Christine Borne, MLIS

~ Writer, Copy Editor, Librarian ~

christine [at] christineborne [dot] net

Summary
Professional Experience
Education
Technology Skills
Professional Memberships and Activities
Publications

Summary

Reasons why you, a Northeast Ohio employer, should consider hiring me:

  • I am a meticulous and detail-oriented writer, copy editor, and researcher.
  • I have uncommonly high standards for my work, so I leave no stone unturned when it comes to getting the facts straight. I also have no problem admitting when I'm wrong, and on the rare but inevitable occasion that I do the get facts wrong, I'll put things right post haste.
  • I learn very quickly. While working for a professor in college, I had to learn how to type in Armenian.
  • I work well independently and as part of a team.
  • Working as a public librarian taught me how to roll with the punches. (It also helps to have a sense of humor.)
  • I am committed to the future of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.
In 2004, I left Cleveland for (what I thought were) greener pastures. Three years later, I returned with a greater appreciation of all Cleveland has to offer.

Promoting Cleveland is my passion. My blog, Really Bad Cleveland Accent, has been featured several times in the acclaimed Cool Cleveland weekly e-newsletter. I've been in the Top 5 Most Clicked twice: here and here. You can read a little bit more about my philosophy here.

Professional Experience

FACTS ON FILE, INC., New York, NY, December 2005-October 2007.
Editorial Assistant, Electronic Publishing Department

  • Updating and maintaining content of online databases, including American History Online, Ancient and Medieval History Online, Science Online, Health Reference Center, Bloom's Literary Reference, Curriculum Resource Center, and Ferguson's Career Guidance Center

  • Writing and copyediting image captions for use in electronic databases, in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style

  • Writing and updating world leader biographies for World Atlas Online

  • Testing electronic databases and CD-ROMs

OCEAN COUNTY LIBRARY, Toms River, NJ, August 2004-November 2005.
Senior Librarian

  • Provided phone, in-person, and virtual reference service through Q&A NJ

  • Ordered teen and adult graphic novels for 20-branch library system

  • Collaborated on a presentation titled This Garbage Doesn't Belong at the Library: A Media Specialist's Guide to Graphic Novels for the Educational Media Specialists of New Jersey Annual Conference

  • Presenting themed graphic novel booktalks at system YA meetings

  • Served as Ocean County Library's representative in a partnership outreach effort with Ocean Community Economic Action Now (OCEAN, Inc.) to educate disadvantaged families about childhood obesity

  • Coordinated outreach efforts with the Ocean County Connection, a one-stop information referral service located in the Ocean County Shopping Mall

  • Collaborated with Assistant Director and other new employees to develop a resource guide for new employees who are relocating to the Ocean County area

  • Participated in OCL Customer Service Workgroup

  • Taught computer classes to adults, including Word Processing, Basic E-Mail and Basic Mouse

  • Coordinated shipment and distribution of federal and state tax forms at the Toms River branch

  • Programming accomplishments:
    • May 7, 2005: A VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD with Stu and Julie Conway. In 1998, Stu and Julie Conway dropped out of the corporate rat race to embark on a round-the-world trip on their sailboat, Stampede. Sixty-five people (some of whom where planning their own voyage around the world) enjoyed this delightful slide show sponsored by the Toms River Seaport Society and Maritime Museum.

    • May 10, 2005: A NIGHT OF MUSIC WITH THE ACOUSTIC MUSICIANS GUILD. Forty-five people gathered at the Toms River branch on Tuesday night to listen to the Acoustic Musicians Guild, some of the best local singer-songwriters in the folk, country, and bluegrass tradition.

  • Training sessions attended:
    • How to Build Effective Teen Advisory Boards with Diane Tuccillo, Mesa (AZ) Public Library, April 2005

    • Prescription for Success: Finding Health Information on the Internet, with Rhonda Allard, National Library of Medicine, April 2005

    • Diversity 101, with Mountaintop Ventures, May 2005

    • Mental Health Issues and Library Customers, with Deborah Kinney-Chen, Mental Health Association of New Jersey, August 2005

SHAKER HEIGHTS PUBLIC LIBRARY, Shaker Heights, OH, September 2002-July 2004.
Young Adult/Adult Services Librarian

  • Provided phone, email, and in-person Reference and Readers' Advisory service to an ethnically and economically diverse clientele of all age groups

  • Coordinated Shaker Library’s after-school Teen Center, including supervising Teen Center Assistant

  • Successfully increased circulation of Teen materials 55% over the previous year in a 2-branch library system

  • Developed and maintained Teen Readers' Advisory tools, both for staff and customers

  • Developed teen-friendly content for Shaker Library's web site

  • Collaborated with Cleveland-based Progressive Arts Alliance to put on a hip hop education seminar in the Teen Center, attended by 65 teens, parents, and grandparents

  • Coordinated Teen Summer Job Fair (150+ teen participants; 10 employer participants) and Tips for Teens employment-readiness seminars, in conjunction with Youth Opportunities Unlimited

  • Collaborated with local poets to coordinate annual Teen Poetry Slam (65 attendees; 21 participants)

  • Collaborated with Cleveland Heights - University Heights Public Library Teen Services Coordinator Nancy Levin and the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes for a 'Shaker vs. Heights' Teen Read Week Poetry Slam (100 attendees; 22 participants)

  • Developed and maintained a Teen Creative Writing Group

  • Worked with a Teen Advisory Council

  • Served on Management Team as well as Collection Development, Internet Use, Programming, Website Content, and Teen Services Committees

  • Taught Public Service Computer Classes to senior citizens (topics included Mouse Skills, Internet, Web E-Mail, and Word Processing)

  • Coordinated Cleveland Women's Orchestra program at the Shaker Heights Main Library, in celebration of Women's History Month

  • Co-coordinated Election 2004 Discussion Series

KENT STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES, Kent, OH, August 2001-August 2002.
Graduate Reference Assistant

  • Provided archival reference and document delivery service to a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, and community members via phone, e-mail, and in-person

  • Created web-based inventories and finding aids for archival collections

  • Indexed, digitized, and preserved archival collections

UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA - MANSFIELD LIBRARY, TECHNICAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT, Missoula, MT, February 2001-July 2001.
Binding Specialist

  • Prepared journals, government documents, monographs, and theses/dissertations to be bound by commercial bindery

  • Created holdings records in library catalog for newly bound volumes

  • Supervised student assistants

EDUCATION

  • MLIS, Kent State University, 2002

  • BA, English, Cleveland State University, 2000

TECHNOLOGY SKILLS

  • Microsoft Office (advanced)

  • Dreamweaver, PaintShop Pro, Photoshop Elements (basic)

  • FileMaker Pro (basic)

  • HTML, XHTML, CSS (basic)

Professional Memberships and Activities

  • Former list manager,NEXGENLIB-L, an electronic discussion forum for librarians in Generations X and Y (2003-2006)

  • Library Journal Movers & Shakers Award, 2004

  • Participant, Cleveland Area Metropolitan Library System (CAMLS) workshops, including Blogging for Professionals (April 2004), How to Find Medical Information on the Internet (April 2004), Coaching for Success (March 2003), Teens.library: Hooking Teens with the Net (October 2002)

Publications



References available upon request