Resume
Meredith Farkas, MSW, MLIS
EDUCATION
Masters of Information Studies August 2003 to December 2004
Florida State University School of Information Studies, Tallahassee, FL.
Focused on public service 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.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Head of Instructional Initiatives April 2008 to Present
Norwich University, Northfield, VT.
- Coordinates library instructional initiatives online and in the classroom
- Coordinates information literacy efforts of library faculty
- Coordinates library assessment
- Provides outreach to faculty to promote library instruction
- Provides information literacy instruction in the classroom and online
- Develops HTML and Flash tutorials to provide online instruction to students
- Develops innovative technologies to provide outreach and instruction
- Provide reference assistance to online and on-campus students
- Academic liaison to School of Social Sciences
Adjunct Faculty September 2007 to Present
San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
- Teaching Information Technology Tools and Applications – Advanced on social technologies in Spring semester, 2008 and Fall semester, 2008.
Columnist January 2007 to Present
American Libraries, Chicago, IL.
- Writer of monthly “Technology in Practice” column
Distance Learning Librarian August 2005 to March 2008
Norwich University, Northfield, VT.
- Responsible for library’s Web presence and Web redesign project
- Developed HTML and Flash tutorials to provide online instruction to students
- Academic liaison to School of Graduate Studies and Academic Computing
- Provided reference assistance to online and on-campus students
- Provided information literacy instruction to online and on-campus students
- Implemented new social technologies to improve services to patrons online
- Provided 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 Dynix ILS
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
PUBLICATIONS
Books
Farkas, M. G. (2007). Social Software in Libraries: Building Collaboration, Communication and Community Online. Medford, NJ: Information Today.
Farkas, M. G. (2007). “Training Librarians for the Future: Integrating Technology into LIS Education.” in Information Tomorrow: Reflections on Technology and the Future of Public & Academic Libraries, Rachel Singer Gordon, Ed. Medford, NJ: Information Today.
Articles
Farkas, M. G. “Technology in Practice.” American Libraries. Column written from February 2007 to present.
Farkas, M. G. (2007, January). Balancing the Online Life. American Libraries. 38(1), 42.
Farkas, M. G. (2006, June/July). A Glimpse at the Future of Online Conferences. American Libraries. 37(6), 28.
Farkas, M. G. (2005, September). Using Wikis to Create Online Communities. WebJunction..
Farkas, M. G. (2005, September). So You Want to Build a Wiki? WebJunction..
PRESENTATIONS
Conference Presentations
Keynote Presentations
Building Academic Library 2.0. UC Berkeley Academic Library 2.0 Conference, Berkeley, CA, November 2, 2007.
Driving the Technology Bus with Social Software, ACRL-ENY Annual Conference, Utica, NY, May 21, 2007.
Social Software in Higher Education, BMCC Tech Day, New York, NY, April 13, 2007.
Conference Presentations
User-Generated Content. Internet Librarian, Monterey, CA, October 29, 2007.
Promoting Play Through Online Discovery: Lego Building. Internet Librarian, Monterey, CA, October 29, 2007.
Power to the People: User-Generated Content in Digital Collections. Readex Digital Institute, Chester, VT, October 4, 2007.
Building the Social Library Online. Social Technologies in the Future of Library 2.0, Copenhagen, DK, September 27, 2007.
Free Your Content: RSS for Librarians (with Paul Pival). SirsiDynix Institute Webcast, August 7, 2007.
Social Software in Libraries. Vermont Library Association, College & Special Libraries Section, July 20, 2007.
Wiking the Blog and Walking the Dog - Social Software, Virtual Reality and Authority Everywhere (PLA LD). American Library Association Annual Conference, June 25, 2007.
Harnessing the Hive: Social Networks and Libraries (RUSA MARS). American Library Association Annual Conference, June 24, 2007.
Finding New and Creative Solutions through Library Think Tanks (ASCLA ICAN). American Library Association Annual Conference, June 24, 2007.
Building the Social Library Online. AISTI Conference, May 15, 2007.
Wikis: Enabling Collaboration in Libraries. Quebec Library Association Conference, May 4, 2007.
Building Collaboration, Communication and Community Online. Computers in Libraries, April 16, 2007.
Learning with Blogs and Wikis. Computers in Libraries April 17, 2007.
Wikis: Basics, Tools and Strategies. Computers in Libraries Preconference Workshop, April 15, 2007.
The Tools of Web 2.0. SLA Click U Live!, January 24, 2007.
Web 2.0 in Libraries: Theory and Practice. SLA Click U Live!, January 10, 2007.
Wiki: The Ultimate Tool for Online Collaboration. Michigan Library Consortium Conference, Lansing, MI, November 15, 2006.
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.
Going Where Your Students Are: Outreach in Social Networking Software. School of Graduate Studies Brown Bag Lunch, Northfield, VT, October 4, 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.
Social Software in Academic Libraries. Vermont Library Association Annual Conference, Burlington, VT, May 16, 2006.
Wikis for Beginners, Computers in Libraries, Washington, D.C., March 23, 2006.
Wiki World: An Introduction. OPAL Webcast, Online, January 12, 2006.
Workshops
Building Collaborative Applications with Wikis. Massachusetts School Library Association Annual Conference, Sturbridge, MA, November 10, 2007.
Academic Library 2.0. Internet Librarian Preconference, Monterey, CA, October 28, 2007.
Wikis: Basics, Tools & Strategies. Internet Librarian Preconference, Monterey, CA, October 28, 2007.
Wikis: Basics, Tools & Strategies. Computers in Libraries Preconference, Arlington, VA, April 15, 2006.
Wikis: Basics, Tools & Strategies. Internet Librarian Preconference, Monterey, CA, October 22, 2006.
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.
HONORS
2006 Library Journal Mover and Shaker
ONLINE PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Blog
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.
Online Education
Five Weeks to a Social Library: Developed the first free, grassroots, completely online course devoted to teaching librarians about social software and how to use it in their libraries.
Wikis
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.
MEMBERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Conference Organizing Committees
- Chair, Five Weeks to a Social Library (2006-2007)
- Chair, Library Track, HigherEd BlogCon (2005-2006)
Advisory Committees
- PBWiki (from 2006)
National Membership
- Jim Rettig Presidential Advisory Committee (2007)
- ACRL Virtual Conference Planning Committee (2007)
- LITA Top Technology Trends Expert (2007)
Institutional Membership
- Chair, User Interface Design Group
- School of Graduate Studies Course Development Committee
- Search Committee: Electronic Resource Librarian
- University Web Committee
- Library Council
SKILLS
- Web design : Proficient in HTML, XHTML, CSS and the use of Dreamweaver; some knowledge of PHP and JavaScript.
- Database design : MS Access and MySQL.
- Server administration: Administered server (Red Hat, CPanel), knowledge of UNIX commands.
- Graphic design and animation: Adobe Photoshop, Camtasia Studio, Macromedia Captivate, Flash and Fireworks.
