C. Colleen Cook

Title: 
Cook Short CV
Academic title(s): 

Professor, Full Librarian and Trenholme Dean of Libraries Emerita, McGill University

 

C. Colleen Cook
Contact Information
Phone: 
514-398-3366
Email address: 
colleen.cook [at] mcgill.ca
Curriculum vitae: 
Degree(s): 
  • PhD (Higher Education Administration), Texas A&M University
  • MA (European History), Texas A&M University
  • MLS (Library Science), University of Texas at Austin
  • BA (German), University of Texas at Austin
Biography: 

Colleen Cook began her career as a librarian at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, in positions dealing with acquisitions, circulation, bibliographic access and automation. She served as Executive Associate Dean from 1994 to 2003 when she was appointed the Sterling C. Evans Endowed Chair and Dean of Libraries. In 2011 she became the Trenholme Dean of Libraries and Archives at McGill University, Montreal, serving until 2022. She continues as a Full Librarian at the McGill Library and as a Full Professor in the university’s School of Information Studies.


At Texas A&M University, Colleen was one of the founders of the Texas Digital Library and joined Fred Heath, then Director of the University of Texas at Austin Libraries, in establishing the joint storage collaboration between the two largest university systems in Texas, the University of Texas System and the Texas A&M University System. Under her leadership, Texas A&M consistently ranked among the top ten libraries in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the growth of the collections budget being particularly noteworthy.


At McGill, Colleen reorganized the library system of branches and was the leading voice in justifying and promoting a major main library building and renovation project, Fiat Lux, and the construction of the first library storage building in the Province of Quebec. The Collections Management facility, scheduled for ingestion in 2023 is one of the first facilities using the robotic system, AutoStore, in a library context. She has considerable experience in fundraising and philanthropy.
Colleen’s research interests center around program assessment and evaluation. Her dissertation served as the basis for the LibQual+ Service Quality evaluation instrument managed through ARL. LibQual+ has been used by hundreds of libraries globally to justify, assess and manage library building projects, collections content and access, and service programs. She has an extensive record of publications (Scopus h-Index of 24) and over 100 invited and juried presentations at international venues.


Largely reflecting her research interests, Colleen’s service contributions include serving as member or chair of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), ARL and Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) committees on statistics, evaluation and research. She has served as a member of the ARL Board and as a reviewer of libraries at major universities in the United States and Canada.


November, 2022

Courses: 
  • Guest Lecturer, GLIS 620 Information Agency Management
Professional activities: 
  • McGill Senate, 2011-; McGill Senate Committee on Libraries, 2011-
  • McGill Learning Management System Executive Steering Committee, 2011
  • Audit and Finance Committee of McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2011- (Appointed)
  • Working Group on Fair Use of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
  • Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) Committee on Scholarly Communication
  • CARL representative on IFLA’s Committee on Copyright and Legal Matters
Research areas: 
Library assessment
Service quality & delivery
Current research: 

Trends in Research Libraries

Selected publications: 

C. Cook. (2013). The Evolution of library assessment and its impact. Presented at the Quebec Library Association Annual Conference. Montreal, Quebec.

C. Cook. (2012). Quality Information Evaluation, Criteria Indicators and Methodology. Presented at Conerencia Internacional sobre Bibliotecas Universitarias. Mexico City, Mexico.

C. Cook. New Canadian Perspectives on University Libraries. Co-presenter. OLA Super Conference. Toronto, Ontario.

C. Cook (2012) Trends, Challenges for Research & Academic Libraries. Presented at Congrès des milieu documentaires. Montreal, Quebec.

Thompson, B., Kyrillidou, M., and C. Cook. (2011). “Equating Scores on “Lite” and Long Library User Survey Forms: The LibQUAL+®. In Proceedings of the Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services. 8, Florence, Italy, 129-134.

Cook, C., and M. Maciel. (2010). “A Decade of Assessment at a Research-Extensive University Library Using LibQUAL+®.” Research Library Issues: A Bimonthly Report from ARL, CNI, and SPARC, no. 271:4-12.

Potter, W., Cook, C., and M. Kyrillidou. (2010). “ARL Profiles: Qualitative Descriptions of Research Libraries in the Early 21st Century.” Research Library Issues: A Bimonthly Report from ARL, CNI, and SPARC, no. 271:25-32.

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