WordPress uses “Hello world” as its default first page because usually this is the first program that a nerd learns to write. Like you’ll soon find out, my path was radically different.
I am the Senior Computer Specialist for the University of Washington Tacoma Library. No, that doesn’t get me a discount at Denny’s. It basically means that I am the ultimate middle-man. I help the library, the students who come in to the library, and sometimes the faculty of the university use, make sense of, and make better use of technology.
Nope. I’m not a computer science major.
Nope. I’m not a business major.
Nope. Not a librarian.
Nope. Not that either (whatever you were thinking).
I’m a Liberal Studies major. I graduated from The University of Washington, Tacoma back when the school had a comma in its name and the program was still called “Liberal Studies.” Worse still, I studied film and art, and anthropology, and sociology. I was a liberal studies Liberal Studies major. And my first professional job was in the library: Library Technician 2. I checked in and shelved the serials and helped patrons with their books.
Pretty soon, I was able to use my lifetime love of technology and computing to get a job here as the Computer Technician for the library. And then, over the next few years, I helped to redefine computing in the UWT Library and now I’m the Senior Computer Specialist. Which just means that if it’s a computer, or a data cable, or a phone line, or a strategic plan for any of those things, or a training session, or even a simple “how do I format this Word document?” question, I get to do it.
And this, is the blog about that. This blog is supposed to be a place where the public, the staff, the students, and the faculty of the University of Washington Tacoma can stay on top of the rapidly changing world of Library Information Technology.
With that, I’m off, drop me a line at “tbostell|u.washington.edu” (see now, that “|” symbol might could be replaced with an “@” symbol if you were so inclined and not a spam bot) if you have a question, comment, rant or rave. I’d love to hear from you!
Cheers!
The UWTLIT Weblog 
🙂