Introduction

Hello and welcome to Libraryboy, the blog I've created for LIS 2600, one of the two courses I am currently taking for my 1st semester in the Fast Track MLIS program via The University of Pittsburgh.

Those of you following me and reading this may already know who I am from the introductions on the main Fast Track Discussion Board or the Discussion Board for LIS 2000, the other course I'm currently enrolled in, so if the following is already familiar to you, I apologize in advance.

My name is Matt Berlyant. I'm one of those "career-changers," as my previous academic background is in Statistics and much of my previous work background has been in academia both as a staff member and as an adjunct math professor. I'm also married and live here in Philadelphia with my wife Anne and our cat Lola (otherwise known around here as "our pride and joy" and many, many other affectionate nicknames).

Based upon the instructions given, I'm not sure if I should stick to discussing topics pertinent to this course, but that's what I assume. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know for sure (if you have that information) or just to say hi (or for any other reason). I'd be happy to hear from you.

And yes, the lack of separation between the two words that make up this blog's title ("library" and "boy") is entirely intentional. It's an homage to Brendan Halpin's novel Donorboy. To be completely honest, I haven't read Donorboy yet (and probably won't read much for pleasure other than the daily paper and magazines and what not) for a few months given the insane amount of reading we all have to do for these courses, but I loved his novels Dear Catastrophe Waitress and Long Way Back. I loved DCW so much that I read it twice in a row from cover to cover, something I rarely do (after I read something once, I usually move on to something else).

You may have also noticed (if you click on the "about me" section and look at the all of my blogs) that I have another blog. It hasn't been updated in almost two and half years, but if you'd like to check it out, feel free. It mostly consists of music-oriented writing (show reviews and what not) written between December 2004 and December 2006, but also includes other observations on daily life and what not. After a year or so, I stopped updating it nearly as much because that was when I started writing for bigtakeover.com and thus most of my music writing since then has been on that site. You can read my posts over there @ the following URL:
My blog on The Big Takeover website.