Biographies

Sheila Mooney

Hi! My name is Sheila Mooney, the only dog in the Ray Mooney/Loriene Roy/Owen Hunter family. I am a female Australian Shepherd. I was born on June 25, 1994 in Austin, Texas. I was one of five or six puppies in my litter and the only girl. Naturally, I was the smallest of the litter! My mother, now deceased, was Cote de Beaune, and my father is Turbo. I am registered with the Australian Shepherd Club of America, but I consider myself a regular, urban rez dog! My body color is red merle, and I have white and copper trim. My left eye is brown, and my right eye is blue. I am very friendly, and I love to carry socks or empty toilet paper rolls around the house. I enjoy watching NCAA basketball games, though I bark a lot when the games get exciting. I welcome other rez pets to the Native Bridge to WebJunction!

Amy Alcott

I grew up and went to school in San Antonio and finished my BA in English-Communication Arts at St. Marys University. I worked for two years in marketing/public relations/advertising and decided to specialize by getting my masters in Information Studies. Recently, I got a job as a Youth Services Librarian at Boerne Public Library, and I love the staff and the kids. It is going to be a wonderful working environment and will be great experience. My hobbies are jogging, salsa dancing, and bike-riding. I want to travel the world someday too!

This Library Instruction class is one of the best classes that I've taken, and I recommend it to anybody interested in improving their teaching skills and learning about a useful web site called Web Junction. I live with a roommate who has two annoying cats named Tilbolt and Gwyneth. Tibolt likes to pee in my room and Gwyneth always seems to get her white hair all over my dark clothes. However they are very loving and affectionate and this sometimes makes up for their quirks.

Daniel Alonzo

I'll be graduating at the end of May from the University of Texas at Austin with my MSIS. Though I am ready to graduate, I really had a great time here, made a lot of friends, and had some good experiences. I liked working on this project because I really enjoy graphics design. I also felt like I was doing something worthwhile. My wife and I have two gerbils and two hamsters. Someday we hope to have a dog too.

Suzette Davidson

I was born in British Guiana, South America. My father was an American, and my mother was a British citizen of Portuguese descent. Dad made a career of the military, so we moved a lot when I was growing up. I earned a BA in Sociology at the University of Colorado. Prior to entering the School of Information's graduate program, I served in the US Army for twenty years. I was a Finance Officer with a Procurement specialty. In addition to working in payroll and contracting jobs, I did everything from running an installation restaurant to managing a training academy to acting as a public affairs officer. I came back to Texas after retiring from the Army because my dad was a Texan, and I grew up thinking of Texas as home. I have one child, a son, who is also in the Army. My son and daughter-in-law have given me three delightful little grandsons. At present, I do not have any pets unless you count the dust bunnies under my bed!

After graduation, I hope to work in a public library in a small or rural community. I took this class because I believe that library instruction is a vital part of a professional public librarian's job description. According to the Kolb model, I am a Diverger which means my learning style involves reflective observation and concrete experience. My contribution to the Native Bridge project was the Policies and Practices section. I hope that the finished product will help visitors to the Native Bridge get more out of the WebJunction experience.

Mary Ettle

I have lived in Austin for six years now, originally coming from a small town called Joshua located in North Texas. I started the School of Information in June 2002 after completing my Bachelor's of Arts in English in May 2002. I have wanted to be a librarian since I was 16, working in libraries now for about 10 years doing volunteer and paid work. I hope to be a reference and instruction librarian in a smaller academic library so I can have opportunities to learn different kinds of activities.

I am an accomodator learning style. My main contributions to the Native Bridge include the Technology Resources area, the design of our ResDog Sheila Speedbump, and general suggestion-making on the Sign-in Ticket and the About Us page. I have enjoyed working with WebJunction and this project because I know that it will be used for the future, hopefully for the purposes and benefit of everyone.

Becky Kyle

Being born on Friday the 13th gives a person a quirky sense of humor. If you ask me, laughter is one of the most critical life skills. That, and the willingness to learn--and occasionally play a good practical joke!

I live currently in Austin, TX with my husband of 22 years, three cats (two of which are black!), and more books and CDs than I have room for.

I'm the diverger in the group. Dr. Roy kept having to tell me---just think of the five most important aspects......

I thoroughly enjoyed working on my three areas: Timeline, because I got to provide some historical background on the project, Glossary, because I love words and helping people understand their meaning, and Learning Center, because I am hoping to eventually teach. Aside from teaching, I hope to become a professional writer. I already have two short stories sold.

Loriene Roy

I am a Professor in the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin, where I joined the faculty in 1987. I am the Director and Founder of "If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything," a national reading club for Native Children. In addition, I am also the Principal Investigator for "Honoring Generations,"a scholarship program developing the next generation of Native librarians, funded by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. I am Anishinabe (Ojibwe) and an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, White Earth Reservation (Pembina Band). I have served on the WebJunction Advisory Commmittee since 2002. In terms of learning style, I am an accomodator; I like to build models and write as I learn. I am privileged to live with Sheila Mooney, the Australian shepherd who serves as the model for the rez dog featured in the Native Bridge to WebJunction.

Jennifer Shakespear

I grew up in the hill country around Austin, TX. Living in the country, there wasn't much to do, so I developed a great love of books. I graduated with a BA in Linguistics from Brigham Young University in 2001, having done research on Emily Dickinson's poetry and on Emily Bronte's novel Wuthering Heights. I started graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin in 2002, and I will graduate library school in Aug. 2004. I hope to work in public libraries helping people learn to use and love library resources.

As far as learning styles go, I am the lone assimilator on our team. In creating the Native Bridge, I was in charge of the "other stuff." I created the ticketed sign-in, the contact page, and the About Us page, including the Biographies page. I enjoy web design, so I've actually had a lot of fun working on this project.

I love animals. Growing up, we had cats, dogs, rabbits, gerbles, fish, and a horse. Currently, I have two dogs. They're both a black poodle-yorky mix, but one came out more poodle and the other is more yorky.

Christina Thompson

I am a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin School of Information. I received my B.A. in English from the University of Texas at San Antonio. I am originally from New York and moved to Texas 14 years ago. I live with my husband, Adilehg, and my cat Prancy. We adopted Prancy when she was just a 6-week old kitten. She had been abandoned when she was just a week old, so she was pretty wild and crazy then, but now she's just crazy.

My interest in libraries came out of a love of the New York libraries I grew up with. I’m primarily interested in public library issues, though I also work at a local high school library and enjoy working with teenagers. I enjoy working on technology issues, but I am most interested in collection management and fostering a love of reading and books in public library users. My learning style is a diverger.