Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 20, 1995                   TAG: 9501200074
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

HIGH-TECH LIBRARY TO BE FOCUS OF NEW DEAN

Eileen Hitchingham, formerly with Drexel University, has become Tech's dean of university libraries in a move that reflects the school's ever-growing dependence on high-tech methods of dispensing information.

Hitchingham, whose job used to be called director of library services, reports to the vice president of information systems, Erv Blythe.

"With the advances in computers and communication methods, libraries are no longer just books, but information delivery systems," Hitchingham said.

Drexel's former dean of library services was attracted to Tech because of its advanced technology. For instance, she'd already seen the university's in-house newspaper, "Spectrum," on the Internet.

She also was well aware of the Blacksburg Electronic Village, the innovative project mounted by Virginia Tech, Blacksburg and Bell Atlantic to make Blacksburg one of the first towns in the nation to connect the town and college communities by computer and plug into the worldwide Internet.

"These projects and others here at Virginia Tech parallel my own career path and career goals."

Hitchingham started her new job Jan. 1, and will be in charge of all information systems offered by the Virginia Tech libraries. Besides Newman Library, she'll be in charge of the libraries in Derring Hall, Cowgill Hall and the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.

Hitchingham also has served as dean of library services at the University of Idaho, and worked in a range of posts within the library system at Oakland University.