Roberta (Robin) Sullivan

I've worked at UB for 21 years. I recently became the head of media services and an emerging technologies librarian within the newly renovated Silverman Library. Prior to this new role, I was an instructional designer and online learning specialist with the Center for Educational Innovation (CEI). My new role within the UB Libraries promises to include exciting challenges. The benefits of libraries, in general, are continually being rethought. I'm looking forward to helping guide the current thinking about the value of libraries and to help discover innovative ways the libraries can benefit the UB community. One way the third floor of Silverman will help to meet the campus' needs is to support the effective use of emerging technologies. This is where my deep level of knowledge will be most beneficial. In today's technology-rich society, it is important to promote lifelong learning to build 21st-century skills, including communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking.

The most enjoyable part of my job is assisting people from a wide variety of diverse backgrounds. Everyone has unique needs and perspectives. It is my job to help people identify resources and solutions to meet their particular needs.

Faculty at a research institution, such as UB, often have to prioritize their time to balance their research, publishing and teaching needs. This is where creative solutions and new learning paradigms, such as online learning opportunities, have real advantages. With today's tight schedules, students, faculty and staff can benefit greatly from being able to learn and seek personal professional development when and where it works best for them. The biggest change in my move to the UB Libraries is that I will now directly support students, whereas, in the past, my responsibilities were to provide direct support to faculty who then took the knowledge and advice I shared and passed it along to their students.

The most important accomplishment in my career is the development and management of the Exploring Emerging Technologies for Lifelong Learning and Success (#EmTechMOOC). The aim of #EmTechMOOC is to assist students, faculty, staff and anyone with a desire to keep pace with technology change, with identifying the value and implications of using emerging technologies for personal and professional growth. The #EmTechMOOC also assists them with gaining strategies to develop lifelong learning habits to keep pace with technology change. This Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is a free online learning opportunity available to the UB community and anyone who has an interest in understanding how to effectively use emerging technologies to gain 21st-century skills that are highly needed in today's society. #EmtechMOOC was developed as a cross-campus collaboration with the help of many faculty, staff and students from UB and across the entire SUNY system.

When the Silverman Library was renovated, it was equipped with two state-of-the-art one-button video recording studios. The Libraries will be developing programming to allow the campus to make the best use of these facilities in addition to the media editing suites and equipment loan program. If anyone has any advice or ideas about how we can better utilize these valuable resources, please contact me.

I would advise everyone to expand and nurture personal and professional networks and to create a positive online professional identity. If you do not take control over your own identity, others will define it for you.

I love to travel to new places.

An old family recipe for pasta and broccoli (which can also be made with cauliflower) originated in the depression era when a family needed to be able to eat on a very minimal budget. Although the recipe is very economical to make, it is full of flavor, especially after adding liberal amounts of grated cheese. This recipe was once published in a cookbook to raise money for UB's annual SEFA campaign.

I'm interested to travel anywhere that I haven't been to yet. Every excursion gives me a deeper appreciation that, as much as things seem so different, we share similar qualities with almost all aspects of this world. Seeing other places and interacting with people from other cultures also reinforces for me that my hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., is a great place to live.

I won a contest to "throw mama from a plane." This contest gave me and my mom the exciting opportunity to go skydiving. When I landed, I was asked to choose one word to describe the experience. The word I used was "peaceful." It was a very serene feeling floating above the world, just hanging from a parachute as I drifted toward the ground. A short video clip of this thrilling adventure is available on my ePortfolio. If you are around Silverman Library, stop in to say hi. If you are interested in creating your own portfolio, consider joining #EmTechMOOC, now supported by the UB Libraries!