Newkirk Barnes is an Assistant Professor and Government Documents Librarian at the Mitchell Memorial Library at Mississippi State University (MSU). She also serves as the Library Liaison to the MSU Departments of Communication and Foreign Languages.

Her research interests include legal research instruction and reference services for non-law students, the effects of Internet migration on public access to U.S. government publications, and outreach programs in academic libraries.

Barnes earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from Tulane University in 2003, graduating magna cum laude. She earned her Master of Library and Information Studies degree from The University of Alabama in 2004. Barnes joined the faculty of the MSU Libraries in 2005 as an Assistant Professor/Reference Librarian.