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CALASYS Group

Current Members:

Sai Deng is the Metadata Librarian and Associate Librarian at the University of Central Florida. As a CALA member since 2006, she has worked for many of their committees, including Publication, Membership, and Best Book Award. She has also been a Co-Editor of the CALA Newsletter since 2008. From 2013 to 2014, Sai led the effort of compiling and publishing CALA's 40th Anniversary Issue. In 2015, she compiled CALA's membership directory with the CALA Directory Task Force. Sai received her M.L.S. from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC GSLIS) in 2005. She worked for Preserving Electronic Publications and Illinois Government Documents Initiative as a research assistant at UIUC GSLIS. She was the Metadata Catalog Librarian at Wichita State University Libraries from 2005 to 2012. Prior to coming to the U.S, she was an editor for the Commercial Press International and a newsletter editor for the Sanlian Joint Publishing in Beijing, China. Her scholarly interests are focused on digital libraries, information representation, and access, metadata, linked data, data documentation, and curation.

Suzhen Chen is a Chinese Language Cataloging and Metadata Librarian at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She graduated with a Master's degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009. 

Weiling Liu is a professor and the Head of Office of Libraries Technology (OLT) at the University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky. She is a CALA Life member and has served on many CALA committees. She has served as a member of CALASYS, a subcommittee of CALA’s Publication Committee, since 2014 and a member of Web Committee since 2009. During her tenure as the CALA Webmaster from 2013 – 2017, she set up the Omeka system for CALASYS and provided technical support.  

Xiaoli Ma is the Metadata Librarian and the Head of Metadata Unit at the George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida. She develops metadata guidelines and implements workflows to enhance the usability and searchability of the content held by large-scale digital libraries. Currently, she explores the use of AI technology to automate the subject-indexing process. She studied Information Science, Art History and American Literature at the University of Michigan, University of South Florida and Sichuan University, Mainland China. Previously, she worked at Artstor as Metadata Specialist -- Technical Lead, where she worked with developers and interface designers to create tools to collect, migrate, and update metadata. 

Former Group Members:

Dr. Sharon (Chengren) Hu is an Associate Professor at, Department of Information Studies, Chicago State University. She has earned her B.A. (1981, Wuhan University), MSLIS (1984, Simmons College), and Ph.D. (1987, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) for the Library and Information Science (LIS). She worked as a Systems Librarian, or the Head of Library Systems Department, or the Director of Technical Services and Systems Department in several American academic or medical libraries, and now as a teaching faculty. She has majored in multiple subject fields of LIS, especially for information technology for libraries and information services, digital libraries, organization of information, information storage, access and retrieval systems, management of libraries, and LIS education. She is a lifetime CALA member with services at multiple CALA committees in different time periods. Dr. Hu was the president of CALA Midwest Chapter (2014-2015).

Le Yang is currently working as an Assistant/Metadata Librarian at Texas Tech University. He holds a BS degree in Economics, a MA degree in Communication Studies, and a MLIS with a focus on digital librarianship. As a CALA life member and the President of CALA SW Chapter, he has been providing service to CALA in the committee work, task force, and the Board. His research interests include digital scholarship, metadata, digital libraries, digital resources, web development, and web analytics.

Haiying Qian is the Institutional Repository Coordinator and Assistant professor at Lincoln University. Before joining Lincoln University in 2014, Ms. Qian was the Digital Collections Coordinator for Missouri’s statewide digital program Missouri Digital Heritage, where she managed LSTA grants and digital projects. Ms. Qian joined CALA in 2000 and became a CALA life member in 2005. She has served in various CALA committees and task forces. Ms. Qian received her B.A. from Xi’an Jiaotong University, MLIS from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Dr. Sharon Yang has been working in the library automation field for more than twenty years. She received her MS in 1988, Certificate for Advanced Librarianship in 1989, and Doctor of Library Science in 1997, all from the School of Library Service, Columbia University in New York City. Currently, she works as Professor and Systems Librarian in Rider University Libraries, New Jersey. Dr. Yang has done numerous presentations at conferences, published many journal articles, and has been active serving on professional committees. She is the recipient of the 2011 Most Commended Paper Award for Library Hi, Tech, the 2012 Research Award of the New Jersey Library Association, and the 2012 CALA Liao Jing Best Research Award.

Minhao Jiang is the Software Development Librarian at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. He received his MLIS with Data Analytics specialization from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Mr. Jiang enjoys developing new applications that serve the best interest of the community while maintaining the existing repository. He has concluded modernization to several web applications that are essential to the success of operations and services at the Library System. He is also excited to have the opportunity to explore new technology and ideas as part of his assignment.

Mingyan Li is the Metadata Librarian of the University of Illinois at Chicago. CALA life member. Mingyan has served in various committees in CALA MW chapter, including: Program Committee, Archive Committee, Professional Development Committee, and worked with other chapter members to deliver several successful Chapter Annual Programs. She also served in CALA 2013 Annual Conference Committee as the chair of the Poster sub-committee and was one of the speakers at the CALA Annual Conference. In 2010, Mingyan was selected by CALA to participate in ALA Emerging Leader Class 2010. Mingyan holds two Master’s degrees, including a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and a Master of Computer and Information System from Bradley University.

Meng Qu started her librarian profession in late 2018 at Miami University - Oxford, Ohio. As a Web Services Librarian, she designs impressive user interfaces then codes the stretches and mockups into web pages. Her passion for web coding and library services has navigated her interests to web application development. At CALASYS, Meng’s work concentrates on the look and feel design works, and website construction and maintenance. Her tech skills have been sharpened along with the building of Omeka at CALASYS. She wishes that CALASYS could be developed as a strong and solid repository for CALA.

Anna Xiong is the Government Information Coordinator of Kelley Center for Government Information, Data, and Geospatial Services at Rice University Fondren Library. I received a Master's degree in Library and Information Science from Indiana University Bloomington in 2003 and a Master's degree in German Language and Literature at Beijing Foreign Studies University. I joined CALA in 2002, am a life member of CALA, and served at numerous CALA Committees at local, regional, and national levels as a Chair or member.

Haoyong Lan is the Engineering & Data Librarian at the University of Louisville. He received a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master's degree in Library and Information Science both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Nancy Schuler is the e-Resources and Collection Development Librarian at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. She has a B.S.  from the University of Maryland, an MLIS from the University of Washington, and was an ALA Spectrum Scholar. She is a new CALA member.

Yanhong Wang is the Coordinator of Systems and Liaison for the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics at the Scarborough Library, Shepherd University. She has been in the current position since she graduated from the University of Iowa with my MLIS degree. She joined CALA in 2012 and is a life member.