The Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) is delighted to announce that Kate McDowell will receive the 2026 ASIS&T Research Impact Award sponsored by Rutgers University. The award makes more visible the dimensions of the societal contribution of information science and provides role models and examples for new scholars wishing to translate research into practical benefits for others. It also encourages future research that has important impact.
McDowell is a professor at the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and received the ASIS&T Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award in 2022. She holds a PhD in library and information science from Illinois and is a leading scholar in information science whose work pioneers the use of storytelling as a core form of information, especially in helping libraries communicate their value.
She developed the widely adopted Data Storytelling Toolkit for Libraries (DSTL), which has reached thousands of users across more than 50 countries and transformed how library professionals use data for advocacy and impact. The Data Storytelling Toolkit for Libraries distills the hard-won wisdom embedded in decades of library justification stories into a free, openly accessible online resource that any library worker can use with their own data. It is organized around three modules—audience, narrative, and motivations/goals—built from qualitative analysis of over 100 interviews conducted since 2015. The toolkit is a structured invitation for library workers to find their own stories, rooted in their own communities, and tell them with both accuracy and meaning. Overall, McDowell's research bridges theory and practice through influential publications, including her work for the Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology on storytelling and her book, Critical Data Storytelling for Libraries: Crafting Ethical Narratives for Advocacy and Impact. In addition to her research impact, she is an award-winning educator and a sought-after keynote speaker, shaping both professional practice and the next generation of information professionals.
Upon learning of her selection as winner of the 2026 Research Impact Award, McDowell responded, "Library funding is under political threat in ways that are both long-standing and newly acute. The ability to communicate the value of libraries in data-backed, emotionally resonant ways is a vital tactic for these institutions' survival. In 2016, I saw that misinformation was on a path to threaten open public information institutions, and the initial conception of the DSTL was in direct response to that context. Most importantly, this work is regularly shared through channels that are free, open, and responsive to library challenges, making the research a contribution to library resilience."
McDowell will receive the award during the 2026 meeting of ASIS&T, which will be held November 6–10, 2026, in Bangkok.