Vanessa Venti

Vanessa Venti is a member of Harvard Library's UX & Discovery team, serving as the service manager for CURIOSity. She oversees the daily operations of CURIOSity Digital Collections Services, guiding curators in the development of digital collections from idea to launch and beyond. Her role includes project and metadata consulting, strategizing content, analyzing data, and providing training and technical support. Collaborating closely with UX researchers, designers, and developers, she facilitates the implementation of new features, products, and services.

In her role as service manager, Vanessa works with Library Technology Services (LTS) and her UX & Discovery colleagues to enhance the digital collections infrastructure at Harvard Library. Her extensive knowledge of Harvard Library systems, the Agile development process, and the needs of curators and users position her as a key player in managing the library's products. Her deep understanding of the library’s complex systems enables her to analyze, improve, and serve as the service owner for other major Harvard Library products like LibraryCloud and Aviary.

Beyond Harvard, Vanessa actively engages with the IIIF and Spotlight communities, sharing Harvard’s experiences and gaining insights from others. She also plays a significant role in Harvard Library’s contributions to external aggregators such as DPLA, Digital Commonwealth, and Wikimedia, with over 30 collections and more than 100K items contributed to date.