iSchool Capstone

2023

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Everything, Everyqueer, All At Once (in Atlanta)

We hoped to research LGBTQIA+ archives in Atlanta, Georgia. While there are many queer archives listed in Atlanta, it is actually difficult to access them. Aside from a local public library known for its efforts to reach out to LGBTQIA+ Atlantans, it’s complicated to find material for queer Southerners outside of bookstores. By identifying LGBTQIA+ archives in Atlanta, other queer Southerners should be able to locate and use these archives. Also, others will be able to take the foundation of this project and seek out queer archives in other areas of the country.
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Extra Lives for a Resource

Don’t Die is a repository of interviews about video games, specifically: -the plight of marginalized voices in the video game industry/culture. -the neglected legacies of systems online that are preventing us from getting along. -the patterns of indifference in media and culture that diminish coverage of labor issues in entertainment industries. Founder David Wolinsky proposed a multi-year project to grow his website into a fully realized resource. Our project focused on the initial development of metadata and taxonomies, as well as making suggestions for future work to set the website up to exist and achieve its long term purpose.
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FAE (“For Anything Esports”): A Curated Platform for Esports Freelancers and Organizations

Freelancers face numerous challenges regarding being easily recruited for work opportunities within the rapidly growing and competitive esports industry. FAE (“For Anything Esports”) is an all-in-one resource that highlights esports freelancers by giving them a dedicated platform to showcase their expertise, experience, and availability. FAE also caters to esports organizations by providing a directory consisting of unique freelancing roles for candidates to be easily identifiable and recruited for opportunities. By providing our platform to both freelancers and organizations, we are minimizing the issues that are commonly found in the esports industry, such as unfair compensation and lack of marketability.
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File Management for Artists and Creatives

The guide created for this capstone project aims to educate artists and creatives on the importance of file management while providing a guide for implementation. The survey sent out to artist communities found that artists (1) have a limited understanding of information organization, (2) do not follow an organization system, and (3) feel that information organization is essential. These results inspired the creation of a how-to guide for artists to follow and implement into their creative profession. The guide educates on various information organization topics specific to art and creative use with modeled examples.
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Fostering Cultural Competencies in LIS education with Service Learning and Participatory Design

Researchers have made the case that adopting practical applications of cultural competence in LIS education is crucial for supporting marginalized communities. This project suggests an approach to this application: LIS education programs can implement service learning courses in partnership with organizations that support houseless communities. Through research and interviews, a process was created in which LIS programs and partners use Participatory Design and Asset-Based Community Development techniques to sustain the course. It can be further sustained by establishing a dedicated research group to nurture the partnership and publish results.
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Game, Set, Match: Repository Development for Student Research

This project addressed the challenge of organizing and providing searchability for previously inaccessible student projects from eight years of the LIS 536 Metadata for Interactive Media course, which builds on the work of the UW GAME Research Group. With the goal of collocating projects on a broad level for high recall, we built a controlled vocabulary for tagging projects. Then, we set up the repository on Open Science Framework and created governance and usage documents. This repository and searching system improves students' and researchers' ability to explore completed projects so that they can utilize and build upon that work.
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GardenSpace: Bridging the Information Gap for BIPOC Urban Gardeners in Seattle

Urban gardening involves cultivating plants in an urban environment like a community garden. In Seattle, BIPOC urban gardeners have historically encountered an information gap that has excluded them from predominantly white gardening spaces. To address this, GardenSpace provides one of the first-ever centralized digital spaces to access resources and connections within the urban gardening community in Seattle. Through our platform, these urban gardeners can explore events, engage with organizations, and learn about diverse community gardens in the metropolitan. By facilitating their integration into the broader BIPOC urban gardening community, GardenSpace fosters inclusivity and unity within Seattle's urban gardening sphere.
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Genrefying For the Future

Genrefication is a growing trend in meeting library patron needs. “Research has shown that a genrefied fiction collection is simpler for students to use and locate books” (Sweeney 2013; Dunne 2015). Our capstone project completed all of the planning steps for Ms. MacDonald, the librarian at Hamilton International Middle School, as her regular day-to-day duties did not allow enough time to plan a large scale project. Using strategies such as space mapping, participatory design, data analysis, and graphic design, we completed the planning portion. Additionally, we created a step-by-step guide for genrefication and adding new materials to Destiny Follett software.
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Habitat

With 1 million species on the brink of extinction, it’s clear that the endangered animal crisis is becoming increasingly severe each day. By providing high school and college students with the appropriate resources, they can be the leaders of change needed to protect our ecosystems. Habitat is a website designed with the intention of guiding students by providing them with personalized resources based on their hobbies, that they can easily integrate into their lifestyles. With this project, we strive to help students realize the urgency of the crisis and make sustainable changes to make a positive impact on our ecosystems.
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HazingInfo.org: Bringing Transparency to Hazing Incidents in College Greek Life

Hazing is a widespread problem on college campuses that is amplified by a lack of access to transparent safety information. Developed in partnership with the Houtz/Martinez family, HazingInfo.org is a web application and database that addresses this issue by providing prospective Greek life students and their families with accessible safety information. Schools are assigned letter grades based on the data collected, allowing users to make educated decisions about joining Greek life. HazingInfo.org aims to inform prospective students and their families about Greek chapters, leading to a decrease in hazing incidents and a safer environment for all. One of two identical entries to include all students. See more project members.