2 MLIS students awarded ALA Spectrum Scholarships

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

University of Washington Master of Library and Information Science students Holly Samayoa and Sherry Vazhayil are among those awarded 2026-27 ALA Spectrum Scholarships, announced recently by the American Library Association.​Samayoa and Vazhayil spoke about what drew them to library and information science and what they hope to do with their degrees.​Samayoa said she became interested in library and information science 10 years ago, long before she knew there was a term for her main interest: Information Behavior, which she didn't learn about until her second quarter at the UW Informa

Curiosity, frustration and antipathy: How kids play with AI toys

Friday, September 4, 2026

Claims of “smart” toys go back decades. See Chatty Cathy and Furby. But generative artificial intelligence is increasing the capabilities of interactive toys. The company Curio, for instance, markets itself as a “magical workshop where toys come to life.” Its plush toys like Gabbo or one modeled on the Italian brainrot character Ballerina Cappuccina have onboard AI models that let them talk to kids, remember their conversations and personalize responses. But we know little about how such toys affect kids and even how kids play with them. Last summer, University of Washington resea

In New Zealand, students gain perspective on librarianship

Friday, September 4, 2026

Many Information School and University of Washington students have the opportunity to study away from campus for several weeks at a time. This past winter, students had a special chance to study in New Zealand for an entire academic quarter. For 10 weeks, Professor Michelle H. Martin and Ph.D. candidate Mandi Harris led a group of 19 students (ages 19-76) across the islands known as Aotearoa to the Māori, the people Indigenous to the area. Beginning in Wellington on the North Island, the group learned about one another’s academic and personal interests, bonding over hikes, shared

Alum leads Microsoft's efforts to 'get it right' on AI safety

Thursday, September 3, 2026

As AI models continue to grow more capable, some are beginning to behave unpredictably outside their testing environments. It is a pattern that raises concerns among those responsible for overseeing the rapid pace of AI development.Microsoft is at the forefront of that safety effort and UW Information School graduate Steph Ballard, as director of responsible AI practice at the company, is one of the major players helping to build baseline security requirements for the teams building AI. For Ballard, Ph.D. ’23, MLIS ’17, “responsible AI” means putting trustworthy artifici

New professor seeks to make AI safer for youth

Monday, August 31, 2026

The world of artificial intelligence is growing and evolving every day. AI is so new, and so complex, that it’s hard even for experts to understand the benefits and risks it poses. Yaman Yu, who recently joined the Information School as a tenure-track assistant professor, wants to broaden people’s understanding of AI and how at-risk users, in particular youth, could be protected and empowered in their interactions with it. Yu comes to the University of Washington from the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she earned her Ph.D. Her

AI nearly erases female animal characters in kids' stories

Thursday, August 20, 2026

Last year, Melanie Walsh, a University of Washington assistant professor in the Information School, wrote an article examining how 300 popular children’s books gendered their animal characters. Of the 13 most common animals, most were male — unless they happened to be cats, ducks or birds, which trended slightly more female. But a frog, a wolf? Over a 90% shot it was a “he.” Walsh and journalists from The Pudding also had 1,300 participants complete stories about various talking animals — for example: “And then the bear said, ‘I must go to the river.’ Upon arriving…” I

GovScape lets you easily search millions of government documents

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

At the end of every presidential term, the End of Term Web Archive preserves that administration’s web presence as a vast trove of documents and webpages. The archive began in 2008, with George W. Bush’s second term, and runs up to 2024, collecting images, text, graphs, redacted pages and other media. So while it contains important public information, finding that information in the glut can prove difficult.A University of Washington-led research team created GovScape, an efficient search system for PDFs from the End of Term Web Archive. Users can look up exact keywords, like “FAFSA,”

Information School welcomes new faculty cohort

Monday, July 13, 2026

The University of Washington Information School is honored to welcome four faculty members who are joining or taking on new roles in the school. These scholars will inform undergraduate and graduate education in the Informatics, Library and Information Science, Information Management, Museology and Doctoral programs.The incoming faculty cohort brings expertise and research interests including artificial intelligence, leadership, cataloging, human-computer interaction, knowledge organization and ethics.“The Information School is committed to solving the world’s biggest information challenge

Informatics team delivers video search app for Microsoft

Thursday, July 9, 2026

If you were a travel vlogger who had just gotten back from, say, a trip to Seattle to watch the U.S. men's World Cup soccer team trounce Australia, and you wanted to create a video about the experience, what would your first step be?A new tool called Obby, created by a team of five Informatics students for their Capstone project, enables videomakers to use natural language to search for the specific clips they want to feature. For example, a user could search for “U.S. scores goal” and find that clip amidst all of the footage they had uploaded to Obby, saving valuable time.Rising seniors C

Beach volleyball player digs for her MSIM

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Katarina Pantovic spent her undergrad years playing indoor volleyball in California and British Columbia, then switched sports in 2024 because she wanted to feel the sand under her feet.“In indoor volleyball, there are six players on the court, but in beach volleyball, there are only two, and you kind of have to do everything yourself,” she said. “I really fell in love with the challenge.”Pantovic, who is working on her Master of Science in Information Management, enjoyed the strategic side of beach volleyball. “The more I played, the more I realized that I loved the freedom that cam

'Dynamic combination': Course bridges data science, librarianship

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Information School Assistant Professor Melanie Walsh describes the bridge between librarianship and information science as a “dynamic combination.” Through the Master of Library and Information Science course LIS 572: Introduction to Data Science, Walsh is able to lead her students across this bridge. Walsh (pictured at top) earned her Ph.D. in English Literature at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. During her Ph.D. program she learned to code, which inspired an interest in the intersection of humanities and data science. Before Walsh arrived at the Information Sc

Professor's new book weighs costs, benefits of AI

Monday, June 15, 2026

Information School Professor Chirag Shah recently published “Agent Nation,” a book concerning how autonomous AI is affecting society — and what we, as individuals, can do about it. As artificial intelligence has been integrated into commercial practices, Shah has noticed that people tend to rush into building, buying and utilizing autonomous AI without considering potential long-term effects. Sacrifices may be made by utilizing artificial intelligence for short-term gain.“Agent Nation” provides a humanistic perspective on these effects. As they delegate tasks to artificial

Conrrado Saldivar, MLIS '21, named among 'Movers and Shakers'

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Information School guest faculty member Conrrado Saldivar, MLIS ’21, is passionate about information access. For years, he has pushed back against censorship and adverse legislation targeting library collections. That work has gotten him noticed and now named among Library Journal’s 2026 Movers and Shakers in the “Innovators” category. Saldivar teaches LIS 522: Collection Development, preparing his students to effectively manage censorship in libraries. The course explores intellectual freedom and censorship, educating students about literary restrictions happening

25th Convocation is Information School's biggest yet

Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Nearly 700 graduates were recognized at the University of Washington Information School’s 2026 Convocation ceremony as they crossed the stage in Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Saturday, June 6. Marking the largest graduating class yet and the 25th anniversary of the iSchool, the ceremony honored graduates of the Ph.D., Master of Library and Information Science, Master of Science in Information Management, Master of Arts in Museology and Bachelor of Science in Informatics programs.Dean Anind K. Dey began with his remarks about seasons of

Alumni are the heartbeat of our growing community

Monday, June 8, 2026

In 25 years, the Information School has grown from 150 students in one librarianship program to more than 2,000 students across five academic programs. Our research and teaching extends to topics we wouldn’t have dreamed of in 2001, including data sovereignty, digital youth, and ethical applications of artificial intelligence. Our size and scope are a lot bigger now, but this is still the same tight-knit Information School community I found when I arrived in 2018. And it still depends on you.At the Information School, we are the ones who take on the hard questions that new technologies raise