Musical instruments are expensive, resulting in many people being unable to afford music education. Musical instrument lending collections can make music education more accessible. Seattle-based nonprofit Music4Life had a surplus of guitars and amplifiers which they wanted to gift to a library. We began a relationship between Music4Life and a public library to start the process of integrating this collection. We also created an informative document about implementing a musical instrument lending collection. Our work will benefit the library’s community, increasing arts accesibility, and could benefit public libraries that are interested in offering musical instruments as well as their communities.

Passionate about mental health and wellness, our team tackled the Gen Z mental health crisis with happy paws, a web application designed to encourage Gen Z to be proactive about their mental health. Through personalized resources, a gamified mental health model, and evidence-based tools, our results include heightened awareness, the development of healthy coping skills, and bolstered confidence among users. By fostering a culture of self-care and destigmatizing mental health discussions, happy paws makes a profound difference in the lives of Gen Z by equipping them with the necessary tools to navigate their mental health with confidence and resilience.

Hazing is any activity expected of someone joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them, regardless of consent. Across college campuses, hazing among social organizations is a continuing issue due to obscure or undocumented hazing-prevention resources. HazingInfo.org is a free, comprehensive database of information showcasing a school’s actions to prevent hazing through hazing reports, policies, and legislation. This site centralizes hazing resources by surfacing information that can be buried within school websites. HazingInfo.org is an accessible way for students and families to make informed decisions in enrolling at a school or joining an organization.

The Audiology Clinic at Seattle Children’s Hospital offers hearing aid trials and loaners to its patients. Access to sound during a child’s formative years is crucial to developing speech and language. This service was managed inconsistently across several disparate spreadsheets, making the process inefficient and reporting capabilities time-consuming. This project aimed to rebuild and replace the existing system, streamlining clinic operations and centralizing its data. This improved data source enables reporting capabilities to support clinic leadership in data-driven decision-making. The system is designed to grow with the clinic and meet its and its patients' changing needs.

Public librarians have an obligation to acknowledge the sovereignty of Tribal nations and to provide culturally responsive library services to Indigenous patrons. Our project emerged from the recognition of a scarcity of resources to assist library staff in meeting these obligations. Through iterative research, we identified initial key topics, fully developed two learning modules, and commenced curating existing resources aimed at enlightening non-Indigenous LIS professionals on the significance of upholding Tribal sovereignty in public libraries. The image utilized is a text-free rendition of the Indigenous Systems of Knowledge model crafted by our sponsor Dr. Sandy Littletree (2018).

HerHeartCo empowers women to take charge of their health by improving access to information about cardiovascular disease risk factors during perimenopause. Our mobile application utilizes wearable technology to facilitate self-monitoring and symptom management, offering personalized recommendations and insights, and providing educational resources. Our holistic solution bridges the knowledge gap and equips women to make intentional, informed decisions for their heart health during this critical life stage.

I worked with the Orbis Cascade Alliance Cataloging Standing Group (CSG) to build on a series of Homosaurus training sessions they recently facilitated with a retrospective implementation project. Working with sets of legacy records in the consortial catalog identified by the CSG, I performed subject analysis on a record-by-record basis and added terms from the Homosaurus as appropriate. I also contributed to the creation of training materials for other students and non-cataloging staff participating in the project. Through this work, I helped enhance discoverability of LGBTQ+ records in the Alliance catalog, contributing to the Homosaurus community of practice.

Last year, the High Point Public Library began hosting its House of Arts club to promote access to art within the community. To encourage the club’s scope, the Library needed to raise awareness via social media and enhance its offerings through community partnerships. Through this capstone, the Library developed a stable internet presence through their existing Facebook and a new but growing Instagram. Additionally, the club gained three art professionals who have led or will lead workshops for the community. These efforts have ensured that the High Point community has an accessible and high-quality option to explore their artistic interests.

With the continuing rise of Artificial Intelligence, young students are especially vulnerable to misconceptions and misuse of AI. Many teachers are also unfamiliar with the new technology. How To Train You Chatbot is an online learning platform that introduces AI to middle school students. The website modules explain prompt engineering, fact-checking, and the ethical implications of interacting with AI. By using this platform, teachers can encourage critical thinking, prevent academic misconduct, and help students use platforms like ChatGPT to enhance their learning. As AI continues to evolve, our platform empowers students to build a mindful relationship with artificial intelligence.

Large Language Models (LLMs) attempt to imitate human behavior by responding to humans in a way that pleases them, including by adhering to their values. Therefore, it is important to understand whether LLMs, upon understanding a user's national background, will showcase a different set of values to the user. We have found that LLMs have an innate understanding that cultures differ in values, responding differently based on different nationality input. By discovering this information, we empower others to consider whether using LLMs to seek advice will be ethical and beneficial for them, especially with answers that must be culturally-sensitive.