School of Information Sciences

Libraries and Librarianship

Research related to the assessment, management, development, and delivery of services provided by professional librarians in libraries and similar information institutions

Researchers Working in this Area

Related Research Projects

Data Storytelling Toolkit for Libraries (DSTL)

Time frame
2022-Present
Investigators
Kate McDowell, Matthew Turk
Total funding to date
$99,330.00
Funding agency
Institute of Museum and Library Services

The University of Illinois, in collaboration with multiple community college and public libraries, will develop a data storytelling toolkit for libraries (DSTL) to support meaningful and effective data communication, empowering libraries to utilize the rapidly growing data landscape. DSTL will connect real-world examples of data use with data stories (including narrative strategies and data…

internet tab on bookshelf

Designing OERs to Prepare the Next Generation of Scholarly Communication Librarians

Time frame
2017-2018
Investigator
Maria Bonn
Total funding to date
$50,000.00
Funding agency
Institute of Museum and Library Services

This IMLS-supported (LG-72-17-0132-17) collaboration* among librarians at North Carolina State University Libraries, University of Kansas Libraries, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Information Sciences is exploring the need for, and ideal components of, a corpus of open educational resources (OER) for teaching library students and professionals about scholarly…

laptop with stickers

Mapping Information Access

Time frame
2013-Present
Investigator
Emily Knox

Mapping Information Access is a collaborative academic research project to study and understand the landscape of information access and availability in public schools and libraries in the United States.

There are more than 18,000 public school districts and more than 9,000 public library systems in the US. Each of these institutions is as a central node of information access for the…

Measuring the Impact and Value of Makerspaces in Public Libraries

Time frame
2020-Present
Investigators
Emily Knox, Kyungwon Koh
Total funding to date
$100,000.00
Funding agency
Institute of Museum and Library Services

The University of Illinois and Indian Trails Public Library District (ITPLD, Illinois) will collaborate on an exploratory project to provide the tools needed for the development of an initial framework and future toolkit for measuring the impact and value of public library makerspaces in the lives of users and the communities that libraries serve. Public libraries need to seek new ways of…

library makerspace

Promoting Computational Thinking Skills for Blind and Visually Impaired Teens Through Accessible Library Makerspaces

Time frame
2022-Present
Investigators
JooYoung Seo, Kyungwon Koh
Total funding to date
$498,638.00
Funding agency
Institute of Museum and Library Services

Library makerspaces offer community members the opportunity to tinker, design, experiment, and create with a range of technology in an informal learning space. However, because current makerspaces and maker tools are highly vision oriented, blind and visually impaired (BVI) people have limited access to these learning opportunities. This project (…

student wearing goggles

Scholar-Curated Worksets for Analysis, Reuse & Dissemination (SCWAReD)

Time frame
2021-Present
Investigator
J. Stephen Downie
Total funding to date
$1,031,655.00
Funding agency
Indiana University

The Scholar-Curated Worksets for Analysis, Reuse & Dissemination (SCWAReD, pronounced “squared”) project is intended to produce a suite of curated, targeted HTRC (HathiTrust Research Center) worksets and illustrative, reusable research models that demonstrate the collaborative workset-building, textual analysis, workflow development, and dataset creation activities typically carried out by…

person sitting at desk working on computer

Scholarly Communication Notebook

Time frame
2019-Present
Investigator
Maria Bonn
Total funding to date
$32,867.00
Funding agency
North Carolina State University

This project is a repository of community-designed open resources for teaching about scholarly communication and for doing scholarly communication work in libraries. The SCN is intended to be the locus of an active, inclusive, empowered community of practice for teaching scholarly communications to emerging librarians, where practitioners, LIS educators, and library students work together to…

person writing in a notebook

Strengthening Public Libraries’ Information Literacy Services Through an Understanding of Knowledge Brokers’ Assessment of Technical and Scientific Information

Time frame
2021-2025
Investigator
Jodi Schneider
Total funding to date
$416,760.00
Funding agency
Institute of Museum and Library Services

Scientific and technical information is often translated for the public, by knowledge brokers such as journalists, Wikipedia editors, activists, and public librarians. This project will research how knowledge brokers assess the quality of scientific and technical information and the implications for public access, information literacy, and understanding of science. The project will use case…

Golden Gate bridge

News Stories

Get to know Eric Phetteplace (MS '11), systems librarian

Look beyond the classroom walls, says Eric Phetteplace, and you’ll find there are lots of ways to expand your educational experience (and you might even get a job while you’re at it). Practicum and work experiences, attending conferences, networking, and getting involved in professional organizations are all great ways to do that. For more tips on working in LIS tech, look for posts by…

Knox to speak at conference on censorship of youth literature

Assistant Professor Emily Knox will speak at the upcoming conference, Outlawed: The Naked Truth About Censored Literature for Young People, to be held April 10-12 at California State University, Fresno (Fresno State). The conference, hosted by the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, a department of the Henry Madden Library at Fresno State, explores the role censorship plays…

FTRF and GSLIS at Illinois announce intellectual freedom course and scholarship opportunities

The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) and GSLIS are pleased to announce a partnership to offer an online graduate-level course on intellectual freedom for library and information science (LIS) students around the country. The course, in its second year, will be taught by GSLIS faculty member Emily Knox and is a project of FTRF’s Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund. “Intellectual Freedom and…

GSLIS offers 2015 Summer Getaway professional development workshops

GSLIS will offer a Summer Getaway professional development workshop series for school librarians on June 22-24. Workshops will focus on current topics in the field of school librarianship and will offer opportunities to gain hands-on experience using the newest technologies and to connect with like-minded professionals in the field. Participants can register for one, two, or three days. The cost…

Get to know Ruth Riley (MS '85), director of library services

Ruth Riley "instinctively knew" that she was meant to work in medical librarianship. She's built a successful career in academic medical libraries and is now an administrator looking ahead to the changing information needs of medical students and practitioners. Where do you work and what is your role? I work at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, South Carolina…

GSLIS alumni selected for ISL leadership program

Six GSLIS alumni are among thirty Illinois librarians selected to participate in the tenth year of "Synergy: the Illinois Library Leadership Initiative.” The unique yearlong program sponsored by the Illinois State Library (ISL) is designed to develop future leaders in the library profession and Illinois community. The group of librarians will attend three sessions over a six-month period and…

Bonn edits new book on library publishing

In the new book, Getting the Word Out: Academic Libraries as Scholarly Publishers, GSLIS Senior Lecturer Maria Bonn and coeditor Mike Furlough, executive director of the HathiTrust Digital Library, have assembled chapters from experts in library publishing that explore current practices and potential developments in the field. Contributors include GSLIS alumni Kevin S. Hawkins (MS '03), Cyril…

Willett to deliver 2015 Gryphon Lecture on March 6

The Center for Children’s Books will host the 2015 Gryphon Lecture on Friday, March 6. Featuring a leading scholar in the field of youth and literature, media, and culture, the annual Gryphon Lecture is free and open to students and the public. Delivering this year’s lecture, "Research on Children, Youth and Media: Applications for LIS Education and Practice,” is Rebekah Willett, an assistant…

Alkalimat, Williams author book on influential Afro-Cuban librarian

GSLIS Professor Emeritus Abdul Alkalimat and Associate Professor Kate Williams have teamed up to produce their latest book, Roots and Flowers: The Life and Work of Afro-Cuban Librarian Marta Terry González. The book follows Terry’s work as an influential library director in Cuba from the 1960’s through the turn of the century, establishing her as an example of Afro-Cuban involvement in Cuban…

Book looks at views of those challenging reading material in schools, libraries

While it may be tempting to dismiss as a censor anyone who wants to restrict access to a book, such individuals understand that books are powerful and have the potential to change lives, said Emily Knox, who recently wrote about the people who raise challenges to reading material. Her new book, Book Banning in 21st-Century America, was published in January by Rowman & Littlefield. Knox is…

Get to know Ann Chiu, MS student

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…

Ostman, Sullivan receive ACRL Student Scholarships

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…

Cooke, Knox join Library Quarterly editorial board

Assistant Professor Nicole A. Cooke and Assistant Professor Emily Knox have been selected to join the editorial board of The Library Quarterly, an international journal that publishes scholarship, research, resource reviews, and essays that explore the role of libraries in connecting their communities and information. Cooke and Knox each began a three-year term on the board this month. Cooke…

Ponder & Rojas named ARL Career Enhancement Program fellows

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…

Knox publishes book, article on book challenges

Book Banning in 21st Century America, by Assistant Professor Emily Knox, has been selected by international LIS honor society Beta Phi Mu and publisher Rowman & Littlefield to be the first in the new Beta Phi Mu Scholars Series. Book Banning is the result of Knox’s research of the motivations of book challenges. It explores common themes in arguments for censorship and analyzes the role of…

Get to know Daylily Alvarez (MS '10), children's outreach librarian

GSLIS alumna Daylily Alvarez is confident in taking on any challenges that stand between her and her career goals. She recently completed a second master's degree—this one in nonprofit management—while working as an outreach librarian. She plans to continue working closely with community members while advancing to a leadership role. Where do you work and what is your role? I am currently a…

Four from GSLIS present at SSHA Annual Meeting

Two GSLIS faculty members and two alumni will present at the 39th Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association (SSHA) on November 6-9 in Toronto. The theme of the 2014 meeting is “Inequalities: Politics, Policy, and the Past.” Associate Professor Christine Jenkins will chair a session on November 8 titled, “Unequal Access: Censorship and Library Services to Youth,” in which she,…

Weech appointed to American Library Association Committee on Accreditation

Associate Professor Terry L. Weech has been appointed to a four-year term on the American Library Association’s Committee on Accreditation beginning in the fall of 2014. The Committee on Accreditation is responsible for carrying out the accreditation program of the American Library Association (ALA), which involves development of standards for library and information studies education programs.…

University of Illinois hosts Library Research Seminar

On October 7-9, librarians, scholars, and LIS students will gather in Champaign, Illinois, for the Library Research Seminar VI. The seminar, held every three to four years at differing locations, will be hosted this year at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by the University Library, the University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science, and the American Library…

Knox’s intellectual freedom research gains national momentum

With a book under contract, a nationwide research project underway, a recent publication in The Library Quarterly, and plans to teach a unique new course to students across the country this fall, Assistant Professor Emily Knox (MS ’03) is gaining national attention for her research in the area of intellectual freedom. First inspired to study banned books by her mother, a former high…

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