Since 1995, Brenda's professional life has been focused on libraries, technology, and technology training. She spent her first professional years working as a Reference Librarian at the Detroit Lakes Public Library in Minnesota. In 1999, Brenda joined the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's US Library Program and spent 4 years traveling around the United States, installing granted computers and providing training for library staff. In 2003, she moved to Kansas to pursue a PhD in Library and Information Management. She has completed her course work and her exams and is currently working on her dissertation proposal (the topic is "How do people use Wikipedia?"). In 2005, she joined the Northeast Kansas Library System (NEKLS) as a Technology Consultant. In this role, she provided technology assistance to libraries of all types and sizes throughout the northeastern part of the state. Brenda left NEKLS for a year to work as the Library Training Specialist for the MaintainIT project at TechSoup for Libraries (techsoupforlibraries.org), but returned to the NEKLS team during the summer of 2009, as the Continuing Education Consultant. In her free time, Brenda enjoys kayaking, mountain biking, camping, and reading.