Meet Your Librarian
Throughout the Spring 2019 semester, the Eugene McDermott Library will be highlighting some of our amazing library staff in an ongoing series designed to help students, faculty and staff get to know the many faces of the library who are here to help you discover relevant, authoritative and scholarly resources.
Kreg Walvoord, Research Services Librarian
After getting his first job shelving books at the Nicholson Memorial Library, McDermott Library Senior Librarian Kreg Walvoord’s career path was set: He would become a librarian.
“Once I started working in libraries, I just fell in love with it,” said Walvoord.
The most senior member of the library’s Research Services Department, Walvoord provides research and instructional services for faculty and students and enjoys connecting and sharing his librarian skills, particularly when it comes to getting up in front of classes and teaching new things.
With 21 years’ experience at the Eugene McDermott Library, Walvoord helps students with research questions discover where and how to find their answers, teaching sessions on how to prepare for research projects or presentations using library resources and services. He is also the liaison to the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and purchases materials and conducts one-on-one consultations about library resources in his subject areas, which include actuarial science, biology, biomedical engineering, chemistry, education, general science, geosciences, mathematics and physics.
He also juggles a number of other duties, including providing reference assistance at the Services Desk on the second floor of the library and through the library’s online chat service, maintaining the library’s online research guides (LibGuides) and participating in pop-up workshops highlighting library resources and outreach activities to foster community engagement in the library.
“Kreg has a wealth of knowledge and expertise due to his seniority here, and you can always count on him for a great story about Texas,” said his manager, Associate Library Director Dr. Tiffany Norris.
Walvoord has also been heading the library’s recruitment efforts to help all research-active UT Dallas faculty and graduate students obtain an ORCID ID. ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a unique 16-digit number that distinguishes researchers from others with the same or similar name or characteristics and eases the process of manuscript submission, grant applications and other academic activities. The library encourages faculty and students to sign up for an ORCID at orcid.org to help track their research.
Texas born, Texas proud, Walvoord can often be seen around the library in full cowboy attire: jeans and cowboy boots. It’s not surprising then that he’s also a Texas expert and created a helpful research guide called Texana about Texas resources that can be found here.
A Garland native, Walvoord received a bachelor’s degree in History from The University of Texas at Austin and two master’s degrees, one in History and one in Library Science from the University of North Texas. Before joining the McDermott Library in 1998, he was a reference librarian at the Abilene Public Library in Abilene, Texas.
“The difference between the two is like night and day, but I loved them both,” he said.
Outside of work, Walvoord enjoys target shooting and exploring west Texas.
Learn more about Kreg Walvoord:
Title
Research Services Librarian; Liaison to the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Educational Background
BA in History from The University of Texas at Austin; MA in History from the University of North Texas; MS Master in Library Science from the University of North Texas
My career at McDermott began in
1998
Contact Walvoord by email or phone: 972-883-2919.