About Us

My information epiphany came to me when I was in library school. It was late at night and I was working on an assignment for my reference class in the government documents section of my university’s library. It seemed to me that I would never use these resources again and I was in a hurry to be done with Lexis Nexis Congressional Universe. This database records senate hearings and more.  The archive for this resource is deep!  Back at home, I hit submit on the assignment and went to bed.

The next morning at my brand new fundraising job, I was chugging coffee when I got my first request, which was to find out what the former dean of our music school, Michael Hammond, wanted to accomplish after he was appointed head of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). He had been appointed, went up for his Senate hearings, was confirmed, and then, he tragically died. A $5 million proposal for a preparatory program for the university’s music school was in the works. Dean Hammond had been passionate about this program and it was hoped that establishing one at our music school would honor his work there. The proposal writer had a very short deadline and needed more detail for the proposal. News sources only mentioned the dean’s appointment to the NEA and his untimely death.

My PC was on and I had the library resources page open already. Information turned into knowledge when I searched Senate hearings for Dean Hammond’s confirmation session. I found it, and there, in glorious detail, was the meat of the proposal. When asked what he wanted to accomplish at the NEA, our former dean of the music school spoke eloquently about his hopes to establish music preparatory programs and improve music education overall.

Our proposal was submitted on time and we got that funding. Knowing where to find this particular group of data points was worth at least $5 million to the school’s preparatory program. Providing an education in music to folks who might not otherwise receive it is pretty much priceless. Knowledge is powerful.