Education

PhD, Communication, Information, and Library and Information Science, Rutgers University
MPhil, Philosophy, Central European University (Hungary)
MA, Theories and Practices of Interpretation, University of Iasi (Romania)
BA Philosophy, University of Iasi (Romania)

Specializations

Cultural heritage, information practices, information ethics, public libraries

Biography

Iulian Vamanu joined the faculty in Fall 2014 after earning his Ph.D. from the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick. His teaching areas include information and inquiry, library management, information policy and ethics, and information behavior. His research focuses on information and documentation practices in various contexts (e.g., heritage, LIS education, politics, and religion). Iulian's recent grant work and publications aim to understand the ways in which public library services and programs impact community resilience.

Recent Projects and Presentations

• Vamanu, I., Logsden, K., and Laurian, L. (2024). (2024, Sept. 16). “Telling Library Stories: The Impact of Midwestern Public Libraries on Community Resilience.” Paper presented at the Library Research Seminar 8 (LRS8), University of Kentucky at Lexington, September 16-18, 2024.
• 2023-2026: “Libraries as Resilience Hubs: Assessing Social Impacts and Learning from Best Practices” (Principal Investigator) – The National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program, The Institute of Museum and Library Services, Aug. 2023- Link: https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/lg-254845-ols-23 (Principal Investigator) - $494,444 
• 2023: University of Iowa Graduate College Investment in Strategic Priorities mini-grant - $1,200 
• 2021-2023: “Jumpstarting Tomorrow” Grant, The Research Development Office (RDO), University of Iowa Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR). Title of project: “Public Libraries for Disaster Resilience: Assessing Libraries’ Community Impacts in Times of Climate and Socio-Economic Crises” (co-Principal Investigator) - $150,000
• Laurian, L., Vamanu, I., Qian, H., Nguyen, P., Logsden, K., and Glanville, J. (2023). “Public libraries for disaster resilience: Assessing libraries’ community impacts in times of climate and socio-economic crises.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, October 19-21, 2023, Chicago, Illinois. 
• Vamanu, I., Logsden, K., and Laurian, L. (2023). “…And Well-Being for All”: Some implications of an interdisciplinary research on public libraries and community resilience for LIS education. Paper presented at the ALISE 2023 Annual Conference, October 2-5, 2023, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

• Vamanu, I. (2023). Using Reflexive Thematic Analysis to study Latin American zines. Paper presented at The Nineteenth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI 2023), May 17-20, 2023. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign IL. 

   

Recent Publications 

• Gilster, M. E., Ronnenberg, M., Addison, S. M., Vamanu, I., Witry, S., and Logsden, K. (2024). Social Work practicum in public libraries: Change in staff well-being and attitudes towards collaborations. Public Library Quarterly (in review)
• Laurian, L., Doyle, E., Vamanu, I., and Logsden, K. (02 Jul 2024): Libraries Are Resilience Hubs, Journal of the American Planning Association, DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2024.2343670  
• Vamanu, I. (2023a). Documents as weapons: Secret police files in communist and post-communist Romania. Journal of Documentation, 79(4), 847-863. 
• Vamanu, I. (2023b). Cultivating imagination: A case for teaching Information Ethics with works of fiction. The Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 64(1), 1-17.