Several iSchool researchers will be playing an active role in projects that recently received funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
MSLIS student Andrea Serna has been selected to participate in the 2023-2025 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Kaleidoscope Diversity Scholars Program. The Kaleidoscope Program offers financial support to scholars as well as leadership development through the ARL Annual Leadership Symposium, a formal mentoring program, career placement assistance, and a site visit to an ARL member library.
Chetna Beri (MSIM '23) is a software engineer at W. W. Grainger, a leading distributor of industrial and safety supplies. Grainger was one of several companies that contacted Beri after she attended the iSchool's career fair last fall. Her advice to students is to network, get involved, ask questions, and attend the iSchool Networking and Career Fair on September 8.
Assistant Professor JooYoung Seo has been awarded a $649,921 Early Career Development grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, which supports "developing a diverse workforce of librarians to better meet the changing learning and information needs of the American public by enhancing the training and professional development of librarians, developing faculty and library leaders, and recruiting and educating the next generation of librarians."
Assistant Professor Elizabeth Hoiem, Assistant Professor Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo, and Associate Professor Jodi Schneider are among the twenty faculty from the University of Illinois System who were selected for the 2023-2024 cohort of the Public Voices Fellowship.
Associate Professors Yang Wang and Yun Huang are spearheading a project in collaboration with experts from the University of California-Berkeley and Stanford University to help ensure emerging artificial intelligence (AI) development proceeds in a democratic manner that is mindful of underserved groups. Informatics PhD student Tanusree Sharma is also leading this initiative as a critical component of her dissertation work.
When Kelly Schulz (MSLIS '18) visited the National Gallery of Art in the 5th grade, she immediately knew that she wanted to work there. "At that time, I had no idea what the job would be, but I just knew that I wanted to do it here," she recalled. As fate would have it, Schulz's dream came true, and she is now an archivist at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute (IHSI) at the University of Illinois has selected Associate Professors Halil Kilicoglu and Jodi Schneider for its new Emerging Research Leaders Academy. IHSI received over 50 nominations from department heads and directors associated with more than 35 units across campus. From those nominations, Kilicoglu and Schneider were among the fifteen participants chosen for the inaugural cohort.
