School of Information Sciences

Keefer and Wickett receive ASIS&T best short paper award

Karen Wickett
Karen Wickett, Associate Professor

A paper authored by Informatics PhD student Donald Keefer and Assistant Professor Karen Wickett, "Adapting Research Process Models for the Design of Knowledge Engineering Applications," has received the Best Short Paper Award at the 2020 Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) Annual Meeting.

Research Process Modeling (RPM) enables a research workflow to be systematically deconstructed and documented. For their study, Keefer and Wickett adapted RPM to support the information and document needs associated with the design of a knowledge system.

"Knowledge engineering refers to a set of methods that allow us to store knowledge, information, and data into a type of database called a knowledge base and then answer complex questions related to anything stored in the knowledge base. The applications resulting from knowledge engineering efforts are called knowledge systems," explained Keefer. "RPM is helpful here because it uses two types of diagrams and two types of inventory tables to provide novel insights on how processes and knowledge are used throughout the workflow. We made minor modifications to the diagrams and inventory tables and found these changes provided significant additional insight to our knowledge engineering design needs."

Keefer's dissertation research is developing a knowledge system for assisting in the interpretation of different types of geologic observations. He earned his master's degree in soils and bachelor's degree in geology from the University of Illinois.

Wickett's research areas include the conceptual and logical foundations of information organization systems and artifacts. She is most interested in the analysis of common concepts in information systems, such as documents, datasets, databases, digital objects, metadata records, and collections. She earned her PhD in library and information science from the University of Illinois.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

iSchool researchers to present at ASSETS 2025

iSchool faculty and students will present their research at the 27th International Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group (SIG) ACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2025), which will be held in Denver, Colorado, October 26–29, 2025. This conference allows researchers to present their scholarship on design, evaluation, use, and education related to computing for people with disabilities and older adults.

Chan to give an invited talk on "Predatory Data"

Professor Anita Say Chan will give an invited lecture at the American University of Beirut (AUB) on October 23. The talk, part of the "Confronted with America" series hosted by the Center for American Studies and Research, will be moderated by Jihad Touma, founding director of AUB's School of Computing and Data Sciences.

Anita Say Chan

Olalere receives HSLI Jira Scholarship

Precious Olalere, a doctoral student in information sciences, has been awarded the 2025 Helen Knoll Jira Scholarship from the Health Science Librarians of Illinois (HSLI). This award supports individuals pursuing education in library or information science in Illinois, especially those focusing on health science librarianship.

Precious Olalere

Student Spotlight: Daria Meshcheriakova

BSIS student Daria Meshcheriakova came to the iSchool with intention. Originally from Russia, where she lived for 17 years, Meshcheriakova moved to Chicago and attended Harold Washington Community College before transferring to the University of Illinois. Among potential universities, Illinois proved to be the best fit.

Daria Meshcheriakova

iSchool researchers present at ILA 2025

School faculty, staff, and students will present their research at the 2025 Illinois Library Association (ILA) Annual Conference, which will be held on October 14–16 in Rosemont. The theme of this year's conference is "You Belong Here."

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