Laura Soto-Barra

Laura Soto-Barra (she/her) leads a team of researchers, software engineers, historians, curators, grant writers, data specialists, taxonomists, archivists, and product managers whose expertise has grown and expanded along NPR's own transformation, from being a broadcast network to a digital media institution. She leads with dedication and enterprise, consistently infusing her strategic thinking and presentation of her team's work with a sense of advocacy, a command of priorities, and a deep sense of investment in the mission and goals of NPR.

Laura has led the Research, Archives & Data Strategy (RAD) team for 17 years; RAD is unique in the media industry and in the archives sector because its strategy — addressing content, networks, culture and revenue through a variety of services — achieves and reflects NPR's distinctive research needs and data demands. While RAD's foundation began in 1971, Laura transformed the RAD team to meet NPR's need for digital information and innovation.

Throughout her career, Laura's strategic projects have been significant and enduring. She and her team, directed by RAD Deputy Mary Glendinning, envisioned, created and developed this unique media department to meet NPR's news-driven demands, including those beyond the newsroom. Together they built a business strategy to create an additional revenue stream for the company, as well as strengthening a portfolio of bibliographic resources that benefit all NPR staff.

Laura is responsible for the continuous evolution of the systems and products that steward data about all the stories NPR has ever told – and the music used in NPR's editorial work. She has led the development of archival products and services for revenues, and has overseen the development of business plans to help maximize the value of NPR data. Examples of these platforms and tools are the digital archive, Orpheus, the NPR taxonomies, the NPR "perfected" transcript, and the Sourcing project, which analyzes diversity in our sources.

Since 2013, Laura has led the production and research of the NPR's annual Sourcing Report to identify and verify the experts interviewed or quoted by NPR during broadcast. This innovative project ensures NPR's transparency to our audiences, allowing for better representation of diversity in the voices of America.

Supported by internal and external strategic partnerships with the Library of Congress, The University of Maryland, the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), and the National Endowment for Humanities, Laura directed NPR's audio digitization and reformatting project to protect, preserve, and provide online accessibility to more than 100,000 hours of NPR's audio legacy, formerly stored in obsolete physical formats. Her efforts to digitize content and develop strategic plans for protecting and sustaining data has enabled the RAD group to build a world-class, digitally enabled, and nimble archive that supports and mirrors NPR's growth as a highly respected media institution.

Laura joined NPR in 2005 as Senior Librarian, became Chief Librarian in 2012, and was named the inaugural RAD Chief in 2014. She was promoted to Vice President, Research, Archives and Data Strategy in 2022. She is a 97' Poynter alumna, and she has served on the Syracuse University's LIS Guiding Council since 2012. Laura has represented NPR on the Radio Hall of Fame's Induction Committee since 2020, advocating and obtaining the induction of Cokie Roberts in 2020, and of Bill Siemering in 2021. She is co-author of "Positioning for Success" in the Handbook of Modern Information Management by James M. Matarazzo.

Originally from Chile, she began her career as a chemical and mining engineering librarian at the Universidad de Chile. She and her family later moved to Canada where she earned a BA in Latin American Studies, and the MLIS from the University of Toronto. In 1997, she came to the United States to work for The Florida Times- Union/Morris Newspapers where she directed the publication of a book of images from the archive. She later joined The Post-Standard/Advance Newspapers where she led the digitization of its microfilm.