The iSchool is pleased to announce the appointment of new directors for its master's degree programs. Associate Professor Maria Bonn will serve as program director for the MS in library and information science (MS/LIS), and Associate Professor Catherine Blake will serve as program director for the MS in information management (MS/IM). They will begin their three-year terms on May 16.

As the director of artificial intelligence strategy at Benefitfocus, Jen Clark (MS '14) works on leading-edge technology to solve complex data and AI problems. She credits her iSchool coursework with laying the foundation for her career in data science.

The iSchool is pleased to announce that Jingrui He will join the faculty as an associate professor in August 2019. She is currently an associate professor of computer science and engineering at Arizona State University (ASU).

In Associate Professor Yoo-Seong Song's Applied Business Research class (IS 540), students learn advanced techniques of business research through hands-on experience with real-world clients. This semester, a team of students has been working with entrepreneur Douglass Lee, founder of the startup OneSoftDigm (OSD) and a senior in business at the University of Illinois.

Associate Professor Victoria Stodden has been selected to serve on the Reproducibility Badging and Definitions Working Group for the National Information Standards Organization (NISO). NISO is a U.S. nonprofit association that develops, maintains, and publishes technical standards to facilitate the creation, management, and interchange of information so that it can be trusted for use in research and teaching.

MS/LIS student Monica Hoh has been awarded a fellowship from the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP). Of the 90 students and early-career professionals in publishing, librarianship, and information science who applied for the fellowship, twelve were selected. According to the SSP, this year's recipients were chosen based on their high level of engagement in their fields and represent a diverse range of skills in scholarly publishing and librarianship.

Cesar Ortega fell in love with libraries at the age of thirteen, when he joined the Aurora (IL) Public Library's Teen Advisory Board. The board was composed of a group of teens from around the city who created programs for the library. 

After she graduates next month, master's student Jenny Bruxvoort will move to Oregon to work as a research and instruction librarian at George Fox University. The job will combine her interest in academic libraries and her desire to support students.

Four Illinois professors are creating the Innovation Illinois Community Laboratory + Interactive Exhibit with $150,000 in funding from the University of Illinois System, as part of an investment in the arts and humanities. This project will involve a yearlong course that welcomes undergraduate students from all disciplines, who will spend the year imagining, researching, and prototyping social innovation projects that will become part of a traveling exhibit.

On Saturday, April 27, local digital literacy professionals and smart city/big data practitioners will share the mic for a Day of Discovery. Organizers include the local broadband group UC2B and Associate Professor Kate Williams, aided by US Ignite. The event is free and open to all.

Day of Discovery kicks off with a presentation from Seattle, Washington, with Seattle's Digital Equity Manager David Keyes explaining their decades-long municipal campaign for a "technology healthy city." Then panels composed of digital literacy program leaders and local professionals involved in smart city work will discuss their current efforts and future directions.