Congratulations to DR. HOLLY WEIMAR!

I am happy to share the good news that friend and colleague, Holly Weimar, is officially past the dreaded dissertation ordeal, having successfully defended today. I am not sure whether she still has formatting to be done, and that can be onerous, but the uncertainty and pressure are gone. I am especially happy since she is the newest tenure track member of our Department of Library Science at Sam Houston State University. Not only that, she was a student in the very first class I taught at SHSU, an introductory technology class, back in fall 2000. It was evident from the first day of that first class that she would be an outstanding student. She finished her studies, always excelling in her classes, and after a short break continued with her doctoral studies in Curriculum and Instruction at University of Houston. Of course I knew she would be fine today, but I remember all too well the anxiety that goes along with getting ready for the defense and then having the day finally come. To make her news even better, her committee at University of Houston likes her work so much that they want to submit it to IRA (International Reading Association). I am not sure if this is for a compilation or competition, but in any case it is clearly a wonderful honor. Her topic is professional reading, and what a great subject. She did qualitative research, interviewing teachers, librarians and administrators about their professional reading habits. I really do not know much more, but she will be sharing her findings via presentations and publications, so stay tuned! We will be presenting on this topic in April at TLA (Texas Library Association) Conference in Dallas. She and I have been presenting in the last year or so, addressing a number of topics related to technology, Internet use, Web 2.0, and ethics. I am looking forward to many more great shared presentations with her. If you would like to contact us about her topic or any others that we offer do let me know! The place to find all my Internet presences is at my wiki where I have a page of links just for that. The address is: http://forwhomthebelltold.pbwiki.com/

But this day is really all about Holly. She will continue to distinguish herself as a writer, presenter and scholar, and most of all as an inspiring professor. I am proud and lucky to with with her! KUDOS AND CONGRATULATIONS HOLLY!