This week the University of Illinois celebrates both Graduate Student Appreciation Week and International Week. At GSLIS, we are proud of all our students and our international connections, including faculty, research fellows, scholars-in-residence, and students like Thomas Mukonde, who hails from Zambia. Why did you decide to pursue an LIS degree? I decided to do an LIS degree because I…

This week the University of Illinois celebrates both Graduate Student Appreciation Week and International Week. At GSLIS, we are proud of all our students and our international connections, including faculty, research fellows, scholars-in-residence, and students like Nushrat Khan, who hails from Bangladesh. Why did you decide to pursue an LIS degree? Prior to starting graduate school in…

Thanks to contributions from alumni and friends, GSLIS was able to award two Leep student scholarships in 2014. Lindsay Keating (MS '14) received an award for the Summer 2014 semester, and Lori Jansson (MS '14) received an award for Fall 2014. The Leep Scholarship Fund was established by Leep alumna Brooke Johnson (MS '03) and GSLIS Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Programs Linda C.…

Four GSLIS master's students have been named the 2015 recipients of the C. Barber Mueller Prizes for Excellence in Exhibition Design, which is awarded annually by the University of Illinois Library's Library Exhibitions Committee. Linsy DePooter and Meredith Knoff, graduate assistants at the Undergraduate Library, were selected for their exhibit titled, "Words into Music," which is on display…

Artist, writer, zinester, crafter, student, mother—Ann Chiu is many things. She balances her eclectic interests with the help of the supportive GSLIS community and like-minded people in Portland, Oregon. Why did you decide to pursue an LIS degree? About four years ago, I found myself working part time as a waitress at an assisted living housing facility, and part time as a barista at a local…

GSLIS master's students Ray Ostman and Madison Sullivan have been selected as two of fifteen recipients nationwide to receive a 2015 ACRL Library School Student Scholarship. The purpose of the scholarship is to provide opportunities for students to participate in an Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) professional development experience and learn more about current issues in…

CIRSS faculty and students will participate in the upcoming 10th International Digital Curation Conference (IDCC), February 9-12 in London. This year's theme, "Ten years back, ten years forward: achievements, lessons and the future for digital curation," will focus on how the digital curation research community will be moving the domain forward in the years to come.  Posters Crediting…

Join GSLIS faculty, staff, and students at the 2015 ALISE Annual Conference, which will be held January 27-30 in Chicago. The theme of the conference is “Mirrors & Windows: Reflections on Social Justice and Re-Imagining LIS Education.” January 27 WISE Pedagogy Pre-conference Workshop, “Integrating Community Engagement in Online Education,” 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., presenters include…

Jerrod Moore is going places—literally. Having recently completed his master’s coursework at GSLIS, Moore is preparing to start work in February at GE Capital, which is based in Norwalk, Connecticut, with offices worldwide. Over the next two years, he will live and work in four different cities as a GE Information Technology Leadership Program (ITLP) fellow. The highly competitive two-year…

GSLIS master's student Erik Ponder and CAS student Kate Rojas (MS '14) have been chosen by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) as 2015 Career Enhancement Program (CEP) fellows. Each year, ARL member libraries select a group of library and information science master's students to participate in this competitive program, which provides avenues for students from traditionally…

In the ongoing challenge to develop new technological innovations, great minds don’t think alike. It was the diverse intellectual backgrounds and strengths of each teammate that allowed a group of four Illinois graduate students to tackle a design challenge that required a multidisciplinary approach. GSLIS master’s student Chris Nixon called on his friends Berenice Vargas, a fellow GSLIS…

GSLIS doctoral candidate Melissa Villa-Nicholas has been awarded The Barbara and Donald Smalley Graduate Research Fellowship for the 2015 academic year given by the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, where she is pursuing a graduate minor in queer studies. This $12,000 fellowship supports graduate students working on their dissertation and is awarded to a graduate minor in gender and women…

After completing bachelor's and master's degrees in China, Jinlong Guo came to the United States to earn his doctoral degree at GSLIS. Despite his knowledge and expertise in the field, he continues to  be impressed by the interdisciplinarity and potential of research in LIS. Why did you decide to pursue an LIS doctoral degree? My path to the LIS doctoral degree seems very straightforward…

At the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), scientists study major global issues from climate change to solar activity to air quality. The data collected at NCAR is shared with other researchers in the United States and internationally, contributing to solutions to world-wide environmental challenges. A thousand miles away, students at the University of Illinois have access to one…

GSLIS doctoral students Emily Lawrence and K.R. Roberto and master's student Kellee Warren will present separate talks at the Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies Colloquium at the University of Toronto on October 18, 2014. The colloquium aims to view the information field through the critical lens of gender and sexuality, considering the challenges and advantages of that interaction.…

Before beginning his studies at GSLIS, Jarrett Dapier already had several years of experience working at the Evanston Public Library (EPL), where he developed and implemented creative programs to engage teens in reading and self-expression. Last summer, while in his role at EPL, he worked with the Dajae Coleman Foundation to implement programming centered around How Long Will I Cry?, a history of…

As a GSLIS master’s student, Heidi Uphoff appreciated the opportunity to complete her degree while working in Chicago. Now she is earning her Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS) in Digital Libraries while working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Research Library in New Mexico. Why did you decide to pursue the CAS in Digital Libraries? I decided to apply toward the end of my master’s…

Doctoral candidate Tiffany Chao has been awarded ASIS&T’s Thomson Reuters Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Scholarship for 2014. Sponsored by Thomson Reuters, the scholarship provides a $1,500 cash award to support doctoral students with their dissertation research. The award will be presented at the upcoming ASIS&T 2014 Annual Meeting in Seattle October 31 through November 5.…

LEEP student Lilach Manheim will present her paper, “Information non-seeking behavior,” at the Information Behaviour Conference (ISIC), an international biennial conference to be held this year in Leeds, United Kingdom, from September 2-5. Manheim has received funding from GSLIS to travel and attend the conference.  Manheim’s paper analyzes how the decision to not seek information has…

GSLIS doctoral student Noah Lenstra will serve on the concluding panel at the Midwest Archives Conference (MAC) Fall Symposium, which will take place September 12 and 13 at the Illini Union. The theme of the symposium is “Oral History, Archives, and Innovation.” Lenstra will present his work as the project director of eBlack Champaign-Urbana, a collaborative program focused on creating a…