Kenney, Anne Richardson

Carl A. Kroch University Librarian

As the chief academic and administrative officer of the university's extensive library system, Anne Kenney leads one of the world's largest research libraries, with a total budget of over $50 million, a staff of more than 450 and more than 8 million volumes. Cornell has 20 constituent libraries located in Ithaca, Geneva (N.Y.), New York City and Doha (Qatar), and it also actively serves scholars around the globe.

Kenney came to Cornell Library in 1987 and served as associate director for the Department of Preservation and Conservation until 2001. During that time, and from 2002 to 2006 as associate university librarian for instruction, research and information services, she helped spearhead a period of change and growth that has made Cornell Library a pioneer in digitization, network access and scholarly publishing. Active in the archival and preservation communities, Kenney is a fellow and past president of the Society of American Archivists. She currently serves on the Social Science Research Council's Committee on Libraries and Archives of Cuba and is a member of the Advisory Committee of Portico, a nonprofit digital preservation service. She has served as a commissioner of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (National Archives), the National Science Foundation/European Union Working Group on a Digital Preservation Research Agenda, and was a member of the Clinton/Gore presidential transition team.

Kenney is known internationally for her pioneering work in developing standards for digitizing library materials that have been adopted by organizations around the world, including such important archives as JSTOR, the Scholarly Journal Archive. She is the co-author of three award-winning monographs and more than 50 articles and reports. She has been the recipient of several awards, including: Yahoo en español's 2002 award in the category "Internet y computadoras"; the Society of American Archivists' Best Book Award (Leland Prize) in 1997 and 2000 for books on digital imaging for libraries and archives; the SAA Preservation Publication Award in 1995 and 2004; and the 2001 LITA/Library Hi Tech Award for Outstanding Communication in Library and Information Technology from the American Library Association. More recently, her research in organizational aspects of digital preservation has resulted in publication of reports of e-journal archiving and a training program that has had an international impact.

research

research and scholarship focus

Digital imaging, digital preservation, public services, users' information seeking behavior

international geographic focus

Cuba | country

affiliations

head of

Cornell University Library | library

administrative responsibilities

Responsible for leading one of the world's largest research libraries, with a total budget of over $50 million, a staff of more than 450, and close to 8 million volumes.

librarian in

Administrative Operations | library department

service

current professional activities

Member, Advisory Committee of Portico, 2005-
Member, Standing Committee on Libraries and Archives of Cuba, Social Science Research Institute, 2000- , executive committee 2004
Member, National Science Foundation/European Union Working Group on a Digital Preservation Research Agenda, 2001-2002
Member, RLG/OCLC Working Group on the Attributes of a Trusted Digital Repository, 2001
Commissioner, National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and Chair of the Executive Committee 1996 - 2000
Clinton-Gore Transition Team, member of three person review team for the National Archives, Education/Labor/Arts and Humanities Cluster, December 1992
Expert Witness, U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Governmental Operations, hearing on the Papers of Supreme Court Justices, May 1993
International Council on Archives, Imaging Committee (1993-1996)
Society of American Archivists, 1978- , Vice President/President (1991-93), Council 1984-1986, Executive Committee 1986, Book Review Editor, American Archivist (1986-1990)

background

educational background

1972 BA, Duke University, cum laude
1975 MA, History, University of Missouri-St. Louis, with distinction
1979 MALS, University of Missouri-Columbia, with distinction

professional background

2008- Carl A. Kroch University Librarian
2007-2008 Interim University Librarian
2006-2008 Senior Associate University Librarian for Public Services and Assessment, Cornell University Library. Responsible for administering a staff of 200 plus encompassing seven divisions, 10 libraries, and a budget in excess of $18 million. Senior administrator for public services system-wide.
2002-2006 Associate University Librarian for Instruction, Research, and Information Services, Cornell University Library. Responsible for administering a staff of 160 encompassing seven divisions, 6 libraries, and a budget of $15 million. Senior administrator for public services system-wide. Strong grants track record totaling funds in excess of $7 million over the past decade.
2000-2002 Director of Programs, Council on Library and Information Resources, Washington, DC (half time position)
1987-2001 Associate Director, Department of Preservation and Conservation, Cornell University Library
1982-1986 Associate Director, Joint Collection-Western Historical Manuscripts and University Archives, University of Missouri-St. Louis

awards and distinctions

Co-author of three award-winning monographs
Recipient of Yahoo! en español's award for online Tutorial de Digitalización de Imágenes as the best of the year 2002 in the category "Internet y computadoras."
Recipient of the Society of American Archivists' Best Book Award (Leland Prize), 1997 and 2000 and the SAA Preservation Publication Award in 1995 and 2004
Recipient of the 2001 LITA/Library Hi Tech Award for Outstanding Communication in Library and Information Technology, American Library Association
Distinguished Alumna Award, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 1994

featured in

Cornell Library forges landmark collaboration with Columbia's library | Cornell Chronicle feature
Digital library expert Anne Kenney is named to lead Cornell University Library system | Cornell news release
Expert: Lincoln stretched Constitution to preserve the U.S. | Cornell Chronicle feature
From abolition to algebra, CU Library's unique holdings available to readers online | Cornell Chronicle feature
Gates grant to extend reach of ag journals in Africa | Cornell Chronicle feature
Hip-hop collector, historian and author Johan Kugelberg takes center stage at NYC Library Salon | Cornell Chronicle feature
Institute explores how to help students surf the growing waves of good and not-so-good information | Cornell Chronicle feature
Instructors pair up with librarians to ramp up student research skills | Cornell Chronicle feature
Keeping the Commitment to the Book | Cornell Library Communications
Library collaboration with China strengthens scholarship | Cornell Chronicle feature
Library lifts restrictions on public domain books | Cornell Chronicle feature
Library scales back on books, journals, databases | Cornell Chronicle feature
Library works with historically black colleges and universities to expand digital collections | Cornell Chronicle feature
New University Librarian Anne Kenney to broaden access, expand both collections and services | Cornell Chronicle feature
Online scientific repository hits milestone | Cornell Chronicle feature
Physical Sciences Library to close doors but keeps research options open | Cornell Chronicle feature
University Librarian Anne Kenney prepares for a major overhaul of Olin Library | Cornell Chronicle feature

publications

selected publications (listing in progress)

MONOGRAPHS:

Anne R. Kenney and Oya Y. Rieger, Moving Theory into Practice: Digital Imaging for Libraries and Archives (Research Libraries Group, 2000), Winner of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) Leland Prize for writing of superior excellence and usefulness
Anne R. Kenney and Stephen Chapman, Digital Imaging for Libraries and Archives (Cornell University Library 1996), Winner of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) Leland Prize for writing of superior excellence and usefulness
Steven C. Hause and Anne R. Kenney, Women's Suffrage, Social Politics, and the French Third Republic (Princeton University Press, 1984). Winner of the Distinguished Book Award, Missouri Conference on History (1985), Outstanding Academic Book Selection, Choice (1985), and Phi Alpha Theta's Best First Book Award (1986)

SELECTED ARTICLES, REPORTS:

Anne R. Kenney et al, "E-Journal Archiving Metes and Bounds: A Survey of the Landscape," Council on Library and Information Resources, September 2006
Nancy Y. McGovern, Anne R. Kenney, et al, "Virtual Remote Control: Building a Preservation Risk Management Tool Box for Web Resources," D-Lib Magazine, April 2004
Anne R. Kenney and Deirdre C. Stam, "The State of Preservation Programs in American College and Research Libraries: Building a Common Understanding and Action Agenda," CLIR, 2002
Anne R. Kenney and Nancy Y. McGovern, et al, "Preservation Risk Management for Web Resources: Virtual Remote Control in Cornell?s Project Prism," D-Lib Magazine, January 2002
Anne R. Kenney, "Digital Image Quality: From Conversion to Presentation and Beyond," in Technology and Scholarly Communication, (University of California Press, 1999)
Anne R. Kenney, Louis H. Sharpe II, and Barbara Berger, "Illustrated Book Study: Digital Conversion Requirements of Illustrations," Proceedings of the 2nd European Conference on Digital Libraries, (Springer 1998)
Anne R. Kenney, "Digital to Microfilm Conversion: A Demonstration Project, 1994-1996 Final Report" (1996), www.cornell.library.edu/preservation/pub.htm
Anne R. Kenney, "Digital to Microfilm Conversion: An Interim Preservation Solution," Library Resources and Technical Services (October 1993)
Stephen Chapman and Anne R. Kenney, "Digital Conversion of Research Library Materials: A Case for Full Informational Capture," D-Lib Magazine (October 1996)
Anne R. Kenney and Stephen Chapman, Tutorial, "Digital Resolution Requirements for Replacing Text-based Material: Methods for Benchmarking Image Quality" (Commission on Preservation and Access, 1995), winner of the 1995 SAA Preservation Publication Award