Vanderbilt University Librarian Jon Shaw has been named a 2024 Education Champion by Amazon Web Services (AWS). The prestigious honor was announced during the AWS Imagine conference held July 23–24 in Austin, Texas.
Shaw’s nomination, submitted by Amazon Nashville, commends his pivotal role in transforming IT infrastructure, fostering research and innovation, and enhancing digital preservation at Vanderbilt’s Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. His initiatives have significantly updated processes, upskilled teams and fortified connections within and beyond the academic community.
“Our review committee was deeply impressed by Jon’s visionary approach to ensuring the vitality of libraries in the digital age. His actions have preserved historical and cultural records, expanded research avenues and bolstered student success,” said Kimberley Williams, director of WWPS Global Lead Development and U.S. SLG/EDU vertical leader. “Jon is truly doing transformative work.”
Leadership and Innovation
Shaw’s leadership at the Heard Libraries includes significant work with AWS to implement cutting-edge technology solutions. These initiatives range from hosting cloud-based platforms and leveraging AWS for digital humanities projects to pioneering open-repository systems and exploring artificial intelligence potentials within the library infrastructure.
“I am deeply honored to be named an Education Champion by AWS,” Shaw said. “This recognition celebrates the incredible innovation taking place at the Heard Libraries and our extraordinary commitment to removing technological barriers to information, enhancing access to knowledge, and promoting groundbreaking research and discovery.”
Shaw, who came to Vanderbilt in July 2022, leads the Heard Libraries’ nine campus libraries and multiple research entities, including the Slave Societies Digital Archive and the Vanderbilt Television News Archive. Under his direction, the libraries have launched the Digital Lab, an initiative that empowers Vanderbilt faculty, students and staff to create, develop and sustain digital projects, and the Geographic Information Systems Lab, which gives university scholars a significant computing edge in the rapidly growing field of geospatial visualization and analysis.
He also helped launch the Vanderbilt AI Law Lab to champion radical collaboration and experimentation in reimagining the future of law through the lens of artificial intelligence, as well as the McGee Applied Research Center for Narrative Studies, designed to promote media literacy by providing resources to evaluate the objectivity of news coverage and other narratives. In addition, Shaw spearheaded the transition of Vanderbilt’s Special Collections and University Archives to a dedicated library space on campus.
Collaboration and Community
Shaw also has forged relationships that position the Heard Libraries for future growth. These include joining the prestigious U.K.-based Digital Preservation Coalition as one of only a few full members from the U.S.; entering a partnership with the government of Québec to bolster opportunities for academic and cultural exchange; and negotiating open access agreements with major academic publishers to expand the breadth of journals available to Vanderbilt authors and promote wider dissemination of their research.
In addition to his role at Vanderbilt, Shaw serves on numerous advisory boards and as a member of various library and research committees nationally and internationally. These include the boards of Clarivate, a global leader in analytics services, and the Research Library at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, among others.