Hi all,

Here are some things that I bring to the table. I got a handle on some of this in my previous career as a digital archivist at a media company, where I helped build, design, and launch a number of archive projects/products, working across *constituencies* and with many *stakeholders* (and have the argot to prove it). Now as a teacher, I like to think that all of my lesson-planning and focus on presenting and conveying meaning also informs my approach to our class. Most days are a logic problem in reverse: I know the ideal outcome of each lesson, but figuring out how to get there sequentially is what it’s all about. This is not unrelated to project development, I think.

Outreach: I recently stepped down as a founding co-editor of a (then) brand-new digital magazine for librarians and archivists. This involved raising awareness, getting in touch with partners and vendors, and generally building the case for why we mattered. Lotsa standard stuff re: social media and putting together announcements and going to meetings, etc.

Project Manager: Through assisting in planning and implementing a number of archive projects, I’ve worked to get different partners and players to talk in common languages, hew to best practices and deadlines, and respect all workflows and schedules. My volunteer editing experience definitely helped with this, too.

Designer/UX: In helping build digital archives, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how sites should look, feel, and function. I have some site design experience and feel comfortable with basic publishing platforms. Definitely a skill-set I’m looking to build on.

Developer: Relatively little experience in this area and so I fear that this would be biting off more than I could chew. I have interest in learning alongside my team’s developer, but in the interest of efficiency, I’m probably not the team member best suited for this role.

Also wanted to echo Julia’s support in encouraging all of these great projects, and toss in my support for Daria’s pitch, too, which sounds rad.

Willingness and interest in learning: I think that as students, we all pretty much have this. That said, I spent a good portion of my Winter break learning Python. As such, I am willing to take on roles that I am unfamiliar with, and step outside my comfort zone (like the soon-to-be dreaded developer role). Aside from Python, I went to most of the workshops last semester, and followed up study on several languages. Aside from Python, I am interested in R and Ruby, but have not looked into them as deeply thus far. I learned basic coding in high school in C++ (let’s just use C++, right??) and HTML via tending to my Neopets back to 2002. Better times.

I like to write and communicate: My Bachelors is in English. I write every day and I enjoy doing it. However, I also love speaking–even public speaking! As such, I think that the Outreach Coordinator is a solid fit for me. In my own project proposal, I realized that the OC is going to be a large undertaking, and I am sure the same rings true for many of the projects we intend to work on. That said, I have a great deal of confidence in all of you and your projects. I believe that we are capable of succeeding, and I would like to share this conclusion with the world such that they might help us achieve our goals.

I believe in simplicity: I do not believe in spending four syllables where one would suffice. I prefer to speak and write in the simplest terms as possible. Does this make me a good designer? My style is minimalist, as can be seen from the website I tend to (where I post & host my podcast). I mostly work in templates, and know very little CSS. I am familiar with Adobe Photoshop, but that’s pretty much it. I would love to work with someone who knows more about design programs.

Strong memory and time management: My primary goal in my own project was to ensure that I could achieve my base goals by the end of the semester. I think it’s very exciting that many of you have theory-crafted projects that will take a considerable amount of time and effort. If I undertake the role of project manager I want to ensure that by the end of the semester, we have something to show for all of our efforts. This might mean cutting and streamlining the project down to a very “alpha” state. I am more than willing to create timelines and deadlines to make this happen.

In summation: I love working with people. I have great respect for the people in this class, and regardless of which project and role I end up doing, I will be happy. I am ready and willing to jump into any position, but I want to work on a project that has a lot of bleed between roles, such that I can learn a little of this and a little of that.

Regardless of our tentative successes and failures, I am very interested in seeing what happens.  Maybe it’ll all turn into one big romantic comedy and Steve can break it down for us shot-by-shot.

Hi All, great to see everyone last week! Thoughts on how I could contribute to a project below.

Project Management: In my day job I do a lot of this. Am currently managing two surveys, one to measure the diversity of museum employees in North America and the other requesting data from academic libraries to measure Amazon’s market share of University Press print books. I’m getting okay at juggling.

Outreach: Also jives with my day job, particularly a project I’m on as a sustainability consultant for an open access journal (PPJ) starting out of Penn State/Michigan State’s Matrix, where I’m working to identify partners to help grow the project. I’m also eager to explore CUNY’s infrastructure, and relationship with NYPL, to identify different homes for various kinds of work (it is so vast!).

Developer: I don’t have much experience but am eager to learn, especially because it would be a departure from the daily grind. I’ve completed HTML/CSS and JavaScript code academy courses, some python, and have played around in R a bit. I’m into hunting down the answers on GitHub and Stack Overflow.

Designer: I have played around with the basics here- building a personal site and using the basics of Photoshop. But I don’t have any real training.