NCSU Libraries Fellows 2001-2003
We are pleased to announce the appointment of the 2001 NCSU Libraries Fellows: Megan Oakleaf, Darby Orcutt, Plato Smith, K. T. Vaughan, and Katherine Wisser; and Kim Duckett, Joanna Duy, Crystal Hardison, Scott Warren, and Joe Williams.
The NCSU Libraries Fellows Program, established in 1999, identifies talented new graduates and introduces them to exciting opportunities in The Libraries. Fellows work on an innovative project, combined with a half-time assignment in a home department. Fellows are appointed to the rank of Librarian for a time-limited two year term as full members of the library faculty.
Megan Oakleaf, a former high school English and Spanish teacher in Ohio, is well suited for her home department and project. Based in Research and Information Services, she provides reference services and coordinates the instruction program for freshman composition. For her project, Oakleaf is conducting research on enterprise-wide strategic initiatives for the Libraries’ senior administrators. Oakleaf received an M.L.S. from Kent State University, where she was inducted into Beta Phi Mu. Her master’s research paper describes the unique way scholars in the humanities approach today’s electronic resources and information services in a university library setting. She earned two undergraduate degrees, one from the College of Arts and Sciences and the other from the College of Education at Miami University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Darby Orcutt’s undergraduate work as an orientation leader and his graduate research on assessing attitudes of college-bound seniors have provided an excellent foundation for his project in Research and Information Services, where he is integrating a library assignment tutorial into the library’s online orientation program. In his home department of Collection Management, Orcutt is the collection management Fellow for the humanities. Orcutt earned a B.A. in speech communications and religious studies from UNC–Chapel Hill, where he was a James M. Johnston Scholar and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He earned an M.A. in communication studies and an M.S.L.S. from UNC–Chapel Hill.
The experiences Plato Smith II acquired during several prestigious internships, most recently as Web development intern at Duke University’s Perkins Library, have prepared him for his departmental assignment in Systems and his project in Research and Information Services. For his project, he works with the head of Data Services to develop tools for the discovery, extraction, and analysis of numeric data. Smith received a B.S. in marketing from North Carolina A&T University. He earned a B.A. in computer information systems and an M.I.S. from North Carolina Central University in May 2001. Two years ago, Smith studied at the University of Ghana at Legon, where he completed an independent study directed by the head of Library and Archival Studies.
K. T. Vaughan is working with collection managers on a project to assess collections and develop user-focused policies. Using benchmarks established by the Association of Research Libraries, she is giving special consideration to NC State’s academic strengths. Her home department is the Scholarly Communication Center, where she is developing an undergraduate education program of copyright and plagiarism workshops and tutorials. Vaughan worked in several science libraries while earning a B.A. in biology from Harvard University. A graduate of UNC–Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science, where she earned an M.S.L.S., Vaughan worked as an intern at the Environmental Protection Agency Library and as a senior library assistant at Duke University’s Gross Chemistry Library. In May 2001 Vaughan’s “Webliography” on chemical research ethics was published in the online journal Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
Katherine Wisser, a former library assistant in Special Collections who led the Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Summer Project, is again working in Special Collections on a special project to increase access to its holdings by implementing EAD applications. Wisser’s home department is Cataloging, where she provides support for subject analysis and contributes to the establishment of policies and procedures for manuscripts and archives cataloging. Wisser earned an M.S.L.S. from UNC–Chapel Hill, where she was inducted into Beta Phi Mu. She received a B.A. and an M.A. in history from Bates College and the University of New Hampshire, respectively. This year, she was elected member-at-large to the Executive Board of the Society of North Carolina Archivists.
Kim Duckett has held graduate assistantships at the Couch Biology Library, the House Undergraduate Library, and the Davis Library at UNC–Chapel Hill. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), earning a B.A. in philosophy and religion and minors in art history and ancient Greek. Her thesis, “Holy Icons and Holy Power in the Byzantine Empire,” won the North Callahan Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Honors Thesis, the most prestigious prize for undergraduate research at UTC. Duckett also earned an M.I.L.S. at UNC– Chapel Hill, where she received the Margaret Ellen Kalp Fellowship. Her home department is Distance Learning Services, and she will work on the Digital Image Database Project in the Harrye B. Lyons Design Library.
Joanna Duy, who was in charge of the library at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Green 6 house and Processing Crops Research Centre, has held teaching assistantships in the biology department at Acadia University and in the Media Information and Technoculture Program at the University of Western Ontario. She earned a B.S. in biology from McGill University, an M.S. in biology from Acadia University, and an M.L.I.S. from the University of Western Ontario, where she earned the Sam D. Neill Scholarship for academic achievement. Duy’s home department is the Veterinary Medical Library. For her project in Distance Learning Services, she will analyze the Libraries’ use of electronic resources and investigate statistics initiatives being conducted by other leading information organizations. Her data will be used to support purchasing decisions and licensing negotiations with vendors.
Crystal Hardison, a former schoolteacher in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System, served as a technology training consultant for the Charlotte Organizing Project, where she trained staff in the use of several computer applications. She was a graduate assistant in acquisitions, cataloging, collection management, and reference at the Thomas Cooper Library at the University of South Carolina (USC). Hardison graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in middle school education from WinstonSalem State University, where she won the American Business Women’s Association Scholarship. She earned an M.L.I.S. from USC and received its Cooper Davis Fellowship. Hardison’s home department is Acquisitions, and she will work on a project in Personnel Services to implement recruiting strategies incorporating new technologies to attract candidates.
Scott Warren began his career as a teacher and counselor. At Beloit College, he taught math and science summer courses to high school students and tutored academically at-risk college students in mathematics. He worked as a library assistant at the Beloit College Library and as assistant librarian at the Virginia Franks Social Work Library at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison). Warren received a B.A. in history and a B.S. in mathematics, physics, and astronomy from Pennsylvania State University. He earned an M.L.S. from UW–Madison, where he was a Koch Scholarship recipient. Warren’s project, working on the next generation of electronic reserves development, allows him to pursue his interests in digital library initiatives and distance education. His home department is the Burlington Textiles Library.
Joe Williams entered the Fellows Program after working as the support services coordinator at the Health Sciences Library at UNC–Chapel Hill. Williams supervised staff while providing departmental technical support for software and local-area network problems. Williams also worked as a library assistant and as a reference desk assistant at the Health Sciences Library. Williams earned a B.A. in environmental studies from Warren Wilson College and an M.S.L.S. from UNC–Chapel Hill. He contributed to a paper called “Journal Availability Study: A Tool For Determining User Access,” which received the “Best Research Paper” award at the 1998 Medical Library Association’s annual conference. Williams’s home department is the Natural Resources Library. His project, at the Veterinary Medical Library, will involve introducing and integrating the use of professional digital assistants (PDAs) into university education at the College of Veterinary Medicine.