On this page:
- Welcome from the Director
- What NARIC Offers
- A Brief History of NARIC
- Meet the Team
- About Blackfish Federal & HeiTech Services
Welcome from Natalie Collier, Our Director!
Welcome to the NARIC website, our gateway to an abundance of disability- and rehabilitation-oriented information organized in a variety of formats designed to make it easy for users to find and use. Since 1977, NARIC staff members have been dedicated to providing direct, personal, and high-quality information services to anyone throughout the country. As a leader in providing interactive information to the disability and rehabilitation community, NARIC puts the information into the hands of the users through online publications, searchable databases, and timely reference and referrals. As you view our site, you're actually going through more than 40 years of collecting, organizing, and maintaining the most current information in the field. What started as a small collection now includes more than 300,000 documents and journal articles in our largest database, Disability and Rehabilitation Literature Database (REHABDATA).
What NARIC Offers
We collect, catalog, and disseminate not only the articles, reports, curricula, guides, and other publications and products of the research and development projects but also information about the 250+ projects funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) in the Program Database and community resources in the Community Resource Database.
We provide resources by topics, answers to questions from the communities, organizations in the communities, and collated calendars of events from the broader disability and rehabilitation community. We produce plain language summaries of research articles, blogs, podcasts, announcements about NIDILRR opportunities, alerts about new NARIC acquisitions, and a weekly newsletter that highlights and actively promotes the resources, news, and upcoming events of the NIDILRR community and beyond.
Please browse our website for these resources and information. We translate all NARIC-produced information into Spanish. Our librarians and information specialists are available to assist you with finding any information you may need to live and work independently. We will refer you to an appropriate resource if necessary.
A Brief History of NARIC
NARIC began in 1977 as a small collection of research reports housed in a one-room office at Catholic University. The core mission is to collect and disseminate the results of research funded by NIDILRR. Over a quarter of a century, that mission has expanded to providing information services and document delivery to the disability and rehabilitation communities across the United States. In 1982, we added information and referral services through a toll-free call center. In 1989, NARIC added an electronic bulletin board, facilitating access for libraries and research institutions. With the advent of the Internet, NARIC moved online in 1992 with a small website featuring static pages and directories. NARIC.com became fully interactive in 1995, moving REHABDATA online, followed by our other databases. We brought NARIC's resources into mailboxes around the world with a monthly alert service of our acquisitions. We now actively promote the work of the NIDILRR community through our newsletter, News and Notes from the NIDILRR Community and Beyond, and social media.
In this new century, NARIC's digital services and products have grown to include electronic copies of current journal articles. We have also digitized existing publications for safer storage and easy retrieval. We expanded our online services to include virtual reference through chat.
Meet the NARIC Staff
Natalie J. Collier, Project Director
Natalie joined NARIC in 1996 following her work at the National Library of Education and the Library at the Goddard Space Flight Center. As manager of NARIC's library services, Natalie initiated the digital collection through acquisitions and document scanning. Natalie is completing the Project Management Professional program from the Project Management Institute.
Jessica H. Chaiken, Communications Director
Jess joined NARIC in 1996 after completing a Masters in American Sign Language Linguistics at Gallaudet University. As a member and leader of the Media Team, Jess developed NARIC's web presence, including the move to online databases. She introduced virtual reference, social media, and alert services. Jess completed her Master of Library and Information Sciences at Drexel University in 2012.
Tamara J. Pyle, Library and Acquisitions Manager
Tamie joined NARIC in 2002 as an Information Specialist. She led the development of NARIC's Community Resource Database, and was the first staff member to receive certification as an Inform USA-Certified Information and Referral Specialist and a Community Resource Specialist.
Marta P. Garcia, Bilingual Media/Information Specialist
Marta joined NARIC in 2010 with a strong background in recreational therapy for both pediatric and geriatric populations. They provide information services in English and Spanish and translates all original material from NARIC. They originated the NARIC Spotlight Podcast and continue as editor and production manager. Marta is an Inform USA-Certified Information and Referral Specialist.
Sheila Turner, Abstractor
Sheila also joined NARIC in 2002 following a long tenure as a technical writer in the medical and insurance fields. As the main abstractor, Sheila adds and indexes more than 1,000 abstracts to REHABDATA each year.
Hafsa Abdirahman, MPH, Technical Writer
Hafsa joined NARIC in 2022, contributing to our Research In Focus series. She is a public health scientist and freelance medical writer and editor. She believes that access to evidence-based, quality health information can save lives and she’s worked throughout her career to put this belief into practice.
Mark X. Odum, Project Director 1987-2025
Mark was the heart of NARIC since its earliest days at Catholic University. He became Project Director in 1987. Under Mark's leadership, NARIC was at the forefront of evolving library technology including bulletin board systems, packaged and online databases, user-friendly websites, and virtual reference. In addition to his NARIC work, Mark was actively involved in the spinal cord injury community, serving as director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association from 1986 to 2001, as well as accessibility and policy boards for the Baltimore Orioles and Ravens. Mark completed his Masters of Business Administration at the University of Maryland in 2001. Mark passed away unexpectedly in January 2025. He is deeply missed by us all.
About BlackFish Federal, LLC, and HeiTech Services, Inc.
NARIC is currently managed by BlackFish Federal, LLC/HeiTech Services, Inc., under NIDILRR contract number 140D0421C0021. BlackFish Federal, LLC and HeiTech Services, Inc. jointly operates NARIC.
BlackFish Federal, LLC, is an 8(a)-certified small business offering mission-specific professional services to federal, state, and commercial clients. Whether through applying innovative IT solutions or providing healthcare management support services, BlackFish consultants use their problem-solving skills to turn challenges into opportunities. ISO 9001:2015 certified and appraised at CMMI Services V2.0 maturity level 2, all of these services are supported by high quality, standardized, and repeatable processes.
Its work encompasses eight key areas:
- Program and project management
- IT development and innovation
- Healthcare solutions
- Security support services
- Acquisitions and contracts
- Business processing
- Professional and technical services
- Training and evaluation
Its work encompasses five key areas:
- IT Support;
- Management Consulting and Program Evaluation;
- Customer Compliance Support;
- Clearinghouse and Resource Center Operations; and
- Administrative Support.
The company's mission is to provide excellent service working together with the client to accomplish common goals in an environment that is rewarding to both. High value is placed on the development of the individual, on both professional and person levels.
HeiTech has numerous federal contracts with several agencies including the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Education, Labor, and Transportation. The company partners with large business and academic institutions to the benefit of the client. Partners have included such companies as Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., University of Kentucky, ICF Consulting, and Perot Systems Government Services (PSGS).
Learn more about HeiTech Services and its clients.