Member of the Month: Nancy Garmer
Name: Nancy E. Garmer
Institution: Evans Library, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Florida
Job Title: Assistant Dean, User Experience
How long have you been a member of ULS?
I have been a member of ACRL and ULS since 2015 and was pleased to be elected to the ULS Executive Committee in 2017 as a Member-at-Large for a three-year term.
What or who inspires your work?
I am inspired by the work we do as librarians to further access to information as a core democratic principle of our profession. As librarians, much like journalists, we prioritize research, science and authoritative information that is accurately cited and evidence-based. By teaching students and others in the academic sphere how to discover, organize and differentiate authenticated information from misinformation and disinformation, we are empowering them to intelligently participate in academic, public and civil discourse. This task, of educating and opening doors for people to explore the endless universe of available knowledge is extraordinary.
What most excites you about academic librarianship?
User Experience! Helping students discover all the resources and services the Library has available to them – for friendly free – brings me great joy. For me, there is truly nothing better than imparting some library wisdom on a student that helps them in their coursework, in their research, in their life or just for that moment of the day. Our user experience team is committed to creating a warm, friendly, fun, spontaneous, welcoming, helpful environment and community for everyone who walks through the Library doors.
What exciting or interesting project are you working on right now?
Florida Tech migrated to a new web platform this past summer and the Library was able to implement a unique library-specific design thanks to the Assistant Dean of Access and Discovery and her team. Now that the site is live, we can spend the time to go through the website page by page to highlight user experience as we update content and design. This is the fun part!
What do you do for fun?
I have a very balanced work and home life. Both are fun. I have the great fortune of working with an amazing team at Evans Library who all enjoy each other’s company. Outside of the Library though, I am most likely to be found nurturing my orchids and tropical garden, enjoying live music or adventuring out in the world discovering new places and perspectives.
