CommunityConnect is an interactive application licensed by King County Library System (KCLS) that uses geographic information systems (GIS) technology to map market segmentation data, library circulation data, and census data in order to help librarians pinpoint areas of potential outreach in their communities. However, KCLS administrators determined that librarians have been struggling to apply it at their branches. We conducted a needs assessment, via an online survey, face-to-face interviews, and observations, to identify the obstacles preventing librarians from successfully using the software. Based on our findings, we produced an in-depth analysis of CommunityConnect’s uses at one KCLS branch to serve as a model for other branches in the future. We also developed a set of recommendations for future training on CommunityConnect.

LOCAL COLOR is a retrospective exhibit of watercolor paintings by Parker McAllister currently housed in the Seattle Public Library's Special Collections. My project is a comprehensive exhibit plan and handbook containing an interpretative checklist of the exhibit materials, including a selection of 17 paintings and other materials from the library collection; information about the artist and The Seattle Sunday Times Magazine series for which the paintings were created; painting conservation details; and marketing and programming suggestions. By contrasting the historical personages and events in McAllister's artwork with primary and secondary sources from the library's collection, this exhibit highlights the materials available to the Seattle public about the early history of the Pacific Northwest, and creates space for community dialogue about our history and its portrayal in interpretative art upon which the library can build.

The roots of Lost Sounds Montana can be traced to a Havre, MT, basement with the discovery of a box containing long-forgotten seven-inch records. These rediscovered musical treasures are cause for great excitement among music lovers, but it is not only aficionados who benefit from the unearthed gems. The recordings, posters, interviews, and ephemera of the Lost Sounds archive offer a glimpse of a bygone era and the cultural and regional happenings that informed it. My project creates a taxonomy and metadata schema that will benefit the people of Montana, cultural historians, and music fans alike. By facilitating the inclusion of the collection in multiple digital environments, as well as a dedicated Lost Sounds Montana website, the potential audience grows exponentially. This interoperable schema prepares the collection for future growth and will aid targeted finding, while encouraging and fostering serendipitous discovery.

Social influence in the physical world can be correlated with intangible attributes like charisma, attraction, and charm. In translation to a digital context, the concept of influence is still very much connected to these types of human elements, but their impact becomes measurable. The value in determining how much impact an individual has on a specific topic of interest is becoming clearer as more companies depend on digital communities for product awareness. Using a defined metric for domain-specific impact factor in conjunction with predictive modelling, we are able to visualize some interesting trends of influence among Twitter users. Not only can these findings assist in integrating social media into an effective marketing model, they can potentially outline a more direct return on investment.

Many of us today use multiple forms of social media like Facebook and Twitter. But as of now, we do not have an environment online that lets us conveniently record our memories and relive them later on in the future. Though services like Facebook attempt to do this, their focus is to connect people through social networking instead of storing memories. So our team has come up with a new website called Mmentos, where the main focus is for people to record the precious moments of their lives and to go back and relive them in the future. Whether it is photos, videos, words, or even Tweets, Mmentos lets people organize their keepsakes neatly online and lets them share these moments with their loved ones later on in the future. Because Mmentos has a simple and clean interface, people will be able to easily store their memories and show them off to loved ones for years to come.

Mood Journal is a web application that allows mental health patients to log their daily moods and behavior in order to help their therapists to better treat them. This project was inspired by the observation that when patients arrive in mental health clinics, they are given questionnaires to fill out that ask them about moods and behavior in the past two weeks. Considering how fleeting and variable moods can be in such a long span of time, it’s impossible for an individual to accurately answer these questions. Therapists often rely on these questionnaires to both diagnose the patient and to help guide the therapy session. It therefore becomes crucial that the responses are as true to the patient’s state as possible. Mood Journal addresses this issue by prompting users to fill out a 3 question, scaled survey every day, asking about their mood, physical energy level and enjoyment of activities. If their survey score is below a certain threshold then they are asked to fill out a short questionnaire that further inquires about their behavior for that day. Mood Journal displays past logs to patients for them to observe trends in their mood and also allows them to send messages to their therapist if they have concerns. In addition, if a patient is experiencing an extreme low, they are redirected to the necessary resources while the therapist is notified. We hope that with our tool, mental health services will run more smoothly and accurately than ever.

As project manager for the Newspace Library Cataloging Project, I planned, organized and cataloged the Newspace Center for Photography’s growing library with the OPALS cataloging system.  The Library includes more than seven hundred physical objects from photography monographs, to anthologies, criticisms, histories, serials, and DVDs.  This process included using the MARC cataloging standard, creating a how-to manual, and a weekly blog post to highlight materials in the Library. The Catalog can now be searched either at the Center or online and the materials have all had subject listings added to make finding those materials much easier.  The blog is also continuing to draw online attention to Newspace Center for Photography and its Library.

As the largest bicycling club in the U.S., Cascade Bicycle Club has more than 15,000 members and organizes more than 1,200 free rides a year. Obviously, simplifying the process of signing up rides and strengthening the connections between Cascade Bicycle Club and its members become quite important. Our team worked with Forum One Communications to develop a mobile web app for Cascade Bicycle Club. This app streamlines communication between Cascade Bicycle Club and its members, and it also provides a better experience of exploring, researching and registering free daily rides. Additionally, it could help Cascade Bicycle Club attract more people joining free daily rides, and leading healthier lives.

Finding parking in Seattle has always proved to be a significant challenge. We, Team Wildfish, created Seattle ParkIt to address this issue. We have developed an Android application that will allow users to search for and locate parking in the Seattle area based on when and where they would like to park. Basing our design choices around user testing, our app is designed to make parking fast and easy. We are leveraging the Seattle Department of Transportation’s parking sign database as a data source. Initially we have an app designed for parking in Seattle, but ideally this can be expanded to cities both around the state and the country.

In a world without Patchwork, companies that operate unethically continue to make profits, and companies that make ethical choices are not rewarded enough. With no reliable way to investigate what really goes on inside corporations, consumers make purchasing decisions only based on prices and personal reviews. Enter Patchwork: a site that enables people to share, discuss, and rate facts related to companies and products. When a user finds an article pertaining to compelling positive or negative practices of a business or organization, they can post the article to Patchwork for others to discuss and rate. Patchwork will encourage companies to improve their practices or keep up their good work in an effort to attain the highest possible score. We conducted surveys and user studies and found that users would like to know more about what goes on behind the scenes of companies and products. Patchwork will enable people to be more knowledgeable consumers in a world where things are not always what they seem.