iSchool scholars to present at 12th Annual iConference

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

The annual iConference convenes a broad spectrum of scholars and researchers from around the world who share a common concern about critical information issues in contemporary society. This year’s iConference is hosted by Drexel University College of Computing & Informatics and takes place Sunday, March 20 through Wednesday, March 23, 2016, in historic Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This year’s theme of “Partnership with Society” examines the dynamic, evolving role of information science and today’s iSchool movement, and the benefits to society.  The UW Information School

Karen Fisher aims to work some 'magic' at camp for Syrian refugees

Monday, March 7, 2016

Information School Professor Karen Fisher is headed back to the Za’atari Refugee Camp to help make some magic. During a visit to Jordan last year, Fisher asked young Syrian refugees at Za’atari for their ideas for “magic genius devices” – information-based solutions that could help make life easier at the camp. During her return trip in March, Fisher intends to bring one of their ideas to life. A pilot program aims to help preserve the cultural heritage that refugees left behind in Syria. The worry is that the memory of what it was like before the Syrian civil war will disa

Alumnus earns top national honor in library cataloging

Friday, February 26, 2016

Paige Andrew, a 1986 master of librarianship alumnus of the University of Washington, has been named the 2016 recipient of the Margaret Mann Citation, the nation’s highest honor in library cataloging. The Mann Citation is awarded annually by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, a division of the American Library Association, recognizing outstanding professional achievement in cataloging or classification. The award includes a $2,000 scholarship donated in the recipient’s honor to the school of the winner’s choice. Andrew chose his alma ma

UW team takes second place in Microsoft search challenge

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Information School Assistant Professor Jevin West’s Eigenfactor team took home second place in Microsoft’s WSDM Cup, a worldwide challenge to assess the importance of scholarly articles. The competition, run by Microsoft Research in partnership with the 9th ACM Conference on Web Search and Data Mining (WSDM), gave researchers access to data from Microsoft’s Bing search engine and its academic graph. The graph is a continuously growing collection of millions of pieces of information about scientific publications, authors, institutions, journals, conferences, and fields of study. The

‘Pushback’ against constant connectivity also reflected in images, study follow-up finds

Friday, February 5, 2016

People expressing the wish to resist constant online connectivity — dubbed “pushback” by University of Washington Information School researchers — is manifested as powerfully in images as in text, further study has found. Information School associate professor Ricardo Gomez was co-author on research into textual pushback that was published in the online journal FirstMonday in 2014. Stacey Morrison, a recent graduate of the iSchool, was lead author. A late-autumn 2015 follow-up paper on which Gomez is lead author, also in FirstMonday, is the first to review visual aspects of the p

4th Annual WINFO Hackathon doubles participation, adds new awards

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Designed to empower young women leaders in technical fields, the 12-hour Women in Informatics (WINFO) Hackathon provides a fun and interactive environment in which to explore computing with fellow students and create applications to solve information challenges.  This year's event attracted 95 attendees from across the University of Washington along with 30 mentors who helped teams with their projects. Judges included Scott Barker (iSchool), Nam-ho Park (iSchool), Negin Dahya (iSchool), and Tammarrian Rogers (Microsoft)​. They judged the projects based on the quality of the user expe

iSchool Employer Connections Fair 2016

Thursday, February 4, 2016

More than 600 students came with their resumes and elevator pitches to meet with 40 organizations at the iSchool Annual Employer Connections Fair (ECF). The ECF took place on February 3 and welcomed employers interested in hiring for a wide range of information technology and information science jobs and internships. It was open to iSchool students, alumni and others across campus looking for careers in the information science field. Many companies sent iSchool alumni to find more talent and tout the benefits of their organization. The iSchool offered several workshops to prepare student

MSIM students score a win in the Microsoft Imagine Cup

Thursday, February 4, 2016

A team of four first-year Master of Science in Information Management (MSIM) students notched a victory in the Microsoft Imagine Cup Competition to develop the best new software to address social issues. In their first-ever design effort, Team Carroots won first place in the qualifying round of the World Citizenship category. A second iSchool MSIM team, 3CM, was awarded honorable mention in the Innovation category. Both teams will compete and hope to win in the semifinals. Team Carroots, which included Julieta Sanchez, Tanu Khandelwal, Pamela Chakrabarty and Priya Sudendra, developed a p

Q&A with Connected Learning expert Mimi Ito

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

As children grow up immersed in information and technology, educators face new challenges in engaging their students. Mizuko “Mimi” Ito’s response: “Meet kids where they are, and push them to go further.” Ito’s Connected Learning model reimagines the experience of education for the information age. It’s a hands-on, production-centered approach that draws on young people’s interests and friendships to help keep them engaged in academic pursuits. Ito is a cultural anthropologist of technology use and is Professor in Residence and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundatio

David Levy's new book helps the digitally distracted

Friday, January 29, 2016

Digital distraction, whether good, bad or indifferent, has been in the news for years. Stories consider its effect on the brain, work productivity, relationships, culture and the dangers of texting while driving. Professor David Levy’s new book, "Mindful Tech: How to Bring Balance to our Digital Lives," encourages readers to find out for themselves whether their digital and device interactions are healthy or not. In his book, Levy suggests a series of exercises to help readers be more mindful of their technology use and to experiment by going without for a period of time. Matthew J. X.

MLIS student selected for Career Enhancement Program

Friday, January 29, 2016

Nicola Andrews, second-year online MLIS student, was selected by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) for their 2016 Career Enhancement Program. Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and ARL member libraries, the fellowship provides internship experiences in an ARL library to students from traditionally underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups. The goal of the program is to create a diverse research library workforce that will better meet the challenges of changing demographics and the emphasis of global perspectives in higher education. The

iSchool faculty, students present at HICSS

Friday, January 22, 2016

The iSchool faculty and students chaired program tracks, presented papers and facilitated workshops and symposia at the 49th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences (HICSS) held January 5 – 8, 2016. HICSS brings together researchers from over 40 countries (approximately 50% non-US) to exchange scientific ideas about a range of technology and information topics. Professor Hans Jochen Scholl co-chaired the Electronic Government track, co-facilitated a half-day meeting entitled “Realizing the Promise of Social Media (in Public Sector),” and co-presented the paper �

iSchool MLIS student secures NEH and Mellon grant to digitize out-of-print books

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Brian Keith is co-PI (principal investigator) for a new $79,000 National Endowment for the Humanities and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to support the digitization of 30 out-of-print books on the history and culture of Florida and the Caribbean. Keith, who is the Associate Dean for the University of Florida Libraries and an online master of library and information science student, partnered with the University Press of Florida and the Florida Humanities Council to secure the grant and make the digital books freely available online and in electronic formats. One of the unique things a

New book by Adam Moore: Privacy, Security and Accountability

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Adam D. Moore, associate professor and Ph.D. program chair, has edited a new book analyzing the moral and legal foundations of privacy, security, and accountability, drawing on participants from a 2013 conference sponsored by the Simpson Center for the Humanities. Privacy, Security and Accountability: Ethics, Law and Policy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) features multiple contributors from the conference, Information Ethics and Policy: Intellectual Property, Privacy, and Freedom of Speech, which Moore organized. The conference drew researchers and practitioners from across disciplines to

New book by Annie Searle: Reflections on Risk III

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

iSchool lecturer Annie Searle's "Reflections on Risk III" is a new collection of 26 research notes from 16 contributors who wrote the notes while students in the UW Information School's Master of Science in Information Management program.  The authors explore today's risk-related issues including the ethical dimensions of identity management, culture risk, privacy and security. This volume, the third in the series, is divided into six sections: cybersecurity, economics, privacy, government oversight, innovation and disasters. Searle is the author of "Advice From