University Libraries Spotlight: Elaine Thornton

University Relations

Elaine Thornton

For distance education librarian Elaine Thornton, working on a college campus has always been a career goal. Raised in Oklahoma, Thornton has a passion for teaching, research and building collections. Working as an academic librarian has given her the opportunity to combine these interests.

Prior to moving to Fayetteville in 2016, Thornton lived in Texas for nearly 20 years. After finishing her undergraduate studies at the University of Oklahoma, she attained a master's degree in history from the University of Michigan and a second master's degree in library science from the University of North Texas.  

Thornton originally taught history for a few years at the University of Tulsa, until she felt it was time to take a career break. This hiatus led her to pursue a degree in library science.  

"I decided to redirect my career to libraries because I could combine things I loved: research, knowledge sharing, building collections and teaching in more diverse ways than I could when I was in a regular classroom," said Thornton.

Today, Thornton serves as the distance education librarian for University Libraries. She helps students with online troubleshooting issues and works directly with online teaching faculty and Global Campus instructional designers. In addition, she creates and manages the production of video tutorials, research guides, and other interactive resources for the U of A distance learners, and is a member of the Open Educational Resources team.  

"I enjoy getting to work across a broad range of disciplines and learning from my colleagues about their subject areas and student needs in these areas," said Thornton.

In the future, Thornton hopes to continue researching and writing. Whenever she is not helping students online or encouraging faculty to adopt open educational resources, one might find her spending time with family, reading a book, or baking delicious treats.