Responsible for supporting digital presence of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML) under the supervision of Digitization Coordinator and Registrar Ana Rodriguez. I played significant role in developing digital exhibit space to feature materials from RBML’s collections online. I helped create digital exhibit versions of previous physical exhibits in RBML. I also wrote and developed a born-digital exhibit about the Star Wars shooting script in RBML’s collection, which involved conducting research on the script and the production of Star Wars. I also helped create a guide for developing digital exhibits in the RBML to ensure they can be created when I depart. Partnered with programmer Alex Dryden develop a theme for the Omeka S digital exhibit platform for use by the University Library and particularly the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. This theme is now used throughout the UIUC library. Answered reference questions about materials in RBML collection. This work involved locating and properly handling rare books and archival materials, conducting brief research to answer the patron’s inquiry, and responding to the patron’s question with helpful information and occasionally suggestions for additional research.

Responsible for supporting digital initiatives at the University of Illinois, under the supervision of Scholarly Commons director Michelle Reed, including: leading a group to develop a new website for the Scholarly Commons, gathering and organizing digital records of all previous submissions to the Image of Research competition, publishing the Scholarly Commons podcast, fixing GIS errors in the Mapping History of Illinois project, researching data collection policies at academic libraries, and creating a digital timeline of the history of the Scholarly Commons. Answered patron questions about available software and scanning services from patrons visiting the Scholarly Commons in person, on library chat, and through email. Supported patron digital scholarship by assisting them in using scanners, performing data cleaning, analyzing a spreadsheet using Python, and sharing useful resources. Assisted Scholarly Commons in reopening to the public in August 2021 in a new, larger space by creating signage, sharing updates with the SC community on the website and social media, and performing other necessary logistical steps to reopen the Scholarly Commons.

Responsible for providing logistical guidance and technical support for faculty and student digital humanities projects at SIUE, including planning and design of digital archive infrastructure, implementing public engagement programming in digital humanities projects, developing interfaces for website users, and training students in artifact digitization and metadata writing. Ensured IRIS Center software and hardware were up-to-date and met the digital scholarship needs of students and faculty at SIUE. Wrote successful SIUE internal grants to support digital scholarship projects and the purchase of software and hardware updates for the IRIS Center.

Developed the website for the SIUE project using the WordPress and Omeka Content Management systems, created infrastructure for the digital archive and the workflow for artifact digitization, and designed the front-end interface for the website.

Worked with the Eugene B. Redmond Collection of Lovejoy Library, which documents both the literary work of Redmond and his relationships with other members of the Black Arts Movement. I identified and created folder and box categories in which to place the wide variety of materials in the collection and played a role in the early development of the collection’s finding aid.

Wrote articles on several SIUE topics, including a potential smoking ban, the reliability of campus Wi-Fi, and the treatment of wildlife on campus. As the opinion editor I assigned editorials to reporters and created the layout of the opinion section. As the Online Editor, I published our articles online and promoted them on Facebook and Twitter.