Message from SLIS Director

In 2021, SLIS students and faculty rose to many challenges while learning and teaching under the conditions of COVID-19. We also joyfully celebrated important successes and recognitions. In Spring 2021, the SLIS Archives Management concentration was ranked number one in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report, while our MS Library and Information Science Program was eleventh, putting us among the top LIS programs in the country. Three SLIS faculty members were elected to lead prominent LIS organizations: Naresh Agarwal, Associate Professor and Director of the Information Science & Technology Concentration, is the President of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T);

MESSAGE FROM SLIS DIRECTOR

Rong Tang, Professor and Co-Director of the SLIS Doctoral Program, is the President-elect of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE); and I am the Chair-elect of the iSchool Organization.

Thanks to campus renovations that took place largely during the pandemic, the One Palace Road building opened to in-person learning this fall with a newly renovated space for all divisions in the College of Organizational, Computational, and Information Sciences (COCIS), which includes faculty and staff offices for SLIS, the School of Business, and the Division of Mathematics, Computing, and Statistics. The new space also includes the Jim Matarazzo student lounge, Ph.D. student office, a Collaboratory and XR/Usability laboratory. There are plenty of lounge areas for students and faculty to get together and spark interesting conversations and collaboration. This year is also the 20th anniversary of our SLIS West campus in South Hadley, Massachusetts, which continues to offer a unique learning opportunity for students in the region.

SLIS faculty continue to excel. Associate Professor and newly appointed Associate SLIS Director, Katherine Wisser, was inducted as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists. Associate Professor and Community Informatics (CI) Lab Director Colin Rhinesmith was named Outstanding Information Science Teacher by ASIS&T. Professor Rong Tang, co-director of the Ph.D. Program, received the Simmons University Faculty Research Award. Associate Professor Kyong Eun Oh, co-director of the Ph.D. Program, received an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation research grant to study collaborative research information management in cloudbased repositories

As we finalize the SLIS strategic plan for 2023-2025, which was developed with the input of our faculty, students, and alumni, we look forward to implementing many important initiatives in fostering curricular innovation; creating a diverse, inclusive, and engaging learning environment for our students; supporting student and faculty success; achieving excellence in administrative tasks; and contributing to community building. I am optimistic that SLIS will continue to succeed in preparing our students for important roles as library, information science, and archival professionals.

Sanda Erdelez, SLIS Director