Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost Liz Liddy announced Monday that David Seaman has been selected as the next University librarian and dean of the Syracuse University Libraries.

Seaman is currently the associate librarian for information management at Dartmouth College and will assume the position on Aug. 3, according to an SU News release.

“David is an exceptional librarian who has spent his career advancing and promoting the vital role libraries play in an academic community,” Liddy said in the release. “His knowledge of digital library services and systems will be of great value to us as we move ahead with our Academic Strategic Plan, and I am confident his background will be of significant benefit to our faculty, students and staff.”

Jeffrey Stanton, professor and interim dean of the School of Information Studies, chaired the search committee for the dean of the SU Libraries.

Liddy added in the release that she has recommended Seaman to the Board of Trustees and she fully expects they will support the selection of Seaman as the next dean.

“A strong and robust library is a critical part of what makes Syracuse a thriving, private international research university,” Chancellor Kent Syverud said in the release. “I know David is the right person for this important deanship.”

Seaman’s library experience began in 1992 when he created a digital library catered to users as the founding director of the Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia.

Seaman started working at Dartmouth College in 2006, “where he has contributed to the library’s strategic planning, technology leadership, budget management and some targeted fundraising,” according to the release.

The majority of Seaman’s publications are in the humanities field. He is a proponent of digital libraries and has been teaching digitization courses at the Rare Book School at UVA since 1993, according to the release.

“A great university needs a world-class library to support its broad research endeavors, enhance the student experience and provide innovative spaces and services that respond to a changing academic world,” Seaman said.

Published on June 8, 2015 at 4:18 pm

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