Avalon Team

The development process for Avalon is being managed with a Scrum agile framework. Team members from Indiana University and Northwestern University function as a single Scrum team.

Stu Baker

Co-Project Director, Northwestern University

Stu Baker is the Associate University Librarian for Library Technologies at Northwestern University and the co-Project Director on the project, helping to establish overall project direction and priority setting. He has broad responsibility for development and implementation of technology services at the libraries, including the library management system, federated search and open URL resolvers, interlibrary loan and reserve services, all web services, staff and public computing, and digital repository implementation.

Chris Colvard

Lead Developer, Indiana University

As a developer for the Avalon Media System, Chris enjoys learning new technologies and being part of active open source communities.  Previously, he worked on Variations leading to its being open sourced with over a dozen institutions adopting the system. Chris graduated from DePauw University and has worked for the Digital Library Program since 2006.

Steve DiDomenico

Scrummaster, Northwestern University

Steve DiDomenico's role as Scrummaster is to help the Avalon team focus, facilitate communication, remove impediments, and make sure everyone follows the rules of Scrum. Steve is also Head of the Enterprise Systems Department in the Northwestern University Library; this department helps maintain the backend public-facing servers for the Library, as well as develop software for some of our major systems, particularly the Digital Repository. In his spare time Steve enjoys playing guitar, playing video games, and spending time with his wife Aliza and their rescued retired racing greyhound Kraven.

Phuong Dinh

Programmer/Analyst, Indiana University

As a Programmer/Analyst, Phuong works on the Avalon Media System stack from the front end to the back end. He graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University and is also pursuing a Master of Science degree in Computer Science in his spare time. He has worked for many companies but this is his first time in a library environment.

Jon Dunn

Project Director, Indiana University

Jon is responsible for overall project direction and management, as well as coordinating the involvement of the project’s partners and advisors. He works at Indiana University Bloomington as Director and Interim Assistant Dean for Library Technologies and Digital Libraries and is responsible for the IU Digital Library Program along with overall IT operations and support for the IU Bloomington Libraries. Jon has worked at IU since 1994 and has been involved with a number of music, audio, and video related digital library efforts, including development of the open source Variations digital music library system. He also currently serves on the working group for IU’s Media Preservation Initiative.

Stefan Elnabli

Audiovisual Media Specialist, Northwestern University

As Audiovisual Media Specialist, Stefan contributes to development involving audiovisual encoding, metadata, and content modeling for Avalon Media System. He obtained his degree in audiovisual preservation from New York University's Moving Image Archiving and Preservation program at Tisch School of the Arts. His work with archival media includes stints in the WNET Channel 13 Digital Archive, Anthology Film Archives, and major university libraries such as New York University and Stanford University. Currently he is the Moving Image and Sound Preservation Specialist at Northwestern University Library's Digital Collections Department. He is a devoted film projectionist and VHS enthusiast.

Adam Hallett

Programmer/Analyst, Northwestern University

Adam graduated from Michigan State University in 2008 with a degree in Anthropology.  After graduation he taught English to children in Yeosu, Korea (home of the 2012 World Expo).  In the past he has worked with early stage startups in areas such as solar energy and customer loyalty, and also at a voter non-profit.  In his spare time he enjoys running, rowing, and watching a lot of British TV.

Julie Hardesty

Metadata Specialist, Indiana University

Julie helps develop descriptive, structural, and technical metadata standards for the Avalon Media System.  She is the Metadata Analyst/Librarian for the Digital Library Program at Indiana University where she manages metadata creation and use for digital library services and projects.

Michael B. Klein

Lead Developer, Northwestern University

As the lead developer on the Northwestern side of the project, Michael enjoys the challenge of helping to craft elegant solutions to complex problems of storing, processing, and delivering audiovisual materials. His previous experience in digital libraries includes positions at Stanford University, Oregon State University, and the Boston Public Library. Before venturing into the library world, he spent 15 years as a contract software developer for ExxonMobil and the U.S. Census Bureau. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the Catholic University of America, as well as a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from Simmons College.

Brianna Marshall

Project Assistant, Indiana University

As Project Assistant, Brianna manages marketing and communication activities for the Avalon Media System. She is a graduate student at the Indiana University School of Library and Information Science, pursuing her Master of Library Science and Master of Information Science with a specialization in digital libraries. After graduating in the spring of 2014, she hopes to find a professional position working with digital projects in an academic library.

Karen Miller

Metadata Specialist, Northwestern University

Karen works closely with Julie and Stefan to determine metadata requirements, policies, and standards for the Avalon  Media System. When not busy with digital library projects, Karen is an original cataloger of monographs, maps, and posters. She holds a Master of Library and Information Science from Dominican University.

Mark Notess

Product Owner, Indiana University

Mark Notess is Head, Teaching and Learning Systems Development, within the IU Bloomington Libraries at Indiana University. His primary responsibility since joining IU in 2001 has been the Variations Digital Music Library and related projects. For Avalon, he is one of the product owners, investigating and representing user needs to guide the development activities. Before joining IU, Mark in startups and the high tech industry on e-learning portals, user interface tools, and user-centered design. Mark speaks and consults on learning technologies and user experience topics, blogging about these at LearningUX.com. He holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology as well as masters degrees in both computer science and education. He serves on the boards of ACM's eLearn Magazine and the new journal, Future Learning.

Nathan Rogers

Programmer/Analyst, Indiana University

Nathan has worked in digital libraries for the last ten years. With a degree in computer science and an MLIS he has experience understanding how to develop applications for large digital repositories. In his spare time he likes to do bicycle tours and recently traveled by two wheels from New Orleans to Minneapolis.

Julie Rudder

Product Owner, Northwestern University

Julie is one of two Product Owners for the Avalon Media System project.  In this role, she helps identify and prioritize features of the system based on feedback from key stakeholders and partners.  Julie works at Northwestern University Library and for the past five years has been helping faculty and graduate students incorporate digital media into teaching and research. Julie has experience in media streaming technologies and user facing support for use of media in the teaching and learning environment.

Claire Stewart

Co-Project Director, Northwestern University

Claire Stewart is a project co-director, and helps with overall vision and direction for the Avalon project and system. She heads the Digital Collections department, a unit of the division of Library Technology, which provides digitization services for library collections and to faculty in support of their teaching and research at Northwestern University. She is also the director of Northwestern’s Center for Scholarly Communication & Digital Curation. She is the library's lead on scholarly communication issues, and is responsible for providing leadership in development of repository services and digital publishing and digital archiving projects. Claire has held numerous positions at Northwestern since 1994 and is a campus expert on copyright, digitization and multimedia services.

Andrea Zielke

Project Assistant, Northwestern University

Andrea Zielke joined the Avalon Media System team as Project Assistant in April of 2012. She assists with the planning and organization of Avalon's day to day operations in addition to providing support for Northwestern's Library Technology Division. She recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a M.A. in Library and Information Studies, the same university where she previously earned a B.A. in English.