Profile

Rachel Vacek

University of Michigan

Contact Details

University of Michigan
Past LITA President

Rachel Vacek

Please reference ALA's Personal Data Notification

Bio

As the head of Design & Discovery (D&D) within the Library IT division, I oversee a team of user experience and accessibility specialists, designers, web developers, a program manager, and a project manager.

At the University of Michigan Library, I serve on a number of library committees and teams, including the Web Presence Steering Committee, the Employee Wellness Team, the LIT Culture Team, the Service Design Task Force, and the Library Staff Gaming Guild. I also serve on the Faculty Senate's Information Technology Committee. I've been with the U-M Library since August 2016.

Beyond the library, I was the 2014 president of the Library & Information Technology Association (LITA), a 2014 Library Journal Mover & Shaker, and a 2007 American Library Association (ALA) Emerging Leader. I participated in the group that selected the topics and informed the production of the New Media Consortium (NMC) Horizon Report: 2017 Library Edition

My research and professional interests include user experience, design thinking, service design, information architecture, web technologies, digital libraries, discovery technologies, and organizational leadership.

I maintain a list of publications, and presentations on my personal website.