The project of democracy relies on the public's access to information about government activities. This project increased government transparency and accountability by making archival materials about the Seattle Department of Transportation's urban forestry activities discoverable and accessible. At the beginning of the project, the materials had been backlogged for ten years, disorganized, mixed in with irrelevant items, and unlisted in any public-facing document. This project saw those materials organized by topic and year, labeled, and made discoverable and accessible for patrons. The new, online finding aid provides metadata to help patrons find materials and thick descriptions to give broader context.

GSK’s Heritage Archives maintains the research of Nobel-laurate and biochemist Gertrude Elion. Despite the importance of Elion’s collection, it was hard for archivists to access due to highly scientific terminology, lack of organization, extent, and deteriorated state. To address this problem, I arranged, labeled, and rehoused the physical collection into archival storage containers and created a finding aid that featured a breakdown of Elion’s research. To prevent similar occurrences with future scientific acquisitions, I created a processing guide for research collections. Through this work, users can now confidently access Elion’s and future collections, regardless of their own scientific backgrounds.

The Olympic Escape Room is an online game designed in partnership with University of Washington iSchool researchers. It serves as an additional game for the Loki’s Loop Project to teach high school students about misinformation in an engaging and fun format. Like a physical escape room, there is a game host, you can play individually or with a group, and there is a limited amount of time to solve the puzzles. Throughout the gaming experience, students learn different tactics to identify misinformation and become critical information consumers.

Have you stumbled upon a website where the text is too small? In addition to the lack of flexibility to adjust the view, not all information is visible. Through the redesign of historylink.tours, we are making accessibility the core of the product. Instead of adding accessibility features after, the tour cards elements from the original site are curated and re-tailored to create a more intuitive experience as a whole. With research showing the ideal text size of 21 pixels, we’re pushing for better readability for all groups with the assistance of larger text and filters to showcase relevant outputs.

The goal of this project was to develop guidance for academic libraries undertaking renovation and reconstruction efforts after experiencing a disaster such as a flood or fire. While research is available on disaster planning and recovery in libraries, most of the resources do little to address the challenges and potential opportunities that come with needing to redesign, renovate, and rebuild spaces damaged in a disaster. Although every situation is different, this project examines the experiences of academic libraries who have undertaken post-disaster renovations, providing insight and advice that can aid others who find themselves navigating the unexpected in the future.

Developed to help elementary grade children learn about their family, Tools for Tiny Historians includes resources on developing an interview, conducting the research process, and compiling family history. Worksheets guide students through the process and help educators create programs that will help their community, and additional linked aids help connect Tiny Historians with outside sources that will support them with any research project. With resources for students and for those working with the students, the project aims to help us learn from the people who came before us and the world of people around us.

Gun violence and youth suicides in the U.S. are on the rise. In 2019 alone, a minor was killed by a gun every 2 hours and 36 minutes. In working with the Grandmothers Against Gun Violence Foundation (GAGVF), the “Translating Gun Violence Research Into Action” project takes statistics and research to convey the importance of gun safety through educational data visualizations, gun storage guides, and connections to more resources to gun-owning families. These educational materials will be distributed by the GAGVF to reduce unintentional gun deaths among minors, primarily in Washington State, and promote safe gun storage within gun-owning households.

The Tutankhamun Centenary: 1922 – 2022 website hosts a collection of Howard Carter’s personal documents and articles from the Times of London describing the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. The wealth of information related here had been out of public view for the past 100 years, so this project sought to make these documents accessible to both academics and the curious public. We learned how to use digital tools and platforms to create an online archive; we learned how to document,preserve, and present historical materials; we created metadata and a keyword list; and we integrated our archive into an interactive timeline.

Twips is a short-form media platform intended to support streaming media from Twitch in the condensed format of user curated Twitch clips intending to combat the over-consumption of media that Twitch users experience. The platform features sorting and sharing functionality, as well as personalized content feeds to allow users to filter clips relevant to their interests. Users receive a customized stream of content that condenses hours-long streams into 60 second-or-less highlights from the relevant categories and content creators that users can enjoy without committing hours of their time.

First-time homeownership is abundant in resources on purchasing a home, but resources about caring for one’s home lack in comparison. Additionally, these resources lack organization and information applicable to individual needs. As a result, two-thirds of first-time American homeowners ignore home maintenance until parts of their home begin to malfunction, leading to unexpected expenses. To mitigate homebuyer’s regret caused by being unprepared for home maintenance, UCHI organizes maintenance tasks relevant to each home. With UCHI’s recommendations and reminders to stay up-to-date with home maintenance tasks, first-time homeowners are able to protect their investments and better care for their homes.