Blog

Writing about library systems, technology, and the occasional side project.

• Building AI Literacy at Scale: A CUNY Libraries Experiment
  February 18, 2026
  Three weeks into a peer mentoring cohort where 13 CUNY librarians are building practical AI tools and developing critical evaluation skills. Read more →
• We Read the Release Notes So You Don't Have To
  August 2, 2025
  One year into Shelf Help, here’s what we’ve learned about making library systems feel less like a black box. Read more →
• From Isolation to Collaboration: Implementing Co-Working Hour in a Remote Library Team
  June 14, 2024
  Implementing a daily virtual co-working hour during remote work transformed our isolated library systems team into a collaborative unit that achieved 100% voluntary participation. Read more →
• Life with Pi: Microcomputing in Academia
  December 9, 2013
  At the 2013 CUNY IT Conference, we demonstrated how affordable single-board computers like Raspberry Pi can transform academia through creative projects ranging from RFID pet feeders to classroom web servers... Read more →
• Using Adobe Digital Editions on an Ubuntu desktop
  November 17, 2013
  I installed Ubuntu but panicked when I couldn't install Adobe Digital Editions for my e-reader—until I discovered how to use Wine and Winetricks to get ADE working perfectly. Read more →
• Linking to Aleph OPAC and search results
  October 28, 2013
  Linking to Aleph OPAC searches requires removing session IDs from URLs and using specific parameters like find_scan_code—here's how to create persistent, proxied links. Read more →
• User-triggered error reporting in EZproxy
  October 18, 2013
  I enhanced EZproxy's needhost.htm with a Google Form that lets users report access errors—collecting browser data automatically and emailing me the results for quick troubleshooting. Read more →
• Drupal 7: Friendly URLs for personal user contact forms
  September 17, 2013
  Migrating from Drupal 6 to 7, I hit a wall when user contact forms wouldn't follow my Pathauto URL patterns—until I discovered the Sub-pathauto module fixed it perfectly. Read more →
• Video tutorials a la carte
  September 27, 2011
  Our library instructional videos turned out exactly as envisioned—short tutorials students can email to themselves, created through collaboration across campus departments. Read more →
• An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain
  July 27, 2011
  Reviewing 239 student citations revealed that 62.8% came from websites, not library databases—making me question whether we should teach Google skills before database searching. Read more →
• The one where four librarians become superstars
  June 30, 2011
  Four librarians used the campus film studio's teleprompter and green screen to create Google-style instructional videos—short, sweet tutorials under one minute each. Read more →
• The more I see the less I know
  January 28, 2011
  After 3 weeks of design iterations, my RefWorks flyer is ready for campus-wide distribution—including 4 workshops scheduled at different times to accommodate all schedules. Read more →
• It all comes down to this
  January 21, 2011
  Leading my library's e-book project, I created a CUNY Academic Commons group and used my beloved whiteboard to storyboard a stop-motion promo video about heavy textbooks vs e-readers. Read more →
• A show of hands from those in this audience of one
  January 12, 2011
  Becoming RefWorks Administrator with only 3.8% faculty adoption, I'm planning workshops that start by auto-generating bibliographies from 50+ citations to show the tool's magic immediately. Read more →
• Just laugh it off, it's better than it seems
  November 30, 2010
  I finally get it—dressing professionally isn't vanity but necessity when you're younger than students, helping them identify you as staff who can actually help with research questions. Read more →
• I think this song has reached its peak
  November 15, 2010
  Student feedback revealed they want more videos in my library workshops because 'they seem to catch my attention'—proving The Simpsons clips work better than I expected! Read more →
• As easy as Alpha Bravo Charlie
  November 11, 2010
  Teaching terrifies me—my heart races facing all those blinking eyeballs—but students love my Simpsons clips for demonstrating critical thinking concepts in library instruction. Read more →