👋 Hi, welcome to my website!

Rusty Michalak presenting at ALA Annual Conference "Alternative to open-source textbooks: A case study of a library spearheading a campaign to reduce students’ textbook costs by partnering with a textbook rental company."

Rusty Michalak is set to present at ALA Annual Conference "Alternative to open-source textbooks: A case study of a library spearheading a campaign to reduce students’ textbook costs by partnering with a textbook rental company."

About Me

I have 20 years of experience working in special (law & health sciences) libraries, as well as, in small, mid-and-large sized academic libraries. I have been working in library administration for more than a decade.

On my website you can find a list of my publications and essays, presentations, and information about my education. Below you can find information about my research topics, published works, and service and awards.

About Research Topics

I am more than happy to chat with you on any or all of the following topics:

artificial intelligence
library leadership & management,
project management,
library budgets and negotiating contracts with vendors,
library assessment,
textbook affordability,
privacy,
information literacy,
archives and digital collections,
collection management,
implementation of library technology & edtech tools,
library space design with technology.

About Published Works

I regularly publish a column in the Journal of Library Administration called PosIT, which delves into all aspects of library-related information technologies and knowledge management used to connect users to information resources, including data preparation, discovery, delivery, and preservation. You can browse what I wrote by visiting my publication's page.

I have published a few edited books on library topics. Topics include onboarding and plagiarism with Nova Science Publishers, and I am, presently, working on a toxic culture in higher education edited collection with ACRL Press.

Additionally, I have published peer-reviewed articles with friends and colleagues in College & Research Libraries, Reference Services Review, the Journal of Academic Librarianship, and Technical Services Quarterly. Working collaboratively on research projects is very rewarding.

About Service | Awards

In 2022, I was fortunate to receive a NISO Plus 2022 Scholarship, and have begun serving on NISO committees. In 2021, ACRL DOLs Research & Publications Committee awarded us with a top 5 article on the COVID-19 Pandemic. I actively serve on ACRL committees, and have been featured in 2019 as an ACRL member of the week. I regularly present workshops and papers at the Charleston Library Conference, and in 2018, had the honor to be one of the Charleston Conference 2018 Up and Comer Award Winners. In 2016, AECT awarded us first place in the Immersive Learning Award: Linear Category for our information literacy assessment program. In 2007, the Billy E. Barnes Collection was featured as a collection of the month by CONTENTdm. I have presented with regularity at ALA annual conferences.