John Butler

Associate University Librarian for Data & Technology | University of Minnesota

John T. Butler is the Associate University Librarian for Data & Technology at the University of Minnesota Libraries. Previously, he served for five years as the Director of the Digital Library Development Lab, which produced applications, tools, architecture, and integrations for the online research library. His work in library information technology began in the late 1980s with innovative pre-web research workflow support systems, and accelerated in the 1990s, when he led a four-year grant-funded program to implement a comprehensive array of library services to distance and distributed learners. In the past ten years, Butler has played leadership roles in multiple virtual community development projects, digital library and preservation service development, the hub network of the Digital Public Library of America, and HathiTrust as chair of the Program Steering Committee. Butler holds degrees in studio arts and in library and information science from the University of Minnesota and the University of Texas at Austin, respectively.