About

In the world of work, I'm a librarian, a lawyer on inactive status, and a retired Air Force judge advocate. In my personal life, I'm a Christian, a wife, and a mother of a teenage son. 

I went to progressive library school (the School of Library and Information Science, University of Missouri-Columbia) in the mid-70s.  I say progressive because our Dean Emeritus, Dr Palmer, was one of the first librarians to see the implications of using computer technology for library work.  At the time, we were the only school on campus to have access to computers where we could type code (PL1), rather than use punch cards.  When I met my future husband, he worked part time in a computer lab. We got our first computer around 1981.  My husband has taught computer classes at commercial schools for about five years.  We know more about computers than our son. I've often been the token "geek" in an office, even though I stay away from hardware as much as possible. My eyes glaze over when the language gets too techy, but I can usually figure things out. I see tremendous potential in blogs and news aggregators as methods of getting information out to our primary patrons, if I and the powers that be can put it together.

I'm also a news junkie, First Amendment fan, pro-public access to information librarian.  When I got out of library school, there were very few jobs available.  After one short library job, I wound up in the Air Force; later, the Air Force paid my way through law school at the University of Arizona.  I've lived in the D.C. area, Japan, Austin, and Ft Worth, and spent short periods of time in Biloxi, Montgomery, and South Korea (I'll take South Korea). While I loved practicing law in the Air Force, I knew private practice wasn't for me, so I went back to the library field. After a short stay at Texas Wesleyan School of Law, this job opened up at my alma mater at the perfect time.

I'm primarily a reference librarian, but I also put together our Legal Links, some research and legal guides, and assist with the library website. If you want the official bio, it's at  http://www.law.arizona.edu/library/internet/library_info/bioResults.cfm?LastName=sandwell-weiss.

© Copyright 2002 Leah Sandwell-Weiss. Last update: 6/20/2002; 1:52:38 PM.