Three GSLIS students have been selected as 2012 LAMP Scholars. LAMP (LIS Access Midwest Program) is a regional initiative that encourages students from historically and statistically underrepresented groups to pursue careers in library and information science. LAMP provides scholarships, mentoring, and opportunities for professional development to students and also hosts an annual summer…

First-year GSLIS students Karen Barton and Tracy Drake participated in this year’s Summer Pre-doctoral Institute (SPI) at the University of Illinois. SPI is a campus-wide orientation program that accepts incoming graduate students from U.S. populations that are underrepresented in campus graduate programs. During the eight-week program, students enroll in an independent study, participate in…

In “Critical Issues in Juvenile Detention Center Libraries,” a new paper posted at the Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults, GSLIS CAS student Jeanie Austin (MS '09) discusses the challenges that staff face in juvenile detention center libraries and argues for libraries to take a more active role in societal and political change. JRLYA is published on a continuous basis by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) at http://yalsa.ala.org/jrlya.

Washington, DC—The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Committee on Diversity and Leadership has selected 14 masters of library and information science (MLIS) students to participate in the 2012–2014 Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce (IRDW) as ARL Diversity Scholars. Among those named is GSLIS student Thomas Padilla.The ARL IRDW offers numerous financial benefits to program…

GSLIS doctoral student Sarah T. Roberts has spent the first few weeks of this record-breaking July heat organizing a campaign to help a small community library on the South Side of Chicago. The William Leonard Public Library in Robbins provides essential services to a financially disadvantaged community but has recently fallen on hard times due to a declining tax base in the community.…

Rebecca King, Spectrum Scholar and GSLIS master's student, sent us this dispatch from her trip to the 2012 ALA Conference in Anaheim, California. Outgoing ALA President Molly Raphael was more than happy to announce at Opening Session that the Spectrum Presidential Initiative successfully raised more than $1 million to further enhance the recruitment and training efforts of…

GSLIS PhD student Sarah T. Roberts has been honored with a 2012 Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship from Beta Phi Mu, the International Library and Information Studies Honor Society. Up to six recipients are selected each year for this prestigious award, a national competition among doctoral students who are working on their dissertations. The amount awarded for each…

Six GSLIS students have been named 2012 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA). Established in 1997, the Spectrum Scholarship Program was created to promote diversity among graduate-level library school students. Each scholar receives $5,000 from the ALA as well as over $1,500 toward professional development opportunities. In addition, GSLIS provides each scholar with a…

The New York Times has highlighted the research of Kalev Leetaru, GSLIS PhD student, exploring Wikipedia as a historical resource. The article, "How Big Data Sees Wikipedia," shares his methodology for studying connections between cities around the globe over time and describes the result as "an interesting historical atlas of the rise of globalization and warfare."According to the article:…

GSLIS PhD student Kalev Leetaru, whose data mining research has received national attention for its predictive value in social and political crises, recently presented three major invited talks as well as published his first book. At the Silicon Graphics (SGI) Annual Conference on April 17, Leetaru presented the keynote address on his Culturomics 2.0 doctoral work, which explores broad…