About Andrea

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I originally pursued library science because I’m an information junky, and I needed a way to constantly feed my fix and get paid at the same time. However, after 5+ years in the profession (counting library school), I found that librarianship may not be the right culture fit for me as a career. So, I’m making another shift: back to my first career, technology, pursuing my interests particularly in social technology, but leaving my options open for any opportunity I find appealing. Learn more about my professional history in my LinkedIn profile.

I’m a natural networker, so I love to meet new people of all professional persuasions, and you can often find me loitering about and chatting with people at events such as Social Media Breakfasts, Boston Media Makers, various tweetups, and Geek Girl Dinners (the Boston chapter is still forming up, so there’s no site yet, but if you’re interested, be in touch!), to name a few. If I’m not climbing at MetroRock, hitting a Yelp event, communing with nature, or making something at a craft night, I do try to make it to WebInno now and again. I’m also a member of Social Media Club Boston. But, you can learn more about all this stuff from my LinkedIn profile, too.

NOTE: If you’re thinking about adding me on any given social network, please read this post so you understand my response. Just sayin’, it’s important.

My most recent work gigs have included a part time position as the Reference & Techie Librarian (really and truly my official title) at Reading Public Library (MA) (April 2005 – September 2008) and the Manager of the PLA Blog: The official blog of the Public Library Association (March 2005 – March 2008). A recent extra credit professional adventure includes a trip to China as part of a People to People International delegation of librarians.

While in librarianship, I did write a few articles, as well as speaking at a good number of workshops, presentations, and webinars, predominantly on technology discovery, planning, and implementation for libraries. You can check out my SlideShare account for a sampling of my work, although I hope to put together a proper and complete CV of these bits soon. Suffice to say that I’m very good at presentations and working with groups of people.

Almost in spite of my English undergraduate degree, I have also worked in:

  • web development
  • quality assurance
  • technical writing
  • project management
  • process refinement, and
  • technical support

for 6 years before returning to school to work on a Masters of Library Science. Many of the sites I worked on as a web developer are listed in my (not yet formatted for consistency with the rest of site) tech portfolio.

I’ve also spent time interning for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City researching exhibit items, and working on library technology projects for the Harvard College Library E-Reserves Program and the Simmons GSLIS Library.

While in the Simmons GSLIS program, I served as the Library and Information Science Student Association (LISSA) president from May 2003 – May 2004, and has was awarded the Kenneth R. Shaffer Award for student leadership upon graduation. Needless to say, school kept me pretty busy.

And my academic qualifications include:

LibraryTechtonics.info, my very first professional blog, initially launched in June 2004, and transitioned from Movable Type to WordPress in September 2007 (I tinker with and maintain everything myself here).

Questions? Comments? Send me email.