Rachel Vacek

About

Rachel has been a librarian for over 10 years and is an active member in the fields of digital and web librarianship.

Rachel is currently the Head of Web Services at the University of Houston Libraries where she manages the Libraries’ website, mobile services and many other tools that make up the Libraries’ virtual presence. She enjoys the challenges of streamlining and integrating web-based access to library resources and services as well as providing innovative tools for the Libraries in support of the teaching, research, and learning needs of the University of Houston community.

She speaks regularly on library and web technologies at national conferences like Internet Librarian, the American Library Association (ALA) Annual and Midwinter Conferences, and the Library & Information Technology Association (LITA) National Forum. In 2007, she was chosen to participate in ALA’s Emerging Leaders Program that was designed to help develop the next generation of library leaders.

Her areas of interest and expertise include open-source technologies, Drupal, emerging web technologies, social networking, user experience design, mobile gadgets, encouraging innovation, digital libraries, the future of libraries, and World of Warcraft.

Background

Rachel is originally from the Ohio and earned her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Dayton and her master’s degree in library and information science (MLIS) from the University of Pittsburgh.

Before coming to work at the UH Libraries, she previously worked for the Miami University Libraries, in Oxford, Ohio, and the Walker Management Library at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

At the University of Houston, she was Web Services Coordinator from October 2007 to February 2010, and became head of the department in March 2010.