Kari A. Kozak: Director, Lichtenberger Engineering Library
Engineering Librarian

2001 Seamans Center
ph: 319-335-6046
Awards and Honors
- Best Poster Award, American Society of Engineering Education – Engineering Libraries Division, 2019
- Mary Jo Small Staff Fellowship Award, 2015
- Author Benton University Librarians’ Award for Excellence, 2014
About Kari
Kari Kozak has been the Director of the Lichtenberger Engineering Library at The University of Iowa since July 2011. In her capacity, she oversees all library operations and supervises a team of three full-time staff members. Kari is dedicated to providing instruction, reference, and consultation services to students, faculty, and staff across various departments and research centers within the College of Engineering and the Department of Computer Science. Her professional interests encompass outreach, instruction, innovation, and design. Additionally, Kari is available to lead classes on library resources and offer guidance on topics such as standards, patents, information evaluation, copyright, and the Creative Space and Tool Library.
Education
Selected Publications and other Intellectual Contributions
- Kozak, Kari A. “University of Iowa: Case Study” Book Chapter in Thomsett-Scott, Beth (ed.) “You’re Doing What With That? How Our Patrons are Using our Technologies and Why (A LITA Guide)” Rowman & Littefield. (in progress)
- Kozak, Kari A. “Design, Create, Tinker, Explore, oh my! Creating a Tool Library.” Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship. 86 (Spring 2017)
- Kozak, Kari A. and Leo Cloughtery. Chapter 13: Managing Mayhem: Wrestling with Academic Library Reference and Outreach Challenges. 2011. Leading the Reference Renaissance: Today’s Ideas for Tomorrow’s Cutting Edge, edited by Marie L. Radford. New York: Neal-Schuman, 195-210.
- Sare, Laura and Kari A. Kozak. Researching Climate Change: Tends in US Government Publications. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship 59 (Fall 2009)
- Gutowski, W., K. Kozak, R. Arritt, J. Christensen, J. Patton, and E. Takle. A Possible Constraint on Regional Precipitation Intensity Changes under Global Warming. Journal of Hydrometeorology 8(Dec, 2007): 1382-1396.
Presentations
- Kozak, Kari A. “The Great Coffee Hunt: An Augmented Reality Scavenger Hunt.” Conference Proceedings/Poster. American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, June 18, 2019. – Winner: Best Poster for the Engineering Library Division
- Christie, Daniel, Fell, Sally, Kozak, Kari A., and Rauh, Anne. “Connecting to Our Users: Tools & Success Stories” Panel. American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, June 18, 2019.
- Zhang, Qianjin and Kozak, Kari A. “Quick Understanding Our Engineering Faculty Research Needs Using Topic Modeling” Conference Proceedings/Presentation. American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, June 16, 2019.
- Kozak, Kari A. “Creating Ideas into Reality: Spaces and Programs that Open Up the Imagination,” Presentation. American College and Research Libraries (ACRL), Cleveland, OH on April 12, 2019.
- Kozak, Kari A., Szeszyci, Claire M., and Snyder, David. “Detecting Information Literacy: Choose Your Own Adventure Video Series” Conference Proceedings/Presentation. American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, June 2018.
- Drees, Kevin P, DeSart, Mel, Kozak, Kari A., and Volkening, Tom. “Sunday Workshop: The Fundamentals of Engineering Librarianship” Panel. American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, June 2018.
- Kozak, Kari A. and John Kostman. "North Liberty Teen Reading Program: Technology". North Liberty Public Library. July 2017
- Kozak, Kari A. “Creating Ideas into Reality: Spaces and Programs that Open Up the Imagination” Presentation. T421A: Technical Session: The History & Future of Engineering Librarianship. American Society of Engineering Education/Engineering Library Division Annual Conference, Columbus, OH, June 2017
- Kozak, Kari A. “ELD Lightning Talks: Graduate Thesis Boot Camp” Presentation. American Society of Engineering Education/Engineering Library Division Annual Conference, Columbus, OH, June 2017
- Kozak, Kari A. “ELD Lightning Talks: EBooks in the Collection with NFC Tags” Presentation. American Society of Engineering Education/Engineering Library Division Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, June 2016
- Kozak, Kari A. “ELD Lightning Talks: Geeking out in the Library” Presentation. American Society of Engineering Education/Engineering Library Division Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, June 2016
- Kozak, Kari A. and Darlene Kaskie. “Speed Training: Library Instruction in 30 Minutes or Less” Poster. American Society of Engineering Education/Engineering Library Division Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN, June 2014
- Kozak, Kari A. “ELD Lightning Talks: Tool Library” Presentation. American Society of Engineering Education/Engineering Library Division Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, June 2013
- Kozak, Kari A. “Tips and Tricks: Mendeley & Zotero” Presentation. 16th Annual Meeting of the Atmospheric Science Librarians International Annual Meeting, Austin, TX, January, 2013
- Kozak, Kari A. “Marketing and Outreach on a Shoestring Budget” 15th Annual Meeting of the Annual Meeting of the Atmospheric Science Librarians International Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, January, 2012
- Kozak, Kari A. “Read It Later” 15th Annual Meeting of the Annual Meeting of the Atmospheric Science Librarians International Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, January, 2012
- Kozak, Kari A. “EBooks and EReaders” 14th Annual Meeting of the Annual Meeting of the Atmospheric Science Librarians International Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, January, 2011
- Clougherty, Leo and Kari A. Kozak. “Managing Mayhem: Wrestling with Academic Library Reference and Outreach Challenges.” Presentation. Reference Renaissance. Aurora, CO, August 2010
Videos
Kari has produced and edited over 35 online videos, including tutorials/help videos, advertisements, and other educational content. Here are a few videos from her video work for the University of Iowa Libraries.
Certificates & Continuing Education
- Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, July 28 – August 2, 2019.
- Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Immersion Program: Teaching with Technology, Baltimore, MD, March 21-April 28, 2017
- Making Room for Playing, Creating & Learning in your Library, Internet Librarian International, London, UK, October 19, 2015
- Patent Searching for Librarians, Online Course, Library Juice Academy, Oct 1 – 31, 2013
- Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Immersion Program – Teacher Track, Seattle, WA, July 27 – August 2, 2013
- University of Iowa Supervising @ Iowa, Iowa City, IA, April 4 – October 23, 2012
- Violent Incident Training, Iowa City, IA, February 6, 2012
- Data Curation Profiles Workshop, West Lafayette, IN, September 8 – 10, 2011
- American Library Association Emerging Leader Program, Washington, DC and Boston, MA, January – July 2010
- Dean’s International Leadership Salzburg Seminar: “On Becoming a Global Citizen” in Salzburg, Austria, January 1-10, 2004
Guide List
In the News
- Iowa Engineer Magazine: Restoring Vision in the Engineering Library. 2019, no. 1, pg 14
- Iowa Engineer Magazine: Tools for Tinkering. Summer 2017 n.2
- Daily Iowan: Lichtenberger Library Stretches Imagination. Thursday, September 29, 2016
- UI Libraries Bindings: Lichtenberger Engineering Library Opens the New Creative Space, Winter 2017