"Barbara Rockenbach’s experience, enthusiasm, and commitment to the evolution of the libraries' role in scholarship and research in an increasingly digital world made her an ideal choice for this position," James G. Neal, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian said.

Rockenbach holds an M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh, an M.A. in Art History from Hunter College, and a B.A. in English from the University of Illinois. Prior to her position at Yale, Rockenbach worked at both JSTOR and ARTstor.

As Director of the Humanities and History Libraries, Rockenbach will lead a group of experienced, dedicated librarians in exploring innovative ways to support the scholarly pursuits of students and faculty by building services around deep research collections in all areas of the humanities. Rockenbach will also lead the development of the Digital Humanities Center, which provides services to humanities researchers working with digital texts, images, and other materials.

"I was immediately attracted to the leadership in the Columbia Libraries and the vision for the future of libraries evident in the development of disciplinary digital centers such as the Digital Humanities Center," Rockenbach said. "I believe that libraries have a strong role in the future of research and teaching, using new tools to redefine the past."