Portfolio of Hydy Cates


I am a new Librarian and Archivist, having spent my first career in retail, and now I am embarking on a new journey. I grew up alongside computers and the internet, and have always been interested in harnessing their power for creative endeavors. In gaining my MLIS, I focused a great deal of my attention on Digital Archives, Information Storage, and Website Programming.

To finish my degree, I gained hands-on knowledge through two internships; one at Otterbein University’s Courtright Memorial Library working with Jane Wu the Systems Librarian and one with Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Local History and Genealogy division working with Aaron O’Donovan. At CML’s Local History and Genealogy division, I worked on digitization of microfilm, creating and adding metadata to a variety of digital objects, and creating new collections using ContentDM. At Otterbein, I worked on a Use Survey of their Institutional Repository, an Ease of Use Survey for their library website, adding content to the Institutional Repository, and general collection development.

Since graduation, I have worked on cataloging and preserving speculative fiction novels from the early 1900s to modern works at Sprawl Library's Warehouse. I have also worked my way up the Customer Services Department of Columbus Metropolitan Library at the Whitehall and MLK branches. At my current position with the Martin Luther King branch, I have worked with the manager to help preserve the branch archives, and to help find a home for those materials that will not be moving to the newly built branch next year.