Brenda Dervin , Ph.D., Keynote Speaker
Full Professor of Communication
Joan N. Huber Fellow in Social & Behavorial Sciences
Ohio State University
Brenda Dervin is Full Professor of Communication, and Joan N. Huber Fellow in Social and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Her research interests focus on the design, testing, and implementation of dialogic practices for communication in any communicative setting -- e.g. library reference, interviewing, research planning and design, group deliberations, web design, pedagogy, citizen participation, etc. These interests are implemented primarily through the development and application of her Sense-Making Methodology.
Dr. Dervin received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and her graduate degrees from Michigan State, all in communication. She holds an honorary doctorate in the social sciences from the University of Helsinki . Dervin is especially known for her 1986 entry on information needs and uses (junior authored by Michael Nilan) published in ARIST. This entry is widely referred to as the impetus for the turn toward user-oriented studies in library and information science. In addition to its use in studying information needs, seeking, and use, Dervins' methodology has been widely applied to such terrains as, for example: health communication, communication policy, media reception, arts audiences, communication campaigns, and organizational communication.
An active participant in ASIST'S SIG-USE, she received that SIG's 2005 award for outstanding contributions to information behavior research; and was elected a SIG fellow in 2009. In 2006, she received one of ASIST's top awards -- the information science research award. She is also a fellow and past-president [the first female so elected] of the International Communication Association and has received that organization's highest research productivity award. She is also one of few US representatives to actively serve on the board of the European based International Association of Media and Communication Research. Dervin is highly cited: about 2300 ISI cites; 1610 Google scholar; and 41,000 Google general.
Sense-Making Methodology web site
http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making
Sense-Making the Information Confluence project web site
http://imlsproject.comm.ohio-state.edu
Jose Aranda
Instructor - Library Science
Doña Ana Community College
José L. Aranda is an instructor for the Library Science Program at Doña Ana Community College of the New Mexico State University. Prior to this he was the Outreach Librarian for the same institution, and has many years in the public library sector having served as Young Adults, to Circulation Supervisor.
José is from San Diego, CA and got his MLIS from the University of South Florida.
Jody Bailey
Reference/Instruction Librarian
University of Texas at Arlington Library
Jody obtained her BA in English literature from the University of Louisiana at Monroe and her MA in linguistics from Louisiana State University, where she also completed the coursework for PhD in rhetoric. She was a writing instructor for five years at LSU and Virginia Tech and then spent ten years as academic copy-editor of books and articles, mostly for the American Psychological Association.
She received her MLIS from Wayne State University in 2008 and has been working as a reference/instruction librarian at the University of Texas at Arlington since February 2009. Her professional interests include virtual reference services and the incorporation of emerging technologies into reference and instruction.
Elizabeth Barksdale
Director of Library and Media Services
Western Texas College
Liz Barksdale received her Masters of Information Studies from University of Texas at Austin. She has been working as Director of Library and Media Services at Western Texas College since 2006. With the help of graduate student volunteers, she started a virtual reference service for the college in March 2007. Since then the service has grown into Ask Now Texas, a cooperative that serves various public and academic libraries across the state. Liz wants to continue to explore new ways to providing quality reference service to patrons.
Cindy Batman
Liaison & Outreach Librarian-Discovery Park Library
University of North Texas
Cindy Batman is the Library Liaison to the College of Information, which includes the Departments of Library and Information Sciences and Learning Technologies, at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. She earned her Bachelor’s from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, and MLIS from UNT and is currently in the Interdisciplinary PhD program at UNT.
Cindy recareered as a librarian after twenty years’ experience in corporate business environments. She began her library career in a staff position as Circulation and Reference Manager at the Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas. She also worked at the UNT Dallas campus and Baylor Health Sciences Library in Dallas when a SLIS student. She spent her first 5 years of professional life at the University of North Texas Dallas, where she worked with students and faculty in a large variety of programs and degree plans. She moved to the main campus of UNT in Denton in 2008 to work with the graduate students of the COI.
April Aultman Becker
Reference Librarian
Lee Davis Library
San Jacinto College
April Aultman Becker obtained her BA in English and History from Stephen F. Austin State University, and her MLIS from the University of North Texas. In her past life, April was a high school English teacher, an elementary school librarian, and a high school librarian. For the past three years, she has been a reference librarian at San Jacinto College, working to increase the library’s virtual services and web presence.
Arthur Brady, MLIS
Founder and President, Altarama Information Systems
After undergraduate studies in Japanese language and literature, Mr. Brady stayed at BYU to complete an MLIS degree. In 1984, he joined a tiny start-up company called Dynix and spent a dozen very busy years in a variety of executive roles—including posting in Canada and Europe—helping introduce automation to more than 8,000 libraries in 47 countries. He was recruited by LSSI in 2001 to build and operate its Reference Services division, and together with Steve Coffman and Linda Arret introduced the first virtual reference solutions to the library community, adopted for use by nearly 3,000 libraries in the following three years.
Arthur founded Altarama Information Systems in 2004 and, with a team of remarkable librarians and library automation experts, supports a growing family of reference management tools and services for libraries around the world. He lives in Utah with his wife Michele, two dogs, 14 chickens and from time to time some of their five grown children.
Danielle Elder
Graduate Student/Virtual Reference Volunteer
University of North Texas
Danielle is an Information Science graduate student that lives in Leander, Texas. She received her AA from the University of Alaska and her BA in General Studies from the University of North Texas. She has been a volunteer for Ask Now Texas, a virtual reference service directed by Liz Barksdale, whom she is assisting in this presentation. She has a strong interest in virtual reference and electronic information resources.
Susan McGlamery
QuestionPoint Senior Product Manager
OCLC
Susan McGlamery is the Project Director for 24/7 Reference and the Global Product Manager of Cooperative Services for OCLC. Prior experience as the Coordinator of Reference Services for the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System (MCLS) in Los Angeles led her to create the 24/7 Reference project.
Susan received her MLS from St. John’s University in 1987 and her JD from the Emory University School of Law in 1984. Susan taught at the UCLA graduate school of Library and Information Science (now the Department of Information Science) from 1994 to 2000. She was also an instructor with the InfoPeople project, a statewide Internet instruction course for librarians, funded by the California State Library.
Lynn McMain, MS
Head of Reference and Instructional Services
Sam Houston State University
Mrs. Lynn M. McMain has been a librarian at the Newton Gresham Library at Sam Houston State University for 10 years, and Head of Reference and Instructional Services for the last 6 years. Mrs. McMain has a MS in Library Science from the University of North Texas and a Master of Education from the University of Texas at Brownsville, Texas.
Rafia Mirza, MSI
Reference/Instruction Librarian
University of Texas at Arlington Library
Rafia obtained her BA in English, Psychology and American Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and completed the coursework for a PhD In American Studies at University of Minnesota.
She received her MSI from University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 2008 and is currently a reference/instruction librarian at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Erin O’Toole, MLS
Graduate Library Assistant Coordinator
University of North Texas
Erin O’Toole is the Graduate Library Assistant Coordinator for the Research and Instructional Service Department of the University of North Texas Libraries. Erin has a B.A. in History from Smith College, a B.S. in Biology from the University of Utah, and an ABD in Experimental Pathology from the University of Utah. She received her M.L.S from Texas Woman’s University in 1999.
From 1999 through 2004, Erin was a youth librarian in the Denton Public and Plano Public Library Systems. She made the transition to academic libraries in 2004 when she landed the position of science and technology librarian and liaison to Biological Sciences at the UNT Libraries. Erin has taken on the added responsibilities of subject librarian to Geography and GLA Coordinator in the past two years. She currently supervises 10 Library and Information Sciences master’s and doctoral students who provide face-to-face reference at two libraries and virtual reference services.
Tamara Remhof, MLS
Texas A&M University - Commerce, TX
Tamara Remhof is the Library Coordinator for the Texas A&M University-Commerce Metroplex Center. She has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Elementary Education from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a Master’s of Library Science degree from the University of North Texas, Houston Program. She was a school librarian for three years before making the leap to Instruction/Reference Librarian at the University of Texas-Pan American where she became interested in Online Reference. She is working on her Master’s of Educational Technology from the University of Texas at Brownsville through the college’s distance education program.
Gretchen Trkay, MLS
Instruction and Information Literacy Librarian
University of Texas at Arlington Library
Gretchen Trkay is an instruction and information literacy librarian at the University of Texas at Arlington. She currently teaches over 200 instruction sessions each year to UTA freshmen addressing plagiarism, citation, research, and evaluating sources. Gretchen's research interests include integrated information literacy assessment and active learning in the library classroom.
