Sara R. Tompson

[email protected]

Skills and Accomplishments

• Enthusiastic and organized leader, team player and motivator in library, information exchange, and professional association settings
• Accomplished conference/meeting program planner on state and national level (as SLA-IL President-Elect/Program Chair and SLA-ENG Chair/Program Planner)
• Successful grant writer and project manager
• Co-author of 4th edition of Special Libraries: A Guide for Management and numerous articles
• Physical sciences and/or engineering librarian for 17+ years
• Private pilot (ASEL), currently working on instrument rating
• Experienced public speaker
• Energetic library and information sciences instructor and intern mentor
• Expert searcher in DIALOG, Factiva (Dow Jones/Reuters), NLM, EPA and other online and Web databases including Lexis-Nexis and STN
• Proficient Web page creator
• Sophisticated user of databases, spreadsheets, and publication tools on platforms including Windows XP, 2000, NT and 9X, Macintosh, VAX/VMS and UNIX

Awards

• SLA 2003 H.W. Wilson Award. Presented to Sara R. Tompson for a significant contribution, with her colleague, Lorri A. Zipperer, to the philosophy, development, and general practice of special librarianship with their article "Communicating Competencies and Collaboration," which appeared in the September 2003 issue of Information Outlook. Presented at the 94th Annual Conference of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) in New York City, June 2003.
• SLA-IL Author Award 2002. For numerous publications impacting Special Librarianship. Presented by the Illinois Chapter of the Special Libraries Association (SLA-IL) on May 14, 2002.

Experience

The Packer Engineering Library provides in-depth reference and research services to the company's engineers and their clients covering a wide range of engineering solutions, including: automotive, aviation, body mechanics, chemical, construction, environmental, failure analysis and recovery, fires and explosions, machinery, transportation. The Library's collection is particularly strong in: standards, both current and historical, fire and automobile information, and liability and litigation documents.

As Library Director, my efforts encompass, but are not limited by, the following:

• Coordinate core reference and research service provided by all library staff including synthesized reports garnered from print and online sources, the latter including:
  • DIALOG
  • Factiva's Dow Jones Interactive
  • OCLC's FirstSearch service
  • Lexis-Nexis via credit card
  • STN Easy via credit card
  • Delphion and other patent services.
• Direct and facilitate efforts of Library staff (three full-time, various students and interns) in team environment
• Develop and implement a business plan for the library, with strategic milestones
• Plan and manage budget, including time and services chargeback system
• Develop and implement internal and external marketing plans
• Coordinate Library communications in Novell Groupwise, Windows 9X/2000 environment
• Document and improve library procedures
• Developed and completed a technology plan, including expansion of Library Services Database collection of online catalogs

Adjunct Faculty, 1998-2002.
Dominican University, Graduate School of Library and Information Science
LIS 774, Special Libraries Administration, team-taught.

Library Administrator, 5/1995 - 7/2000
Fermilab Library
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy contract laboratory
PO Box 500, MS 109, Batavia, IL 60510-0500

Information Services Program Manager and Librarian, 1989-1995
Illinois Hazardous Waste Research and Information Center, {Now: Waste Management Research Center}
One East Hazelwood Drive, Champaign, IL 61820

Research Information Specialist, 1987-89
Center for Compound Semiconductor Microelectronics,
a National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center at The University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign

Earlier Information Positions

Education

Continuing Education

M.S., Library and Information Science, 1987
Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

B.A., English, 1979
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

Special Libraries Association

• Chair, SLA Engineering Division, 2002-2003
• Appointed member, SLA Research Committee, 2000-2003
• President, Illinois Chapter (SLA-IL), 1999-2000
• Secretary, Illinois Chapter, 1996-98
• Co-Chair, SLA-IL PR Committee for INFO'96 (nonpartisan information services at Democratic National Convention, Chicago)
• Chair, Physics Roundtable, Physics/Astronomy/Math (PAM) Division of SLA, 2000.
• PR Chair, Environment and Resources Management Division (ERMD), 1992-94
• Facilitator, ERMD State Environmental Librarians Roundtable, 1992-94

Link to Recent Publications and Presentations

Link to Other Professional Activities

References are available upon request.

This page is on the Web at: http://www.geocities.com/sarat_57/stcv.html

Last updated 03-Jul-2004, � Sara R. Tompson.