Batya Friedman named 2012-13 University Faculty Lecturer

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Batya Friedman, a professor in the University of Washington Information School has been named University Faculty Lecturer for 2012-13. Chosen by a faculty committee led by Provost Ana Mari Cauce, Friedman is known for technology design that supports important human values. The award, which comes with $5,000, honors current or emeritus faculty whose achievements have had substantial impacts on their profession and perhaps society as a whole. In the fall, Friedman will deliver an all-university lecture about her work. The range of Friedman's research is huge, iSchool Dean Harry Bruce said

Batya Friedman wins SIGCHI Social Impact Award

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Professor Batya Friedman has been named winner of this year's Social Impact Award by the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction. The honor recognizes individuals who apply human-computer interaction research to pressing social needs. Friedman is known for value sensitive design, which considers human values in designing information systems. Most recently, Friedman and a team of researchers, legal experts and videographers created "Voices from the Rwanda Tribunal,"believed to be the first collection of stories from people who have served o

Behind the buzz

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The video "Yes We Can," with its hiphop artists, earnest guitar, soul riffs, and montage of multiracial faces, quickly racked up millions of YouTube hits during the last presidential campaign. So did "Obama Girl," a video featuring a sexy actress lip synching lyrics about her "crush" on Obama. "Universal health care reform. It makes me warm," she mewed. Why did these videos go viral? What powers propelled them into the political consciousness? New research from a leading iSchool team, supported by a Google Research Award, shows that a predominant force behind the '08 election buzz was th

Beth Patin and Maria Garrido confirm critical role of libraries and telecenters in disaster management

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, Beth Patin was a school librarian. Over the next five years, as she helped rebuild her library, she started thinking critically about the role libraries could play in their communities during emergencies and disasters. "Where are the instruction manuals about how libraries can immediately respond to their communities," Patin wondered. "There really wasn't anybody doing this kind of work." She decided to pursue a doctorate at the iSchool, in part to answer this question. There she met Maria Garrido, Research Assistant Professor in the Techno

Birdsall explores her process for UW class

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Beverly Cleary Professor for Children and Youth Services Eliza Dresang likes to use her connections to the world of literature for children and youth to support learning experiences students will carry with them throughout their careers. So Dr. Dresang was especially pleased when Jeanne Birdsall, winner of the 2005 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, asked her publisher to arrange some time with graduate students to discuss her writing. It is much more common for authors on tour to tell others about their work rather than seeking their opinions about it. Birdsall is one of a

Biz competition proving ground for MSIM

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

This March, first-year Master of Science in Information Management (MSIM) students Priyanvada Barve, Smritilekha Das and Deborah Schumacher participated in the 2011 Strategic Uses of Information Technology (SUIT) Showdown, a business case competition held in Bloomington, Indiana. Their team pitted their problem solving skills against some of the nation's top graduate programs. The three were asked to analyze a business problem, develop a solution, and present their solution to a panel of judges. While they didn't win, the competition exposed them to new ways of thinking about information probl

Book maven Nancy Pearl endows scholarship

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Nancy Pearl is a bookard, a bibliomaniac -- happy to be so, desirous that others become so. And in that spirit, she and her husband, Joseph Pearl, have endowed a UW scholarship for Information School students who intend to become public librarians. "The library profession has been incredibly generous to me. I've gotten to meet people and do things I never imagined I would," Pearl said in a recent interview. She's the author of seven volumes about good reads, including Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason, published in 2003. "I couldn't have gone to graduate s

Building a better model for early learning

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Washington state's public libraries are well on their way to becoming national leaders in early learning, especially early literacy, for children from birth through age five. Before she arrived at the University of Washington Information School in January, Dr. Eliza Dresang, Beverly Cleary Professor for Children and Youth Services, visited with the five library systems around the state that contributed to her endowed professorship. She was surprised to hear the same resounding request. "They all told me they were interested in early learning, in forming partnerships with other community

Capstone 2012 winners impress judges

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The largest iSchool Capstone event on record took place May 31, featuring 78 projects from 167 students in the Informatics, MSIM and MLIS programs. In its ninth year, the event showcases student work by featuring 'lightning presentations' (30 second project introductions) and poster displays. More than 650 people attended the event, held in the UW Tower. Capstone is a required final project for graduating students in the undergraduate Informatics program, Master of Science in Information Management (MSIM), and Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS). Students identify an informa

Centennial Convocation celebrates 267 new information graduates

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Families and friends packed Meany Hall on June 7 to proudly watch their graduate receive an ISchool degree: Bachelor of Science in Informatics, Master of Science in Information Management, Master of Library and Information Science, or Ph.D. in Information Science. Dean Harry Bruce welcomed the crowd by saying, "You are a special graduating class - you are our centennial graduates of the iSchool. I know that you will do and achieve remarkable things that today we can only imagine. I know this because we have a long history of graduates achieving remarkable things. You can now add your name t

Chicago Mayor taps iSchool alum

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

UW iSchool alumnus Brian Bannon wasn't in the market for a change when the opportunity to become commissioner of the nation's second-largest library system arose. But when newly minted Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel came calling, Bannon figured the least he could do was listen. "When I sat down and had my first meeting with him, I just felt his energy, and shared the excitement for what Chicago libraries could be in the context of where he is taking the city," recalls Bannon. "I couldn't say no." From earning a Masters in Library and Information Science in 1999 to becoming head of the Chicag

Cohen named Distinguished Alumna

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Dean Harry Bruce announced the 2011 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award - Arlene Kairoff Cohen-at its Dean's Club Dinner on May 19. This prestigious award, established in 1961, recognizes outstanding graduates of the Information School. Alumni are chosen for their distinguished service in community affairs, and/or specific meritorious service on behalf of the Information School and the UW. Arlene Kairoff Cohen is described in one of her nomination letters as "a trailblazer to whom recognition is due." She received her MLib degree from the UW in 1973 and began her career at the UW's

Cybercrooks, beware!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Cybercriminals who cause mayhem to all things digital, from bank accounts to nuclear stockpiles, are in no short supply these days. A $2.1 million federal grant to the University of Washington is helping train graduate students to battle the cybercrooks. The four-year Scholarship for Service grant will eventually provide full-ride scholarships and stipends to 18 graduate students at the UW Seattle campus and UW Tacoma Institute of Technology, said Barbara Endicott-Popovsky, director of the UW Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity, which received the grant. After earning t

David McDonald receives NSF award

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

University of Washington researchers, Dr. Mark Zachry in Human Centered Design & Engineering and Dr. David W. McDonald in the Information School, received a $874,978, three-year research National Science Foundation award to study self-managed, voluntary virtual work teams. The results of this research will have broad implications for the future of how people work and interact online. As more and more businesses try to leverage the Internet for distributed work teams, research like this will help them capitalize on existing successes through new work processes and online tools. Drs. Zach

Decorated Librarian a Lesson in Perseverance

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Fittingly, the motto of Anthony Loum's ('97) school in his native Gambia was Nil Desperandum, "Do not Despair." Loum has taken the skills and knowledge he gained on his journey from Gambia via Seattle and the iSchool all the way to Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), where he is the Adult Services Coordinator for the fifth largest library system in the country. Since 2004, he has been setting the strategic vision and coordinating adult services system-wide for BPL. His perseverance and creativity has earned him accolades as the 2006 New York Times Librarian of the Year for Brooklyn, and most recent