Elsevier, a global leader in information analytics, specialising in science and health, has appointed Gwen Evans to the role of Vice President, Global Library Relations.
Evans will join Elsevier on March 2, and will continue to shape Elsevier’s commitment to better serve libraries with the development of programs that foster greater understanding and collaboration with the librarian community. She will lead multi-stakeholder engagement efforts, including exploring the role of the library in the research process, research data management, patron education, and digital preservation.
Evans was previously the Executive Director of OhioLINK, Ohio’s academic library consortium and state agency under the Ohio Department of Higher Education. Her leadership at OhioLINK, helped deliver the creation of a statewide library-led initiative for affordable textbooks, focusing on a hybrid approach of supporting Open Educational Resources; library resources as no-cost-to-students textbook alternatives; and groundbreaking statewide price agreements with major commercial textbook publishers. As Chair of the OhioLINK Digital Resource Management Committee, Evans spearheaded the successful nominations for the Digital Resource Commons to receive the American Libraries Association’s Office for Information Technology Policy Cutting Edge Technology in Library Services Award, and a National Endowment for the Humanities Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant.
Evans has more than twenty years of experience working in libraries, including as an associate professor of library information and emerging technologies at Bowling Green State University, the John Crerar Science Library at the University of Chicago, Mt. Holyoke College Library and Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor. She has extensive experience with library technology, including institutional repositories, journal and e-book platforms, and integrated library systems. Evans takes up her new role with Elsevier following the retirement of Jean P. Shipman who previously held the position.