Greetings, Hyperlinked Library cohort! My name is Emily and this is my last semester before Spring ePort. I have been planning for several semesters to take this class in my penultimate MLIS semester and I am happy to have reached this milestone. Throughout this degree program, I’ve been following a mash-up of the Information Intermediation and Emerging Technologies pathways.

I’ve always enjoyed finding ways to work and connect efficiently through technology. I remember hearing (IYKYK) and seeing the internet for the first time in 1993 when my dad connected our home computer to the local library’s card catalog. When I went to undergrad in 1995, I worked in a tiny computer lab where I was left unsupervised for hours at a time and had to figure out how to troubleshoot software and hardware problems on my own while the internet was just getting started. I think my lifelong approach to technology – experimental, unintimidated, and wildly curious – is rooted in that computer lab work-study job. I am glad to have experienced the internet when it was largely focused on information and connection rather than content and commerce.

I’m looking forward to finding ways to bring that late 1990s internet feeling to my professional work with the tools we have available today.

A couple of things about my professional life:

• Most of my career has been in the performing arts. I started as a classical musician and shifted to arts administration, primarily in customer and artist services.
• I also have a master’s degree in arts administration from the University of Oregon
• I had an 11-year career gap to focus on being with my two daughters. After years of being stuck in the overqualified/gap in my resume spot, I started this degree to level up my technical skills to match my customer service skills.
• I have been a programs analyst for the State of California for a year in a granting agency. Though not in a library, I absolutely consider myself an LIS professional. Much of my work is transferrable to libraries.

A couple of personal things:

• I love long walks, exploring museums, wandering through botanical gardens, and spending time with good books.
• I’m originally from East Tennessee and my accent peeks out from time to time.
• I have two daughters who are 12 and 9 years old. They love to make art and do theater (and I love that they love those activities).
• I am a die-hard Tori Amos fan – I’ve seen her 10 or 11 times since 1994.
• I am a lifelong learner. I have always wanted to listen to podcasts and read the news in a second language, so I started taking French classes in the Spring to make that happen.