Biography

Bernadette Birzer is the Archivist for Collection Management and Digital Initiatives at Newcomb Institute. Bernadette was one of ten recipients of the University of Southern Mississippi’s School of Library and Information Sciences’ Minority Scholarship Initiative and in 2012 earned a Master of Library and Information Science along with a Graduate Certificate in Archives and Special Collections. After graduation, she spent two years as the Registrar of the African American Military History Museum in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Prior to joining NI, Bernadette worked in Howard-Tilton Memorial Library’s (HTML) User Services and IT department as the Library Technician for Digital Initiatives and Publishing. Under this title, she hired, trained, and supervised student workers while also creating and implementing workflow to digitize and publish several of HTML’s archives and special collections into the Tulane University Digital Library (TUDL).

Curriculum Vitae

Key Responsibilities: 

• Oversees the storage, organization, and preservation of archival collections and print materials, including the management of the Islandora digital repository at the Newcomb Archives and Vorhoff Library Special Collections. 
• Establishes workflow schedules for the processing and digitization of archival collections. 
• Hires, trains, and supervises student workers, interns, and volunteers to implement processing workflow. 
• Staffs the reading room reference desk by appointment and provides remote and in-person reference assistance, as needed.