The School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign seeks nominations for the 2021 Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award. The deadline for nominations is March 15, 2022. The award is cosponsored by SAGE Publishing.

Beth Lewis joined the iSchool on January 5 as an office administrator. In her new role, she will provide administrative support for research services, student affairs, and enrollment management.

The HathiTrust Research Center (HTRC), cohosted by the iSchool at Illinois and the Luddy School of Informatics at Indiana University, has received a $325,000 Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. One of 15 awarded nationwide, this grant will support the development of a new set of visualizations, analytical tools, and infrastructure to enable users to interact more directly with the rich data extracted from the HathiTrust Digital Library’s collection of more than 17.5 million digitized volumes.

Mary Schiavone joined the iSchool on November 29 as an office support specialist. She serves as the primary receptionist on the fourth floor at 614 E. Daniel Street and provides administrative support to the Undergraduate Affairs Office.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Information Sciences, iSchool at Illinois, is pleased to announce that Sage will serve as cosponsor of the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award.

The iSchool has introduced a new course for undergraduate students who are interested in gaming. Social History of Games & Gaming (IS 199 SHG) is a survey of the history of gaming from the ancient world through the twentieth century and its impact on science, society, and culture. Taught by Teaching Associate Professor David Dubin, the course fulfills a general education requirement for students majoring in information sciences. It is taught in a lecture and discussion format, engaging students with the material and promoting participation.

Eileen Prillaman joined the iSchool on October 18 as assistant dean for advancement. In her new role, she will lead and manage a comprehensive advancement strategy for the iSchool that includes alumni, friends, corporations, and foundations which is aligned with the School's vision, mission, and goals. She comes to the School from the College of Fine and Applied Arts (FAA) at the University of Illinois, where she served as director of stewardship and donor relations.

The Newbery Medal – the oldest and most prestigious children's literature award – is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

iSchool students learned more about campus and each other at the second annual iSchool Scavenger Hunt. The event, which was held September 3-10, was open to on-campus students in all programs. Students who opted to participate were placed in small groups of peers in the same degree program. Students were given a list of ten campus locations to find, such as the Alma Mater, Morrow Plots, and Main Library. In addition to checking a point of interest off their lists, the students would take a group selfie at the spot.

Nine iSchool instructors were named in the University's List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent for Summer 2021. The rankings are released every semester, and results are based on the Instructor and Course Evaluation System (ICES) questionnaire forms maintained by Measurement and Evaluation in the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. Only those instructors who gave out ICES forms during the semester and who released their data for publication are included in the list.