FALL 2022 School of Information Sciences
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Published by iSchool Communications and Marketing. For more information or to submit story ideas, please contact brya@illinois.edu.
Dean: Eunice E. Santos
Editor: Cindy Ashwill
Managing Editor: Cindy Brya
The iSchool at Illinois educates leaders in the information sciences who impact our communities, nation, and world. Remembering Kathie Henderson
Contributing Writers: Cindy Ashwill, Cindy Brya, Susan Mumm
Photography: Cindy Brya, L. Brian Stauffer, Katherine Tichy, Thompson-McClellan Photography, Michele Plante, Sarah Rose Smiley
501 East Daniel Street Champaign, Illinois 61820 ischool@illinois.edu ischool.illinois.edu
Phone: (217) 333-3280
People use information for analysis, inquiry, collaboration, and play—and in so doing, change the world. The iSchool at Illinois is dedicated to shaping the future of information through research, education, and engagement, both public and professional. Intersections highlights our current work in these areas as well as achievements of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
On the cover: A few of the faculty who have joined the School in the past year gathered for this cover photo. Clockwise from top: Professor Christopher Lueg, Teaching Assistant Professor Adam Rusch, Teaching Assistant Professor Brandon Batzloff, Assistant Professor JooYoung Seo, Teaching Assistant Professor Renee Hendricks, and Assistant Professor Haohan Wang. Compared to four years ago, the total number of iSchool tenure-track and specialized faculty has nearly doubled.
Letter from the Dean 2
McDowell named Outstanding Information Science Teacher by ASIS&T 3 iSchool completes strategic plan 3 New Faces—Fall 2022 4 Kathryn Luther Henderson passes away 5 2021 Downs Intellectual Freedom Awards given to #FReadom Fighters and ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom staff 6 iSchool career fairs connect students and employers 7
New certificate educates students in media literacy 7 Research on Diversity in Youth Literature moves to Illinois 8 CCB to host events centered on Asian American history 8 Knox elected chair of NCAC Board 9 Ames receives Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award 9
Improving the health of patients with kidney failure 10 Identifying and predicting insider threats 10 Using AI to improve educational outcomes 10
Kilicoglu research group wins third prize in LitCoin NLP challenge 10 Assessing the accuracy and integrity of biomedical citations 11 Assisting libraries with data storytelling 11 Improving accessibility in scientific and technical publishing 11 New grant to create accessible library makerspaces 11 Exploring the use of conversational AI in libraries 12
Blake selected as a Carle Illinois Health Innovation Professor 12 Paper on librarian-teacher co-teaching receives 2022 AASL Research Grant 12 Student project tells the story of the Edwards Trace 13 Students present their research at Urbana City Council meeting 13
MS graduate outcomes 14
Thirteen iSchool students named 2022-2023 ALA Spectrum Scholars 15 Welcome new students! 15 Fab Lab expands research, teaching, and engagement under Koh’s leadership 16–17
iSchool alumni named 2022 Movers & Shakers 18
Navsaria combines love of pediatrics and early literacy 19 2021 ISAA award recipients announced 20 Jean Wilkins and Patricia Boze named Illinois Library Luminaries 20
Dietrich transforms lives as 21st CCLC director 21 Get to know Zoë Kaler, senior UX designer 21
Diggs grateful for financial support from iSchool 22 Batista gift to support iSchool and University Library 23
CLASS NOTES 24–25
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As our School continues to advance, I want to thank everyone who has worked hard to bring us to where we are today.”
Thisfall, the iSchool welcomed nearly 1,900 students across our various academic programs. These students consist of those beginning their university studies and those returning to continue or complete their programs, including bachelor’s and master’s degrees, doctoral degrees, certificates of advanced study, school library licensure, and more. Our current student population represents an increase of more than one hundred percent compared to four years ago. Likewise, the total number of our tenure-track and specialized faculty has nearly doubled in the same time period.
While this growth is impressive, growth in and of itself is not our goal. Our School continues to focus on offering high-quality education. We accomplish this by hiring world-class faculty to educate our students, teaching them how to think critically and conduct meaningful research. We also develop innovative programs to give our graduates a competitive edge in the job market, such as our recently launched BS in information sciences and our newest degree, the BS in information sciences + data science.
To ensure our continued success, the iSchool must be able to rely on a well-formulated strategy on which to base future decisions and directions. I’m pleased to announce that we have finalized our five-year strategic plan. This plan is crafted around our vision to create sociotechnical solutions to real-world problems and to build a just and informed society by educating future global leaders. It includes strategic goals to further our School’s research and teaching excellence and our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. To assist with our progress, we have formed a new area of focus within our School to identify and develop opportunities to promote DEIA throughout our culture, educational programs, research, and public engagement.
As our School continues to advance, I want to thank everyone who has worked hard to bring us to where we are today. One of these individuals was Kathryn Luther Henderson, professor emerita, who passed away in August. Through her dedication to her students and our School, Kathryn forged a legacy of excellence and generosity that will be long remembered by those who were fortunate enough to know her and by those who have benefited—and will continue to benefit—from her many contributions.
Sincerely, Eunice Santos, Dean
Professor Kate McDowell is the 2022 recipient of the Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award from the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T). The award recognizes her unique contributions to information science education at the intersection of storytelling and data science.
According to nominator Linda C. Smith, professor emerita and interim executive associate dean, McDowell’s impact encompasses students in degree programs as well as individuals engaged in professional development. “Her work empowers individuals, organizations, and communities to take control of their own narratives and use the resources and tools at their disposal to connect authentically with their audiences.”
McDowell’s storytelling research has involved training collaborations with institutional advancement at both the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Illinois system, storytelling consulting work for multiple nonprofits, and storytelling workshops for the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI).
“It is not just the content of her teaching that is significant, it is the manner in which she delivers this information,” said Anne Craig, CARLI’s senior director who has worked with McDowell on CARLI Counts, a continuing education library leadership
immersion program. “She is not only funny and warm, but also inviting of differing perspectives and inclusive of all participants, drawing listeners in and encouraging them to share their own experiences and questions.”
McDowell regularly appears on the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent issued by the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign campus each semester. In addition, for her accomplishments in teaching online, she was recognized in 2018 with the Excellence in Online & Distance Teaching Award, given annually by the University.
According to Assistant Professor Matthew Turk, who co-developed and co-taught Data Storytelling (IS 457) with McDowell, “Students consistently rate the course as extremely impactful in their careers in information science, due largely to the approach Professor McDowell has embedded in it that provides not just concrete, practical applications of the material, but a broader, deeply compassionate and thoughtful mindset that guides student learning and trajectories.”
“Kate’s innovations in reading selection, in managing class discussions of those readings, and of assignments that nudge students towards more insightful reading, thinking, analysis, and clear writing of ideas are exemplary,” said
Professor Michael Twidale of McDowell’s work on History and Foundations of Information Science (IS 509), a seminar for first-year doctoral students.
McDowell researches and publishes in the areas of storytelling as information research, social justice storytelling, and what library storytelling can teach the information sciences about data storytelling.
“She values collaboration and shows genuine interest in learning about other disciplines and perspectives,” said Kirstin Phelps (PhD ’21) of McDowell, who served as her dissertation advisor, committee chair, and mentor.
“It has been a great honor to continually redevelop courses in storytelling, data storytelling, and more, in collaboration with students and faculty at Illinois,” said McDowell. “I’m so fortunate to work for a school that has supported my taking risks in teaching innovation, especially in taking teaching and research beyond the classroom. Consulting and nonprofit work has enriched what I could offer to our students, and vice versa, and such opportunities to encounter fresh views and voices have been critical to sustaining momentum during these challenging times.”
The iSchool at Illinois makes a meaningful difference in the lives of individuals through teaching, research, and public engagement. Through a multidisciplinary approach, we work beyond geographic boundaries to benefit the social good. We believe in the power of information to change the world. Our goals for the future address three broad areas:
• Advance information sciences research that transforms our communities and the world
• Lead the world in education in the information sciences
• Nurture and grow a culture of inclusion, both in our local community and globally Our strategic plan also includes seven intersectional opportunities for inquiry and engagement that will benefit our local, state, national, and global communities.
Read more: go.illinois.edu/ischool-strategic-plan
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Professor Emerita Kathryn (Kathie) Luther Henderson passed away at home on August 18. She was determinedly independent until the start of her final illness on her 99th birthday.
Kathie was born July 12, 1923, in rural Champaign County on the family farm purchased by her paternal grandparents. She was very proud to be the current owner of the Luther farm, officially designated a State of Illinois Department of Agriculture Centennial Farm in 1993.
She earned all her college degrees at the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign: an AB in history and English in 1944, a BS in library science in 1948, and an MS in library science in 1951. A founding member and first national secretary of Beta Phi Mu, the international honor society for library and information studies, she held positions in the University of Illinois Library, first as a clerical assistant from 1944-1946 and then as a serial cataloger from 1950-1953. Following her marriage to William (Bill) T Henderson on August 22, 1953, she moved to Chicago, where she held positions as circulation librarian (1953-1956) and head cataloger (1956-1965) at McCormick Theological Seminary.
In 1965, Kathie was asked to join the faculty of the Graduate School of Library Science (now the School of Information Sciences) and returned to Urbana. Bill took a position in the University Library as preservation librarian and Kathie followed her mentor Ethel Bond (whom she had assisted while a graduate student) in
teaching Cataloging and Classification I and II. She subsequently developed and jointly taught Technical Services Functions and Preserving Information Resources with her husband, Bill. She “redeveloped” her courses each time they were offered to reflect current trends and to incorporate the newest readings from the literature. She developed computer-assisted instruction lessons for cataloging using PLATO as early as 1971. Regularly receiving outstanding ratings from students on course evaluations, in 1991 she was recognized at the campus level for her significant contributions as a teacher with the Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching.
In 1993, Kathie received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Library School Alumni Association, in recognition of her many contributions as an educator. In addition she was recognized at the 1993 American Library Association conference as the winner of
Top: Kathie and Bill Henderson
Left: Kathie instructs a cataloging student in 1974. Photo courtesy of the U of I Archives.
the 1993 Beta Phi Mu Award citing her “distinguished record of teaching and service that has defined an uncommon level of excellence and has challenged and inspired a generation of librarians and library educators.” In 1995, the Association for Library and Information Science Education recognized her with the ALISE Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2014, the Alpha Chapter of Beta Phi Mu established the Kathryn Luther and William T Henderson Award in recognition of the high esteem in which they were held by fellow chapter members and in order to inspire future generations with their example.
While Kathie has made numerous research and service contributions, her most valuable legacy is the hundreds of students whom she taught. Students were inspired by her example to be enthusiastic about librarianship and to strive for excellence in their work just as she sought excellence in teaching. She maintained contact with many of her former students, delighting in following their careers and contributions to the field.
For libraries and librarians, 2021 was an especially challenging year in terms of the increase in attempts at censorship. According to the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom, the number of challenges to library materials more than tripled from 2020 to 2021. In addition, current estimates show that 82 to 97 percent of challenges go unreported, suggesting that the total number of challenges are significantly greater.
Reflecting this increase in attempts at censorship of library materials, the iSchool at Illinois received more than the usual number of nominations for the 2021 Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award. With the support of the award’s cosponsor, SAGE Publications, the iSchool is pleased to announce that two awards were presented—to #FReadom Fighters and the director and assistant director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom.
The first award recipient, #FReadom Fighters, is a grassroots effort co-founded by Texas educators and librarians, Becky Calzada, Carolyn Foote, and Nancy Jo Lambert. Its mission is to fight back against the wave of book challenges in the state and create a supportive space for school librarians. Using the hashtag #FReadom, the group started tweeting about challenged books, describing their positive impact on students. Following the successful social
media campaign, #FReadom Fighters created a website (www.freadom.us) to curate resources and promote positive steps to support readers, reading, books, school libraries, and librarians. #FReadom Fighters has amassed thousands of supporters, both at the state level and across the country, and influenced other likeminded groups to take action.
The second award is presented to ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom staff Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director, and Kristin Pekoll, assistant director, for their contributions in the defense of intellectual freedom. The upsurge in book challenges last year led to a substantial increase in Caldwell-Stone and Pekoll’s workload, as they assisted libraries and librarians, handled media requests, gave presentations, and wrote and issued statements. According to
nominator Wanda Mae Huffaker, librarian at the Salt Lake County Library in Utah, “Their efforts in informing us, supporting us, having our back—even when entirely overwhelmed—is the reason I think they deserve applause.”
A reception to honor #FReadom Fighters, Caldwell-Stone, and Pekoll was held in June during the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, DC.
The Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award is presented annually to individuals or groups who have furthered the cause of intellectual freedom, particularly as it affects libraries and information centers and the dissemination of ideas. It was established in 1969 by the iSchool’s faculty to honor Robert Downs, a champion of intellectual freedom, on his twenty-fifth anniversary as director of the School.
TheiSchool held its most successful career fair to date on September 9. More than 630 students from 12 colleges (including 484 students from the iSchool) attended the Career and Networking Fair, which featured 41 employers. iSchool Career Services hosted multiple sessions prior to the fair to assist students in making a good impression when interviewing with employers. Alumni seeking to fill roles in consulting, data science and analytics, user experience, and related positions are invited to join us for next year’s fair on September 8, 2023.
Alumni can register as early as November for the GLAM Career Jam, which will be held online on February 24, 2023. This multi-school event focuses on LIS students and government, library, archive, and museum (GLAM) employers. Alumni who are seeking new positions are encouraged to keep an eye on Handshake (handshake.illinois.edu) for details on registration.
To better prepare students to understand media and the way it shapes perception and social action, the iSchool now offers a Certificate in Teaching Media Literacy. This certificate responds to recent legislation requiring every Illinois public high school to include media literacy instruction in its curriculum. Students enrolled in the online certificate program will earn 12 credits as well as professional development hours from the Illinois State Board of Education. They may also choose to work toward further Library Information Specialist and Technology Specialist Endorsements.
Learn more: go.ischool.illinois.edu/media-literacy
Research on Diversity in Youth Literature (RDYL), a peer-reviewed, online, and open-access journal focused on issues of diversity, equity, social justice, inclusion, and intersectionality in youth literature, culture, and media, has moved from St. Catherine University to the iSchool’s Center for Children’s Books. The journal is co-edited by iSchool Associate Professor Sarah Park Dahlen and Sonia Alejandra Rodríguez, associate professor of English at LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York.
With the support of St. Catherine University’s Master of Library and Information Science Program and University Library, RDYL published its inaugural issue in 2018. The previous four volumes will remain on the St. Catherine University RDYL website, with the journal’s fifth volume hosted on the Illinois IOPN platform. RDYL will continue to publish two issues per year with a guest-edited, themed issue in the summer and a general issue in the winter. Each issue typically includes peer-reviewed articles, book reviews, cover art, and a topical forum.
“Our shared commitment to youth literature, diversity, and open access makes the iSchool a fantastic home for RDYL,” said Dahlen. “I received my graduate degrees from the iSchool, and Sonia received her bachelor’s degree from the English and Latinx Studies Departments at the University of Illinois. We are excited to return to Illinois and grow the journal with the iSchool’s support.”
“The iSchool has a longstanding commitment to leading the field of library and information science through research, education, and professional publications,” said Dean and Professor Eunice E. Santos. “For over seven decades, we have hosted Library Trends, which explores critical trends in professional librarianship, and for over three decades, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, one of the nation’s leading children’s book review journals for school and public librarians. RDYL is well aligned with our School’s mission and commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
In 2022, Illinois became the first state in the nation to mandate the teaching of Asian American community history in public elementary and secondary high schools. The Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (TEAACH) Act ensures that every K-12 student in Illinois learns about the contributions of Asian Americans to the economic, cultural, social, and political development of the United States. To mark the implementation of this act, the Center for Children’s Books (CCB) is hosting a series of events for the 2022-2023 academic year.
“The Center for Children’s Books applauds Illinois’ lead in enacting the TEAACH Act and stands ready to support the state (and nation)’s educators as they work to ensure that all children gain both content knowledge in Asian American history and the literacy skills that enable them to think historically,” said Sara L. Schwebel, professor and CCB director. “During this inaugural year of the act’s implementation, we are bringing authors, artists, historians, literacy experts, and educators to the Center to engage in conversation.”
The first event, “How Youth Literature Can Support the Teaching of Asian American Community History,” which was held in September, was moderated by Associate Professor Sarah Park Dahlen, whose research addresses diversity in children’s literature. It featured award-winning authors Adib Khorram, Minh Lê, Rajani LaRocca, and Andrea Wang. “A Conversation Between Award-Winning Writer Christina Soontornvat and Professor Sarah Park Dahlen” was held in November.
The series will continue in the spring semester with a roundtable discussion on the history of efforts to diversify the U.S. history curriculum on March 7 and the 2023 Gryphon Lecture on March 20. For the lecture, which will be held at 12:00 p.m. in a hybrid format, Sohyun An, professor of social studies education at Kennesaw State University, will present “Implementing the TEAACH Act: Using Asian American Children's Literature as a Tool to Resist America's Long History of Anti-Asian Violence.” Together with the iSchool’s journal, Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, the CCB will also host an Emerging Scholars of Asian American Youth Literature panel, date TBA.
All events are free and open to the public. Contributing sponsors include the Humanities Research Institute; Asian American Cultural Center; Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership in the College of Education; and the Department of Asian American Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
students, and the general public, as many address growing attempts to ban books and instructional materials.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), an alliance of 59 national nonprofit organizations that is committed to the non-partisan defense of free expression, has elected Associate Professor Emily Knox as chair of its Board of Directors.
The NCAC board plays an instrumental role in guiding the innovative development of resources and tools needed to defend freedom of expression. Representing a robust network of educators, publishers, and free speech thought leaders, the board works to empower our nation’s teachers, librarians,
“Given the rise in challenges to school and library materials, the work of NCAC has never been more important,” said Knox. “Programs like the Kids’ Right to Read Project and broader work with the Coalition ensure that censorship cases across the country receive targeted, timely responses. I’m honored to serve as chair of the board.”
Knox’s research interests include information access, intellectual freedom, censorship, information ethics, information policy, and the intersection of print culture and reading practices. Her book, Book Banning in 21st Century
America, was published by Rowman & Littlefield and is the first monograph in the Beta Phi Mu Scholars’ Series. Her next book, Foundations of Intellectual Freedom, will be published by the American Library Association in December 2022. Knox serves as editor of the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy and is a member of the Mapping Information Access research team. She received her PhD from the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University and her MS from the iSchool at Illinois.
Penny Ames, admissions and records coordinator, is among the eight civil service employees from across the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who have been named recipients of the 2022 Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award. Each recipient of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award receives $1,000 and a plaque. Recipients’ names also are engraved on a plaque displayed in the Illinois Human Resources Office.
Ames serves three primary functions at the School—records manager, admissions support, and administrative support. According to nominator Linda C. Smith, professor emerita and interim executive associate dean, Ames is involved in the “entire life cycle of iSchool students from prospective to degree completion.”
Graduate enrollment in the iSchool has grown exponentially in the past five years, and Ames has implemented new systems to support admissions and records operations. Her team works with students in five different graduate degree programs, maintaining endless “grace
under pressure” while being responsive to questions from on-campus and online students and navigating challenges resulting from the pandemic. Outside of the iSchool, Ames is active in the Illinois Administrative Professionals (IAP) on the Urbana campus.
“I have enjoyed my nearly 16 years with the iSchool and being one of many who have been a part of the life cycle of our amazing students. It has also been wonderful collaborating with so many colleagues within the School and beyond to assure the best experiences for our students,” said Ames.
Anew project led by Assistant Professor Jessie Chin aims to improve the health of patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) therapy for kidney failure though a long-term motivational interviewing conversational agent (LotMintBot). “Development of a Chatbot for Delivering Long-Term Motivational Interviewing for Improving Exercise Adherence in Hemodialysis Patients” has received a $75,000 grant through Jump ARCHES, a partnership between OSF HealthCare and the UIUC Grainger College of Engineering, and University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine in Peoria. LotMintBot will work as a mobile/tablet application for HD patients to use in healthcare settings to boost commitment to exercise. Collaborators include U of I researchers from Kinesiology, Community Health, and Electrical and Computer Engineering as well as physicians from OSF HealthCare Heart of Mary Medical Center and iSpin Health.
Associate Professor Jingrui He has been awarded a three-year, $200,000 grant from the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute for “Multi-Facet Rare Event Modeling of Adaptive Insider Threats.” This project seeks to detect and predict insider threats, which are a costly security concern for organizations. He and her team will explore how to detect and model rare and adaptive insider threats based on multimodal data, such as computer logon and logoff activities, email exchanges, and web browsing history. They will work closely with Development Operations staff at the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute, a research consortium jointly hosted by the University of Illinois and University of California, Berkeley, and utilize various public data sets, including the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Insider Threat data set, to evaluate the models they develop.
led by Assistant Professor Nigel Bosch and Associate Professor Dong Wang aims to improve students’ ability to estimate their knowledge using artificial intelligence (AI) methods. The researchers were recently awarded a three-year, $850,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for “A Metacognitive Calibration Intervention Powered by Fair and Private Machine Learning.” The project will utilize the predictive power of machine learning to anticipate how well undergraduate students will perform in a course. Then, it will provide the students with exercises to self-assess and improve their ability to estimate their learning, in order to help them better prioritize and motivate their studying strategies. The AI systems utilized will not directly access student data, in order to reduce biases related to key aspects of students’ identity. The goal of the project is to improve educational outcomes and advance the use of AI-driven learning technologies to benefit postsecondary online learning.
Members of Associate Professor Halil Kilicoglu’s research lab won third prize, valued at $20,000, in the LitCoin Natural Language Processing (NLP) Challenge sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. For the challenge, the participants used a NIH-developed dataset of published scientific research abstracts and knowledge assertions between concepts within these abstracts. The participants then used the dataset to design and train their NLP models to automatically generate knowledge assertions from the text of abstracts. Submissions were tested using an automated custom evaluator that compared the accuracy of results generated by the participating systems.
Aproject
Kilicoglu research group wins third prize in LitCoin
Aproject led by Associate Professor Halil Kilicoglu and Associate Professor Jodi Schneider will assist researchers and journals in evaluating citation behavior in biomedical publications. They recently received a two-year, $300,000 grant from the Office of Research Integrity of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for their project, “Natural Language Processing to Assess and Improve Citation Integrity in Biomedical Publications.” While citations play a fundamental role in the diffusion of scientific knowledge and assessment of research on a topic, they are often inaccurate. This inaccuracy undermines the integrity of scientific literature and distorts the perception of available scientific evidence. The project will develop and validate resources and natural language processing/artificial intelligence models to aid stakeholders—authors, journals and peer reviewers, research administrators, funders, and policymakers—in assessing biomedical publications for citation accuracy and integrity.
Anew project led by Associate Professor Kate McDowell and Assistant Professor Matthew Turk will help libraries tell data stories that connect with their audiences. Their project, “Data Storytelling Toolkit for Librarians,” has received a two-year, $99,330 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS grant RE-250094-OLS-21) under the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. The toolkit will provide a set of easy-to-adapt templates, which librarians can use to plug in existing data and generate data visualization and narrative structure options. The project will focus on community college and public libraries, with initial collaborators to include Ericson Public Library in Boone, Iowa; Oregon City (OR) Public Library; Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Illinois; Jackson State Community College in Jackson, Tennessee; and The Urbana Free Library.
Professor JooYoung Seo has been awarded a $54,000 grant from RStudio, PBC to make its open-source scientific and technical publishing system Quarto more accessible. The project, “Improving Accessible Reproducibility for Data Science Publishing System,” will develop and improve accessibility components of Quarto for people with and without dis/abilities. Seo will collaborate with RStudio, PBC to improve accessibility so that the system, which is reproducible and language-agnostic, is inclusive of users with diverse abilities. As a result, the project will contribute to improving accessible reproducibility for people with all abilities across STEM, computer science, digital humanities, and social science.
Assistant Professor JooYoung Seo and Associate Professor Kyungwon Koh, director of the CU Community Fab Lab, received a three-year, $498,638 National Leadership grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS grant LG-252360-OLS-22) to benefit blind and visually impaired (BVI) learners. Through “Promoting Computational Thinking Skills for Blind and Visually Impaired Teens Through Accessible Library Makerspaces” the iSchool and Fab Lab will partner with the American Printing House for the Blind, Young Adult Library Services Association, and Reaching Across Illinois Library System Makerspace Networking Group to create accessible maker programs and develop relevant training materials for librarians and maker professionals. The research also has received support from the National Federation of the Blind and the U of I’s Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) and Information Accessibility Design and Policy (IADP) program.
threeyear, $399,996
Development grant from the Institute of
Services (IMLS grant RE252329-OLS-22),
and
Catherine Blake is one of ten faculty members from across the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus who have been selected by the Carle Illinois College of Medicine as Health Innovation Professors (HIP). The new HIP faculty will collaborate with Carle Illinois students, physicians, and other health care providers to pursue new frontiers in health-related research and innovation, creating new opportunities for funding from government agencies, industry, and foundations. The new faculty members will also pioneer advancements in medical education and the integration of health-related concepts into undergraduate and graduate courses across the UIUC campus. Blake’s research explores both human and automated methods to synthesize evidence from text to extract key findings from empirical studies in medicine, toxicology, and epidemiology.
paper co-authored by Associate Professor Kyungwon Koh; Xun Ge, professor of learning sciences at the University of Oklahoma; and iSchool doctoral candidate Julia Burns Petrella has received a 2022 American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Research Grant by the Educators of School Librarians Section of AASL. In “Librarian-Teacher Co-Teaching and the Role of School Librarians in Facilitating Inquiry and Maker Learning,” which was published in School Library Research, the researchers discuss their three-year study funded by an IMLS National Leadership Grant for Libraries (LG-81-16-0151) that investigated inquiry and maker units in three public schools in which school librarians actively co-taught with other teachers from different disciplines. The findings suggest co-teaching between school librarians and classroom teachers significantly facilitates learner-centered instruction, such as maker learning and inquiry learning, across all levels of schools.
Three thousand years ago, Native Americans and pioneers used a trail that stretched across Illinois from Kaskaskia in the south to Peoria in the north. These early travelers used the trail for hunting, trade, and war. Over time, with the development of cities and highways, the trail faded away, but a trace of what it used to be remains. MS/ LIS student Anna Sielaff is bringing the history of the trail to life through her project, “Relive the True Mother Road: The Edwards Trace.”
For the project, Sielaff created an interactive story map using the online geographic information system ESRI ArcGIS. Users can retrace the trail by visiting the towns it went through many years ago, similar to what has been done
for Route 66. The story map includes photos, videos, maps, and other digital resources that help tell the story of the Edwards Trace.
“The purpose of this project is not only to preserve the history of the Edwards Trace, but also to encourage users to travel and become familiar with the history of Illinois as a whole,” said Sielaff, who holds a BA in history from Concordia University Chicago.
One of the portions of the trace still visible is in Lincoln, Illinois, where Sielaff was born and raised. She first researched the Edwards Trace in the seventh grade for a history fair project. Her interest in the old trail continued over the years, and when it came time to work on a final project for her Museum Informatics (IS 426) course with Professor Michael Twidale, Sielaff knew that she wanted her topic to be the Edwards Trace. This past summer, she and her friend Sam Lechowicz (MS/LIS ‘21) retraced the whole trail. She started a travel blog called “Ms. History Buff” to blog her travels.
“The goal of my blog is to encourage users to travel, learn, and preserve history,” she said. “What makes ‘Ms. History Buff’ different from most blogs is that it gives smaller communities a voice to tell their stories.”
Sielaff credits the iSchool with not only providing her with the skills to use a variety of library databases and preservation procedures but also giving her confidence in her abilities. On October 6, she presented her interactive story map at the 24th Annual Illinois History Conference at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
Sielaff’s work on this project has inspired her to develop programs aimed at preserving and promoting historical information through community outreach. Following graduation, she would like to work as a museum educator and community engagement coordinator or museum curator.
Learn more about the Edwards Trace project: bit.ly/3DwbjKc
Students in the Community Data (IS 594) course presented their research to the Urbana City Council on how communities are reducing gun violence. According to their instructor Chamee Yang, postdoctoral research associate with the iSchool, Community Data Clinic, and Just Infrastructures Initiative, the new course was designed as an experiential learning opportunity with a community engagement component, where students could gain research experience with real-world implications. Throughout the Spring 2022 semester, students worked in
groups to explore communitydriven approaches to prevent gun violence.
Students interviewed community partners and leaders in four cities— Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; West Palm Beach, Florida; Oakland, California; and Detroit, Michigan—to discover successful community models to gun violence. According to Yang, a common theme in the white papers that the students produced is that the key to a successful community-driven approach to combat gun violence is establishing a network
of trust and caring relationships within the community.
MS/LIS student Sarah Unruh and PhD student Gowri Balasubramaniam presented their groups’ recommendations to the Urbana City Council. They emphasized that their recommendations to the council were intended to “amplify and uplift” the ongoing efforts in the Champaign-Urbana community.
Watch the presentation: bit.ly/3ShUZln
TThis report shares the outcomes of students who earned their master’s degrees from 2020-2021, including the MS in library and information science (MS/LIS) and MS in information management (MS/IM). The majority of data came from a campus-wide survey, which invited graduates to provide information about their post-graduation status at regular intervals for six months following their graduation. In addition, data were also gathered from college reports and a limited use of LinkedIn profiles.
View the full report: go.ischool.illinois.edu/MS-outcomes
87% 5%
*Based on graduate survey respondents
of graduates secure employment within 6 months of graduation of graduates pursue additional education
78% 6%
of graduates secure employment within 6 months of graduation of graduates pursue additional education
Libraries & Museums
n Higher Education n Pre-K-12 Education n Education, Other n Public Libraries n Museums & Cultural Institutions n Internet & Software n Computer & Electronics Products n High Tech / Information Technology n Government Agencies and Organizations n Other Professions
Other Professions: Advertising, PR & Marketing, Computer & Electronic Products, Computer Systems Design & Networks, Consulting, Health, Wellness & Fitness, High Tech / Information Technology, Investment & Finance, Legal Services, Research & Science, and Retail Trade.
n Computer Systems Design & Networks n High Tech / Information Technology n Internet, Software & Technology n Computer & Electronic Products n Banking & Financial Services n Insurance n Accounting n Consulting n Management Consulting n Other Professions
Other Professions: Aerospace & Aviation, Automotive, Government—Local, State & Federal, Healthcare, Health Services, Transportation & Logistics, and Utilities and Renewable Energy.
iSchool master’s students have been named 2022-2023 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. Since 1997, the Spectrum Scholarship Program has promoted diversity among graduatelevel students pursuing degrees in library and information studies through ALAaccredited programs.
This year’s scholars were selected based on their commitment to community building, leadership potential, and planned contributions to making social justice as part of everyday work in LIS. The highly competitive scholarship program received four times as many applications as there were available scholarships.
Each scholar receives $5,000 to assist with educational costs as well as more than $1,500 to attend the Spectrum
Leadership Institute held during the ALA Annual Conference. In addition, the scholars will receive a tuition waiver from the iSchool and a grant from the Sylvia Murphy Williams Fund, given by the Illinois Library Association. Other benefits include continuing education and professional development opportunities, peer mentoring, and access to a large alumni network.
“The iSchool at Illinois continues to be a top destination for the ALA Spectrum Scholars,” said Emma Kopko, assistant director for recruitment and admissions. “These students come from all over the country and bring with them a passion for library and information science as well as dedication to diversifying the field. We are proud to welcome the next group of talented future information professionals into
our community and are excited to help them develop their skills and abilities to make meaningful change in the library profession.”
2022-2023 Spectrum Scholarship recipients at Illinois:
Megha Bamola Carrieann Cahall (Tuliao Scholar) Sanobar Chagani Estefania Eiquihua Rebeca Escamilla Aliya Estes (Orange Scholar) Zhaneille Green (iASSIST Scholar) Inbar Michael Wardah Mohammed Marycruz Flores Reynoso Daynali Flores Rodriguez (ProQuest Scholar)
Erica N. Rodriguez (ALSC Scholar) Faria Zafer (Gordon Scholar)
In August, the iSchool held a welcome event for new undergraduates that included a scavenger hunt, bingo, resource fair, and more! Nearly 120 BS in information sciences (BS/IS) students joined the iSchool, bringing the program's total to over 400 students.
Welcome new students!
Each year, the Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab hosts thousands of diverse visitors, prompting makers, educators, and researchers across campus and local communities to collaborate as they share the vision of inspiring creativity and discovery through dynamic learning.
In spring 2022, Associate Professor Kyungwon Koh was appointed as Fab Lab director, following realignment of the lab with the iSchool in 2019. Koh has studied library makerspaces since the contemporary maker movement began to emerge in U.S. libraries around 2012. She has received several federal research grants on makerspaces (nearly $1.5 million) and conducted research on different types of makerspaces in schools, libraries, and higher education across the country.
Under Koh’s leadership, a five-year strategic plan for the Fab Lab has been created. The goals include advancing research in makerspace and design thinking; offering robust and accessible education for makerspace professionals; promoting sustainable community building and engagement through making and design; and providing access for all in a safe and welcoming environment. These
efforts advance the University’s research, teaching, and engagement mission, enhancing the lives of citizens.
The Fab Lab’s research strengths include library, educational, and community makerspaces. Recent accomplishments include a nearly half-million-dollar, three-year National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS grant LG-252360-OLS-22). The funding supports investigators Assistant Professor JooYoung Seo and Koh in creating maker programs that promote computational thinking for blind and visually impaired teens and in developing training materials on accessible making for librarians and maker professionals.
“For blind and low-vision learners, tangible and hands-on learning experience is critical,” Seo said.
Associate Professor Ryan Cordell’s book art lab, Skeuomorph Press, is housed in the Fab Lab. The historical media and technology allow people to gain historical insight and innovate for the future. Cordell and Koh recently received a research support award from
the Campus Research Board to survey humanities maker labs across the country, which will help position the University as a leader in the national conversation around critical making in humanities.
Koh’s plans also include creating a Fab Lab Research Network. The network will help develop a focused research portfolio around makerspaces with unique characteristics, create a space for makerspace researchers to connect and collaborate, and advance knowledge in this important area.
To enhance learning, the Fab Lab provides courses, independent studies, practicums, and hands-on opportunities through graduate assistantships, student hourly positions, and volunteer work. Koh and Emilie Butt, Fab Lab instruction and engagement coordinator, teach IS 582 Make, Design, and Learn in Libraries, a course that combines research, theory, and hands-on technology workshops.
The lab has been helpful in advancing the work of Teaching Assistant Professor Inkyung Choi and her independent study students in exploring the organization of multi-modal and dynamic information in
makerspaces, which includes the diversity of technology tutorials and maker curriculums. Together, they developed a metadata scheme for the Fab Lab.
“At the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) 2022 conference, where scholars and practitioners in the metadata field present their work, my students’ work in collaboration with Fab Lab was recognized as an innovative case study that supports the FAIR (findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reuse) principle for a broad audience and provides the potential to be transferable to the wider metadata, cataloging, and GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) community,” said Choi.
In addition, the Fab Lab welcomed two inaugural graduate assistants this fall. Both are earning their master’s degrees in library and information science and working in joint community engagement and lab assistant positions.
“They are obtaining hands-on experience by designing and delivering
maker programming, learning fabrication tools in the lab, and assisting the management of the lab, which are valuable skills for future librarians who focus on makerspaces, youth services, or community informatics,” said Koh.
“My experience at the Fab Lab has been incredible,” said Lily Schwarz, one of the graduate assistants. “Working in partner sites with kids of all ages has helped me to realize how dynamic learning can be. It has opened my eyes to how flexible information sciences is and how my degree can be used in the field.”
Community connections are a pillar of the Fab Lab. For the past summer and fall, the lab offered numerous community youth-oriented programs, partnering with eight organizations in Champaign County, including Urbana Neighborhood Connections Center (UNCC), The Urbana Free Library, Driven to Reach Excellence & Academic Achievement for
Males (DREAAM) of Rantoul, Mattoon School District, Unit 4 Multilingual Learners Program, International Prep Academy (IPA), Urbana Park District, Urbana School District, and Booker T. Washington STEM Academy.
Under its five-year strategic plan, the Fab Lab will expand its impact to regional and statewide communities throughout Illinois, including accessible continuing education and professional development for current librarians and teachers.
“The Fab Lab is committed to creating an open, community-oriented, and capacity-building makerspace, fostering a dynamic experiential learning environment, and sparking interdisciplinary groundbreaking discoveries,” said Koh. “Our lab is open to the public several days each week. Campus and community members can pursue their own projects, and staff members are available for assistance as needed.”
FiveiSchool alumni are included in
Library Journal’s 2022 class of Movers & Shakers, an annual list that recognizes 41 professionals who are moving the library field forward as a profession.
Jeanie Austin (PhD ’17) was honored in the Advocates category, Van McGary (MS/LIS ’18) was honored in the Change Agents category, Elisandro Cabada (MS/ LIS ’17) and Robin Davis (MS/LIS ’12) were honored in the Innovators category, and Barbara Alvarez (MS/LIS ’12) was honored in the Educators category.
Austin is the Jail and Reentry Services (JARS) librarian at the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). In addition to providing direct service to local facilities, they have expanded the library’s JARS letter-writing reference service program to incarcerated patrons throughout the country. Austin, who serves as an adjunct lecturer at the iSchool, has partnered with LIS programs, giving students the opportunity to answer reference inquiries. They conduct and publish research into the information needs of incarcerated populations and what library services are available to them. Austin recently published a book, Library Services and Incarceration: Recognizing Barriers, Strengthening Access, and serves as co-principal investigator on a $2 million Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant for a collaboration between SFPL and the American Library Association on information and resources for incarcerated people.
McGary is assistant manager of adult and teen services at Downers Grove Public
Library (DGPL). She and fellow librarian
Cindy Khatri collaborated on anti-hate statements issued by the DGPL. They created a decision-making Framework for Releasing Anti-Hate Statements, sharing this work through the Illinois Library Association Marketing Roundtable, a Public Library Association (PLA) podcast and conference, and a Library Journal article. Khatri and McGary also built a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) decision-making tool to help staff. In late 2020, McGary helped develop a land acknowledgment that centers what is important to local Indigenous peoples. She is a member of the library’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) Connections affinity group and Equity Advisory Team, contributing to the library’s DEI Strategic Plan.
Cabada is an assistant professor, medical and bioengineering librarian, and director of the Grainger Engineering Library IDEA Lab at the University of Illinois. He has been closely involved with the creation of technology spaces in libraries, including the design and development of the IDEA Lab, and the Breakerspace digital scholarship and innovation center at the University of Minnesota’s Walter Library. The IDEA Lab offers virtual reality (VR) support across campus, including consultations, equipment, and workshops. Cabada cites VR as an example of new technology that academic libraries are helping incorporate into coursework in innovative ways. He was also involved in the design and
deployment of the Grainger Library’s Center for Academic Resources in Engineering (CARE) center and is currently developing library services for the Carle Illinois College of Medicine.
Davis is a user experience librarian at North Carolina State University Libraries. Her team created sensory maps that highlight study spaces in NCSU’s main library buildings that have three aspects: quiet, lack of crowding, and natural or warm light with controllable lighting or a white noise speaker. She also coordinated with two student workers to fix more than 500,000 web accessibility issues. In another project, Davis led the User Experience Team through library spaces while having them reconsider those spaces from a variety of viewpoints.
Alvarez is an associate lecturer and instructor at three iSchools: University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Clarion University. She focuses on building community partnerships for health. Alvarez participated on a research team that in 2021 published findings concerning information sharing about abortion in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. She is currently surveying U.S. librarians about providing sexual and reproductive health information. Before her work in reproductive health, Alvarez partnered with the Milwaukee County Department on Aging to create the Memory Connection Center, which offers a haven and information for people with dementia and their caregivers, at the North Shore Library in Glendale, Wisconsin.
Not too many medical students would take a year off from their studies to learn more about an area that interests them. Of course, Dipesh Navsaria (MS/LIS ’04) was not your average medical student. He entered the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana with three degrees—a BA in biology and English and a master’s in public health from Boston University and a master’s in physician assistant (PA) studies, from George Washington University.
“I had been exposed to the Reach Out and Read pediatric early literacy program in my prior training and through my work as a PA,” said Navsaria. “I realized that I knew a fair amount about why shared reading was important, but I didn’t know that much about children’s literature itself.”
He decided to do something about that, and after searching the internet, he discovered the Center for Children’s Books in the iSchool, formerly the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS). In his second year of medical school at the U of I, he took an evening class at the iSchool upon the advice of then Assistant Dean Curt McKay. He enjoyed the class so much that he decided to take a year off and pursue his MS/LIS in the area of children’s literature.
Navsaria completed his MD and now serves as associate professor of pediatrics and clinical associate professor of human development and family studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“What I love about pediatrics is that it is a field that focuses so much on prevention and trying to make a difference early on rather than fix a problem later, when it’s much more difficult and expensive. It’s also very much a field that thinks about advocacy and the environment around
children. Pediatricians are much more likely to recognize that health exists more broadly outside the walls of households and clinics, so whatever we can do to influence that makes a difference,” he said.
Navsaria is the founding medical director of Reach Out and Read Wisconsin and is the chair of the Board of Directors of Reach Out and Read National. The nonprofit works directly with pediatric care providers to share the lifelong benefits that result from families reading aloud to their children every day.
“The more that children are exposed to books and shared reading as a daily reality, the more likely they are to become fluent readers, and that feeds directly into a higher likelihood of being successful in school. Then, of course, that affects their life, life course, health, and well-being in so many ways,” he explained. “If parents themselves weren’t read to or read to frequently, they may not know how to do reading with a young squirming toddler. We need to do that intentional skill building and support with those parents. Whatever we can do to help and build those strong bonds, that is where we are going to see the best outcomes.”
Navsaria was recently appointed by President Biden to serve on the National Museum and Library Services Board. He admits the board is “not the sort of thing a physician usually ends up on,” but he is thrilled to serve and share his experience as a pediatrician, public health practitioner, and early literacy advocate.
His advice to students who are interested in pursuing an MS/LIS is that the degree can be a route to thinking about the world in different ways.
“I remember a moment when I was hearing about reference interview in one of my foundational LIS classes, and I thought to myself, ‘Wait a minute: open-ended questions, closed-ended questions, etc. This is exactly how we do medical interviewing.’ That led me to the conclusion that on some level, if you set aside procedures and prescriptions, medicine is ultimately a really specialized form of librarianship,” said Navsaria. “People are coming to us wanting information and guidance on how to interpret the information. You can apply an LIS degree to so much of what’s out there in the world and really enrich those other fields of study in so many ways.”
Navsaria combines love of pediatrics and early literacy
“
...if you set aside procedures and prescriptions, medicine is ultimately a really specialized form of librarianship.”
Lorraine Haricombe (MS/LIS ’88, PhD ’92) is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumna Award. This award is given to an alum who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of library and information science. Haricombe serves as vice provost and director of the University of Texas Libraries, where she provides strategic leadership for twelve library collections, including several storage facilities. Haricombe is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and a past president of the ARL.
Yasmeen Shorish (MS/LIS ’11) is the recipient of the Leadership Award, which is given to an alum who has graduated in the past ten years and shown leadership in the field. Shorish is the head of scholarly communications strategies and an associate professor at James Madison University. She also serves as special advisor to the dean on equity initiatives. Shorish is a member of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Board of Directors.
Deborah Stevenson is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. This award is given to an individual who has served ISAA or the School in an exceptional way. Stevenson served as director of the Center for Children’s Books (CCB) and editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books prior to her retirement in 2021. She was a mentor to generations of students preparing to be youth services librarians, book reviewers, and researchers.
iSchool alumni Jean Wilkins (MS/LIS ’85) and Patricia Boze (MS/LIS ’88) have been named Illinois Library Luminaries by the Illinois Library Association (ILA). This distinction honors individuals who have made a significant contribution to Illinois libraries.
Wilkins served as director of the Illinois State Library from 1999-2004, capping a career at the State Library that began in 1980. She was a tremendous force for supporting statewide programs to benefit all types of Illinois libraries. She established the Synergy Leadership Program, Illinois Digital Archives, Project Next Generation, Cataloging Maintenance
Center, OCLC Group Services Agreement, and Try-It! Illinois. She also expanded other significant programs, such as the Illinois Center for the Book and the Talking Book and Braille Service. Her incredibly warm personality endeared her to many throughout the years, including Illinois State Library employees and state government officials and employees.
Boze, who passed away in 2020, has been posthumously inducted as an Illinois Library Luminary. She was described as a renaissance librarian who valued libraries as places where
individuals and communities could come together and work toward a common goal, enriching the lives of Illinois residents. These values were reflected in her work on programs for the Lincoln Trail Library System and at the Illinois State Library, the latter from which she retired in 2018. During her tenure at the Illinois State Library, Boze utilized her knowledge and professional skills to help Illinois residents on all levels of service: individuals, librarians, library systems, and trustees.
As a single parent raising two young children, Stephanie Dietrich (MS/ LIS ’18) needed a career where she could balance her family life and work life. After working with foster families in Chicago on the Children’s Supplement Security Income (SSI) Project, she also knew that she wanted a career where she could serve her community. Dietrich, who holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology, decided to make the jump to public education, returning to school for her MS/LIS degree with a K-12 teaching certification.
Now, Dietrich is the director of the Barb City STEAM Team, a 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) located on the campus of Northern Illinois University that provides enrichment opportunities and homework help for students in high-poverty situations. As the director, she plans programming, oversees the day-to-day operations, and assists in connecting families to resources.
“Our students are deserving, but they have not always had all of the opportunities students in other communities have had,” said Dietrich. “We get to provide a safe space for them to explore their interests in STEAM and help them find success in school. NIU STEAM has done something really innovative by operating their 21st CCLC program on campus instead of at the middle schools. This allows us to connect our students and families with all the resources we have on campus.”
Dietrich credits the iSchool with allowing her to explore multiple avenues and providing her with the education and skills to successfully transition from a librarian and licensed educator to a director of a CCLC program.
“Robert Burger’s class taught me financial management and strategic planning. Melissa Wong taught me how to be creative and keep students engaged.
And, Martin Wolske helped me realize that I still have that same passion and purpose that drove me into social work over twenty years ago,” she said.
Dietrich advises current students to take time to get to know the iSchool faculty and staff as well as their peers.
“I have developed relationships with many of the professors I had at the iSchool, and we continue to have conversations about librarianship, teaching, emerging technologies, and best practice. These connections have been a vital piece of my success,” she said.
Outside of work, Dietrich enjoys spending time with her son and daughter, who is now a student at UIUC. She also looks forward to weekend camping adventures with her husband and dog.
Zoë Kaler (MS/IM ’18) serves as a senior user experience (UX) designer for the national digital services firm West Monroe. She credits the iSchool with preparing her for a rapidly changing technology landscape.
Where do you work and what is your role? I am a senior user experience (UX) designer for West Monroe in Chicago. My job duties include working with stakeholders to understand the project and the problem at hand and then working with my team to
my designs on a live website, I could hardly contain my excitement. It was a Smart Meter Rollout Map of Missouri for Ameren. com. I was like, “Hey, I made that!” It was so cool and made me feel important.
What do you see as the most important impact of your work?
UX adds the most value to product development by advocating for the user and including them in the design process. The earlier we get feedback, the earlier we
students accordingly. I was exposed to so many technologies as an MS/IM student, and once I entered the tech world, I was ready to adapt when necessary.
What advice would you like to share with
As Perry Diggs pondered the next step in his academic journey, he asked some of his former professors for advice. Recognizing his love of research and archiving, they encouraged Diggs to consider a degree in library and information science. Now enrolled in the MS/LIS online (Leep) program, Diggs is grateful for their counsel as well as for the support he has received through the iSchool’s George S. Bonn Scholarship.
“I feel honored to have received this money because sometimes balancing
my academic goals with the financial practicality can be hard. The scholarship has been a major benefit to helping me continue my studies,” he said.
Diggs earned his bachelor’s degree in African American studies from Chicago State University. After completing his MS/ LIS, he would like to work at a museum or research library. In the future, Diggs hopes to earn a doctorate in history and become a professor like his scholarship’s namesake, George Bonn, who served as a professor of library science in the 1970s.
“While I have learned some really great things about archives, I have to say that I have also been really impressed with how
my eyes have been opened to a host of other topics, such as diversity,” he said.
A music lover and history buff (especially African American history), Diggs has been a vinyl collector for about 25 years. He admits to being a sucker for vintage equipment as well. For someone interested in archiving, it’s the perfect combination.
“I want to thank all of the donors for their support. I don’t know if they really realize how significant their benevolence is for students who are trying to reach their goals. It inspires me to do my best and to make sure I pay it forward whenever I can,” said Diggs.
When you support iSchool students, you can change the course of someone’s life. Every gift, large or small, matters.
For more information about giving to the iSchool, or to make a gift, visit go.ischool.illinois.edu/give.
Student support provides valuable financial assistance and maintains the excellence of our top-ranked academic programs. Here are just a few ways your gift can make an impact.
Gifts support a wide range of activities that supplement academic studies and promote the professional development of our students.
Provides emergency financial assistance for students enrolled in the iSchool.
Provides scholarship assistance to students in the iSchool.
Your gift makes a difference in the educational experience of our students.
“ It inspires me to do my best and to make sure I pay it forward whenever I can . ”
When planning their estate, Emily (MS/LIS ’77) and David (MS/LIS ’83) Batista wanted to give back to the university that prepared them for their successful careers as librarians. For this reason, the Batistas’ $1.2 million estate gift to the University of Illinois will be directed to the iSchool and University Library.
“We have no children, so when we began to discuss our estate planning, we agreed to split our joint assets between the University of Illinois and Iowa State University,” said Emily, who earned her bachelor’s degree in German from Iowa State before earning her MS/LIS from Illinois. “We both enjoyed our careers as librarians, and we both felt strongly about the importance of the academic library within the university. Our education at Illinois was a great foundation for our successful careers.”
After graduating with her MS/LIS, Emily worked as a reference librarian in a public library in the Chicago suburbs. She was quickly promoted to assistant director and managed the library’s conversion to automated circulation. After two years, she accepted a position at another library, where she managed their move to online circulation. This experience prompted her return to the University of Illinois, where she earned her MBA, majoring in management information systems, and David, who held a JD, pursued his MS/LIS.
The couple moved from Illinois to St. Paul, Minnesota, where David worked as a law librarian, and Emily worked at the State Law Library. Soon after, they moved to Philadelphia, where both accepted positions with the University of Pennsylvania—David with the Biddle Law Library and Emily with the Lippincott Library of the Wharton School of Business.
“I started at Penn as a business reference librarian at the Lippincott Library, but after three years, I was promoted to the head of circulation of the main library, where I, once again,
managed the transition from one circulation system to another,” said Emily.
She worked at Penn for 37 years in a variety of roles, including interim director of library systems, head of resource sharing services, and head of access services. Since her retirement in 2021, Emily has enjoyed traveling, exploring Philadelphia with her walking club, sewing quilts, reading with her book clubs, and following the Philadelphia Phillies. David left Penn in 1990 for Rutgers Law School-Camden, where he obtained tenure as an associate professor and served as the faculty research services librarian. He passed away from cancer in 2018.
The iSchool fund created by the Batistas’ estate gift will support faculty, staff, and graduate student professional development.
“We wanted to support the program that gave us our opportunities to become librarians and also to support the University Library because we believed in its mission,” said Emily. “We both worked in the library at different points in our education and know that the University of Illinois has one of the premier libraries in the country as well as the top information program. Libraries and librarians are more vital than ever, and it’s important to support the institutions that educate
future leaders.”
our
“ Libraries and librarians are more vital than ever, and it’s important to support the institutions that educate our future leaders ”
DECADE: 1960s
Rebecca (Becky) Wetzel (MS/LIS ’69) passed away on September 23, 2022.
DECADE: 1970s
Ruth Van Kirk (MS/LIS ’72) passed away on May 3, 2022.
After 35 years working as a freelance indexer, Virgil P. Diodato (PhD ’81) is volunteering in medical services.
Ann-Marie Horcher (MS/LIS ’81) joined Northwood University in Midland, Michigan, as an associate professor in computer science and the program lead for developing the new cybersecurity program.
Mary Kirby Johnson (MS/LIS ’81) retired from her position as adjunct reference and instruction librarian at Rogue Community College in White City, Oregon, in June 2020.
Beth McNeil (MS/LIS ’89) is president-elect of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).
Carol Tenopir (PhD ’84) retired after 27 years as a professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Mark Tucker (PhD ’83) co-edited, with Mark McCallon, The Academic Library in the United States: Historical Perspectives.
DECADE: 1990s
Nancy Driscoll Bishop (MS/LIS ’90) passed away on July 12, 2022.
Paul Cauthen (MS/LIS ’91) retired from the University of Cincinnati in 2020 as assistant music librarian emeritus.
Anita Coleman (PhD ’96) authored a chapter in Collection Development in Theological Libraries.
Melanie Kimball (MS/LIS ’98, PhD ’03), associate professor at Simmons University, has received the University Award for Service from Simmons.
Jennifer Erica Sweda (MS/LIS ’94) is an editorial specialist for Merck.
Lynne M. Thomas (MS/LIS ’99) was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine for Uncanny Magazine.
Alex Todd (MS/LIS ’95) has been elected to the Illinois Library Association (ILA) Executive Board.
DECADE: 2000s
Jenny Benevento (MS/LIS ’05) wrote a literature review for the new book, Stuck? Diagrams Help.
The Missoula (MT) Public Library has named its newly expanded People’s Terrace in honor of its retired director, Honore Bray (MS/LIS ’05)
Olha Buchel (MS/LIS ’01) is a postdoctoral researcher at the New England Complex Systems Institute.
Katherine Chandler (MS/LIS ’06) is assistant professor, special collections cataloger, at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.
Eric Edwards (MS/LIS ’06) is president-elect of Health Science Librarians of Illinois (HSLI) and vice-chair/chair-elect of the ACRL Chapters Council.
Joshua Finnell (MS/LIS ’07) was promoted to full professor in the University Libraries at Colgate University.
In November, Diane Foote (MS/LIS ’06) retired as executive director of the ILA.
Beth German (MS/LIS ’09) is the assistant director for assessment and user experience at the Princeton University Library.
Kevin Hawkins (MS/LIS ’03) is program director for the Opioid Industry Documents Archive.
Kate Fultz Hollis (MS/LIS ’04) works for the medical school at Oregon Health and Science University. She co-edited the 8th edition of Health Informatics.
Lindsay King (MS/LIS ’08) is head of the Bowes Art and Architecture Library at Stanford University.
Stacey Knight-Davis (MS/LIS ’01) has received the President’s Award from HSLI.
Martin Kong (MS/LIS ’05) is a library services coordinator for the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois.
Roman Koshykar (MS/LIS ’01) is the engineering, technology, and sustainability librarian at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Lisa Mackinder (nee Sibert) (MS/LIS ’07) is assistant director of systemwide licensing and collection services for the California Digital Library.
Sarah McHone-Chase (MS/LIS ’05) has been elected vice-president/president-elect of the Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries (IACRL).
Amanda McLellan (MS/LIS ’08) is director of Thomas Library at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.
Caroline Nappo (MS/LIS ’08, PhD ’15) and Edward Remus (MS/LIS ’10) co-presented at the Heterodox Academy’s annual conference.
Safiya Noble (MS/LIS ’09, PhD ’12) will receive the Privacy Champion Award from the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Scott Reece (MS/LIS ’06) is the e-resources librarian at Central New Mexico Community College.
Colin Rhinesmith (PhD ’04) is the founder and director of the Digital Equity Research Center at the Metropolitan New York Library Council.
DECADE: 2010s
Jess Alexander (MS/LIS ’13) received the Youth Services Librarian of the Year Award from the ILA.
Mary Baker (MS/LIS ’16) was promoted to lead at Bain & Company.
Treasa Bane (MS/LIS ’17) is the copyright and scholarly communications librarian at Washington University in St. Louis.
Alyson Bell (MS/LIS ’16) is associate director of advancement for stewardship and donor relations for the University of Illinois Library.
Sara Benson (MS/LIS ’17) received the 2022 Outstanding Public Engagement Award from the University of Illinois Library.
Stefanie Borntreger (MS/LIS ’17) is senior LMS applications administrator at Brandeis University.
Emily Bruce (Adams) (MS/LIS ’17) is the high school media specialist at Lincoln High School in Vincennes, Indiana.
Ben Chiewphasa (MS/LIS ’19) is the social sciences and policy librarian at Columbia University in New York City.
Jarrett Dapier (MS/LIS ’15) was elected to the board of trustees of the Freedom to Read Foundation of the American Library Association. His new picture book, The Most Haunted House in America was published by Abrams Kids.
Carla Dinnocenzo (MS/LIS ’15) is assistant department head of youth and teen services at the Palos Heights (IL) Public Library.
Julia Erlanger (MS/LIS ’14) co-authored the book, LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Children’s Librarianship: Policies, Programs, and Practices.
Itzel Jihan (MS/LIS ’19) is data governance lead at Jobcase, Inc.
EvaAnne Johnson (MS/LIS ’18) was recognized for her role in the creation, design, and completion of a new library at the Starhill Forest Arboretum.
Dustin Kelley (MS/LIS ’18) is a research and instruction librarian at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon.
Kristin Lansdown (MS/LIS ’19) is librarian and IDEA coordinator at DePaul University.
Ashley Long (MS/LIS ’19) is the recipient of the 2022 American Association of School Librarians Frances Henne Award.
Katie MacKendrick (MS/LIS ’18) is a catalog and metadata librarian at the Western History and Genealogy Department of the Denver (CO) Public Library.
Mark McCarthy (MS/IM ’18) is lead quality assurance engineer at AITS.
KatieRose McEneely (MS/LIS ’12) is an information delivery and technology analyst at Abbott.
Jhani Miller (MS/LIS ’15) has received ACRL Membership Funding for BIPOC Library Workers.
Valerie Moore (MS/LIS ’19) has received the James M. Matarazzo Rising Star Award from the Special Libraries Association.
Gail Murray (MS/LIS ’15) is the electronic resources management librarian at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York.
In May 2022, Sarah Nagle (MS/LIS ’15) published Innovation and Experiential Learning in Academic Libraries with co-editor Elias Tzoc.
Christina Norton (MS/LIS ’14) has been elected secretary of IACRL.
Hillary Rains (MS/LIS ’14) is the community engagement manager at Lincoln Library, the public library of Springfield, Illinois.
Kathy Reiser (MS/LIS ’14) is a columnist for The News-Gazette, a daily newspaper serving eleven counties in the eastern portion of Central Illinois.
Allison Riggs (MS/LIS ’18) has received the Young Adult Library Professional of the Year Award from the ILA.
Kate Rojas (MS/LIS ’14) is the courseware support specialist at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries.
Mikki Smith (PhD ’17) is a medical librarian for Guthrie, based at Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania.
Stacey Smith (MS/LIS ’15) is a senior DAM manager for Walmart.
Janet Swatscheno (MS/LIS ’14) is the digital scholarship librarian/associate director of outreach and education at HathiTrust Research Center.
Christinna Swearingen (MS/LIS ’19) is serving on the Council for Library and Network Development to improve library services in Wisconsin.
Lydia Tang (MS/LIS ’15) has been elected to a three-year Council term with the Society of American Archivists.
Kelli Trei (MS/LIS ’12) is vice-chair of the Biodiversity Heritage Library Executive Committee.
Angela Vetsch (MS/LIS ’14) is library director at Rodney A. Briggs Library at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
Kadet Alaks (MS/LIS ’21) is technical education and applied arts librarian at the College of DuPage.
María del Carmen Cifuentes (MS/LIS ’22) is an adult services specialist/DOJ accredited representative at Addison (IL) Public Library.
Zhaneille Green (MS/LIS ’21) has been selected as an Innovation Fellow by ITHAKA.
Rebecca Greenlee (MS/LIS ’21) is the community library co-coordinator for the Education Justice Project.
Connor Monson (MS/LIS ’21) serves as manager of the Champaign County History Museum in Illinois.
Fernanda Schaefer (MS/LIS ’20) is manager, enterprise metadata and taxonomy at NBCUniversal.
Olivia Warren (MS/LIS ’21) is the program coordinator for Allerton Park and Retreat Center, which is owned by the U of I.
Hollis Wittman (MS/LIS ’21) is the metadata and music library specialist at Virginia Tech and digitization manager for the journal of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States.
Emily Zerrenner (MS/LIS ’22) is a research and instructional services librarian at Salisbury University in Maryland.
We’d love to hear from you! Send us your updates as well as any employment or internship opportunities, conferences of interest, or opportunities for iSchool alumni to connect in your area.
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University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 501 East Daniel Street, MC-493 Champaign, IL 61820-6211
The iSchool will celebrate 130 years in 2023 with a series of in-person and virtual events. More information will be available on our anniversary web page: go.ischool.illinois.edu/130th
Library School Senior Class of 1926-27
equipment at University High School Library, 1944-1945
