Laura Nichols is the latest addition to our team, joining our dedicated team in the EU. Born and raised in Elchingen, a town near Ulm, Germany, she brings many years of experience working in university libraries with library management systems. She studied Library and Information Management at the Stuttgart Media University and, after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in 2012, started working in the Cataloguing Department of the Koblenz-Landau University Library, Koblenz Campus.
We spoke to Laura to get to know her a little better…
Laura, can you tell us about your experience working at a university library?
For the past four years, I have been the Department Head of Acquisition and Cataloguing at the Koblenz-Landau University Library. In addition to department management, I was also responsible for electronic resources, including handling usage statistics and providing member training and counter service. Due to my focus on cataloguing, I trained my colleagues on-site and surrounding Union libraries in RDA standard in 2015. I also studied part-time at the Humboldt University in Berlin and obtained my Master of Library and Information Science.
What are your responsibilities now at LIBERO?
At LIBERO, I will support the Customer Service team as a product specialist. My area of expertise is the analysis, research and provision of library-specific solutions to guide our users into the future of library services.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role?
To support libraries in their day-to-day work. Having worked in a library for nine years myself, I know how important it is to understand and master your system and to have a competent contact person in case of problems and questions. I am looking forward to working with all types of libraries and helping them in every way I can.
Where and how do you spend your free time?
Quite cliché: with a book! Otherwise, I’m out and about a lot, on hiking trails or roller skates. Travelling, especially to Ireland, is also one of my favourite things to do!