Rate My Professor Alexander Ritchie

Alexander Ritchie is a dedicated library professional at the University of Otago, serving as Liaison Curator for Published and Special Collections at the Hocken Collections. In this role, he manages access to rare books, manuscripts, and special collections, supporting humanities researchers. Previously, as Humanities Subject Librarian based in the Central Library at 65 Albany Street, Dunedin, Ritchie provided expert assistance on finding, using, evaluating, and referencing resources for students and staff in the departments of Languages and Cultures, English and Linguistics, Music, Theatre and Performing Arts, and Media, Film and Communication. His career spans multiple library sites, including prior positions at Hocken Collections, the OU Science Library, and the Robertson Library for Education. Originally from Te Whanganui-ā-Tara Wellington, where he was born and raised near Maunga Makara and Awa Karori, Ritchie relocated to Ōtepoti Dunedin over two decades ago to complete his studies and now resides there with his partner and two children. His ancestral heritage includes Scottish, English, Irish, French, German, and Pākehā lineages.

Ritchie holds a Master of Information Studies from Victoria University of Wellington, completed in 2013, with a thesis titled 'Pākēhā Librarianship at the Interface: Being an Ally in Māori Student Success through Teaching and Learning Information Literacies.' This work investigates how non-Māori librarians can support Māori students via information literacy instruction. Ritchie has significantly advanced digital humanities at Otago through the Digital Humanities Hub. He organized the 2019 Open Hours pilot, a series of weekly sessions introducing digital tools and methods, covering data wrangling, virtual reality applications, generous interfaces for cultural heritage, digital art, security, and data narratives. He co-initiated the dhBytes seminars, including 'Digital Data Drama in the Humanities' with Judy Fisher, and contributed to the Otago Digital Humanities Expo. Ritchie serves on the steering group for the Performance of the Real project and was a member of the Australasian Alliance for Digital Humanities Executive Committee in 2022. His efforts promote interdisciplinary collaboration, enhancing research and teaching in humanities.