The Reinvention of the U.S. Academic Library

Donald A. Barclay worked as an academic librarian from 1990 until his retirement in 2022, during his library career holding positions at New Mexico State University, the University of Houston, the Texas Medical Center, and the University of California, Merced. Barclay began working at the University of California, Merced in 2002, before ground was broken on what would become the first (and thus far only) new U.S. research university of the twenty-first century. The unique opportunity of creating an academic research library from the ground up at a time when digital technology was expanding into every aspect of human life and radically transforming scholarly communication allowed him to both closely observe and actively participate in the biggest technological change to hit libraries since the advent of printing from moveable type.

Barclay has authored numerous articles and books over the course of his career on topics ranging from the literature of the American West to children's literature to library and information science. His book, Fake News, Propaganda, and Plain Old Lies: How to Find Trustworthy Information in the Digital Age, was published by Rowman and Littlefield in June 2018 and spent two months as an Amazon #1 New Release. His follow up book, Disinformation: The Nature of Facts and Lies in the Post-Truth Era, was published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2022.

Barclay earned his bachelor's degree from Boise State University and holds masters' degrees in both English and Library and Information Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to working as a librarian, he spent four years teaching college writing as well as ten seasons working as a wildland fire fighter, mostly as a member of a U.S. Forest Service Hotshot Crew. He lives in Merced, California with his wife Caroline Dawson and their three daughters, Tess, Emily, and Alexandra.