iSchool Capstone

2019

Project Logo

#MyLibraryStory

#MyLibraryStory is a social media advocacy campaign that aims to promote user stories about library services and impact. The project arose from the observation that much of the social media conversation about libraries was centered on librarians, and it is an attempt to expand the sphere of that conversation to include non-librarian voices. The primary contribution of #MyLibraryStory is a series of 5 video interviews showcasing different user stories about how libraries have impacted the subjects’ lives. These videos were released throughout the month of May and shared to Twitter and Instagram.
Project Logo

A Finding Aid and Collection Development Plan for the ECML Map and Garden Plan Collection

The Miller Horticultural Library houses approximately 500 maps and plans associated with Pacific Northwest gardens. However, for 2/3 of the collection, there was no inventory or means of locating items. To address this, we inventoried the map collection, recording the items’ descriptions, creation information, and locations. We aligned this spreadsheet with the schema for the Library’s archive management system so it could be imported. This will allow the map collection to be searched by element, and for librarians to locate items and generate finding aids. We also created a collection development plan to guide future management of the collection.
Project Logo

A Librarian's Field Guide to Comparative Religion & Religious Studies

This project seeks to create a resource for librarians new to selecting in comparative religion and/or religious studies that provides information to empower selectors to collect confidently from day one. It takes the form of a book with chapters on the field and its subdisciplines; avenues to keep abreast of conversations in the field; collection development; collection assessment; and comparative collection development policies. The first three chapters are submitted in completion of the capstone requirement, while the second two represent next steps before submission for publication.
Project Logo

A Place at the Table: Greek Restaurants in Washington, A Book of Historical Photographs from the Greeks in Washington Collection

This project involved the creation of a book of historical photographs from the Greek-American Historical Museum of Washington State (Greeks in Washington). The final manuscript will be published locally. The project involved photo curation & research, caption writing, the creation of book sections such as acknowledgements, introduction, chapter headings, & the layout design. The project included extensive research into Greek-American immigration and business history - done at the Greeks in Washington museum & University of Washington. Adobe InDesign was utilized for the book layout. The purpose of this project was representation of the Greek community & promotion of the museum.
Project Logo

Aerowood Animal Hospital: Navigating Interoffice Communication Roadblocks in the Digital Age

Aerowood Animal Hospital, a 24 hour emergency veterinary hospital, has been serving its community for decades. Unfortunately, an interoffice shared network with hundreds of improperly organized materials, as well as a backlog of physical materials in need of digitization, and several training programs in need of updates and/or expansion has left the staff exhausted when it comes to communication and data retrieval. This project heavily relied on digitization, categorization, organization, and instruction. More creative efforts went into updating and expanding training methodologies. The impact improves the working environment, staff relationships with clients, and hospital communications.
Project Logo

Age Friendly Business

With the growth of Seattle's elderly population, there is a bigger need for businesses in the city to provide better care for their older employees and customers. Going to our website and taking our curated assessment tests, businesses and organizations can learn, self-reflect, and improve their work environments by applying supportive practices that fit the needs of older adults. Therefore, they can recognize what it means to provide age-friendly customer service and to be age-friendly employers. Everyone grows older, and the sooner we prepare for the future of our citizens, the greater our city can become.
Project Logo

Agency & Ethics: A Web Archiving Toolkit

An evolving web makes sustained access to content of stakeholder stories a unique challenge—riddled with ethical questions. Montana State University (MSU) Library was ready to launch a web archiving initiative with limited capacity for background research and workflow development. The goal of this project was to support preservation of web content related to collection development policies and institutional output. Resources within this toolkit seek to center the agency of content creators; aid in diversifying collections; and serve as a model for other institutions.
Project Logo

Analyzing The Gates Foundation's Grant Giving Process

The Gates Foundation Grand Challenges has teamed up with InfoVision in order to develop a point-in-time first encounter analysis and bias report regarding their current blind review methodology. The Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) team needs to know whether their “blind review” process of grants is working to ensure all types of organizations are being considered and brought into the loop. There should also be no biases altering decisions throughout.
Project Logo

ASLearn: Teaching children American Sign Language through interaction with the world around them

90% of deaf individuals are born to hearing parents. At home, these individuals face the challenge of learning or practicing American Sign Language (ASL) in an environment where those around them do not know it. ASLearn is a mobile learning aid designed to teach children ASL, all starting with the snap of a photo. From there, users have immediate access to the ASL translation of that object. With ASLearn, kids can have an engaging, personalized educational experience through interaction with the things right around them - making the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities more accessible one sign at a time.
Project Logo

Bibliographic Records Revision at CSN Libraries

In 2017, the College of Southern Nevada library moved from the platform Millennium to ALMA. In the past, CSN Libraries allowed for the creation of brief records by circulation staff for reserve items that did not have enough information to provide discovery of these materials in the new discovery platform PRIMO. The solution was to create a bibliographic record procedure that allowed library staff to complete accurate information for these materials. As a result, staff members can revise and correct complete information in these materials successfully. Students, faculty, and staff can identify and view complete bibliographic records through the platform PRIMO.