Hello and welcome. I'm Dr. Ronald Wyllys.
This Web page introduces me and the courses that I taught prior
to my retirement, at the end of the Spring Semester 2003, from the position
of Professor of Information Studies in the
School of Information (I-School), The University
of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin), thereby finishing 31 years of teaching at
UT-Austin (and 9 years of teaching at other universities). In addition to teaching,
I served from 1982 till 1990 as the Dean of the I-School, which at that time
bore the name, Graduate School of Library and Information Science.
Teaching: My principal courses were:
Occasionally, I taught or co-taught such courses as
Research: My teaching and research interests
lie in the utilization of computers for handling information, especially information
in natural-language form. A closely related area is the quantitative analysis
of linguistic phenomena, an area that includes bibliometrics. Having majored
in mathematics as an undergraduate and at the master's-degree level, I am a
devotee of inferential statistics. The statistical and other quantitative characteristics
of language are a major tool in information storage and retrieval. An outgrowth
of this aspect of information studies is my Website dealing with Resources
on Adolphe Quetelet, who was a founding father of statistics, sociology,
and demography.
To me, the amazing development of computer-related technologies, a development
that combines continual reduction in the physical size of information with continual
increase in the speeds with which information can be processed and communicated,
is constantly fascinating. This development will, I think, eventually be recognized
as the most important set of events in the last half of the 20th century.
In the last decade of the 20th century, our society was just beginning to be
aware of some of the major changes that are taking place because of these new
ways of dealing with information. In the 21st century, information can only
continue to increase in importance and, hence, so also will the importance of
handling information effectively, efficiently, rapidly, and in ways that recognize,
and treat fairly, all levels of society.
In the history of information handling, it is well known that computers played,
and continue to play, a role of enormous importance. Not so well known are the
facts that other mechanical aids to information handling made substantial contributions
prior to the widespread availability of computers and that, in the early development
of computers, the U.S. and British cryptologic agencies made vital contributions
in and following World War II. To aid in explorations of this historical connection,
I have set up a Website dedicated to Resources on Information Studies, Computers,
and Cryptology.
Service: During 1997-1999 I served as the I-School Graduate
Adviser, a post in which I was responsible for overseeing the admissions and
advising processes for I-School students.
Most recently I was proud to serve as co-faculty-adviser of a student group:
the UT-Austin Student Chapter of the American Society for Information Science
and Technology. ASIST, an international organization
headquartered in Silver Spring, MD (a suburb of Washington, DC), is a professional
organization of persons interested in all aspects of the acquisition, organization,
and dissemination of information; for a description of ASIS, click
here. During the decade 1988-1998, I served as the Secretary-Treasurer of
the UT-Austin Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, the international honor society that
recognizes outstanding students no matter what undergraduate or graduate field
of study they have majored in. In earlier years, I served as the faculty sponsor
of the UT-Austin Flying Club and the UT-Austin OS/2 Users Group.
During 1993-2001, I served as Chair of the Long-Range Planning Committee, and
during 1995-2001 as a member of the Advisory Council, of the Central
Texas Library System (CTLS), an organization of 69 public libraries in central
Texas, covering an area that extends from Bastrop and San Marcos on the south
to Hillsboro and Mexia on the north, and from Bryan and Navasota on the east
to Marble Falls and San Saba on the west. During 1997-99, I served as Chair
of the CTLS Advisory Council. From 1991 through 1993 I served as a member of
the Austin Public Library
(APL) Commission, and from 1992 to 1995 I was the Lay Representative of APL
to the CTLS.
In a new and rapidly developing area of information
service, community-access networks, I have been active in MAIN, the Metropolitan
Austin Interactive Network, which maintains a World-Wide Web page providing
information about and links to hundreds of organizations (educational, cultural,
social, charitable, governmental, etc.) in the metropolitan area of Austin, Texas.
MAIN has also been instrumental in helping to provide libraries in Austin and
in the Central Texas area with computers and access to the Internet. Currently
I serve MAIN as a volunteer; in the past, I have also served on MAIN's Board of
Directors, as its Treasurer, and as its Gophermaster--back in the long-ago days
when gophers, not browsers, were the primary means of disseminating information
on the World-Wide Web.
Details: Details are available from my Curriculum
Vitae. A brief biographical sketch is at Profile—Ronald
E. Wyllys.
Commencement Address: The Dean of the School of Information,
Dr. Andrew Dillon, honored me by inviting me to address the School of Information
Graduation Convocation on 2003 May 17. My remarks at that Convocation can be
seen at The Times They Are A-Changin'.
Contact Information:
Office and Office Hours of R. E. Wyllys
As a retired member of the faculty of the School of Information, I have no office
or office hours. Should you wish to meet with me, please contact me by email
or telephone, and I will be happy to arrange an appointment with you at a time
and place convenient to you.
Telephone and Fax Numbers
Home: 512-473-8686
Home Fax: 512-473-8259
Email Address
rewyllys at ischool.utexas.edu
Postal ("Snailmail") Address
Dr. Ronald E. Wyllys
1306 Belmont Parkway
Austin TX 78703-1416
Go to Wyllys Web-Site Map.
Go to Wyllys's
Faculty Page.
Go to I-School Webpage.
Last revised 2007 Aug 13
