Born in Phoenix, AZ, in 1930. Graduated from Arizona State Univ. with a major in mathematics and a minor in foreign languages; worked as a movie projectionist while attending ASU. In 1950, became a graduate student in mathematics at the Univ. of California, Berkeley, where I supported myself as a dishwasher in a boarding house for girls and as a mail and supply-room clerk in the University Library. Went through U.S. Navy boot camp and electronics school, and was later commissioned as an ensign in the Navy (now retired as a captain). Became involved with computers in 1952 and wrote my first computer program in that year. After a stint with the Department of Defense, I worked in private industry and then for System Development Corporation, one of the earliest "think tanks," where computers plus my interest in languages led me to involvement in natural-language processing. That led in turn to work in information storage and retrieval, and in the automation of libraries. In 1966, the job of Chief Systems Analyst was created for me in the University Libraries at the Univ. of Wisconsin—Madison, and I initiated the automation program there. While at UW—Madison, I was awarded a fellowship for doctoral study at that University's School of Library and Information Studies, following which I came in 1972 to the School of Information of The University of Texas at Austin.

National Security Agency, 1952-59; Planning Research Corp., 1959-61; System Development Corp., 1961-66; Univ. of Wisconsin—Madison, 1966-72. Joined the faculty of the School of Information in 1972 and retired from it in 2003, having served as the School's Dean during 1982-1990.