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Work Experience

Texas Woman's University
School of Library & Information Studies
Denton, Texas
Instructor II, 2009 - current

 

Alliance Library System
East Peoria, IL
Project Coordinator, 2006-2009

Through the Alliance Library System, I am currently working on the fourth project funded through this multi-type library system by the National Library of Medicine, all with the objective of exploring the provision of health information in the virtual environment of Second Life. For each, I have served as a consumer and medical librarian, providing individual reference services upon demand. Specific grant information for each project is provided below. Other aspects of my work include:

• performing outreach through networked health support groups;
• conducting classes and workshops on topics of health information literacy and specific health issues (e.g., HIV/AIDS resources, childrens’ health);
• identifying quality, current health resources, and creating topical interactive displays;
• leading a health librarians’ group (including the provision of consumer health information training);
• encouraging collaboration between health professionals and support group members;
• collaborating to lead the nascent Healthcare Education group of health educators, practitioners, and librarians;
• supporting students from LIS, Physical Therapy, Bioinformatics, and other programs by working with them to create or mentoring the creation of topical displays or other projects;
• researching grant opportunities for continuation and new project funding with ALS and other organizations.

Providing Consumer Health Outreach and Library Programs to Virtual World Residents in Second Life, 2006-2008.

From the grant narrative:
In April 2006, Alliance Library System began to establish a full-service library in Second Life, a three-dimension virtual reality world with more than 300,000 global participants (update: since this was writtenthat number has grown to over 1 million). In this virtual world, an individual can participate in almost everything they can in real life: buy land, purchase homes, start a business, make friends, and more. In creating a library for these citizens we have quickly discovered that consumer health information is one of the most important services we could provide. As more and more people of all ages use the Internet and spend increasing amounts of time online, we want to reach users where they are. Through “Providing Consumer Health Outreach and Library Services to Virtual World Residents” the Alliance Second Life Library will provide training programs, outreach to virtual medical communities, important consumer health resources, and one-on-one support to Second Life residents.

Share the Health: Training People with Disabilities and Chronic Medical Conditions how to Locate Quality Health Information. 2008-2009.

This $35,000 grant from the Greater Midwest Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (GMR NN/LM) funds a new island with an orientation and training center for people with disabilities and chronic illness. The center was designed and constructed with close compliance to accessibility guidelines. It was the third grant awarded to ALS for the provision of consumer health information in Second Life, and also funded a continuation of current efforts, supporting a collaboration between consumer health information education and support, and health support groups, in particular, Virtual Ability, Inc., a group of disabled individuals who achieved 501(c)3 status in connection with this project. Individual and group mentorship is provided for new participants in Second Life who might not otherwise be able to interact socially in their ‘real life’ environments.

AIDS Information and Outreach in the Virtual World of Second Life. 2008-2010.

Website: http://karunasl.info
This $60,000 NLM-funded project includes the creation of a new island with a community HIV/AIDS library/resource center, community center, and story project center. The resource center provides information support and outreach to the Second Life community and beyond about HIV/AIDS and its prevention, also serving as a home to a garden space where narratives about the HIV/AIDS experience can be shared through art, audio, video, poetry, essays, and more. In order to achieve the project objectives, I have instigated collaborative partnerships with AIDS.gov, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the UNC-CFAR Community Outreach, Dissemination, and Education (CODE) Office, two different AIDS support groups, a social worker in the Bronx, a writing instructor, and a number of medical librarians.


University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science. 2005-present

Teaching assistant for the following courses:

Evidence-based library & information practice (3 semesters):  While I was listed as a TA, I created the initial tutorial that became a full-semester syllabus, class plan, rubrics, bibliography, and most supportive materials; taught most classes, and evaluated student performance.
Research assistant to Joanne Gard Marshall, Institute on Aging and UNC SILS (2 semesters)Consult on survey instrument creation, data input for research project on lifelong learning, contributor to IMLS grant application

 

University of North Carolina Health Science Library / Duke University Medical Center Library Chapel Hill and Durham, NC IMLS/TRLN Fellow 2004-2006

As the first of only two IMLS/TRLN Research Fellows with interest or experience in health science libraries, my time was divided between UNC and Duke medical libraries, where I was mentored directly by the library directors and top administrators. During this time I conducted three projects, described below:

• Consumer Health Information program assessment

I conducted case studies of both libraries focused upon the capacity for, and the provision of health information to the general public. The assessment built upon existing library documentation, with the objective of providing comprehensive data for planning and development purposes. The resulting document provided supportive information for the UNC Health Science Library’s current consumer health initiative.

• Technology skills assessment

Serving on a human resources subcommittee, I researched prior methods and tools for library staff skills assessment, reviewed all job descriptions, and compiled a comprehensive, 3-tiered skill listing that was used to advise planning for employee training and evaluation. This work was summarized on a poster that was presented at the 2007 EBLIP4 Conference and the 2007 MLA Annual Meeting.


• Planning process review

Worked with a task force to evaluate cost-effective options for long-term storage for the library. At the request of the director, this and the previous project formed the focus for a review of planning processes, resulting in the creation of a template document, based on existing business project planning research, for use in ensuring that decision making involved the discovery and consideration of best practices.

 

OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Library & Resource Center, Peoria, IL 
Consultant, November 2003 – June 2004 LSTA Funded Grant Project

This project entailed the provision of tablet PCs to nursing staff on patient units. Unit-specific resource pages listed frequently prescribed medications, common procedures, and other nurse educator-provided information for use with bedside patient education. Krames patient education documents were converted to PDF form, and made available from unit pages for printing as handouts. I also created a modular tutorial to help staff learn about using and troubleshooting the tablet PC, as well as searching for specific content and reaching out to the medical library for further support.


University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security (ACDIS) Editorial Assistant, 2003

Edited ACDIS Occasional Paper: Samrina N. (2004). Energy Security for Bangladesh: Prospects and Strategic Implications of Natural Gas.
 
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL
Graduate Assistant, Library Systems Office, 2003 – 2004
• Research assistant to Peggy Steele, Integrated Library System (ILS) Project Manager and Chair, Integrated System Coordinating Committee (ISCC)
• Research projects including the investigation of open URL technology and consortial change management, for Library decision support
• Voyager (integrated library system) borrower matrix maintenance
• Web page creation and maintenance
• Direct patron assistance and library-wide referral, Voyager catalog queries


University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library 1408 West Gregory Drive Urbana, IL 61801 Graduate Assistant - Evening Supervisor, Main Stacks, 2002 – 2003

Student hiring, training, coaching, and supervision


University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dept. of Educational Psychology, College of Education
Champaign, IL
Research Assistant, October – December, 2002

• Conducted all database searching, using Medline, PsychInfo, Cinahl, HealthStar, SportDiscus, and Dissertation Abstracts, tracking search strategies throughout
• De-duplication and subject-based bibliography production using ProCite
• Interlibrary loan requests and organization; initial document review work


OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Library & Resource Center, Peoria, IL Medical Librarian, 2000 – 2002

• Responsible for providing reference services in support of patient care
• Planned, promoted, and taught database searching skills to medical students, residents, hospital administrators, attending physicians, and allied health staff
• Provided consumer health reference services
• Provided decision-support reference services to the hospital’s administration
• Planned and conducted advanced internet searching classes to more than 200 hospital staff
• Spoke and provided support for hospital-wide events for pain management and the nursing annual continuing education fair
• Worked closely with programs such as parish nursing, hospice, and the healthcare system's corporate office training staff to provide information literacy skills and library support
• Conducted tours and overview of services and collections to prospective professional staff
• Direct support for JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation for Healthcare Organizaitons) preparation for the hospitals' nursing units, providing documentation on guidelines for practice
• Online and telephone support of affiliated healthcare professionals in using library resources

 

Johnson County Public Library, Overland Park, KS
Information specialist, 1999 –2000

• Responsible for general reference services at a busy branch library
• Internet training for the general public
• Primary Reader’s Advisory responsibilities for the branch


Kansas City, Kansas Public Library, Kansas City, KS
Supervisor, Circulation Department, 1994 – 1998

• Hired, trained, coached and evaluated staff of 8 FTE paraprofessionals
• Supervisory responsibility for overall collection weeding project and ongoing maintenance
• Supervisory responsibility for paperback, video and music collection development
• Creation and maintenance of system-wide policy and procedural manual


Watson, Ess, Marshall & Engass
12th & Grand Ave.
Kansas City, MO
Law Library Associate, 1993 – 1994

• Copy and original cataloging for collection
• Responsible for reference services to 90+ member law firm
• Serials collection management

 

OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Library & Resource Center, Peoria, IL
Medical Library Technical Assistant, 1987 – 1993

• Serials collection management (approximately 600 titles) including usage statistics, collection maintenance, database setup (SerialsControl) binding and book repair
• Audiovisual collection management, including circulation, scheduling, cataloging, bibliography and recommendations to the OSF System’s Orderwide Education Committee
• Library representative to the OSF Saint Francis Patient Education Committee


Illinois Central College Library & Resource Center, East Peoria, IL

Student worker, 1985 – 1987


Bradley University Cullom Davis Library, Peoria IL

Library internship, 1987: original cataloging, reference, circulation, and serials sections.