Brian Conlan [email protected] 95 Nevada Ave. Asheville, NC 28806 507.663.6049
Highlights
● Ten years combined library experience– in both public and academic libraries– in a variety of roles including creative technologies, acquisitions, reference, instruction, circulation, and interlibrary loan. ● Strong interest in educational technology– primarily DIY computing projects, cloud-based collaborative workflows, and the impact of mobile devices on coursework, fieldwork, and research. ● Savvy with web and desktop technology- including Microsoft, Mac, and Open Office suites, social networking software, blogs and basic website design, and Internet searching.
Education
Master of Library and Information Sciences, December 2008 St. Catherine University, St. Paul, Minnesota Awarded by Dominican University, River Forest, Illinois
Bachelor of Arts, English, May 1998 St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota
Library Experience
Acquisitions and Emerging Technologies Librarian 01/2013–Present Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, NC
Reference and Instruction Librarian 12/2008–12/2012 St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN Provide general reference at the reference desk and via individual research appointments and serve as instruction and collection development liaison to Social Sciences departments including Political Science, Psychology, Nursing, Sociology/Anthropology, Education, Economics, and Exercise Science. ● Provide general, point of need reference service at public reference desk, via email and IM, and in individual research consultations ● Develop and lead assignment-based, curriculum-integrated bibliographic instruction sessions ● Create and maintain general subject and course-specific research guides using LibGuides software ● Serve as 3 year term member of Bridge Consortium Leadership Group ● Serve as reference department member of the Public Access Working Group- a consortial task force comprised of librarians from St. Olaf College and Carleton College charged with addressing user access issues with joint library catalog ● Serve on combined (St. Olaf and Carleton) Discovery Tool Task Force- charged with evaluating and recommending web-scale discovery tools for potential implementation in Fall, 2012 ● Serve on web advisory team responsible for design and maintenance of library website ● Serve on library space redesign committee responsible for designed upcoming library renovation
Interlibrary Loan / Circulation Associate 6/2007–12/2008 St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN Coordinated the Interlibrary Loan department with one part-time associate and cooperated with three coworkers in the Circulation department of Rølvaag Memorial Library. ● Initiated and processed Interlibrary Loan transactions with local, national, and international libraries utilizing OCLC ILLiad software ● Collected and compiled patron request and circulation statistics to inform best practice evaluations ● Managed Interlibrary Loan patron database ● Maintained ILLiad lender information ● Maintained public view of St. Olaf policies ● Managed ILL billing policies and procedures ● Trained and supervised 5 student workers in ILL and approximately 40 student workers in Circulation ● Coordinated material exchange with consortial partner Carleton College ● Maintained relationships with local consortiums, the Minitex Library Information Network, and the broader ILL community
Information Assistant 12/2004–6/2007 Dakota County Inver Glen Library, Inver Grove Heights, MN Staffed the Circulation/Customer Service desk in a small public library, specifically: ● Provided customer service to a diverse population in person and over the telephone ● Checked in and out library materials ● Received and balanced fees and fines ● Processed new library materials ● Managed newspaper collection ● Coordinated library booksale ● Processed damaged and incompletely returned items ● Assisted Children’s Librarian with coordinating the 2005 Summer Reading Club Program for over 700 children. ○ Responsibilities included promoting activities, contacting donors and coordinating teenage volunteers. ● Served on the Health and Safety and Audio/Visual Services committees ● Received Letter of Recognition for “excellent level of customer service” from the Dakota County Public Services and Revenue CHEER Recognition and Reward Program 2006.
Skills
● Excellent public relations skills ● Experienced with Macs, PC’s and respective Operating Systems and software ● Familiar with bibliographic management software including EndNote, Refworks, Zotero, and Mendeley ● Frequent user of social networking software ● Keen user of web and mobile applications and devices ● Knowledge of basic HTML and CSS ● Knowledge of library-specific applications including Innovative Millennium and Sierra ILS, ILLiad, and LibGuides ● Skilled user of online catalogs, search engines, and proprietary databases and indexes ● Avid follower of library and information technology trends and scholarly publishing issues
Initiatives
● Creation of the Creative Technologies Lab and accompanying student crew in the Library at Warren Wilson College. A open workshop space dedicated to exploration into technologies supporting 3D modeling, micro- computing, audio/video production, craft design and much more. ● Warren Wilson College Technology Fellows. An ongoing, selective fellowship designed to encourage technological applications in curriculum and syllabus design. ● Co-creation and maintenance of Emerging Tech in Libraries collaborative wiki. ● iPad Learning Community: iPads in Higher Education A joint project of the Library and IIT department. A collaborative faculty/staff learning community exploring the use of iPads and others mobile devices in teaching and learning during the spring semester of 2012.
Presentations
● “Creating and Sustaining a Faculty/Staff Learning Community to Explore iPads in Higher Education.” Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) 2013, Indianapolis, Indiana. April 12, 2013. ● “Improving Library Resource Discovery: Exploring the Possibilities of VuFind and Web Scale Discovery in a Consortial Environment.” Library Technology Conference 2012, Macalester College. March 14-15, 2012.
Opportunites
● ACA Teaching and Learning Institute. Invited library faculty, Lenoir Rhyne Universtiy. June 1-5, 2015.
Courses Taught / Co-Taught
● Independent Study. MAT 299: Introduction to Database Languages ● PHI 377: Poets and Dictators: Art, Politics, and Philosophy in Modern Germany (w/ Jay Miller) A study away course including travel to Berlin, Weimar, and Dessau in Germany.
Publications
● Leebaw, D., Conlan, B., Gonnerman, K., Johnston, S., & Sinkler-Miller, C. (2013, June). Improving Library Resource Discovery: Exploring the possibilities of VuFind and web-scale discovery. Journal of Web Librarianship, 7(2). doi:10.1080/19322909.2013.785825