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Barbara Von Wahlde

Barbara  Von Wahlde Death: 2019

Von Wahlde came to UB in 1986 as the Director of University Libraries from the University of Michigan where she served as Associate Director for Technical Services. After earning her bachelor's and master's degrees from Indiana University, von Wahlde held library positions at Indiana, the Universities of West Florida, Southern Mississippi, Maine, and Yale University.

In 1987, von Wahlde acquired the title of Associate Vice President for University Libraries and has taken a lead in considering issues related to copyright, intellectual property rights, and alternative means of scholarly communication.

During her tenure, the University's online pubic access catalog, BISON (Buffalo Information System ONline) was implemented and the Libraries' strengthened its ties to CIT (Computing and Information Technology).

In her timely article, "Librarian: A Woman's View from the Top" published in the Journal for Higher Education Management (1989?), von Wahlde writes from a minority position as a female administrator in a field that, while predominantly female, has an administrative structure dominated by men:

When working with the Vice President for University Services' Executive Committee, I am the only female administrator within his span of control. While I have never felt uncomfortable working with, or for, men, I have begun to feel like one of the characters in A Tale of "O" (Kantor, 1986). I am the "O" (female). There are many "X's" (males) that I now interact with in a way that was not so noticeable to me before I became a library director.

Barbara von Wahlde died on June 14, 2019.


Affiliation(s): Libraries
Record Group(s): 13
Biographical File Contains:
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