Meredith Farkas, MSW, MLIS

Masters of Information Studies August 2003 to December 2004
Florida State University School of Information Studies , Tallahassee, FL.
Focused on public services librarianship and Information Architecture.

Masters of Social Work August 1999 to April 2001
Florida State University School of Social Work , Tallahassee, FL.
Focused on clinical social work and administration.

International Study Program January 1998 to June 1998
Denmark's International Study Program , Copenhagen, DK
Studied European History, sociology, political science, and Danish language.

Bachelor of Arts August 1995 to May 1999
Wesleyan University , Middletown, CT.
Graduated with a degree in American History with honors.

Distance Learning Librarian August 2005 to Present
Norwich University, Northfield, VT.

• Responsible for library's Web presence and Web redesign project
• Develop HTML and Flash tutorials to provide online instruction to students
• Academic liaison to School of Graduate Studies and Academic Computing
• Provide reference assistance to online and on-campus students
• Provide bibliographic instruction to online and on-campus students
• Implement new social technologies to improve services to patrons online
• Provide instruction to library staff on new technologies.

Archivist Intern April 2004 to August 2004
Florida Atlantic University Special Collections Department, Boca Raton, FL.

• Cataloged, processed, and organized a historical collection
• Created finding aids
• Appraised books for inclusion in Special Collections

Library Assistant July 2003 to January 2004
Boca Raton Public Library, Boca Raton, FL.

• Provided reference assistance to patrons at the information desk
• Assisted patrons in using the computer
• Worked at the circulation desk
• Registered patrons for library cards
• Worked with the library's catalog system

Family Therapist September 2002 to May 2003
Catholic Charities' Bridges to Success Program, Riviera Beach, FL.

• Provided in-home family counseling and assessment to low-income families in distress
• Supervised and trained Social Work interns
• Met with community leaders to market the program and determine community needs.
• Advocated for families in the schools and with other community organizations
• Involved in grant writing and contract negotiation
• Designed marketing materials for the program

School-Based Therapist May 2001 to June 2002
South County Mental Health, Delray Beach, FL.

• Provided individual and family therapy to school-aged clients with mental health diagnoses
• Designed creative therapeutic activities for children
• Worked with school personnel to market the program and to advocate for clients

Graduate Research Assistant August 1999 to January 2001
Florida State University School of Social Work, Tallahassee, FL

• Provided research assistance to faculty and staff
• Designed a database to track donors to the School of Social Work
• Designed marketing materials
• Wrote fundraising correspondences
• Assisted in planning fundraising events

Farkas, M. G. (2007 in press). Social Software in Libraries: Building Collaboration, Communication and Community Online. Medford, NJ: Information Today.

Farkas, M. G. (2006, June/July). A Glimpse at the Future of Online Conferences. American Libraries. 37(6), 28.

Farkas, M. G. (2005). Using Wikis to Create Online Communities. WebJunction.

Farkas, M. G. (2005). So You Want to Build a Wiki? WebJunction.

National and International Presentations

Building Collaboration With Wikis. ACRL Fall Virtual Institute, Online, November 9, 2006.

Wikis: Creating Collaboration in Libraries, Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries October Conference: Cool Tools and New Technologies. Hanover, NH, October 27, 2006.

Wikis for Beginners. Internet Librarian, Monterey, CA, October 24, 2006.

The RSS & Javascript Cookbook: Rip, Mix, Burn. Internet Librarian, Monterey, CA, October 24, 2006.

Riding the Shift: Keeping Up and Staying Sane, Education Institute Webcast. Online, September 21, 2006.

Riding the Shift: On Being a Successful 21st Century Librarian. Education Institute Webcast, Online, September 14, 2006.

Wikis: Enabling Library Knowledgebases. Wikimania, Boston, MA, August 5, 2006.

Wiki: The Ultimate Tool for Online Collaboration, SirsiDynix Institute Webcast, Online, July 15, 2006.

Wikis for Beginners, Computers in Libraries, Washington, D.C., March 23, 2006.

Wiki World: An Introduction. OPAL Webcast, Online, January 12, 2006.

State and Local Presentations

Wiki: The Ultimate Tool for Online Collaboration. Michigan Library Consortium Conference, Lansing, MI, November 15, 2006.

Going Where Your Students Are: Outreach in Social Networking Software. School of Graduate Studies Brown Bag Lunch, Northfield, VT, October 4, 2006.

Social Software in Academic Libraries. Vermont Library Association Annual Conference, Burlington, VT, May 16, 2006.

Workshops

Wikis: Basics, Tools & Strategies. Internet Librarian Preconference, Monterey, CA, October 22, 2006.

Consulting

Wiki: The Untimate Tool for Online Collaboration. American Library Association, Chicago, IL. September 25, 2006.

Wikis: Getting to the Nitty Gritty. American Library Association, Chicago, IL. September 25, 2006.

2006 Library Journal Mover and Shaker.

Blogs

Information Wants To Be Free: A professional blog containing software reviews and commentary about issues related to librarianship, intellectual freedom, technology, and improving services to patrons.

TechEssence: A collaborative Web site offering white papers and blog posts on a variety of technology topics.

Wikis

ALA 2006 New Orleans Wiki: Designed and hosted the official wiki for the American Library Association's Annual Conference in New Orleans.

ALA 2005 Chicago Wiki: Designed a wiki with information about the American Library Association's Annual Conference and Chicago for those attending the conference.

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki: Designed a wiki to become a repository for innovative ideas in libraries. This wiki receives approximately 8,000 visits per month and collect contributions daily from members of the library profession worldwide.

Conference Organizing Committees

• Five Weeks to a Social Library. (2006-2007)
• HigherEd BlogCon (2005-2006)

Advisory Committees

• PBWiki (from 2006)
• TechSmith Camtasia (from 2005)

National Membership

• American Library Association
• Association of College and Research Libraries
• Library and Information Technology Association
• New Member Roundtable

State Membership

• Vermont Library Association

Institutional Membership

• Chair, User Interface Design Group
• School of Graduate Studies Course Development Committee

• Web design : Proficient in HTML, XHTML, CSS and the use of Dreamweaver; some knowledge of PHP and JavaScript.
• Database design : MS Access and MySQL.
• Graphic design and animation: Adobe Photoshop, Camtasia Studio, Macromedia Captivate, Flash and Fireworks.
• Languages : Some reading knowledge of French and Spanish.
• Managerial : Experience with project management, supervising interns, fundraising, and grant writing.