Michael Ridley

CONTACT INFORMATION

Michael Ridley

Chief Information Officer (CIO) & Chief Librarian

University of Guelph

Guelph, Ontario CANADA N1G 2W1

519 824-4120 x52181

Email: mridley@uoguelph.ca - Website: www.uoguelph.ca/~mridley

Office of the CIO website: www.cio.uoguelph.ca

Twitter: http://twitter.com/mridley

CIO Blog: www.uoguelph.ca/cio/blog/

BIOGRAPHY

I have been the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) since 2004 and the Chief Librarian since 1995.

I have been a professional librarian since 1979 and, like most librarians, I didn’t grow up thinking I would become one. Following an undergraduate degree at the University of Guelph, a graduate degree in theatre history from the University of New Brunswick was supposed to lead to a doctorate and a traditional academic career (BTW if you want to know about the staging of 17th English opera in London, I'm your guy). Instead, a computer project on the London stage got me interested in databases and a job at the Fredericton Public Library. As a result I enrolled in the MLS program at the University of Toronto. Unlike many, I really enjoyed library school. I became obsessed by information technology and was mentored by Prof. Bill Kurmey (a fine Socratic teacher).

My first professional job was at the University of Guelph. I was hired by the then Chief Librarian Margaret Beckman (a legend and a true leader in every sense of the word). At Guelph I did a wide variety of jobs (Science Reference Librarian, Cataloguer, Systems Librarian). From Guelph I went on to be the Head of Systems and Technical Services at the Health Sciences Library at McMaster University. After 6 years at McMaster I moved on to become the Associate University Librarian at the University of Waterloo.

Returning to Guelph as the Chief Librarian positioned me as a senior administrator in the University – a role that involves me in a wide variety of academic issues and has given me a deeper understanding of the nature of universities. In 2004 I was named the Chief Information Officer (CIO) with a mandate to provide administrative oversight for the Library and Computing and Communications Services (CCS). As CIO I am responsible for strategic planning and policy development for issues relating to information resources, information services, and information technology.

One of the contributions I am most proud of is the work I’ve done as part of professional associations. I was honoured to serve as President of the Canadian Association for Information Science, President of the Ontario Library Association, Board member of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries and Chair of the Ontario Council of University Libraries. Currently I am a board member of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network and of the Canadian University Council of CIOs. For a number of years I assisted the Ontario Library Association in developing the Ontario Digital Library (ODL) which has been wonderfully transformed into Knowledge Ontario.

In 2007 I was named "Academic Librarian of the Year" by the Ontario College and University Library Association (OCULA), a division of the Ontario Library Association (OLA). In 2008 I was thrilled to be awarded the newly renamed Larry Moore OLA Distinquished Service Award from the Ontario Library Association. In 2010 I was honoured to be awarded the Miles Blackwell Award for Outstanding Academic Librarian by the Canadian Association of College and University Libraries (a division of the Canadian Library Association).

My job and professional life are very important to me but my family is the center of my universe. My wife is the Creative Director of an advertising agency and we have two daughters (both graduates of the University of Guelph and one continuing her studies at the University of Toronto). We also have a dog that I love but who drives me to distraction.

I am a failed rock star. I have a 6 string acoustic guitar, a 12 string Fender acoustic, and a white Stratocaster (and my wife has a fabulous Taylor T5) – all of which I play badly but without shame! Music, all kinds of music, is a great passion for me.

For some reason I am also obsessed by the alphabet and hence have a collection of children’s alphabet blocks and wooden printer’s type. This has lead to a dangerous exploration of the idea of post litearcy. Go figure.