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Diversifying the information field: iSchool Ph.D. students lead the way

Monday, December 30, 2013

As an iSchool Information Diversity Ambassador, Ph.D. candidate Lassana Magassa gives prospective recruits a student’s-eye view of the school’s scholarly community – a community where multi-cultural, multi-ethnic voices increasingly enrich discussions and empower problem-solving in complex research arenas. “I show them the wide array of people from all walks of life at the school and encourage them that they belong here,” says Magassa, who researches computer literacy in marginalized populations. The more alternative points of view brought to the academic table, the better the dec

Lessons learned outside of class: Search for breadth first

Monday, December 30, 2013

Andre Stackhouse writes in University of Washington's student newspaper, 'The Daily,' about the lessons learned as an Informatics student (expected graduation, June 2014): Lesson: Cast a wide net and catch many fish — metaphorical fish, unless you’re a fisherman. Growing up, I was often told, “Everyone is good at something, but nobody is good at everything.” My take away was that I had a natural set of talents I should develop and that I shouldn’t worry about anything else. This point felt reiterated when I reached college and was t

iSchool announces Study Abroad seminars

Thursday, December 26, 2013

The iSchool has announced several annual study abroad opportunities for the 2014 academic summer session. Current iSchool students will have the chance to spend a few weeks abroad in either South Korea, Ghana, Denmark, China or Germany as part of UW’s Exploration Seminars program. Interested students must follow the application process outlined before being accepted to one of these seminars. iSchool South Korea - Information, Technology & Society in Modern Korea July 27-August 22, 2014 (summer B term) Program directors: Matt Saxton, Jeff Kim iSchool China - Web Pro

Barbara Endicott-Popovsky interviewed by Time.com on Target security breach

Friday, December 20, 2013

Cyber criminals accessed as many as 40 million credit and debit card accounts at U.S. Target stores between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. This security breach is the latest in a hacking-spree that now affects brick-and-mortar stores in addition to website hacks.  Barbara Endicott-Popovsky, research associate professor and director for the Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity, was interviewed by Victor Luckerson for the Money and Business sections of Time.com.  “People who run companies are not aware that they’ve actually become software companies,” Endicott-Popo

Brian Bannon, MLIS '99, innovating libraries in Chicago

Friday, December 20, 2013

Brian Bannon, commissioner of the Chicago Public Libraries, is showing the nation what library innovation looks like.  "We're positioning Chicago as a leader in social innovation and modeling how libraries can help move cities forward in the knowledge economy," says Bannon, who graduated from the iSchool's MLIS program in 1999. According to a recent report in Crain's Chicago Business, the 80-branch public library recently received a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a collaboration with design firm Ideo to create new library services and programs.&nbs

First iSchool spinout garners $2.4M in startup funding

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

If you’ve ever read through the frequently asked questions section of an app or website and wondered why the company thought those were the most frequently asked questions, you’re not alone. Qazzow, a startup recently spun out of research from the University of Washington Information School, has figured out a way to make the FAQs actually the questions customers ask most frequently. Qazzow co-founder and CEO Jake Wobbrock, who is also a professor in the UW’s Information School, said most sites and apps direct their customers to what he calls “Help Islands,” locations on the site t

New book by William Jones examines technologies for managing information

Monday, December 9, 2013

In his book, “Transforming Technologies to Manage Our Information: The Future of Personal Information Management, Part 2,” Research Associate Professor William Jones focuses on technologies that will alter the practice of personal information management (PIM). Jones segments technologies by user activity including: ways to interact with technology to input information and display information; ways to save information, including ‘life logs’; personalized search options; ways to structure information to keep and to share; and consideration of the future of PIM.  The goal of PI

Raya Fidel wins Information Science Book Award

Monday, December 9, 2013

The Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) honored iSchool Professor Emerita Raya Fidel at their annual meeting in November by designating her book, “Human Information Interaction: An Ecological Approach to Information Behavior,” the best information science book of 2013. According to the ASIS&T website, the award is given to “the author of an outstanding book relevant to the information sciences, including all communication activities and information science and technology fields defined in the purpose of ASIS&T. Books are judged on their importance t

PIL report finds research skills lacking in college freshmen

Thursday, December 5, 2013

In their latest research study, How Freshmen Conduct Course Research Once They Enter College, released earlier this week, Project Information Literacy (PIL) found a striking disparity between the Google-centric search skills that many first-term freshmen brought from high school and the competencies they needed to meet the far higher research expectations in college. Moreover, they found freshmen studied had gaping holes in their understanding of how libraries—and the vast array of digital resources academic libraries provided—could best meet their needs, especially when it came to sift

Alison Head interviewed by Library Journal's Steven Bell

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The more academic librarians learn about student research behavior and the role faculty play in shaping it, the better equipped they are to adapt their information literacy initiatives to achieve designated student learning outcomes. The impact of Project Information Literacy (PIL) in helping academic librarians through the provision of research findings about our students and faculty in the context of information literacy cannot be overstated. Since 2009, six PIL reports have shed much light, through a mix of surveys, content analysis, focus groups, and interviews. The good news is that PI

Adam Moore interviewed about privacy and Google Glass

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Where do we draw the line when it comes to infringing on each other’s privacy?  That’s the question at the center of a controversy involving a diner recently kicked out of a Seattle restaurant for refusing to remove his Google Glass. That patron, Nick Starr, has been making headlines since he wore out his welcome at Lost Lake Café last week. The Capitol Hill diner is co-owned by Nick Meinart, who also owns the 5 Point Café, which banned Google Glass in March. Lost Lake, on its Facebook page, said its rationale behind banning Google Glass is to prevent patrons photographing and

New book ‘Going Viral’ explores nature, impact of Internet virality

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

How will we of the early 21st century be remembered? By our technological innovations, social movements and many wars, to be sure. But also by pepper-spraying campus cops, epic fails and Gangnam-style? In the fullness of time, will history remember us for — Grumpy Cat? “Going Viral,” a new book by Karine Nahon and Jeff Hemsley of the University of Washington Information School, explores the nature of virality and suggests that the ubiquitous Internet memes of today, from silly to serious, may indeed make a fair history for tomorrow. “This is going to tell the story of our soci

Getting it Done

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

“What doesn’t get measured doesn’t get done.” That old saying is true as far as it goes. But while it can be relatively easy to know what you want to measure, it’s another thing entirely to know how to go about doing it. To that end, the iSchool’s U.S. Impact Study, a research group focused on public libraries and community technology centers, has helped community non-profits measure the effectiveness of their public technology programs. At stake is digital inclusion—the ability of community members to access and utilize technology. A luxury as recently ten years ago, digital

The growing movement to break technology addiction

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

If you’ve felt overwhelmed by the constant flow of information and the expectation to be online every day all the time, you are not alone. A growing number of people are pushing back and dropping out of social media and other technological forms of communication. At the University of Washington Information School, we examined this trend. We even gave it a name: “pushback.” As researchers, we believe this phenomenon is here to stay. Building on the work of UW colleagues David Levy and Kirsten Foot, we examined 75 sources. We learned that a growing number of avid technology users who

iSchool doctoral students meet information needs in Indian country

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Two long-time friends, both Native American, both young professionals, had a bet:  If they applied, would either of them be accepted into the University of Washington Information School  Ph.D. program? Marisa Duarte, Pascua Yaqui, worked in library sciences; Miranda Belarde-Lewis, raised Tlingit and Zuni, worked in the museum field. “We both realized there was just not enough room for us to grow in those fields as Native women representing our community,” says Duarte. The UW iSchool was the only place they even considered attending. The reason: iSchool Associate Dean for Resea