The iSchool and University Library are partners on a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The grant supports work to hold a national forum and develop a white paper aimed at simplifying scholars' access to in-copyright and access-restricted texts for computational analysis and data mining research.

This weekend, the iSchool will host Information Ethics Roundtable 2017, an annual conference that brings together researchers from across disciplines to discuss ethical issues such as information privacy, intellectual property, intellectual freedom, and censorship. The event, held on April 21-22 at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and the iSchool, will focus on all aspects of data and ethics.

Kafi D. Kumasi will deliver the 2017 Gryphon Lecture on Friday, April 28, at the iSchool. Sponsored annually by The Center for Children's Books (CCB), the lecture features a leading scholar in the field of youth and literature, media, and culture. It is free and open to the campus and public.

Matthew Battles will deliver the 2017 Otlet Lecture on Tuesday, April 25, at the iSchool. The lecture will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Room 126 and will be streamed online and recorded. A reception will follow in the East Foyer.

The Center for Children's Books (CCB) will host the 2017 Storytelling Festival on Saturday, April 15, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the iSchool, Room 126.

Twenty-one iSchool instructors were named in the University's List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent for Fall 2016. 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.

U.S. News & World Report has once again named the iSchool at Illinois the top graduate school for library and information studies, based on national rankings of accredited master’s degree programs. The iSchool has held the top spot since 1996.

iSchool staff and students will participate in the 12th International Digital Curation Conference (IDCC), which will be held on February 20-23 in Edinburgh, Scotland

The iSchool is pleased to announce the appointment of program directors for its master’s and doctoral degree programs. Assistant Professor Nicole A. Cooke is program director for the MS in library and information science (MS/LIS), and Assistant Professor Jana Diesner is program director for the PhD in library and information science. Cooke and Diesner join Professor Michael Twidale, program director for the MS degree in information management (MS/IM), in providing leadership for the iSchool’s highly regarded degree programs.

The iSchool will be well represented at the annual conference for the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE), which will take place from January 17-20 in Atlanta. ALISE '17 will explore how LIS educators and researchers can develop curricula, programs, and research activities that support partnerships with communities to manage and create change.