Ocepek edits new book on information behavior and home buying

Melissa Ocepek
Melissa Ocepek, Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor Melissa Ocepek and William Aspray, senior research fellow at the Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, have co-edited a new book, Deciding Where to Live: Information Studies on Where to Live in America, which was recently published by Rowman & Littlefield. Their book explores major themes related to where to live in America and shows how "changes in media and information technology are shaping both our housing choices and our understanding of the meaning of personal place."

"Dr. Aspray and I wanted to put together an edited volume to bring in many different and unique voices to help us think broadly about informational questions related to where to live," said Ocepek. "We wanted a business perspective, a surveillance and privacy perspective, a perspective on race, and a nontraditional perspective that considers a community instead of a resident. In addition to these goals, we wanted to find people who have explored this space or were interested in bringing their approaches to consider how someone decides where to live."

Teaching Assistant Professor David Hopping, Teaching Associate Professor and Acting BS/IS Program Director Judith Pintar, PhD student Jamillah R. Gabriel, and Ocepek contributed chapters to the book.

Ocepek's research and teaching interests include everyday information behavior, cultural theory, critical theory, food studies, and research methods. She is chair-elect of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) special interest group on information needs, seeking, & use (SIG-USE). Ocepek holds a BA in sociology and political science from Pepperdine University and a PhD in information science from the University of Texas at Austin.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

iSchool researchers work with diverse groups to improve user experience

iSchool faculty are studying ways to improve user experience, with a common goal of improving technology and applications for the needs of individual users. These researchers are working with diverse groups to gain feedback, and several current projects are focused on experiences for users with disabilities.

Kim defends dissertation

Doctoral candidate Jenna Kim successfully defended her dissertation, "Evaluating Pre-Trained Language Modeling Approaches for Author Name Disambiguation," on June 11, 2024.

Jenna Kim headshot

Desai defends dissertation

Doctoral candidate Smit Desai successfully defended his dissertation, "Designing Metaphor-fluid Voice User Interfaces," on June 10.

Smit Desai

Student says ‘thank you’ with a helicopter ride

Last month, Michael Ferrer showed appreciation for one of his MSIM instructors in a unique way—by inviting him for an insider’s look at his work as a reservist in the Illinois Army National Guard. For the ILARNG BOSS Lift, which took place on June 18 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, Ferrer selected Michael Wonderlich, iSchool adjunct lecturer and senior associate director of business intelligence and enterprise architecture for Administrative Information Technology Services (AITS) at the University of Illinois.

Michael Wonderlich and Michael Ferrer hold a U of I flag in front of a military helicopter

Project helps librarians use data storytelling to advocate for public libraries

A toolkit for public librarians can help them use data to communicate the value of their services and justify their funding needs. The Data Storytelling for Librarians Toolkit helps librarians present data in story form using narrative strategies. It was developed by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign information sciences professors.

Kate McDowell