I am the Instructional and Reference Librarian at DACC. I also teach a course called Library Research Skills.

I was obviously destined to be a librarian — when I was a young girl, I made little cards for my books and checked them out to my family members. (Sad, but true.) I wasn't very good at interpreting the obvious though, as I have done a lot of other jobs. I have sampled water for the state of Georgia, worked in the family tree nursery, edited a microelectronics magazine, cooked pizza and cleaned toilets. I have also been a secretary, a publicist, a newspaper columnist and taught writing, literature, cultural studies and women's studies at two universities.

What interests me:

Professional interests:

• online instruction — developing methods of bringing research skills training to online students
• game technology and instruction
• weblogs, IM, and other technology in libraries
• collection balance
• pop culture

Personal interests:

• movies (check out my favorites page)
• books, especially mysteries, children's stories, and Victorian literature (ditto)
• designing web pages (there's always so much more to learn!)
• playing pool and Dungeons and Dragons
• writing (see a couple of my works in progress)
• doing crossword puzzles
• collecting "roos" (as in Kanga and...)

My family:

• my husband is a network manager and computer programmer for a test publisher in Champaign. His passion is playing bridge.
• my 2 sons are in fifth and eighth grade in Champaign. They love the monster movies, Legos, Tae Kwon Do, basketball, Dungeons and Dragons, video games, our 4 cats and avoiding cleaning their rooms.
• my 89-year-old mom. A retired professional artist, she loves almost anything purple or fuchsia, musicals, and strawberry milkshakes!
• my father-in-law. He's a computer-loving, bridge-playing vegetarian.
• 4 cats named Tigger, Sheba, Calvin and Hobbes. They love napping, eating and destruction, in that order. There is also a tank full of guppies that number in the 20s. The actual number varies depending upon their appetites and reproductive inclinations.

The formal stuff:

Education:

• A Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Illinois, specializing in Victorian literature. My dissertation looked at the differences between the novels of Mary Elizabeth Braddon, an early popular author, and the plays that were adapted from them (without her permission), and what those differences revealed about tensions in middle-class English culture in the latter half of the 19th century.
• A Masters in Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois.
• A Masters in English from the University of Alabama.
• A Bachelors in Journalism and English from the same institution.
• Supplemental training and workshops:
  • Courses: LITA—Assessment of Library Services, ACRL —Developing Electronic Collections, ACRL—Intentional Teacher
  • Workshops: Web design, E-Books, WebVoyage Online Catalog End User Instruction, SFX, Webfeat

Papers and Presentations:

• I have presented papers and poster sessions at the League of Innovation Conference, the Modern Language Association national meeting, and both regional and national meetings of the Popular Culture Association, and the Illinois Articulation Association.
• I have published in Victorian Literature and Culture and in the Dictionary of National Biography.

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