Jennie Levine Knies has been appointed head librarian of the Nesbitt Library for the University Libraries at Penn State Wilkes-Barre. Knies will begin her appointment Jan. 26.
Since 2012, Knies has served as the manager of Digital Programs and Initiatives (DPI) in the Digital Systems and Stewardship Division at the University of Maryland (UMD) Libraries. DPI is the conduit through which UMD Libraries’ staff communicates ideas regarding projects that have a digital focus. Knies noted, “As manager of DPI, I was responsible for leadership and oversight of the department, which included Digital Collections, the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland, Research Data Services, Digital Scholarship and Publishing, and digital preservation policy.”
Barbara I. Dewey, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications, explained, “Knies will oversee the operations of the Nesbitt Library’s new academic facility that encompasses 7,600 square feet of space on the second level of the Academic Commons, and she will be a valuable leader for the libraries’ collections and services, serving students, faculty and others at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.”
Knies has an master of library science degree and a bachelor of arts degree in Russian area studies from the University of Maryland. She spent a year as the Western Fellow at the Open Society Archives in Budapest, Hungary, and several years in private industry before starting at the University of Maryland in 2000. She has collaborated with colleagues to establish routine processes for test servers and “sandbox” testing of open source applications. She established UMD’s Digital Scholarship and Publishing Program and was the principal investigator on the National Digital Newspaper Project grant to UMD. Her past research interests have included primary source literacy and digital humanities collaborations between librarians and faculty.
For more information, contact Rachael Rybicki at 570-675-9269 or the Public Relations and Marketing, University Libraries, office at 814-863-4240.