School of Information Sciences

iSchool at ALISE and ALA Midwinter

Connect with iSchool faculty and staff next month at the 2018 ALISE Annual Conference and the ALA 2018 Midwinter Meeting in Denver. ALISE 2018 will be held February 6-9, and ALA Midwinter will be held February 9-13. A reception to honor the Kansas City Public Library, recipient of the 2017 Downs Intellectual Freedom Award, will take place on Saturday, February 10, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. in Ellingwood Rooms A and B at the Crowne Plaza Downtown Denver. The award is sponsored by the iSchool and Libraries Unlimited.

ALISE 2018

Tuesday, February 6

Professor and Executive Associate Dean Linda C. Smith, will co-facilitate a preconference workshop at 9:00 a.m. titled, "A Future by Design: What Do We Teach?"

Senior Lecturer Maria Bonn will present her poster, "Expanding Scholarly Communication Instruction for the Next Generation of LIS Leaders," at 6:30 p.m. at the Works in Progress Poster Showcase and Reception. She also plans to recruit focus group participants who teach or want to teach about librarianship and scholarly communication in order to better understand the needs of LIS educators.

Wednesday, February 7

Assistant Professor and MS/LIS Program Director Nicole A. Cooke and Miriam E. Sweeney (PhD '13), assistant professor at the University of Alabama, will present their paper, "You’re So Sensitive! How LIS Professionals Define and Discuss Microaggressions Online," at 8:30 a.m.

Assistant Professor and MS/LIS Program Director Nicole A. Cooke will serve on the panel, "'F*** That': Why Fake News and the Weaponization of Information are Good for LIS," at 2:00 p.m.

Affiliated faculty member Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe (MS '94), professor/coordinator for information literacy services and instruction at the University of Illinois Library, will serve on the panel, "Core & More: Examining Foundational and Specialized Content in LIS Programs," at 2:00 p.m.

Affiliated faculty member Clara Chu, director of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs at Illinois, will be a moderator for "ALISE Community Conn@CT Grant: Addressing LIS Needs of Social Justice Organizations," at 4:00 p.m. 

Thursday, February 8

Assistant Professor and MS/LIS Program Director Nicole A. Cooke will serve on the panel, "Teaching for Justice," at 10:30 a.m.

Assistant Professor Rachel M. Magee will participate virtually on the panel, "Expanding LIS Youth Services Curriculum to Embed Computational Thinking," at 10:30 a.m.

Affiliated faculty member Clara Chu, director of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, will serve on the panel, "LIS Qualifications, Certification, and the Meaning of ‘Professional’ around the World," at 2:30 p.m.

Assistant Professor and MS/LIS Program Director Nicole A. Cooke will serve on the panel sponsored by the Multicultural, Ethnic, and Humanistic Concerns SIG: "A Critical Dialogue: Faculty of Color in Library and Information Science," at 2:30 p.m. In addition, she will join the ALISE Board of Directors as the incoming director for Special Interest Groups (SIGs).

Doctoral candidate Kirstin Phelps will present her paper, "Collective Leadership Roles for Supporting Community Digital Literacy Initiatives," at 2:30 p.m.

Friday, February 9

Affiliated faculty member Clara Chu, director of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, will serve on the panel sponsored by the International Library Education SIG: "Within and Without: International Aspects of LIS Education," at 8:30 a.m.

ALA Midwinter Meeting

Saturday, February 10

Affiliated faculty member Clara Chu, director of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, will moderate "Project Welcome: Refugee Resettlement Agencies & Libraries (Symposium on the Future of Libraries)," at 10:30 a.m.

Sunday, February 11

Assistant Professor Emily Knox will serve as a panelist on the ALA President's Program at 3:30 p.m.

Associate Professor Terry L. Weech, chair of the ALA Committee on Accreditation, will preside at meetings of the Committee on February 10 and 11.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Gregory B. Newby passes away

Gregory B. Newby passed away October 21, 2025. Newby was an assistant professor at the iSchool at Illinois from 1991 to 1997 and taught graduate-level courses in information technology; networking tools and use; information organization and system design; and user-based design and analysis. He was the founder of Prairienet and instrumental in the design of the iSchool's Leep program in 1996.

Gregory B. Newby

Hooper joins admissions and records team

Kim Hooper has joined the iSchool as an office support specialist. In her position, she will provide administrative support to the admissions and records team. 

Kim Hooper

Haider joins academic affairs

Iftikhar Haider has joined the academic affairs team as assistant director for experiential learning. In his position, he will collaborate directly with faculty, staff, students, and external partners to facilitate successful experiential learning in undergraduate, graduate, and online programs of the iSchool. 

Iftikhar Haider

Raji selected for IAPP Westin Scholar Award

PhD student Mubarak Raji has been selected as an IAPP Westin Scholar Award honoree for the 2025-2026 academic year. The annual awards were created by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) to support students who are identified as future leaders in the field of privacy and data protection. Honorees receive a $1,000 cash award; two years of membership with the IAPP; three complimentary exams for IAPP certifications (CIPP, CIPM, CIPT); and unlimited access to online training for the recipient's selected IAPP certification exams.

Mubarak Raji headshot

Get to know Sneha Vyas, MSIM student

Prior to entering the MSIM program last fall, Sneha Vyas worked as a project management associate with Siemens in India. She enjoys using the skills she is learning in her classes on personal projects and looks forward to future opportunities where she can "turn information into smart decisions and see the impact of those decisions in action."

Sneha Vyas

School of Information Sciences

501 E. Daniel St.

MC-493

Champaign, IL

61820-6211

Voice: (217) 333-3280

Fax: (217) 244-3302

Email: ischool@illinois.edu

Back to top