EMILY NEDELL TUCK
Summary:
Resourceful person who thrives in fast-paced creative and technical roles. Background in programming, metadata for academic libraries and museums, integrated library systems, discovery tools, content and project management, web development, graphic design and technical writing (business, functional and technical requirements documents). Knowledge of WordPress, JavaScript, CSS, SQL, Photoshop, Illustrator and other web technologies. Good track record for grant writing / development work, teaching, adult programming and the visual arts. For a museum, managed all aspects of exhibitions from planning to insurance, framing, hanging, funding and marketing. I have successfully taught English Literature at the college level as well as Latin and Art to elementary school students.
Experience:
Customer Service Representative, L2. Auto-Graphics, Inc. June 24–Aug 24
Remote position with a small family-owned library software company obtained through a recruiter. I thought this was product / library support (i.e., researching and responding to customer questions) based on the job title and what the recruiter shared. “L2” was not that at all. The L2 role required a high level of proficiency in SQL, SQL Server, NCIP, ISO, SIP2, APIs, networking and A-G products to accurately troubleshoot and handle both front and back-end configuration changes for large consortia-level library customers (State of Texas, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Indiana, Illinois, etc.) each using different library systems and proprietary software, in different resource sharing arrangements. In my second week, my boss, who was not technical, assigned to me an urgent implementation ticket with links to pages of conditional SQL instructions I could not follow, saying to me he expected his L2 to be able to “do this.” I could not go to my boss with any technical questions (he did not know), which made me dependent on others outside of the department to feed me information to do my job. There was no training and a consistently high volume of tickets. I loved the challenges of the role, and I thought I was doing well under the circumstances, learning SQL Server, the back-end table structure, and five software packages. I was consistently resolving issues and closing tickets to avoid breaching SLA. I brushed up my SQL and worked nonstop, often late into the night and all weekend. However, right after hiring me for the position, the COO hired another candidate, a direct hire, with years of A-G admin and SQL experience for the L2 role. The COO explained that I was not the “SQL Superstar” that the recruiter promised. I said, “Well, this was not quite the ‘Customer Service’ job I was expecting, either.” They would recommend me and consider rehire, but not for that role.
Systems Librarian, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University, Houston Mar. 23–May 24
Redesigned the library website in preparation for relaunch of law school site, managed electronic resources, assisted with research, managed OCLC WMS, and staffed the Ref / Circ desk on weekends and evenings. Also taught English Lit as an Adjunct, revamping ENG 132 to feature the best contemporary novelists and poets, including Ted Chaing, Billy Collins, Xu Xi, Z.Z. Packer and many others. I resigned from the job at TSU to take a much higher paying position with Auto-Graphics, a library software company, where I could work from home. This was important to me as I have a disabled child who is aging out of school and cannot be home alone.
Electronic Resources Librarian, Texas Medical Center Library, Houston June 20 – Aug 22
Responsible for supporting the initiatives of the Head of Technical Services and Resource Management for an all digital medical research library which served member institutions remotely. Responded to trouble tickets, ran usage reports and optimized the Primo user interface. Alma Administration and Primo Certified, 2020. Configured Alma for SUSHI harvesting (C5) and Collection Discovery. Served on the IRB committee, TWU and the ELUNA Steering Committee. Wrote blog posts to promote resources. After COVID ended, I resigned from the TMC Library to teach English in the public school system as part of an Alternative Certification program.
Reference & Instruction Librarian, Texas Southern University, Houston Dec. 12 – May 20
Responsible for reference, library instruction (all disciplines), creating and managing the library’s website and online resources, collection development, maintaining discovery tools (Primo and EDS), SFX, creating research guides and troubleshooting database access. Initiated and managed Voyager upgrade to streamline a large-scale weeding process. Reduced academic research library’s print collection by 70% in preparation for transition to a new library learning center. Subject Librarian for English, Communications, Art, History, Music (Liberal Arts & Humanities), Urban Planning and Computer Science. Served on Faculty Senate and the Tenure and Promotion Review Committee. Since 2017, Adjunct Faculty in TSU Department of English. Taught World Lit I in person and online. Left TSU at the peak of COVID 19 pandemic after Adjunct classes were cancelled as my Librarian salary alone (48K) no longer met my needs. TMC Library offered guaranteed remote work for one year at a higher pay rate, and it was especially good because my kids were home attending school online.
Corporate Librarian / Project Manager, CHR Solutions, Houston Jun. 11–Nov. 12
CHR Solutions provides IT management consulting, telecom-related engineering services and software solutions around the world, headquartered in South Dakota. Hired by the VP of the Corporate University to plan and implement an enterprise-wide solution (ECM/library) for managing complex sales contracts and related documents, software release notes and training materials. Conducted needs assessment, interviewed stakeholders, wrote project charter, documented business and functional requirements, evaluated solutions (contract, document management and SharePoint) and presented findings. Learned SharePoint. In 2011, the Houston office was converted to a Network Operations/Data Center and project implementation was put on hold by the CIO for another quarter. Took job at TSU.
Data Standards Manager, Registrar’s Office, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Oct. 09–Jun. 11
Project-based assignment funded by an IMLS grant to develop and implement data entry standards to comply with national guidelines for cataloging cultural objects (CCO). Working closely with curators and committee, wrote the MFAH Data Standards Manual and presented the standard to all levels of MFAH administration. Customized TMS (museum management software) and ran reports. Trained staff, reviewed records for compliance. Added descriptive content to thousands of collection records using data pulled from MFAH publications, curatorial files, gallery labels and audio tours. Normalized data in controlled fields and developed controlled vocabularies based on AAT. Sought input from collection managers at other art museums (Getty, Met, SFMOMA, LACMA) with regard to standards, roles, workflows and systems for TMS. Placed a text search interface (Lucene/Solr) on the database to leverage descriptive content and offer a more intuitive search experience. New standards manual, additional metadata fields and prototype was well received by MFAH staff. Offered permanent position in the Registrar’s office when grant ended, but the project was completed. Accepted offer with CHR Solutions for SharePoint enterprise development and Project Management experience.
Client Relationship Manager, Groxis, Inc., San Francisco, CA Nov. 07–Apr. 09
Groxis was an established start-up company selling an innovative technology for “discovery” (federated search), intelligent clustering and visual navigation (“Grokker”) to academic libraries, publishers and leading content aggregators. Working in Product Development, responsible for providing technical and product support to the company’s largest client, Gale-Cengage, and their customers. Other clients included EBSCO, Sun Microsystems, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and several universities. Also responsible for drafting technical requirements, testing connectors, logging bugs, proofing metadata, interfacing with content providers, acquiring API information from library database vendors, generating XML for product testing, performing usability testing, and assisting with connector development. Learned text search models for Information Retrieval, Web services, Lucene and AJAX. Company closed unexpectedly in April 2009. Family returned to Houston.
Digital Services / Systems Librarian, Golden Gate Baptist Seminary, Mill Valley, CA Mar. 07–Nov. 07
Configured library system software (Voyager/Solaris), made enhancements to the catalog and resolved technical issues. Installed and configured Perl modules (NewBooks.pl, AlphaMail), designed new website to promote digital resources, set up a staging/training database, created custom reports in Access, debugged and repaired broken inventory program (VBA), set up Open URL and third party products (Serials Solutions, Syndetic Solutions). Learned Solaris (already familiar with Unix). Set up proxy server (EZProxy) to support remote access to databases. Performed bulk import of MARC records on the server and cataloged special collections. All projects completed, took position with Groxis, doubled salary.
Librarian (Acting Director), Art Institute of California-San Diego Aug. 02–May 03
Acting director for a new college library emphasizing design, graphic arts, art history, advertising, media arts, web design, game design and culinary arts. Developed an opening day collection and workflows for ongoing acquisitions. Oversaw annual acquisitions budget of $90,000. Responsible for all aspects of the management of the library and automation system. Created library website. Left to return to Houston where husband had received a job offer from a former employer.
Librarian, Collection Manager, Questia Media, Inc. (Digital Library), Houston Jan. 00–May 00
Full-time consultant for a Houston-based start-up that had raised 90 million in venture capital to create a virtual, subscription-based undergraduate research library. Developed and implemented a successful Collection Development Strategy for the service for launch and post-launch, helping to achieve digitization quotas and rapid acquisition of new titles. Initiated a relationship with OCLC/WLN and developed a conspectus to enable systematic comparison with peer library collections to benchmark growth in Questia’s targeted disciplines. Worked with Perl programmer to download and manipulate MARC records and develop crosswalks to metadata (also learned Perl at this time) and create a method for automated citation. Authored technical requirements for an automation system for the digital library platform. Introduced concepts of authority control and other library-related standards. Gave presentations to senior management. Was offered position as Collection Manager and moved under Marketing when contract ended, but it was so Marketing could say it had librarians on staff. I left to take a position with another start-up company where I could get hands-on software development experience. Company laid off 70% of staff and all librarians shortly after that.
Chief Curator and Assistant Director, Museum of Printing History, Houston June 96–Jan. 00
Planned 15 temporary exhibits and 23 lectures annually for a museum/special collections library celebrating printing and the power of the printed word. Responsible for exhibit content and design, installation, insurance, packing and shipping, fundraising, committee formation, docent training and all aspects of collection management. Promoted events, planned lectures and programming. Wrote many successful grants for exhibits and lectures. Created the Museum’s first website. Produced the quarterly newsletter. Obtained funding for the construction of several printmaking workshops, print storage cabinets and archival supplies, adult programming, and artifacts. Initiated popular lecture series. Gave talks at the MFAH (book formats, history of paper), Harris County Public Libraries, other, including television, to promote Museum events. After four years, I left to take job with Questia to be on the ground floor with the first digital academic library.
Head Cataloger and Systems Librarian, Klein I.S.D., Spring, TX July 95–June 96
Implemented a district-wide library automation system that encompassed 27 school libraries when the district was first automating and centralizing library services. Learned the TANDEM OS (UNIX-like parallel processor) and CARL library system software. Managed all processes on the server and network, cataloging, automation, website and technology for all campuses, including retrospective conversion of card catalogs. Performed routine system maintenance on the server and network; evaluated, edited and loaded MARC cataloging records and scanned barcodes; ran tape back-ups and generated reports; performed copy and original cataloging of library materials (DDC; LCSH). Customized the GUI interface according to guidelines established by the school. Provided technical support to campus libraries. I left because my pay rate was as a paraprofessional, since the district didn’t have a “librarian” who was not also a certified teacher. After the new budget had my position still as a paraprofessional (28K), I left to take the job with the MPH, which also allowed me the flexibility to continue to work on my second MA at the University of St. Thomas.
Editor, Llewellyn Worldwide, St. Paul, MN June 91–May 92
Edited books for mass-market publication. Worked with the production manager, authors, artists and typesetters to see books through all phases of production; reviewed and represented the contents of new acquisitions to other departments; obtained celebrity blurbs for the back cover; prepared CIP and Bowker (BIP) data; performed indexing and typesetting in Interleaf. Worked with Marketing to increase sales of books to libraries. Left to return to graduate school.
Computer Experience:
MSOffice (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint), Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Adobe Acrobat, C++, SQL, Visual Basic, VBA, XHTML, Perl, JavaScript, Unix (Solaris administration), XML, CSS, SharePoint and WordPress.
Education:
University of Houston Clear Lake. “Web Programming” Sept.-Dec. 11
Learned the latest standards and tools for web programming, including XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, JQuery, .Net, C#, Visual Studio 2010.
Houston Community College Southwest May 00–May 02
Intro to C++, Intro to Visual Basic, VBA, Database Management, Object-Oriented Graphics, Advanced Programming in C++, Object-Oriented Programming, Perl, Multimedia Programming.
University of St. Thomas, Houston Sept. 94–Dec. 98
Continued second MA in Liberal Arts. Electives: Financial Management, Legal Research and Writing, Environmental GIS.
Indiana University, Bloomington June 92–July 94
Began MA in History (emphasis on European History and Medieval / Neo-Classical Latin). Additional coursework: “Electronic Publishing and Information Systems,” “Business Information Services and Sources” and MIS (School of Business). Also studied Museum Management, and Preservation / Conservation in a summer intensive program.
University of Wisconsin, Madison Sept. 87–Dec. 90
MA in Library and Information Science. Began a master’s in English literature. Changed after a year to Library and Information Science. with an emphasis in Rare Books and Manuscripts, Cataloging and Library Automation. Continued study of Classical languages and literature.
University of Texas, Austin Sept. 83–May 87
BA in English literature, minor in Classical languages (Latin and Ancient Greek).
Publications:
“CCO as a Metadata Standard for the Retrieval of Museum Cataloging Records: A Critical Review,” accepted by VRA Bulletin, but they wanted to do a special issue on CCO.
“Teaching the Techie: The Search for Intelligent Instruction in a Cramped Universe.” Texas Technology, Mar 2001.
Editor and researcher for:
, . Laboratory studies in breast implant patients: ANA positivity, gamma globulin levels, and other autoantibodies. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol 1996; 210: 337–53. (My name is listed in an acknowledgement at the end.)
Certifications:
TExES PPR, Professional Practice & Responsibility, Sept. 2021
TExES ELAR (English Language Arts and Reading), 7-12 Content Exam, July 2021
Biomedical Research (Basic Research and Conduct of Research), CITI Training, 2021 — prerequisites to serve on the IRB for TWU
Primo VE and Alma Certification, 2020
Primo Certified, 2018
Certified Information Professional (CIP) through AIIM, 2014
Other Experience/Short-Term Projects:
Aqute Research, Inc (now Aqute Intelligence), UK. Dec.–Feb. 07. Contract. Briefed news stories from Google, Yahoo! and blogs for a UK competitive intelligence firm pitching a trial subscription service to Microsoft VPs. Also wrote reports on software commoditization, SAS, Web 2.0 technologies, the secret locations of Google’s data centers, others as assigned.
Queen of the Valley Hospital, Napa. Sept.–Dec. 06. Contract. Executive Assistant to the VP of Strategic Services, Director of Business Development and Director of Service Line Integration filling in while EA was on maternity leave. Duties included scheduling, correspondence, answering phones in the executive suite, preparing Board materials, taking minutes, and processing expense reports for reimbursement.
Fitch Ratings, San Francisco. July–Sept. 06. Librarian/Archivist. Contract. Placed public finance bond ratings documents into compliance for internal audit. Reviewed documents that supported analysts’ ratings and classified them by type of document. Implemented a uniform naming convention and retention schedule. Packed up the remaining archive and sent paper files to New York office, as directed. Completed project ahead of schedule, took job in Napa.
Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Houston. Jan.–March 05. Full-time substitute Latin teacher for a private Catholic elementary school emphasizing Classical education and Catholic theology. Also taught Art and Art History, 10 classes/day. Was the first of four prior Latin teachers to teach Latin syntax and grammar; developed curriculum and exercises based partially on the Latin Vulgate and Catholic prayers. Was told by Assistant Principal that I was the best Latin teacher the school had ever had. Successful in getting all grades to read Latin sentences. Left because school lost donor support and couldn’t pay the teachers’ salaries. School closed.
Groves Public Library (Groves, Texas). July–Sept. 04. Director of Library. Director of a public library for a small town next to Port Arthur. Wrote grant proposals to double shelving and collection in the non-fiction area (awarded $25,000+) and develop the collection in other areas. Wrote a successful proposal for a new roof. Ordered books and videos. Upgraded the ILS to enable better reporting capabilities. Resolved wireless connectivity problems on public computers. Designed library website and made modifications to the city’s website. Reason for leaving: 200 mile/day commute with my toddler while pregnant with another child. Husband found a new job in Houston after a period of unemployment and he could not relocate to Groves.
Museum of Printing History, Houston. Feb. 04–July 04. Performed environmental monitoring and completed an AAM Facility Report to enable institutional borrowing; improved gallery lighting and restored descriptive plaques on artifacts on permanent display. Created and scheduled exhibits that were of little or no cost to the museum (no exhibits or collections budget was available). Provided leadership for the Collection Management Committee. Created website. Designed invitations, wrote press releases, wrote grant proposals. Persuaded Xerox to donate high quality reproductions of Art Deco ink ads for gift shop. Came up with the tag line, “A place for all Types.” Lined up speakers for lecture series. Initiated benefit auction with Park West Galleries. Left to take Library Director position in Groves when husband lost job in Houston.
American College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Houston. Feb. 04–July 04. Contract. Part-time consultant/librarian to a vocational college. Helped establish a library (required for accreditation) by ordering article databases, creating a website with links to authoritative sites, installing an automation system and cataloging books. Introduced standard medical/health care professions core collection bibliographies.
Bayou Preservation Association, Jan.-Aug. 2002. Contract. Working with the Executive Director, Board members and volunteers, developed a new website and generated content a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Houston’s greenbelt and recreational use of Houston’s bayous. Worked with watershed maps (HGAC), key maps, Photoshop and a text written by a board member to create an online guide to canoeing Houston’s bayous as part of the website. Was an excellent student project for me, as I had just finished a JavaScript course.
BW Acquisitions, Houston. Feb.–May 01. Contract. Facilitated the absorption of a Florida-based e-commerce company by Houston competitor. Responsible for logging and processing daily orders, running credit card transactions, daily sales reports, placing orders with manufacturers, researching and resolving claims by customers against Florida company and some customer service (problem orders). Worked with programmer to automate the processing of orders, including credit card processing and placing orders with vendors. Assisted with the conversion of parent company website from static to dynamically-generated pages (Perl CGI). Wrote marketing copy for new and existing products. Learned search engine optimization techniques and more Perl programming.
Smilex (Scientific and Medical Interactive Learning and Knowledge Systems, Inc.), Houston. May 00–Jan 01.
Contract. Assisted small start-up with NIH grant-funded project to develop immersive multimedia training modules for psychiatric nursing students and games-related patient education products. Researched comparables, adaptive learning environments for health education, and natural language interfaces (NLI) in computer-based training; began learning Perl. Consulted with experts working on similar projects. Initiated contact with potential partners, textbook publishers and health care-related credentialing agencies (endorsers). Drafted preliminary business/marketing plan to raise venture capital and matching funds. Company failed to earn phase II NIH funding and the project was put on hold. Returned to school to study multimedia and computer science.
Other work experience: Wrote articles and bibliographer for the Americana Exchange, an online service for collectors of Americana which launched in 2002. Grant Geophysical – Multi-Client Tape Librarian: Used ArcView GIS and Photoshop to generate colorful print brochures and a seismic sample website for tape library; part-time Grant Writer and Community Development person for Houston Community College, where I wrote a large and successful childcare grant and worked on a collaboration with Texas Instruments and the Stafford campus; student cataloger for the Kinsey Institute in Bloomington; part-time print ad reviewer for an ad agency to ensure newspaper ads matched spec sheets. I’ve also worked for used and rare book dealers while in grad school in Madison, WI and Bloomington, IN.