Ada Lovelace Day: Stacey Greenwell

Stacey Greenwell has been a technological innovator for the University of Kentucky Libraries for many years. She started as the desktop support person for the libraries’ public and staff computers and has continued to bring her technological expertise to bear on the duties of her more recent position as the Hub Librarian. Stacey was one of the first in the libraries to start using online reference tracking software and also initiated and oversaw several video projects in the Hub, including video windows and projected floor signs. These projects as well as others that she has been involved in have helped keep the University of Kentucky Libraries current and relevant to the students and staff they are there to serve.

One of the most impressive aspects of Stacey’s work, though, is the ability to get people to come together and be excited about technology and innovation. She is the one who showed me the value of maintaining an RSS feed reader to stay current in my field . . . which subsequently led to my feed addiction, but that’s a topic for another day. She has been an outstanding technology advocate in her libraries as well as the professional organizations that she works in. Stacey’s time as Chair of SLA’s IT Division was marked by a number of new faces on the board, including my own, and a high level of activity by those board members. This was, in fact, no accident. Stacey is a master of getting people involved and working together on technology that benefits everyone. Her work in the UK Libraries is also notable for the close relationships she formed between Campus IT and the Library System. The ability to get these groups to work together helped to improve the services in available to students in many ways, including having an IT help desk staffed for student questions in the library itself. Stacey has made communication and collaboration a cornerstone of the relationship between IT and the Libraries, to the benefit of all involved.

Stacey Greenwell is definitely the person to have on your side if you are thinking of starting any new technology project. She is an expert at getting the ball rolling and then promoting the project once it has started. Stacey is a person who I hope to some day match in both technical achievement and skill as well as personal initiative, but I will have a high hill to climb in order to get there. This is why I am writing to recognize Stacey's technological expertise on this Ada Lovelace Day.