iSchool Capstone

2015

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Shedding Light on the Unknown: Creating Encoded Archival Description Records for Enhanced Access to Unprocessed Manuscript Collections

As part of their transition from a paper based circulation system to the online request system Aeon, the Newberry Library recognized the need for a stronger online presence for their unprocessed manuscript collections. Many of these collections were only described in paper inventories. My project addressed this information problem through the creation of collection level encoded archival description (EAD) records. Approximately 300 unprocessed collections now have an online presence in the library’s list of manuscript abstracts, a collection level finding aid, and are available for request in Aeon. Through the creation of these records, enhanced access is available to researchers around the world who may not be able to visit the library. Previously unknown collections now have a new visibility and can provide valuable research opportunities. The library’s archivists can use new interest in these collections to help determine the priority for processing.
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Skill Swap App

Students who want to improve their skills, learn new skills, or build social network may feel frustrated when they cannot find someone to help. On the other hand, a large amount of on-campus activities or resources are sometimes underutilized due to poor-information conditions. To fill the gap between resources and demands, we developed ‘Skill Swap’, an iOS mobile application that allows UW students to build their own profiles, find a partner from whom they can learn or to whom they can offer help, and stay informed of on-campus events that are of their interests. In addition, our app encourages students to share skills, minimize training costs, and build social network. Willing to share skills and learn something new with no expense? Come and try our Skill Swap App!
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Snapshots of Seattle’s Past: The Elmer Ogawa Photograph Collection

The Elmer Ogawa Photograph collection is a large and mostly untouched collection of photographs by Elmer Ogawa, a Japanese-American photographer and native Seattleite. Many of Ogawa’s photographs document local Seattle history and social scenes during the mid-twentieth century. The collection has been inventoried but has not been fully appraised and only partly digitized. The project team focused on making the Elmer Ogawa Photograph collection manageable for future development and continued digitization. Through weeding extraneous photographs, assessing the collection for content, and adjusting the finding aid to reflect alterations, the team was able to refine and cultivate the collection. Completion of this project has allowed the University of Washington Special Collections Library to reallocate resources and storage space to other projects while making the Elmer Ogawa Photograph collection easier to maintain, digitize and showcase to the public.
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So-So

The So-So app is the ultimate night out companion! We tackle the problem of how to easily keep track of friends when out in the city so that everyone is safe and happy. With features like safety zones, friend tracking, and SOS alerts it conveniently fits the needs of anyone’s night out. Initial setup of the app includes choosing your preferred safety settings and connecting with your contacts. When heading out for the night you invite your group and start “Night Out Mode”. Once started, So-So tracks everyone in you group for the night, and applies your preferred safety features until the “Night Out Mode” times out. There is no other app that functions quite like So-So. It’s what the So-So Sober you would want!
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Space Utilization for Military Construction

U.S. Congress has been reducing appropriated funds and personnel from the DOD since 2001 and cut 25% in inflation dollars since 2011.  Reducing the availability funds creates a need to evaluate how useable facility space and how it’s utilized to support the readiness to defend and support the citizens of the U.S. This project actually addresses the above need for adequate facility space to support state emergencies, identify which facilities need added soldier strength to support the local communities and support EXORD 164-15. As of 7 April 2015 EXORD 164-15: Reduce the Installation Facility Footprint, requires the disposal of all excess and poorly maintain facilities from the inventory to conserve funding.  To the citizens of Washington this project ensures during emergencies theirs a facility nearby to provide shelter, base to destitute food, supplies, personnel and equipment to the community.
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Spottr

Having an exercise partner can provide multiple benefits during a workout. For weight lifters having a spotter when lifting, can allow the participant to lift heavier weights, push through more repetitions, maintain proper form, and most importantly ensure safety throughout the exercise. Our own research has shown that people often enjoy having someone to workout with, but also uncovers the difficulties of finding a training partner. Our app Spottr is a social utility application for mobile devices to help connect local gym goers. Designed in mind for weight lifters, Spottr hopes to make the process of finding a workout partner at your gym as easy as possible. With Spottr, users can create a post looking for a training partner, or reply to other posts to connect with other users to coordinate for more effective, satisfying, and safe work outs.
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SR 530 Landslide - Darrington Archive

On Saturday March 22, 2014 the communities of Darrington and Oso, Washington experienced the devastating effects of a massive landslide that destroyed property and resulted in the loss of 43 lives. Recognizing the historical significance of this event, the Darrington Historical Society (DHS) quickly began collecting artifacts and information related to the slide. Identified as a priority by DHS was the need to build an archive that was widely available to the public, helped the community to heal, and also had the potential to aid scientific research and rescue operations planning. Toward this end, our Capstone team worked closely with DHS and UW Special Collections to create a digital archive using the CONTENTdm platform. By creating a digital archive searchable via WorldCat, DHS ensures that the Darrington and Oso communities, general public, and research community can continue to access images, documents, maps, videos, and audio recordings associated with the landslide.
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Starting from Scratch: Connecting School-Aged Children with Coding Concepts

Many children use technology regularly but are unfamiliar with underlying concepts of computer programming. ScratchJr is an introductory programming language aimed at users ages 5 and up. Similar to the Scratch programming language developed at MIT, ScratchJr works like a jigsaw puzzle, directing users to snap together pieces of code to create strings of commands. Through a series of four after-school workshops, we utilized ScratchJr on iPads to introduce coding and programming basics to twelve 2nd and 3rd grade students at Northgate Elementary School. Under our direction, students learned to create video game narratives in which they controlled their characters' movements, appearances, and speech with the coding commands available on the application. In our final lesson, we introduced students to the original Scratch and collaboratively created a game. We hope that our computer science-based program has given students increased confidence with technology, and has fostered an interest in STEM fields.
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Step Stone

With a 21% increase in homelessness over the past year alone, the resources available to Seattle’s homeless are now more important than ever. However aside from word of mouth, the ways to find the nearest shelter or free shower are minimal and dated. Step Stone, a mobile friendly web application, is designed as a resource that aggregates information on amenities in the Seattle area. These amenities could be a place to sleep, get medical aid, or even a place offering free bus tickets. Additionally, Step Stone tracks and displays the capacity of participating homeless shelters in real-time, helping users decide where to seek shelter. Coupled with SMS and email capabilities for institutions to send news and updates to users, Step Stone is the ideal tool to
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Studying Phytoplankton Trends in Oceans Using Data Science

Discovering Phytoplankton Trends in Oceans Using Data Science Abhigyan Kaustubh (Full Time MSIM) Elton Dias (Full Time MSIM) Tanmay Modak (Full Time MSIM) Phytoplanktons are an important part of marine ecosystems, producing nearly half of the world’s oxygen supply by consuming carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Marine biologists find it difficult to exhaustively study habitats of phytoplankton as it is nearly impossible to draw discrete samples of water from large water bodies. We plan a novel technique of analysing multidimensional flow cytometry data collected by an oceanic cruise at regular time intervals and then use suitable clustering techniques to identify regions in the water body that have similar trends in phytoplankton population. We then plan to make inferences by correlating our findings with environmental factors like temperature and salinity. This is a unique approach and through our findings, we hope to lay the foundation for oceanographers and environmental researchers to conduct further research in marine habitats using data science