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Jason Burton, who joined UCLA Library in 2020, has been named the director of Sciences User Engagement (SUE), a role he has been serving in the interim since last year. Burton previously served as sciences collections librarian.
The Sciences User Engagement division supports research, teaching and clinical care across the entirety of the scientific, engineering and clinical units at UCLA through the Biomedical Library, Science and Engineering Library/Boelter, and Science and Engineering Library/Geology.
“I am beyond thrilled to be able to continue in this role,” said Burton, who has 15 years of experience as a science librarian working with researchers across the physical, life and health sciences in both the federal government and academia. “To have the opportunity to further collaborate with my colleagues in Sciences User Engagement and Unified Access Services at our three science locations is truly a privilege.”
Burton plans on building a collaborative team environment that people can enjoy being a part of and feel supported in, as well as ensuring staff have the time, tools and resources to continue providing exceptional services to Library patrons.
“One of my first goals is to deepen and expand our engagement with the clinicians, researchers and students we support,” said Burton. “Science moves quickly and we need to be able to respond with the kinds of services and collections that our patrons are looking for. One of the best parts of this job is working together as a department to find the best ways to accomplish this.”
Upcoming team projects Burton is looking forward to include exploring new ways to engage with students at the School of Medicine, led by medical education librarian Molly Hempill; expanding his knowledge of instructional design projects across the sciences by working with instructional designer Adam Bowling; and learning how to better support clinical staff in a hospital setting with Bob Johnson, new clinical and research support librarian.
Beyond his current role at the Library, Burton actively works with librarians across North America through the Association of College & Research Libraries’ Science and Technology Section (ACRL STS), which aims to achieve and maintain science and tech-related information while increasing its accessibility. As an eight-year member, Burton is currently the co-chair of the publications committee and part of the 2024 Nominating Committee.
Burton is also a UCLA member representative, coordinator of the Collections Working Group and treasurer of the Technical Report Archive & Image Library (TRAIL), which digitizes and provides access to federal government technical reports.
