What about officiated sports makes them all the same? What makes them different? Perhaps the rulebooks used to govern them can tell. Regulated sports offer controlled environments in which participants operate for fame, fortune, self-improvement, camaraderie, and other reasons. Rulebooks not only shape these environments, but also regulate behavior within them. With society as the oyster and our human passions as grains of sand, how do the official rules of sports help culture our pearls? I took a whack, a shot, a leap into modeling sports, from the perspective of the humble sports rulebook. In my research, I explore why and how to go about deriving a genre-based model of sports. I also identify possible applications of this model serving diverse audiences including scholars, policy analysts, and athletes. Rulebooks have long been used to organize knowledge on sports – what’s needed now is a better way to extract this knowledge.

Currently there is no structured data standard for representing elements commonly found in transmedia fictional universes. To address this information gap, we have created an ontological model that will allow researchers, fans, brand managers, and creators to search for and retrieve information contained in these worlds based on their structures. Our process included a domain analysis and user studies based on the contents of four transmedia works in order to build a new model using Ontology Web Language (OWL) and an artificial intelligence reasoning engine. This model can infer connections between the transmedia elements and will facilitate better search and retrieval of the information contained within these vast story universes for all users interested in them. The result of this project is an OWL ontology that is intuitive for users; can be used by AI systems; and has been updated to reflect real user needs based on user research.

LIBROS is a digital toolkit which was created to address a gap in children’s services in the North Central Regional Library system (NCRL). Although many households in NCRL’s service area are bilingual or Spanish-speaking, the majority of library branches don’t offer dual-language storytime programs. Staff cited two main reasons for this: lack of confidence in their own Spanish skills and not knowing how to select Spanish-language storytime elements such as books and songs. Several employees simply said, “I just don’t think I can do it. LIBROS aims to solve this issue by acting as an online resource where library staff can learn how to incorporate basic Spanish words and concepts into storytime. Interactive modules provide storytime examples, suggested books and media, and downloadable files. The end goal is multifaceted: to empower and encourage librarians, increase library patronage, and touch the lives of families through the magic of libros—books.

Making Connections with Linked Data: Identities and Identifiers at University of Victoria Libraries Robbyn Gordon Lanning (MLIS) Linked data empowers libraries and archives to connect rich stores of local data to global audiences through the use of common identifiers and standards. The University of Victoria (UVic) Libraries possesses over 2.9 million records, each of which uses text strings as resource identifiers. In order to participate in the semantic web, UVic Libraries must prepare its metadata, transitioning its records from textual representations of people, places, and subjects to internationally accessible Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). To assist UVic in meeting this challenge I implemented a study reconciling randomized datasets from each of UVic’s four record repositories to linked data identifiers. This research culminated in a report providing detailed reconciliation results, suggestions to overcome obstacles encountered, and best practice recommendations for future reconciliation work. By assisting UVic Libraries in preparation for transitioning its “strings” to “things”, this project has helped enrich the exposure, interoperability, and accessibility of UVic’s information holdings.

On March 22, 2014, a massive landslide engulfed the Steelhead Haven neighborhood near Oso, Washington. In seconds, Steelhead Haven was gone and State Route 530, the primary road to nearby Darrington, was buried in debris. 43 people died. In the weeks that followed, the Darrington community contributed vital expertise, equipment, and support to search and recovery efforts. Since then, the Darrington Historical Society has launched an ambitious project: development of an archive at UW Digital Collections to document the community’s experiences (http://content.lib.washington.edu/landslidesweb/). We made three significant contributions to the project: First, we created a collection development policy that will guide the archive’s growth. Second, we designed a tracking system to organize and manage the collection. Third, we greatly increased the size of the archive by processing a backlog of photos, documents, and maps. The community’s recovery will be a long one; our work ensures their story won’t be forgotten.

Colegio Anglo Colombiano is an International Baccalaureate school located in Bogota, Colombia. The Anglo did not have a clear scope and sequence or curricular framework for MYP (grades 5-9, 6-10 in USA) research and information literacy skills. This capstone will address that void. Following the development of the scope and sequence, the ultimate goal would be implementation in all MYP classes, not just in the library. I will continue at the school next academic year to ensure this. There is also a PR element of the project, letting teachers know that the document exits and how they can use it even if the librarian is unavailable. Teachers will be highly encouraged to partner with me for at least one project in the year en order to ensure students are coming into the library and being exposed to the program regularly. Student’s information literacy skills will greatly benefit from this program.

In 2010, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) was required to send records from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to the newly formed American Indian Records Repository (AIRR). This event was based on a judiciary order in the 1996 case Cobell v. Norton (now Cobell v. Salazar) which successfully argued that the United States Federal Government was lax in its handling and storage of these records and the issues related therein. Until now, NARA has been unaware as to the extent of AIRR’s holdings and has not had a way to assist information seekers in locating their needed documents. Through data sorting and analysis, I created a finding aid which now makes it possible for NARA to assist those seeking their educational, personal, and financial records.

Seattle JazzED, a music education non-profit, has two substantial and growing collections: sheet music used by instructors and instruments lent to students. Because neither collection was inventoried, it was difficult for JazzED staff to track where instruments were or what song arrangements had already been purchased. We created a database for, and cataloged, JazzED’s non-bibliographic resources using custom metadata built around their needs. We constructed the database on a cloud-based platform, allowing staff and instructors to easily share and edit entries, check out instruments, make notes about repairs, and search for songs by skill level, style, and more. This project provides JazzED with a personalized system that saves their staff precious time and energy, which in turn supports their mission to empower students of all backgrounds. By dramatically expanding JazzED’s ability to manage their resources, we have contributed to their powerful impact on students and music education in our community.

Books to Prisoners (BTP), a Seattle-based nonprofit organization, provides free books on request to incarcerated individuals throughout the United States in an effort to foster the love of reading, encourage self-improvement, and break the cycle of recidivism. BTP’s largest budgetary expenditure is postage on book shipments. Of these, up to 10% are refused and returned by institutions, at BTP’s expense, because they were found to violate restrictions on inmate access to reading material that can vary by state, county, and institution. Due to limited resources, BTP has been unable to effectively organize these restrictions, resulting in thousands of dollars in wasted postage. Our team analyzed BTP’s existing documentation, established a standardized vocabulary and structure for the information, and designed a comprehensive information system for institutional restrictions. Use of this system is expected to reduce returned shipments and to also furnish data that will assist in securing grant-based funding.