News Feed

ISAA seeks nominations for annual awards

The iSchool Alumni Association (ISAA) is seeking nominations for three distinguished awards. The awards are given annually at the iSchool alumni reception held at the American Library Association conference. The deadline for nomination is April 1, 2025.

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Get to know Cadence Cordell, MSLIS student

Cadence Cordell was inspired by her undergraduate work experience to pursue a degree in library and information science. She followed in her mother’s footsteps by selecting the iSchool for her MSLIS. After completing a recent research poster presentation, she combined her scholarly pursuit with her hobby by sewing her fabric poster into a squirrel plushie.

Cadence Cordell

BIG delves deeper into digital transformation via experiential learning

Last semester, students in the Business Intelligence Group (BIG), the student consultancy group affiliated with Associate Professor Yoo-Seong Song's Applied Business Research class (IS 514), worked with Wismettac, a Japanese food distribution company. As a large global company with 47 offices in North America, Wismettac sought to study how data science and AI-based technologies could help the company's operations. 

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Recent graduate committed to making libraries accessible and inclusive

Joshua Short knows firsthand the barriers to public library access that patrons living on modest wages experience. Having grown up in a self-professed "low-income environment," Short has made it his mission to reduce these barriers, such as library fines, inadequate transportation, and limited computer literacy.

Joshua Short

Tibebu joins the School

The iSchool is pleased to announce that Haileleol Tibebu joined the faculty as a teaching assistant professor on January 1, 2025. His research and teaching interests include responsible AI, AI policy and governance, algorithmic fairness, and the intersection of technology and society.

Haileleol Tibebu

Spectrum Scholar Spotlight: Leslie Lopez

Twelve iSchool master's students were named 2024–2025 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. This “Spectrum Scholar Spotlight” series highlights the School’s scholars. MSLIS student Leslie Lopez graduated from the University of North Texas with a BA in psychology.

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Nominations invited for 2024 Downs Intellectual Freedom Award

The School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign seeks nominations for the 2024 Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award. The deadline for nominations is March 15, 2025. The award is cosponsored by Sage Publishing.

Rhinesmith joins the faculty

The iSchool is pleased to announce that Colin Rhinesmith joined the faculty as a visiting associate professor on January 1, 2025. His position will become permanent following approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. He previously served as founder and director of the Digital Equity Research Center at the Metropolitan New York Library Council.

Colin Rhinesmith

SafeRBot to assist community, police in crime reporting

Across the nation, 911 dispatch centers are facing a worker shortage. Unfortunately, this understaffing, plus the nature of the job itself, leads to dispatchers who are often overworked and stressed. Meanwhile, when community members need to report a crime, their options are to contact 911 for an emergency or, in a non-emergency situation, call a non-emergency number or fill out an online form. A new chatbot, SafeRBot, designed and developed by Associate Professor Yun Huang, Informatics PhD student Yiren Liu, and BSIS student Tony An seeks to improve the reporting process for non-emergency situations for both community members and dispatch centers.

Yun Huang

New digital collection sheds light on queer nightlife in Champaign County

Adam Beaty decided to pursue an MSLIS degree to combine his love of history, the arts, and community-centered spaces. This combination of interests culminated in a 244-item digital collection that showcases digitized materials depicting nearly thirty years of queer nightlife in Champaign County. 

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