PhD student Jamillah R. Gabriel will give the opening keynote address at the Critical Pedagogy Symposium, which will be held virtually on May 17-19. The symposium is a collaborative project of the Association of College and Research Libraries/Greater New York Metropolitan Area Chapter, Library Information Literacy Advisory Committee (LILAC) of The City University of New York, and METRO.

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 Marisol Bribiescas holds a BA in psychology and a minor in art from Northern Illinois University.

iSchool faculty and students will present their research at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021), which will be held virtually from May 8-13. The conference, considered the most prestigious in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, attracts researchers and practitioners from around the globe. The theme for CHI 2021 is "Making Waves, Combining Strengths."

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 Ruby Martinez holds a BA in psychology and criminal justice from Texas A&M International University (TAMIU).

MS/LIS students Kadet Alaks and Katherine Howell have been named recipients of the University Library's 2020-2021 Outstanding Graduate Student Awards. The award, worth $500, recognizes students' exceptional accomplishments and service to the Library.

The iSchool's Library Resources for Spanish Speakers (IS 563) course was featured in a session at Seguimos Creando Enlaces (Creating Connections), a virtual conference held on March 25. Adjunct Lecturers Pamela Espinosa de los Monteros and Anne Barnhart teach the course, in which students explore differences in U.S. Spanish-speaking populations and examine information resources for meeting their needs. At the session, moderated by Barnhart and Espinosa de los Monteros, MS students Kristin Greer Love, Lea Weatherall, and Sylvia Figueroa-Ortiz as well as recent graduates Eddie Kristan (MS '20) and Aldo Vasquez (MS '18) shared their experiences taking the course.

With the pandemic limiting in-person events, the iSchool Student Showcase moved to a virtual format. Instead of poster presentations and lightning talks, students prerecorded three-minute research talks, which were presented at the showcase on April 2 and 7. Students participated in a live Q&A with the audience after their videos were shown. Twenty-four MS students presented their work on a broad range of topics relating to information sciences, and the showcase also featured its first presentation from a student in the new BS program.

The California Library Association (CLA) has named MS/LIS online (Leep) student Luisa Leija the 2021 recipient of the Begun Scholarship. The scholarship recognizes a graduate student who shows a strong commitment to youth services librarianship in California public libraries. Leija will receive $3,000 and a one-year student membership to CLA.

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.