Issue 12
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October 19, 2011 |
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Director's Corner
In just a few weeks, Tina Murraco, our new Director of Development profiled below, has
energized our development program. All of you who are SIL friends will be hearing from
her and you will enjoy her intellect and bright smile! We welcome our new staff with
their fresh perspectives. You will meet more of them in the coming weeks.
— Nancy E. Gwinn, Director
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Biodiversity Heritage Library Hosts Conference on Digitization
The Biodiversity Heritage Library will host a two-day conference titled "Life and
Literature" Nov. 14 and 15 at the
Field Museum
in Chicago. "Life and Literature" seeks
to engage current and future constituencies concerned with biodiversity literature.
Sessions will discuss the interoperability of major biodiversity and digital library
programs, continued integration of digitized literature within biodiversity databases
and publishing models for legacy scientific literature. For more information about the
conference, visit
Life & Literature.
To further explore the BHL, visit
Biodiversity Heritage Library.
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Welcome Tina Muracco and Alex Edezhath!
Tina Muracco is the new Director of Development for the Smithsonian Libraries. She
earned a B.A. in Media Studies from
Penn State University
and a J.D. from
Widener University School of Law. In her new role at the Smithsonian, Tina hopes to educate
donors and friends about the Libraries' treasures and changing needs, collaborate with
other Smithsonian units to expand the Libraries' audience, and raise the necessary funds
so that the Libraries can continue its role as a vital resource for people around the
world. She is excited to once again fundraise for libraries, and has enjoyed meeting
staff at several of our 20 locations.
Previously, she was a Director of Development at
Catholic University of America
(CUA),
where she focused her efforts on building leadership networks and identifying major
gifts for the School of Arts and Sciences. Prior to working for CUA, Tina was the
Associate Director of Development for
Penn State's University Libraries. At Penn State,
Tina successfully secured both cash and planned gifts towards the University Libraries
$40 million campaign goal.
Tina is a cat-lover, and she and her husband Dominick are doting parents to three cats
at their home in Alexandria, Va. Since moving to the DC area, Tina has enjoyed exploring
the historic homes of Old Town Alexandria and touring the Smithsonian museums. Her next
mission is to visit some of Virginia's wineries. Tina's hobbies also include collecting
vintage cookbooks and traveling.
Meet our new library technician: Alex Edezhath! Alex's position is in the original
cataloging division. His primary duties included checking in and adding serials,
managing the catalog records of serials, and assisting with
Smithsonian Research Online.
Alex was born the youngest of nine children in Kochi, India, and lived there until he
graduated from high school. Fluent in both English and his native Malayalam, Alex
studied business at
Montgomery College
before embarking on a 10-year stint in Seattle,
Washington, working in interlibrary loan for the
University of Washington.
Alex is an avid music fan, with interests in all genres except country and rap (he even
likes early medieval music!). He enjoys cooking Indian and Italian cuisines. Alex's
go-to spots in the DC metro area are restaurants in Dupont Circle and Georgetown, the
Shenandoah National Forest,
hiking trails in Maryland and Virginia, and the Eastern
Shore. His favorite places to travel are to Northern Italy, Northwest U.S., and the
Santa Catalina Islands.
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ALSO OF INTEREST
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Good luck, Betsy!
The Libraries bid farewell to intern Margaret "Betsy" Hagerty in late August. Betsy was
instrumental to Libraries staff for the eight month duration of her internship, working
in the metadata, conservation, preservation, special collections and Director's Office
divisions. Betsy experienced the Libraries hands-on, from spine cleaning books to
gathering images for an early 20th century "steampunk" project to enhancing catalog
entries for the
Heralds of Science
collection to archiving education and outreach
materials. Described by one staffer as "SIL intern extraordinaire," her work greatly
assisted our staff and library patrons. We wish Betsy the best as she begins her Master
of Science in Library Science degree this fall at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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