Speaker Biographies

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Kelly Watson

Kelly Watson received her Masters of Library Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has been an Adult Services Librarian for the Bensenville Community Public Library in Bensenville, Illinois since 1999. There she serves as both reference librarian and web developer. For the past five years she has also been an instructor for the Library Technical Assistant program at College of DuPage. Recently Kelly taught a class for the staff at the Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt.

Debra Kakuk

Debra earned a M.A. in English from the University of Minnesota in 1996, and her M.L.I.S. degree from Wayne State University in 1998. Employed by the College of DuPage Library since 2003, she is currently an Associate Professor and supports the Health Sciences Division as well as the ESL, ABE and GED programs. A skilled medical and consumer health information professional and a proactive patient advocate, she specializes in supporting the information needs of health professionals, students and consumers. Debra has worked at the Mayo Clinic and taught consumer health classes across the United States. She has served as a Column Editor for Haworth Press's Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet (JCHI). Prior to her Library career, Debra taught developmental reading and academic writing at several universities. Her English background serves her well in her work with Adult Education and English as a Second Language (ESL) faculty and students. Experience, gained while working as a public, special and academic librarian, led her to community college librarianship because, “it combines the best of each field.”

Ameet Doshi

Ameet Doshi is a Public Services Librarian at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, where his duties include instruction, outreach and reference. He has presented at the Popular Culture Association national conference in 2006 and 2007, the 2007 Teaching and Learning with Technology conference at UNC Chapel Hill, and also hosted a roundtable discussion at this year’s ACRL national conference. His professional interests include: technology trends in academic libraries, open source products, library services for ESL students, library as place, and strategies for library instruction and information literacy. Prior to his appointment at UNC Wilmington, he served for two years as the Resident Librarian at the College of DuPage. He holds an MLS from the University of Tennessee, a Certificate in Linux systems from the College of DuPage, and is presently working towards a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) at UNC Wilmington.

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