PhD student Jamillah R. Gabriel will present her research at the Association of College & Research Libraries Conference (ACRL 2021), which will be held virtually from April 13-16. The theme of this year's conference is "Ascending into an Open Future."

Associate Professor Jana Diesner and her students have organized two tutorials for The Web Conference 2021. The conference, which will be held virtually from April 12-23, will address the evolution and current state of the Web through the lens of computer science, computational social science, economics, public policy, and Web-based applications.

iSchool researchers will present their work at The Web Conference 2021. The conference, which will be held virtually from April 12-23, will address the evolution and current state of the Web through the lens of computer science, computational social science, economics, public policy, and Web-based applications.

Doctoral candidate Yun Hao successfully defended her dissertation, "Towards a Better Understanding of Music Playlist Titles and Descriptions," on April 6. Her committee included Professor J. Stephen Downie (chair); Associate Professor Vetle Torvik; Assistant Professor Nigel Bosch; Xiao Hu, associate professor at The University of Hong Kong; and Andreas Ehmann, manager of research/data science at Pandora Inc.

Ever since she was a little girl, Hanna Dahlstrom has loved to play video games. Now she is learning how to preserve video games as a student in the MS in library and information sciences program.

MS student Jeremy Kearse is a future educator and data manager. His career goals are to work both in the corporate world, "helping a business make smarter and more efficient decisions," and as an adjunct professor in an MSI (minority serving institution), working with students in STEM and LIS. Kearse, who earned his BS in computer science from Morehouse College, became interested in the field of LIS after serving as a paraprofessional for a fourth-grade class through the UPS Community Scholars Program.

A record seventeen iSchool master's students were named 2020-2021 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. This "Spectrum Scholar Spotlight" series highlights the School's scholars. MS/LIS student Mimosa Shah holds a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an MA in Humanities from the University of Chicago.

Doctoral candidate Noah Samuel successfully defended his dissertation, "Socio-Physical Characteristics Influencing Collaboration Among Startup Firms in Four Business Incubators," on March 16. His committee included Associate Professor Kate Williams (chair); Professor Michael Twidale; Sonali Shah, associate professor of business administration in the Gies College of Business; and Clara Chu, director of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs and Mortenson Distinguished Professor.

The following iSchool faculty, staff, and students will participate in iConference 2021, which will be held virtually on March 17-31. The annual event brings together scholars, researchers, and information professionals to share insights on critical information issues. The theme of this year's conference is "Diversity, Divergence, Dialogue."

Thanks to a new scholarship at the iSchool, David Alegre has been relieved of some of the stress in financing his education. Alegre, a junior from Chicago, is the inaugural recipient of the CNH Industrial Information Sciences Scholarship, which supports continuing BS in information sciences (BS/IS) students who have financial need. He chose the iSchool for his undergraduate study because of his interest in becoming a data analyst.