Employee Directory
Research, Teaching and User Services
About
The Research, Teaching and User Services Program has a primary focus on teaching, learning, and direct and proactive engagement with all levels of library users to promote long-term learning and successful outcomes for their research, scholarship, and creative endeavors. Program members engage library users through teaching and consultations in classrooms, workshops, online, in-person, at service locations, and through connections to a variety of departments and campus organizations. Members support library users through patron-focused services for resource access such as resource identification and selection, library guide creation and management, document delivery, interlibrary loan, reserves, and stacks management. They support academic programs with services such as scholarly communication support, research and writing camps, course-integrated library instruction, and online learning opportunities. The team works with subject librarians and campus faculty as the authority on integrating information, media, and digital literacy frameworks, instructional design, and outcomes-based assessment into pedagogical practices.
Members
K. Matthew Dames, a nationally recognized scholar in copyright law and an experienced innovator in research libraries, joined the University of Notre Dame as the Edward H. Arnold Dean for the Hesburgh Libraries in August 2021. Soon after, Dames added the University of Notre Dame Press to his leadership portfolio.
As chief executive of the Hesburgh Libraries, Dr. Dames leads more than 175 library faculty and staff who advance teaching, learning, and research at Notre Dame. The library system features the flagship Hesburgh Library (which houses the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship, the Medieval Institute Library, the University Archives, Rare Books and Special Collections, and the Visual Resources Center) and three branch libraries (Architecture Library, Business Library, and Music Library).
Established in 1949, the University of Notre Dame Press is the largest Catholic university press in the world and primarily publishes in areas that align with the academic strengths of the University, including religion, theology, history, philosophy, political science and theory, medieval studies, Irish studies, Latin American studies, and international relations.
Throughout his career, Dames has cultivated strong collaborations inside and outside of university environments, implementing innovative programs to enhance staff development and successfully securing resources to advance transformative library initiatives.
Previously, Dames served as the university librarian for Boston University Libraries where he was integral to BU’s strategic planning process, chairing a committee charged with developing the library system’s 2030 priorities. While at BU, Dames developed and sponsored the In House Leadership Development Program which was the first award for executive talent development in academic libraries from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Before joining Boston University, Dames was an associate librarian for scholarly resources and services at Georgetown University where he led a division that included special collections, principal collections, branch libraries, and the copyright and scholarly communications office, and played an integral role in advancing Georgetown’s slavery, memory, and reconciliation efforts. He also served as interim dean of libraries and university librarian for Syracuse University. Dames began his academic library career as founding director of Syracuse University’s Copyright and Information Policy Office, one of the nation’s first full-time university copyright offices. Syracuse’s copyright policy, which he authored, has been copied in full or in part by more than 20 other U.S. universities.
Dames is a member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and became its 61st president in October 2021. He chairs the ARL Task Force on Structural Equity and Inclusion, hosted and helped produce the 2021 ARL Fall Forum, and has served on the ARL Board’s Governance Committee. He has served as a career coach for the ARL Leadership and Career Development Program and was an ARL Leadership Fellow in 2018. He also served on the Board of Directors’ Executive Committee for NorthEast Research Libraries (2018-2021) and as a past board member of Reveal Digital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Dames earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Baruch College of the City University of New York, as well as a master’s degree in information studies and a doctoral degree in information science and technology from Syracuse University. He earned his Juris Doctor from Northeastern University. Dr. Dames continues to conduct research on copyright law, policy, and history, emphasizing culture and norms of the media industries, and is an attorney and member in good standing of the Bar of Maryland.
Tim is a member of the User Services Unit | Teaching, Research, and User Services Program. Focusing on Service Excellence, the team at the Hesburgh Libraries Annex is available to help the Notre Dame community with access to library physical resources and various other services.
The Hesburgh Libraries Annex team is facilitating access for the Notre Dame community with materials located in the Annex via lending, delivery, and electronic scans. In conjunction with Reserves and ILL Lending Subunit objectives, Tim helps maintain access to all materials at the Annex and processes ILL Lending Requests. Tim's expertise in high-density storage management, Interlibrary Loan Lending, and Document Delivery service contributes to the mission of Service Excellence by providing access to faculty, staff, and students in their teaching and research endeavors. With quality patron service being our goal, Tim coordinates the Hesburgh Libraries Annex service to provide speedy and accurate delivery of all materials located in the Annex.
Contact Tim for assistance with any of the services mentioned above.
As manager of the Reserves & Interlibrary Loan Services Unit within the Teaching, Research & User Services Program, Sheila manages and coordinates course reserve requests for print and electronic resource delivery to Notre Dame students, staff and faculty in accordance with university guidelines on fair use and copyright. Processes materials for reserve in the integrated library system, orders books and videos not owned by the library, tracks orders to ensure material is available before deadlines, scans print materials, troubleshoots issues that arise with course reserves and streaming services, and updates item statuses as needed across multiple platforms.
As manager of the Interlibrary Loan Services Unit, Sheila is responsible for the day-to-day management of lending requests for both print and electronic resource sharing using a variety of systems. Problem solves issues such as scan quality, citation errors, copyright limitations, licenses on e-resources, shipping, and billing.
Sheila hires, coaches and trains staff in the Reserves and ILL Lending Unit and coordinates and improves workflows to provide consistent service levels for Reserves and ILL lending while also strengthening resource sharing relations.
Bachelor of Arts, Saint Mary’s College
Daniel Johnson is subject specialist for English literature and digital humanities. He has graduate degrees in English from Wake Forest University (MA) and Princeton University (PhD), where he specialized in literature of the long eighteenth-century.
As Unit Head for Research Services in the Teaching, Research & User (TRU) Services program, Monica collaborates with faculty and staff to provide information and support related to scholarly communication issues that affect researchers. She is the liaison to the Graduate School and also serves as the library liaison to the French department. She earned her master’s degree in library and information science from Syracuse University.
As manager of the Circulation Services Unit, Michele oversees library operations and services provided at four locations of the Hesburgh Libraries.
The Circulation Services Unit is responsible for circulating library material, assisting patrons with policy and procedural questions, and connecting patrons with appropriate library resources. This Unit serves the Notre Dame community, visiting researchers, and guests at any one of four service desks; Architecture, Business, Music and Hesburgh Circulation.
Contact Michele for more information about library circulation services and policies at any of these library locations.
MLIS Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Academic Librarianship Specialization
MPH University of Illinois at Chicago
Community Health Sciences
BA University of Notre Dame
Psychology, Computer Applications
As Assistant Director of the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship, Julie provides support and referrals across service and expertise areas, and collaborates with stakeholders across Hesburgh Libraries and University units to coordinate continual development of Center services, spaces, technologies, and educational opportunities.
If you have any questions about Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship expertise, services, spaces, or programming, please reach out to Julie!
