  I review current results from searching for galaxies giving rise to damped
Lya absorbers (DLAs) at z<1. Using 14 confirmed DLA galaxies, I further show
that intermediate-redshift galaxies possess large HI envelope out to 24-30
h^{-1} kpc radius. The photometric and spectral properties of these galaxies
confirm that DLA galaxies are drawn from the typical field population, and not
from a separate population of low surface brightness or dwarf galaxies.
Comparisons of the ISM abundances of the DLA galaxies and the metallicities of
the absorbers at large galactic radii suggest that some DLAs originate in the
relatively unevolved outskirts of galactic disks.
