When I had to introduce myself during my MLIS program (at USF), I often referred to myself as a “recovering attorney”. I still rather think of myself that way. I had been a contract attorney for Marriott and for Citigroup for, collectively, about 12 years. The financial industry tanking as it did after ’08, clearly not a stable field to be in – so I decided to pursue other interests “just in case” – and that led me to the MLIS program. This is not to say that I’ve abandoned my legal background – indeed, I view my studies in (L)IS as enriching it and allowing me to fuse the two disciplines, particularly in the areas of data privacy, information security/ cyber security, and intellectual property (copyright was one of my areas of focus in law school) – which, per an article I came across last semester, I have decided to refer to collectively as “information rights” (anything that might tend to either inhibit or increase one’s propensity to share or seek for information). I am especially focusing on the policies/ legislation around these areas and how that contributes to the issue of information sharing/ seeking or not. You’ll probably hear me blathering about this more than once this semester as we discuss and present…
Other than the foregoing – as my first year cohort knows all too well, I am a very proud dog-mom (I have a 5 year old Whippet named Robin who is my sweetheart. We have the same birthday, too…). I love Monty Python and pretty much Brit-coms in general. Huge mystery lover (Agatha Christie in particular, but also Ellis Peters… and of course, Arthur Conan Doyle). I’ve recently gotten into “fractured fairy tales” as well – including some of the TV shows such as Once Upon a Time, and Grimm. Long time Star Trek/ The Next Generation fan as well (Data is the man!!!) I collect music of all types and have a fairly sizable collection – but I am most proud of my extensive soundtracks collection and some of the rare broadway “concept albums” and other obscure prints I have procured over the years. I love history – Russian/Soviet and Roman in particular. And I am sort of a self taught expert on Tudor England – which is my favorite period. Elizabeth I is my personal hero and has been since I was about 12.
Brief biog to close: I was born in CA, lived in TX, MA, went to school in WI (UW!!! U RAH ON) and at VU School of Law in Indiana. Then, as I mentioned, I went back to school after a number of years working (never mind how many…) to get my MLIS at USF (mainly because I was working in the Tampa area, and the campus was only about 20 mins from my office). When my department in Citi folded at the end of 2013 (we were “offshored”), I took the opportunity to take this new direction in both my personal and professional life and pursue my PhD!!
-Cheers
Cheryl