Overview
Seeking a position in writing/editing/media or libraries following an 11-year stint as Director of Content Research/Head Librarian at the Orange County Register newspaper.
Career Experience
Director of Content Research and Head Librarian
Freedom Communications/The Orange County Register
May 2003 – June 2014
Began as a researcher/writer working in the News Research library at the newspaper, providing in-depth information to reporters and writing supplementary pieces to accompany articles. Promoted to Director of Content Research/Head Librarian in November 2008 with the following responsibilities:
– Oversaw all library operations, including supervising other researchers and archivists.
– Performed research for the newsroom, including public records, person finding, microfilm research, in-depth archive research, research of other publications, and general reference questions. This includes writing biographical/timeline/infobox information for the paper on a regular basis.
– Wrote weekly news quiz from 2006-2014, “Behind the News” articles on the A2 and A3 pages, provided graphics reporting and background information, and wrote occasional feature articles. Received 790 bylines and more than 3,000 contribution lines during my time at the newspaper.
– Handled all requests from the public (and other publications) for reuse of our material, including stories, graphics, headlines and full pages. Dealt extensively with television production companies, book publishers, authors and documentary filmmakers to reach mutually beneficial agreements for use of newspaper archive materials.
– Maintained communication and relationships with data partners (Including Lexis-Nexis, Newsbank, Proquest, and others) regarding our products and data, negotiating contracts and solving any problems that arose.
– Helped maintain collections for the Orange County Register News Research library, including books, maps, microfilm, newspapers, and special collections.
Technical Support
Dane-Elec
February 2002 – December 2002
Long-term temporary position doing technical support and Q&A testing for Irvine-based computer memory company. Provided phone and email-based technical support to customers, tested user-returned products in-house, and performed Q&A testing for new products.
Director of Market Research
Atrenet
1999 – 2001
Marketing and research position for then-startup web services company in the Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay area. Provided in-depth marketing reports on new internet technology, competitors, and potential clients. Worked developing and testing new web-based products for the company, as well as marketing those products in emerging web technologies and services.
Education
Bachelor of Arts – American Popular Culture
University of California, Santa Cruz
Individually created major field of study with faculty support. Major areas of study included English lit, media, communications, theater, and radio. Served as News Director at KZSC 88.1 FM, and produced/was the on-air talent for a weekly 3-hour radio program featuring comedy music.
Additional Information
– Media/pop culture writer/enthusiast, regularly blogging in various personal and professional capacities since 1999.
– Expert user of Facebook, Twitter and a host of other social media technologies. Familiar with advanced privacy and database issues in social media, APIs and company information.
– Proficient in HTML, familiar with CSS, PHP, CGI and other web technologies. Have maintained web hosting technology for more than 15 years.