Fall 2022 Newsletter

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Carolina@ FALL 2022 NUMBER 89 SCHOOL OF INFORMATION AND LIBRARY SCIENCE SILS Field Experiences Pages 16-17 SILS Makerspace Research Pages 14-15 2022 Commencement Pages 10-13 INSIDE THIS EDITION

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

When I write these messages each year, I am prompted to enter a period of reflection on previous school years as well as how our recent past shapes our school’s future. As I recount the accomplishments of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff through the years, I am proud of the forward progress our school continues to make in all areas of operation.

Entering The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS)’s 10th decade of education, we are stronger than ever. Over the past two years, we have faced many changes and challenges, through which our community has adapted and applied itself to create a better place for learning, research, and development.

At the end of the 2022 spring semester, we celebrated two major accomplishments for our school. First, we concluded celebrations for SILS’s 90th Anniversary. These celebrations included special homecoming events, virtual alumni lectures, faculty panels as well as Ask Me Anything webinars and more. Celebrations culminated with a day-long conference on AI and Knowledge Work, which brought together industry professionals to discuss ideas on how technology relates to management functions, diversity and inclusion, and digital wellness. Second, we hosted the ALA Committee on Accreditation Team who evaluated our master’s degree programs (MSLS and MSIS), and in June, we were notified that those degrees have been reaccredited for another 7 years by ALA.

Also in the spring semester, we were able to celebrate our school’s first in-person commencement ceremony since 2019. This year, the SILS Commencement Ceremony was held in the Dean E. Smith Center for the first time ever, which allowed us to safely accommodate the family and friends of our growing student population.

We began the Fall 2022 semester with increased enrollment in our master’s programs – a reflection of the continued demand for well-rounded information and library professionals. We’ve also adapted our master’s program curriculum to include a practicum project option aimed at providing students the opportunity to capstone their class room education by applying knowledge to a hands-on professional project.

Our faculty continue to work on innovative research projects and publications, expanding our understanding of information and library science concepts. Their work, as you will see highlighted in this publication, has continued impact for our local community and beyond. Furthermore, we continue to attract talented faculty and staff who support our school and provide an exceptional educational experience for our students.

As the fall semester continues, I am elated to say that in-person events have returned to our unit. We hosted our 2nd Annual SILS Homecoming Open House to bring together current students, alumni, faculty, staff, and prospective students to explore the current research work and curriculum, technology, and facilities of our school. Thank you to all who attended this year’s homecoming celebrations. If you did not get the chance to attend our homecoming open

The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) 2

house this year, I encourage you to return for future celebrations as we grow our incredible alumni network.

In September, we hosted David S. Ferriero, 10th Archivist of the United States, to deliver the 2022 Henderson Lecture. This year, the Henderson Lecture was delivered in a conversational format, during which I sat down with David to discuss his experience in libraries and his work to increase access of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) by putting the federal government on a path to becoming completely digital. I am confident that the words and wisdom he shared during this event will help aspiring professionals of our field understand the current needs of our industry. The event is available to view on the SILS YouTube channel.

Our student organizations are rebuilding after dormant years during remote periods of the Covid-19 pandemic. Outstanding student leaders work daily to rebuild these groups for their fellow students. The Information and Library Science Student Association (ILSSA), the umbrella student organization at SILS, has returned to full operation and programming for our students. I look forward to assisting our student groups as they continue to revamp.

This winter, we will conclude development efforts for The Campaign for Carolina, which officially ends on December 31st, 2022. We thank our generous donors who have contributed to this initiative to support our students during their educational journey as well as help us to shape the future of our school. I am incredibly grateful to say that our campaign goal was met and over 800 SILS alumni made gifts towards this campaign. If you would like to be part of this historic campaign or are interested in supporting funding opportunities at SILS, there is still time to participate in The Campaign for Carolina.

We also kindly thank the donors who participated in Spring 2022’s GiveUNC event, a university-wide day of giving. On this day, donors helped SILS exceed our goal of 90 gifts in one day in honor of our school’s 90th Anniver sary.

With the academic year just beginning, I am optimistic about what lies ahead for our school, and I am in awe of what our students, faculty, staff, and alumni have already accomplished. SILS success is defined by our community, and I thank you for your continued support of our school.

This edition of our annual SILS newsletter shares more stories demonstrating our commitment to developing information professionals at the forefront of modern industry practices. I hope you will enjoy reading highlights, news, and developments from SILS in the following pages.

Dean and Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor
Over 90 Years of Informed Impact | Fall 2022 3

Letter from the SILSAA President

Dear SILS Community and Friends,

As we begin another academic year on campus, I reflect on how the quiet of campus over the last 2 academic years has shifted. Even walking down Franklin St. recently there was a marked difference. The energy has returned, new faces, bright smiles, friends catching up over YoPo, and discovering new places to spend their non-academic hours. The SILS community’s return to Manning Hall in the Spring is even more lively and full this Fall. The pandemic has been an incredibly challenging environment to learn and work within however it forced us to look and create a broader SILS community in new ways beyond the grounds of the campus. It afforded us opportunities to connect with alumni near and far in virtual means through our Alumni Lecture Series, Career Treks, and other events that brought your voice back into the SILS community. I am excited that many of these events will stay and other new forms will be created to meet the needs of our current class of students.

As your 2022-2023 SILS Alumni Association (SILSAA) president, I would like to take a moment to introduce you to this year’s board members: Jamin Friday (Vice Pres ident/President-Elect), Meaghan O’Riordan (Treasurer), Samira Akpan (Communications Director), Erin Carter (Past President), Meggie Lasher (Secretary), Alex Poole (Diversity Representative), and Andrew Blake (ILSSA Representative). This high-energy group is passionate about supporting the SILS community and represents in degrees both the library and information sciences. More importantly, we look forward to inviting you back to campus whether it is one of our in-person events or as we continue to build and enhance our virtual offering that connects alumni and friends of SILS to current students.

In the words of Coretta Scott King, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” With that I ask you for a favor this year, reflect on and share your love of SILS. Join us on the listserv, Linkedin, and Facebook groups to share a favorite SILS memory and volunteer to speak to our SILS community through the many events planned and coordi nated by our fantastic SILS faculty and staff. Reach out to Lori Haight, our Director of Career Services, to share career advice and job postings in support of our current students. Apply for a board position at our next alumni board election or provide monetary support of the wide array of SILS programs with a reach out to Anne Webb, our Associate Dean of Development. It is never too little or too late to get involved and we appreciate your continued support and partnership as representatives of SILS in your communities.

On behalf of the SILS Alumni Association board, I send our best wishes for the fall season to our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends. Go Heels!

Warm Regards,

Anita Jotwani (BSIS ‘05)

SILSAA President

SILS Alumni Inclusion and Diversity (SAID) Committee Member

UNC ACRED Committee Member

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Anita Jotwani

Dean & Cary C. Boshamer

Distinguished Professor 919.962.8363 gary@ils.unc.edu

ANNE WEBB

Associate Dean for Development 919.962.3499 Anne_Webb@unc.edu Online Gifts Visit giving.unc.edu/gift/sils Checks

Make checks payable to UNC-Chapel Hill and notate “SILS” or a specific SILS fund name or number in the memo line. Mail your check to: UNC School of Information and Library Science PO Box 309 Chapel Hill, NC 27514-0309

The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) publishes this news magazine annually for the School’s alumni and friends to share school updates, accomplishments, and other messages.

Design and composition of the 2022 edition of the SILS annual newsletter by Sammantha Dellaria, Communica tions Coordinator.

IN THIS ISSUE

New Faces at SILS .............................................................................. 6

Stephanie Haas Retires.....................................................................7

Master’s Programs Re-Accreditation & Master’s Practicum Launches .............................................................................................. 8

Lori Haight Receives UCS Award, Tressie McMillan Cottum elected to ASA council .................................................................... 9

Commencement & Awards Announcements ................ 10-13

Feature Story – Makerspace Updates: Research in Action & Equity in the Making ............................................................... 14-15

Feature Story – Inside the SILS Field Experiences 16-17

New CHIP Research Grants to Improve Maternal Health and Cancer Treatment for Veterans ............................................ 18-19

CTP Launches at SILS .................................................................... 20

CITAP Round-up & Meet the Postdocs .................................... 21

David Gotz Receives NSF Grant ................................................. 22

The Effects of SEO on Propaganda ........................................... 23

Claudia Gollop Passes Away ....................................................... 24

School Notes & In Memorium .................................................... 25

Campaign for Carolina Impact Report

Giving to SILS

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of Informed Impact | Fall 2022 5
90 Years
Vamsy
The
and
Opportunities ............................................................................ 26-27 Page 16: Learn more about SILS Student Field Experiences. SILS second year CaTAs (from left to right) Andrew Price, Brianna Thompson, Darvin Heo, and
Marni with SILS Dean Gary Marchionini (center). CB #3360, 100 Manning Hall Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3360 GARY MARCHIONINI
Learn more about opportunities for giving to SILS by contacting:

New Faces at SILS

If you’ve stopped by Manning Hall recently, you’ll have noticed many new faces or heard some new names. SILS is excited to introduce you to new staff and faculty who have recently started. They work hard in their roles to ensure students have a great

them here!

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The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Wendy Andrews Associate Dean of Finance & Administration Khayana Millner Administrative Support Specialist Kaitlyn Marlowe Student Services Specialist Courtney Jordan-Steele Practicum & Engagement Coordinator Nico Dubreuil Desktop Support & Help Desk Manager Sammantha Dellaria Communications Coordinator Andrea Lopez Communications & Proj ect Coordinator, CITAP Addie Griffin Program Coordinator, CHIP Erika Takeda Program Coordinator, CHIP J. Scott Babwah Brennen Head of Online Expression, CTP Tracy Velez Executive Assistant, CTP Elliott Kuecker Teaching Assistant Professor experience during their time at SILS. Meet

Professor Stephanie Haas Retires

After 33 Years at SILS

Stay connected as a SILS alum!

There are many ways to keep in touch with SILS as alumni. If you have questions on how to stay connected as an alum, please feel free to reach out to us via email at contactsils@unc.edu.

SILSAA Membership

All SILS graduates become members of the SILS Alumni Association (SILSAA) automatically upon graduation.

Stephanie Haas, PhD, began teaching at SILS in the Fall of 1989. After 33 years at SILS and providing mentorship to countless students, Haas retired after the Spring 2022 semester. Prior to her retirement, she served as the Spring 2022 SILS Commencement Cere mony Speaker, offering wisdome to our new graduates.

As an award-winning teacher, she tought courses in Applications of Natural Language Processing, Systems Analysis, Database Design (including an online ver sion), and other course topics.

Her research interests focused on the representation of information, and how representations enhance or impede work processes. More specifically, she is inter ested in natural language processing: what computers do with the language people use. Her research projects studied these issues in collaboration with researchers from UNC’s Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health, examining information representation in pa tient records, and its use for improving patient care.

In 2012, she was recognized for her outstanding ser vice to SILS with the Edward G. Holley for the Good of the Order Award. Additionally, she received the Debo rah barreau Award for Teaching Excellence from SILS in 1997, 2006, 2012, and 2017. From 2005 to 2007, she held the title of Francis Carroll McColl Term Profes sor. In 1996, she was named Outstanding Information Science Teacher of the Year from the American Society for Information Science.

“Stephanie’s leadership and passion for teaching excellence will be greatly missed at SILS,” Gary Mar chionini, SILS Dean and Cary C. Boshamer Distin guished Professor, said. “She was an exemplary mentor to her colleagues and students through her years here.”

Alumni Listserv

To keep in contact with other SILS alumni and receive updates on SILS news, events, and alumni e-mails, subscribe by sending an email to contcactsils@unc.edu with the subject SUBSCRIBE. Once you have sub scribed, you can send/receive messages through sils-alumni@listserv.unc.edu.

Monthly Alumni e-Newsletters

If you are interested in receiving monthly SILS e-newsletters, which hold important alumni information such as event details, SILS news, and other featured content, please reach out to SILS Communications Coordinator Sammantha Dellaria via email at contactsils@unc.edu.

For more information, visit our website at sils.unc.edu/alumni/stay-connected.

Follow us on the below social media platforms or visit our website at sils.unc.edu to find recent SILS news.

@UNCSILS
Over 90 Years of Informed Impact | Fall 2022 7
Stephanie Haas

Master’s Degree Programs Granted Continued ALA Accreditation

The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS)’s Mas ter of Science in Library Science (MSLS) and Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS) degree programs were granted continued accreditation from the American Library Association (ALA) Com mittee on Accreditation (CoA) through 2029.

“To have support from the Amer ican Library Association through continued accreditation is an honor,” SILS Dean and Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor Gary Marchionini said. “This re flects the commitment to excellence of the SILS faculty and staff who create learning experiences for our students that are innovative and

rewarding, and to the overall quality of SILS programs that meet and exceed the expectations of the library and infor mation science commu nity.”

In February 2022, the ALA CoA virtually visited SILS to meet with faculty and staff to conduct a comprehen sive review of current and future initiatives and programs at the school. SILS Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Brian Sturm led the review committee through the ALA’s visit.

“I’d like to thank Brian Sturm for his tireless dedication to prepar

ing the required materials for our accreditation visit,” Marchionini said. “I look forward to continuing the exciting work being carried out by students and faculty through our graduate programs.”

Practicum Experience Option Included in Master’s Curriculum

In the Fall 2022 semester, SILS curriculum changes have been launched to include a practicum project option in addition to the traditional thesis option. The SILS Master’s Practicum Project is divid ed into two sequential semesters. This semester, our students are participating in a practicum devel opment course during which they identify their strengths and skills, form balanced teams based on their skills and interests, and learn best practices for effective collaboration. In the Spring, each student team

will take on a practicum project where they can apply what they’ve learned and the skills they’ve devel oped to a real environment.

In August, Courtney Jor dan-Steele started at SILS as the Practicum and Engagement Co ordinator to help facilitate part nerships between students and practicum project sponsors - the organizations that host students and provide projects.

“This is an excellent opportunity for our master’s students to connect with community partners, called

sponsors, and generate new ideas or develop solutions for real-world is sues in a team-based environment,” Jordan-Steele said. “For many of our students, this experience is a chance to bring the expertise they have gained during their time with SILS to life.”

To learn more about the practi cum project experience, visit sils.unc.edu/programs/graduate/ msls/curriculum-practicum.

Interested in becoming a Practicum Project Sponsor?

If you or your organiation would like to sponsor a project for SILS Master’s students, please reach out to SILS Practicum and Engagement Coordinator Courtney Jordan-Steele via email at courtney-jordan-steele@unc.edu.

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SILS Career Services Director Lori

Haight recognized by Carolina Career Community

SILS Career Services Director Lori Haight received the 2022 Best Practices Award / Innova tion Award From Carolina Career Community (C3), a professional network that aims to serve as a key resource to all UNC-Chapel Hill faculty and staff who provide career advising to students and/or main tain employer relations.

C3 awards the Best Practices Award/Innovation Award annually to highlight an innovative and/or consistently effective career services initiative presented during the aca demic year that benefits students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Haight received the award for her successful efforts throughout the pandemic to connect iSchool career services professionals and students around the world.

“During the pandemic, she con nected with other North American iSchools to help form the Infor mation Schools and Colleagues Collaborative Network, which now consists of 15 schools that meet regularly to develop and implement large-scale educational and recruit ment events for prospective stu dents around the United States and globally,” says the CS website. “The network hosted 4 virtual recruiting events over 2 years, with a total of

Associate Professor Tressie McMillan Cottom elected to 2022-23 ASA Council

SILS Associate Professor Tressie McMillan Cottom was elected to the American Sociological Associ ation (ASA) Council in May 2022. ASA is the national professional membership association for sociol ogists and others who are interested in sociology. McMillan Cottom will serve a three-year term on the ASA Council, the elected governing body of the Association, as a Coun cil Member-at-Large.

As per ASA’s Bylaws, Council “ex ercise[s] all corporate powers and

fiduciary responsibility over the affairs of ASA and is responsible for the overall strategic direction and policymaking of the Association.”

As a Council Member-at-Large, McMillan Cottom will also serve on the Council’s Awards Committee, which is responsible for supporting the association’s awards program, including recommending to the Council relevant policy changes and liaising with the award selec tion committees.

The Council typically meets twice

25 institutions participating. The largest event, INFOcon 2021, had over 20 faculty ‘lightening talks’ on a wide variety of subjects and areas of interest in the field. The hope is for this partnership to extend for many more years into the future.”

a year to discuss ASA matters. To learn more about ASA and the ASA Council or find meeting minutes, visit www.asanet.org.

Looking for more SILS news and event information?

Check out our website sils.unc.edu for recent news and developments from the SILS communi ty. You can also find upcoming event schedules and registration information. If you have news to share with the SILS community, please email contactsils@unc.edu. Over 90 Years of Informed

Lori Haight Tressie McMillan Cottom
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Impact

Celebrating Our Graduates

The UNC School of Information and Library Science celebrated its 2021 and 2022 graduates during a May 5, 2022 commencement ceremony in the Dean E. Smith Center. This is the first year that the SILS ceremony has been held at the Smith Center.

During the ceremony, we celebrated the incredible work of our graduates as well as recognized award recipients including 2022 Distinguished Alumni Jane Williams (MSLS ‘68) who attended the event and shared words of wisdom with our graduating class.

This year’s commencement speaker was SILS Professor

Stephanie Haas. She delivered an address titled, “Tenses –The Past, The Present, and The Future.” Her advice to gradu ates included: “Notice your ‘I am here’ moments. Take a little time to savor them, and maybe reflect on what came before, and what will come next.”

SILS Dean Gary Marchionini delivered opening and closing remarks during the ceremony saying, “You can help bridge the digital divide, alleviate information poverty, empower individuals, and strengthen communities.”

SILS faculty and staff extend our congratulations to the Class of 2022 on their remarkable accomplishments.

Bachelor of Science in Information Science (BSIS) 2022 Graduates

Malarie Alexis Taylor Baldwin Anvitha Bavirisetti Kodjoga Bello Mona Boakye Jessica Boun Irena Brain Lucas Brazinski Logan Carolan Nathan Chen Siddharth Chowdary Nia Clayton Yingxin Cui Advaith Deo Mark Drewery Chad Ellis Gibson Farabow Alyssa Floyd Brian Guo Alex Hauser Adrianne Huang Jingwen Hou Adaeze Ibeanu

Doctor of Philosophy (Phd)

Kristen Laura Bowen

Kaley Johannes Jacob Koller Alexis Levister Alex Li Jason Li Yichen Li John Lickteig Chuanrui Liu Daniel Liu Pin Wen Lu Vanesa Munoz Cuevas Priya Naik Molly Nguyen Evans Orcel Maureen Osei Hemali Patel Krupa Patel Simon Post Justin Pfeifer Griffin William Robert Powell Logan Qualkenbush Benjamin Rabinowitz Bailey Roberts

Narivi Roblero-Escalante Adysen Rothman Christina Marie Samodal Aubrey Sanchez-Rojas Rebekah Seawell John Silva Ryan Sprumont Ann Stieglitz Denise Stroud Hafsah Tajammal Isaac Tymann Laura Vasquez-Ayala Ashley Wortham William Wu Cher Xiong Nishita Yadav Jojo Yang Zhiqi Yao Zi Ye Grayson Yount Yichen Yu Zackary Zeplin

“Sexual Violence, Black Survivors, & Moving Beyond Resilience: Developing Mental Health Support Spaces Based on Online Information Behavior” Advisor: Amelia Gibson

Yuanye Ma

“Relatedness and Compatibility: Semantic Dimensions of the Concept of Privacy in Mandarin Chinese and American English Corpora” Advisor: Stephanie Haas

Laura March

“Behind the Screens: Social Media Managers at Cultural Institutions” Advisor: Maggie Melo

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Find photos, videos, and more details about the SILS Class of 2022 at sils.unc. edu/event/SILS-Commencement-2022.

Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS) Graduates

Kyle Robert Ashburn

Erin Allison Black

Zinan Bo

Kaylin Rose Blount

Sarah Casteel

Anna Dallara Ian J. Daniel

Ayotade Gbade-Alabi

Jonathan Brandon Gonzalez

William Berkeley Hayes

Beliz Ilica

Alyssa Nicole James

Hyun Seo Albert Kang

Bradley H. Kwon

Melody Lin Madeline Clair Miller

Andrew Thomas Murphy Sophie Nachman

Nkechinyere Nwoko

Rachel O’Reilly

Ketan Bhushan Pandya

Yang Yolanda Qin

Lianza Isabel Reyes

Deborah Roughton

Allison Melody Ruvidich Elizabeth A. Soucaze

Emma Louise Stout

Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS) Graduates

Samantha Aamot

Sydney Michelle Adams

Jessie Zane Allison

Lindsey Joyce Baird

Zoe Elizabeth Bergmire-Sweat

Mayra Enid Bonet

Alyssa Marie Brown

Sarah Elizabeth Bulger

Courtney Ryan Casey

Rachel Ilana Cohn

Paula Andrea Damasceno

De Oliveria

Jordan Darby Green

Robin Haley

Sabrina Taylor Heck

Karyn Ann Hladik-Brown

Ashley Lyn Hull

Meredith Grace Jeffers

Ella Jordan-Smith

Alia Kempton

Sara Rose Kittleson

Katherine O. Laffoon

Julian Kai Lee Claire Mascomson

Amanda Mclaurin

Emilie Cora Menzel

Kathleen Alexis Morrison

Benjamin Lott Newgard

Abigain Leigh Pore

Claire Noelle Reinert

Constance Alina Roberts

Erica Roberts

Caroline Hana Salant

Seamus Patrick Seery III Helen Savita Sharma

Sally Katelin Downs Smith

Professional Science Master’s in Digital Curation and Management

Katrine Elizabeth Guinn

Marler Slate Tuttle III

Grace Dalton Vanfleet

Felicity Ann Terhune Walston

Xiaochen Wang

Kara Raysie Wong Ruizi Xu

Keyu Zhu

Jed M. Standen

Jade Angelique Stevenson

Marisa Nicole Stockton

William Street

Cassandra Tanks

Marco Tomaino

Anna Kathryn Twiddy

Amelia J. Verkerk

Andrew J. Wisniewsky

Julie Marie Wooldridge

Gwendolyn Suzzane Yale

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90 Years of
Impact
SILS 2022 graduates pictured in front of the Dean E. Smith Center, the location of the 2022 SILS Commencement Ceremony.

Class of 2022 Awards and Achievements

Archives & Record Management Concentration

Jessie Zane Allison

Sarah Elizabeth Bulger

Robin Haley

Ella Jordan-Smith

Jed M. Standen

William Street

Grace Dalton Vanfleet Julie Marie Wooldridge

BSIS Scholar

Adrianne Huang Hafsah Tajammal

Carolina Academic Library Associate (CALA)

Kaylin Blount Jordan Green

Cassandra Tanks Felicity Walston Kara Wong Carolina Technology Associate (CaTA)

Beliz Ilica Madeline Clair Miller

Dean’s Achievement Award

Emma L. Stout

“Public-Private Partnerships for Digitization: A Case-Study of UNC Libraries and Ancestry” Paper Advisor: Melanie Feinberg

Diversity Advocate Certificate

Mayra Enid Bonet Erica Roberts

Elfreda Chatman Research Award

Allison Ruvidch

Environmental Protection Agency Library Internship

Lindsey Baird Allison Ruvidich Sally Katelin Smith

Isaac and Rita Chao Fellowship

Elizabeth A. Soucaze

Lester Asheim Fellowship

Yuanye Ma Laura March Lianza Isabel Reyes

2022 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient

Jane Williams (MSLS ’68) has held senior man agement positions in academic libraries, public libraries, a state library agency, and a library-related federal commission, the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. In all the librar ies and agencies that Jane has served, she has pro gressively moved up that organization’s ladder. For

At the Public Library of Charlotte, she moved from serving as a reference librarian to becoming assistant library director for library operations, services, and personnel. She began her work at the State Library of North Carolina as a public library consultant and left that agency after serving as State Librarian for three years. She served as a manage ment consultant for the National Commission of Libraries and Information Sciences’ 1991 White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services.She completed her 9-year stint at that agen cy by serving as its Acting Director. When the Com mission was combined with other agencies to create

Michael Hooker Fellowship in Applied Networking

Jonathan Brandon Gonzalez

Margaret Ellen Kalp Fellowship

Courtney Ryan Casey

Emilie Cora Menzel

Mae Rodney Fellowship

Kristen Laura Bowen

Outstanding Service to the School Award

Angelique Stevenson

SILS-AA Award (2022)

Caroline Hana Salant

Special Library Fellowship

Alyssa Marie Brown

the Institute of Muse um and Library Ser vices, she joined the Senior Management team at the University of Maryland-College Park’s Libraries serving as their ARL library’s Senior Administrative Librarian and Director of Planning and Ad ministrative Services.

She has also exempli fied leadership with her long-term commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. She served on the ALA’s Committee on the Status of Women from 2011-2013 and authored several articles and book chapters on increasing organizational diversity as early as 2004. Mentoring colleagues has been a core element of her career.

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Faculty Recognition

2022 Deborah Barreau Award for Teaching Excellence

Francesca Tripodi (Faculty Award) Elizabeth Ott (Adjunct Award)

2022 Edward G. Holley for the Good of the Order Award

Susan Sylvester Francesca Tripodi (Staff Award) (Faculty Award)

SILS Alum Meredith Evans (PhD ‘06) Delivers UNC Doctoral Hooding Ceremony Keynote Address

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill honored more than 500 doctoral graduates from across campus during a ceremony held in the Dean E. Smith Center featuring keynote speaker and SILS alum Meredith Evans (‘06 Ph.D.), who encouraged graduates to be open to continued learning.

Evans is an archivist, historian, scholar, and the director of the Jimmy Carter Library and Muse um in Atlanta, Georgia.

“We need different perspectives to strengthen community and democracy,” she said during her address. “Our differences will strengthen us if we focus on our shared humanity and less on the things that divide us.”

Evans emphasized the shared responsibility that comes with obtaining a doctoral degree.

Over 90 Years of Informed Impact | Fall 2022 13
The SILS commencement ceremony traditionally includes the presentation of the Deborah Barreau Award for Teaching Excellence. This year, SILS also recognized faculty and staff members with the Edward G. Holley for the Good of the Order Award. Francesca Tripodi Elizabeth Ott SILS Alum Meredith Evans (PhD ‘06) delivers the doctoral hooding ceremony address in the Dean E. Smith Center. Photo captured by Elizabeth Poindexter. Susan Sylvester

Informed Community Impact

ogy, engineering, arts, and math) makerspace program at Durham County Library.”

While reaching out to the SILS alumni who work at Durham County Library, Melo developed an under standing of the Durham community’s science, technol ogy, engineering, and math (STEM) programming needs, with specific attention to un derserved populations.

“Usually, when we think of STEM programming, we think of kids and teaching them how to code or work with different technologies or robotics,” Melo said. “But for Durham County Library, their major underserved population was mature adults. So, we began to think about programming that could showcase their STEAM lab and our research.”

Research in Action & Equity in the Making

For some, working with new technologies can be an intimidating feat. For SILS Assistant Professor Maggie Melo and SILS graduate student researchers, their current research seeks to understand why this reaction happens in techno logical environments and how to reduce this apprehension.

In late summer 2022, Melo and student researchers from her Equity in the Making (EITM) Lab held workshops in Durham County Library’s Innovation Lab to teach mature adult audiences how to use makerspace technology.

The workshops are an effort to apply research findings from Melo’s Equity In The Making (EITM) Lab’s research study, which is currently

underway and is using a virtu al reality makerspace to identify thoughts and impressions of under represented communities as they approach and decide to use or not to use makerspaces. The project is funded by a $715k NSF grant awarded to Melo in 2020. The overall goal of the research project is to identify ways that makerspac es can become more inclusive and equitable.

“One major goal of our grant project is to put research into ac tion. So, thinking of ways that mak erspaces can be inclusive,” Melo said. “We began to think about our surrounding community but also our connections – two SILS alum run the STEAM (science, technol

Melo and EITM student research ers programmed workshops geared towards adults aged 55 years and up from local senior living and assisted living communities using Durham County Library’s Innovation Lab, which features equipment such as 3D printers, CNC Milling ma chines, a laser cutter, a Cricut and more.

During the workshops, attendees were tasked with creating keepsake boxes which were put together us ing different materials that required the use of the various fabrication tools within the Innovation Lab. This provided workshop attendees with an understanding of how to use and apply the various technol ogy in the lab through a hands-on approach while in a setting of their peers to reduce apprehension.

“There is an interest in technol ogy, and there is no age limit. But there is also no age limit when it

The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) 14
SILS Assistant Professor Maggie Melo’s EITM Lab facilitates Durham workshops to spread STEM knowledge among mature adult communities. Yu Lee An helps a workshop attendee assemble a keepsake box using technolo gy in the Innovation Lab makerspace at Durham County Library.

comes to intimidation of technol ogy. So, some of the participants mentioned that they were happy that it was a class strictly for mature adults because makerspaces read as being used by kids or college-aged users,” Melo said. “Instead of open ing the program to everyone, we wanted to make sure it was for an audience of mature adults so they feel they are among their peers and that they could take these creative risks without being judged or as sessed.”

SILS PhD student and EITM researcher Yu Lee An helped to facilitate the workshops, along with fellow SILS students and EITM re searchers Rachel Rodney and Hao Zhang. According to An, the EITM researchers tailored the workshop to meet the specific needs of the underserved population they were working with to help them learn best.

“We were meeting them at their level,” An said. “So, we weren’t in troducing them to technologies that were overwhelming, but bringing them technology on a level that they could appreciate.”

An added that throughout the course of the workshops, attendees

became more comfortable ap proaching and trying other tools in the lab.

“By the time we finished the workshop, the attendees wanted to learn more,” An said. “Once they could get over that initial fear, I think people were really excited about what they could do with these technologies.”

In the future, the EITM Lab also plans to bring makerspace technol ogy into an assisted living commu nity to hold a mobile workshop for attendees who are unable to travel, making the learning experience more accessible.

To learn more about the EITM project and lab, visit eitm.unc.edu.

About the Equity in the Making Lab Research

The focus of the Equity in the Making: Investigating Spatial Arrangements of Makerspaces and Their Impact on Diverse User Populations project is to learn more about how to foster equity and inclusion for un derrepresented students within makerspaces. Through the new VR makerspace, the lab will conduct a study to capture real-time reactions, thoughts, and impressions of underrep resented students entering a makerspace for the first time.

“What we are seeing is that usually students from these underrepresented communities will walk up to a makerspace and turn away at the threshold,” Melo said. “The virtual reality makerspace will allow us to collect real-time data that cap tures students’ reactions, their feelings, and their thoughts at the threshold. There are these gut reactions that students are making to determine whether they enter the space or not.”

Those “gut reactions” are exactly what the EITM team plans to document within their study with the intention that these instant responses can provide insight as to how and why unrepresented students decide to enter makerspaces or not. In the larger conversation on STEM equity and represen tation, the research project will hope to pinpoint ways to adapt makerspaces to be more acces sible and inclusive for under represented students.

The research project is fund ed for five years.

Rachel Rodney helps an attendee use the wood burner technology.
Over 90 Years of Informed Impact | Fall 2022 15
EITM Lab researchers (from left to right) Hao Zhang, Maggie Melo, Rachel Rodney, and Yu Lee An at the Durham Coutny Library.

A Look Inside the SILS Field Experiences

SILS is proud to partner with many local organizations and companies who provide field experiences for our students through industry-focused and hands-on learning and development projects.

There is no better way to learn than to do. Each year, SILS students participate in a variety of field experiences that immerse them in hands-on learning opportunities in professional settings that interest them. The number of field experi ence programs at SILS is growing to allow even more students the opportunity to engage and apply the knowledge they acquire in the classroom to professional work and bolster their portfolios.

The Environmental Protection Agency – Research Triangle Park Library Internship

For over 45 years, SILS has partnered with the Enivronmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Re search Triangle Park (RTP) Library to provide internship experienc es for SILS students. In its fifth decade, the EPA – RTP Library internship program has employed over 400 SILS interns to work in rotations that provide experience in reference, serials/e-resources, interlibrary loans, cataloguing and more. The experience allows SILS students to learn more about man aging libraries and archives.

“In only a few short months, working at EPA has already under scored to me that no two libraries are the same: the purpose of an institution informs the values of its library, and those values in turn inform the daily practices of the institution’s librarians,” Current EPA Library Intern Alanna Natan son (MSLS) said. “In my current rotation shepherding new docu ments from the government agency through publication, I have seen

how the federal govern ment carries out its respon sibilities to the public through research and poli cymaking.

As an add ed bonus, EPA has already informed some of my class projects for the semester and potentially even my thesis paper topic.”

Interns are funded through a fed eral contract granted to SILS, which also allows SILS to hire a full-time staff to oversee and manage the library. The EPA – RTP Library supports approximately 3,000 researchers and contractors at the RTP site and other EPA locations.

“Every May, our graduates leave the program telling me how much this experience has improved their ability to land coveted professional positions in their chosen fields,” EPA-RTP Library Director Antho ny Holdereid said. “I am often told by students that the EPA internship, and the opportunities it provides, is one of the key considerations for why they chose SILS over another program.”

The Carolina Academic Library Associates (CALAs)

Another long-standing field expe rience offered to SILS students, the

Carolina Academic Library Associ ates (CALA) program is a collabo ration between University Libraries at UNC-Chapel Hill and SILS. CALAs are selected each year from UNC SILS’s incoming graduate class and are assigned to different departments within UNC-Chapel Hill’s libraries.

Selected students work for two years in the program through the duration of their graduate degree work at SILS. During their time as CALAs, the students not only work within the campus libraries but also receive mentoring through career strategy sessions and networking opportunities.

The opportunity to work in large-scale academic libraries has inspired alumni of the program to develop as young library profes sionals.

The Carolina Technology Associ ates (CaTAs)

Carolina Technology Associates (CaTAs) work in Manning Hall

The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) 16
Second year CaTAs (left to right) Andrew Price, Brianna Thompson, Darvin Heo, & Vamsy Marni with SILS Dean Gary Marchionini (center).

directly providing support to SILS and SILS students. Through this experience, CaTAs have assisted in managing the SILS Help Desk, which supports all IT functions at SILS.

CaTAs work closely with SILS IT staff in assisting the SILS fac ulty, students, and staff with their information technology needs. The duties include staffing the VR Lab, working on special technolo gy-related projects, and answering questions at the Help Desk about a wide variety of software packages and IT services. Lab Assistants gain valuable first-hand knowledge of computer applications and tech nologies while learning customer service, troubleshooting, and com munication skills.

Each CaTA takes on long-term and various short-term information technology projects during their appointment, providing them with a range of hands-on experiences providing a deeper understanding of the IT field.

“As a CATA, we get to work on projects that align with our in terests and career goals,” Current CaTA Vamsy Marni (MSIS) said. “On top of that, we get to handle various situations that might arise in our future careers. Thus, the ex perience and training we’re getting is invaluable.”

The CaTAs typically hold their appointment for two academic years, which strengthens their abil ity to work together as colleagues, according to Marni.

“I applied for the CaTA role as I found it to be a dynamic role where I can hone my skills in the field of Information Science,” Marni said. “Also, the role was promising to me as it provided me with an opportu nity to serve my peers and mem bers of the SILS community, who

have become an integral part of my life.”

The Ally Tech Scholars

The Ally Tech Scholars program recognizes outstanding SILS stu dents and provides an immersive educational experience.

The Ally Tech Scholar field expe rience first started in Spring 2021. At the start of each semester, Ally Financial presents various infor mation and data-focused projects to SILS students. Students apply to the project that they are interested in working on with Ally Financial. Once scholars are selected, they are placed into work groups with fellow SILS interns to complete the project.

This scholarship provides an experiential learning environment in which students can work on real-world industry projects as part of their coursework. During the field experience, SILS students receive mentorship from a SILS full-time faculty member as well as a supervising professional at Ally Financial.

“My time as an Ally Tech Schol ar was one of the highlights of my senior year at UNC. Not only did it allow me to gain real-world experi ence in the tech industry, but it also helped me connect with incredible people at Ally and within SILS,” Hafsah Tajammal (MSIS ‘22), an Ally Tech Scholar in Fall 2021, said. “I experimented with different soft ware tools, participated in weekly stand-up meetings, and gained a hands-on understanding of project management. These technical and interpersonal skills were invaluable in preparing me for job applica tions, and I was able to graduate with an offer for a role at Accenture as a Tech Architect Delivery Ana lyst.”

The partnership between Ally

Financial and SILS is currently in its fourth semester as SILS students continue to work on data collection and information organization proj ects with Ally.

The EBSCO Scholar Experience

This semester, EBSCO Infor mation Services (EIS) established the EBSCO Scholars Program, a new funded field experience part nership with SILS. MSLS student Flannery Fitch was selected as the inaugural scholar and will work on a new research database product being developed by EIS to increase understanding of the impacts of racism and support the develop ment of strategies to combat it. This resource will be made freely avail able and will be aimed at support ing instruction at the college and high school levels. EIS also antici pates that it will be used by others beyond the primary audience.

“We are grateful to EBSCO In formation Services as they provide this immersive learning opportuni ty for our students,” SILS Associate Dean for Development Anne Webb said. “We look forward to this next chapter in our continued partner ship as we bring the EBSCO Schol ars field experience to life,”

Are you or your organization interested in partnering with SILS to fund a field experience?

Please reach out to SILS Associate Dean for Develop ment Anne Webb via email at Anne_Webb@UNC.edu for more information.

Over 90 Years of Informed Impact | Fall 2022 17

Continuing Research for Improved Maternal Health and Enhanced Veteran Cancer Treatment

SILS Professor and CHIP Director Javed Mostafa has been awarded various grants to lead research projects on improving maternal morbidity rates and treatment quality for veterans diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Profes sor Javed Mostafa has been award ed grants from National Institute of Health (NIH) and The Duke En dowment to conduct two research projects centered on improving ma ternal health informatics. Mostafa will serve as the principal investiga tor (PI) for both research projects, which are anticipated to be funded for four years.

The projects support research from the Analytics and Ma chine-learning for Maternal-health Interventions (AMMI) initiative, which is a collaborative effort be tween researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, and Wake Forrest University, and aims to ad dress racial disparities in maternal mortality and morbidity through community-engaged development and implementation of machine learning technology.

Mostafa was also awarded fund ing through the United States (U.S.) Department of Defense to launch a prostate cancer support system program through the interactive Prostate Cancer Information, Com munications and Support program (iPICS). Mostafa will serve as site PI on the project which also in volves researchers from SILS, The UNC School of Nursing, and The UNC School of Medicine.

The AMMI and iPICS proj ects will involve current Caroli na Health Informatics Program (CHIP), a program housed at SILS, students as they receive hands-on

training and experience in ma chine-learning healthcare research.

“One of the translational bene fits of this work is that we have the opportunity to train the next gen eration of healthcare researchers,” Mostafa, who also serves as CHIP director, said. “These scholars will complete research at the intersec tion of healthcare, informatics, and technology.”

Learn more about each of the projects below.

AMMI and NIH: Improving communication between pro viders and expectant African American mothers for en hanced treatment

The NIH grant provides funding for AMMI researchers to develop machine-learning based technol ogy that study maternal morbidity and mortality in expectant African American mothers, who experience higher rates of maternal mortality than white expectant mothers in the U.S.

The researchers will develop a data mart by linking biological, clinical and social determinants of health data. The information in the data mart will be used to identify risk factors for conditions an tecedent to maternal mortality and translate this understanding of risk into user-facing apps designed to support individual and shared deci sion-making of patients, providers, and community support personnel.

The goal of the study is to develop an app that can be incorporated

through Epic, the hospital software program that stores patient records. By developing and incorporating the app, researchers hope to im prove communications between patients and providers, improve patient care from providers and nurses, and improve knowledge on potential health risks in expectant African American mothers.

AMMI and The Duke Endow ment: Bridging the gap be tween clinical data and social determinants of health data

With higher maternal mortal ity rates in the U.S. than other high-income nations and maternal mortality rates in North Carolina exceeding the national rate, AMMI researchers aim to develop a tool that fills information gaps on elec tronic health records (EHR) within the UNC Health hospital system.

Through grants awarded by The Duke Endowment, researchers will work closely with UNC Health to integrate a validated risk-screen ing tool to expectant mothers who seek care at UNC hospitals. The tool will incorporate social deter minant of health data (SDoH) of expectant mothers that can increase provider understanding of how to care for their patient and patient decision-making. SDoH data can include factors such as education, access to healthy food, secure hous ing, and more. Currently, SDoH data is not included in patients’ electronic health records, but can provide indicators on how to best

w
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) 18

treat patients.

The study will focus on identi fying how the tool can be imple mented into the patient screening process in a stakeholder-friendly manner for electronic use.

“This project will identify patient and provider challenges to integrat ing this screening and implement an electronic workflow that will broadly improve healthcare for ex pectant mothers that come to UNC Health,” Mostafa said.

By the end of the project, AMMI researchers expect between 80 to 100 maternity health providers at UNC Health to use this tool as part of their workflow with every prenatal patient to improve patient understanding, support and care. Additionally, the project will also serve as a model to incorporate this technology into electronic screen ing systems at other hospitals and health systems.

IPICS: Using machine learning to create personalized treatment and support for veterans with prostate cancer

Mostafa will also serve as site PI for research conducted through the interactive Prostate Cancer Information, Communication and Support (iPICS) program, which is a multidimensional, scalable and innovative eHealth supportive intervention supplementing exist ing decision aid and survivorship programs.

The iPICS project was awarded funding through the U.S. Depart ment of Defense to provide U.S. veterans diagnosed with prostate cancer a theory-based, integrated information and supportive care system that provides tailored and personalized information about localized prostate cancer, treatment

options, and their short- and longterm effects, before, during, and after treatment.

“The existing programs used to inform patients with localized prostate cancer about their treat ments are limited,” Mostafa said. “Which is why we felt the need to create a better support system for these patients, who are dealing with a long-term disease, to help them and their caregivers make more informed decisions regarding their treatment and quality of life.”

iPICS is designed to positively impact quality of life for patients diagnosed with localized prostate cancer, regardless of their health literacy or educational background, by tailoring and personalizing information and support to the individual patient.

Unlike prior programs that only include generic information, iPICS will utilize machine learning techniques to identify and integrate scientifically credible consumer health information from the public information system MedlinePlus.

In turn, patients and caregivers will receive access to accurate, current research evidence based on their treatment needs or preferences. Thus, patients will be provided with information to support their personal treatment decision-mak ing and care based on data that is unique to them.

The goal of the study is to develop a system and process that can be widely adopted in clinical settings, potentially benefiting many pros tate cancer patients, caregivers, and health care providers beyond those participating in the study.

Veterans and military members with prostate cancer will be espe cially sought out for participation in the study, to ensure that iPICS’ final design will help improve the quality of life for these patients and their family caregivers.

Learn more about CHIP research at chip.unc.edu.

Over 90 Years of Informed Impact

SILS Professor and CHIP Director Javed Mostafa (back row, third from right) pictured with CHIP student researchers outside of the UNC Health Sciences Library.
| Fall 2022 19

UNC Center on Technology Policy Launches

Housed at SILS, CTP aims to craft public policy for a better internet

The Center on Technology Policy (CTP), housed in the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), launched on April 21 and aims to offer public policy solutions that can inform lawmakers in developing tech policy. As a result, emerging technologies can be regu lated to minimize user risks and maximize benefits.

“Our goal is for the Center on Tech nology Policy to offer an affirmative vision for public policy that will improve our tech products and online content,” Matt Perault, CTP’s director and professor of the practice at SILS, said. To achieve this, CTP plans to release policy briefs, podcasts, re search papers and other materials to guide tech policy development and provide re sources to the public on informed internet technology use.

One such resource has already been published. Perault and J. Scott Babwah Brennen, who serves as head of online expression at CTP, co-authored a guide for state lawmakers about how they can regu late online content. The guide was released in tandem with the center’s launch.

“The guide offers state lawmakers prac tical and legal options for better regulating online content,” Babwah Brennan said. “As a result, states have an opportunity to address the root causes of hate speech, harassment, misinformation, illegal con tent and problematic content moderation while strengthening the institutions and infrastructures required to build healthy communication systems.”

Developing the future of technology policy professionals

Using a practitioner-oriented approach to technology policy, CTP hopes to con nect Carolina students with educational and professional opportunities in the field. The end goal? To develop the next gener ation of technology policy professionals, developers, advocates and academics.

“Through engagement with industry and government practitioners in the field, as well as close partnership with other aca demic centers, think tanks and non-profit organizations, we will help train the next leaders in tech policy,” Perault said.

CTP will provide Carolina students with opportunities to participate in the

center’s research, policy brief develop ment and events.

Building on past faculty work and experience

Perault’s work at CTP is a continu ation of his previous experience within the field of technology policy develop ment. Previously, he served as Facebook’s director of public policy and led Duke University’s Center on Science & Tech nology Policy. At Facebook, he covered issues ranging from antitrust to law en forcement to human rights and oversaw the company’s policy work on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

CTP Director & SILS Professor of the Practice Matt Perault

other technology-oriented groups across Carolina’s campus, such as the UNC Cen ter on Information, Technology and Public Life (CITAP), the UNC School of Law, and the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy.

Gary Marchionini, Dean and Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor at SILS, noted the launch of CTP within SILS aligns with the school’s mission to discover and understand the impact of information science topics on public life.

Babwah Brennen leads the center’s work on online expression, misinforma tion and political advertising. He comes to UNC-Chapel Hill from Duke University and the University of Oxford, where he led research for the Oxford Martin Pro gramme on Misinformation, Science and Media. His research has appeared in out lets, including the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, International Journal of Press/Politics, International Journal of Communication, Communication Theory, Journalism, Jour nalism Practice, and Science in Context.

Bridging disciplines from across Caroli na and beyond

CTP will build on the interdisciplinary strengths of UNC-Chapel Hill, and hopes to partner with the SILS research team and

“At SILS, we strongly believe that infor mation and technology should be used for the public good. The Center on Technol ogy Policy provides an avenue to explore questions surrounding the role technology plays in our society and its effects on the world around us,” Marchionini said. “We are honored to welcome CTP as the second center focused on the effects of technology at SILS in addition to CITAP. SILS is eager to work with CTP to help leaders craft policies that maximize human benefits and minimize powerful information technolo gies’ negative effects and implications. We look forward to the excellent research and policy work the center and its affiliates will produce for a more informed world.”

CTP is funded by Amazon, Apple, the Cisco University Research Program Fund (a corporate advised fund at Silicon Valley Community Foundation), Google, the Knight Foundation, the Charles Koch Foundation, Meta, Microsoft, the Tides Foundation, TikTok and Zoom.

To learn more about CTP, visit techpolicy.unc.edu.

“Through engagement with industry and government practitioners in the field, as well as close partnership with other academic centers, think tanks and non-profit organizations, we will help train the next leaders in tech policy.”
-Matt Perault, CTP Director
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) 20

CITAP Continues Research at the Intersection of Technology, People, and Power

Researchers at The UNC Center for Information, Technolo gy and Public Life (CITAP), a research center housed at SILS, continue to conduct research to build our understanding on the role of technology in our society. Here are some top mo ments from CITAP in 2022.

Conference on “The Capitol Coup One Year Later”

In January, along with the George Washington University Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics, CITAP co-host ed a conference titled, “The Capitol Coup One Year Later.” During the conference, CITAP Faculty Researcher and SILS Assistant Professor Francesca Tripodi joined scholars Emily Van Duyn, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Khadijah Costley White, an associate professor at Rutgers University, to address how research can assess and counter threats to democracy.

Bulletin of Technology & Public Life

In May, CITAP officially launched the Bulletin of Technology & Public Life, which centers questions of power, history, and culture in how we understand the impact of emerging technol ogies on democracy and society. Through this bulletin, CITAP provides open access to research in non-traditional formats for a public audience including journalists, technologists, policy makers, and the public. To read the bulletin, visit citap.pubpub.org.

New Affiliates and Working Themes

In August, CITAP welcomed their 2022-23 affiliate cohort of faculty, postdoctoral, professional, and graduate student affil iates. This year’s affiliates represent institutions spanning the Research Triangle and the globe, ranging from North Carolina Central University to the University of Coimbra (Portugal), Kristiania University College (Norway), University of Johan nesburg, and Oxford. They bring expertise in mis- and disin formation, health communication, surveillance, public policy, far-right media ecosystems, and more.

Plans for the cohort include developing research that follows the themes of political processes and movements; democracy & (in)equality; mis- and disinformation; and platforms, net works, and infrastructure.

To keep up with CITAP’s work, please visit citap.unc.edu.

This semester, CITAP welcomed three new postdoctoral researchers. Their interests span how people make sense of the news, to understanding the relationship between technology and democracy, to how con spracy theorists use archivists, and more.

Meet the Postdocs!
Yiping Xia Research interest: How people pay at tention to the news and make sense of it. Nanditha Narayanamoorthy Research interest: The relationship be tween technology and democracy. Yvonne Eadon
Over 90 Years of Informed Impact | Fall 2022 21
Research interest: Conspiracy theory research and online dis/misinformation.

Professor David Gotz Receives NSF Grant for Study on Data Visualizations and Causal Inferences

In August, SILS McColl Term Professor David Gotz received a $1.2 million grant from the Na tional Science Foundation (NSF) to conduct research on improving inferences that people make from data visualization.

Researchers from the Visual Analysis and Communication Lab oratory (VACLab), a research lab housed at SILS and led by Gotz, will launch a study to identify the ways in which current data visualization methods can lead people to inter pret visualized patterns as indica tors of causal relationships between visualized variables. People often make inferences of causality based on visualizations even when such conclusions are not supported by the data. This can lead people to draw the wrong conclusions even when visualizations are used to accurately represent the underlying data.

“People often look at visual izations of data and assume the relationship they’re looking at is somehow causal,” Gotz said. “How ever, current data visualizations can mislead users into drawing causal

inferences because they often fail to communicate many of the interactions that exist between explan atory variables and their effects.”

As part of this re search study, the lab will work to develop a new approach to visualization based on the concept of coun terfactual reasoning - a central pillar in causal analy sis – that is designed to help users draw more robust and generalizable inferences.

“While studies have shown that users often interpret visualiza tions in a causal way, very few visualizations actually incorporate the underlying statistics that can reliably support causal inference,” Gotz said. “So, our study is focused on trying to understand exact ly how people make these causal inferences, and to develop new approaches to visualization that can help make the causal inferences that people make more accurate.”

In addition to helping advance

our understanding of causal in ference within the context of data visualization, the research also aims to produce open-source software tools that prototype the new ap proaches that will be developed over the course of the project. The researchers also aim to evaluate their work within the context of large-scale population health proj ects – offering potential for societal impact through improved health outcomes. To learn more, visit vaclab.unc.edu

Certificate in Applied Data Science Program to Accept Non-Degree Seeking Students

This year, the Certificate in Ap plied Data Science (CADS) pro gram is pleased to announce that enrollment in this program will be available to non-degree seeking students.

Drawing on the data science expertise of SILS, the program of fers focused training with a strong emphasis on practical workplace applications, including a practicum in which students will complete a

project in a real-world setting.

“Data is becoming a central part of almost any job, and a lot of training that people received in their formal degrees didn’t cover the latest tech nology and approaches for dealing with data in the way that is becom ing more and more common,” CADS Director David Gotz said “The CADS program provides people a foundation on which they can bring

these new skills into the workplace and upscale themselves as profes sionals.”

The CADS curriculum provides an understanding of data science tools, methods, and best practices, as well as the complex ethical and societal issues associated with data-driven approaches.

Learn more about CADS at sils. unc.edu/programs/cads.

(Above) David Gotz works with stu dents during a data analysis session in Manning Hall.
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) 22

The Role of Search Engines in Propganda

Through the lens of information literacy and search engine optimization, SILS Assistant Professor Francesca Tripodi published a new book on how politicians and pundits use search engines for political gain using strategic key words and other tactics.

SILS Assistant Professor Francesca Tri podi published her new book The Propa gandists’ Playbook on August 16.

Through the mechanics of information literacy, networked media, search-engine optimization, curated keywords, and stra tegic signaling, the book is an examination of what algorithmic polarization means for society. Drawing on original research, Tripodi explains how conservative elites use media literacy tactics and search engine optimization to spread ideas that threaten the democratic process.

The book is a product of research Tripodi conduct ed over the course of the past four years. To collect data, Tripodi conducted interviews and ethno graphic observations of two Republican groups over the course of the 2017 Virginia gubernatorial race – including Tripodi’s firsthand experience of the 2017 Unite the Right rally – with content analysis, media immersion, and web-scraped metadata.

Tripodi was inspired to use the findings of her research to publish The Propagandists’ Playbook to better inform people on how their world views or biases affect the way they search and in fluence the kind of information that is returned to searchers.

“Many of us go to the internet with lots of great intentions, and we try to get really good information with the goal of furthering what we think we know,” Tripodi said. “Most of us don’t recognize that, through that process, we can end up in extremely problematic rabbit holes of information, and that this desire to search for in formation has been weaponized by people who

“The Propagandists’

know exactly what they’re doing.”

Tripodi says the findings of the research presented within the book can be used in a multitude of ways. First, in the classroom, to study how search engine op timization is more complex than we know through the fields of information science, sociology and commu nications studies. For the general public, the research findings present an opportunity to identify the way in which personal biases can affect the way we find infor mation and the information that is presented to us.

But for all audiences, Tripodi has one main goal.

“The one thing I hope people can get from my book is how our queries – our starting points – and how our keywords really drive the returns that we receive,” Tripodi said.

“Many of us go to the internet with lots of great intentions, and we try to get really good information with the goal of furthering what we think we know. Most of us don’t recognize that, through that process, we can end up in extremely problematic rabbit holes of information.”

-Francesca Tripodi, SILS Assistant Professor

Over 90 Years of Informed Impact | Fall 2022 23
SILS Assistant Professor Francesca Tripodi delivers a book talk on Playbook” in the Free dom Forum Conference Center on campus.

SILS Community Mourns the Loss of Former Faculty Member and Associate Dean Claudia Gollop

Dr. Claudia Gollop, PhD, a distinguished former faculty member and associate dean at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), passed away on May 3, 2022.

A native of New York City, Dr. Gollop received her BA from City College-City University of New York (CUNY) and MLS degree from Columbia University. She worked as a library and informa tion professional in public, special, and academic libraries for nearly 15 years prior to returning to school to earn her doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh.

Gollop joined the SILS faculty in 1994 as an assistant professor. She became an associate professor with tenure in 2000 and served as associate dean from 2004-2007.

“Claudia was a consummate mentor to students and her colleagues. She always found a way to find good and value in every person and in their ideas. Her work experience in libraries allowed her to link information services theory and practice and inspired her students,” Gary Marchionini, Dean and Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor at SILS, said. “She was always ready to serve her community, including as SILS Associate Dean, student organiza tion mentor, and committee chair. She was a kind and compassionate teacher, scholar, leader, and friend, and we will all miss her greatly.”

In addition to teaching courses in reference services, health infor mation resources and services, and information issues related to diverse user groups, she served as advisor for numerous master’s

papers and disser tations. While at SILS, Dr. Gollop also served as a committee member on the SILS Alumni Inclusion and Diversity (SAID) committee, which increases involvement and engagement of SILS minority alumni.

Her research centered on issues of consumer health infor mation acquisition and dissemination, particularly among older adults. Her groundbreaking article “Health Information-Seeking Behavior and Older African American Women,” published by the Medical Library Association in 1997, has been cited more than 150 times.

After undergoing angioplasty and cardiac rehabilitation in 2007, Dr. Gollop launched a new line of inquiry into cardiac rehabilitation information referrals practices with the goal of improving the heart health of women and minorities.

Dr. Gollop received the Round Table for Ethnic and Minority Concerns (REMCo) Roadbuilders’ Award in Library Education from the North Carolina Library Associ ation in 2009. In 2012, Dr. Gollop received the Edward G. Holley for the Good of the Order Award from SILS for her outstanding service to the school and held the Frances Carroll McColl Term Professorship at SILS.

In 2018, she was named the winner of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Award for

Professional Contribution. The award is presented to ALISE members for regular and sustained service that promotes and strengthens the broad areas of library and information science education through the holding of appropriate offices and positions within the profession.

After over 25 years of service to SILS, Dr. Gollop retired in 2020. Her impact on the students, faculty and staff at SILS leaves a lasting legacy for generations of informa tion and library science students and professionals.

“Dr. Gollop’s early work in health services for underserved individuals and communities established a foundation for SILS’s public good approach to health informatics,” Marchionini said. “She practiced inclusivity and led SILS diversity and inclusion work throughout her tenure. We are a stronger, more compassionate, and more public-service oriented school because of her.”

The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) 24
Claudia Gollop

IN DEEPEST SYMPATHY

SILS extends condolences to the family and friends of alumni who passed away during the previous year. The following were drawn from obituaries published from November 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022.

Patricia W. Becker (MSLS ‘59) – March 14, 2022

Angelica F. Brosius (BSLS ‘45) – January 28, 2022

Mary T. Cameron (MSLS ‘63) – May 28, 2022

Peter W. Chang (MSLS ‘68) – January 21, 2022

Marion D. George (MSLS ‘71) – Ocotber 13, 2021

Patricia H. Gipe (BSLS ‘49) – June 25, 2022

Juanita G. Grant (BSLS ‘55) – June 27, 2022

Carolyn P. Harris (BSLS ‘49) – October 21, 2021

George M. Holloway (MSLS ‘50) – May 7, 2022

Douglas P. Hurd (MSLS ‘83) – April 16, 2022

Gail K. Ijames (MSLS ‘68) – July 15, 2022

Barbara H. Krueger (MSLS ‘69) – April 30, 2022

Marjorie W. Lindsey (BSLS ‘43) – February 13, 2022

Nancy Carol S. Ludlow (MSLS ‘73) – November 4, 2021

Carse O. McDaniel (MSLS ‘65) – November 12, 2022

Jane E. McFarland (MSLS ‘71) – April 5, 2022

Claude E. Petrie (BSLS ‘51) – April 4, 2022

Viginia W. Powell (BSLS ‘52) – August 16, 2022

Martha W. Ransley (MSLS ‘73) December 23, 2021

Neeri K. Rao (MSLS ‘10) – Fenruary 24, 2022

Eugenie C. Reid (BSLS ‘47) – March 22, 2022

Virginia V. Rolett (MSLS ‘69) – April 5, 2022

Andrea L. Ross (MSLS ‘67) – January 10, 2022

Marion H. Rutsch (MSLS ‘83) – May 6, 2022

Brian P. Shanley (MSLS ‘78) – March 2, 2022

Alice E. Tucker (MSLS ‘71) – July 7, 2022

Priscilla G. Warren (MSLS ‘66) – July 30, 2022

Donald B. White (MSLS ‘73) – November 26, 2021

Martha J. Williamson (BSLS ‘50) – February 8, 2022

Theodore G. Winter (MSLS ‘82) – April 14, 2022

NOTES FROM AROUND SILS

There are many great things happening across the SILS community! From new jobs to scholarship recipients, SILS is proud of the incredible work being completed by our students, alumni, faculty, and staff.

Irene Owens (PhD ‘95) has been named the new chair of the SILS Alumni Inclusion and Diversity (SAID) Committee for the 2022-23 school year.

Renee Bosman (MSLS ‘04) was appointed as Head of Interlibrary Services of University Libraries at UNC-Chapel Hill, effective August, 29, 2022.

Current SILS students Madison Evans (MSLS) and Denise Mantey (MSLS) were recipients of the ALA Awards Spectrum Scholarships for 2022, which were announced by ALA in August 2022.

Sarah Morris (MSLS ‘15) co-edited the publication Learning in Action: Designing Successful Graduate Stu dent Work Experiences in Academic Libraries available on the ALA Store.

Haley Ferreira (MSLS ‘19) was named October 2021 Durham Public Schools Equity Champion of the Month for her significant contributions to promote inclusiveness in Durham Public Schools.

Sandra Hughes-Hassell, SILS Professor, has been named the 2022-23 Inclusion, Diversity, and Accessibilty (IDEA) Committee Chair at SILS.

◊ David Gotz was named SILS McColl Term Professor through July 2023 and has been promoted to full pro fessor status at SILS, which was effective January 1, 2022.

◊ Rob Capra has been promoted to full professor status at SILS effective July 1, 2022.

◊ Anita Jotwani (BSIS ‘05) assumed the role of SILS Alumni Association (SILSAA) President during Summer 2022 effective through Summer 2023.

Would you like to share your updates with SILS? Please send any news or information via email to contactsils@unc.edu with your name and contact information.

Over 90 Years of Informed Impact

| Fall 2022 25

The Campaign for Carolina impaCT aT SilS

The Campaign for Carolina, launched in 2014, comes to an end on December 31. Its impact is keenly felt, and SILS has been significantly changed because of individual, foundation, and corporate philanthropy. We are incredibly grateful to the over 1,500 donors who helped us achieve $28.5 million in total campaign commitments, 143% of our goal.

Students

Numerous scholarships, research support and experiential learning opportunities now enhance the student experience. SILS first funds dedicated to diversity initiatives and global study began as part of this campaign, along with new graduate assistantships and a student emergency fund.

Programs

Campaign giving provided initial funding for two new programs, the Certificate in Applied Data Science and the Professional Science Master’s in Digital Curation and Management. The Carolina Health Informatics Program received considerable private support to add the ENABLE program to its offerings.

Research

SILS is now the administrative home of two new centers, primarily funded by foundation and corporate support. The Center for Information Technology and Public Life, and the Center on Technology Policy have international impact on technologies and the people who use them.

Faculty

In addition to seed funding for faculty scholarship, the university’s first named deanship and an endowed professorship in librarianship were milestone gifts to the campaign. They ensure SILS’s strength for years to come.

Engagement

SILS library collections, lectureships and ongoing programs such as the Susan Steinfirst Community Lecture, Story Squad and the Symposium on Information for Social Good were also markedly enhanced through campaign giving.

SILS Campaign Success By the Numbers

$28,538,776

Total Commitments Raised During the Campaign 866

SILS Alumni Donors $3.6M

Dedicated to Maximizing the SILS Student Experience 500+

Number of students receiving financial assistance from SILS student support funds during the Campaign

SILS Endowment Growth Over the Campaign

Campaign data through October 1st, 2022.

For more information about the SILS Campaign, please visit sils.unc.edu/giving.

The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) 26

Campaign Commitments By Type

Gifts and Pledges $ 5.9 Million Documented Planned Gifts $ 9.8 Million Private Grants $ 12.7 Million

More Campaign Highlights

32New funds were established to support SILS students, faculty, and programs during the campaign.

2New academic programs (CADS & PSM) grew from seed funding provided by the Campaign.

2

New research centers (CITAP & CTP) formed at SILS from Foundation & Cor porate Funding During the Campaign

The Duncan-Lowry Deanship

A commitment made by Charles B. Lowry (MSLS ’74) and Marcia Duncan Lowry in 2016 established the Duncan-Lowry Deanship at SILS. The commitment is the largest in the School’s history and the first at Carolina to be designated for a deanship.

Thank you to SILS Campaign Leadership!

Would you like to be a part of The Campaign for Carolina?

There is still time to give.

The Campaign for Carolina ends on December 31st, 2022. If you would like to make a gift and ensure it counts towards the Campaign, please reach out to SILS Associate Dean for Development Anne Webb at 919.962.3499 or via email at Anne_Webb@unc.edu.

Learn more at campaign.unc.edu

SILS CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE

Charles Bryan Lowry (MSLS ’74): Campaign Co-Chair (through 2018)

Marcia Duncan Lowry (MSLS ’75, FSU): Campaign Co-Chair (through 2018)

Duncan Smith (MSLS ’80): Campaign Chair (from 2019)

Mary Boone Bernsen (BA ’66, MSLS ’73)

Bob Martin (PhD ’88)

Anne Cooper Moore (MSLS ‘84)

Joyce Ogburn (MSLS ’82)

Irene Owens (PhD ‘95)

Susan Perry (MSLS ’66)

SILS is grateful to all of our SILS Campaign Committee members (listed to the right) and our Campaign Committee Co-Chairs Charles Lowry, Marcia Duncan Lowry, and Duncan Smith (pictured above) for their dedication, time, and leadership to generate successful campaign outcomes for our students, faculty, and staff.

Mary Jane Petrowski (MSLS ’78)

Mae Lipscomb Rodney (PhD ’86)

Fred Roper (AB ’60, MSLS ’62)

Bernie Todd Smith (MSLS ’73) Sarah Snow (MSIS ’04)

Marcia Duncan Lowry and Charles Lowry Duncan Smith

Nonprofit Organization US Postage PAID Chapel Hill, NC Permit 177

The School of Information and Library Science

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

CB# 3360, 100 Manning Hall Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3360

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