|

Home Courses/Workshops Taxonomies Indexing
Web Site Indexing
Web Site Design
Translations
Articles
Book
Presentations
About Heather
|
Hedden
Information Management
Heather Hedden’s Curriculum
Vitae
SKILLS
- Experienced using MS Office (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Outlook,
Project), WebEx, Synaptica, MultiTes, SKY Index, Dreamweaver, HTML,
XML, and various proprietary database systems.
- Skilled in giving oral presentations, writing training documentation,
and conducting online research though web search engines, command-line
Dialog, and subscription periodical databases.
- Basic knowledge of German, Russian, and Arabic
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
VIZIANT
CORPORATION, Boston, Massachusetts, January 2007 –
present
Information Taxonomist
Manage and direct all taxonomic content, including terms, manual
and auto-generated keywords, and training documents. Oversee editorial
assistant work in these areas and the file management system.
- Develop and maintain general and vertical market taxonomies, including
relationships and definitions, as a content component of an enterprise
search & discovery system.
- Identify and edit sample training documents for each taxonomy node.
- Write taxonomy development policies and guidelines.
- Test taxonomy-maintenance user interface; make recommendations for
enhancements.
- Developed system of taxonomy tags, as user-specified relationships
and categories within the taxonomy tool MultiTes and then also as xml
tags within xml files for auto-categorization of content.
- Initiated and facilitated initial discussion with selected taxonomy
vendor with which a partnership was subsequently established.
- Contributed to Product Requirements Document and Functional Design
Specifications.
SIMMONS
COLLEGE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
Boston, Massachusetts, 2006 – present
Continuing Education Lecturer
Design, write and teach continuing education workshops: “Taxonomies
and Controlled Vocabularies," “Creating Website Indexes,”
and “Teaching Findability to Kids” both online and onsite.
Evaluated software products and services to include in the workshops.
HEDDEN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, Carlisle, Massachusetts
2004 – 2007
Principal
Provided contract services in taxonomy development, term mapping, indexing,
and web site information architecture (including search engine optimization).
Developed online courses and offered training in web site indexing.
THE
GALE GROUP (formerly Information Access Company),
Belmont, California, 1993 – 2004
Working remotely from Massachusetts since 1998
Senior Vocabulary Editor, Editorial Standards Department,
1996 – 2004
Developed and improved controlled vocabulary used in database indexing
to ensure indexing consistency. Identified and researched potential new
terms, created cross-references, analyzed large subsets of the vocabulary,
and made changes. Developed and documented indexing policies.
Accomplishments:
- Developed hierarchy of over 2500 topics for a new online search interface,
making document retrieval easier for school market. Worked with software
developers on interface design. Managed participation of six remote
editors.
- Integrated legacy hierarchies of indexing vocabularies, increasing
document retrieval results.
- Mapped company vocabulary to that of strategic partners to expand
business markets.
- Isolated and categorized sets of vocabulary for new, market-specific
database products.
Senior Editor, Industry Express indexing group, 1995
– 1996
Responsible for all vocabulary and editorial policies within group to
ensure indexing consistency. Answered questions, edited, and provided
feedback on indexers’ work to improve product quality. Acted as
liaison with other departments on vocabulary, policy, documentation, and
training issues. Developed and communicated policies to indexing staff
to improve workflow. Coordinated distribution of indexing work to indexers
in other groups.
Accomplishments:
- Played key role in establishment of new group and launch of new current
awareness product.
- Developed effective quality control procedures to meet department
goals.
- Established procedure to address vocabulary questions and test new
terms.
- Coordinated vocabulary-testing project.
- Managed title record count project, searching information online
and sorting data spreadsheet.
- Mapped product codes to Industry Express topics for internal indexing
guide.
Indexer/Abstractor, Business Publications and PROMT
indexing groups, 1993 – 1995
Indexed and abstracted articles from various magazines, trade journals,
newsletters, and newspapers for InfoTrac periodical index databases. Edited
work done by peers, newly trained indexers, and overseas vendors. Trained
and indexed in three different indexing methods/vocabulary systems and
on four different computer-based production systems.
RICOH
- CALIFORNIA RESEARCH CENTER, Menlo Park, California
1992 – 1993
Library Assistant
Catalogued technical reports, papers, conference proceedings, and books
in the technical library using FileMaker Pro on the Macintosh. Designed
databases and entered data in FileMaker Pro for accounting department.
MIDDLE
EAST TIMES, Cairo, Egypt 1991 – 1992
Senior Writer
Wrote two feature articles per week on business, economic, political,
and social topics, totaling over 100 articles. Originated article topic
ideas, made contacts, conducted interviews, and attended press conferences.
Selected and abstracted news briefs from the daily press. Edited articles
contributed by freelance writers.
SIMULTRANS
(formerly American Translators International), Palo Alto, California 1990
– 1991
Project Coordinator
Coordinated translation projects of business, legal, technical, and company-internal
documents. Managed an average of 10 projects per week, ranging from same-day
rush to month-long jobs. Prepared project cost estimates and ensured that
projects were profitable. Selected and managed remote freelance translators,
proofreaders and desktop publishing specialists.
CONTRACT EXPERIENCE
Taxonomy Editor, PlaceLinks,
Waltham, Massachusetts, 2006 – 2007
Edited thesaurus of products and services for web-based yellow pages.
Taxonomist-Consultant, Earley
& Associates, Inc., Needham Massachusetts, 2006
Developed basic taxonomies and extracted terms from sites for corporate
enterprises.
Vocabulary Consultant, Factiva
(Dow Jones & Reuters), Princeton, New Jersey,
2005
Mapped thousands of logged search phrases to the controlled vocabulary
Taxonomist-Consultant, Tiny
Engine Inc., San Francisco, California, 2005
Developed of news classification taxonomy and created a total of 1142
terms in a four-level taxonomy.
Indexer/Lexicographer, Synapse
Corp., Franktown, Colorado, 2004
Indexed reference book essays and state science curriculum standards.
Added new indexing terms to the databases.
Editorial Analyst, MeansBusiness,
Boston, Massachusetts, 1998 – 1999
Selected extracts and indexed concepts from business management books.
Web Site Researcher/Reviewer/Indexer, Gale
Research , Detroit, Michigan 1996
Searched and reviewed 25 company web sites for Cyberhound Internet directory.
Summarized and evaluated the sites, obtained company information, and
assigned subject headings and SIC codes for database entries.
Contributing Editor/Writer, Multilingual
Computing Magazine, Sandpoint, Idaho 1993 –
1995
Wrote original articles about foreign language and foreign script software.
Selected and rewrote press releases for product announcement and news
briefs. Copyedited feature articles and reviews. Compiled calendar of
events.
Contributing Writer, St.
James Press, Detroit, Michigan 1992 – 1995
Independently researched online databases and other sources, and wrote
42 original essays (2000-9000 words each) for reference books: International
Directory of Company Histories, Encyclopedia of American Industries,
Global Industry Profiles, Encyclopedia of Business,
and Annual Obituary.
EDUCATION
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
- Web Site Indexing, Broccoli Information Management online
course
- Writing Indexes for Books and Websites, Middlesex Community
College, Bedford, Massachusetts
- Achieving Top Search Engine Positions, Concord-Carlisle Adult
and Community Education
- Imaging for the Web using Fireworks, Concord-Carlisle Adult
and Community Education
- Introduction to Dreamweaver MX, Concord-Carlisle Adult and
Community Education, Concord, Massachusetts
- Creating Web Pages, Concord-Carlisle Adult and Community
Education, Concord, Massachusetts
- Project Management seminar, Foster City, California
- The Internet: A Step by Step Approach, U.C. Berkeley Extension,
Menlo Park, California
- Online Searching and Electronic Research, U.C. Berkeley Extension
San Francisco, California
- Introduction to Copyediting, U.C. Berkeley Extension, San
Francisco, California
- Computer-Based Systems for Libraries, Foothill College, Los
Altos, California
AFFILIATIONS
American
Society for Indexing (ASI)
Taxonomies
& Controlled Vocabularies SIG of ASI, Manager (2007 –
present)
Web
Indexing SIG of ASI, Manager (2005-2006)
New
England Chapter of ASI, President (2006)
Information
Architecture Institute
Content
Management Professionals
Top of page |