Library Team
Sharing the new KU collections with librarians
Dr. Olaf Ernst
Chief Solutions Officer
Olaf is supporting and developing customer solutions within the current KU product portfolio
Olaf has been within the STM industry for nearly 20 years. After receiving his PhD in Business Administration from the University of Jena in Germany, he started his career at the Bertelsmann AG in 2001. At Springer Science, he has been responsible for its eBook and Business Media programs from 2005, while serving at the Executive Management Board as the President of eProduct Management and Innovation. In this capacity, he focused on developing value adding digital customer solutions. In the United Kingdom, he joined IOP Publishing, a leading society publisher in physics, as a Commercial Director and Member of the Executive Board in 2011, to support globally growth and deliver innovative product solutions.
1) Describe your job in three words. Exciting, Inspiring, Engaging.
2) What’s the most interesting thing you’re working on right now? Getting Oable off the ground.
3) Best thing about being part of the KU-Team? Being in a small, dynamic, talented, multinational start-up culture is just so energizing. Be part of a dedicated team, who believe in what they are doing is just fun.
4) Worst thing about being part of the KU_Team? I just joined, so cannot really tell. Ask me again after a while.
5) Who would you most like to swap places with for the day? Either with Roger Federer or with Jeff Bezos.
6) What did you want to grow up to be when you were a kid? A professional tennis player, a pilot or a musician.
7) Last book you read? I love crimes from the Provence to relax best, in the moment it is Madame le Commissaire by Pierre Martin.
8) Website you visit the most? ? Wikipedia, BBCnews and SpiegelOnline.
9) What’s in your coffee? Black, no sugar!
10) Tell us something we don’t know? I hold a dual citizenship now: German and English.
Wilson de Souza
Regional Manager Ibero-America, Oceania, Africa and Asia
Wilson is growing the level of OA support at institutions in South America, Southern Europe and the APAC region
Wilson studied Marketing and Human Resources in Brazil. He has been in the book market for 17 years. Started in São Paulo, Brazil where his passion for reading became a career, working in the main Brazilian bookstores. Above all, he believes in the transforming power of knowledge. For him to join the KU team in Germany is an incredible opportunity to participate in a major global change that makes knowledge accessible to everyone.
1) Describe your job in three words. research - knowledge – sustainable
2) What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now? Working on Open Access expansion in Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries
3) Best thing about being part of the KU-Team? Being part of a highly multicultural team.
4) Worst thing about being part of the KU-Team? There is much to do and time is sometimes short
5) Who would you most like to swap places with for the day? Gene Kelly. Would be nice to know how to dance like him.
6) What did you want to grow up to be when you were a kid? A vet. I like animals...but I could not bear an operating room
7) Last book you read? The Neverending Story, Michael Ende (always read again!)
8) Website you visit the most? Like to chat with family and friends on facebook.
9) What’s in your coffee? The feeling that I shouldn´t drink too many. But I love it.
10) Tell us something we don’t know? I once did a meditation retreat and were 10 days without speaking. It was a challenge but I learned a lot about myself.
Mirela Roncevic
Director of UK, Northern and Eastern Europe, Marketing
Mirela is growing the OA funding support at institutions in the UK, Northern Europe and Eastern Europe
Over the course of her long career in the book business, Mirela has consulted a range of publishers and libraries and partnered with various companies creating new opportunities for authors, educators, researchers, and librarians. She has also contributed articles, features, columns, and reviews to a range of publications (e.g., Library Journal, Publishers Today, American Libraries Magazine) and has served as managing editor of several book series and journals. Mirela is pursuing a Ph.D. in Information Science, focusing her research on the benefits of open and frictionless access to digital content via open libraries. She is also the author of a new book in ALA’s “No Shelf Required” series: New Era for E-Books and Digital Content.
1) Describe your job in three words. Engage. Clarify. Inspire.
2) What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now? Connecting with libraries in new and distant lands.
3) Best thing about being part of the KU-Team? It’s all about Open Access.
4) Worst thing about being part of the KU-Team and being on the road? Not getting on a direct flight to Berlin.
5) Who would you most like to swap places with for the day? Much younger me.
6) What did you want to grow up to be when you were a kid? Anything that involved books, writing and the pursuit of knowledge.
7) Last book you read? I just re-read The Year of Magical Thinking (Joan Didion)
8) Website you visit the most? Youtube (for music and inspiring lectures)
9) What’s in your coffee? Just coffee. Strong.
10) Tell us something we don’t know? When not consumed by my Ph.D. research, I write short stories, prose poetry and flash fiction.
Elaine Lambert
North American Representative
Elaine is growing the level of OA support at institutions in North America
Elaine has worked with libraries for the past 13 years, first through Informed Strategies, promoting books and journals from many publishers including the American Accounting Association, Begell House, Cornell, and UC Press to name a few before coming on board with KU in it’s Pilot program in 2013, and has worked with KU in every subsequent round since then. She has appreciated how much KU has grown and expanded over the years and has a strong desire to provide excellent customer service to the libraries she works with. Prior to working with libraries she was an Executive Assistant and database manager for several nonprofit organizations.
1) Describe your job in three words. Informative, challenging, inspiring.
2) What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now? Learning how to navigate new platforms and sales tools.
3) Best thing about being in the KU office? Knowing that we’re making a different in the lives of scholars around the world.
4) Worst thing about being in the KU office? Not being able to work with the team in person, face-to-face (other than on Zoom meetings). In fact, as of yet, I’ve never met any of my colleagues in person.
5) Who would you most like to swap places with for the day? May sound crazy, but my 4-year-old grandson ...oh, to see things through the eyes of an innocent child again.
6) What did you want to grow up to be when you were a kid? A good and caring person, no matter what vocation I ended up in.
7) Last book you read? Little Fires Everywhere (Celeste Ng).
8) Website you visit the most? Facebook, it’s the best way to keep in touch with family and friends in this crazy/busy world.
9) What’s in your coffee? Nothing – I’m a tea drinker (and with that, a little sugar and lemon).
10) Tell us something we don’t know? I’ve hiked to the top of Diamond Head in Hawaii three times over the past 30 years. The view never gets old.
Alexandra Brown
North American Representative
Alex is growing the level of OA support at institutions in North America
Alexandra’s professional experience spans the publishing, online education, and public relations industries, having worked in corporate communications, customer service and account management roles. It was during her seven years at Wiley that she was first introduced to the campaign for Open Access. Alexandra is proud to be part of Knowledge Unlatched’s mission advancing OA and is enthusiastic about working with libraries to make scholarly content available to ever wider audiences.
1) Describe your job in three words. The greater good.
2) What’s the most interesting thing, you’re working on right now? Sharing the new KU collections with librarians.
3) Best thing about being part of the KU-Team? The dedication and collegiality of my colleagues.
4) Worst thing about being part of the KU-Team? Time differences.
5) Who would you most like to swap places with for the day? An usher at Hamilton.
6) What did you want to grow up to be, when you were a kid? A veterinarian.
7) Last book you read? To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee).
8) What’s the website you visit the most? The New York Times.
9) What’s in your coffee? Half & Half.
10) Tell us something we don’t know: I’m a country music fan.
Davide Fiore
Western, Southern European Representative
Davide is growing the level of OA support at institutions in Western and Southern Europe
Archana Sisodia
Indian Representative
Archana is expanding our presence in the Indian market
1) Describe your job in three words. Working for KU in three words is: Excitement, Purpose and Motivation.
2) What’s the most interesting thing, you’re working on right now? Promoting Open Access, knowing Open Access is the future.
3) Best thing about being part of the KU-Team? Working for a cause that keeps you loyal to the original idea.
4) Worst thing about being part of the KU-Team? Not being able to meet the entire team face to face.
5) Who would you most like to swap places with for the day? Mr. Ratan Tata.
6) What did you want to grow up to be, when you were a kid? A teacher.
7) Last book you read? The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.
8) What’s the website you visit the most? Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram.
9) What’s in your coffee? It has always been tea.
10) Tell us something we don’t know: I did a post-graduate diploma in Fashion Designing and, luckily, I am very good at clothes designing. I had dreamt of opening up my own business someday and I will, but the Idea behind KU has impressed me a lot and given me a purpose in life, so I am going to stay here.