About the Author
Melanie J. Norton is an associate professor and the director of the School of Library and
Information Science at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. She has served on
various information technology initiatives and has previously chaired the committee examining
appropriate implementation and strategic planning for university-wide technology. She advocates
for campuswide engagement in all technology initiatives and a commitment to sustained training
of faculty and staff. Her interests in technology implementation have led to her placement on
several focus and study groups for the university. Her experience includes initiating and leading
the first fully online graduate program at Southern Miss. She managed a multimedia library and
laboratory system for nearly a decade, as well as the development and management of the local
area network. She has worked in a medical records library and a range of government,
manufacturing, and retail settings. Her teaching resume includes graduate and undergraduate
courses dealing with collection development, computers in libraries, multimedia tools, internet
resources, information ethics, and library automation. Additionally, she has taught graduate
courses in systems analysis, information science, information and society, database search tools
for public and special collections, and research methods. Her research interests include
information economics, management of information, personnel management, and issues in the
technology and human contexts of communication.