Community Supported Technologies
and Hosting Services Team

Bridget Almas, Director of Operations CST

As the Director of Operations for Community Supported Technologies, Bridget works on guiding the effectiveness, impact, and long-term sustainability of the programs for which Lyrasis serves as the organizational home. She has worked throughout her career at the intersection of libraries, academic research, data, and technology across the non-profit, academic, and commercial sectors. Bridget served as Director of Data Innovation Strategy for the State University of New York, as a Senior Software Engineer and Technical Lead for the Perseus Digital Library and Perseids Project at Tufts University and has led and contributed to several open-source projects in the field of digital humanities. She has served in leadership roles on various global initiatives, including the Technical Advisory Board of the Research Data Alliance, the International Scientific Advisory Board of the Biblissima+ Project and as Vice-President of the Alpheios Project. Bridget received her Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York at Albany where she focused on French Studies, Chinese, and Business Administration.

Blake Carver, Sr. Systems Administrator

Blake Carver is Systems Administrator at Lyrasis Digital Technology Services, where he manages the servers and infrastructure that support their hosted ArchivesSpace, Islandora and CollectionSpace. Blake holds an MLS from SUNY Buffalo, and has worked as an academic librarian, as a programmer at a dot.com startup, and as a records manager. He's also known as the guy behind LISNews, LISWire, and LISHost. Blake was one of the first librarian bloggers (he created LISNews in 1999) and is a member of Library Journal’s first “Movers & Shakers” cohort. Blake has presented widely at professional conferences, talking about open source systems, Drupal, WordPress, and IT security & privacy for libraries.

Mark Cooper, Sr. Engineering Lead

Mark Cooper is Senior Engineering Lead at Lyrasis responsible for hosting and support services. Duties include ensuring that the hosted environments are stable, performant and available to meet uptime expectations with appropriate measures for backups, monitoring and security in place; leading the implementation and optimization of the services architecture using configuration management and deployment tools; acts as internal release and code manager; contributes to the product roadmap and supervises the technology services team to ensure that deadlines are met, and that onboarding, support and other client related tasks are completed punctually and to a high standard. Mark also represents Lyrasis in the service communities by serving on Technical Working Groups, and is a code contributor to a number of Open Source Projects. Previously, Mark was the Open Source Software Coordinator for Sonoma County Library, where he worked on an evaluative migration project using the Evergreen ILS, and coordinated with Equinox Software and PLP (Pacific Library Partnership) group partners on a trial of the Fulfillment ILL software. He also worked in the Cataloging Department at Sonoma County Library, developing utility programs to optimize workflow, implementing Archon for the Sonoma County Archives, and adding functionality to a hosted CONTENTdm instance.

Jessica Crouch, ArchivesSpace Community Engagement Lead

As ArchivesSpace Community Engagement Coordinator, Jessica is responsible for user support, training, outreach, and communications across the ArchivesSpace community. She works to bring our community together through events and activities and is always willing to consider new areas for connection as our community continues to grow and mature.

Jessica was the leader in ArchivesSpace implementation in her role as archivist in the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of South Carolina (USC). She worked closely with colleagues to develop training, documentation, and opportunities for collaboration as well as working closely with the developers and system administrators who facilitate the technical side of their ArchivesSpace implementation. In addition to her work on ArchivesSpace, she was involved in all aspects of managing physical and digital collections and making them accessible, including providing outreach to donors and users. As a graduate student and early professional, she had previously been actively involved in USC’s implementation of Archivists’ Toolkit. Jessica received an MLIS from the University of South Carolina and a BA in History from Wofford College. Jessica also recently received her Digital Archives Specialist certificate through the Society of American Archivists.

Jen Cwiok, Systems Administrator

Jen Cwiok is Systems Administrator at Lyrasis where she manages the infrastructure for hosted technologies such as DSpace and ArchivesSpace. Her prior experience as Systems Librarian at the American Museum of Natural History Research Library instilled the importance of open-source technologies that are well-supported, sustainable, and scalable within the cultural heritage and LAM communities. Jen also co-teaches two classes at Pratt Institute School of Information: Museum Information Management and Knowledge Organization. Jen has more than 20 years of experience in the library and information sector, specializing in cataloging, metadata, taxonomy, digital asset management, and systems administration. She is passionate about sharing her real-world experiences with her students at Pratt and applying what she learns through teaching to her work at Lyrasis. Jen has a BA in English Literature from the University of Georgia and got her MLIS at Long Island University, Palmer School of Library and Information Science in 2004.

Christine Di Bella, ArchivesSpace Program Manager

As ArchivesSpace Program Manager, Christine plays a key role working closely and collaboratively with the ArchivesSpace community, advisory groups, and Governance Board to set the strategy and goals for ArchivesSpace. Christine is involved in all aspects of the program, and serves as a key spokesperson and advocate for the program. Christine has worked in archives for over 16 years, in a number of academic and non-profit settings. From 2009 to 2014 she was the archivist for the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, a charter member of ArchivesSpace. Prior to that she was the archivist and project director for the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) Consortial Survey Initiative, a project to assess un- and underprocessed archival collections at 22 Philadelphia area institutions. She has also held positions at the Cambridge Public Library, the 92nd Street Y, the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan, and Harvard Business School. She received an MSI from the University of Michigan's School of Information and a bachelor's degree in English from Wesleyan University.

Thimios Dimopulos, Technical Lead

As the ArchivesSpace Technical Lead, Thimios is responsible for the infrastructure of the ArchivesSpace application and managing our different streams of development, including work from staff developers, contractors, and community members. He works closely with community members and the rest of the program team to ensure the ArchivesSpace application meets the needs of archives and other collecting institutions now and in the future. Thimios has been developing software professionally since 2005 and has worked on a range of projects in the private and public sectors, including with Deutsche Telekom, Packet Host (now Equinix Metal), and IFAD, a unit of the United Nations. He recently led a team that developed GeoPACHA, a geospatial platform based at Vanderbilt and Brown Universities. He is well versed in technologies relevant to the ArchivesSpace application and has experience on small and large teams as either a technical lead or developer. He has a master’s degree in Computer Science and is a PhD candidate at the Technische Universität Berlin.

Tim Donohue, DSpace Tech Lead

Tim is the Technical Lead for the DSpace project. He coordinates community participation in the open source development process, including helping define the roadmap and organizing development meetings. He has been a DSpace Committer since 2006, and joined the DSpace project team (previously at DuraSpace) in 2009. He has a degree in Computer Science (University of Notre Dame) with a Masters in Library and Information Science (University of Illinois). Prior to joining the world of libraries and repositories, he was a Technical Architect for a small consulting firm that specialized in Documentum document management solutions for Fortune 500 companies. In all, Tim has over 20 years of professional software development experience, with over 15 of those in the open source realm.

Dan Field, Fedora Developer

As Fedora Program Developer Dan is responsible for designing, testing and supporting Fedora along with facilitating the distributed open-source development work of the volunteer committers. He also works with the community to address their business needs and to provide technical support to users. Dan also works as Head of Software Development at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth where Dan received his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Software Engineering. Dan has worked with Fedora since the early 2000s and has worked on many large-scale cultural heritage documentary and audio-visual digitisation projects. Dan also enjoys Ethical Hacking and has reported security issues to Big Tech companies such as Facebook, Yahoo and Slack. Dan also recently spent 5 years working as a Reservist within the Royal Air Force as a Cyberspace Communication Specialist.

Arran Griffith, Fedora Program Manager

Arran comes to the open-source, library technology world with a diverse background and unique perspective on engaging communities and building meaningful connections. As the Program Manager, she is responsible for uniting users and delivering on the vision and priorities set for the Fedora community. She acts as a strategic liaison between governance groups and community stakeholders to oversee that key program objectives are being met and that continued program growth is achieved.

She previously served as Community Outreach Coordinator for the Fedora Program before taking on the full-time role as Program Manager in May 2022. Prior to joining Lyrasis, Arran led large sales teams in high-volume retail where her commitment to customer experience, and people management skills were the driving force in her successes. She has a BSc in Biology from Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB Canada.

Bailey-Grace Harrell, ArchivesSpace Program Assistant

As ArchivesSpace Program Assistant, Bailey-Grace works part-time with the team on a range of activities, primarily supporting events and communications. Bailey-Grace has a strong background in events management, training administration, and customer service. Most recently she has been working as a Public Course Manager for Crucial Learning, which involves managing both in-person and virtual courses attended by thousands of people each year. In previous positions she has overseen client onboarding and support, software testing and troubleshooting, and creating instructional materials to help new and existing software users. Her undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte focused on international business, psychology, and Spanish. Bailey-Grace has also done some graduate work in Spanish, obtaining her Graduate Certificate in Business Spanish from UNCC.

Brian Harrington, Data Migration Specialist

Brian Harrington has 25 years of experience in electronic publishing and digital libraries. Before joining Lyrasis as the Lyrasis Digital Technology Services (DTS) Data Migration Specialist, he was Content Development Coordinator for Project MUSE, the online publishing division of the Johns Hopkins University Press. Prior to that, Brian spent 15 in the Johns Hopkins University libraries, as an archivist, system administrator, and finally Curator of Digital Collections. He received his MLS from Drexel University and his BA in History from Johns Hopkins.

Drew Heles, Systems Administrator

Drew Heles has been a technologist for more than 20 years, and has been working in service of libraries for the past decade. At Lyrasis he supports hosted technology services such as DSpace and Islandora. He served on Lyrasis’ inaugural DEIA committee and helped establish the Islandora community’s Code of Conduct Committee. He has found some of his most cherished values (service, stewardship, equitable access to information, and the right to privacy) to be at the heart of the library technology community. When AFK he can usually be found surfing or working on his van.

Marcella Huggard, Hosting Services Onboarding COordinator

Marcella Huggard is the Hosting Services Onboarding Coordinator for Lyrasis’ Hosting Services team. In this role she manages onboarding new hosting clients for ArchivesSpace, DSpaceDirect, CollectionSpace, and DuraCloud, with responsibilities also involving analyzing gaps, identifying opportunities, and creating and improving workflows and systems. Previously Marcella has held a variety of collection manager roles in various cultural heritage organizations in Kansas and Colorado, working with manuscripts and special collections, government records, and three-dimensional objects. She has an MA in Public History from Colorado State University-Fort Collins and a BA in History from Knox College.

Dragan Ivanovic, Technical Lead

Dragan Ivanovic, full professor at University of Novi Sad and research software engineer, has a large experience of working on CERIF-based systems development in the context of EC funded projects for euroCRIS. He is also the VIVO technical lead since 2021. His specialties include: Data Analysis, Data modelling, Research Information Systems, digital and data repositories

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9942-5521

Ray Lee, CollectionSpace Technical Lead

Bio coming soon.

Holger Lenz, DSpace Program Coordinator

As DSpace Coordinator, Holger serves as liaison to the DSpace governance, service providers, software developers and other stakeholders. He works part-time to build communication and outreach plans for the DSpace program and is committed to fostering program growth and collaboration. His previous experience includes research and teaching with a focus on language and communication at academic institutions in North America and Europe, as well as project management for non-profit organizations. He received his MSLS from the University of Kentucky, an MA in Literature, History and Philosophy from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, and an MA in German Studies from the University of Kentucky.

Donald Smith, ArchivesSpace Developer

As a software developer on the ArchivesSpace team, Don is responsible for designing, writing, maintaining, and reviewing code and tests from internal and external contributors. He also participates in discussions on future development and looks for ways to improve the software and the accompanying processes and practices. Don received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Rochester Institute of Technology. He has held positions in software development, testing, and operations in both private sector companies and higher education institutions over the course of his career. In the Library Systems group at the Cornell University Library, he set up and maintained the ArchivesSpace installation for the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, and maintained and customized the DSpace installation known as eCommons.

Kristina Spurgin, Sr. Data Migration Specialist

Kristina Spurgin received her MLS from State University of New York at Albany. She worked for University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries, first as E-Resources Cataloger and later as Library Data Strategist, before joining Lyrasis as Data Migration Specialist in 2019. When she is not tending data at work, she is tending plants, cats, goats, guinea fowl, a chicken, and a random wild turkey who decided to live in her yard.

Lydia Tang, Senior Outreach & Engagement Coordinator

Dr. Lydia Tang provides product demonstrations, quotes, contracts, and user support for clients for hosted ArchivesSpace and provides accessibility guidance and expertise across the organization. Prior to Lyrasis, she held archivist positions with Michigan State University, the Library of Congress, and numerous graduate positions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - where she earned her MLIS and Doctor of Musical Arts degree. She is a Certified Archivist and holds Digital Archives Specialist and Arrangement and Description certificates through the Society of American Archivists. Dedicated to building tools and community for archivists, she served on the ArchivesSpace Users Advisory Council (UAC) for four years, where she led the Staff Interface Enhancement Working Group, co-led the Development Prioritization subteam, founded the Usability subteam, and completed her term as chair of the UAC. She has been active in accessibility standards development in the archives profession and has keynoted on the intersection of accessibility and archives for the Best Practice Exchange, Code4Lib, Council of State Archivists, and Society of Ohio Archivists conferences. She founded the Society of American Archivists’ Accessibility & Disability Section, co-founded the Archival Workers Emergency Fund, and currently serves on SAA Council (2022-2025). For her contributions to the archival profession, she was recognized in 2020 with the Society of American Archivists’ Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award and three Council resolutions.

Jessi Weithman, CollectionSpace Program Manager

As CollectionSpace Program Manager, Jessi is responsible for providing strategic vision and program leadership, leading software development, and day-to-day operations of CollectionSpace. Jessi led the data migration, training, and implementation of CollectionSpace for Ohio History Connection. She worked closely with Lyrasis and curators during this time on several CollectionSpace improvements including early work with the CSV importer tool. Jessi wrote and managed several successful grant projects including the implementation of Mukurtu to support NAGPRA and repatriation efforts at OHC. She also led the data migration and implementation of ArchivesSpace and developed a tracking system to facilitate a large collection move. Prior to working with museum curators and collections, she started her career in public libraries. Early on she worked in public service-oriented positions, and then transitioned into project management and technology leadership roles for ILS (integrated library system), web and application development and a variety of technology projects for both Columbus Metropolitan and Westerville Public Libraries. Jessi received her MLS from Kent State University and a BA in English from The Ohio State University.

Jadeen Young, Outreach and Engagement Coordinator

As an Outreach and Engagement Coordinators at Lyrasis, Jadeen connects with galleries, libraries, archives, museums and more to share the features and benefits of Lyrasis hosted solutions. Jadeen’s interest in museum management started while she was pursuing her BA in Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno, inspiring her to obtain her MA in Museum Studies from San Francisco State University in 2013. Joining Lyrasis with over a decade of specialized experience in registration/collections management, Jadeen brings her knowledge of collections, metadata, and digital preservation to her new role. As a former super-user and subject-matter expert in CollectionSpace, she particularly enjoys engaging with clients on their CMS needs. Having participated in the selection, implementation, training, and management of the system in her registration role at the Oakland Museum of California, Jadeen has intimate familiarity with the ins and outs of CollectionSpace that she is eager to share with those searching for a collections management solution.