Employee Directory
Library Application Management Unit
Members
As Systems Librarian, Aaron manages some of the core library management, discovery and delivery applications for the Hesburgh Libraries and the Michiana Academic Library Consortium.
Discovery System
- Configure and maintain OneSearch and the ND Catalog, using the Primo Discovery System (from Ex Libris).
- Load records from the library management system and other internal and external sources.
Library Management System
- Configure and maintain the Aleph 500 Integrated Library System, which is used for acquisitions, cataloging and circulation of library materials.
- Support integration of the management system with the discovery system, interlibrary loan and other related systems.
MLS, Indiana University; A.B., Philosophy, Harvard University
Kate Blalack is a librarian, and a nationally certified archivist and digital archives specialist. She joined the Hesburgh Libraries as the Digital Repositories Librarian in July 2023. She brought with her 20 years of experience in various roles of librarianship, including academic, public, archival, and museum settings. Kate currently serves as a teacher and mentor and is passionate about creative innovation and human connections. Her research is primarily focused on social connections through technology, in the areas of international human relations, artificial intelligence, and neurodiversity.
With a service-first approach, Kate serves as a collaborative team leader and is responsible for advancing the Hesburgh Libraries’ overall strategy for the management, discovery, and integration of digital collections and assets through HL digital collections platforms, including the institutional repositories and the digital exhibit systems. She serves as a cooperative link between various library units and has primary authority to guide the development of a successful, interoperable ecosystem of tools that support and showcase our collections; to leverage repository services to enable and support a robust and sustainable scholarly communications ecosystem; and to advance multiple and equitable modes of access to the Libraries’ repository-based collections. She also leads stakeholder communications and workflow development and provides guidance in the digital advancement of the Hesburgh Libraries.
Kate has served on professional committees in state, national, and international organizations, including the Society of Southwest Archivists, the Society of American Archivists, and the International Council of Archives.
Andy is the Special Projects Librarian within the IT Program, working with others in the delivery and management of digital library content and services, and assists in the research and development of new library technologies.
Discovery System
- Configures and maintains OneSearch and the ND Catalog, using the Primo Discovery System.
- Member of the Primo Central Working Group.
- At this time, learing a lot about Primo.
Global Gateway Libraries
- Manages the implementation and ongoing support of the Koha ILS for Notre Dame's Global Gateway libraries in Rome, Jerusalem and London.
- Configures and maintains the Koha ILS, which is used for acquisitions, cataloging and circulation of library materials in the gateway libraries.
Andy earned his MSLIS (1989) from the University of Illinois (where his favorite classes were cataloging and reference) and BA Linguistics (1977), also from Illinois, with a particular interest in modern European languages.
Danielle’ McGhee began as Web and Digital User Experience Librarian at Hesburgh Libraries in January 2024. In this role, Danielle’ works in a cooperative team environment, leading and co-leading efforts on user research, usability testing, analytics analysis, and evaluations of digital services, ensuring a continuous understanding of user needs. With over a decade of diverse experience in school, academic, and public libraries, Danielle’ brings a wealth of expertise to her current position.
Before joining Hesburgh Libraries, Danielle’ served as the Manager of the Austin History Center, the local history division of the Austin Public Library. In her previous role as Director of Library and Media Services and Archivist at Huston-Tillotson University, she played a pivotal role in implementing UX strategies to enhance access to digital resources for students and faculty.
Danielle’ holds a bachelor's degree in Fashion Merchandising from Howard University, a master's degree in Library and Science from North Carolina Central University, and a UX Design Certification from General Assembly. Beyond her professional roles, she actively participates in professional committees at both state and national levels, contributing to organizations such as the Texas Library Association and the Society of American Archivists.
Amanda Gray Perry began as Web and Digital Engagement User Experience Librarian in January 2024.
In her role, Amanda works in a cooperative team environment, leading and co-leading efforts to design user-focused, accessible, and data-informed digital services and to develop, support, and manage the Hesburgh Libraries’ continuously evolving web presence. She is passionate about accessibility and a data-driven approach to continuous improvement for digital services.
Prior to her work as UX Librarian, Amanda joined the Hesburgh Libraries communications team as communications and digital engagement specialist in August 2022. In that role, Amanda communicated with the Libraries’ audiences through social media, digital signage, and other digital venues to advance the mission and vision of the libraries and greater institutional goals. In collaboration with the larger communications team, Amanda worked to highlight the Libraries’ key initiatives, signature events, and valuable resources to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the larger community.
Prior to her role at the Hesburgh Libraries, Amanda worked in UX for the communications team at Notre Dame Law School and in philanthropy at the Internet Archive, as well as at the South Bend Tribune as a reporter. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2012 with a bachelor of arts degree with majors in American studies and English, as well as a minor in the Gallivan Program for Journalism, Ethics, and Democracy. She earned her masters of library and information science from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis in 2020.
As the Digital Library Data Curation Developer within the Digital Library Technologies Unit, Mark designs and develops digital library frameworks and applications with an emphasis on data curation. Mark works with librarians, campus partners, and researchers to embed research data curation tools and workflows into active research projects for archiving and sharing data in our institutional repository CurateND (http://curate.nd.edu), or other relevant community repositories.
Duties include:
- Design and develop digital library applications supporting digital library and data curation services
- Provide technical leadership in data architecture and design for digital library data projects
- With campus partners, develop services and web clients to manage, archive, and share research data
- Create APIs and processes to integrate other campus systems with CurateND from groups like Engineering Science and Computing, Center for Research Computing, and Digital Production.
- Work with librarians and campus partners through our Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship to develop data models and tools to tag and describe data and collections with domain specific ontologies
Beata joined the Hesburgh Libraries in May 2001 as a Systems Applications Specialist with the Hesburgh Libraries Information Technology Support Team. She transitioned to her current role in LIbrary Application Management in August 2023.
Current duties include:
-Making continuous improvements to the essential business, discovery, preservation, archival, and access/delivery applications.
-Configuring process automation and integration with OIT-based systems and other disparate entities.
-Providing operational support for core library business processes to ensure that solutions align with organizational needs.
-Performs essential reporting work, necessary to help data-driven decisions across Hesburgh Libraries' faculty and staff.
Beata was interviewed in 2009 by the South Bend Tribune (read more). Though her role has changed since then, she remains passionate about helping bridge the gap between technology and people.
Education: BS in Computer Science/Informatics, Indiana University
