Karen Fisher’s longstanding iSchool-supported, UNHCR Jordan mission “Za’atari Camp Libraries” won the 2021 International Joy of Reading award ($10,000) from Systematic, announced at Next Library in Aarhus, Denmark. Over 40 libraries applied, marking the first time won by war refugees and from a library in the Arab world. Za’atari Camp Libraries is the world’s first refugee-run, camp-wide library system comprising 12 locations at 6 NGO locations with extensive community-based services. Their mission is “Iqra,” “read”— the first word of the Holy Quran. Self-taught, the Syrian librarians are also Za’atar’s only example of a refugee-run, camp-wide initiative. Read about these amazing librarians — how they heal war trauma and build futures — here.
Nic Weber and Joseph T. Tennis are representing the iSchool as a Partner in the next phase of the InterPARES Research Project, led by Luciana Duranti (an Affiliate Professor with the iSchool) and Muhammad Abdul-Mageed, with funding from a new 5-year SSHRC Partnership Grant: Archives 4.0: Artificial Intelligence for Trust in Records and Archives; CAD $2,489,577. Nic and Joe will be collaborating with scholars, practitioners, and policy makers from around the world. You can see the Co-Applicants and Collaborators here.
Amy J. Ko gave the keynote at the IEEE Annual Conference on Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT). Her talk was titled "Deconstructing CS Culture”, and it examined the hidden marginalization that led to the CS culture we have today, discussing CS history, Autism, immigration, queer refuges, segregation, desegregation, capitalism, and more. You can watch the recording here and view the slides here.
Wanda Pratt had three full papers accepted for publication at the AMIA Annual Symposium this fall:
- “Technology to Support Collaborative Dissemination of Research with Alaska Native Communities” by Lisa Dirks and Wanda Pratt.
- “Broken down by bias: Healthcare biases experienced by BIPOC and LGBTQ+ patients” by Reggie Casanova-Perez, Calvin Apodaca, Emily Bascom, Deepthi Mohanraj, Cezanne Lane, Drishti Vidyarthi, Erin Beneteau, Janice Sabin, Wanda Pratt, Nadir Weibel, and Andrea Hartzler.
- “Children's Designs for the Future of Telehealth” by Erin Beneteau, Ann Paradiso, and Wanda Pratt.
Chris Holstrom had the following paper accepted to the 2021 North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization (NASKO 2021): "The Sears List of Subject Headings: Social and Cultural Dimensions in Historical, Theoretical, and Design Contexts."
Michelle H. Martin and J. Elizabeth Mills presented a paper entitled "Cicadas, pebbles, & stillness in patterned gardens: Examining the child's gaze in nature" at the Children's Literature Association's Conference.