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Special & Area Studies Collections George A. Smathers Libraries
About Us Overview

Our Faculty and Staff

Special and Area Studies is home to more than thirty staff and faculty who work across our collections to make them more accessible and approachable. We provide reference assistance, virtual access, as well as public services in our three reading rooms.

Scroll down to see more information about our faculty members and our public services personnel. Click the buttons below to view our organization chart or to click to view our full directory to see an alphabetical table with contact information.

View our Organization Chart (PDF)
Jump to The full directory

Department Leadership

Interim Chair and Head of the Map & Imagery Library

Carol McAuliffe


Areas of Specialization:
Geography and Maps

Telephone: (352) 273-2828
Email: carolmc@uflib.ufl.edu

Photo of Carol McAuliffe

Interim Associate Chair & Curator, Panama Canal Museum Collection

John Nemmers


Areas of Specialization:
Panama Canal Museum Collection
Architecture Archives

Telephone: (352) 273-2766
Email: jnemmers@ufl.edu

Photo of John Nemmers

Collection Managers

For more information about the collections in SASC please visit our Collections Page

Associate Curator, Panama Canal Museum Collection

Betsy Bemis

Areas of Specialization:
Panama Canal

Telephone: (352) 273-2676
Email: ehbemis@ufl.edu

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Latin American & Caribbean Collection Specialist

Ivy Chen

Areas of Specialization:
Latin America & the Caribbean
Brazil

Telephone: (352) 273-2747
Email: ichen@ufl.edu

Ivy Chen, LACC Collections Specialist

University Archivist

Sarah Coates

Areas of Specialization:
University Archives


Telephone: (352) 273-2817
Email: sarah.coates@ufl.edu

Photo of Sarah Coates

Curator of the PK Yonge Library of Florida History

Jim Cusick

Areas of Specialization:
Florida History
Artificial Intelligence Research

Telephone:(352) 273-2778
Email: jamcusi@uflib.ufl.edu

Photo of Jim Cusick

LACC Digital initiatives librarian

Melissa Jerome

Areas of Specialization:
Digital Projects
Caribbean Newspapers

Telephone: (352) 273-2637
Email: mmespino@ufl.edu

Melissa Jerome, LACC Digital Initiatives Librarian

Associate in Book Arts

Ellen Knudson

Areas of Specialization:
Artists Books
Letterpress Printmaking

Telephone: (352) 273-2787
Email: eknudson@ufl.edu

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Florida Political Papers Archivist

R. Boyd Murphree

Areas of Specialization:
History of Florida Politics
Florida Native and Indigenous History

Telephone:(352) 273-2906
Email: bmurphree@ufl.edu

R. Boyd Murphree, Florida Political Papers Curator

Curator of the African Studies Collections

Dan Reboussin

Areas of Specialization:
African Studies



Telephone: (352) 273-2642
Email: danrebo@ufl.edu

Photo of Dan Reboussin

Project Manager

Sarah Tew

Areas of Specialization:
US Caribbean and Florida Digital Newspaper Project
Digital Humanities

Telephone: (352) 294-7210
Email: sarahetew@ufl.edu

Sarah Tew, US Caribbean & Florida Digital Newspaper Project Manager

Literary Collections Archivist

Florence Turcotte

Areas of Specialization:
Manuscripts
African-American Studies

Telephone: (352) 273-2767
Email: turcotte@ufl.edu

Photo of Florence Turcotte

Curator of the Rare Book Collection

Neil Weijer

Areas of Specialization:
Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Printing History
Rare Books

Telephone: (352) 273-5743
Email: n.weijer@ufl.edu

Neil Weijer, Curator of Rare Books

Public Services

Our public services manage the operation of our three reading rooms. Unsure whom to contact? Use our reference form.

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Public Services Coordinator – Latin American & Caribbean Collections

Keith Manuel

For Reference Inquiries:
lacref@uflib.ufl.edu

Telephone: (352) 273-2540
Email: kmanuel@ufl.edu

Photo of Keith Manuel

Public services coordinator – Grand Reading Room

Michele Wilbanks

For Reference Inquiries:
special@uflib.ufl.edu

Telephone: (352) 273-2819
Email: wilbanks@ufl.edu

Michele Wilbanks, Public Services Coordinator

Public Services Assistant – Latin American and Caribbean Collections

Barrett Uhler

For Reference Inquiries:
lacref@uflib.ufl.edu

Telephone:(352) 273-2874
Email: Barrettu@ufl.edu

Photo of Barrett Uhler, LACC Public Services Assistant

Collection Services

Our Collection Services specialists oversee archival processing, update finding aids, and supervise the transfer of materials between library locations.