academic

2009-2011: graduated with distinction from pratt institute with a master of science in library and information science, advanced certificate in archives. studied management of archives & special collections, art librarianship, digital archives, & metadata. instructors: deborah rabina, john berry, maria c. pattuelli, ken soehner, amy lucker, rick block, anthony cocciolo, alexis hagadorn, and susan hamson

2007-2009: coursework in the master of arts program in liberal studies at the new school for social research. studied 20th century art history & polemics, cultural criticism, humanities, aesthetics, & writing. instructors: melissa monroe, christopher hitchens, terri gordon, jim miller, and jed perl

2004-2007: graduated with honors from the bachelor’s program in liberal studies at the new school for general studies. studied 20th century art history, visual culture, fiction writing, & experimental poetry. instructors: larry fagin, tim quigley, sharon mesmer, and joshua shenk

1998-2001: coursework in english education, american literature, poetry, and writing at northwestern university. instructors: bill savage, sheila donohue, and julia stern

independent coursework

jan. 2013-may 2013: harvard’s inaugural offering of the HLS1x–copyright course, taught by professor william fisher and fellows at the berkman center for internet and society.

selected papers, projects, and miscellaneous

curators and archivists collaborate: building contextual richness in art exhibitions through the incorporation of primary source materials–a project documenting the growing trend of incorporating archival materials into large-scale art exhibitions by examining several specific contemporary exhibitions held at museums and galleries. completed as an independent study in spring 2011 with the guidance of ken soehner, chief librarian at the metropolitan museum’s watson library and faculty member at pratt SILS.  images from selected exhibitions, interviews with archivists and curators, analysis of catalogs and supporting documentation, and a blend of personal commentary and anecdotal information show the possibilities of cross-silo (LAMs in particular) collaborative projects.

digital archive for the lesbian herstory archives–as part of anthony cocciolo’s “projects in digital archives” course at pratt institute, oral histories and images from the collection of the lesbian herstory archives were digitized and made accessible via a website powered by collective access.  in its current incarnation, the website primarily features biographical information, pictures, and oral histories pertaining to the life of mabel hampton, an african-american lesbian activist.

archiving art and activism–a multi-faceted website devoted to the documentation of my archival internship work at the fales library and special collections at new york university, where i processed the Guerrilla Girls Archive and created a finding aid.  the site is comprised of a work journal, literature review, photo gallery, and detailed experiential analysis; these elements explore the procedures employed, techniques learned, and personal reflections from my practicum.

local pages–co-developed with team members amanda h. brown and davis anderson in fulfillment of the requirements for gilok choi’s information technologies course at pratt institute.  the website–focusing on collecting reviews of independent, locally-owned bookstores in new york city– was constructed using WordPress and incorporated original content from Twitter, Flickr, and Google Map accounts created solely for this project.

increasing access and collaboration–the use of web 2.0 in archives and special collections: co-written with amanda h. brown, this paper explores a variety of web 2.0 technologies (e.g. facebook, flickr, google maps, wikis) and then discusses how these technologies are being implemented at institutions like the new york public library, the harry ransom center at the university of texas, and the beinecke rare book and manuscript library at yale.

fact-checking a fiction novel–the ice storm by rick moody: completed during the course of debbie rabina’s references course, twelve different items of information presented as “facts” are either proved or disproved by using local reference materials at the new canaan (ct) library, by spending an inordinate amount of time in the rose reading room at the new york public library, and by scouring the internet for viable (reliable) sources of truth.  sounds easy,  but it’s not.  facts checked included information pertaining to textile designer vera neumann, a rehab facility known for treating famous people, geographic features of semi-rural connecticut, voting statistics for nixon, and a certain catchphrase by a lovable character known as tug mcgraw.

facet or fiction?–trying to gauge the effectiveness of social tagging: in conjunction with a group presentation, this analysis focuses on the rise of folksonomies in art institutions.  the implementation of tools developed by the steve project at institutions like the indianapolis museum of art help demonstrate the efficacy (or lack thereof) of social tagging tools.  can tagging function as a viable addition to traditional cataloging techniques?  is it purely superficial in terms of infrastructure?  does it produce useful metadata or is it simply a PR tool to engage an increasingly diverted population of patrons?