After working as a Catalog Librarian at the University of Illinois at Chicago and as a Metadata Librarian at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University, I worked as one of the editors of the Dewey Decimal Classification from June 2018 to October 2020. You can read more about what I accomplished in that position. I also served as the editor of the 23rd edition of the Sears List of Subject Headings. My current position is Cataloging & Metadata Librarian at Northwestern University’s Galter Health Sciences Library.

My goal is to create a community of people who care about the ethics of classification and cataloging.

logo of the Cataloging Lab.One of the ways I’ve worked towards that goal is the creation of the Cataloging Lab, launched in January 2018. Based on a project devised with fellow catalogers Jess Schomberg, Catherine Oliver, and Netanel Ganin, the Cataloging Lab is a wiki designed to promote cooperation in proposing revisions and additions to the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Non-catalogers and catalogers can work together to do the research required to submit proposals to LC. Read more about the project in my Library Journal article “Creating Change in the Cataloging Lab” or watch the recording of the June 2018 Carterette Series Webinar on “Experimenting with Controlled Vocabulary: Using the Cataloging Lab to Shape LCSH“.

My alma mater, the University of Washington iSchool, wrote a profile of me in March 2020: “iSchool alumna makes Dewey work for everyone“.

scholarly publications:

interviews:

  • Cataloging (podcast guest), Linking Our Libraries podcast, April 2019

presentations:

  • The Solution Is Community: Problem Solving in Classification (invited keynote panel presentation), NETSL Annual Conference, April 2024
  • Inclusive Cataloging: Maintaining Your Momentum (invited webinar), RAILS [Reaching Across Illinois Library System], November 2023
  • Toward Evidence-Based Cataloging Ethics: Research, Practice, and Training in Knowledge Organization (panel presentation with Diane Rasmussen McAdie, Deborah Lee, Karen Snow, and Elizabeth Shoemaker), ASIS&T Annual Meeting, October 2023
  • Changing the Representation of Disabilities in Description & Classification (presentation with Mackenzie Johnson, Trina Soderquist, and Carlie Forsythe), ALA Annual Conference, June 2023
  • Promoting Reflection on Cataloging Work Relating to Indigenous Peoples (lightning talk), ALA Annual Conference, June 2023
  • Collaborative Approaches to Improving MeSH (lightning talk with Kelleen Maluski), Medical Library Association conference, May 2023
  • The Power to Change Sears is in Your Hands (invited presentation), Library and Information Association of South Africa’s South African Library Week 2023 / Interest Group for Bibliographic Standards, March 2023
  • GLAMS Community Activism in Technical Services (panel presentation with Margaret Breidenbaugh, Michelle Cronquist, Maya Espersen, Adam Schiff, and Adrian Williams), Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Cataloging & Technical Services online conference, February 2023
  • The Past and Future of Inclusive Cataloging (invited presentation), Library Journal Jumpstart Inclusive Cataloging online workshop, November 2022
  • Introducing 23 Linked Data Things: Let’s Get Learning! (presentation with Lizzy Baus and Sara Ring), Minnesota Library Association conference, October 2022
  • The Power of Wikidata: Revealing Digital Collections at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Wikimedia+Libraries International Convention 2022, July 2022
  • Pushing the Boulder, Pushing the Envelope: Embracing the Iterative Nature of Improving Metadata (invited keynote), Metadata Justice in Oklahoma Libraries & Archives Symposium, July 2022
  • Making Your Library’s Accessible Resources More Discoverable (presentation with David Norris), Carterette Series Webinar, March 2022
  • You’ve Got Accessible Resources: Can Your Users Find Them? (presentation with David Norris), Minitex Technical Services Symposium, November 2021
  • Transparency & Change in Knowledge Organization Systems (invited presentation), IFLA World Library and Information Congress, August 2021
  • Not Really Acing It: Accessing Asexuality in Academic Libraries (lightning talk with Haviva Avirom), Cataloging Queer Library Issues, August 2021
  • DEI and the PCC: a Conversation (discussion with Amber Billey and Tina Gross), Program for Cooperative Cataloging Virtual Meeting, February 2021
  • Casting a Critical Eye on Cataloging and Classification, Connecticut Library Association Technical Services Section Fall Program, November 2020
  • Critical Cataloging: Revealing and Dismantling Hegemonic Systems (informal virtual discussion with Treshani Perera), Metropolitan New York Library Council, October 2020
  • Critical Cataloging Power Hour (presentation with Heidy Berthoud, Whitney Buccicone, and David Heilbrun), Potomac Technical Processing Librarians annual meeting, October 2020
  • Ethical Cataloging (workshop with Gretchen Neidhardt), OLAC 2020 conference, October 2020
  • Big and Bold: the Audacity of Shared Metadata (invited keynote), CILIP MDG (Metadata and Discovery Group), September 2020
  • Harm Reduction in Library Classification, Northeast Ohio Regional Library System workshop, March 2020
  • Addressing Bias in Your Catalog (presentation with Tammy Moorse and Tiffany Wilson), Public Library Association conference, February 2020
  • Implementing Local Alternatives to the “Illegal aliens” LCSH (presentation with Tina Gross, Cate Kellett, and Karl Pettitt), ALA Midwinter, January 2020
  • Imagine the Possibilities: RDA-LRM, Authority, and Social Justice (presentation with Stephen Nonte), Minitex Technical Services Symposium, November 2019
  • No Gods, No Masters, and Instead Coalitional, Honest, Kind, Non-Abusive, Anti-Oppressive, Real-Deal, On the Ground, Radical Librarianship (panel with Lacey Torge, K. Adler, and Kit Rashid), Maintainers III Conference, October 2019
  • Harm Reduction in Library Classification, IDEAL Conference, August 2019
  • Cataloging the Living (presentation with Joshua Barton), ALA Annual Conference, June 2019
  • The Cataloging Lab: Your Invitation to the Super Secret Process of Changing Library Classification, ABQLA (Association des bibliothécaires du Québec / Quebec Library Association) Conference, May 2019
  • Creating a Collaborative Approach to Classification: Moving Beyond “This System Sucks”, Conference on Inclusion and Diversity in LIS, November 2018
  • Experiments in Controlled Vocabulary Improvement: How You Can Effect Change in Library Catalogs, New Librarian Summit, August 2018
  • The Cataloging Lab: Encouraging Collaboration for a More Effective & Inclusive LCSH Proposal Process, ALA Annual Conference, June 2018
  • Catalogers’ Insights on Critical Information Literacy Strategies (presentation with Naomi Skulan), Minnesota Library Association Academic & Research Libraries Division Day, April 2018
  • The Gestalt of Authority Work: Making Sense of Identity Management, ALA Midwinter, February 2018
  • Never Forget Who You Really Work For: Radical Cataloging and the Case for Local Adaptation (panel presentation with Tina Gross, Hannah Buckland, and Jessica Schomberg), Minnesota Library Association conference, October 2017
  • Mavericks!: How Embracing Your Inner Nonconformist Makes Our Catalogs Better (presentation with Catherine Oliver and Stephen Nonte), Lake Superior Libraries Symposium, June 2017
  • Behind the Curtain: Demystifying the Subject Approval Process (workshop with Catherine Oliver, Jessica Schomberg, and Netanel Ganin), ACRL conference, March 2017
  • What Exactly is an “Action-Adventure” Game, Anyway?: Providing Intelligent Access to Video Games (presentation with Jin Ha Lee et al.), ALA Midwinter, January 2013
  • Everyday Cataloger Concerns: Focus on Education (presentation with Allyson Carlyle, Rachel Ivy Clarke, Paul J. Weiss), ALA Midwinter, January 2013

professional leadership: