Biographies

Sara Albert

I am a native Austinite. After working in libraries at the University of Texas and Austin Community College, I decided I wanted to attend the School of Information so that I could become a professional librarian.

My contributions to the Bridge are the TexShare FAQs and the Legal Subject Guide (mini-pathfinder).  I have learned a lot working on this project and I hope that the Bridge will become a valuable tool to small and rural libraries across Texas.

Mike Avila

My job at the Texas State Libraries and Archives Commission (TSLAC) is Public Information Specialist. My wife and I have been together for 12 years and we have a two and a half year old boy named Lukas.

I ended up in Texas after living on military bases from all over the world and in the United States. My father was born in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, so when he retired after 30 years of service he decided to stay in Austin.

I work in TSLAC because I like libraries!

Cheryl Beaver

I adore having the best friends in the whole world, the prettiest kitty, and a boyfriend who is good most of the time. If I have a chance, I enjoy traveling to NYC or Santa Barbara. I moved to Austin to attend the School of Information, but it has become much more me to me than the city that I moved to in order to attend UT. I love Austin markets, town lake, very spicy Mexican food, wine, working for the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest’s 1ibrary, living in Tarrytown and going to the YMCA.

I came to the School of Information to combine my previous MA in theology with a specialization in academic librarianship.

I produced the key word concept area and the Religion and Philosophy pathfinder for the Bridge to TexShare Web site.

A lot of human and fiscal resources have been dedicated to creating and making TexShare affordable and available, and any and every patron who belongs to a TexShare library, rural or otherwise, should be fully comfortable with using TexShare databases.

Char Booth

I’m a Texan from San Antonio. I moved to Austin a few years ago after completing my undergraduate degree in history at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Having decided that my fate was to become a librarian, I thought I would move back to Texas to get my MSIS.

For this project I’m profiling information available in TexShare databases that will help users with historical research. In addition, I have created a page that directs users to TexShare reference resources, contact information, and frequently asked question (FAQ) pages.

Renata Caldwell

I am finishing up my degree in Information Science this semester (Spring, 2005). I grew up in San Antonio and moved back here after living for 10 years in lovely Albany, California.

Austin has become home to me since moving here to begin the School of Information program. Austin is a unique and wonderful place to live and I enjoy running down by Town Lake, swimming at Barton Springs Pool and eating breakfast tacos as often as possible.

I created an annotated list of TexShare databases and a mini-pathfinder on art resources available through the TexShare databases.

Mariela Hristova

I am from Bulgaria, where I have spent the better part of my life studying in English-language schools and dreaming of coming to the States. I enjoy my stay here a lot.

After completing a Master’s in English at Kansas State University, I decided to switch fields because I was interested in libraries. Thinking of my humanities background as a second area of specialization that could be useful for jobs within academic librarianship, I started my program at the I-School with a strong focus in academic libraries. This focus has grown over the three years I have spent here evolving into a general interest in information studies practices and scholarship.

My contribution to the site includes the TexShare introduction and the page on Boolean operators. In addition, I am collaborating with Astrid in the development of the site design and structure through the use of style sheets.

I am a converger, but that does not stop me from appreciating divergences.

Angela Kille

I grew up in a small town in north-central Kansas and earned a BA in English from the University of Kansas. After graduating, I worked in the catalog publishing industry, both print and online, in Kansas City, Minneapolis, and St. Louis before moving to Austin last year.

While living in St. Louis, I volunteered at the Missouri Botanical Garden Library. This experience led me to a job working in a public library, and eventually to the decision to go to graduate school to earn a masters degree and become a professional librarian. I chose the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin for its reputation, broad selection of courses, and location.

My contribution to the Bridge to TexShare website includes the Student Resource Center Gold database tutorial, the “Alternatives to TexShare” section, and the Genealogy Pathfinder.

Leanna Miles

I live in Austin with my husband, Scott. After my graduation in May 2005, we will be moving to the Houston vicinity, and I will be working as an outreach librarian in a public library.

I have always lived in Texas. I was born and raised in Kilgore, which is located in the East Texas Piney Woods. After graduating from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, my husband and I moved to Austin, so he could pursue a career as an independent filmmaker. During this time, I worked as a 6 th Grade Language Teacher. Two years ago I decided that promoting literacy and helping meet people’s information needs in a library setting would be more fun, so I applied to the School of Information!

I co-created the handout concerning medical information in TexShare, and I am the creator of both the page about search techniques such as truncation and wildcards and the medical information pathfinder.

I hope the Bridge will help librarians at small and/or rural libraries fully utilize the TexShare databases in order to meet their patrons’ information needs.

Astrid Oliver

I live in Austin with my husband, Kevin, our two-year old son, Garrett, and our three cats – Joe, Paul and Richard.

We moved to Austin five years ago when my husband got a job offer here. I never in my life thought I’d live in Texas (I’m from Virginia). Once we got here, though, I loved it. After we made the move, I thought it might be a good time to back to graduate school and get a real job. Library Science seemed a perfect fit. Luckily the iSchool at UT-Austin was right here!

I created the information page about what Databases are and how they differ from online Library catalogs. I also created the biographies page about the students in class, our professor Dr. Roy, and the Texas State Libraries and Archives Commission staff who were involved in this project. Additionally, I am collaborating with Mariela in the development of the site design and structure.

Olivia Reinaur

I’ll graduate this May (2005) with my Master’s degree in Information Science, and I’ve really enjoyed working on this project during my final semester. I currently work part-time answering e-mail and chat reference questions at the Perry-Castaneda Library here at the University of Texas. I live in North Austin with my husband, his cat (my arch nemesis), and our pug, Winston.

I spent my early years in Prescott, Arizona, but at age 5, my family moved to College Station, Texas so that my father could work on his Master’s degree at Texas A&M University. About 7 years ago, I came to Austin as an undergraduate at the University of Texas. After graduating with my Bachelor’s degree in liberal arts, I finally started to think about what I wanted to be when I grew up! I wanted a job that involved constantly learn new things, helping others, and working in a pleasant environment. Fortunately, I had the brilliant idea of becoming a librarian, and since there is a wonderful school of information science right here in Austin, I applied, was accepted, and have had a wonderful experience!

I worked on a mini-tutorial about scholarly journals, created the feedback form, and put together a page on the ACRL information literacy standards.

I hope that the Bridge will be helpful to small/rural libraries and their patrons. Your libraries are such important resources for your communities, and I believe that the TexShare databases and services are a valuable part of the services you offer.

Telesa Rountree

My love of public libraries started when I was a young adult. My neighborhood library was a small branch that was right next to a fire station (you can imagine it was probably not always the quietest setting). But the library was just 2 blocks away from where I lived; so many summer days were spent browsing the stacks for my next good read. I did not discover my calling as a librarian, however, until I took a job at my local public library and realized that I really enjoyed the environment enough to seriously consider librarianship as a career path.

I am originally from Salt Lake City, Utah. When my husband and I were married, we actually took our honeymoon in Austin, Texas because we had heard so many great things about the city. We both enjoyed the eclectic vibes of Austin so much that we wanted to come back to stay. When I applied for graduate school, I really hoped to be accepted at the University of Texas, and moving to Austin for graduate school has really worked out for the best. My husband is also a jazz musician so the chance to move to Austin ended up being an awesome career move for both of us.

I hope the Bridge to TexShare Site is useful starting point for librarians that may be overwhelmed by the vast amount of information available through the TexShare program.

Dr. Loriene Roy

Dr. Roy worked as a medical radiologic technologist at the Yuma Regional Medical Center, Yuma, Arizona, as a reference librarian in adult services at the Yuma City-County Library, and as a research associate at the Library Research Center at the University of Illinois, Urbana, prior to joining the School of Information faculty in January 1987. She has twice received the Excellence in Advising Award, as well as receiving the Texas Excellence in Teaching Award.

Dr. Roy's research interests center on public libraries, measurement and evaluation of library services, reference services, public library services to children, services for Native Americans, collection management, and the history of public libraries and library education. She has published many articles and reports on reference evaluation and public-library use and services.

Amy Wander

I have lived in Austin for the last 8 years. I am originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I moved to Austin as an AmeriCorps Volunteer for a local homeless shelter. After completing my service with AmeriCorps, I spent a few years working with youth in the public library, eventually deciding that I wanted to be a youth librarian. While attending the School of Information I have continued to work for the public library.

My contribution to the Bridge includes a glossary of terms and a pathfinder for materials not owned by the local library.

Ted Wanner

My name is Ted Wanner. I am the Continuing Education Consultant at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. I grew up on a small farm in Oregon with my younger siblings, Kristine and Jason. My family is of German ancestry. I enjoy touring the small towns of central Texas that were founded by German immigrants.

I came to Texas to attend the School of Information (then known as the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, or GSLIS), which at the time was the least expensive of the top ten library schools in the United States. I graduated with a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science in 1997.

Although I had already worked several years as a paraprofessional in Interlibrary Loan, my skills led me toward library training. I trained library staff on computer applications at the University of Texas library and the Austin State Hospital. I became training manager at the Dallas Public Library in 1999, then CE Consultant at the Texas State Library in 2003.

As the CE Consultant, a large part of my job is to coordinate training on the TexShare databases. In 2004 Beth Marsh of the TexShare Education Working Group suggested a partnership with Texas library schools to disseminate information about the TexShare program. I contacted Dr. Mary Lynn Rice-Lively, who in turn referred me to Dr. Loriene Roy and Ron Pollock in the School of Information. We set up a pilot project with a class on Information Resources in the Humanities . Students in that course created the first web guides for selected TexShare databases. One student, Astrid Oliver, volunteered to take a larger role in the program as a Capstone intern.

The program expanded in the following semester. The Information Resources in the Social Sciences class provided more web guides for databases. The Library Instruction class created the Bridge to TexShare Web site and introduced the site in a training presentation at Buda Public Library. Astrid Oliver added critical guides to the Library of Texas, including a multimedia tutorial, and she supervised the project to completion.

As the field supervisor, I outlined the expectations for the project and reviewed materials produced by the participants. I will also have the privilege of announcing this new resource to small community libraries in Texas.

The Bridge to TexShare and related projects are wonderful new opportunities for partnership between the School of Information, the Texas State Library, and the small community libraries around the state. The Bridge provides new channels for the State Library to share TexShare information with librarians and crucial real-world experience for library school students. It is a ?win-win-win? outcome.

Russlene Waukechon

I’m Russlene Waukechon, TexShare Database Coordinator at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC). I’m a fourth generation Texan. I was born in Big Spring and graduated from high school in Garden City. I received my undergraduate degree at the University of Houston and my MLIS degree from the University of Texas.

I was named for my maternal grandfather William Russell (Bunk) Lawson who was a foreman on the Reed Ranch in Sterling County. I feel very fortunate to have grown up with all of my grandparents and relatives in a small town in West Texas. I live in Round Rock with my husband John and my 3 children Ben, Kateri and Joseph.

I began working at TSLAC 3 years ago. I decided to make the move from working at the local library level to working at the consortial level because I enjoy helping librarians do their work and I enjoy helping librarians help their patrons. I feel that my job at TexShare helps librarians on a daily basis and, in turn, helps library patrons find the information they need. I especially like to help libraries in communities like the one I came from, Big Spring or my grandparent’s hometown Sterling City.

I helped provide some general information about the TexShare databases at the beginning of the project and of course, the TexShare databases are the foundation of the Bridge to TexShare.

I am excited about providing another resource that can link to TexShare and the information we provide Texas library patrons.