Biography of Nancy MacKay

Nancy MacKay has spent her career straddling the line between library science and oral history.

She has a wide range of experience as an oral historian, most recently as the co-founder and coordinatoron the Oakland Living History Program from 2001-2012. She frequently writes, teaches, consults, and speaks about oral history. She is author of Curating Oral Histories(2007) and co-author of the forthcoming 5 volume set:Community Oral History Toolkit (2012). Current research interests include metadata for oral histories and the condition of oral histories in repositories. She recently completed a survey on the state of oral histories in repositories.

Nancy has worked in academic libraries since she received an MLIS from University of California, Berkeley in 1983, and was Head of Technical Services at Mills College from 1989-2012. Her library experience includes cataloging, automation, project management, collection development, music, automation, and reference.

Nancy currently teaches oral history and library science at the San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science.