One of the iSchool's student organizations is celebrating a special anniversary this year—the Special Libraries Association chapter at the University of Illinois (SLA@UIUC) is turning fifty. The chapter's mission is to support and empower iSchool graduate students with specialized interests in librarianship. The organization provides a community and resources that promote learning and professional development and offers students a chance to connect with peers and working professionals who share their specific interests.

A project to examine the circulation of newspaper reports about anti-Black violence in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century U.S. newspapers could provide context to the spread of white supremacist ideologies in social media today. 

A paper coauthored by PhD student Zhixuan (Kyrie) Zhou and Mengyi Wei, a PhD student at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, received the Best Paper Award at the 56th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-56). The conference, which was held in Maui on January 3-6, is one of the longest-standing working scientific conferences in information technology management.

Lauryn Lehman joined the iSchool as academic advisor and coordinator of undergraduate affairs on January 9. In this position, she will provide academic advising and support to students in the BS in information sciences (BSIS) and BSIS + Data Science (BSIS+DS) programs.

Jill Misawa Axelson, a student in the MSLIS online (Leep) program, has been awarded a grant from the Caxton Club, a not-for-profit organization devoted to the study and promotion of the book arts. The grant will support her project, "Bookmaking as bibliographic study: an inquiry into the first printing of the Hawaiian Alphabet," which was a part of her final assignment from Associate Professor Bonnie Mak's History of the Book (IS 583) course she took last fall.

Sahit Potnuru discusses his practicum experience at Brunswick Corporation. He earned his MSIM in December 2022 and accepted a job with American Express.

With their nearly completed "Whole Tale" project, Bertram Ludäscher, professor and director of the Center for Informatics Research in Science and Scholarship (CIRSS), and his team have created methods and tools for scientists to link executable computer code, data, and other information to online scholarly publications, which helps ensure reproducibility and paves the way for new discoveries.

iSchool researchers presented their work in game studies and design at the Playful by Design Conference, which was held on January 10 in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal. The conference included presentations on topics such as the gaming industry in Portugal and the U.S., games for learning, serious games, and emerging technologies.

Kiona Kittl joined the iSchool as academic advisor and coordinator of undergraduate programs on December 19. In this position, she will provide academic advising and support to students in the BS in information sciences (BSIS) and BSIS + Data Science (BSIS+DS) programs.

The University of Illinois is part of a nine-university consortium led by the University of Buffalo that has been awarded a $20 million grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a national institute that develops artificial intelligence systems that identify and assist young children with speech and/or language processing challenges.