1. Marliese S. Thomas
@msthomas • thomas.marliese@gmail.com
EDUCATION
• MLIS, Library and Information Studies, University of Alabama, School of Library
and Information Studies, Tuscaloosa, AL, 2007.
• BA, Communications, Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, 2003.
EXPERIENCE
User Engagement and Reference Librarian
Samford University, Birmingham, AL January 2012 to present
• Increase awareness of the University Library through social media outlets and outreach
activities across campus. This includes the Library’s Twitter, Facebook, and blog
accounts.
• Establish relationships with centers and departments for cross-promotional activities to
engage users in furthering the University’s core curriculum values and utilize library
services.
• Serve as liaison for marketing initiatives within the library, including displays,
advertising, and reference web presence. This includes LibGuides, LibAnswers, and
some vendor-enabled search interfaces.
• Provide library instruction sessions in coordination with professors, highlighting the
values of information literacy and ethical use of materials in scholarly work. Also provide
this kind of assistance at the reference desk, including some nights and weekends.
Librarian for Special Collections Technology
Auburn University, Auburn, AL January 2011 to January 2012
• Implemented projects that raised the profile of special collections online. This included
developing a way to add web-scale search ability to finding aids and catalog records and
importing all digital collections into the new discovery tool, called Catalog.
• Provided reference services at the general reference desk and within the Special
Collections and Archives. This included questions that come through one-on-one visits,
e-mail, online chat, and phone.
• Served on library event committees including Tailgate @the Library, RBDpalooza, and
the winning team at the Lee County Literacy Council Great Grown-up Spelling Bee.
These events had various aims, mostly targeting students’ awareness of information
literacy, library services, and resources.

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Database Enhancement Librarian
Auburn University, Auburn, AL November 2007 to December 2010
• Served as project manager to identify user needs and wants regarding catalog searching
and develop an open-source* product that allows students enhanced ways to search the
catalog and digital items. This included conducting user research and feedback gathering
as part of the development process. This project was a cross-departmental effort.
*Open-source products are free to download, but have no provided technical support. Open Office is an
example of this.
• Developed EBSCO Discovery Service test site for Auburn University Libraries, one of
30 locations worldwide to participate in initial phase testing. I also served on EBSCO
Publishing’s Net Book Advisory Group.
• Served as a liaison between public services and technical services, providing training in
new software and “lifehacks” to promote efficiency and collaboration for staff. These
sessions included ways patrons and staff could maximize use of tools already provided,
such as extra features available in article databases, or free services helpful to organizing
work/learning environments, such as Google Reader, social networking tools, and RSS
feeds.
• Collaborated with various user communities to problem-solve bugs during the design
process and to gain support throughout the various development phases. This involved
one-on-one meetings with administrators, public forums, making myself accessible for
questions, and creating marketing tools to explain technical concepts in an
understandable way.
• Maintained various communications gateways for each project, including internal wikis
and blogs. I worked with the Libraries’ website designer to customize these profiles to fit
each project’s needs.
Assistant Buyer
American Wholesale Book Company/Book$mart, Irondale, AL September 2005 to May 2007
• Created a more user-friendly order form in Microsoft Excel for the discount wholesale
division to use, streamlining the order fulfillment process and increasing accuracy.
• Created a coding system for use with books at trade shows, allowing for faster order
typing and more accurate inventory counts on-site.
Communications & Marketing Specialist
American Cancer Society, Shreveport, LA July 2004 to August 2005
• Provided marketing support for 10 staff and 3 Demographic Market Areas covering the
upper 37 parishes of Louisiana. Coordinated news coverage for events and awareness
topics, ensured advertising placement in accord with sponsorship contracts.
• Maintained brand continuity for all materials related to the American Cancer Society,
Relay For Life, and associated programs.

3. Marliese Thomas / Page 3 of 3
HONORS AND SELECT SCHOLARLY CONTRIBUTIONS
• EBSCOHost Award for Outstanding Research, shared with Dana Caudle and Cecilia
Schmitz. Awarded 9 April 2009.
• Daily Point of Light #2746, a national award from the Points of Light Institute for volunteer
service in recognition of work in the area of cancer awareness and prevention. Awarded 13
August 2004.
Selected Presentations
• “Finding finding aids: bringing integrated search strategies to special collections.” 2011
LITA National Forum, St. Louis, Missouri, 1-2 October, 2011.
• “Communicate openly: managing project development with available and open-source
tools.” 2011 LITA National Forum, St. Louis, Missouri, 1-2 October, 2011.
• Keynote address. “How Many Dimensions of Compatibility? Discovering What’s Right for
your Users,” Discovery Day Camp at University of Houston Libraries, Houston, Texas, 10
June, 2011.
• “Enabling Discovery via the Cloud,” co-presented with Michael Gorrell, 2010 LITA
National Forum, Atlanta, Georgia, 2-4 October 2010.
• “Discovery Layer or Monster Mash?” co-presented with Greg Schmidt, ALCTS Cataloging
Norms Interest Group, American Library Association Annual Conference, Washington, DC,
26 June 2010.
Peer-reviewed Articles
• Thomas, Marliese, Dana M. Caudle, and Cecilia Schmitz. “Trashy tags: problematic tags in
Library Thing.” New Library World 111, no. 5/6 (2010): 223-235.
• Thomas, Marliese, Dana M. Caudle, and Cecilia Schmitz. “To Tag or not to Tag.” Library Hi
Tech 27, no. 3 (2009): 411-434.
SELECTED SERVICE
Professional Memberships
• American Library Association, 2005 – present
o New Members Roundtable
• Library and Information Technology Association (LITA), 2008 – present
o Chair, Standards Interest Group, 2010 – 2012
o Code Year Interest Group, 2012
o Instructional Technology Interest Group, 2012
• Library School Association, University of Alabama SLIS
o Board of Advisors, 2011 – present
• Society of Alabama Archivists, 2007 – present
• Alabama Library Association, 2007 – present
o Chair, Education Committee, 2011-present