Dana Currier, Project Cataloging Assistant (2010-2011)
I am a part-time Project Cataloging Assistant working on the CLIR French pamphlet project. I have a master’s degree in French literature and have taught French language classes to undergraduates. I became interested in this project because I was hoping to find a new way to use my background in French. Because I have spent several years doing research, cataloging these materials has been an enlightening experience. I never realized how much analysis goes into cataloging and how much restraint must be exercised to avoid over-analyzing the material.
See blog posts by Dana.
Jennifer Dunlap, Project Cataloging Assistant
I come from a music background, having earned degrees in Music Education (B.Mus., Mansfield University of Pennsylvania) and Musicology (M.A., University of Iowa), and am now working on a completing my MLIS degree at Dominican University (River Forest, IL). My primary area of research is late-medieval liturgical music in manuscripts. My thesis was a paleographic study of a late 14th century Italian noted missal housed in the University of Iowa Libraries, Special Collections. More recently I have worked with some miscellaneous medieval manuscript leaves, which are part of the 8000 Manuscript collection in the Special Collections & Archives at Dominican University, transcribing the text, creating digital images, and attempting to ascertain provenance information. With my interest in working with primary source materials I am excited to work with the materials in the French pamphlet collections. Outside of the library I enjoy playing piano, biking the lakefront, and playing Scrabble.
See blog posts by Jennifer D.
Jessica Grzegorski, Cataloging Project Librarian
As Cataloging Project Librarian at the Newberry Library since 2008, I have worked on several grant-funded cataloging projects, including the Newberry’s current CLIR project, for which I am responsible for the day-to-day training and reviewing of the Project Cataloging Assistants’ work. I have a B.A. in French Language and Literature (Loyola University Chicago, 2004) and an MS in Library and Information Science (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2009) with a Certificate in Special Collections. The CLIR grant for cataloging the Newberry’s extensive French pamphlet collections has afforded me the opportunity to cultivate and share my interest in French literature, history, and culture with a broad group of potential researchers. I particularly appreciate both the challenge of cataloging largely ephemeral collections and the broad potential of such ephemeral works for many avenues of scholarship. When I am not cataloging our many thousands of pamphlets, I’m usually attempting increasingly elaborate recipes for soup, practicing yoga, tinkering with cameras, and traveling at any given opportunity.
See blog posts by Jessica.
Anna Gutierrez, Project Cataloging Assistant
Coming from more of a language/language instruction background, I was delighted to discover another way to put my French language knowledge to work. I received my B.A. in Language (French, Spanish, and linguistics) from the University of California, at Riverside in 2008, and my M.A. in French Language and Literature from the University of Notre Dame in 2010. I was drawn to this project not only because of the French appeal, but also because I intend to pursue a M.S. in Library and Information Science in the future and hope to work with special collections. That being said, the exposure from this project is an exciting opportunity for me! With my free time I love to cook and bake, and recently my newest hobby has been trying not to get lost more than 2 times while navigating my way through Chicago. The progress is slow, but I am confident that improvement (at some level) shall be achieved in the future!
Shawn Keener, Project Cataloging Assistant
My training is in music history: I am a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago, writing a dissertation on sixteenth-century Venetian song, a project drawing deeply on Italian popular literature and making extensive use of ephemeral materials. As a Fulbright fellow, I spent 2007-2008 in Venice doing dissertation research. I come to the the French pamphlet project, therefore, with first-hand experience as a researcher and an appreciation of the pamphlet collection’s value to scholars. Working on the project is an exciting opportunity to dig deeply into the Revolutionary era, further develop my French skills, and learn about library science from the inside. Away from the library, I sing and play early music (and jazz when no one’s around). I used to be a trumpet player but am now just a trumpet owner. I’m an aspiring photographer, a neophyte cook, a would-be documentarian, and a fair to middlin’ Venetian-style rower.
See blog posts by Shawn.
Eric Nygren, Cataloging Project Librarian (2010)
I was formerly a Cataloging Projects Librarian at the Newberry Library when we began working on the CLIR grant, affectionately know in-house as the French pamphlet project. As cataloger for the Newberry, I had the opportunity to create original records for materials in various formats from across several of the Library’s general and special collections, the highlights of which were cataloging books and maps for a sizeable cartogeographic collection, as well as cataloging a large number of first editions, manuscripts, biographic and other materials in a collection by and about Arthur Conan Doyle.
After completing my MLS, I began studying French and developed good skills speaking, reading, writing, and understanding the language. Working with the Cataloging Projects Manager, both my cataloging experience and linguistic abilities played a valuable role in developing the workflow and training tools for the project, and in ensuring the project’s successful operation on a day-to-day basis. While I currently serve the Library as Acquisitions Manager, I am glad to have the chance to occasionally do some cataloging — mostly in English these days.
See blog posts by Eric.
David Sanborne, Project Cataloging Assistant
I am a full-time Project Cataloging Assistant. I have my BA in East Asian Studies and Religious Studies from North Central College in Naperville, IL, with a minor in Japanese. I obtained my Masters of Library and Information Science at Dominican University in River Forest, IL, in May 2011. I came to this project because it really reflects my personal interests and background (although you might not be able to tell based on my academic credentials). I have taken 11 years of French classes but somehow managed to avoid getting a degree in French, a decision that was influenced in large part by constantly being reprimanded by my professors for having an “inappropriate” writing style. Luckily for my coworkers, this project does not require me to write in French. In my rare free time, I enjoy cooking, reading, listening to music (preferably at the same time), practicing and teaching martial arts, traveling, and playing the saxophone.
See blog posts by David.
Kate Swisher, Project Cataloging Assistant (2010-2011)
I joined the CLIR French pamphlet project as a full-time Project Cataloging Assistant back in February. I had just finished a B.A. in French with a minor in History, so this position came along at the perfect time for me. After studying French literature for four years and deciding that I didn’t want to teach, I had nearly given up on the idea of being able to use my language skills in a professional capacity. I was delighted to find that in my new position, I could put my academic background to use while furthering my interest in history and material culture.
Working with pamphlets from the French Revolution as physical artifacts is in itself a rewarding experience. Although I’m approaching these artifacts from a cataloger’s perspective, the history enthusiast in me is blown away by the potential usefulness of this collection for research and scholarship. It’s an exciting collection to work with, and I hope that researchers who come to the Newberry will feel the same way.
See blog posts by Kate S.
Kate Techtow, Cataloging Project Librarian
I first heard of the CLIR French pamphlet cataloging project near the completion of my M.S. in Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois. My master’s coursework had centered on technology in libraries, archives, and museums, as well as Technical Services topics. While pursuing the M.S., I also completed a summer practicum at the Newberry Library, where I worked with a USGS topographic map collection and learned the basics of map cataloging. I happily discovered that cataloging work suited my detail-oriented nature, and required concentrated bursts of research and puzzle-solving to produce accurate, complete, and useful records. The pamphlet project was an exciting prospect for me because it combined my newly-found interest in cataloging with a long-standing interest in foreign language, and specifically, French language materials, which were my focus when I obtained my B.A. in French Studies.
See blog posts by Kate T.
Jennifer Thom, Cataloging Projects Manager
As the Cataloging Projects Manager at the Newberry Library, I am responsible for planning, writing grants and coordinating the activities for several interesting and important cataloging projects. In addition to the French Pamphlet Project, we are currently working on projects to catalog the Roger S. Baskes Collection of atlases and cartographic material; the Sister Ann Ida Gannon Initiative to conserve and catalog about 8,000 titles relating to religion in the early modern period, ca. 1500 – 1750; and completing work on the McCormick Theological Seminary Collection.
Before coming to the Newberry in 2003, I worked as the Curator of Photography and Digital Projects Manager at the Western History/Genealogy Department (Denver Public Library), as the Director of the Hamtramck (Mich.) Public Library and at the University of Michigan Rare Book and Special Collections Library. My educational background is in Medieval Studies and Art History and I am the only member of the French Pamphlet team who does not speak or read French. I am, however, pretty good at navigating French menus.
See blog posts by Jennifer.