Melissa Straw
Resume

M.S.I.S Candidate, University of Texas-Austin, School of Information
C.A.S. Conservation Candidate, Kilgarlin Center for Preservation of the Cultural Record


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Education

Bachelor of Arts in Economics and German, University of New Mexico, 2000
Candidate, Master of Science in Information Studies and CAS in Conservation, University of Texas at Austin, May 2008

Experience

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, Illinois
Conservation Graduate Paid Intern
January 2008 - present
Involved with pre-planning for Google Books Library Project at university-wide level  
Planned and supervised outside vendor clean-up of a mold outbreak within a collection of 300,000 items
Conducted an assessment of enclosures within the Rare Books and Manuscript Library on an item by item basis
Performed conservation treatment on circulating collections materials  
Completed written condition and treatment reports with photographic documentation of individual collection materials such as monographs, photographs and flat paper documents
   
University of Utah Marriott Library
Salt Lake City, Utah
Conservation Graduate Intern
September - December 2007
Performed conservation treatment on circulating collections materials  
● Participated in library-wide restructuring retreat  
● Assisted in transferring collections materials into high-density on-site storage facility  
   
Pinos Y Serriera Archives
Vilassar de Dalt, Spain
Summer Fieldwork
June - July 2007
● Humidified and flattened parchment documents dating from the 12th - 19th centuries
Designed and built archival-quality custom enclosures for oversized rolled documents  
● Re-housed paper manuscripts in custom enclosures  
   
The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection; University of Texas
Austin, Texas
Conservation Technician
August 2006 - September 2007
Constructed archival-quality custom enclosures for 17 th to 20 th century pamphlets  
Maintained database of pamphlets’ location and status  
Assessed supply needs for pamphlet re-housing project and conservation work area  
   
Bates College
Lewiston, Maine
Summer Fieldwork
May - June 2006
Created separate disaster plans for Bates’ Ladd Library and Edmund Muskie Archives
Designed and taught water-based recovery workshop for library and archive employees
Created disaster-ready supply closet with accompanying supplies
 
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center; University of Texas
Austin, Texas
Conservation Volunteer
December 2005 - October 2006
Surveyed and performed treatments on 19th century photographic albums
● Created archival quality housing for albums of varying binding structures
● Kept written and photographic documentation of treatments
   
Alexander Architectural Archive; University of Texas
Austin, Texas
Conservation Volunteer
September - Decenber 2005
Re-housed rolled architectural drawings from the Roy Thomas Collection  
Updated the collection’s archival finding aid using FileMaker Pro  
 
Montgomery County Public Library
Kensington Park, Maryland
Book Repair Technician
January - June 2005
Managed all mending and repairs for circulating library’s book and multimedia collection
Responsible for daily check-in of materials and items on hold  
● Assisted in multimedia ordering and organization  
 
Library of Congress Social Sciences Cataloguing Directorate
Washington, District of Columbia
German and Scandinavian Languages Team Member
June 2004 - April 2005
Assisted in subject and descriptive cataloging procedures
Searched German and English language databases for usable copy  
Organized incoming materials for team members  
 

Professional Development Coursework

Introduction to Cloth Case Bookbinding - Amy Lapidow, North Bennet Street School (June 2004)
Book Restoration Intensive - Dominic Riley, San Francisco Center for the Book (August - September 2004)
Limp Vellum Bookbinding - Audrey Jawando, North Bennet Street School (March 2005)
Gold Tooling Workshop - Jamie Kamph, University of Texas Mim Watson Workshop (March 2007)

Professional Memberships

The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, Book and Paper Group
Guild of Book Workers
American Library Association
Texas Library Association