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Hello. I am a Texas resident now, though I was born and raised in Kentucky. My husband and I are expecting our first child in December of 2001. Although I have always loved libraries and learning about different things, it took me several years and a previous graduate school experience to make me realize that what I REALLY want to be when I grow up is a reference librarian. While working on this virtual library, I spent the bulk of my time working on the behind-the-scenes kind of stuff. I created the wheel graphic and sidebar text for the VL home page, I created the file structure for the website, and templates for everyone to use for putting their content on the site. This has been a wonderful opportunity for me to use web development skills from a previous job as well as to learn software packages like Fireworks and Adobe Illustrator. I am a Diverger according to the Kolb model of learning, meaning that I like to observe something, think about it for a while and then start working with it on my own. Outside of school I am an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Reading, dance and hiking are my hobbies.
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One of my contributions to the virtual library was to act as a facilitator in a technology workshop held at Northwest Indian College in March 2001. Visiting Lummi and meeting some of the Oksale students and instructors was a wonderful experience. I wish that the rest of the students who are contributing so much more could have that opportunity. My main learning style according to the modified Kolb model is a Converger.
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After I carefully researched librarianship, I realized that it was what I was looking for in a career. I came to UT Austin because I knew that it has one of the top library and information science schools and has a great reputation throughout the nation. I am very satisfied with my choice. Constructing this virtual library has been a challenging yet fulfilling task. The process has helped me become more sensitive to users' needs, which I'm confident will help me to be a better librarian. I am a Converger according to the Kolb model.
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I grew up with my mother in Durango, which is in the mountains of Colorado. The reason I came to UT Austin's graduate school of library and information science may have been partially due to fate: as I found out after I began this program, my mother lived in Austin and worked as an assistant in the main UT library when she was pregnant with me. My more tangible reason is that when I was working on my undergraduate degree in Latin American history, I did a large amount of research, and was repeatedly amazed and impressed with the reference librarians who constantly helped me find elusive information. Working with everyone in our class on this virtual library project has been the best team experience that I have had in school, and the fact that our class project will actually be useful to many people makes the experience even more meaningful. My wife
and I enjoy traveling, and hope to live in far away lands after
we finish our degrees. Now
I am continuing the family tradition by working in the Digital
Information Literacy department of the Undergraduate Library on
campus.
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My family escaped the pogroms of late 19th century Russia. They lived in shtetls, which were Jewish villages that no longer exist but were immortalized in Fiddler On The Roof. I grew up in Sioux City, Iowa, a place named after a proud native people as well as the spot where Sgt. Floyd, the only member of the Lewis and Clark expedition to die, is buried. I am pursuing library and information science at UT Austin because I felt limited as a classroom teacher and wished to remain an educator. School librarianship seemed like a logical choice. This career will enable me to work with teachers and students on stimulating research projects and promote information literacy skills. The
most important thing about the virtual library is its usefulness
to beginning teachers. I hope to create the kind of useful resource
that did not exist when I was in education school in the mid-1990s.
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I was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in a Norwegian/German Lutheran family. My dad's family has been farmers since dirt, and my father was the first generation to get off the farm, although many of my father's ancestors were also ministers. Still, we have our traditions--my elder brother is the 12th eldest son named "Ulrik" in a row. My mother's family used to have money, but the guy I'm descended from eloped with a maid and fled Europe. The more I learn about my family, the stranger they get… I came to study library and information science at UT Austin because nine years in an independent bookstore taught me that I had a talent for putting people and the books they needed together. It also taught me that I would be unemployed; the future of independent bookstores is not bright. A close friend who is a librarian suggested that I switch to libraries, where my skills would be more productive. Here I am! I've enjoyed the sense of working together with many people on the virtual library project. While most group projects are about producing a report where the participants' individual contributions are smoothed together into a final product, the virtual library is about linking all of our work together. These links extend outside of the class--it's gratifying to think that this project will provide a tangible benefit to others. The web, for all its problems, does allow us to have some impact far outside our normal "radius of effect." According
to our Kolb exercise, I am an Accommodator (but I feel like a
Diverger) and I spend most of my time in Kuhlthau's Zone 1. I
am happy to participate in a project that will have a useful life
after the class is over.
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I hail from the small (but beautiful!) Santa Ynez Valley in California, and until now I have always lived near the ocean. While pursuing my undergraduate degree at the University of California at Santa Cruz, I realized that librarianship was the perfect way to combine my passionate love of books, my interest in conducting research, and my enjoyment of interacting with people of all kinds. UT Austin's classes and program appealed to me the most, so I drove across the desert in August without air-conditioning to come here. I have learned a great deal from this virtual library project, but the most important knowledge I acquired is how to work with a large group of people and how to fuse technology, design, and content into a practical creation. According
to the Kolb model I am a definite Diverger who learns best through
reflective observation.
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I am originally from Ontario, Canada, but I have lived in Texas for 23 years. I had been a nurse for over 20 years, and I came to library school to pursue a career as a medical librarian. This seemed like a logical progression of my desire to help patients and families understand their medical problems better. My career in nursing was spent primarily in critical care (ICU) and I hope that my library degree will allow me to work in a more congenial environment. I
hope that the material we have contributed to the virtual library
will help you increase your knowledge about computer technology
and how it can be incorporated in your teaching careers.
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I've lived only in state capitols: Jackson, Mississippi; Madison, Wisconsin; Boston, Massachusetts; and now Austin, Texas.
I have always been a reader, so I was considering a career in
either publishing or librarianship, without having any idea of
what either one entailed. I was leaning toward publishing as it
is a bit more glamorous; however, I visited New York with my mother
and sister and I realized that 1. I hated New York, 2. There was
no way I wanted to live in New York, and 3. If I wanted a job
in publishing I would pretty much have to live in New York. Hence,
library school, UT Austin, and learning that I am a Converger
on the Kolb model.
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I am an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, enrolled on the White Earth Reservation in western Minnesota. My mother is Pembina Band and my father was Mississippi Band. I usually refer to myself as Ojibwe or Anishinabe. I was born in Cloquet, Minnesota and raised in Carlton, Minnesota (population 923), near the Fond du Lac Reservation, about 15 miles southwest of Duluth. I ended up in library and information science after a career as a medical radiologic technologist (X-ray tech). I worked in hospitals in southern Oregon and Arizona. I was interested in opportunities that involved providing patients with more information about their health care. I ended up working in a public library in Arizona and moved to Urbana, Illinois where I completed a Ph.D. in Library and Information Science. I applied for a position on the faculty at UT Austin in May 1986 and joined the faculty in January 1987. Perhaps my contributions to the virtual library are bringing opportunity to the students while encouraging them to complete the project. I think my work is to help bring a sense of balance to the work--to help ensure that the students feel that their work is respected and productive and to protect their earnest efforts. The virtual library project has also brought me many gifts and opportunities. It has enabled me to share my cultural views with the class in a way that also contributes to our discussion and work. Perhaps we have trusted each other and thus built a belief system or sense of confidence in ourselves through inter-dependence with each other. Dr. Cajete (Look to the Mountain, page 23) writes about finding spirituality in one's life: "discovering one's true face, one's heart, and one's foundation." The virtual library is an expression of my path to discovering personal meaning through my professional life. I
have an overt/trained learning style and a natural learning style.
My academic training has bent my natural learning preference so
that I have become a Converger (like most academics). My nature
is the opposite: a Diverger and much better at creative solutions
(such as brainstorming). Currently, I am working on a statement
or blessing that we can use on the last day of class.
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I
grew up in Tennessee near the Smoky Mountains. I am at the graduate
school of library and information science at UT Austin because
I like to find information and learn the answers to obscure questions.
I'm hopeful that the virtual library will be of use and I'm curious
to see how it will develop. According to the Kolb model I am a
Diverger.
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I am a native New Mexican and I love the combination of mountains and desert; it provides an outlet for an instant change of scenery when needed! I will be moving back to Albuquerque in May 2001 after graduation. I plan to work, plant an outside vegetable and herb garden, hike in the mountains, hang out with friends, paint and draw more, and do some traveling. I came to UT Austin because I wanted to be an official librarian and the only way to do that is to graduate from an accredited MLS program. In addition, I wanted to see what it was like to live in Austin because I have known several people who had lived here before and inquiring minds want to know… It
was a great experience to be able to contribute my ideas and artwork
to such a beneficial project as the virtual library. I also enjoyed
working with such a talented group of people--everyone had wonderful
ideas! Without a doubt I am a Diverger on the Kolb model, since
I love anything artistic!
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