Heather Chawke

Heather Chawke is Systems Librarian at IADT. She holds a Master's degree in Library and Information Studies from University College Dublin (UCD), achieving a first class honours and earning the prestigious John Dean Medal for her academic achievements. Additionally, Heather has obtained a Professional Certificate in Digital Information Management from University College Dublin.

Heather's expertise lies in academic libraries, library systems and open reseach. She is particularly committed to supporting open access. Former work experience includes roles at UCD, where she contributed to the Irish Social Science Data Archive (ISSDA) and the UCD Research Repository, enhancing resource discoverability and metadata quality. Heather's remit as Systems Librarian at IADT includes management of the IADT institutional repository, Illustro which collects, preserves, and disseminates the intellectual and creative outputs of IADT. Illustro is hosted on the Figshare platform, enabling the showcase of diverse research outputs while maintaining best practices for open research sharing. Heather is also Secretary of Irish Open Access Publishers (ioap.ie), a community of practice dedicated to advancing open access publishing.

Heather is a member of the Library Association of Ireland and has recently been recognised with the Associateship Award, acknowledging her commitment to professional practice and knowledge sharing. Her involvement with the LIR Group, a HEAnet user group focused on sharing technological advancements across higher education institutions, underscores her dedication to enhancing digital capacity and collaboration among academic libraries in Ireland.

Heather's work on open access repositories, such as her role in managing Illustro at IADT, highlights her dedication to making research more accessible and promoting the principles of open scholarship, thereby supporting the advancement of institutional research.