Heidi Abbey Moyer

Archivist and Humanities Reference Librarian
Librarian

Office Address

Library, Room 303A
Office Phone
717-948-6056
Departmental Phone
717-948-6070 (department)
hna2@psu.edu

About Me

Heidi Abbey Moyer is the Archivist, Humanities Reference Librarian, and Coordinator of Archives and Special Collections in the Madlyn L. Hanes Library at the Penn State Harrisburg. From 2000-2006, she served as the first Digital Collections Librarian in the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT.

Academic Support Areas

School of Humanities, Penn State Harrisburg

Research Interests

Ms. Moyer's scholarly research interests are interdisciplinary and include archival advocacy, outreach, and tenure for academic archivists; digital librarianship and digital humanities; environmental sustainability for archives, museums, and libraries; museum studies, and women's studies, especially Motherhood Studies and rites of passage for women. She also stays abreast of current trends and research in American popular culture, particularly American wedding history and traditions.

Her research sabbatical project in 2014-2015 focused on the following: 1) processing the ephemera, records, and over 20,000 photographs in Penn State Harrisburg's College History Archives; 2) using crowdsourcing and social media to gather metadata about items in the collection; and 3) writing and publishing the first book about Penn State Harrisburg in celebration of the college's 50th anniversary during 2016-2017. Awarded a second research sabbatical in 2021-2022, Ms. Moyer researched the ketogenic diet and its pervasiveness in American foodways as well as popular and consumer culture, the results of which are being compiled for an article in the journal, Gastronomica.

Most recently, Ms. Moyer has expanded her research agenda to address several social justice topics including the culture of silence and dynamics of power associated with promotion and tenure for academic archivists, DEI priorities in academic archives, and advocacy for parental rights with disrupted parent-child relationships and family dynamics.

Teaching Interests

Ms. Moyer's teaching interests focus on the effective use of print and electronic library resources for humanities disciplines, the use of digital collections in the humanities, as well as fostering primary source and archival literacy in the classroom and across the humanities curriculum.

She especially welcomes teaching courses in the areas of American popular culture, American women's history, art history, genealogy and local history, museum studies, public heritage, and photography.

Subject Expertise

  • Folklore and Folklife Studies
  • Foodways and Food Studies
  • Museum Studies
  • Jewish Studies
  • Art and Architectural History
  • American Studies
  • Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Publications

(Re)Appraising Our Archival Identity: Demystifying the Process and Changing the Dialogue about Promotion and Tenure for Academic Archivists, American Archivist, 2024

Does a Decade Make a Difference?: Comparing the Web Presence of North American Art Museum Libraries and Archives in 1999 and 2011, Art Libraries Journal, 2012

Celebrating Women All Year Long: The Alice Marshall Women's History Collection at Penn State Harrisburg's Archives and Special Collections, InterView, 2012

The Green Archivist: A Primer for Adopting Affordable, Environmentally Sustainable, and Socially Responsible Archival Management Practices, Archival Issues: Journal of the Midwest Archives Conferences, 2012

Calling All Bloggers! MARAC Joins the Blogosphere, The Mid-Atlantic Archivist (MAA), 2012

The Digital Collections Program, UConn Libraries, 2002

Art Through the Ages Online: An Evaluative Webliography of Art and Art History Timelines, Art Libraries Journal, 2002

Digital Collections Online (DCO): Find the Resources You Need Fast!, Information Today, Inc, 2001

Digital Collections Online (DCO): Find the Resources You Need Fast!, 2001

Beyond the Bells and Whistles: A Practical Look at Macromedia's Flash and Its Usability for Libraries, ITIG TechCorner, 2000

Other Publications

Books

Penn State Harrisburg, Arcadia Publishing, 2016

Chapters

Sustainability, 2021

On the Web: OUR BODIES OURSELVES (OURBODIESOURSELVES.ORG) (1969–), 2017

Three Mile Island, Three Decades Later.: Case Study Three: The People and Perspectives of Middletown, Pennsylvania, 2013

Preserving Digital Content, Jump-Start Your Career as a Digital Librarian: A LITA Guide, 2013

Preserving Digital Content, 2013

Frederick Matzow (1861-1938): Meriden's Artist-in-Residence, Frederick Matzow (1861-1938): Meriden's Artist-in-Residence, 2006

Appreciating Frederick Matzow's Art, 2006

Book/Film/Article Reviews

Erin's Sons: Irish Arrivals in Atlantic Canada 1751-1858, Volume 3, American Reference Books Annual, 2010

Erin’s Sons: Irish Arrivals in Atlantic Canada 1761-1853, ARBAonline, 2009

Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006, American Reference Books Annual, 2008

Miller's Companion to Antiques and Collectibles, American Reference Books Annual, 2008

Encyclopedia/Dictionary Entries

Sustainability, Roman & Littlefield Publishers, 2021

Oral History Program, Designing and Managing, Roman & Littlefield Publishers, 2021

Our Bodies Ourselves (ourbodiesourselves.org) (1969-present), Greenwood/ABC-Clio, 2017

Magazine/Trade Publications

A History of Women's Lives: Collection Highlights Reality Versus Stereotypes, American Libraries, 2015

From the chair, Data Base for Advances in Information Systems, 1994

Newsletters

Commemorating Camp Meade: Honoring Our Local History Connections with the Fred M. Greguras Camp Meade Collection, 2023

Results of the MAS Membership Survey 2014, Museum Archivist: Newsletter of the Museum Archives Section, 2015

Meet the Incoming Co-Chairs---Jennie Thomas & Heidi N. Abbey, Museum Archivist: Newsletter of the Museum Archives Section, 2013

Others

Our Bodies Ourselves (ourbodiesourselves.org) (1969-present), 2017