ATG Star of the Week: Barbara MacAlpine, Trinity University

This week’s profile is taken from the 2010 Charleston Conference First Time Attendee Profiles.

Barbara MacAlpine
Job Title: Associate Professor and Science Librarian
Organization: Trinity University
Email: bmacalpi@trinity.edu
Website: http://www.trinity.edu/bmacalpi/

Born and Lived: Born in Oklahoma.  Lived in Indiana (undergrad, Earlham College), Wisconsin (MALS, Madison), Michigan, and Texas.

Professional Career and Activities: Earlier career:  Reference librarian at the University of Michigan’s Undergraduate Library and at Washtenaw Community College (Ann Arbor, MI).

Since 2000:  Science Librarian at Trinity University.  Faculty liaison to six science and engineering departments, with primary responsibilities for information literacy instruction and collection development.  Teach a first-year seminar on environmental issues.  Active with ACRL’s Science and Technology Section (STS); served as STS Chair in 2007-2008.

Family: One husband, two “children” (both in grad school now), two dogs.

In My Spare Time: I clear brush at our ranch and hike with the dogs.

Favorite Books: Anything by Barbara Kingsolver.

Philosophy: I am serious about fulfilling my professional responsibilities at work–but I am dedicated to having fun in the process.

Most Memorable Career Achievement: Bringing the National Library of Medicine’s Frankenstein traveling exhibit to the Trinity library and planning three weeks of serious and fun programming around it.  Best memento:  my Bride of Frankenstein wig!

How/Where Do I See the Industry in Five Years?: My primary emphasis in the “industry” is the journals.  I see much greater availability of open access publications, more electronic than print journal titles, far more just-in-time acquisitions (at both the article level and for complete books).  I also see the promotion and tenure process within universities being significantly impacted by these changes in the publishing world.