Sugimoto was an undergraduate student at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied music performance.
She remained at the University for graduate studies, but moved to the department of Library Science.
Her doctoral research considered the scholarly development of information and library science.
[1] After earning her doctorate, Sugimoto joined the faculty at the Indiana University Bloomington.
[2] Her research considers the formal and informal production, sharing and consumption of knowledge.