About

I study the history of computing and software interfaces, with a particular interest in digital archives and preservation.

My current book project uses digital forensics to uncover the technical legacy of 1960s counterculture in early multimedia computing. I am also developing new projects that address the evidentiary value of digital objects in non-institutional preservation contexts.

I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Information at San José State University, as well as a Senior Fellow in the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography at Rare Book School (University of Virginia), and the Senior Book Reviews Editor for Information & Culture.

I earned my Ph.D. from Rutgers University’s School of Communication and Information in 2020 and I was Bullard Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin from 2020-2022.

Previously, I taught courses in the Master of Information (MI) program at Rutgers University, as well as the undergraduate Digital Communication, Information, and Media (DCIM) minor.

Some of my other projects include web, curatorial, audio, and event production work, all oriented toward extending academic thinking into new formats and environments.

Before I began my doctoral studies, I earned an M.A. in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University. I also worked for a number of media companies in New York City.

Outside of work, I am a musician, cyclist, and boardsports enthusiast.

For research updates, follow me on Academia.edu, ResearchGate, or Google Scholar.

Recent Publications

“Algorithmic Futures: The Intersection of Algorithms and Evidentiary Work.” Information, Communication & Society (2023, with co-author Ciaran B. Trace)

Taxonomizing Information Practices in a Large Conspiracy Movement: Using Early QAnon as a Case Study. Information & Culture 58 (2).

Preserving algorithmic systems: a synthesis of overlapping approaches, materialities and contexts. Journal of Documentation (2023, with co-author Ciaran B. Trace)

“How to Collect a Corpus of Websites With a Web Crawler.” In SAGE Research Methods: Doing Research Online (Morgan Currie, ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing.

“Simulating Domestic Space in 1990s Technoculture: Timothy Leary’s Virtual Home Library.” In Reading Home Cultures Through Books, (Kirsti Salmi-Niklander and Marija Dalbello, eds.). London, UK: Routledge.

“Forensic Analysis of Memetic Image Propagation: Introducing the SMOC BRISQUEt Method.” Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology (2021, with co-authors Mitch Chaiet and Praful Gupta)

“Transcoding Authenticity: Preserving Unreleased Gaming Software Outside of Memory Institutions.” Journal of Documentation, 78(2).

“Forensically Reconstructing Biomedical Maintenance Labor: PDF Metadata Under the Epistemic Conditions of COVID-19.” Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 72(11).

“Forensic Approaches to Evaluating Primary Sources in Internet History Research: Reconstructing Early Web-based Archival Work (1989–1996).” Internet Histories, 5(2).

“Forensic Materiality and Technocratic Self-Regulation in the 1980s Software Cracking Scene.” IEEE Annals of Computer History, 41(4), spec. issue on Governance in the History of Computing, (Gerardo Con Diaz, ed.).

“Comparing Born-Digital Artifacts Using Bibliographic Archeology: A Survey of Timothy Leary’s Published Software (1985-1996).” Information Research, 24(2), spec. issue on Archaeology and Information Research, (Huvila, I., Dalbello, M., Dallas, C., Faniel, I.M., & Olsson, M., eds.).

“How Do I Hold This Thing? Controlling Reconstructed Q*Berts.” New Media and Society 19(10), spec. issue on Haptic Media Studies (David Parisi, Mark Paterson, and Jason Archer, eds.).