My task was to curate an online exhibit for University of Washington Special Collections, highlighting the rare early twentieth-century Russian children’s books that were recently donated to Special Collections by the Harer family. I selected and digitized fifty of the most historically significant books, conducted background research, and wrote contextual essays on children’s book design, juxtaposing the pre-revolutionary dream-world of stylized ornament with the constructivist, geometrical forms of the revolutionary era. Now people throughout the world will have access to these important books, which are not only for children but are also works of art in themselves.

Kalapuya High School, an alternative school in Eugene, Oregon, has accumulated a collection of books that serve as the school’s library. However, they had no system to inventory the collection, nor was there a method for borrowing or organizing materials. This limited patrons' ability to assess the collection and use the library as a tool. By digitally cataloging the collection, implementing an organizational system for the materials, and by creating a blueprint for a designated library space, access to the collection has been increased and the library can be used as a tool for recreational and academic purposes.

The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) would like to launch the first interactive program where families read a picture book with a corresponding art work in the galleries. Currently, SAM is unsure about how to create a program involving literacy and programming. The skills I acquired at the iSchool will be beneficial from a library information perspective. I created a teaching plan that included my philosophy on best practices, two new book/art pairings, and a survey that will help the museum launch a successful, ongoing literacy program that will promote art appreciation, diversity, and encourage creative freedom in children.

Libraries must mitigate chronic funding issues through fundraising. At the same time support from stakeholders has become more important, requiring more-effective friendraising. These needs led the Association of Research Libraries to award an ARL SPEC Kit on Library Development to document support (personnel, funding and other resources) for library development, and the work methods, efforts and assessment types for development at major libraries. The national data collection and analysis will culminate in an ARL-published Open Access monograph, and an ARL-hosted webinar. The unique data set and findings support leaders in benchmarking fundraising and friendraising capacity, and in assessing library development.

Springfield Public Library (OR) is in need of a new website that is both optimized for modern technology and accessible for disabled users. This project involved a user needs assessment survey to identify changes the community wants to make as well as a comparison of potential website platforms the library could use. This project serves as the foundation to the library's process of designing a new website, and it began the process of making the library's website more accessible and user-friendly.

The community of Columbia Falls, Montana is economically disadvantaged, and does not have widespread access to reliable wireless internet. The project ImagineIF Device Circulation has assessed this need by conducting a feasibility study to determine the viability of a wifi hotspot lending program based out of the ImagineIF Columbia Falls location. The market, technical, financial, and organizational feasibility were all studied. Additionally, a SWOT analysis and success metrics were devised, so that the groundwork is already laid in case ImagineIF Libraries decides to move ahead with this program in the future.

Thousands of people in Washington State are released from correctional custody every year to face the challenge of reentering the community. This research provides simple data that enables public libraries to better understand the challenges and needs of the formerly incarcerated people they serve, and design effective services and outreach to engage those who are not already library users. By collecting data directly from formerly incarcerated people, this study was able to form a rough profile of the community and discern patterns of need, information seeking behavior, and library perception and awareness.

The Patricia Young Collection (PYC) contains over 10,600 35mm slides that visually document more than one hundred different architectural and archaeological sites from seventeen different countries in East and Southeast Asia. This slide collection will be uploaded to the School of Art + Art History + Design’s in-house MDID digital image database and then entered as compound object records into the University of Washington Library’s Digital Collections repository. The goal of this Capstone project is for the collection to reach a wider audience at the University of Washington and, by extension, researchers worldwide.

The Orbis Cascade Alliance is a nonprofit consortium of 39 universities throughout the Pacific Northwest. They advance learning and research by combining the physical and digital library resources of their member universities to serve over 275,000 students. For my capstone, I constructed and conducted a series of tests designed to evaluate the Alliance’s catalog user interface and the information architecture through which they organize digital and physical materials. The results of these usability tests, card sorting activities, and interviews will help the Alliance to continue to promote academic success and better research.