People
Project Team
Dr. Ayoung Yoon (PI) is an Associate Professor in DLIS at IUI. Her research areas include data curation, data reuse, open data, and citizens’ data engagement. She is currently the Co-PI of Building Public Libraries’ Capacity for Open Data Services: Models and Implementation (LG-250098-OLS-21) and Community Data Curation Competency: Curriculum Development for Master’s Education (RE-252380-OLS-22). She was the PI of previous IMLS grant projects, Data Reuse for Local Community (LG-96-17-0184-17), researching community data reuse and curation, and Library Capacity Assessment and Development for Big Data Curation (LG-72-17-0139-17). She was previously an RDA/US data share fellow at Research Data Alliance (RDA) supported by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (#G-2014-13746). Her dissertation, Data Reuse and Users’ Trust Judgments, received the Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Award. She has been actively involved in data curation and data sharing/reuse research, and her ultimate research goal is to build community capacity for creating community-inclusive data ecosystem and promoting data sharing and reuse through proper curation. She published a number of articles in top-rated journals, such as the Journal of the Association of Information Science and Technology (JASIST), College & Research Libraries (C&RL), Library and Information Science Research (LISR), and International Journal of Digital Curation (IJDC).
Dr. Michin Hong (Co-PI) is an associate professor at the School of Social Work at Indiana University. Her areas of research have focused on modifiable factors that affect disparities in health and access to health care. She conducted numerous research projects examining the unmet needs of underserved populations, including rural hospice social workers, language minorities, and older adults with cognitive impartments. Recently, she has led two projects that examined the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of ethnoracial minority older adults, and on the racial discriminatory experiences of Asian college students, respectively. These studies commonly suggested far adverse effects of the pandemic for vulnerable populations. Her research findings have been published in high-ranking journals, such as Journal of Applied Gerontology, The Gerontologist, Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice. Additionally, she has been actively involved with global health education, resulting in her selection as a 2023 IUPUI Virtual Global Learning Fellow and a 2023 Ewha Global Fellow.
Andricus Hutcherson is a research assistant and PhD student in the Social Work program at IUI with an emphasis in macro social policy.
Karen Kohl is a research assistant and student in the MLIS program at IUI specializing in digital curation.
Advisory Board
Beth Wahler is a consultant and social work administrator/researcher. She has developed and coordinated library-based social work collaborations, supervised library-based student practicum placements, and has provided multiple workshops for public library staff on patron psychosocial needs, trauma-informed librarianship and social work collaborations for meeting those needs.
Jessica Anderson is the director of the main library branch of the public library of Humbolt County, Nevada
Ali Iserman is the director of the Mediapolis Public Library in Mediapolis, IA.
Dr. Andrea Copeland is the chair and associate professor in DLIS at IUI. Her research focus is public libraries and their relationship with communities. Her current emphasis centers on connecting the cultural outputs of individuals and community groups to a sustainable preservation infrastructure.
Yanna McGraw, LMSW is a social worker at the Indianapolis Public Library. She has been active in social work in Marion County since 2008, working in areas such as geriatric, home-based therapy, law facilities and individual mental health cases.
Project Partners Liaison
Meredith Fletcher is a Customer Service Manager at Pickerington Public Library. She is passionate about library outreach and community engagement and has a knack for partnerships. She is also a public speaker who advocates for library services, staff, and those they serve.
Former Research Assistants
Sarah Vitelli is a research assistant and student in the MLIS program at IU Bloomington.
Anthony Engebretson is a research assistant and student in the MLIS program at IUPUI.
