Library Profiles & Subject Teams

Chris is the Head of Academic Engagement and a member of the Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences subject teams. He can help you with all your research & reference questions, or refer you to other experts.

Education:

• BA, English Literature, Dickinson College
• MLS, Queens College
• MALS, Stony Brook University

Experience:

• Head of Academic Engagement, Stony Brook University, 2019 to present
• Head of the Southampton Library, Stony Brook University, 2016 to 2019
• Digital Resources Librarian, Dowling College, 2003 to 2016

Selected Publications, Presentations & Service

Book

Holliday, D., & Kretz, C. (2010). Oakdale. Portsmouth, NH: Arcadia Publishing.

 

Book Chapter

Kretz, C., & Blydenburgh, W. (2018). No budget, no barriers: How academic branch libraries can make Twitter work. In J. Joe & E. Knight (Eds.), Social media for communication and instruction in academic libraries (pp.258-284). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Kretz, C. (2007). Podcasting in libraries. In Nancy Courtney (Ed.), Library 2.0 and Beyond: Innovative Technologies and Tomorrow’s User. Columbus, OH: Libraries Unlimited.

 

Articles

Nyitray, K. J., Reijerkerk, D., & Kretz, C. (2022). “There will be an end, but we don’t know when”: Preserving diverse COVID-19 pandemic experiences through oral history. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, 18(2), 280-300. https://doi.org/10.1177/15501906221079052

Kretz, C., Payne, C., & Reijerkerk, D. (2021). Study room time machine: Creating a virtual library escape game during COVID. College & Research Libraries, 28 (3-4), 273-295. https://doi.org/10.1080/10691316.2021.1975341 

Kretz, C. (2021). Invited on the air: Public libraries at the beginning of broadcast radio. Journal of Radio & Audio History. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376529.2021.1878183

Kretz, C. (2017). What academic libraries can learn from the future of public media. Urban Library Journal, 23(2), 1-10.

Aloi, M., Esposito, L., Gotsch, J., Holliday, D. & Kretz, C. (2007). Technology of displays: Using technical services skills to enhance library displays. Technical Services Quarterly, 24(4), 15-27.

Pope Robbins, L., Esposito, L., Kretz, C., & Aloi, M. (2007). What a user wants: Redesigning a library’s web site based on a card-sort analysis. Journal of Web Librarianship, 1(4), 3-27.

 

Selected Presentations

“Mars or Bust: Press Wireless, the Hayden Planetarium, and the 1939 attempt to contact the red planet.” Virtual presentation at the Popular Culture & American Culture Association Conference, April 2022.

“Creating a new mix: Designing and delivering targeted library instruction using a variety of approaches.” Virtual poster presented with Laurel Scheinfeld at ACRL Distance and Online Learning Section Instruction Committee 3rd annual Virtual Poster Session, April 2022.

“From one institution to all: Documenting the impact of COVID-19. Virtual conference presentation with Kristen Nyitray and Dana Reijerkerk at the 2021 New York Archives Conference, June 2021. 

“From institutional affiliations to grassroots collaborations: Documenting World War II across America.” Panel discussion at the Oral History Association Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, October 2019.

“Revisiting the founding era: Long Island and the revolution.” Panel discussion with Joanne S. Grasso and Peter Bales at Brentwood Public Library, Brentwood, NY, September 2019.

“The amazing world of libraries and podcasting.” Presented at Mid-Atlantic Podcasting Conference, Atlantic City, NJ, September 2019.

“The evolution of a radio history podcast.” Presented at  Popular Culture & American Culture Association Conference, Washington, DC, April 2019.

“Growing a branch library Twitter account.” Presented with William Blydenburgh at the Long Island Library Conference, Melville, NY, May 2018.
 

Oral History Projects

Documenting COVID-19: Stony Brook University Experiences Project (2020-2021)
Retrieved from: https://exhibits.library.stonybrook.edu/s/documenting-covid-19-stony-brook-university-experiences/page/welcome
Project coordinator and lead interviewer for oral history component of digital collection focusing on COVID-19 at Stony Brook. Developed guidelines and training, conducted eighteen interviews, processed audio files and oversaw transcription of recordings. 

The Long Island Home Front (2019-present)
Retrieved from: https://nationalhomefrontproject.org/the-long-island-home-front/
Project coordinator and sole interviewer for community-based project focused on the social history of Long Island residents during World War II. Processed all files for submission to the National Home Front Project of the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, Washington College.

 

Podcasts

Kretz, C. (producer, host). The Radio Tower. (2017-present).
Retrieved from http://lirtvhs.org/podcasts/

Kretz, C. (producer, co-host). The Long Island History Project. (Fall 2014 – present).
Retrieved from http://longislandhistoryproject.org