Strong Absorption-line Systems at Low Redshift: MgII and Damped Lyman   Alpha
  We detail a powerful indirect method for the study of damped Lyman alpha systems (DLAs) at low redshift. We increase the probability of finding a low-redshift DLA to nearly 50% by targeting QSOs that are known to have strong low-redshift MgII and FeII absorption lines in their spectra. We are using Sloan Digital Sky Survey QSO spectra complemented by a survey we are conducting at the MMT to study the metal-line systems. The Hubble Space Telescope is being used to confirm low-redshift DLAs. In addition, we are imaging low-redshift DLA galaxies with several ground-based telescopes to directly study their environments. 
Daniel B. Nestor, Sandhya Rao, and David Turnshek (Pittsburgh)