iSchool alumni help Seattle-based Slalom race ahead

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Slalom is in the business of helping other businesses succeed. For instance, the Seattle-based consulting firm recently helped Alaska Airlines navigate the complex and potentially thorny acquisition of Virgin America. Slalom also specializes in helping companies keep pace with the light-speed evolution of technology. Hospitality company Hyatt sought Slalom’s assistance to produce an industry-leading mobile app that’s increased hotel booking revenue by 80 percent. For these types of technical challenges, Slalom has tapped the talents of numerous Information School graduates, such as I

Read-a-Rama branches out to Spokane library

Friday, October 18, 2019

Michelle Martin’s Camp Read-a-Rama had kids moving, creating and reading across the state this past summer, including the camp's first foray into a public library. Martin, the iSchool’s Beverly Cleary Professor for Children and Youth Services, has run the day camps with Rachelle D. Washington for kids ages 4 to 11 since 2009, when both were on the faculty at Clemson University in South Carolina. Read-a-Rama is a nonprofit that promotes literacy by using books as the springboard for hands-on activities, such as crafts and sing-alongs. Martin’s motto is “100 percent engagemen

Hoffmann, fellow panelists debate social media's role in combating hate speech

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Is the internet supercharging hatred? Information School Assistant Professor Anna Lauren Hoffmann and fellow panelists tackled that question in a lively discussion Oct. 9 at Town Hall Seattle. The event, “One Click Away: Hate and the Internet,” was sponsored by Humanities Washington, the iSchool and Town Hall Seattle. It challenged panelists with questions about whether large technology platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Reddit are amplifying hate speech, and whether those same private companies should be responsible for preventing it. Much of the discussion focused on whether so

iSchool's Wobbrock honored for accessibility work on mobile touch screens

Monday, September 30, 2019

Information School Professor Jacob O. Wobbrock’s research into touch-screen accessibility is being honored for making a lasting impact over the past 11 years by addressing the needs of people with disabilities in the era of smartphones and tablets. Wobbrock and fellow researchers Shaun Kane, iSchool Ph.D. ’11, and Jeffrey Bigham, Computer Science Ph.D. ’09, are being honored with this year’s SIGACCESS ASSETS Paper Impact Award, given biennially by the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Accessible Computing. The award honors a paper published at lea

Researchers win funding to study bias in patient-doctor communication

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Information School Professor Wanda Pratt is part of a research team that has won funding to analyze patient-doctor communication to detect and provide feedback on implicit biases. The National Library of Medicine announced $2.8 million to fund the work over the next five years. The project is led by Andrea Hartzler, a former doctoral student of Pratt’s who is now an associate professor and co-director of the UW’s Clinical Informatics and Patient-Centered Technologies program. Others on the team include Janice Sabin, an associate professor in Biomedical Informatics and Medical Educat

Healthier democracy inspires new research center to confront misinformation

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Misinformation infects the information ecosystem, sowing doubt and confusion. It feeds on openness, transparency and a free exchange of ideas. If misinformation is a virus, democracy is a welcoming host. “I see misinformation as one of society’s most pressing problems,” said iSchool Associate Professor Jevin West. “Everything we do in society depends on individuals having the best information possible. If none of us trusts anything we’re reading or we’re being duped all the time, I think that’s something to be concerned about.” West and colleagues have devoted their energ

Searle's firm releases new set of 'Reflections on Risk'

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

iSchool Senior Lecturer Annie Searle's ASA Institute has released "Reflections on Risk V," a new collection of essays on topics such as emerging information technology challenges and governance failures. The book consists of 24 research notes from 19 contributors who wrote the notes while students in the UW Information School's undergraduate Informatics program, its graduate Master of Science in Information Management program and other UW graduate programs.  The volume is edited by MSIM 2011 graduate Emily Oxenford, who organized the research notes into four sections:

Annie Searle releases fresh 'Advice from a Risk Detective'

Monday, September 9, 2019

iSchool Senior Lecturer Annie Searle has released a new, third edition of “Advice from a Risk Detective,” a book of practical advice for identifying risks and making plans to deal with them. Searle walks readers through some of life’s most common risks, citing examples from her own life, including a house fire that destroyed thousands of books and an episode in St. Petersburg where she lost her bearings. She illustrates the value of having plans so that risks can be taken with confidence. “Being aware means that it is possible to identify risks and make a plan,” Searle writes.

Aragon, Davis explore fanfiction’s ‘Secret Garden’ in new book

Monday, August 26, 2019

The internet can be a dark and scary place, especially for teenagers. But in fanfiction communities, teens explore their creative sides and work together to improve their skills, usually without fear of ridicule. “There is a very low incidence of flaming or hate speech in these communities. They’re very supportive,” said Katie Davis, an associate professor at the University of Washington Information School. “They’re overwhelmingly positive and supporting of identities that are not always accepted in mainstream contexts.” In their new book released this month, “Writers i

In the battle against misinformation, we're taking a bold approach

Thursday, August 8, 2019

My daughter was doing research for a school project recently at the Seattle Public Library downtown, and she took a photo of a colorful display that pointed out how patrons could ask a librarian when they have questions about what’s true and what’s not. If only more people would take that advice. Instead, many rely on untrustworthy sources — their friends, their social media feeds, and their media echo chambers — to decide what is true. Those sources have become breeding grounds for misinformation and disinformation, and technological advancements have made it convenient to weapo

Chirag Shah joins faculty, focusing on fairness in systems

Monday, August 5, 2019

Does a business such as Spotify have an obligation to be fair? The music streaming service needs to turn a profit. If it doesn’t, the business shuts its doors, the employees lose their jobs and the shareholders have squandered their investment. Spotify could recommend only the most popular songs or podcasts and probably satisfy much of its audience. Then, only the biggest music acts would be heard — and only those acts would be paid. Is that fair to lesser-known artists? How would those artists develop a following? How would they become the next big thing? If Spotify recommends th

Marika Cifor adds archiving, activism to faculty

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Marika Cifor was drawn to the iSchool by its keen focus on social justice. “No matter which area faculty work in, their research, teaching and service address urgent issues of social good, social justice, social importance, diversity, equity and inclusion. That’s what centers my own research and my commitment to doing work in the information field,” says the new iSchool faculty member, a specialist in archival and digital studies. She brings a strong voice and fresh perspective to her job as an assistant professor in the iSchool’s Master of Library and Information Science pr

Center for an Informed Public to study and combat misinformation

Monday, July 22, 2019

The University of Washington today announced a $5 million investment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to create the UW Center for an Informed Public, led by an interdisciplinary group whose mission is to resist strategic misinformation, promote an informed society, and strengthen democratic discourse. The Center is also funded by a $600,000 award from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The Center brings together existing areas of excellence at the UW and builds upon the university’s ability to better understand how and why fake news, misinformation and disinformation

Dubstech student organization wins this year's Husky Impact Award

Monday, July 22, 2019

Dubstech, a student organization largely led by Informatics students, is this year’s recipient of the Husky Impact Award. The award, granted by the Husky Union Building every year, recognizes the registered student organization (RSO) that has made the most beneficial and long-lasting contributions to the University of Washington and the broader UW community. Founded in 2015, Dubstech aims to help students develop their tech skills through programming and design workshops, talks, competitions and mentorships. After undergoing a “reboot” in 2017, the club shifted to a user-center

iSchool welcomes 8 new faculty members

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

The University of Washington Information School is growing its ranks with the addition of eight new faculty members. Six scholars join the faculty as lecturers with expertise ranging from library and information science, indigenous systems of knowledge, information management, user experience and cybersecurity. Many bring deep experience from their respective fields to inform undergraduate and graduate education in Informatics, Library and Information Science and Information Management. Marika Cifor and Chirag Shah join the iSchool as tenure-track, research faculty. Cifor, a feminist schola