Please post any comments to me on my talk page. Thanks.
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I have been reading Wikipedia and Wikibooks for years, of course, and have been inspired to start editing by John Broughton's book Wikipedia: The Missing Manual and the book How Wikipedia Works by Phoebe Ayers, Charles Matthews, and Ben Yates. After reading the books for a while, I registered a Wikipedia user name (which carried over to other Wikimedia projects) and began editing here and there. When I see a place where I can copy edit, I copy edit. When I know of a good published source from my own professional research, I add it to an article, rewriting if need be for neutral point of view that reflects verifiable sources.
I've enjoyed seeing how the Wikimedia projects have improved over the years through the efforts of tens of thousands of volunteers, and I want to be part of that. The Wikimedia projects seem to be a natural outgrowth of a culture long established on Usenet and other online discussion forums of sharing information freely in exchange for other free information.
My higher education includes undergraduate study of Chinese, Russian, German, Greek, and Hebrew, with courses in linguistics, teaching English as a second language, library science, and research methods in Sinology. I also have a law degree. I was one of the editors of the law review published at my law school. An interesting elective class I took there was on law and social science, my first formal training in human cognitive illusions (in the context of evaluating the reliability of eyewitness testimony).
Throughout my schooling, from elementary school through law school, I've really thought of myself as responsible for my own learning, which I pursue through independent reading. I maintain an affiliation with my alma mater's library so that I can have access to scholarly monographs, print journals, and online databases.
During my undergraduate education, I was a student assistant for a computerized database project cataloging serials held by all libraries in two states. I have visited a few other countries in North America or east Asia, living in one of them for two three-year stays. While living overseas between my two degrees, I was a teacher of English as a foreign language and translator, editor, and interpreter. I first learned what was, in essence, a markup language by using Wikipedia:WordStar on an Wikipedia:MP/M multi-user computer system for word processing while working as a manuscript and copy editor overseas.
After returning from my first overseas stay, I was an interpreter on contract for the United States federal government and private clients. I have been to all fifty states of the United States, to the District of Columbia many times, and to the federal territory of Guam. After law school I was a judicial clerk for a state supreme court and a lawyer in private practice.
For the last two decades, my occupation has included research on education policy, psychology, gifted education, mathematics, and mathematics pedagogy. I teach mathematics lessons and coach a math team.
I attempt to maintain a Mandarin and English bilingual household as I now live in Minnesota. I am a homeschooling parent and active volunteer in parent organizations.
I expect to be most active in editing articles that fit subjects for which I have primary sources at hand as I am near the computer. I have been a moderator of various online discussion forums since 1993, and I hope that experience also guides my participation in Wikimedia project editing. I have enjoyed reading article discussion pages recently as I get up the boldness to plunge into editing articles on controversial subjects.
