My name is Celeste Â-Re.  I am a New Jersey native, raised in Detroit, and an alumna of Michigan State.  I currently reside in Washington, D.C.  Nine years ago I ventured outside of my comfort zone to pursue an offshoot of my interest in libraries and archives.  Trusting I could transfer skills developed over the span of my career as a performance arts manager and educator in New York, I enrolled part-time in graduate school and received a master’s degree in library information science from Long Island University.  My aim has subsequently evolved into the current iteration of my development from cultural worker to digital curator.

In 2012, I took a sabbatical from the Library of Congress to begin doctoral studies at the University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science. As a first year Cultural Heritage Informatics fellow, my research interests are developing towards critical approaches to:

• Mapping the cultural ecology of transformative learning communities.
• pragmatic approaches to tacit knowledge.

My objectives are informed by my stagecraft and librarianship/archival experiences combined with my interest in community informatics, indigenous episteme, and digital cultural heritage.

I’ve been eager to collaborate with the CHI Initiative since I learned about it in 2010 and look forward to participating in the fieldschool.  I hope to expand my understanding of trends and issues in cultural heritage informatics; develop practical skills as a digital curator, and foster a network of colleagues and collaborators.