the Internet Public Library the Internet Public LibrarySue Davidsen is the Director of the Internet Public Library. Sue has extensive experience in librarianship on the Internet. For eight years she was director of the Michigan Electronic Library, the state's free online library service. Her virtual library design continues to be used as a model today throughout the world.
In 1995, her extensive experience in developing electronic information resources was recognized with the national Paul W. Thurston Award, which cited her effort to make government information accessible. She has also received the Michigan Library Association's Walter Kaiser Award for bringing innovation to Michigan libraries. Before coming to the School of Information, Sue was a member of the interface design team at ProQuest in Ann Arbor.
Michael McClennen is the head of Information Systems for the Internet Public Library. He splits his time between maintaining the software systems that serve the library and developing an innovative bulletin board and process-control system known as QRC that is used in the operation of the online reference desk. Michael also assists in fund-raising and grant and proposal writing.One of the original founders of the IPL, Michael came to the project from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, where he studied operating systems and information retrieval. Prior to graduate school, Michael worked in the office of Academic Computing at Dartmouth College, where he was the lead programmer for several projects including the "Hanzi Assistant", a multimedia online dictionary of modern Chinese.
Michael was born and raised right here in southeastern Michigan, and received a BA with honors in Mathematics and History (double concentration) from Brown University in 1988. He received his Master's degree in computer science from the University of Michigan in 1992, and completed his Doctoral dissertation on "the multi-structured approach to information system design" in 1996.
Patricia serves as the Coordinator of the Ask-A-Question service, an experimental service through which IPL users can ask the IPL reference staff and volunteers for assistance with reference questions. Several students and IPL alums also help out with the administration of the service, leaving her enough time to oversee the many dedicated librarians-in-training and professional librarians who volunteer their time to answering reference questions for the service. She also coordinates the FARQ and Pathfinder web pages, as well as the Native American Authors collection.
She graduated from the School of Information at the University of Michigan in December of 1998. In her previous existence, she spent the first years of her life in western New York State and obtained a B.A. in Biology from Carleton College in Northfield, MN, in 1995. In her spare time, her interests include a healthy obsession with baseball that includes a plan to visit every major league baseball stadium.
Joseph Janes is Founding Director of the Internet Public Library at the School of Information of the University of Michigan. A frequent speaker in the US and abroad, he is the co-author of six books on teaching, online information retrieval, and the Internet, including The Internet Searcher's Handbook and The Internet Public Library Handbook. He holds the M.L.S. and Ph.D. from Syracuse University, and has taught at the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the State University of New York at Albany as well as at Syracuse. He plays tennis and racquetball (mediocre), bridge (even more mediocre), enjoys reading and movies, especially appalling science fiction films of the 50s and 60s (think Santa Claus Conquers the Martians). He also thinks that the character of Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the single best thing to happen to the image of librarianship in about 40 years.
Maurita Peterson Holland is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, and Assistant to the Dean. She is the Director of the Office of Academic Outreach, which includes the school's Practical Engagement Program, Directed Field Experience and Internship programs, the popular summer course series, Digital ToolKit, and Just-in-Time learning programs.
Her interests are digital information resources and knowledge management, distance-independent learning, technology-assisted indigenous community networks and programs, and continuous education program development for information professionals. Maurita directs the Cultural Heritage Preservation Institute and the AmeriCorps Michigan Neighborhood Partnership collaboration. Over the past five years, her work has been supported by the W.K.Kellogg Foundation, Microsoft Foundation, and the Melissa and Bill Gates Foundation. For several years, she and her graduate students have worked with Dine College, Little Big Horn College, the Ojibway Tribe of Chippewa Indians and the Bay Mills Indian Community, and the Michigan Inter-Tribal Council. She is an advisor to the Kellogg Alliance for Community Technology (ACT).
A frequently piano and accordion recitalist in the Ann Arbor area, Maurita provides annual benefit concerts at the Kerrytown Concert House. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Greenhills School, Ann Arbor, and active in Detroit area Swedish cultural affairs.
Return to About the Library | the IPL Main Lobby.