Robin Vance
Academic Librarian | Research Instruction, Digital Scholarship & Collection Development
New York
Professional Summary
Dedicated Academic Librarian with extensive experience in university research services, information literacy pedagogy, and collection stewardship. Skilled in partnering with faculty and students to navigate complex scholarly ecosystems and integrate modern digital scholarship methods.
Professional Experience
Vanderhoof University Libraries
New York, NY
Associate Academic Librarian
Aug 2019 – Present
- Lead information literacy instruction and embedded curriculum support for over 1,400 undergraduate and graduate humanities students annually.
- Manage an annual collection development budget of $280,000 across history, literature, and interdisciplinary cultural studies collections.
- Provide advanced one-on-one research consultations for faculty monograph projects and graduate dissertation literature reviews.
- Collaborate with the campus digital scholarship lab to support text mining, metadata creation, and digital exhibit curation using Omeka and Voyant Tools.
Briarcliff Institute of Higher Learning
New York, NY
Reference and Instruction Librarian
Aug 2014 – Jul 2019
- Delivered specialized reference assistance via in-person consultations, virtual chat, and course-integrated research guides using Springshare LibGuides.
- Partnered with faculty across 8 academic departments to integrate Open Educational Resources into foundational general education courses.
- Maintained discovery layers and patron record data in Ex Libris Alma and Primo, resolving metadata mapping discrepancies.
Education
Pratt Institute
Master of Science · Library and Information Science · New York, NY · 3.9 GPA · Sep 2012 – May 2014
Coursework focused on academic librarianship, information architecture, cataloging standards, and instructional design for higher education.
Columbia University
Bachelor of Arts · History · New York, NY · Magna Cum Laude · Sep 1997 – May 2001
Concentration in early modern cultural history, with senior thesis research conducted across primary source archival collections.
Selected Projects
Institutional LibGuides Modernization Initiative
Sep 2022 – Apr 2023
- Migrated over 40 departmental course guides into accessible, mobile-responsive formats adhering to WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.
- Conducted usability testing across diverse student cohorts to improve navigational hierarchy and database discoverability.
Core Competencies
Information Literacy Instruction
Research Consultations
Collection Development
Ex Libris Alma & Primo
Springshare LibGuides
Open Educational Resources (OER)
Metadata & Cataloging Standards
Digital Humanities Tools
Bibliographic Citation Management
Database Querying (EBSCO & ProQuest)
Languages
English
C2
French
B2
Certifications
Certificate in Digital Humanities for Librarians
Library Juice Academy · Jun 2018
Systematic Review Searching Specialization
Medical Library Association · Nov 2021
Service & Professional Engagement
Metropolitan Academic Libraries Collaborative
New York, NY · Sep 2021 – May 2025
- Committee Member
- Peer-reviewed conference proposal submissions for the Instruction and Information Literacy Section.
- Facilitated regional roundtable discussions on equitable access to digital scholarship tools.