Question: Robert, tell us about your intellectual and professional background.

Harris: I earned an MA in US History from Binghamton University in 1991 and will finish my MLIS (digital libraries track) from Rutgers University in December of 2007.

After several years of working to build online history websites and training history faculty in the use of collaborative learning environments I accepted a job as an instructional technologist at William Paterson University helping members of the university community integrate technology with teaching and learning.

Question: Robert, tell us about your career goals.

Harris: I'd like to knit together the diverse threads of my educational and work experience to make US history interesting and accessible by digitizing, organizing varied historical resources in online environments.

I see myself working in a digital library in higher education or various institutes and libraries in Metro NY-Central/Northern Jersey. Some corporations, Google.com with its aggressive digitization drive comes right to mind, would serve as an ideal setting. Specific interests include metadata, taxonomy, and instructional design, but I am open.

Question: Would you like to add anything?

Harris: Since the development of the printing press publishing trends have steadily increased both the scope and the accessibility of historic materials. The libraries that collect and organize those materials have kept pace; 21st Century libraries are using the latest technology to digitize print, audio, and images for universal public access. I look forward to sharing my intellectual background and professional experience by working to create and maintain digitized historical resources.