Thank you Margaret and Sarah, for your memories and kind words. Sarah, I
always got a kick out of the fact that my office number at CDL was "404." I
hope you do too. Also, I'm delighted that you ended up there. It was a
crazy time back then, which was a big motivation for writing it. I doubt
librarianship has seen as crazy a decade as we did from the mid-80s to the
mid-90s.
Roy
On Wed, Oct 15, 2025 at 4:48 PM Sarah Houghton <
000002231cdfb03a-dmarc-request_at_lists.clir.org> wrote:
> Roy, I once told you when we were both a couple of decades younger that I
> wanted to be you when I grew up. And I actually ended up in your exact
> office at the California Digital Library. I felt like I’d made it. And what
> a perfect reflection on your character to self-publish this out to your
> library people on Code4Lib. So much of what you wrote made me remember
> things I’d experienced and long forgotten and of course elicited the
> occasional giggle. Thank you for sharing this with us.
>
> Sarah Houghton
> Director, Discovery and Delivery
> California Digital Library, University of California
>
> From: Code for Libraries <CODE4LIB_at_LISTS.CLIR.ORG> on behalf of Margaret
> Alexander <malexan4_at_UOREGON.EDU>
> Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 3:40 PM
> To: CODE4LIB_at_LISTS.CLIR.ORG <CODE4LIB_at_LISTS.CLIR.ORG>
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] The Days of Lines and Hoses
> CAUTION: EXTERNAL EMAIL
>
> Roy,
> you'll always be one of my library heroes. Thank you for sharing this.
> It brings back memories of teaching Gopher at the Palo Alto Libraries in
> the early 1990s, learning Hypercard in library school at San Jose State in
> the mid-nineties, and teaching my profs how to use a little Unix and vi for
> email there. Wild West indeed.
> -Margaret
>
> Margaret Alexander | Discovery Librarian (she/hers)
> University of Oregon | Libraries
> Knight Library | 1501 Kincaid St 97403-1299
> 541-346-1864 (vm)
> malexan4_at_uoregon.edu | uoregon.edu
> Please note: I work M-F, 8-4:30 PST, several days from home
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Code for Libraries <CODE4LIB_at_LISTS.CLIR.ORG> On Behalf Of Roy
> Tennant
> Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2025 9:18 PM
> To: CODE4LIB_at_LISTS.CLIR.ORG
> Subject: [CODE4LIB] The Days of Lines and Hoses
>
> Dear Code4Lib Friends,
> I retired in 2018. Despite thinking that I would keep my hand in with
> libraries I instead dropped it like a hot rock, and went back to the
> outdoors. I guided on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon three
> times in the last four years, and am doing trail maintenance on three, and
> soon to be four, public parks in Sonoma Valley, California.
>
> I haven't left technology completely, however, as I've developed and
> continue to maintain a bespoke database for our local human services
> non-profit in Filemaker Pro and I also do digitization, controlled
> vocabulary maintenance, and digitization for our local history organization
> in *cough* PastPerfect. It is what it is.
>
> I've also focused on writing a set of autobiographical essays since I
> believe that I've led a rather strange and lucky life. Five of the essays
> have been published. I recently wrote one that I thought *American
> Libraries* might be interested in, but apparently not, and I'm not sure
> where else to submit it, so instead of going after a publishing venue, I've
> decided to share it with you, who would be best positioned to appreciate
> it, link below. I hope you enjoy it. If you don't, don't tell me. I'm
> retired and don't harsh my mellow. LOL. Love, Roy
>
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://drive.google.com/file/d/16r6dHRuUTLRGSg9y2AOtz85jgZZn-1U3/view?usp=sharing__;!!C5qS4YX3!D1yctIRA-wECggoNw6jbsaxeO5TDci19O_xk597nE6xaLId8sQG4ZTD6RK6I8RGQUkenB7UY1JB8PVmgIz3dIEM$
> <
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/drive.google.com/file/d/16r6dHRuUTLRGSg9y2AOtz85jgZZn-1U3/view?usp=sharing__;!!C5qS4YX3!D1yctIRA-wECggoNw6jbsaxeO5TDci19O_xk597nE6xaLId8sQG4ZTD6RK6I8RGQUkenB7UY1JB8PVmgIz3dIEM$
> >
>
Received on Wed Oct 15 2025 - 20:11:06 EDT