As a librarian, Ms. Tancin oversees the Institute's book collections. She is also responsible for library administration, all aspects of collection development, maintenance and preservation, and the journal exchange program. She shares reference work for on-site and off-site library users with the assistant librarian.
She conducts library tours and group presentations for audiences such as botany classes, garden groups and library school students, and is the book review editor for Huntia. Her current projects include working on a survey of Linnaean collections for the Linnaeus Link project and exploring the possibility of collaborative preservation projects among Pennsylvania institutions and members of the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (CBHL).
Ms. Tancin earned her B.A. in philosophy from Mount St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, and a Masters in Library Science and Advanced Certificate in Preservation Management from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a member of the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (president, 1996–1997; secretary, 1999– ), the American Library Association, the Special Libraries Association, the Pennsylvania Library Association, and the Society for the History of Natural History.
She is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. She serves on the Board of the Pennsylvania Preservation Consortium and is a research associate in the Museum Library at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. She is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Pittsburgh Bibliophiles (chair, 1998–2000 ). She has a strong interest in the preservation of library and archival materials, as well as in the history of the book, literacy, and the spread of ideas. Her interests include genealogy, backpacking, gardening, web work, other recreational computing, quiltmaking, music, and, of course, books. She is assisting with a project documenting the history of her hometown, Freeland, Pennsylvania.