GSLIS alumna Lorraine Haricombe (MS ’88, PhD ’92) has been elected chair of the Steering Committee for the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC). SPARC is an international alliance of academic and research libraries working to create a more open system of scholarly publishing, and the Steering Committee acts as an advisory board to its executive director.
Currently serving as dean of The University of Kansas Libraries, Haricombe brings a rich perspective to her new role, including five years as dean of libraries at Bowling Green University as well as experience in various capacities at Northern Illinois University and Penninsula Technikon in South Africa. She has been active in scholarly communication activities, including playing a leadership role as The University of Kansas became the first public university in the U.S. to adopt a campus-wide open access policy. She also assisted in the development of The Coalition of Open Access Institutions (COAPI), a group dedicated to advancing the implementation of open-access policies and practices on campus.
Heather Joseph, SPARC’s executive director, described Haricombe as a dynamic leader who is unafraid to take risks. "Her deep experience in the library community both in the U.S. and internationally combined with deep commitment to advancing the accessibility and utility of scholarly research will help SPARC cover new ground in the coming years. The committee and I look forward to having Lorraine’s leadership and unique vision to help us address the challenges and opportunities before us,” said Joseph.
For more information about SPARC governance, visit http://www.arl.org/sparc.