Kate Reagor

Austin Texas   ·   kate.reagor@gmail.com   ·   LinkedIn Profile

Data professional with extensive experience in analytics, data visualization, and working with legacy systems and databases. As a long time public servant with 15+ years of state government service, as well as a recent recipient of a Master of Science in Information Studies from the UT School of Information, I am uniquely positioned to communicate with state agency staff at all levels of technical expertise and apply modern data solutions to government data across the full range of system types, age, and complexity.

Experience

Data Analyst

Office of Court Administration

Analyzes and interprets data related to court activity, caseloads, and other aspects of the Texas judicial system. Develops new data processes and upgrades to existing processes through the development of data dashboards and data automation processes. Creates graphs and visualizations to demonstrate significant impacts or changes, report on ongoing trends, or in response to information requests from courts or legislative and judicial leadership.

Dec 2022 - Present

Auditor

Texas State Auditor's Office

Participates in audits of state-funded entities. Reviews and analyzes organization data to identify potential issues or anomalies. Researches legal and governmental standards under which audited organizations operate, and assesses data and documentation to establish compliance. Works on advanced data projects involving data visualization and the development of dynamic, database-driven Tableau dashboards as supplements to agency reports.

Jan 2022 - Dec 2022

Library Technical Services Specialist

Texas State Library, Library Development & Networking

Primary technical services consultant and data manager for the TexShare Consortium programs. Responsible for updating, assessing, and maintaining large datasets for the TexShare Programs and its 600+ member organizations. Designed and maintained a database-driven dashboard displaying detailed monthly program usage for individual members, and developed data cleanup workflows to automate the processing of vendor data files for upload into the database. Assisted in the development and maintenance of databases, data storage solutions, and web applications. Designed and implemented complex member surveys, analyzed the results, and compiled the information into visual reports using Tableau and Power BI.

Jul 2016 - Dec 2021

Technical Assistant

Texas State Library, Library Development & Networking

Supported a wide range of statewide library programs, including e-resources, competitive grants, interlibrary loan, and continuing education and technology training for librarians. Maintained program documentation, datasets, and databases, and offered basic to intermediate program and technical support to library staff and the public. Performed increasingly complex data cleanup and consolidation projects and made improvements to outdated data management, record keeping, and records management procedures.

Jun 2012 - Jul 2016

Library Assistant III

Texas State Library, Talking Book Program

Assisted patrons of the Texas Talking Book Program with material orders, setting up automated circulation configurations in the ILS, and offering technical support for the BARD audiobook download service. Managed the onboarding of new patrons - offering detailed explanations of how the service worked and assisting in the setup of custom service configurations to best suit the unique reading needs of each. Served on a small internal team tasked with testing and debugging updates to service's homegrown ILS.

Sep 2009 - Jun 2012

Library Assistant II

Texas State Library, Talking Book Program

Assisted in the coordination and assigning of daily circulation tasks for the Texas Talking Book Program: prepped each day's circulation list for distribution to circulation clerks, and trained new clerks in circulation duties. Performed intermediate circulation and library material processing duties, such as prepping new library materials (audiobooks, large print, and braille), adding new items to the catalog, weeding and rotating uncirculated materials, and repairing or disposing of damaged items.

Apr 2008 - Sep 2009

Circulation Clerk

Texas State Library, Talking Book Program

Performed daily library circulation tasks for the Texas Talking Book Program: processing and mailing 1,000+ outgoing library materials daily, inspecting and re-shelving incoming materials, and performing other circulation and maintenance tasks as needed.

Mar 2007 - Apr 2008

Education

University of Texas at Austin | School of Information

Master of Science in Information Studies
Focus: data wrangling and workflows, database management, metadata and data repositories, library and project management, and library IT systems.
Activities and Societies: Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
2018-2020

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Bachelor of Arts, English

Skills

Programming Languages

  • Python
  • SQL
  • PHP
  • GREL
  • RegEx
  • HTML

Tools & Applications

  • SQL Databases
  • OpenRefine
  • Tableau, Power BI
  • Trello, Kanban Project Management Frameworks
  • Microsoft Word, Excel, Access

Web Accessibility

  • WCAG 2.1 Compliance Standards
  • e-Resource Accessibility Testing
  • Accessible Document Creation
  • NVDA Screen Reader
  • WAVE Toolbar

Professional Experience Capstone Project

Developing an e-Resource Usage Dashboard for Texas Libraries

Host Organization: Texas State Library and Archives Commission

The TexShare Databases Program at the Texas State Library provides 600+ Texas libraries with access to 68 electronic resources from seven content providers. Many of these libraries, public and academic, require access to data on how these resources are being used: to maintain accreditation, justify continued funding, or to demonstrate the value of the resources to outside stakeholders. But collecting this data requires visiting a dozen different admin platforms, each containing reports of varying metrics and standards.

To aid these libraries, I developed a series of workflows in OpenRefine, which TexShare staff could use to quickly process the program’s consortia-level usage data, import it into a database, and share it with member libraries as a single, standardized report. Then I surveyed a selection of member libraries about their usage data needs and used the survey results to develop a dashboard which will enable libraries to view their usage information and export custom usage data reports.

The capstone was completed in August 2020, but I have continued to develop and expand the dashboard into an official service to TexShare member libraries. It now displays usage statistics from all but a few outlier resources, and continues to be updated monthly.

Capstone Project Page  ·   Usage Data Survey Analysis Report (PDF)  ·   Usage Data Reporting Dashboard

Professional and Graduate Projects

TLA Contributed Paper: Being COUNTER-Productive

Texas Library Association & Texas Library Journal

My TLA contributed paper, “Being COUNTER-Productive: Developing Strategies and Workflows for Processing and Standardizing E-Resource Usage Data” was published in the Texas Library Journal 2021 Special Issue. The paper and accompanying presentation at the TLA 2021 Annual Conference details methods and best practices for using the open source application OpenRefine to automate the cleanup and standardizing of vendor e-resource usage statistics reports.

TLA Presentation Recording  ·   Contributed Paper  ·   Full TLJ 2021 Special Issue

A Question of Access: Section 508, ADA and You

Texas Library Association 2020 Annual Conference

I co-presented a session for the TLA Annual Conference on state and federal accessibility guidelines. My portion of the presentation (starting at 29:11) covers principles of accessible design and the basics of creating accessible web pages, Word documents, PDFs, and PowerPoint slides.

Accessibility Session Recording  ·   Session Slides

The Rats of Broadway

INF 385T - Data Wrangling | Build a Data Pipeline

This project involved building a data pipeline to move obtained datasets through reading, cleaning, validating, analyzing, and displaying results. I used found-data on Broadway Theater attendance and rat sightings in New York City to seek out correlations between ticket sale data and rat population density around New York theaters. Were there fewer rats around showings of Cats vs Of Mice and Men? Are more rats to be found congregating around Something Rotten! or Superior Donuts?

Data workflow written in Jupyter Notebooks using Python, SQL, and Regex, MySQL relational database created using PHPMyAdmin, and exported data visualized using Tableau.

View Full Project Report  ·   Skip to Visualization & Analysis

SimplyE: Printable How-To Guides for Library Patrons

INF 385T - Peer Production | Contribute to an Open Source Project

I created a series of printable guides for the SimplyE open source eBook platform. These guides explain the process of downloading and installing the SimplyE application onto Android devices, and how to connect the application to their home library's eBook collection. The guides were submitted to the SimplyE project via the New York Public Library SimplyE Confluence page.

PDF SimplyE Guides  ·   SimplyE Wiki: Promotional Materials

UPDATE: Following changes to the Android version of SimplyE, I created an updated guide in Dec 2020.

SimplyE Getting Started - Android (PowerPoint)  ·   SimplyE Wiki: Customizable Aids to Help Patrons

Digital Content and First Sale: The Challenges of Ebook Lending in Modern Libraries

INF 380E - Perspectives on Information

A paper analyzing the challenges faced by libraries as the balance of library collections increasingly shifts towards the digital. Because ownership of electronic copies of works does not fall under the same legal protections as do their physical counterparts, librarians have found themselves having to navigate complex acquisitions processes requiring detailed knowledge of contract law, and possessing limited leverage with which to push back against the publishing industry.

View the Paper