Tabatha Farney, 2018 Candidate for LITA Director-at-Large

Statement

My first national presentation was at the 2008 LITA Forum. I can’t say I rocked my first presentation, but I met a great group of innovative, welcoming and fun library technologists. I learned so much at that first conference—especially that some of the best discussions happen after the sessions. Since then, I have had the honor to contribute to several LITA committees and even formed LITA’s Altmetrics and Digital Analytics Interest Group which is open to anyone interested in discussing data. LITA is my home in ALA and I now feel I have skills and knowledge to give back to this amazing organization so I’m happy to run as a candidate for Director-at-large. I’m approachable and willing to listen to all ideas, but I’m also a strong proponent of using data to drive decision making. If elected I will continue to strengthen and promote LITA’s innovative and approachable nature.

Current Position

Director of Web Services and Emerging Technologies, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO

Type of Organization

Academic Library

Previous Positions

Reference and Web Services Graduate Assistant, Education and Social Sciences Library, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2005-2007

Degrees and Certificates

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, MSLIS, 2007
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, BA English Literature and Minor in Information Technology, 2005

Division Affiliations

LITA, ACRL

Were you a Spectrum Scholar?

Were you an Emerging Leader?

Yes

ALA and/or ALA-APA Activities

ALA Information Technology Advisory Committee, ACRL Representative, 2017-2019
2017 LITA Forum Planning Committee, member
2016 LITA Forum Planning Committee, member
2015 LITA Forum Planning Committee, member
LITA/OCLC Frederick G. Kilgour Award Committee, chair in 2017, 2016-2018
Altmetrics and Digital Analytics Interest Group, co-chair, 2015-2018.
Assistant Web Editor, Education and Behavioral Sciences Section in ACRL, 2011-2014

Offices Held in State, Regional, and Other Library Associations

Workflow Editor, Colorado Libraries Journal for the Colorado Association of Libraries, 2011 – 2013
CAL Conference Planning Committee, Colorado Association of Libraries, 2010-2013 (chair in 2012)

Honors and Awards

I Love My Librarian Award recipient, American Library Association, 2016
AvramCamp Scholarship recipient, 2017
ACRL Mid-career Scholarship recipient, 2017
University of Colorado’s Excellence in Leadership Program, 2014-2015 cohort
2014 ALA Leadership Institute, participant
2011 ALA Emerging Leader.

Major Accomplishments

Most recently, I am very proud of my contributions to the 2017 LITA Forum Planning committee. While this committee faced some challenges, we had an excellent conference. I had fun organizing and leading the walking tour of a nearby library for LITA Forum attendees, but my favorite accomplishment was coordinating a free brewery tour—and yes, that involved free beer (and a shuttle bus for safe transportation) for everyone that was there.

Publications

Farney, Tabatha. Using Digital Analytics for Smart Assessment. ALA Editions, Chicago, 2018.

Farney, Tabatha. Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager. Library Technology Reports (ALA TechSource), Volume 52, Number 7, 2016.

Farney, Tabatha A. "Click Analytics: Visualizing Website Use Data." Information Technology and Libraries. 30(3): 141-148.

Number of Years as an ALA Member

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