PIL interviews John Palfrey on plagiarism

Monday, September 6, 2010

Project Information Literacy, in its latest "Smart Talk," interviews John Palfrey, Co-Director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society and a Professor at Harvard Law School. In his remarks on plagiarism in the digital age, Palfrey argues "We do need to help students understand the line between riffing off and ripping off the work of others. We riff off of one another all the time in academic work; we must all avoid ripping one another off." Read the entire interview on the Project Information Literacy website. Project Information Literacy is an ongoing national research study, led

Two new articles from faculty, PhD students & alum

Monday, September 6, 2010

Two papers, authored by iSchool faculty, an alumnus and PhD students, appeared recently in the journal Technological Forecasting and Social Change. In one paper, authors Jared P. Keller, Associate Professor Kevin C. Desouza, and Yuan Lin examine the impacts of four common strategies for dismantling terrorist networks: leader-focused, grassroots, geographic, and random. Employing a computational experimentation methodology, the authors simulate a terrorist network and test the effects of each strategy on the resiliency of that network. In addition, they test scenarios in which the terrorist

TASCHA launches Social Info Literacy program

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) is presenting this week at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Annual Conference. IFLA is is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. This week at IFLA, TASCHA researchers Chris Coward and Karen Fisher will launch a new strand of research activity on Social Information Literacy. The program attempts to broaden the understanding of information literacy to include a larger range of people's information behavior. You can find out more

2010 Borgeson Award to Emily Shepard Smith

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Emily Shepard Smith's paper received the 2010 Earl C. Borgeson Research in Law Librarianship Award. "May It Please the Court: Law Students and Legal Research Instruction in Prison Law Libraries," was selected by a panel of three judges who are experts in publishing law librarianship topics. The honor also carries a $1,000 prize. The papers are written as a component of the University of Washington Information School's Law Librarianship program, where students with law degrees earn a Master of Library and Information Science with a Specialization in Law Librarianship. Penny Hazelton is the dire

Dr. Janes speaks on NPR about explosion of e-books

Monday, July 19, 2010

Associate Professor Joe Janes was interviewed by NPR's Wendy Kaufman regarding a recent milestone for electronic and digital book sales -- for the first time, Amazon's sales of digital books has surpassed its sales figures for hardcover books. You can find the article on the NPR website. Dr. Janes was also the keynote speaker at "Reference Evolution" preconference before the ALA's annual meeting in Washington, D. C. in July. During that keynote he spoke about the movement away from fixed media to downloads to streaming to the clouds.

Draft Guide to Smart Grid Cyber Security Released

Sunday, July 18, 2010

SEATTLE - The University of Washington, in cooperation with The Boeing Company, Microsoft and Verizon Business, on July 20 will host a preview of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Interagency Report (NISTIR) 7628, Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security. "Cyber security is a critical component of the Smart Grid effort, and the release of these guidelines will help policy-makers, utilities, service providers and others who will need to collaborate to make this a reality" said Annabelle Lee, a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) senior cyber security strate

Project Info Literacy report: handouts, research skills

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Just released is Project Information Literacy released a new research, "Assigning Inquiry: How Handouts for Research Assignments Guide Today's College Students" (41 pages, PDF, 2MB). Tune into a short PIL video (2:22) for a summary of key findings from the handout study. The report presents findings from a content analysis of 191 course-related research assignment handouts professors distributed to undergraduates on 28 U.S. campuses. Researchers found the majority of handouts in the sample placed more attention on the mechanics of preparing a research assignment than on conveying substan

From the Field: Green Information Management

Monday, July 12, 2010

On first glance, it wouldn't seem as if "information management" and "sustainability" really go together. The two are such vast fields that suffer from the same issue of a lack of definition that trying to make the two go together in any way, shape, or form would seem hopeless. Information management and environmental sustainability are both heavily reliant on the idea of a lifecycle, that the objects we deal with have a birth and a death, and that the life in between must somehow be managed, that the end result must be something that contributes back to society. Though the products we deal

PhD students Kane, Shinohara featured in Times

Monday, July 5, 2010

UW iSchool PhD students Shaun Kane and Kristen Shinohara are participating in the Imagine Cup, being held this week in Warsaw, Poland. Sponsored by Microsoft, the Cup is the subject of a recent article in the Seattle Times. Reporter Sharon Pian Chan calls the event a "World Cup for nerds." Each year the Cup showcases some of the most promising student designers and creators of technology from high schools, colleges and universities across the globe. This year's competition has drawn 325,000 students from 100 countries. Microsoft uses the competition to spark software creativity and to en

UW iSchool mourns loss of Spencer G. Shaw

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Today the iSchool and UW community mourns the loss of nationally and internationally known librarian, storyteller, and educator Professor Emeritus Spencer G. Shaw. Spencer passed away on June 16. He was 93 years old. Books and reading were important parts of his early family life, and so was the Northwest Branch of the public library in his native Hartford. He shared his love of libraries, service and community during a nearly seven-decade career as a public librarian, educator and world-renowned expert on storytelling and library service to children. The American Library Association called

Next Big Ideas shine at Capstone '10

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

A cursor that helps people with disabilities click where they want. Retail business sales tools. A way to fight invasive plant species with global information systems. These three ideas not only reflect the diversity of projects presented at the iSchool Capstone event on June 3, they also won awards. Every year, graduating students in the Bachelor of Science in Informatics and Master of Science in Information Management (MSIM) programs present new applications of technology and innovative uses of information. This year's Capstone featured 70 projects, and five winners -- some teams

Dr. Endicott-Popovsky talks cybersecurity in Wired

Sunday, June 13, 2010

UW iSchool faculty member Barbara Endicott-Popovsky was interviewed for an article in June's Wired UK about a rising generation of teen cybersecurity specialists they've dubbed "CyberPatriots." Writer Mark Harris describes the U.S. high school and college-level cybersecurity contests that provide proving grounds for tomorrow's professionals. Dr. Endicott-Popovsky is director of the of the iSchool's Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity, which sponsors the Pacific Rim Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (PRCCDC), also known as "Geeks Under Attack!" The competition asks teams of

Project Info Literacy premieres "Smart Talks"

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

PIL's new feature, "Smart Talks" premiered earlier this week and features an interview with Peter Morville, renowned information architect, author, and librarian. In "Search and the Paradox of Choice," Morville discusses his latest book, Search Patterns, and weighs in on some of PIL's early-release findings from our spring survey with over 8,400 college students. Project Information Literacy, a national research study, is co-directed by Dr. Alison Head, Research Scientist, and Dr. Michael Eisenberg, Dean Emeritus and Professor in the iSchool. The ongoing research, supported with contributin

Piece on security in virtual worlds in SC Magazine

Monday, May 31, 2010

Barbara Endicott-Popovsky, Director of the iSchool's Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity, and Aaron Weller, Managing Director of Concise Consulting Group have co-authored the "Last Word" column in the May 2010 issue of SC Magazine. You can find the article here. In "Securing virtual worlds," Dr. Endicott-Popovsky and Weller argue effective controls are needed in virtual worlds to protect both users and the virtual environments themselves. As information security professionals, they put forth a challenge to other security professionals to make VWs a better place to live and wo

Bishop (MLIS) named REACH 21 Institute scholar

Monday, May 10, 2010

UW iSchool MLIS student Naomi Bishop has been selected as one of this year's REACH 21 Institute Scholarship recipients. As part of the award, Bishop will receive support (including travel, lodging and meals) to attend the 2010 Spectrum Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C., this summer. The REACH 21: Preparing the Next Generation of Librarians for Leadership project is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and honors 20 library students and recent graduates a year. The Institute brings together LIS students and graduates from across the country to network, learn m