Ann Whiteside

Librarian/Assistant Dean for Information Services
Harvard Graduate School of Design

Ann Whiteside is Librarian/Assistant Dean for Information Resources in the Frances Loeb Library. Previously, Ann was Head of the Rotch Library of Architecture and Planning at MIT, where she was responsible for the overall management of the library, including personnel, budget, collections, and the establishment of new directions and services. Expanding digital resources in close collaboration with faculty has been a particularly important part of her work. She also served as project director for the Society of Architectural Historians’ SAHARA initiative and has been generally recognized for helping library communities keep pace with the rapidly changing nature of scholarly communication.

Other key initiatives that she has advanced involve the development of a digital image collection, the preservation of original CAD drawings and other electronic architectural documentation, and the broadened provision of GIS services for teaching and research. Before moving to MIT, Ann was Director of the Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library at the University of Virginia (2001-2005). Ann has lectured and written extensively on visual resources, content management, and scholarly communication. She is active in many professional organizations and committees that shape approaches to the changing needs and opportunities faced by research libraries in an increasingly digital environment.