As Principal Cataloger at the Duke University Libraries, I provide leadership and cohesion in the continual design, implementation, and training on the application of cataloging standards and practices in Collections Services. I work to strengthen existing partnerships and work in close collaboration with CS managers across the system who are responsible for original and copy cataloging. In addition, I work with my colleagues to build on Duke’s longstanding participation in national and international programs, such as the Program for Cooperative Cataloging and the OCLC Member Merge program.
I also catalog monographic materials in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Galician, and related languages. I create and enhance bibliographic records in the global database WorldCat as well as in Duke's library catalog to ensure access to our rich collections of Latin American and Iberian materials by local users and researchers around the world. I also specialize in cataloging sequential art such as comic books, graphic novels, and comic strips.
Background
I have 29 years of experience as a technical services librarian in large academic libraries, most of which I've spent concentrating on Romance-language materials. Before coming to Duke in 2002, I worked as a Latin American and Iberian resources cataloger at Vanderbilt University and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I've been an active member of the American Library Association and have presented at conferences and in universities on library career issues, metadata, cataloging, diversity/equity/inclusion, and digital collections.
I'm a native of Raleigh and earned my BA in International Studies and MS in Library Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When I'm not at work, you may find me traveling the world: my favorite places include London, Dublin, Moorea, Lisbon, Taipei, Singapore, and Barcelona. My passion for the past couple of years has been learning the Irish language; I've taken several courses from the Coláiste na Rinne in the Gaeltacht na nDéise (Waterford Gaeltacht) and the Oideas Gael in the Gaeltacht Dhún na nGall (Donegal Gaeltacht); níl ach beagán Gaeilge agam, ach taitníonn an teanga liom. I was even an extra on an Irish-language TV soap! I'm also studying Catalan, which I can read and am now learning to speak and write.
