Lorcan Dempsey leaves MLIS students ready to tackle tough issues

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

It is both an extraordinary and an extraordinarily difficult time to enter the library profession, says Lorcan Dempsey, an iSchool Distinguished Practitioner in Residence. Over decades, he has observed libraries shift from a transactional focus on collections to a relational and social focus on communities, with the challenges that brings.For the public library, this can mean addressing food poverty, providing services for immigrants, dealing with book bans, resolving conflicts, and engaging with local social and educational agendas, says Dempsey. For the academic library, the shift means coll

Scholars ask: How will AI shape Holocaust Memory?

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

At a time when artificial intelligence is reshaping how information is created and shared, scholars gathered recently at the University of Washington to confront a critical question: How will AI affect how the Holocaust is remembered?Led by Ben Lee, an assistant professor at the iSchool, “AI and the Future of Holocaust Research and Memory” brought together 15 scholars for two days of closed discussions, followed by a public symposium on May 20. The event explored how AI tools might shape the way Holocaust history is preserved and shared.“The goal has been trying to use this as an opportu

Convocation celebrates iSchool's largest class of graduates

Friday, June 13, 2025

More than 700 graduates crossed the stage to be recognized at the University of Washington Information School’s 2025 Convocation ceremony on June 7 at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.It was the iSchool’s largest class yet, honoring graduates of the Ph.D., Master of Library and Information Science, Master of Science in Information Management and Bachelor of Science in Informatics programs. Master of Arts in Museology students were scheduled to take part in a separate graduation celebration on June 13.Dean Anind K. Dey began the ceremony with remarks acknowledging the challen

Annual iSchool Showcase celebrates student achievements

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

The Information School gathered on June 4 to celebrate student milestones from the academic year with more than 100 projects on display at the 2025 iSchool Showcase. Students from all five iSchool degree programs had the opportunity to present their work to family, friends, colleagues, employers and industry partners in the HUB ballroom.Judge John Chun of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington gave the keynote address to mark the beginning of the Showcase. Chun commended students for their hard work, and he emphasized the importance of information in society, saying it

MSIM team helps client improve health-care data

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Effective data management can be a challenge for any organization. In the health-care industry, the complexity of the information and critical need for privacy make it even harder. A group of Master of Science in Information Management students used the skills they’ve gained at the iSchool to help a company that works with health-care providers improve its data quality. Chance Landis, Riddhi Mistry, Kayvon Tari and Tanvi Save (pictured, left to right) did the work as their Capstone project, a chance to test their skills on a real-world problem. The team worked with Qualtrics, which

Despite headwinds, Amy Ko makes impact on computing education

Monday, June 9, 2025

Amy J. Ko received her introduction to computing when she first picked up a TI-82 graphing calculator in seventh grade. The University of Washington Information School professor was taking a pre-algebra class, and her teacher made the students input formulas into the devices.“I thought that was the most boring thing in the world and I was not interested in it at all,” Ko recalls. “But, after class, one of my classmates showed me a version of Tetris that his older brother had gotten onto his TI-82. “And I was interested in Tetris.”She used a mail-order catalog to buy a cable to c

University research is an investment worth keeping

Monday, June 9, 2025

The smartphone in your pocket, the car you drive and even the air you breathe are better because of university research. University researchers have made breakthroughs that produced modern computers and the internet; medical advances such as the technology behind the mRNA vaccines that saved many lives during the COVID pandemic; and discoveries in chemistry and physics that have advanced our understanding of the universe.Yet funding for research at the Information School and at universities across the United States has recently come under attack. Through executive orders, the Trump administrat

22 Informatics students show their work at research symposium

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Twenty-two Informatics students showcased their research at the 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Held on May 16, the event – titled “Take Flight!” -- featured five poster sessions, three oral presentation sessions, a performing arts showcase and one visual arts and design presentation. With over 1,500 participants, the symposium celebrated the diverse research disciplines of students across the three UW campuses. For Informatics students presenting, the symposium is an opportunity to showcase the work they have been doing outside of the classroom. Informatics en

MLIS Capstone showcases a lesser-known part of U.S. history

Friday, May 30, 2025

The words “concentration camp” bring about disturbing images and evoke an emotional response. When people think of concentration camps, their minds are likely to turn to the Nazi extermination camps of World War II. However, many Americans might not think about the concentration camps that were within their own borders, incarcerating Japanese Americans.Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Roosevelt administration ordered the mass removal of Japanese Americans from their homes and into camps for the majority of the war. These camps were mainly located in the West and i

Students develop tool to track kudos among co-workers

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

In today’s fast-paced work environment, managers often look for tools to make their jobs easier. For someone managing a large team, wouldn’t it be nice to have a tool that regularly provides summarized feedback about each employee? Then they'd know who's raking in the kudos among co-workers. That’s a scenario five University of Washington iSchool students are bringing to life as part of their Capstone project, working in conjunction with a California-based company. Informatics students (pictured, from left) Mason Koh, Kai Andreic, Asad Jaffery, Joshua Williams and Vaibava Venka

Informatics team helps music streamer earn money for artists

Thursday, May 22, 2025

For a music creator, getting paid by listeners around the world should be as simple as a fan clicking “subscribe.” But for many artists in less developed countries, existing streaming platforms make that difficult or out of reach.An Informatics Capstone team, in partnership with their sponsor Joko, is working to change that. Joko is a reimagined streaming platform focused on increasing earnings for recording artists. Its payment-subscription model is designed to enable direct monetization for artists — a vision that Team DashJoin is helping bring to life.For their Capstone project,

MLIS team preserves a piece of radio history

Friday, May 16, 2025

From 1973 to 2011, the Evergreen Radio Reading Service served blind and print-disabled listeners across the state of Washington. Now, with its recordings stored in a fragile audio archive and at risk of permanent loss, a team of MLIS students has taken on the challenge of preserving its legacy.The Evergreen Radio Reading Service (ERRS) operated out of the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL). For 24 hours a day, ERRS read newspapers, stories, grocery ads and many other resources to the blind and print-disabled community. Since the program ended, its content has been stored in

iSchool’s Hiniker honored for societal impact at SIGCHI conference

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Human-computer interaction (HCI) researcher and iSchool Ph.D chair Alexis Hiniker has been honored with the prestigious Societal Impact Award at this year’s ACM SIGCHI conference.The Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI) gathered this year in Yokohama, Japan from May 25 to May 28, 2025. The largest group of professionals in the world of HCI, the conference is a moment to celebrate the work of technology designed to transform lives.Four other UW faculty members were celebrated for their contributions in research at

Public servant, startup founder honored with iSchool alumni awards

Friday, May 9, 2025

The 2025 Information School Alumni Impact Award recipients represent two different eras, but they share a common thread: working on the frontiers of the internet to make information accessible to more people.The iSchool Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes alumni who have made significant and exceptional contributions to the information field and their communities. This year’s honoree, Marcie Stone, earned her Master of Librarianship 1976 and spent her career in public service with the Army and the Department of Defense.“When I started out, I was hand stamping things in my little Army lib

Library Journal names iSchool professor, alum 'Movers and Shakers'

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Library Journal has recognized iSchool Assistant Professor Sandy Littletree and Master of Library and Information Science alum Nicola Andrews as 2025 Movers and Shakers in the “Change Agents” category. The annual list celebrates 50 individuals shaping the future of libraries and uplifting communities through transformative work. Littletree and Andrews were selected for their collaborative work “Information as a Relation: Defining Indigenous Information Literacy,” which explores Indigenous ways of knowing and challenges traditional frameworks in information science a