In the new book, Reference and Information Services, An Introduction (5th Edition), Professor Linda C. Smith (MS '72) and coeditor Melissa A. Wong (MS '94) have assembled chapters from experts in library and information science that focus on new ideas and methods for providing reference service; discuss the effective use of print, online, and fee-based sources; and explore the future of reference services in light of today's fast-changing technology.

The iSchool is pleased to announce the appointment of Martin Wolske as interim director of the Center for Digital Inclusion (CDI). Wolske assumes the position following the departure of Jon Gant, founding director, who recently accepted the deanship of the School of Library and Information Sciences at North Carolina Central University in Durham.

The iSchool is pleased to announce that Matthew Turk has joined the faculty, effective September 9. Assistant Professor Turk holds a joint appointment with the Department of Astronomy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. His work focuses on how individuals interact with data, and how that data is processed and understood. 

Fifteen iSchool instructors were named in the University's List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent for Spring 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.

Reproducibility is a hot topic in the scientific community and is considered by many researchers to be an important challenge. But the term reproducibility holds different meanings for different researchers, causing confusion and a lack of shared understanding. Associate Professor Victoria Stodden, whose research focuses on enabling reproducibility in the computational sciences, spoke to Nature about this issue.

Associate Professor Carol Tilley is the co-author of a chapter in The Routledge Companion to Comics, a newly published book edited by Frank Bramlett, Roy T. Cook, and Aaron Meskin. In the chapter, "Teaching and Learning with Comics," Tilley and Robert G. Weiner, a humanities librarian at Texas Tech University, examine how comics have been used as an instructional tool.

Associate Professor Bonnie Mak and doctoral student Beth Strickland will travel to Barcelona, Spain, at the end of the month to speak at the joint conference of the Society for Social Studies of Science and the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (4S/EASST). The event, “Science and Technology by Other Means,” will be held at the Barcelona Internacional Convention Centre on August 31 - September 3.

Associate Professor Bonnie Mak has been appointed to the Advisory Committee of the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH), which promotes interdisciplinary study in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Her two-year term began on August 15.

Assistant Professor Emily Knox has been invited to participate in a Nation of Makers meeting at the White House on August 24 as a representative of Makerspace Urbana. The meeting brings together individuals who run, support, and/or are involved with makerspaces around the country.

Makerspaces offer community members the space, tools, and technology to turn their ideas into reality.

Associate Professor Victoria Stodden has been invited to serve on the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Coordinating Committee. The twenty-member committee, representing a diverse group of stakeholders across disciplines, encourages adoption and implementation of TOP Guidelines through education, communication, and outreach.