Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Research
Lynn Silipigni Connaway's responsibilities include research projects that directly involve OCLC libraries and users, such as developing the digital "visitors" and "residents" framework and the IMLS-funded grant project, Research Student’s Information Choices, to study the behavior patterns of college and university information seekers. Her previous work includes WorldCat data mining projects, JISC-funded investigations of digital information seekers, and IMLS-funded grant projects to study virtual reference services. She also was the project lead on the American Library Association (ALA) Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL) "Action-Oriented Research Agenda on Library Contributions to Student Learning and Success." Lynn and her collaborators have won numerous awards for their research projects and methodologies.
Dr. Connaway is the 2023-24 Follett Chair at Dominican University’s School of Information Studies. Lynn received the 2020 Distinguished Alumna Award of the Information School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the 2019 ASIS&T Watson Davis Award for Service, and the 2016 ALISE Service Award. She also was awarded the Chair of Excellence position at the Departmento de Biblioteconomía y Documentación at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and collaborated with the faculty on user-centered research. Lynn was a visiting scholar in 2014 at the Department of Information Studies at the University of Copenhagen (now the Department of Communication at the University of Copenhagen) where she taught qualitative research methods and collaborated with faculty on user behavior studies. Lynn also was a visiting researcher at the University of Sheffield, Information School for the fall 2009 term, where she collaborated with faculty on WorldCat log analysis and user behavior studies.
Prior to joining OCLC Research, Lynn was the vice president of Research and Library Systems at NetLibrary. She also was director of the Library and Information Services Department at the University of Denver, where she taught several courses in library and information science. During her tenure there, Lynn conducted research on the subjects of organization and access of electronic documents, as well as the education of information professionals. She also has served on the faculty of the University of Missouri, Columbia and as a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Lynn Silipigni Connaway earned the Ph.D. in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Arizona, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Library Science from Edinboro State University.
Connaway has been actively involved in numerous committees within the American Library Association (ALA), including Vice-chair (2011-12) / Chair (2012-13) of its Library Research Round Table, and Vice-chair (2009-11) / Patty Wong’s Presidential Advisory Committee (2020-2022) / Chair (2011-12) of the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Research Planning and Review Committee and Vice-Chair (2013-2014) / Chair (2014-2015) of the Value of Academic Libraries Committee / Co-Chair (2020-2022) ACRL 2022 President’s Program Planning Committee (2020-2022). She has served on the ALA Committee on Accreditation and is a member of the Association of Library and Information Science Educators (ALISE). She also is a member of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) and served as a Director-at-Large on the Board (2012-2015) and as President-Elect, President, and Past President (2016-2018).
Lynn has presented at numerous international and national professional and scholarly conferences and has many publications. She is the co-author of the 4th and 5th editions of Basic Research Methods for Librarians and the 6th and 7th editions, Research Methods in Library and Information Science.
Interviews
Interview with Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D. at Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
In a 23-minute interview, Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D., Executive Director, Research, at OCLC talks about her career as a researcher in the library and information science field and the Redefining the Library Experience global survey findings. She also gives some insightful comments for future librarians. The interview took place on March 12th at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Questions, video edits, and subtitles in Spanish have been provided by Pablo Valero Parra, Ph.D., a faculty member from Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Interviewer: Natalí Muñoz, OCLC.
More about Lynn's work
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- Curriculum vitae (.pdf)
- List of complete publications (.pdf)
Research Areas
Publications
Redefining the library experience: Findings from the 2023 OCLC Global Council Survey
29 August 2023
Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Joanne Cantrell, Peggy Gallagher, Lesley A. Langa, Christina Rodriques
This report presents findings from a global survey of libraries that explored themes such as community engagement, collaboration, and innovative programs that meet library users’ continually evolving needs and expectations.
Summary of Research: Findings from the Building a National Archival Finding Aid Network Project
31 May 2023
Chela Scott Weber, Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Brooke Doyle, Lesley A. Langa, Merrilee Proffitt, Bruce Washburn, Itza A. Carbajal
Synthesizes OCLC’s findings for the Building a National Finding Aid Network project. The research investigated end user and contributor needs for finding aid aggregations and evaluated EAD encoded finding aid data quality and consistency from existing regional archival aggregators.
Focus Group Interviews: Findings from the Building a National Archival Finding Aid Network Project
30 May 2023
Chela Scott Weber, Merrilee Proffitt, Lesley A. Langa, Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Brittany Brannon, Brooke Doyle
Investigates the needs of archivists and others who might contribute to a national archival aggregator through focus group interviews with archivists and archives administrators from across the United States.