Associate Fellowship Program: 1998-1999 Associate Fellows

From left to right
back row: Elizabeth M. Smigielski, Susan E. Rondon, Liza Chan
Front row: Nancy J. Bladen, Rebecca Marni Dittmar, Mary Beth Schell, Paula M. Kitendaugh, Joanne T. Correllus

Nancy J. Bladen

Nancy received her B.A. in English from Mary Washington College in 1988 and M.S.L.S. from The Catholic University of America in December 1997. While earning her Master's Degree, Nancy worked full-time as a librarian in the technical library of an engineering consulting firm where she was involved in implementing a web-based OPAC and document management system and developing the library's internal web pages. Her other responsibilities included: reference, ILL, cataloging, and records management. Prior to entering the library field, Nancy worked in marketing, sales, and publishing in the corporate sector. Her interest in medical librarianship stems from volunteer experience at the INOVA Fairfax Hospital Health Sciences Library where she provided reference service to the clinical staff and consumers. Nancy's professional interests include consumer health, database systems, and digital libraries. She is a member of SLA, MLA, and AMIA. As a native of the area, Nancy enjoys swing dancing, eating steamed crabs, and biking along the Potomac River.

Liza Chan

Liza has always enjoyed dealing with health sciences information. She finds knowledge about the human body fascinating, from anatomy to physiology to biochemistry. That was one of the reasons why she entered the profession of physical therapy. She received her BScPT from University of Alberta (UA), Canada in 1996. Realizing the emphasis on research in the medical field, the rapid growth of computer applications and the emergence of information highways and networks, Liza decided to pursue formal training in the management of information right after her undergraduate education. While Liza was taking the MLIS program at UA, she worked as a part time physical therapist in the cardiothoracic surgery ward at the UA Hospital for the past two years. She saw great opportunities to join the Associate Fellowship program because she can explore the field of medical librarianship in depth and in breadth. Her professional goal is to be able to access, analyze and organize health information in a manner that its utilization will be easy, efficient and ethical. Due to the fact that her father works in the aviation industry, Liza has had many opportunities to visit various places since childhood. Travelling remains to be her favourite activity among reading and swimming.

Joanne T. Correllus

Joanne began her college career as a Biology/Pre-Med major at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, but later changed majors and received her BA in Classics in 1996. Her interest in medicine did not wane as she continued to volunteer at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in the Pediatric Ward during the school year, and at the Falmouth (Massachusetts) Hospital Emergency Room during the summers. A desire to bring together her varied interests, as well as encouragement from her undergraduate library supervisor, Tony Stankus, led her to enroll in library school at The Catholic University of America, where she finished in August 1998. While at Catholic University, she served as treasurer and then president of the Association of Graduate Library and Information Science Students (AGLISS), and as the treasurer of the student chapter of the Special Libraries Association. She worked for three years as a part-time student assistant at the O'Callahan Science Library at Holy Cross, and for two years as a full-time employee under scholarship at Catholic University. She recently collaborated with Tony Stankus on an article entitled "A Librarian's Guide to Lupus" which will be published in the Summer 1998 issue of Reference and User Services Quarterly. She hopes her year as an associate fellow will help refine her professional interests which include evidence based medicine, Web technologies, computer systems, and the history of medicine. Outside of work, she is an avid college basketball fan, enjoys hiking, tennis, basketball, and spending time with her fiancé.

Rebecca Marni Dittmar

Marni received her MLIS in May of 1997 from Louisiana State University, and enjoyed her time in Cajun country, for the food and music as well as for her library education. A highlight of library school was an internship at the two libraries of the National Public Radio organization in Washington D.C. She has worked in the field of information provision as a researcher and a document specialist before obtaining her degree. Previously, she obtained a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling, and spent two years in Malaysia working with adolescent heroin addicts. She continued to research addiction treatment at the Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang for a year, and then traveled in Southeast Asia and India before returning to the United States. Before coming to NLM, she worked in the EPA Headquarters Library on the Internet Librarian team. She is interested in the Internet as a medium for the dissemination of information, and has taught Internet search techniques to students and professional people. She is also interested in the provision of medical information to people in remote and rural areas. She is active in the Washington DC dance community, including contra, cajun and swing dance, and also spends a lot of time outside, canoeing, hiking, and wildlife watching.

Paula M. Kitendaugh

Paula received her undergraduate degrees in Economics and International Studies from the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington in 1991. During her service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Belize, Central America, she gained a new appreciation for both traditional and folk medicine. Upon moving east to experience the 'other' Washington, Paula worked in various special libraries, including those in an investment company, the Special Libraries Association, and the Voice of America television news department. Paula received her M.S.L.S. from The Catholic University of America in 1997. She is a member of the SLA and MLA. Professional interests include clinical librarianship, knowledge management, and international initiatives in health information dissemination. Personal aspirations include hiking and/or kayaking on all the continents, mastering the hockey stop in ice skating, and becoming a syndicated cartoonist.

Susan E. Rondon

Susan received her BA in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia (1991). She then worked as a legal assistant in Washington, DC before moving to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan. She completed the MSI program at the School of Information this past August. Susan took coursework in Medical Informatics and Information Sources in the Health Sciences and worked at Taubman Medical Library as part of a field experience. At Michigan, Susan was a University Library Associate which included a scholarship and placement at one of the libraries on campus. She worked at the Media Union Library where collections in engineering, art, and architecture were combined. Susan is looking forward to being exposed to and developing interests in many areas of medical librarianship. Currently she is particularly interested in medical informatics, digital library initiatives, educational technology, and evidence based practice and teaching in medicine. In her free time, Susan enjoys going to museums, especially art museums. She likes to travel and is interested in animals and outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, and skiing. Susan spent much of her childhood overseas, living in Madagascar, Peru, Honduras, and Ecuador.

Mary Beth Schell

Mary Beth Schell has been working in Duke University's Perkins Library for the past seven years. She began working in the interlibrary loan office and later moved into the public documents and maps department. During that time she began working on her MLS at North Carolina Central University, and received her degree in May 1998. While working at Duke, Mary Beth assumed many leadership positions including leading a task force dealing with document delivery issues, creating a task force pertaining to customer service training, and serving on the library's strategic planning team. Prior to working at Duke, Mary Beth received a BS in Secondary Social Studies education in 1988 from Miami University. She then attended United Theological Seminary where she received an MA in Religious Education in 1992. Mary Beth holds a variety of professional interests ranging from the provision of government information to consumer health to issues surrounding intellectual freedom. Mary Beth's other interests include pop culture which is another way of saying that she enjoys television, movies, and music.

Elizabeth M. Smigielski

A native of Michigan, Elizabeth received a B.A. in Biology and a B.A. in Spanish from Wayne State University in 1994. While an undergraduate she served as a volunteer assistant wildlife biologist banding northern spotted owls with the Bureau of Land Management in Medford, Oregon. Following graduation, she attended an immersion language study program at the Instituto de Lengua y Cultura Costarricense in Alajuela, Costa Rica. After returning to the U.S., she worked as a laboratory technician researching pre-mRNA splicing at the University of Kentucky (UK) Department of Molecular Cell Biology. While at UK, she received an M.A. in Secondary Education, specializing in Foreign Language Education. This was followed by an M.S.L.S., awarded in August 1998. In addition to working in public libraries as an undergraduate, Elizabeth was a graduate assistant in the bibliographic control department at UK's King Library, as well as in reference and original cataloging at the UK Agricultural Information Center. She credits former Associate Jane Bryant for encouraging and assisting her in applying for the Fellowship. Elizabeth is interested in preservation, biological and medical information use, and research and development of information technology. Her outside interests include historic preservation, vintage Chryslers, and low-stakes poker.