Dr. Sandra Hirsh, an experienced LIS scholar and leader, has been named
as the new director of the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at
San Jose State University.
Hirsh will bring a blend of academic and professional achievements
to her new role with the School, including experience as a faculty member at
several academic institutions, as a librarian in academic and special
libraries, and more than a decade in leadership positions with two of Silicon
Valley’s leading global companies. She is a recognized advocate for
library services, has an extensive record of research in the field, and has
been actively involved in leadership roles with professional associations.
Hirsh’s connection with the School dates back to 1991, when
she taught a graduate course in reference services. For the last nine
years, she has been a member of the School’s International Advisory
Council.
In addition to her work with San Jose SLIS, Hirsh’s academic
experience includes serving as an Assistant Professor for the School of
Information Resources and Library Science at the University of Arizona from
1995 to 1998, where she taught both classroom-based and online courses, advised
graduate and doctoral students, and consulted for the Arizona Department of
Library, Archives and Public Records.
Hirsh has also served as an adjunct faculty member for the Information School
at the University of Washington.
For the last decade, Hirsh has worked for Microsoft and Hewlett
Packard (HP) – two leading global companies. As a Senior User
Experience Manager at Microsoft's Silicon Valley Campus in California, she led
a team of designers and researchers focused on product development related to
user experiences with emerging technology. Her projects included
explorations of how to more effectively deliver information services in a
mobile environment, how to organize information on web-based portals to meet
user needs, and how to address the information needs of a diverse global
audience. Through her accomplishments at Microsoft, she is a recognized
leader in innovation and creative thinking, who understands how to leverage
emerging technology to meet user’s information-seeking needs.
Hirsh also directed the Information Research Program at HP Labs,
where she influenced the company’s future research directions and
investigated how HP researchers use information and integrate it into their
work. She was instrumental in implementing new programs to meet the
research needs of HP engineers and scientists and create new tools to
facilitate knowledge sharing across HP’s international community.
Additionally, she managed a company-wide project to sponsor the UCLA Surveying
the Digital Future Project over a three-year period by building a data repository,
facilitating data usage by business units, and influencing data collection
processes.
As a LIS scholar with a strong commitment to research,
Hirsh’s research has focused on information-seeking behavior and
understanding the information needs of a broad spectrum of users, from
children, to historians, to engineers – both in the United States and
around the world. Her accomplishments are reflected in an ongoing
publication record in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings,
multiple awards, invited conference presentations, receipt of a highly
competitive National Science Foundation grant, and five U.S. patents for her
innovative design concepts for consumer web products.
Hirsh’s leadership roles in the
LIS community include serving on committees for the American Society for
Information Science & Technology (ASIST) and the American Library
Association (ALA). She chaired ALA’s Publications Committee for the
Reference Users and Services Association, served on the ALA New Members Round
Table, and serves as an advisor for ALA Editions, which publishes resources for
LIS professionals. Hirsh has been a conference presenter and organizer
for numerous professional associations, including ASIST, the Special Libraries
Association, and the Association of Library and Information Science Education
(ALISE).
Hirsh is a second generation librarian whose library experience
dates back more than 25 years, when she worked as a library assistant in an
academic library. Later, she worked as a librarian in academic and special
libraries, including a law library and a corporate library. More
recently, she chaired the Palo Alto (California) Library Advisory
Commission, which created a long-range library plan for the city that resulted
in a voter-approved bond measure for improved libraries in Palo Alto, even in
the midst of difficult economic times.
Hirsh holds a Ph.D. in Library and Information Science from the
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Master of Information and
Library Science (MILS) from the University of Michigan.
Hirsh’s appointment with the School will begin in August
2010. Current SLIS Director Ken Haycock will be retiring
from San Jose at the end of this academic year, although he will continue
working with other academic units on strategic planning and supervising
doctoral students in the San Jose Gateway Ph.D. Program.
Marcia Laughrey
Receptionist
School of Library and Information Science
San Jose State University
One Washington Square
San Jose, CA 95192-0029
Ph: 408-924-2490
Fax: 408-924-2476