Effective August 16, administration of the Illinois Informatics Institute will be transferred from the Office of the Provost to the School of Information Sciences. This will be a hosting relationship that preserves the multidisciplinary nature of the Institute’s programs, which are managed by several colleges including the iSchool.

Associate Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Emily Knox and Associate Professor Kyungwon Koh have received a $100,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (LG-246251-OLS-20) for their project, "Measuring the Impact and Value of Makerspaces in Public Libraries." Knox will serve as principal investigator for the one-year exploratory project, which is a partnership with Indian Trails Public Library District in Wheeling, Illinois, that was initially proposed by iSchool alumna Ryann Uden (MS ’06), the library's deputy director.

The iSchool is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Trainor as a senior lecturer, effective August 16. He has served as an adjunct senior lecturer at the School since 2008 and as assistant director of the Center for Informatics Research in Science and Scholarship (CIRSS) from 2009 to 2011. In addition to teaching at the iSchool, he has taught full-time as a senior lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Information Studies.

MSLIS student Nada Abdelrahim discusses her practicum experience at the Newberry Library.

Master's students Jerilyn Tinio and Hailey Vasquez have been selected to participate in the 2020-2022 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Kaleidoscope Diversity Scholars Program. With the goal of attracting MS/LIS students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups to careers in research libraries and archives, 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.

iSchool faculty, staff, and students presented their research at the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL 2020), which was held virtually August 1-5. The event brought together international scholars focusing on digital libraries and associated technical, practical, organizational, and social issues. 

A record fifteen 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 Ashley Mitchell holds a BS in psychology from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Athena Tang, an incoming student in the BS in information sciences (BS/IS) program, was drawn to the iSchool because of her interest in human-computer interaction and user experience. A sophomore from Walnut, California, Tang is pursuing a dual degree in graphic design. In the spring semester, she took Social Aspects of Information Technology (IS 202) and Design of Usable Interfaces (IS 351), which gave her a better idea of what to expect as a student in the iSchool's new undergraduate program.

The Illinois Open Publishing Network is excited to announce the upcoming release of two open access textbooks, Instruction in Libraries and Information Centers: An Introduction by Laura Saunders and iSchool Adjunct Lecturer Melissa A. Wong and A Person-Centered Guide to Demystifying Technology by iSchool Teaching Assistant Professor Martin Wolske. These textbooks represent the first in the Windsor & Downs Press series OPN Textbooks, which seeks to publish high-quality open access textbooks for higher education across the disciplines. 

The 2020 Illinois Library Association (ILA) award recipients include two iSchool alumni, Sara Benson (MS '17), adjunct assistant professor at the iSchool and copyright librarian at the University Library, and Roberta Koscielski (MS '82), deputy director of the Peoria (IL) Public Library.