HathiTrust User Support Team

Through its support email address and the website, HathiTrust routinely receives end-user questions and feedback related to its content and services. These include inquiries relating to:

• Cataloging quality problems
• Collection development
• Content quality problems
• Copyright and access
• Deposit of new content
• Feature requests and problem reports
• HathiTrust Research Center services
• Membership
• Re-use of content and linking
• Shibboleth and login

In order to efficiently and effectively serve the needs of users, and ensure the highest level of function of HathiTrust services, HathiTrust has charged a multi-institution user support team.

HathiTrust User Support:

• Responds to and ensures ultimate resolution of user inquiries that are received through the HathiTrust website and the HathiTrust support email address. This work is accomplished through the use of an issue-tracking system.
• Responds to users directly and mediates resolution of issues with contacts at member institutions as needed. Initial responses to inquiries are sent within one business day of receipt and resolved as soon as possible thereafter.
• Works closely with HathiTrust staff to direct feedback on specific HathiTrust activities, services and products to the appropriate channels.

Membership

Staff from a variety of member libraries contribute part of their normal work time to the efforts of the team, with expertise in reference, technical services, copyright, collections, and other primary areas of user feedback. Most of the work of the group is conducted over email, with conference calls scheduled as needed. Members must be professional, representing HathiTrust appropriately to users. Members must be willing and able to respond quickly to user inquiries and messages from other HathiTrust User Support members. Members must also be diligent about pursuing issues to a conclusion, realizing that some issues may take several weeks or even months to resolve.

Leadership of HathiTrust User Support

Chair: Val Waldron (HathiTrust User Support Specialist)

HathiTrust User Support is broken into three subgroups that focus on specific workflows. Each subgroup has its own chair(s). In addition, the HathiTrust User Support Specialist coordinates and manages the three groups and overall work of User Support.

Bibliographic Corrections Group:

Bibliographic Corrections team members review catalog error reports and work with contributing libraries to receive metadata corrections. Familiarity with MARC format is required.

Chair: Graham Dethmers (HathiTrust)

• Chad Deets (Arizona State University Library)
• Colleen Fedewa (Case Western Reserve University)
• Craig Keeney (University of South Carolina)
• Earline Antosch (The Ohio State University)
• Elizabeth Miraglia (University of California, San Diego)
• Jay Shorten (University of Oklahoma)
• Jenny Bodenhamer (Oklahoma State University)
• Leigh Billings (University of Michigan)
• Rebecca Culbertson (University of California, San Diego)
• Rong (Veronica) Fu (University of Virginia)
• Seth Huber (University of Missouri-Columbia)
• Tamara Ozdemir (McMaster University)

General Support Group:

General Support team members do initial review of tickets on their scheduled day, answer basic questions, and refer tickets to other people as needed.

Chair: Val Waldron (HathiTrust)

• Antoinette Yost (University of Delaware)
• Chad Pearson (Texas A&M University)
• Connie Fleischer (University of Chicago)
• Elizabeth Rapp (University of Virginia)
• Fred Rascoe (Georgia Institute of Technology)
• Ines Perkovic (McMaster University)
• Katie Compton (McMaster University)
• Kevin O’Brien (University of Illinois – Chicago)
• Maggie Halterman-Dess (University of Iowa)
• Samantha Kreklau (University of Michigan)
• Spruill Harder (Harvard University)

Digital Objects Quality Corrections Group:

Digital Objects Quality Corrections team members review content quality problems and work with Google and contributing institutions to improve the quality of content scans.

Co-Chairs: Lynn Bostwick (University of Texas – Austin) & Sarah Cairns (McMaster University Library)

• Bob Persing (University of Pennsylvania)
• Brianna Gormly (Columbia University)
• Hillary Arieux (Virginia Commonwealth University)
• Karen Pavao (McMaster University)
• Nicholas Wolf (New York University)
• Paul Fogel (University of California, California Digital Library)
• Shannon Willis (Texas State University)

Reporting

Reports to the Executive Director, who in turn coordinates with the HathiTrust Board of Governors.

Term

Members are appointed for a minimum 1-year term, with the option to continue. Members must be affiliated with a member institution for the entirety of their time on the team, and their 1-year appointment will be shortened if they end their affiliation with a member institution in the middle of it. However, moving their affiliation from one member institution to another member institution will not affect their appointment on the team.