John P. Wilkin
Professional Positions
2008University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
Executive Director, HathiTrust and Associate University Librarian for Library Information Technology
 Continued responsibility for University Library, Library Information Technology division, Google digitization,
and participation on the Library’s executive leadership team (see below). Assumed role as Executive Director
of HathiTrust, guiding budget, operations and development of partnership. By the end of HathiTrust’s third
year, grew collection to nearly 10 million volumes and guided development of key policies and technologies.
2003-2008
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
Associate University Librarian for Library Information Technology and Technical and Access Services
 Responsible for two of the three divisions of the University Library. Library Information Technology includes
five units that provide critical technological infrastructure to the Library: Core Services (supporting system
administration and system integration); Desktop Support Services (providing desktop support for staff and
patrons, and support for Library networks); Digital Library Production Service (engaged in building digital
library systems and providing digital conversion services); Library Systems (supporting the Library’s LMS and
associated systems); and Web Services (responsible for the Library’s general web presence). In late 2004,
added responsibility for Technical and Access Services, including: Acquisitions and Serials Cataloging;
Cooperative Access Services (i.e., ILL and document delivery); Monograph Cataloging; and general metadata
support. Participate on the Library’s Executive Council and, in this capacity, play a key role in all University
Library budget, policy, management, and leadership issues. In 2011, added Learning Technologies Incubation
Group (responsible for technologies that enhance the functionality of the U-M Sakai system).
 Coordinate all phases of Michigan’s large-scale digitization effort with Google, including negotiation of
contract terms and Michigan’s portion of implementation. The resulting effort was intended to convert the
entire 8 million volume collection (now approx. 10 million volumes) from the University of Michigan libraries.
1996–2003
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
Head, Digital Library Production Service (http://www.umdl.umich.edu/)
Managed the Digital Library Production Service (DLPS) from its inception in 1996. DLPS is responsible for
services focusing primarily on full-text resources, continuous tone images, and bitonal images. Grew DLPS from
approximately 5 FTE to approximately 25 FTE. Responsibilities include budgeting, personnel management and
performance review, planning, and policy setting.
1994–1996
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
Head, Humanities Text Initiative (http://www.hti.umich.edu)
Created and coordinated the online initiative sponsored by the UM Press, the School of Information and the
University Library. Humanities Text Initiative activities included text creation, systems development, education,
technical direction of campus SGML initiatives.
1992–1994
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
Systems Librarian for Information Services
Library-wide position responsible for services and programs to meet information technology needs of Library
patrons. Responsibilities included: operations management for the University’s Internet information servers,
coordination of the development of the University Library’s electronic centers, including the Electronic Text
Center, the Digital Image Center, and the Social Science Data Center, and general system administration.
Responsible for planning and organization of staff training using new technologies, and implementing other new
services and technologies as appropriate. While at the University of Virginia, provided technical guidance in
support of SGML encoding for the University’s Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities.
1988-1992, Data Services Librarian and English Selector. University of Michigan
1986–1988, Research Library Resident, University of Michigan
John Price Wilkin
November 2011
2
Selected Grants, Awards and Partnerships
2011 LITA award for Outstanding Communication in Library & Information Technology
Copyright Review Management System
 PI for $578,955 grant from IMLS to create a distributed copyright review management system.
Creating an Academic Hotbot: Revealing the Hidden Web
 Author/PI for $150,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for an OAI-enabled discovery service.
A Distributed Digital Library of Mathematical Monographs
 Primary author and co-PI for $315,701 grant from the NSF for support to the University of Michigan and
Cornell University (and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft support to Göttingen State University and Library)
for the implementation of an interoperability mechanism for the three participating digital library systems.
Making of America IV, the American Voice (1999-2001)
 Primary author and organizer for $420,000 grant to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for conversion of
approximately 7,500 19th century US imprint monographs.
Sun Academic Equipment Grant, U of M Digital Humanities Project (1999)
 Sun AEG program grant for $230,000 of equipment to support publicly available digital collections.
Middle English Compendium (1997-1999)
 Primary author and principal investigator for successful $325,000 National Endowment for the Humanities
grant to convert the Middle English Dictionary, mount it online, and create a new, supporting reference work
(the HyperBibliography of Middle English Prose and Verse, conceived by Prof. Frances McSparran).
Education
MLS (School of Library and Information Science), University of Tennessee, 1986
MA (English), University of Virginia, 1980
BA (Literature; Education), Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, 1979
Selected publications and presentations
 “HathiTrust’s Past, Present and Future,” opening remarks for the HathiTrust Constitutional Convention,
October 2011. http://www.hathitrust.org/blogs/perspectives-from-hathitrust/hathitrust039s-past-present-and-future
 “Scholarship, Teaching and Learning in the Age of Google Book Search and HathiTrust: The Michigan
Difference?” 2010 Kanazawa Institute of Technology, July 2010.
 “Business Models for the Interdependent Digital Collection: The HathiTrust v.1 and v.2 Business Models.”
156th Association of Research Libraries Membership Meeting, Seattle, WA, April 2010.
 “What is HathiTrust And How Can It Make A Difference? 'Sourcing And Scaling' Brought To The Collective
Collection.” 2010 Brendel Lecture, Brown University, April 2010.
 “Thinking and Acting Globally to Better Serve Local Needs in the Michigan Digital Library,” presented at the
2010 ALCTS “Living Digital” Symposium, Boston, January 2010.
 “It all depends…. The challenge of associating rights with content,” presented at the March 2007 RLG
Programs symposium.
 “Massive Digitization Projects: An Update on the Google Book Search Digitization,” presented at the 2006
JISC/CNI Conference, July 2006. [Note: This is one of many presentations on the digitization effort, most of
which include a significant component of discussion of likely impacts of the effort.]
 “Three Big Ideas Transforming Scholarly Communication: The Impact of Googlization,” presented at the
2005 SPARC-ACRL Forum, ALA Annual. http://www.arl.org/sparc/meetings/ala05/John_Wilkin.html
 “Collaborative interoperable full-text searching: Inter-institutional approaches to interoperability,” presented at
the Spring 2002 DLF Forum.
 The Making of America II Testbed Project: A Digital Library Service Model, co-authored with Bernie Hurley,
Howard Besser, and Merrilee Profitt. Washington: The Digital Library Federation, December 1999.
November 15, 2011