University librarian at Houston Cole Library since 1988, Hubbard transformed the JSU library into one of the region’s top university libraries. Thanks to Mr. Hubbard, you can find library books online from any Internet connection. And a “search of the literature” in a field under examination for a research paper, takes minutes, not hours.

Mr. Hubbard explains how the transformation came about.
“In the late 60's I became interested in computers,” he recalled. “I was working as a traffic engineer at the phone company and developed some simple FORTRAN and BASIC programs to calculate trunk and equipment requirements. These ran on the GE Timesharing system because the phone company's computer was used exclusively for accounting and billing.

“About that time information scientists were experimenting with automated indexing, abstracting, and retrieval systems I decided to combine my love of reading with my newfound interest in computing by embarking on a library degree. Except for marrying my wife of 41 years, that was about the best decision I've made,” he said.

Mr. Hubbard helped connect Houston Cole Library to the modern technological world.

He said, “The JSU library was overdue for computerization in 1988. Most academic libraries of JSU's size and scope were well into automation at that time. I had worked on the development of one of the first integrated library systems while at Virginia Tech in the 70's, and I automated the Virginia State Library in the 80's.

“President McGee wanted to computerize Houston Cole Library, so I guess you could say that computerization had already been decided when I interviewed here in 1987, but a good bit of groundwork had to be laid, foremost being the conversion of the card catalog records to machine-readable format.

“Most of that had been done by 1988 thanks to a grant from the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries. All I had to do was encourage the timely completion of the conversion project.”

“The most appropriate system for medium to large academic libraries at that time, NOTIS, ran on an IBM mainframe, so we worked closely with Academic Computer Services on specifying, ordering, implementing, and the ongoing operations of the system. Academic Computer Services assigned a full-time programmer/analyst to the library project, so it really was a joint effort.

“It took close to a year to get the system ordered and running with all the bibliographic records entered and the books bar-coded. You're never finished with a project such as this, though. We switched to the web-based Endeavor system in 1999, and have made substantial improvements since then” says Mr. Hubbard.

Looking back on his career, Mr. Hubbard says he has never once regretted pursuing a librarian’s degree at Dartmouth College and a later degree at State University of New York College.

Mr. Hubbard says he “thoroughly enjoys” all aspects of his job. He enjoys helping students learn and he continues to learn new things himself.

“One evening I was watching Jeopardy on TV with a couple of my sons, one of whom commented on the number of questions I was answering. His brother observed that a relatively intelligent person surrounded by twelve floors of books should be able to soak up enough knowledge to answer Jeopardy questions. That pretty well sums it up. I enjoy learning, and Houston Cole Library is great place for that pursuit,” says Mr. Hubbard.