How does the academic library contribute to the overall success of an institution, particularly with regard to the academic performance of its students? The Greater Western Library Alliance has formed a research body of 20 institutions to investigate the impact of library instruction on first-year student achievement and retention. Through its participation, the UW Libraries seek to measure the impact of their teaching and learning activities in the Expository Writing Program and First Year Interest Group courses. As part of the pilot phase, we conducted an analysis of library instruction data for the academic year 2014-2015 and de-identified student data, including GPA and retention, while also exploring the impact of specific types of library instruction on student achievement. Our findings will be used to create a set of best practices in library instruction and to inform recommendations for improving the UW Libraries Teaching and Learning Program.

University of Washington (UW) Libraries supports both online and residential users with an abundance of resources and services. However, users often struggle with how to access, use, and apply these tools. As a means to support these users, UW Libraries created a “How Do I” guide. But as time went on, the guide became outdated, difficult to navigate, and time-consuming to use. In collaboration with the UW Libraries Online Learning Subcommittee, we developed an FAQ, targeting the most common struggles affiliated with using UW Libraries research tools and other affiliated tasks. The result is an FAQ that is up-to-date and easy for the user to navigate. Documentation created by the Capstone Team enables librarians to quickly and easily update the guide as needed, matching the language, styling and functional layout already in place. Moving forward, UW Libraries is well equipped with a sustainable, yet adaptable source for users to consult.

Zillow is an online real-estate service that offers renters and homeowners a variety of information surrounding property availability and pricing. Boasting data on over 100 million homes, Zillow is currently one of the largest online real-estate companies in the world. Predicting future home purchasing trends across different geographic regions is critical for Zillow’s success in meeting the shifting needs and interests of its consumers. Using insight derived from user search behavior on the Zillow platform, we created a clustering algorithm that provides Zillow’s data analytics team with a continuous snapshot of relevant, accurate trends in how users’ property preferences change or remain similar across zip code regions and time. Our insight into renter and homeowner search behavior enables Zillow to better predict the interests of its consumers; make smarter market suggestions to existing Zillow real estate partners; and gain a competitive edge in the real-estate information business.

An understanding of the concepts and problems currently being addressed by information scientists can only be whole if the foundations of these concepts are known. For my Capstone, I am tracing the path of the concept of “literary warrant” in classification of knowledge from its genesis in 1911 to its resurgence in the 1990s and early 2000s as the basis of a method for domain analysis. In my overview of the literature I find that the concept of literary warrant is periodically dropped and then arrived at independent of its originators and past authors, which signifies gaps in the information science literature that will ultimately do harm to its academic progress. In order to advance evenly and sustainably, a discipline must have a tradition of knowing its past, the lack of which information science has suffered from in this particular case study.

The Digital Public Library of America is a super-aggregator of metadata with over one million digital items available to the public, made possible through a content hub/partnership model. Digitized content from an extensive, nationwide network of small regional institutions and large digital libraries is accessible to end users through a single access point: the DPLA homepage. Through Omeka -- the online content management and digital exhibition platform -- and in accordance to DPLA guidelines, our team designed an exhibit based on the subject of Cartography composed of four sub-sections, called themes. Each theme uses high-quality images telling stories of struggles for power, scrambles for land, and desires for tangible knowledge of a vast and exciting new world. Through extensive research, rigorous editorial decisions, and meticulous metadata entry, we curated an informative, visually engaging collection highlighting forty incredible images available through the Digital Public Library of America.

This project attempts to assess the virtual reference services of the University of Washington. The service offers students, staff, and faculty 24/7 access to librarians and advanced graduate students from the UW as well as librarians from across the country, in order to have their information needs answered as fast as possible. With access to OCLC’s Question Point, I looked at a sample of chats that occurred during weeks one, five, and ten of Winter Quarter 2014. Chats were coded according to the category of questions, READ Level, time of day, and session time, and an analysis of the data showed that the majority of questions were labelled as either General Information or Known Item Searches. This could be due to a number of factors, including website design, gaps in information literacy instruction, as well as the recent migration of the UW Library’s catalog to Ex Libris’ Primo and ALMA. In addition to the transcript coding and analysis, I conducted a literature review to gauge what has been written in regards to the evolution of virtual reference services, from overviews of its effect on libraries to best practices of assessment and implementation. 

The University of Washington Special Collections Library received a request from a Japanese author who was searching for archival photographs to accompany his forthcoming book on Douglas MacArthur. The author was specifically looking for photographs that linked MacArthur to American Freemasonic orders in Asia. He needed to know what Special Collections photographs were available related to the topic and detailed information about them including dates, locations and names of individuals. Confronted with thousands of unprocessed photographs, I organized the collection in accordance with the Special Collections archival process of arrangement, description and access creation. Through processing the photographs and some detective work, the author’s information needs were met. By the end of the project, 15 photographs were discovered that directly related the Seattle Nile Shrine organization to MacArthur’s subordinate officers in Japan in the 1950’s. 

The mission of UW Special Collections is to provide access to its collections for academic and research purposes while also preserving and maintaining materials for long-term preservation. However, as a public institution with limited funding and staff, UW Special Collections has acquired a number of collections which have not been thoroughly processed, essentially rendering them inaccessible to users. One such collection is the Price/Rodgers Leavenworth Collection, which documents the efforts of Ted Price and Bob Rodgers to transform the Washington town of Leavenworth into a Bavarian village to increase tourism and revitalize its failing economy in the 1960s. My project—the creation of a finding aid—will make this collection both findable and searchable on the Special Collections website, thereby increasing access to the collection for the public, a benefit to both the user and the organization.

Multnomah County Library’s (MCL) Día de los Niños y Día de los Libros is a multicultural celebration of childhood, literacy, and community connections. In partnership with MCL’s We Speak Your Language Department and 11 library branches, our team streamlined the promotion, planning, and organization of three Día programs. Previously, Día was designed and implemented by individual library branches, but was then centralized to maximize staff time. We coordinated all aspects of the program and prepared supplies in advance. According to patron, volunteer, and staff evaluations, we improved the planning process and delivered an outstanding library program. This year, over 3,600 patrons of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds came to the library for three Saturday celebrations in April. Families participated in literacy activities and learned about free library resources.  After attending Día, many families indicated they were more likely to read to their children and return to the library.

Research scientists need to stay up-to-date on advancements in their field, but it is time-consuming to constantly search multiple sources. They need to collaborate with other people with complementary expertise, but discovering them can be a challenge. Scientists also need to become aware of funding opportunities they should apply to, but are not sure which ones are appropriate. Connected to Research delivers relevant publications, key people, and funding opportunities. This personalized portal knows your interests so it eliminates searching, reduces the effort, lowers barriers, and automatically provides the information you need when you need it. It tracks key dates and notifies you of changes. Connected to Research allows you to collaborate and share information with others in your team. This tool also actively monitors a variety of trusted sources so you do not have to. Your time is valuable so now you can stay Connected to Research.