Q&A: Gaming, music fandom groups provide human connection during the pandemic

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

With COVID-19 cases spiking again across the United States, many states are issuing new curfews and lockdowns that look similar to the first stay-at-home orders issued in March. These announcements are coming right in time for the winter holiday season, when Americans normally gather with the people they love. But with this year’s recommendations to keep in-person gatherings small, how can people find a way to connect with others? One option is to find community in online spaces that celebrate a shared interest, such as playing a video game together or bonding over the

'Force of nature': Jill McKinstry's passion for libraries runs deep

Friday, November 6, 2020

Universities expect graduate students to engage in scholarly research. Undergraduates, not so much. Jill McKinstry, champion of rigorous undergraduate learning, set out to change that on the University of Washington campus. “Undergraduates were not often getting those opportunities to do original research and contribute to the world of knowledge,” says the 2020 iSchool Distinguished Alumna, director of Odegaard Undergraduate Library for 17 years. Working closely with partners over the years, the tenacious library leader helped push through such innovations as writing and research tutors

Dynamic duo lead MSIM program to new heights

Friday, November 6, 2020

It was 2015, and the timing was right. The iSchool’s Master of Science in Information Management program needed an infusion of energy, and Hala Annabi and Sean McGann were ready for a challenge. Harry Bruce, then the iSchool dean, made them an offer they couldn’t pass up: come to Seattle and reinvigorate the MSIM program. For McGann, who was chair of the Computer Information Systems Department at Appalachian State University, it was a chance to come in as program chair and do the work that really excited him — teaching and developing programs. For Annabi, who was chair of the Manageme

Our mission matters more than ever

Friday, November 6, 2020

We’ve just been through a contentious election season in a difficult year, full of hardship for far too many people. When we emerge from our current crises, we have to envision a better future — and how our work can help take us there. COVID-19 and the social unrest of 2020 have underscored the importance of being nimble and doing work that addresses real-world problems. That’s exactly what I love about the iSchool. We adapt quickly, and our work translates to tangible results. To cite just a few examples: The Center for an Informed Public, led by Associate Professor Jevin West, is fo

20/20 vision: Informatics continues to see the future

Thursday, November 5, 2020

Twenty years ago this fall, the University of Washington launched the Informatics program, an undergraduate degree with an unfamiliar name and a vision to study how people use technology to find and share information. Consider how forward-thinking Informatics was at the time. While computers and the internet have been disrupting the world for decades, Informatics came of age in the era of smartphones, the rise of social media and the dawn of big data. “As researchers, it's our job to be prescient,” said Amy J. Ko, the Informatics program chair. “Because we try to understand what is

Brian Selznick tells iSchool audience about the road to 'Hugo'

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Author and illustrator Brian Selznick turned the Information School’s 2020 Spencer G. Shaw Endowed Lecture into an engaging conversation, even though he couldn’t speak to people face-to-face. Selznick spoke over video on Oct. 29, devoting much of the time to some of the 51 questions submitted from audience members who were curious about how he got into writing and drawing, who influenced his work and what it was like watching Martin Scorsese adapt his book into a major motion picture. The event, typically held at the HUB on the UW campus, went online in response to the COVID-19 pande

FCC honors iSchool's Cindy Aden for work to expand broadband access

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

UW Information School faculty member Cindy Aden was recently honored by the Federal Communications Commission for her work to bridge the digital divide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Aden is among the inaugural recipients of the Digital Opportunity Equity Recognition (DOER) awards.  She was recognized by the FCC for her efforts last spring when, as the Washington State Librarian, she worked alongside multiple companies and nonprofits to provide free broadband access across the state. The project involved 600 drive-in Wi-Fi hotspots, including the Washington State University

Fellowship backs Ph.D. student's research on algorithms and misinformation

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Prerna Juneja, a Ph.D. student at the Information School, recently won a fellowship from the Social Science Research Council to support her studies on the role of algorithms in spreading misinformation. The Social Data Research and Dissertation Fellowship program, offered by the Social Data Initiative and supported by the Omidyar Network, seeks to encourage multifaceted pathways for collecting and analyzing social data, with the larger aim of cultivating robust research on technology and society.  “I deeply care about algorithmic transparency and accountability.

With her MLIS, librarian was ready for uncharted territory

Monday, October 26, 2020

When COVID-19 required people to adapt quickly, Mandi Harris was ready. After her library canceled in-person events, it took her just a day to shift programs online. Harris, the youth services supervisor at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, had good role models for online learning — she graduated from the UW Information School’s online Master of Library and Information Science program in 2019. “Being an online student prepared me in ways I never could have guessed,” she said. “The professors were so capable and skilled at teaching online.” Harris’s experience in grad s

iSchool sends large contingent to ASIS&T Annual Meeting

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

The University of Washington Information School is well-represented at this year’s Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) Annual Meeting, with several faculty members and Ph.D. students contributing papers and posters and participating in workshops and panel discussions. The Oct. 22-Nov. 1 meeting, a top international conference of research on people, information and technology, is being held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Assistant Professor Nic Weber will lead a workshop, “Conceptual Models in Sociotechnical Systems,” on Oct. 22. Weber will be joine

Preventing and mitigating misinformation

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Jevin West, iSchool Associate Professor and Director of the UW Center for an Informed Public, shares an update about the critical role of information professionals in ensuring fair and equitable participation in the 2020 U.S. elections and other democratic processes around the world. You can learn more about the Center and its efforts at cip.uw.edu. The Information School was founded as a library school in 1911. Seven years later, the world experienced one of the worst pandemics in modern history, with an estimated 50 million deaths worldwide. In that same year, John Hopkins Unive

Online MLIS student named Wyoming’s Outstanding Librarian of the Year

Friday, October 9, 2020

Conrrado Saldivar, a student in the online Master of Science in Library and Information Science program at the University of Washington Information School, was recently named Wyoming’s Outstanding Librarian of the Year. This annual award is presented by the Wyoming Library Association and recognizes the outstanding accomplishments of a library employee in the past year. “Winning this award has been a humbling experience, especially because I have only been in the library profession for just over five years and feel like there's still so much more to learn,” Saldivar said. “It sho

For iSchool scholar, art holds key to Native knowledge

Thursday, October 8, 2020

Miranda Belarde-Lewis probably was always destined to study art. On her father’s side, she is Zuni Pueblo, a tribe in the Southwest U.S. with a rich aesthetic tradition and love of adornment. “If there's something that we could paint on, we're gonna paint it,” said the University of Washington Information School assistant professor. “We're gonna make it beautiful.” On her mother’s side, Belarde-Lewis is Takdeintaan Clan from the Tlingit tribe, one of the Native groups in Alaska who cherish stories of the trickster Raven figure: “There’s this phrase that Ravens like shiny

Q&A with Amy Ko on UW's new social-justice educator endorsement

Thursday, October 8, 2020

The UW announced in September that it would launch the state’s first justice-focused computer science educator endorsement with a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This project is an opportunity to transform how computer science is taught in grades 6-12 throughout the country. iSchool Professor Amy Ko is the grant’s Principal Investigator (PI): Q: Transforming education is a daunting task! Where do you plan to begin? A: The focus of this grant really is on preparing computer science teachers. The hope is that long-term, if we prepare them

Students' 'High School to iSchool' outreach grows

Friday, September 25, 2020

Informatics students have long been the program’s biggest advocates. Led by the Informatics Undergraduate Association (IUGA) and Women in Informatics (Winfo) student groups, they’re putting their energy into “High School to iSchool,” an effort to increase the number of freshman-direct applicants and ensure those applicants come from diverse backgrounds. Senior Informatics major Aaron Zhao is among those leading the effort as IUGA’s diversity director for 2020-21. Zhao said he didn’t know about Informatics when he was in high school, but wishes he had. Students admitted as freshm