 36 (1) Library Hi Tech. 18 June 2018. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/LHT-04-2017-0070.

“Boyer in the Middle: Second Generation Challenges to Emerging Scholarship” Innovative Higher Education by Robert Crow, Laura Cruz, Jill Ellern, George Ford, Hollye Moss, and Barbara Jo White. Innovative Higher Education. April 2018, Volume 43, Issue 2.  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10755-017-9409-8.

“User Authentication in the Public Areas of Academic Libraries in North Carolina” Information Technology and Libraries Vol 34, No 2 (2015) by Gillian (Jill) D Ellern, Robin Hitch, Mark A Stoffan. http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/ital/article/view/5770.

“Library Services to Inmates In The Rural County Jails In Western North Carolina” North Carolina Libraries Vol 71, No 1 (2013) by Gillian D. Ellern and Karen Mason. http://www.ncl.ecu.edu/index.php/NCL/article/view/365/478.

“Semi-Radical:  Navigation The Boundaries Of The Scholarship Of Engagement At A Regional Comprehensive University” by Laura Cruz, Gillian D. Ellern, George Ford, Hollye Moss, Barbara Jo White.  Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement. Volume 17(1) March 2013. Pages 3-26 http://openjournals.libs.uga.edu/index.php/jheoe/article/view/980.

“Bound by Tradition? Peer Review And New Scholarship: An Institutional Case Study” by  B.J. White, Laura Cruz, Jill Ellern, George Ford and Hollye Moss, Research in Higher Education Journal (Summer 2012). http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/121205.pdf.

“How To Survive A Mandated Project” by Jill Ellern. Computers in Libraries Magazine November 2011 pp 16-20.   http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/nov11/index.shtml.

“Collection Development and A Long-Term Periodical Use Study: Methodology and Implications” by Pongracz Sennyey, Gillian D. Ellern, and Nancy Newsome. Serials Review, v.28, n.1, 2002 pp 38-44.  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009879130100168X.

“Hardware is the easy part of a virtual reality lab!” Annual Computers in Libraries 2020 Sept 21-25, 2020.  https://prezi.com/zmntdks0cozz/hardware-is-the-easy-part-of-the-virtual-reality-lab/  and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4bJ2Jy5Nhw&t=4s/

“Do they have to like you? Facebook Marketing for Libraries in the Age of Paid Ads – Webinar for North Carolina Library Association’s Distance Learning Section. Feb. 29, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i8enCT3Ztc&feature=youtu.be

“Down the Rabbit Hole of Image Storage and Retrieval in CONTENTdm” CONTENTdm User Group Meeting 2018 in Columbus, OH, August 2, 2018. https://prezi.com/v7ytamyjeb–/down-the-rabbit-hole-with-image-storage-and-retrieval-in-contentdm/

“Behind the Scenes of image storage and Retrieval in CONTENTdm” Southern CONTENTdm User Group Meeting in Nashville, TN. August 5, 2015. https://prezi.com/4jdcsnxcqzkw/behind-the-scenes-of-image-storage-and-retrieval-in-contentdm/

“Tools and Strategies for Circulation Profiling” Innovative User’s Group Annual Conference 2015 in Minneapolis, MN. April 16, 2015. Invited presentation https://prezi.com/lbcesxxcjhq2/tools-and-strategies-for-circulation-profiling-iug-2015/

“The use and future of splash pages for CONTENTdm databases” CONTENTdm Southern Users Group Meeting 2014.  Co-presented with Joel Marchesoni. Columbia, SC.  May 20, 2014. https://prezi.com/8xjs5rb3cliy/looking-at-splash-screens/

“Using ‘batches’ to create workflows in CONTENTdm for shared projects within the library” CONTENTdm Southern Users Group Meeting 2014.  Co-presented with Paromita Bismas. Columbia, SC.  May 20, 2014.

Committees at Department level

1990-present          Numerous library task forces, search committees, departmental governance committees, and other special work projects

Including those for Library IT projects, steering committees, Library faculty governance committees, and library internal management related committees.

Committees at University level

1990-present          Numerous university IT related committees including IT advisory committees, administrative user groups, academic advisory committee and other special task forces as the library’s IT representative. University Collegial Review Committee (2013-2016). Vice Chair of Faculty Senate (2007-2008). Member of Faculty Handbook rewriting committee.

Committees at Regional level

1994-present          Advisory Committee for the Microcomputer Systems Technology curriculum for Southwestern Community College, Sylva, NC.

1990-present          Numerous Western North Carolina Library Network committees and task forces in charge of the consortium governing the library’s integrated library system (ILS).

1990-2011             Automation and Networking Committee of the University Librarian’s Advisory Committee.

Committees at National level

2017-2018               Peer Reviewer for Library Hi Tech.

2010                      Code4Lib Local Arrangements Committee

Request for Proposals – 73-RFP11803: Print Management Services. Issued on June 15, 2003 by Western Carolina University.  Co-authored with Debbie Justice and Arthur Stephens.  Awarded July 2003 to install a pay for print system (Pharos) in the library and computer center labs.

Request for Proposals – RFP #305272: The University Of North Carolina Library Project: Integrated Library Automation System. Issued September 17, 1993 by North Carolina Department of Administration for the University of North Carolina – General Administration. Co-authored with Ron Johnson, Euthena Newman, and Steve Painter.  Successfully awarded and purchased a $ 1.9 million library system for 9 of the 16 UNC libraries.