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Current News Stories

School News| Faculty News | Student News | Alumni News | Press Clippings

School News

IMLS Features WISE


August 6, 2008: The WISE Consortium is featured on the Institute of Museum and Library Services Web site.

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GSLIS Ranked First By and Among Peers in U.S., Canada


August 4, 2008: In a recent ranking by Research and Markets, GSLIS was named the number one library and information science program.

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Renear, Ashwill Join GSLIS Administration


August 1, 2008: Associate Professor Allen Renear and communications professional Cindy Ashwill have joined the GSLIS administration this summer.

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GSLIS Names Three New Research Fellows


July 22, 2008: Allison Druin, Bertram Ludäscher, and Anna Maria Tammaro have been given a two-year appointment as research fellows at GSLIS.

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GSLIS Welcomes Two New Staff Members


July 7, 2008: Erik Hege and Meg Edwards have joined the GSLIS staff.

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Faculty News

Torvik Joins GSLIS Faculty


June 26, 2008: Vetle Torvik has joined the GSLIS faculty as a visiting assistant professor.

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Alkalimat, McDowell Receive Honors


May 30, 2008: Two GSLIS faculty members recently received campus honors.

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Weech Elected to University Senates Conference for Three Year Term


May 9, 2008: Associate Professor Terry Weech will serve as one of ten UIUC representatives on the University Senates Conference.

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Downie Leads Team on Grant Totaling $1.2 Million


April 14, 2008: Associate Professor J. Stephen Downie is leading a team of researchers who have been awarded $1.2 million from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

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Visiting Scholar Arrives at GSLIS


March 4, 2008: GSLIS visiting scholar Jianhai Ruan recently arrived on campus for a year-long stay.

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Student News

GSLIS Announces Information in Society Fellows


August 5, 2008: GSLIS has awarded fellowships to four doctoral students and one postdoctoral researcher in the new Information in Society doctoral concentration.

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Student Represents GSLIS at Biodiversity Conference


July 25, 2008: Lori Smith, a student studying data curation, represented GSLIS at a recent conference in Costa Rica.

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GSLIS Students, Chicago Community Cultivate Urban Gardens


June 26, 2008: Student researchers in the Community Informatics Initiative (CII) at GSLIS are working with activists in Humboldt Park's Paseo Boricua neighborhood to provide residents the resources they need to turn inner city vacant lots, classroom labs, and rooftop spaces into flourishing gardens.

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Master's Student Honored by Medical Library Association


March 3, 2008: The Medical Library Association has awarded master's student Lisa O'Keefe the 2008 MLA Scholarship.

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Students Travel to Croatia for Annual BOBCATSSS Symposium


February 25, 2008: Six GSLIS students attended the 2008 BOBCATSSS conference in Croatia.

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Alumni News

"Best Paper" Award Given to LEEP Graduate


August 14, 2008: Alumna Jodi Schneider has received an award from NEASIST.

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Library School Alumni Association Announces 2008 Awards


June 18, 2008: The LSAA Awards will be presented at a reception at ALA in Anaheim.

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Two Alumni Receive Scholarship Award from ALA


April 29, 2008: Two GSLIS alumni have been named winners of the 2008 EBSCO/ALA Conference Scholarship Award given by the ALA.

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Alumna Honored for International Work


April 7, 2008: Barbara Ford has been honored by the ALA International Relations Committee for her contributions to international librarianship, the ALA, and IFLA.

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Alumni Named Movers & Shakers by LJ


March 21, 2008: Two GSLIS graduates have been named "Movers and Shakers" by Library Journal.

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Classnotes

Laura Lowe

Laura Lowe (MS '07) is a children's services professional at Des Plaines Valley Public Library.

Wendy (Underhill) Miller

Wendy (Underhill) Miller (MS '93) has worked for Follett Library Resources in McHenry, Illinois for the past six years as a curriculum bibliographer using her nine years of experience as an elementary school librarian. She and her husband Joe Miller welcomed their first daughter in May 2008.

Mindy (Grundmeier) Rhiger

Mindy (Grundmeier) Rhiger (MS '01) is responsible for public programming and marketing at The Bakken Library and Museum in Minneapolis. She and her husband welcomed the birth of their first daughter in December 2007.

Meg (Burger) Edwards

Meg (Burger) Edwards (MS '04) has been appointed the first advising coordinator for GSLIS. Prior to her return, Meg worked as a reference and instruction librarian for the Architecture and Art Library at the University of Illinois and most recently as the learning commons coordinator for the Undergraduate Library.

Jo Anne Boorkman

Jo Anne Boorkman (MS '71) retired in June 2008, after 23 years at the helm of the Carlson Health Sciences Library at the University of California, Davis. Jo Anne has been active both locally and nationally in the Medical Library Association and the Special Libraries Association. Her contributions to both groups have been recognized by her being named a Fellow of the Medical Library Association in 1999, and a Fellow of the Special Libraries Association in 2000. In addition, she received the Northern California and Nevada Medical Library Group Award for Professional Excellence in 1996. Among her publications is the renowned "Introduction to Reference Sources in the Health Sciences," currently in its 5th edition and considered a standard in the field.

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Press Clippings

Our faculty, staff, and students are often consulted by local and national media to comment on issues that are important to the field of LIS. GSLIS programs and awards also receive frequent media coverage. Below are recent media hits that showcase our expertise (some links require site registration to view).

Search Engine Generates Money for Charity

Wall Street Journal, "Money for Nothing" (April 21, 2008): By performing Google searches on GSLIS student Syed Karim's Web site, SearchKindly.org, you can raise money for charitable organizations without spending a dime.

Letter to the Editor

New York Times, "Paperless, Not Perfect" (February 24, 2008): Master's student Kaitlin Costello challenges the notion that digital technology is a "perfect and undying solution to preserving information resources."

Children and Books

The Journal Gazette and Times-Courier, "Presentation identifies books for young people" (January 15, 2008): Area paper covers CAS student Elaine Beardon's recent presentation on children's books for the Mattoon (IL) school district.

East St. Louis

News-Gazette, "UI program changes lives in East St. Louis and C-U" (December 23, 2007): A profile of the East St. Louis Action Research Project. Note: Article is available in a paid archive.

Nerds in Pop Culture

The Globe & Mail, "In pop culture, nerd's the word" (November 10, 2007): Associate Professor Lori Kendall is cited for having "explored geek-related matters." In her paper "White and Nerdy: Computers, Race, and the Nerd Stereotype," she argued that advertising for the Geek Squad technical-support company, the video for Weird Al Yankovic's hit White & Nerdy (a parody of rapper Chamillionaire's Ridin' Dirty) and imagery in "nerdcore" hip hop music are all "playful reconfigurings" of the nerd stereotype that nevertheless fail to dispel its "original negative tone." Editor's note: The article is available online only to paid subscribers.

Natural Language Processing

The Varsity, "Facebook could save the world" (November 5, 2007): Associate Professor Caroline Haythornethwaite and doctoral student Anatoliy Gruzd are interviewed about Natural Language Processing.

NESTER Project

News-Gazette, "Researchers Monitor Cardinals' Activity by Listening to Songs" (August 5, 2007): The article describes the Networked Environmental Sonic-Toolkits for Exploratory Research (NESTER) Project headed up by Associate Professors J. Stephen Downie and Bryan Heidorn.

UI History Project

News-Gazette, "UI Building Web Site has Grown to Epic Size" (April 29, 2007): A profile of Ph.D. student Kalev Leetaru and his UI history project.

Digital Humanities

Chronicle of Higher Education, "Summit Brings Together Digital Humanities Centers and Financial Backers" (April 16, 2007): Dean John Unsworth provided opening remarks at a recent meeting of 17 digital humanities centers and 15 organizations that support them in Washington, D.C.

Game Accessibility

Chicago Tribune, "Disabled Gamers Want More than 'Fluffy' Choices" (April 10, 2007): GSLIS instructor Michelle Hinn talks about video game accessibility for disabled players.

GSLIS in Africa

News-Gazette, "UI Project Brings Whole New World to African Nation" (April 15, 2007): GSLIS students install computer labs on the small African island of Sao Tome and Principe.

'Nerdism'

Jewish Exponent, "Geek Fraternities: Nerds 'R Us?" (January 25, 2007): GSLIS associate professor Lori Kendall, author of "Nerd Nation: Images of Nerds in U.S. Popular Culture," says societal perceptions of nerdism wax and wane.

Children's Books

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Shiloh Parents Want Book Blocked" (November 16, 2006): A book about two male penguins falling in love and raising a baby has some parents at an elementary school questioning the subject matter. It's different from many other gay-themed children's books because it was published by the mainstream press, and homosexuality isn't the source of conflict in the story, says GSLIS professor Christine Jenkins. She said the characters are just gay and living their lives--the plot doesn't grapple with being homosexual as do many books for youths of the same nature.

Also appeared in:
Bradenton Herald (Florida)
Belleville News-Democrat (Illinois)
Biloxi Sun Herald (Mississippi)
Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.)
Charlotte Observer (North Carolina)
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Georgia)
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)
Lexington Herald-Leader (Kentucky)
Myrtle Beach Sun News (South Carolina)
San Luis Obispo Tribune (California)
The Kansas City Star (Missouri)
The State (Columbia, S.C.)

Current Clips

ACRLog, "Great Compilation On Library As Place" (October 3, 2006): Praise for UI Current LIS Clips on the Association of College & Research Libraries Blog.

Library Usage

Waukegan Sun, "Warren-Newport Eyes Second Library" (October 3, 2006): The Library Research Center at Illinois took a look at library usage in and around Chicago.

Queer Content in Young Adult Literature

Booklist, "Book Review of The Heart Has Its Reasons" (September 1, 2006): Associate Professor Christine Jenkins received a glowing review for her new book, co-authored with Michael Cart, The Heart Has Its Reasons: Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969-2004. The September 1, 2006 issue of ALA's Booklist called the book "Both a comprehensive overview and a lively, detailed discussion" and "highly readable." More information on the book can be found at the publisher's Web site.

Open Source Course Materials

Inside Higher Ed, "The Next Level of Open Source" (September 20, 2006): Dean John Unsworth said he thinks there has been "great benefit" from MIT making its course materials available free. But he said of the video approach for lectures: "That's the most interesting stuff." Beyond sharing knowledge, Unsworth noted, universities that put course materials or lectures online free benefit from "great PR and marketing," especially if they are institutions that don't enjoy the name recognition of MIT or Yale.

Wikipedia

NPR Morning Edition, "Wikipedia Wins Users and Critics" (September 11, 2006): As vibrant and contentious as the Wikipedia Web site is now, it could disappear in a flash, says Associate Professor Michael Twidale. "Wikipedia and all those Wikipedians - the people who get involved in adding articles, improving articles and addressing vandalism - if too many of them got bored and just went off to, you know, the next cool Web thing, whatever that might be, if they did that tomorrow I think Wikipedia would just degenerate into a froth of spam, porn, graffiti, lies and drivel in less than a month," Twidale said.


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The Graduate School of Library and Information Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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