The task of archiving EDC’s 50+ years of research, training, and educational materials—as well as helping researchers find the information they need for tomorrow’s innovations in education, health, and economic development—falls on Director of Library and Archive Services Jessica Hinkson.
“I’ve loved working in a library ever since my first job in high school,” Hinkson says. She learned her way around the Dewey decimal system as a teenage page in her hometown library.
Hinkson pursued a career combining library work with human services. She worked at the Cheshire (Conn.) Public Library throughout college and consulted to the Governor’s Prevention Partnership (formerly Drugs Don’t Work!) in Hartford. She joined EDC in 2000 as an information specialist for the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention. In 2009, she became EDC’s full-time director of Library and Archive Services.
Much has changed about library science since Hinkson’s first foray into the stacks.
What first attracted you to library science?
I’ve always loved to read. There’s a picture of me in sixth grade with a hardcover copy of Stephen King’s It on my desk. I’m the only one with thick glasses and a thick book. I looked like I was destined to become a librarian. I started working at my hometown library as a teenager, and I’ve had a library job ever since.
What does your job at EDC involve?
I have a two-pronged position. One of those prongs is managing library services. That involves managing EDC’s physical library, including physical subscriptions and digital subscriptions. We’re expanding our intranet site so EDC staff has a place to go to learn about our research databases, which I keep up-to-date and train people on how to use them.
The other prong of the work I do is developing an archive for EDC. We’re creating a database of any product developed by an EDC staff person. This includes publications, photos, films, streaming audio. EDC also creates Web-based trainings and curricula, so products like that will eventually be included in our collection.
Have you come across anything interesting from EDC’s early work?
One of the early films that I discovered and digitized was a film featuring Jane Goodall, The Chimpanzees of the Gombe National Park, which was produced by EDC’s social studies program. I also tracked down a missing film on herring gulls from the Man: A Course of Study (MACOS) series, one of EDC’s award-winning early curriculum products. That was pretty cool.
You are currently earning your MS in library science—tell us about something interesting you’ve learned.
I’m fascinated by the concept of folksonomy—a system of classification derived from collaborative, natural-language tagging. I am hoping that by parlaying people’s natural language preferences into our Web resources, we can make finding resources easier and more intuitive.
What’s most gratifying about your work at EDC?
Even though I’m not directly working with the populations we serve, I’m helping EDC people find the resources they need to do their work—so the beneficiaries of EDC projects will have a chance to live happy and fulfilling lives. I feel like I’m supporting people who are directly helping others. That’s definitely the most gratifying piece.
What books do you have checked out of the library right now?
I love my Kindle, so my library activity has been focused on borrowing magazines and museum passes. It’s so much more convenient to read a Kindle. Don’t tell my local librarians though.