Inside SOIS - Winter 2010

UW-MILWAUKEE, SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES

Winter 2010

In this issue... learn about the interdisciplinary partnerships that enhance our students’ experiences and the School’s research initiatives.

SOIS nside SOIS Gets Serious About Health Informatics

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

IN THIS issue Dean’s Note ....................................................................01 New SOIS Faculty Instructional Staff ..........................02 Britz Finalist for Ethics Award .....................................02 SOIS Welcomes Distinguished Researcher ...............04 Ted Samore Lecture News ..........................................04 SOIS Prepares for ALA Accreditation .........................05 SOIS Health Informatics ..............................................06 Archives Students Aid in Preservation Efforts ..........10 Austrian Exchange Program .......................................12 Alumni Profile: Dan The Librarian ...............................14 Instructor Profile: Suzanne Bell...................................15 Student Profile: Jihee Beak..........................................16 Exceptional Student Awards: DesArmo/Drews ......... 17 Event News: “Tales from the Field” ............................ 18

SOIS nsideeS nsid

New CAS in Digital Libraries ....................................... 18 Event News: “Power to Tag” ....................................... 19 Research: SOIS Welcomes Grant Writer .................... 20 Research: RGIR Creates Institutional Repository ..... 21 Research: IOrg Lecture Features Greenberg ............. 21 Research: IIA Lab’s Architectural Search Project...... 22 Research: CIPR News ................................................... 22 International Flash ........................................................ 23 Faculty Updates............................................................. 24 Information. Connection. Philanthropy. ...................... 26 PDI Courses ................................................................... 28 SOIS Graduates. ............................................................ 28 Student Org News ......................................................... 29 Upcoming Events .......................................................... 30

Winter 2010 VOL. 2, No. 1 Inside SOIS is published twice a year by the School of Information Studies Dean: Johannes Britz Associate Dean: Hope Olson Assistant Dean: Chad Zahrt Editors: Chad Zahrt Dan Rude

Keep us Informed!

We invite all students and alumni to send us your updates and news for future issues of the Inside SOIS newsletter. Please send news to Rebecca Hall (rjhall@uwm.edu) or Dan Rude (dprude@uwm.edu) We’d love to hear from you!

Inside SOIS is printed in limited quantity. Electronic version available at: www.uwm.edu/Dept/SOIS/Inside Please share this publication with colleagues, and please recycle!

Writer: Dan Rude Contributing Writers: Kathy Quirk Katie Blank Design and Production: Rebecca Hall Photography: Chad Noworatzky, Photographer Rebecca Hall, Contributing Photographer UWM Photographic Services: Pete Amland, Peter Jakubowski, Alan Magayne-Roshak Send correspondence and address changes to: UW-Milwaukee, School of Information Studies, Attn: Inside SOIS, PO Box 413, Milwaukee, Wi 53201-0413 PH: 414-229-4707 (TOLL-FREE: 888-349-3432) Email: soisinfo@uwm.edu

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

3

DEAN’S note Dear Alumni, Students, Faculty, Staff, and Friends The School of Information Studies (SOIS) wouldn’t be where it is today without the partnerships it has created along the way. As we enter 2010, we recognize the value that those partnerships have added to the educational experience students enjoy here at SOIS. That’s why we’ve chosen this edition of Inside SOIS to focus on the collaborations both here and abroad that make SOIS special.

PARTNERSHIPS...

Interdisciplinary. Inspired.

UWM offers a great atmosphere for working together. SOIS is fortunate to have taken advantage of this sense of place to address a critical area of need: health informatics. Our collaborations with the School of Health Sciences and the College of Nursing are documented inside.

We also have partnerships that extend across lands and oceans. In this issue, we explore how those partnerships are designed specifically to enhance student learning. Part of SOIS’ commitment to students is through our study abroad programs which offer practical learning experience. You can learn about one such experience in Cologne, Germany from the eyes of a participant.

Our agreement with Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences is another great example of working together to enrich the experience of our students and students from our partner institutions. This partnership continues to benefit both schools in the areas of research and teaching, as well as giving students a global perspective in information science.

Besides these affiliations, we also bring you news, updates, and events from around SOIS. As a leader in the LIS field, we are always seeking to take on new challenges and explore new avenues – and you’ll find plenty of these examples in the pages beyond.

Also, keep an eye out for a survey that will follow this issue of Inside SOIS. As a member of our community, you are a big part of our success. By filing out this survey you can help us identify better ways to serve you and better ways to continue pushing SOIS into higher levels of LIS education.

Thank You! Dean Johannes Britz

Winter 2010

| 01

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

Welcome to SOIS! M E E T O U R N E W FA C U LT Y & A C A D E M I C S TA F F Dr. Karen Davies has been appointed Assistant Professor at SOIS and began teaching and researching with us this past fall.

Coming to Milwaukee from the Department of Information Science at Loughborough University in England, Dr. Davies specializes in the information needs of the health profession. Her interests include evidence-based medicine, job searching behavior for health workers, bibliographic analysis, and research methods in the field of library and information science. For her dissertation, Dr. Davies researched how doctors in the UK gather health information, studying the journals and databases that they prefer. She brings to SOIS a wealth of practical experience in health informatics, having worked as the Library and Knowledge Manager for the National Public Health Service for Wales. She has published on the information seeking behavior of physicians, presented papers at international conferences related to the information needs of the health field, and has served as an invited reviewer for well-

respected journals including Health Information and Libraries Journal, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, and Computers in Biology and Medicine. For the past three years she has taught courses at Loughborough University on evidence-based medicine and electronic patient records.

“Already a leader in the field of library and information science, SOIS is building strength in the specialty of

Karen DAVIES

health informatics and Dr. Davies will play a big role in that strength. Developing this focus on health informatics will not only benefit the school and the university, but also the larger community of Milwaukee through potential partnerships with local health care providers.”

-Johannes Britz, Dean

Britz named finalist World Technology Network - Ethics Award Dean Johannes Britz recently returned from the World Technology Summit & Awards 2009, having been named a finalist for the Ethics Award. Britz, who was nominated anonymously, was notified last February of this prestigious honor. As one of only five finalists, Britz and Assistant Dean Chad Zahrt traveled to New York, the site of the award ceremony, on July 15th – 16th.

The World Technology Summit & Awards are sponsored by the World Technology Network, an organization of global leaders in business and science which seeks to promote emerging technologies. Britz was nominated in part due to his work helping put on seminars in information ethics and e-government in Africa.

In February of this year, Britz traveled to South Africa

02 | Inside SOIS

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

S

OIS is proud to welcome back one of its graduates as an instructor. Adam Hudson, who graduated from the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program in May 2006, joined the academic teaching staff full-time in August 2009.

Hudson returns to Milwaukee after spending the last two and a half years as the webmaster for the School of Health Sciences at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. A native of West Bend, WI, Hudson is happy to be back in the Midwest. “A lot of my friends and family are here, so it’s nice to be back,” he admits.

Although he enjoys it, Hudson says he never really imagined he would be teaching. “I love working with students and helping them create a product” he says. In his L&I Sci 240 Information Architecture classes, Hudson has students learn HTML, CSS, Javascript and other essential design programs. The course prepares students to create websites and organize information online.

Hudson has taught courses for SOIS remotely since August 2008.

In addition to Information Architecture, Hudson taught L&I Sci 110 Introduction to Information Science online this past fall. With so much experience at the desk, Hudson is comfortable in the online setting. The trick, he says, is to devise a course that’s interactive and consistent enough for online students. “I use a variety of Camtasia videos, PowerPoints, sample websites and a really good text book,” Hudson explains, “to give students the time to figure it out.”

If students find the course interesting, Hudson is also a big promoter of doing fieldwork. “It’s a great way to get a wider background in the field,” he acknowledges. He should know. After finishing his MLIS, Hudson accepted a prestigious internship with Rockwell Automation. At Rockwell, Hudson worked in the Global

3

Business Development department at the company’s headquarters in Milwaukee. There, he assisted with marketing campaigns and improving the company’s Intranet.

Hudson believes that opportunities like this are priceless for students. “Whether it is at a fieldwork with a non-profit organization or an independent study,” he says, “the important thing is the experience.” Hudson also thinks that SOIS’ program has a lot to offer for students. “The BSIR program is great because it offers students so much,” he says, “as a student you’re going to finish with a little bit of knowledge in a lot of different areas of technology and theory.”

Adam HUDSON

This spring Hudson will also be teaching an L&I Sci 491 Special Topics in Information Resources course on Adobe Flash. This is the first time a course like this will be offered. Hudson says that he’s excited about the class. “It’s great for SOIS,” he adds, “and I love designing a course for the first time.” Hudson isn’t the only one who is excited. “We’re very happy to be able to offer courses in applied and web technologies. Adam is an important part of our emerging BSIR curriculum.” said SOIS Dean Johannes Britz.

Did you know?

to train government officials from all over the African continent in the use of technology in bringing services to rural communities.

Ethics (IRIE) and acting as a consultant to several African governments in the area of information policy.

“I see this as true recognition of the emerging field of ethics in African e-governance,” said Britz of the award, “that’s what’s important to me.” Britz admitted that at first he thought the award was a hoax. It was only later when he received a call from one of the directors did he pay attention.

The nomination came in a busy summer for Britz and the school.

SOIS added 3 faculty and increased research funding. The school also hosted a conference in May concerning the ethics of information of organization and played a big part in the 2009 Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) Internet: Critical conference here in Milwaukee.

Britz has consistently dedicated himself to information ethics throughout his career. He was one of the founders of Information Ethics in Africa and began teaching the subject at the University of Pretoria, South Africa in 1990. He later moved to the University of Amsterdam where he continued teaching and researching in ethics in 1994. Since coming to SOIS, Britz has built on his legacy in the field, serving as co-editor of the International Review of Information

Though he didn’t win the award, being a finalist comes as a big honor for the dean and the School of Information Studies. “I think we’re all proud to have him recognized as an ethicist by an international organization,” said Assistant Dean Zahrt.

Winter 2010

| 03

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

Distinguished Researcher J O I N S T H E S C H O O L O F I N F O R M AT I O N S T U D I E S Dr. Rafeal Capurro has joined the School of Information Studies as Distinguished Researcher in the area of Information Ethics and will take up his post in Spring 2010.

As A founder and director t of the International Center for Information C Ethics, Dr. Capurro E is world-renowned i for f his work in ethics and a information policy.

He H holds a doctorate in Philosophy from i Düsseldorf University D and has done extena sive research in the s areas of bioethics, a information managei ment and the philosom phy of media.

ing the ethical impact that information technology has on human practice. For the past two years, he has served as the director of the Steinbeis-Transfer-Institute Information Ethics (STI-IE) in Karlsruhe, Germany. Most recently, Dr. Capurro has given a series of presentations in Japan on intercultural ethics and robotics.

Dr. Capurro joins the Center for Information Policy Research (CIPR) and will further enhance the school’s reputation as a leader in the area of information ethics. With current faculty such as Drs. Thomas Lipinski, Peter Lor, Elizabeth Buchanan, Dick Kawooya and Johannes Britz in place, the addition of Dr. Capurro raises SOIS above all other schools in North America in this area of expertise.

Rafael R f l CAPURRO CAPURRO

His research has been published extensively in prominent publications around the world.

Dr. Capurro has also given lectures around the world discuss-

“We’re very excited to have Dr. Capurro working with us at SOIS. He brings a wealth of experience to an already sterling corps of academics. Dr. Capurro will work closely with the other researchers at CIPR to cement the school’s reputation in the area of information ethics. With the addition of Dr. Capurro, we are definitively the nation’s premiere library and information science program specializing in information ethics.”

-Johannes Britz, Dean

Please join us!

MAY 7, 2010

Save the Date

Annual Samore Lecture to Feature Noted YA Advocate On May 7th, 2010, SOIS will host Dr. Mary K. Chelton, a professor

Chelton is an experienced librarian, as well as a noted advocate for

of library and information studies from Queens College in New York,

intellectual freedom in libraries. She has also penned a number of

NY for the 2010 Ted Samore Lecture. Dr. Chelton, an important fig-

books and articles dedicated to YA librarianship. Many of her articles

ure in establishing the Young Adult movement in libraries, will give a

have been featured in such well-known publications as Library

presentation entitled: “More Than Information: the Public Library

Journal, American Libraries, and School Library Journal.

as a Center for Reader Development.”

The Samore Lecture is an annual event to honor SOIS Professor Over the course of her career, Chelton has been a voice for young

Theodore (Ted) Samore, who taught at UWM for more than twenty

adults and underserved library populations. Chelton received her

years. Samore, who set a high bar for research in the field of Library

MLIS and PhD from Rutgers University and has taught library sci-

Science, was known for his commitment to students as a teacher and

ence courses at Rutgers, the University of Alabama, Emporia State

mentor. The event, which is open to the public, will be held from 5:30

University in Kansas and Queens College.

to 7:30 PM at the Helene Zelazo Center in Room 250. Registration is $10, which includes one drink ticket.

04 | Inside SOIS

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

3

American Library Association A C C R E D I TAT I O N P R O C E S S CONTINUES FOR SOIS SOIS is currently reviewing the results of focus groups held late in 2009 as it continues gathering information for the American Library Association’s (ALA) cyclical accreditation review. The focus groups – consisting of students, alumni, and employers – all discussed the mission and implementation of the Master’s of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program.

That information gathered now goes to one of the seven committees established by SOIS in order to pull together evidence on the effectiveness of the degree program.

ALA’s accreditation is on a seven-year cycle, which happens to coincide with the cyclical review of the MLIS by UWM’s Graduate School. Associate Dean Hope Olson believes that this is to the school’s advantage. “It’s better than having to do it twice,” she mentioned, during a student organization event in October, “and we’re actually ahead of most schools at this point.” The school also utilized questionnaires from students and alumni to add to the documentation.

All of this is in preparation for the full draft of the report to the Committee on Accreditation which will be submitted to ALA’s external review panel (ERP) on May 23rd, 2010. The school will then have a feedback meeting with the panel sometime in June, before submitting a revised copy on or before August 9th. The school will also play host during the panel’s site visit on September 20th and 21st. The results of the process will be determined in January 2011 at the ALA Midwinter conference in San Diego, CA. Olson says that she is familiar with the chair of the review committee and that she expects the review to be thorough. Among some of the more refreshing ideas Olson has seen in the approach to accreditation, was UWM’s School of Nursing, which posted a Fact of the Day on its website in the days leading up to their own accreditation review. Olson says that students can expect to see more engagement in the near future relating to the accreditation.

SOIS has addressed key issues identified in the focus groups and questionnaires at the faculty retreat on January 29th, 2010. One of the most important issues will be implementing diversity across the entire curriculum. To inform this discussion, the School invited Bharat Mehra, Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee to the January retreat. Olson also named assessment and learning outcomes, information technology and pedagogy and curriculum convergence as three other areas to look at closely.

According to the ALA’s Standards for Accreditation of Master’s r’s Programs in Library & Information Studies:

™

Accreditation assures the educational community, the general public c and other agencies or organizations that an institution or program: (a)

has clearly defined and educationally appropriate objectives expressed as student learning outcomes,

(b)

maintains conditions under which achievement of objectives can reasonably be expected,

(c)

is in fact accomplishing objectives substantially, and

(d)

can be expected to continue to do so.

For more information on the American Library Association accreditation process, visit the Office for Accreditation website at: http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/accreditation/index.cfm

Winter 2010

| 05

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

SOIS Gets Serious Ab

Health Info E

very time you go to the doctor, you see it. You might not be able to look at it closely, but it’s there. The doctor scribbles in it, the nurse reviews it, and even the pharmacist sees it. It’s your patient record and these days it’s being digitized.

In the past ten years most hospitals and clinics have begun the automation of their records. And though the process has been quick, the transition has been shaky at best. Records still don’t communicate fluently with each other, and from hospital to hospital, systems change. Records might even be different from floor to floor or by specialty.

The way that doctors and nurses search for information and communicate is changing as well. The complexity of information in regard to medicine is understandably immense.

Health professionals are trained in saving lives, a fact that won’t always guarantee that they will know how to articulate a difficult information search.

And what about average citizens looking for simple healthcare information at home? What are the chances that they will understand a complicated diagnosis or be able to process the implications of a long-term illness? Where can they go for more information?

With imminent changes to the health care system in the United States “health informatics” has become a buzzword in library and information science circles. So what does it entail exactly?

Well, for starters, everything that is covered above. In the recently published Informatics for Healthcare Professionals, health informatics is defined as the “intersection of health care, computer science and information science.” But health informatics doesn’t just affect professionals in the field. It also has practical implications in everyday life.

From consumer health websites to EHRs, field and the School of Information Studie tion of health informatics innovators.

The biggest change in recent years for the health information industry is in the electronic health record (EHR). Like a bibliographic record for a book, the EHR is a digital record for a patient. Championed as the solution to long waiting lines and poor handwriting, the EHR has had a profound impact on how medical professionals share information.

Because of the support that EHRs have generated, a lot of money has gone into advancing this technology in recent years. Most notably, the health care overhaul has promised that millions more will go into developing more and better systems dedicated to facilitating EHRs. But all of the money going into these systems begs the question, “do they actually work?” Dr. Karen Davies is studying that very question. She says that for too many years many government and health officials have ignored the information science aspect of health informatics – and often to their own detriment. “Information science is a missing element from a lot of health informatics programs” notes Davies, concluding that the emphasis falls on the more high-profile medical and computer science aspects.

Joining SOIS in August 2009 from Loughborough University in England, Davies is familiar with the needs of health professionals. Not only has she studied the information seeking behavior of doctors, but she’s also tracked the job searching techniques of health workers. She’s an experienced librarian and knowledge manager after time with the National Health Service in Wales.

That’s where SOIS comes into play. As a recognized leader in information science research, SOIS has a proven track record in helping ask and answer serious questions. In the past few years, SOIS has committed to training health informatics professionals through three important steps.The first is the hiring of a new full-time professor of health informatics, Dr. Karen Davies. The second is through collaboration with the School of Health Sciences to offer two programs aimed at training students in health care informatics. Finally, the school has also begun a series of research projects aimed at helping consumers investigate their own health information.

06 | Inside SOIS

Dr. Karen Davies Assistant Professor

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

3

out

ormatics

, health informatics is becoming a huge – and vital – s is striving to do its part in training the next genera-

Davies explains that while medicine and computer science are getting along fine, the information science part is what is keeping many of these EHR-linked systems from being useful. The biggest challenge according to Davies is that even the lowest person must be able to use the system. “It has to be fail-safe,” clarifies Davies, “it has to be designed in a way so that medical professionals don’t have to be computer science/information technical people.”

In all of these positions, the librarian is helping mediate the interaction between a question and an answer. Davies admits that the titles might change, but the responsibilities will not: “librarians will be helping doctors, nurses and patients find health information.”

Consumer Health Informatics

In Britain, there have been several attempts to digitize patient records. Davies studied one in particular which attempted to address the compatibility of systems. In some cases, hospitals were using old computers which made the systems run slowly and ineffectively.

Dr. Jin Zhang is looking to help everyone else understand health care informatics. Zhang, a professor at SOIS, is interested in the subfield of consumer health informatics and is involved in two important studies to help the public access key health information.

The role that library and information professionals can play in shaping these systems is growing. Davies feels that there is such a dearth of understanding of human-computer interaction in the field that librarians will be needed.

Consumer health informatics arose with the advent of the internet. As usage increased, more and more health care information became available online, prompting average citizens to begin investigating sites like WebMD and HealthCentral. These sites have become understandably popular: a person concerned about their health will want the fastest and easiest way to learn about a certain condition or treatment options.

Davies says that identifying opportunities for students is an important part of her job. To help her students, she describes four main positions that they might explore: • Medical Librarian – Reference librarian for hospitals or academic centers • Clinical Informationalist – Reference librarian in clinical setting working with MDs/residents • Consumer Health Librarian – Works with patients’ and medical staff personal conditions • Public Health Librarian – Works in a more general awareness and treatment setting

Before these sites, patients had little option outside the advice of their doctors. Information might only otherwise be available through the library or centers for medical knowledge like training hospitals.

The challenge Zhang says is to make these consumer health sites more user friendly. In one of his studies, Zhang looks at the transaction logs from a website called HealthLink to determine the exact query terms that users string together in order to create better vocabularies. For instance, does a user actually type out “myo-

Dr. Alexandra Dimitroff Associate Professor

Winter 2010

| 07

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

cardial infarction,” or do they use the more common term “heart attack?” Similiarly, Zhang explores how entered terms might be related such as “obesity” and “heart disease.”

The results have been intriguing. Zhang and his fellow investigators at SOIS have found a 30% overlap in language. He wonders how much of a barrier language can really be for people unfamiliar with medical vocabulary.

Zhang is also exploring the browsing behavior of users on con-

sumer health sites. Using a year’s worth of data, his research is tracking whether users prefer browsing using a tree structure or a traditional subject directory.

But Zhang isn’t the only one exploring new solutions in health care information. Lucio Campanelli is a secondyear MLIS candidate at SOIS, who has taken a keen interest in the field.

Having recently taken Dr. Davies’ L&I Dr. Jin Zhang, Professor SCI 835 Information Sources and Services in the Health Sciences course, Campanelli sees a lot of potential in handheld information sources. “Health care issues affect people every day and it’s important to have constant access to critical information,” said Campanelli.

Campanelli is helping to develop a health care application for mobile devices like iPhones. He sees this as the future of health informatics. “I can get any answer I need from my phone,” he says, displaying a 360-degree picture of the human body with the touch of his finger. Campanelli believes that more consumer health users will flock to programs such as these while data phones continue to gain in popularity.

It’s not even too hard to imagine doctors eventually performing surgery with the aid of their mobile device. With the amount of information that can be stored on these devices, the advantages are hard to deny.

Opportunities For Students Dr. Alexandra Dimitroff, Associate Professor at SOIS, thinks that the opportunities for students in health informatics are expanding. Dimitroff has been active in the field of health informatics for almost twenty years, but only recently did she notice a change. Dimitroff, who serves on a National Library of Medicine (NLM) committee, notes that organizations like the NLM have begun actively searching for information professionals in order to help close gaps in information needs.

One of those opportunities includes NLM’s Associate Fellowship, which was recently awarded to a SOIS graduate, Sarah Westphal. The fellowship is designed to train health informatics professionals for leadership positions in health information centers like libraries and government agencies. According to Dimitroff, postgraduate opportunities like these are fairly common if students know where to look. Other possibilities include internships (often paid) from academic medical libraries like the Eskind Biomedical Library at the Vanderbilt Medical Center or the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Alexandra Dimitroff, Associate Professor

08 | Inside SOIS

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

Dimitroff recognizes students may be intimidated by the idea of entering the health profession without a lot of knowledge of healthrelated sciences like biology and chemistry. She says that this doesn’t have to be the case. “Students going into health informatics don’t necessarily have to have a science or technology background,” states Dimitroff, who acknowledges that while some familiarity can help, it’s more important to know terminology. Librarians are not legally responsible for the information they give out, as it is ultimately the doctor or patient making the final medical decision.

And students don’t have to wait until graduation to see how the profession works either. SOIS is now partnering with the School of Health Sciences to offer students an MS in Health Care Informatics as well as a dual degree MLIS/MS program. The MS in Health Care Informatics is a 35-credit program designed to offer students handson training in health care systems and approaches to the field.

Dr. Tim Patrick, who is an assistant professor in the School of Health Sciences and director of the health care informatics program, says that both degrees guide students in understanding scientific research and applying it to the care of patients. “Students in our program have to realize that health care systems aren’t just built on information technology – it’s important to understand how information is used and moved as well,” says Patrick.

“Students in our program have to realize that health care systems aren’t just built on information technology - its important to understand how information is used and moved as well.”

Dr. Tim Patrick Assistant Professor School of Health Sciences

3

Another option to prepare students is through the MLIS/MS program.

This coordinated degree option focuses on educating students in information access and management as practiced in hospitals, clinics, and other professional offices. A 56-credit program, students can complete the coursework for two degrees in less time than it would normally take to obtain two separate degrees.

To show the school’s commitment to undergraduates, SOIS again partnered with the School of Health Sciences to launch a certificate in health care informatics. The certificate helps develop leadership in the field at all levels of study and demonstrates the extent of the need for information professionals in health care. UWM undergraduates can pursue this concurrently with their major or as a post-baccalaureate certificate.

“SOIS has formed this partnership with the School of Health Sciences in order to stay on the cutting edge of health informatics. With the degree options available, students should consider UWM a top school in the field” Dean Johannes Britz Whichever they chose, students at UWM have a lot of options for learning about the professional side of health care informatics. From consumer health websites to EHRs, health informatics is becoming a huge – and vital – field and the School of Information Studies is striving to do its part in training the next generation of health informatics innovators. SOIS Dean Johannes Britz – who recently served as interim Dean of Health Sciences – understands the value of giving health informatics students the right skills. “SOIS has formed this partnership with the School of Health Sciences in order to stay on the cutting edge of health informatics,” said Britz. “With the degree options available, students should consider UWM a top school in the field.”

For more information about the MS or MLIS/MS in Health Care Informatics programs, please visit the following link: UWM Graduate School: Health Care Informatics http://graduateschool.uwm.edu/students/prospective/ areas-of-study/health-care-informatics/

Winter 2010

| 09

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

Archives Students

aid in the rescue preservation of h dating from 922 A

Student/Almni Participants: Matt Shoemaker, Tanya Shelton-Council, Adam Zimmerli, Colleen McCorkell, Sarah Ethier and Katie Blank, SOIS Special Libriarian and Archival Studies Program Assistant.

SOIS Archives Students Help Save a German Archives For one week in July 2009, six SOIS students and recent graduates had the unique opportunity to help with the recovery effort at the largest European municipal historical archives north of the Alps, in Cologne, Germany.

On March 3rd, 2009 the Historischen Archivs der Stadt Köln (Historical Archives of the City of Cologne) collapsed, killing two residents in an adjacent apartment building and damaging historical records. The archives held records dating from 922 AD to the present. Since the collapse there has been a continuous rescue and preservation effort to save the historical materials. Due to the scope of the disaster, the group played a big part in getting the archives back on its feet while at the same time learning about important aspects in archival theory.

The SOIS group gained practical, hands-on experience in preservation and disaster recovery. When the group arrived on July 20th, it received an initial debriefing from the German archivist.

The group learned about the original archives and the site where the building collapsed. It is now a pit where records damaged by ground water were still being recovered. The SOIS group worked at the school-turned recovery area directly across from the pit.

The two main stations which housed SOIS volunteers were nick-

10 | Inside SOIS

named “Waschington” and “Packistan” by archives staff and volunteers. The wet, muddy and sometimes moldyy recovered records were e put into crates and then n brought to “Waschington,” n,” where the group and other volunteers gently washed them with water to remove most of the mud. From “Waschington” they were then taken to “Packistan” were the students wrapped (packed) and inventoried the records which were then taken to be frozen.

One student on the trip, Colleen McCorkell, was struck by the similarities and differences between archives, no matter their location.

“It was an invaluable experience to be involved with the recovery process and observe how the archives staff hopes to resolve some of the looming issues in the coming years,” said McCorkell. “It was also encouraging to see the international archival community come to their aid. I look forward to seeing how the recovery process continues to move forward in the coming years and the larger lessons the archival community takes away from the Cologne archives disaster.”

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

3

and istorical materials AD to the Present Story and Photos by Katie Blank Despite the full days doing recovery work, the group did have time to explore Cologne, its cathedral and museums, and to take trips to the nearby cities of Bonn and D端sseldorf.

The recovery trip was possible through partial scholarships from SOIS; lodging and food was provided for volunteers by the Cologne government. Katie Blank, Special Librarian for SOIS and Archival Studies Program m Assistant, arranged and led the trip and stu-dents Sarah Ethier, Colleen McCorkell, Tanya a Shelton-Council, Matt Shoemaker, and May 2009 SOIS graduate Adam Zimmerli all participated in the recovery work.

Did you know?

This summer, SOIS will be hosting a study abroad for archive students to Edinburgh, Scotland for two weeks!

Look for updates from the group in the next edition of Inside SOIS.

Winter 2010 | 11 Summer 2009 |

11

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

e ust a s

LEAV E T H EI R C R E AT IV E MA R K O N SO I S !

Last fall, SOIS once again played host to three exchange students from the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences in Hagenberg, Austria. They sat down with Inside SOIS to share some of their experiences.

SOIS: Please introduce yourselves!

Stephanie Hager: My name is Stephanie Hager, I’m 21 years old and I live in a part of Austria where we actually live in the Alps in the mountains. My interests are in design and in graphics. I love working on computer graphics.

Marlene Peter: My name is Marlene Peter, I’m 21 years old. I’m from Linz and my

12 | Inside SOIS

interests are marketing and public relations.

Alexander Pichler: My name is Alexander Pichler, and I’m from St. Martin, which is near Linz, but more in the countryside. I’m 23 years old and my interests are more in the technical aspects like programming and web development.

Why did you decide to come to Milwaukee?

Stephanie: Hagenberg is a partner university with UWM. Michael Fruehmann, our professor at Hagenberg, made the connection with both universities. It’s an exchange; our university takes two or more of your students, and your university takes two of more of our students. It’s part of the Bachelor of Social Sciences program at Hagenberg.

Photo: (L to R) Alexander Pichler, Marlene Peter, Stephanie Hager

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

Do you get credit for your time here in Milwaukee?

Alex: We have to do an internship in our fifth semester, so we’re here working to get credit.

Tell me about your individual experiences. How have you adjusted?

Stephanie: I’ve learned that work can actually be fun [laughs]. I’ve enjoyed working on all the projects like the promotional video, and right now we’re doing another video. It’s very creative and I love being creative, designing things, making video.

I can go and ask Rebecca [Hall] or Chad [Zahrt] any time and they’ll tell me what to do. I just feel that I’m free to do what I want to do.

Marlene: I think I found out that I can be more confident about my work. I’m working on a project that I just started. I’ve worked on this project from start to finish. I’ll do a presentation on it. I just have more confidence.

Alexander: I like that there was good diversity of projects. We could all use our abilities. I’m working on programming, Steffi is very creative and Marlene has her marketing project, so it’s great.

The BSIR promotional project in Bolton Hall is great. Can you talk a little bit about making it?

Stephanie: We had a meeting with Rebecca and we talked about the purpose of the video.

Alex: When you walk past it, you want to watch it.

Stephanie: So Rebecca told us what she wanted and we started drawing sketches.

We collected a lot of ideas. Then we had another meeting with more staff members to show them our ideas. The staff gave their input and we did some more design.

Alex wrote a program that would play the images quickly and in the end we had this great video.

You are also involved in doing a virtual tour of SOIS, is that right?

Alex: Yes. That’s the project we’re finishing right now. It’s a project for the distance education students. They want to know the staff here, who is teaching them.

So we were asked to make a virtual tour for the DE students, to meet the staff. Marlene is our actor and she asks the staff questions so that they can introduce themselves.

Stephanie: Everything is filmed from the new student’s point of view. Alex walks around with the camera and Marlene was introducing him to the staff. The viewer can actually feel like they are being given the tour.

3

Photo: (clockwise) Alexander Pichler, Stephanie Hager, Erin Hvizdak, and Marlene Peter

What are some things that you will use or apply to your degree or career in Austria?

Stephanie: Definitely the language. Having the experience of speaking English all the time and saying that you had your internship in American is a definite plus. My experience with Flash and PremierPro and the programs that I used here will definitely help me when I go in the direction of graphic design and more creative things. I think I learned a lot and I’m glad to take all of this back home.

Marlene: Yes, the enhancement of my English skills is really good. I also found out that I really enjoy doing research projects.

So maybe I can combine this with marketing or public relations. I don’t know, that would be cool.

Alex: I think we increased our skills to work on our own projects. We always

had an outline for our projects, but we had to make the important decisions on our own. That was very cool.

So what’s next? What happens after you graduate?

Stephanie: I plan to come back to America for at least one year. I really like being in America; I’ve got a lot of relatives and friends here now. I really enjoy the language and the people. The only thing I have to figure out is the green card thing!

Marlene: I’m thinking about maybe combining the Bachelor of Social Science with a business degree to go in a public marketing area. That’s my plan.

Alex: I still hope to graduate [laughs]. I plan to eventually get a Master’s but maybe I’ll take a break and work for a year or two in-between.

SOIS Thanks you for your great work and we wish all three of you the best of luck!

Milwauke Milwaukee waukee k

Winter 2010 | 13 Summer 2009 |

03

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

Dan Gall prefers that his University of Iowa Libraries’ users refer to him as “Dan the Librarian.” It’s a moniker he’s adopted since taking his position as Coordinator of Library Services for Distance Education & Liaison for Social Work. “[Dan the Librarian]’s definitely easier to remember,” he joked. Gall has come a long way in distance education and librarianship. Since obtaining an MLIS from the School of Information Studies in 1995, he’s gone from having zero eral internet access to being the reference librarian for several online university programs around the Midwest.

Dan the Librarian Makes Strides in Approaches to Distance Learning

T

hroughout his experiences he notes that he’s always been able to draw on his time at SOIS. “It was an education really grounded in good practice,” he said.

One particular class stands out for Gall as having had a big impact on him. “I took a course from Dr. [Dietmar] Wolfram that I believe was called ‘Networking,’” he recalls, “it was a really interesting and challenging course. One day Dr. Wolfram walked into the class and connected his laptop to the overhead projector. He wrote some text on a word processor and then showed us how we could open websites with it. That was our introduction to hypertext.”

This was the beginning – more or less – of the publicly available internet and Gall was to miss most of it. After graduation, Gall and his wife joined the Peace Corps in Africa, serving for two years in Botswana. There, he began a project working with the National Library service. In the middle of the Kalahari Desert in a town without internet access, Gall remembers wondering how the internet would change things – particularly education.

Alumni Profile...

He found his answer when he returned to the United States. “I found that pretty much all job searching was done through websites,” he said, “I felt a little out-dated.” Gall and his wife moved to Mankato, Minnesota where he took a position as the campus librarian for the Mankato branch of Rasmussen College, an online university. The position brought him back into the fold and even exposed him to the new field of distance librarianship.

Gall was later to perfect “Dan the Librarian” when his family later moved to Iowa. Gall says that for someone far away from the library, spending a lot of free time combing the library website for an article for class can be frustrating. When they ask for help, they want someone receptive, he said. Using a technology-use survey, Gall realized that he would have to talk to his users the way that they wanted to be talked to – which is mostly by email or phone.

The challenge for a lot of students in the asynchronous learning environment is psychological, says Gall. He mentions exam week as a perfect example. “On campus, everyone knows its exam week,” he says, “but for distance students, they don’t have that feeling surrounding them. Their boss doesn’t care, their kids don’t care that it’s exam week.”

Judging by the numbers, Dan the Librarian has been pretty successful. Gall points to his usage statistics which have steadily improved over the last two and half years. He’s also gained some accolades in the distance education community. In April, Gall will be presenting at the Off-Campus Library Services Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. The title of his presentation is “Librarian Like a Rock Star: Using Your Personal Brand to Promote Your Services The challenge for a and Reach Distant Users.” lot of students in the asynchronous learning environment is psychological, says Gall. He mentions exam week as a perfect example. “On campus, everyone knows its exam week,”

When Gall’s wife took a position at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, Gall found himself well-positioned in the career path of distance education librarian. At Central Michigan, he began to make a name for himself, harnessing the idea of “Dan the Librarian” – a nickname that reflected a way of relating to patrons he never saw. Gall says it was a conscious choice. “I want to be approachable,” he said, “I want to connect with people.”

14 | Inside SOIS

he says, “but for distance students, they g don’t have that feeling surrounding heir them. Their boss doesn’t care, their kids don’t care that it’s exam week.”

Dan the Librarian has certainly become a rock star to his users.

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

3

Writer.

Instructor.

Performer.

Featured Instructor...

Suzanne Bell believes in online education She believes in it so much that she was recently asked to write a chapter in a book about it. A SOIS adjunct instructor, who is currently the Economics/Data Services Librarian at the Rush Rees Library at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, she will pen the chapter on e-learning in the forthcoming Approaches to Teaching and Learning Information Retrieval.

For Bell, the opportunity is the pay-off from the years of hard-work and dedication she’s put into the e-learning environment. Her commitment is unyielding. “I love to teach,” Bell said, “I love to see people learning in new ways.” Bell says that most of all, she

enjoys finding new ways of presenting materials to her students. Keeping it fresh and being herself are her two keys to success in teaching in the online setting.

Bell’s experience with SOIS isn’t her first time teaching library and information studies courses. She has also taught MLIS classes at the University of Buffalo, but in an onsite format. The differences, she says, are profound. “I get to know my students better in the online courses,” she admits. This may sound surprising, but Bell references a recent survey of the distance education/online learning format that found similar conclusions. Bell credits email. In

Bell’s method may stem slightly from her position in Rochester. As the Economics/Data Services Librarian, she is not only in-charge of acquisitions and reference for her subject, but also gives regular bibliographic instruction classes. These classes, although very different from her online ones – given sometimes to classes of 150 students; Bell calls them “drive-by bibliographic instruction” – works well when students approach her individually after the class. It is in these follow-up sessions that Bell sees the most growth from students.

So what is contained in a great online course? “It’s a mixture of things,” Bell answers, “carefully structured notes, PowerPoint outlines that actually discuss what we’re doing, additional readings for the people that want them, and maybe a Camtasia screen capture that shows you how to interact with the textbook.” These are the things that make a good instructor a great one, according to Bell.

their emails, Bell says that her students tend to express themselves more openly, more personally.

The flip-side is that some students tend to get lost more easily. Bell admits that she’s had online students “disappear” in the middle of the semester, but she says that this is rare if the teacher is engaging. “If you come across as approachable and there for them,” she explains, “that tone you set will help guide your class.” Giving feedback too is critical; it lets the students know where they stand. She readily agrees that this method is much more time-consuming, but “worth it, in the end.”

These are also the things that Bell implemented the last two semesters in her online L&I Sci 330 Electronic Information Retrieval course at SOIS. And despite teaching from Rochester, she believes she’s been quite successful. “I’ve gotten to know so many students. The students at SOIS are great,” she acknowledges, “they do a perfect job communicating their personalities and they’re super folks.”

Some of her students might be disappointed to hear that Bell won’t be back in the spring. She’s taking a semester off to perform in a play. That’s right: despite writing a book, working full-time as a librarian, and teaching online LIS classes, Bell still finds the time to perform on-stage with a local theater group.

Winter 2010

| 15

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

SOIS Student Studies School Media Organization Jihee Beak, an MLIS candidate at SOIS, combined two of her passions, school media librarianship and the organization of information, to study school media specialists in the Milwaukee Public School (MPS) system. For Beak, a native of South Korea, it was an eye-opening experience, especially into the American system of education. “In Korea, there are hardly any school media specialists,” she said.

Photo: Jihee Beak and Assistant Dean Chad Zahrt

Initially, Beak sought the advice of SOIS lecturer Bonnie Withers, who introduced Beak to the Whitefish Bay school system through a storytelling project. Withers, who teaches courses in the School Library Media program, helped Beak contact several school media specialists and familiarize herself with the MPS system.

In her analysis of the catalogs, Beak found that a lot have added special categories that either correspond to teacher’s reading lists or Wisconsin topics. She also found that a lot of librarians would like to implement more virtual search options like that of the ICDL, but face time and monetary restrictions.

Using that introduction, Beak decided to focus on the organization of information in MPS libraries and what role school media specialists played in organizing materials. Using the International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL) – which can be found at www.en.childrenslibrary.org – as an example, Beak compared the unique methods MPS library catalogs used to categorize materials in their visual search options. The ICDL helps children find materials by utilizing categories like “Make Believe Books,” or “Real Animal Characters,” and allowing children to search by the color of the cover of the book.

After finishing the project in August, Beak presented her findings twice in October. She first took part in SOIS’ Student Research Day at Golda Meir Library and then again in Appleton for the Student Research Forum at the Wisconsin Library Association (WLA) conference. Beak said that presenting at the WLA conference was a big honor.

Another aspect of Beak’s study was the level of familiarity and influence school media specialists had on the information organization in their catalogs. Beak eventually broke her study down into two distinct parts: 1) a study of 100 elementary school catalogs through the MPS system and 2) surveys of 41 school media specialists in Milwaukee. Conducting the surveys ended up being an education in itself. “I had a lot of professors look at my questions,” said Beak, who also went through the process of submitting her survey to UWM’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), which sanctions university studies.

16 | Inside SOIS

The independent research project began as Beak was ramping up to write a thesis. Beak, who studied school media librarianship at Kyungpook National University in Korea, is currently writing her thesis for her information organization concentration, and says she learned a lot about the approaches to surveys and how to structure research questions. “[The project] didn’t go quite as I wanted it to, but overall it was a great experience,” said Beak.

Renea Drews Wins OARSS Award Correction: SOIS would like to offer

belated

congratulations

to Renea Drews, who was the recipient of 2008 Non-Traditional Student of the Year representing OARSS. Drews, a graduate of the BSIR program, won the award for her exemplary performance. This information was absent from the

Beak now expects to take the knowledge she gained from the project to write her graduate thesis. For the thesis, she’s chosen to pursue a study on the usage of metadata in the ICDL. She says she’s excited to be working with the organization of children’s material again. “It’s what I enjoy doing,” she said.

summer 2009 edition of Inside SOIS. We regret the error.

Congratulations Renea!

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

3

Joel DesArmo doesn’t feel any different than other students. Sure, he may have taken a break from college life for ten years, but that doesn’t bother DesArmo. Unfazed by the labels like “returning” or “non-traditional student,” DesArmo believes that in a UWM classroom, he’s the same as anyone else.

Ex c e p t i o n a l

Non-Traditional Student Nets Award T

he Office of Adult and Returning Student Services (OARSS) has a label for DesArmo: “exceptional.”

In November 2009, DesArmo was the recipient of OARSS’ certificate of recognition for the School of Information Studies. DesArmo was pleased by the award. “It’s an affirmation of the hard work I’ve done,” he said. He’s modest about it, but DesArmo’s story is the stuff of inspiration.

Returning to school in the fall of 2007, DesArmo says that it felt like the right time to get back into school. Having attended UWM in the past, he had originally thought that university life just wasn’t for him. He took a position as a school bus driver and worked in other jobs along the way. He says he loved the personal relationships that he created with students and parents driving the bus, but eventually decided that it was time to go back to school for himself.

As inspiring as his return to the university was DesArmo’s decision to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Information Resources. In the spring of 2008, he was still without a major. DesArmo says that he was considering Management Information Systems (MIS) or possibly Education, given his background working with children.

DesArmo knew he wanted something practical, but was also looking for something with theoretical underpinnings. “I knew someone in my Spanish class who was in MIS and I thought that sounded pretty good,” he said. A chance encounter with a SOIS advisor would change all of that.

One day during that same spring semester, DesArmo came across a SOIS recruiting booth in the student union on his way to class. It was there that he met Jennifer Hawkins, an undergraduate advisor and the person who would later nominate DesArmo for the OARSS award. “She asked me if I had a major and I told her that I didn’t,”

he recounts, “when she told me about the BSIR, I said to myself, ‘That’s me, that’s what I want to do!’” And the rest is history.

DesArmo hasn’t just been active in his classes, either. As a member of the BSIR undergraduate student organization, and a participant in the Table Tennis Club, and the Student Association representative for SOIS, DesArmo keeps himself busy around campus. He is also proud of his involvement with the American Indian Student Services (AISS) Office on campus.

Jennifer Hawkins and Joel DesArmo at the Fall 2009 Non-Traditional Student Award Ceremony

For her part, Hawkins appreciates the effort DesArmo has put into both his studies and his extra-curricular activities. “We have a lot of great students and a lot of great non-traditional students,” she professed, “Joel won this award because he’s been such a great example.”

In the future, DesArmo hopes to possibly open his own business, possibly a tech services firm. He says that a few of his hobbies include playing around in Photoshop and creating websites, skills which he thinks could translate positively in an entrepreneurial or non-profit scenario.

For now, however, DesArmo is okay with the label that he has: “student.”

Winter 2010

| 17

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

“Tales from the Field” Gives Students Exposure to Digital Librarianship On Tuesday, October 27th, 2009, SOIS and the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) Student Chapter played host to six University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee alumni who discussed the professional side of digital librarianship. Entitled “Tales from the Field,” Digital Collections Librarian for UWM Libraries Krystyna Matusiak moderated, while Professor and ASIST Student Chapter Advisor Iris Xie helped organize the event in coordination with her L&I SCI 682 Digital Libraries course.

The panel featured six former SOIS students from around the United States who are now involved in digital library projects. Each presenter discussed the challenges and developments facing digital librarians today. Matusiak believes that hearing stories from an employment perspective is critical for the next generation of digital librarians. “Digital librarianship is such a new field that it’s important that students can make a smooth transition to the work world,” said Matusiak. Xie agreed. “An event like this is a great way to create connections in the professional arena,” she added.

The majority of presenters were very familiar with Xie and Matusiak.

Over the last few years, most – if not all – have taken Xie’s 682 course or worked in the Digitization Unit as a fieldworker or intern with Matusiak.

That level of familiarity was one of the reasons the two were able to convince the alumni to return for the event.

The idea began when Matusiak spoke with a number of alumni who were returning for a professional

conference in Madison, WI. Matusiak contacted Xie and they were able to arrange the event for the out-of-state presenters as well as some local ones. The result was a pleasant mixture of local and national digital librarianship.

Most of the speakers offered their best advice and descriptions of working with Content DM, the popular digital library software. Xie believes that there is a lot about ContentDM that students must consider outside the context of the classroom.

“To see what works and what doesn’t work,” she acknowledges, “that was the purpose of the event.”

In the future, Matusiak and Xie would like to expand the collaboration between the UWM Libraries and the School of Information Studies.

“We’d eventually like to have some more internships at the library,” said Matusiak, “or possibly even a residency program.”

The event was also an excellent way to promote SOIS’ new Certificate of Advanced Studies in Digital Libraries. The School is offering the fifteen-credit certificate for working professionals looking to continue their education in digital librarianship.

Between the certificate and more digital library events, Xie and Matusiak are confident that UWM will continue to grow its reputation in the area of digital librarianship.

Photos: (L to R) Dr. Iris Xie’s Digital Libraries Class, and SOIS Alums Gae Kelly and Bart Schmidt presenting at the “Tales from the Field” Digital Librarianship Event.

Certificate of Advanced Studies:

D I G I TA L L I B R A R I ES Did you know...

SOIS recently launched the Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS) in Digital Libraries. Much like the CAS in Archives, this new digital libraries certificate program is designed to help working professionals update their knowledge and develop a specialty relating to the acquisition, organization and maintenance of digital content, virtual collections and services. It will enable students to either alter the direction of a career path or to enrich, update, and strengthen their skills and their knowledge of their field.

For more information on the CAS programs visit: http://www4.uwm.edu/sois/academics/cas.htm 18 | Inside SOIS

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

“Power to Tag” Brings Together IO Researchers

The Powe r to Tag: Research on

the Nature of

Tags, Tagger

s, and Ragtag

Tagging

Please join the Informa on Organiza on Research Wisconsin-Milw Group (IOrg aukee, Scho ) at the Univ ol of Informa ersity of on Studies IOrg members (SOIS) for a will share their panel prese research on nta on. the fascina n g topic of socia l tagging.

Margaret Kip

In December, SOIS and the Information Organization research group (IOrg) co-sponsored an event designed to explore research concerning social tagging. “The Power to Tag” featured five SOIS faculty members presenting their findings on social tagging as a form of information organization. The event was moderated by Dr. Hur-Li Lee.

3

Assistant Profe ssor,

p School of Infor ma on Stud ies

Richard Smirag

Visi ng Profe ssor,

lia

School of Infor ma

Wooseob Jeo

ng

Associate Profe ssor, School

Dietmar Wolfra

Professor, Scho ol

of Informa

Hope A Olson

Professor, Scho ol

on Studies

of Informa

m

of Informa

on Studies

on Studies

INFORMA INTERNAT TION our focus IONAL INTERDISC IPLINARY our scope our mindset

3

12|03|09

on Studies

4:30 pm - Refre shments 5:00 pm - Pane l Presenta on

Zelazo Center

Room 250 2419 E. Kenw ood Blvd.

Milwaukee, WI 53211

Sponsored Informa onby: Organiza on School of Inform Research Group a on Studie s, University of Wisconsin-Mi lwaukee

As a fairly new field, social tagging is probably best demonstrated through internet websites such as LibraryThing and Digg. These websites allow users to create their own “tags” to define the subject of the material they are organizing. The tags thus become a form of social metadata.

SOIS professor Margaret Kipp was the first presenter, giving an introduction to social tagging and the wealth of research it has generated. Kipp, who joined SOIS in August 2009, wrote her dissertation on social tagging and has studied the issue extensively. She was impressed by her colleagues’ take on the field.

Associate Proessor Dr. Wooseob Jeong Dr. Richard Smiraglia, Visiting Professor

Kipp had this to say about the event: “I think the diverse perspectives on the panel made things even more interesting for everyone. Often, a panel will focus on a specific aspect in a field, for example tagging and information retrieval, but instead, this panel attempted to provide an overview of specific projects showing that tagging research connects research in information organization, information retrieval and other areas of library and information science research.”

The connection between social tagging and libraries is often identified as “Library 2.0.” The idea is that libraries that embrace new technologies such as social bookmarking software can be more connected to their users and the way those users prefer to operate.

The Information Organization Research Group is designed to facilitate the discovery and development of knowledge in the field

Kipp says that she sees “tremendous potential” in social tagging as a form of indexing. “Tagging shows that indexing by subject, form and other relationships is an important activity for many people that ties directly into their everyday information activities like selecting, evaluating and storing an item for later retrieval,”

of information organization by established researchers and new scholars in library and information studies and related disciplines. http://www4.uwm.edu/sois/research/IORG

The event highlighted an emerging field that Kipp sees growing not only in libraries and museums. She expects social tagging to develop into a web retrieval tool in the future. Like the other presenters, Kipp hopes that the “Power to Tag” will inspire others to build interest.

Winter 2010

| 19

RESEARCH S C

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

SOIS Grant Writer BUILDING ON OUR RESEARCH MOMENTUM - SOIS WELCOMES NEW GRANT WRITER SOIS is proud to announce the addition of Kate Keener as Grant Writer. Throughout her career, Keener has created a legacy of passion for the people she’s helped and the projects she’s worked on. She comes to SOIS after two years of coordinating an important state grant for the City of Kenosha.

Her career path denotes a professional with a significant amount of entrepreneurial skill.

With the Army Corps of Engineers, Keener helped get funding for a compliance project in Germany. The experience demonstrated Keener’s talent for familiarizing herself with complicated requirements and identifying key issues in grant decisions. Keener later left to start her own business where she thrived in making personal connections.

Kate K t KEENER KEENER

No stranger to libraries, Keener says that coming to SOIS was a natural choice.

Starting from her junior high days of being president of the library club to working in the stacks at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign graduate library, Keener says that she feels at home in a setting such as SOIS. “I knew that I fit right away,” she said, referring to the first time she came to SOIS.

always been good at understanding what reviewers want to see. Even in school, she claims she understood what most teachers were looking for in their assignments and exams. The most important skill she says she can bring to these applications is the ability to help find the wording to make the project seem all the more intriguing.

Keener – who has written a number of successful grants in the areas of transportation and environmental law, among others – brings an enthusiasm and an eye for detail to her position. A self-professed “grammar nerd,” she claims a fascination for language, which is evidenced by her fluent German.

She has also studied Latin, French, Russian and Spanish. “I was the kid that stayed after school to diagram sentences,” she said.

At SOIS, Keener expects to build on recent successes. “I hope to get us ahead of the game,” she said, “I think [SOIS] can offer real solutions in the growing global information economy.” Since she’s arrived in December, she’s already helped complete a number of grant applications and hopes to move the whole process forward. Keener identifies setting up a planning schedule to meet grant deadlines as a goal, so that researchers can have time in excess of a year to prepare.

In her free time, Keener stays active in community issues. She has served in numerous volunteer positions assisting organizations identify and obtain funding, including most recently, helping found and plan Green Kenosha events to raise awareness for environmental conservation.

In the meantime, Keener will continue to inject her passion and foresight into all the projects she works on.

“We’re very excited to have Kate join us at SOIS. With Kate, we can look forward to achieving our goals of growing research funding and establishing SOIS as

The strategy that Keener applies in her grant-writing is simple: use a clear voice to express the stated goal. She says that she’s

20 | Inside SOIS

a nationally-recognized research program.”

-Johannes Britz, Dean

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

3

RGIR Creates Institutional Repository The Research Group for Information Retrieval (RGIR) at SOIS has storage on the mind. The group recently focused their attention on creating an institutional repository for research published by group members. SOIS Associate Professor, Jin Zhang, believes that the repository will help push along the quality of publishing into high ranking journals. “In the future, we’d like to invite publishing from outside the group,” he added.

RGIR is also in negotiations to bring in noted information retrieval researcher Tefko Saracevic as a Distinguished Researcher.

Saracevic, a professor at Rutgers University, has historically had close ties with SOIS. He has presented several times at SOIS, the latest coming in Spring 2009.

Finally, RGIR academic members are slated to travel to South Korea in May 2010 for a celebration of the Korean Library Association. Dr. Wooseob Jeong, director of the BSIR program and a RGIR member, will be leading the trip.

Greenberg to Introduce HIVE at IOrg Lecture In April, the Information Organization research group (IOrg) and SOIS will host Dr. Jane Greenberg, Director of the Metadata Research Center and Professor at the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Greenberg’s presentation is entitled “The HIVE (Helping Interdisciplinary Vocabulary Engineering): An Approach and a Model.”

The Helping Interdisciplinary Vocabulary Engineering (HIVE) is a collaboration between the Metadata Research Center (MRC) at the School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) in Durham, North Carolina; and vocabulary partners HIVE from the Library of Congress, the Getty Research Institute (GRI), and the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

HIVE is an automatic metadata generation approach that dynamically integrates discipline-specific controlled vocabularies encoded with the Simple Knowledge Organisation System (SKOS), a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard. The goal is to assist content creators and information professionals with subject cataloging and to circumvent traditional controlled vocabulary problems of cost, interoperability, and usability.

This presentation will introduce HIVE and provide an overview of the research and development plan. An emphasis will be placed on the HIVE approach and overall model.

Findings from two recent baseline studies will be presented and plans for next steps.

The event takes place on April 8th, 2010.

IOrg Lecture Series

April 6, 2010 Thomas Dousa University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign April 8, 2010 Jane Greenberg University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

April 22, 2010 Charles van den Heuvel Senior Researcher, The Virtual Knowledge Studio for the Humanities and Social Sciences – VKS, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Richard P Smiraglia Visiting Professor, SOIS Winter 2010

| 21

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

IIA Lab Working on Architectural Search Project In

conjunction with the School of T Architecture and G Urban Planning ( S A R U P ) , SOIS Assistant P r o f e s s o r Xianming Mu and his team at R A the Information RESE Intelligence and Architecture (IIA) research lab have begun working on creating a new database search function. The project involves Community Design Solutions (CDS) which is a nonprofit, student-run design institute within SARUP.

CH

LAB

ON ATI

URE

INTEL

ECT

LI

E & ARCH I ENC

INFO

RM

Through the collaboration, Dr. Mu noted that he hopes to generate more funding. The lab began in 2007 as a tool to increase research potential. With CDS, Mu and students Lucio Campanelli and Dan Rude applied for several grants that would fund the complete overhaul of CDS’ database. The project is currently on-going and moving into a design and testing phase.

Mu also believes that the coordination of areas of information science, such as information organization and interface design are better achieved with the lab in place.

The Center for Information Policy Research (CIPR) hosted the annual OneWebDay in September with invited speakers David Bollier, Nancy Kranich, and Brad Lichtenstein. The he event celebrates digital inclusion and Internet nternet access. One of the highlights of the event was the he screening of the film Good Copy, Bad Copy, which the speakers moderated.

CIPR was also instrumental in organizing the 10th annual Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) conference held in Milwaukee in October entitled Internet: Critical. The event brought together Internet researchers from all over the country.

CIPR News...

CIPR/SOIS Will Host 2011 CEPE Conference!

CIPR and SOIS were selected to host the 2011 Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) conference. In 2009, the conference was held in Corfu, Greece. The theme of the 2011 edition will be Crossing Boundaries: Ethics in Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Relations and the topics will include: • E-governance

• E-waste

• E-politics

• Intercultural ethics

• Professional ethics

• E-crime and security

• E-Research ethics The lab is a platform to help students

• International ethics, law and policy issues

and faculty explore new technologies for teaching and learning.

Photo: (L to R) One Web Day Presentors Brad Lichtenstein, David Bollier and Nancy Kranich

— Dr. Xianming Mu, Assistant Professor

Two of the labs’ student workers, Kun Lu and Hohyon Ryu can be credited for doing the early work on developing a search function for the database. Ryu recently returned to Korea after a year of partnering with Mu and Lu. Mu admits that he’s sad to see Ryu go, but will continue to work with him over the web from Seoul.

In the future, Mu hopes to get some new students into the lab to continue testing and collaborating. “We’re proud of what we achieved but now we need to move forward,” he noted.

22 | Inside SOIS

Did you know?

• CIPR has brought in over $650,000 in grants since 2005 • CIPR serves the WLA community by publishing the IFRT Newsletter • CIPR is the institutional home to INSEIT • CIPR offers funded internships to BSIR, MLIS & PhD students

For the latest news from CIPR visit: http://www4.uwm.edu/cipr/

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

3

Korea & Singapore Drs. Tom and Maria Haigh just finished a round of touring Asia. Along the way: Tom gave a speech at the Korean National Library while checking out the library’s impressive display of Samsung touch-screen OPACS. Maria gave a presentation in Singapore where the professors also discussed information freedom and access in Singapore.

International Flash

Photos by: Jacques du Plesiss (L to R) Susan Hammer, Margaret Janz, Jessica Zillhart, Nicolle Davies, Jackie Liesch, Morgan Sawicki

Initiation ceremony for 16-year old girl

South Africa Study Abroad Dr. Jacques du Plessis just returned from South Africa after another successful SOIS study abroad trip. In South Africa, SOIS students learned about information poverty and the campaign to stop the spread of AIDS/HIV. This is the fourth time Dr. du Plessis has lead the trip to South Africa and says he’s continually impressed by the student’s growth in the program. This year, students visited orphanages in Cape Town and Pretoria, and also took a two-day safari. Welcome back, Jacques!

Winter 2010

| 23

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

nal WISE Award

Lipinski Receives Natio

By Kathy Quirk

S

OIS professor Tomas Lipinsk recently received the national 2009 Excellence in Online Education Award from WISE (Webbased Information Science Education).

Lipinski, who is nationally and internationally known for his expertise in copyright regulation and library law, has developed several national education courses on copyright. These include online programs offered through the Association of College and Research Libraries and the University of Maryland University College’s Center for Intellectual Property. This summer, he’ll be a copyright literacy panelist at a symposium in Washington, D.C. The American Library Association recently selected him to serve on its copyright subcommittee.

The award, which Lipinski has won previously, is based on nominations from students who are part of WISE, a 10-university collaborative distance-education program designed to increase the quality, access and diversity of online education opportunities in library and information sciences.

The award was presented Jan. 12, 2010 at the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Conference in Boston.

Zimmer Makes Guest Appearance on NPR

O

n Monday, January 4th, 2010, assistant professor Michael Zimmer was part of National Public Radio (NPR)’s regular program Morning Edition. Zimmer, who is also an associate at the Center for Information Policy Research (CIPR), was the guest of reporter Martin Kaste in a news story concerning privacy groups asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to examine the practices of Facebook.

The debate revolves around recent changes made by Facebook to the privacy settings for its users. The changes specifically apply to the visibility of users’ friend lists.

As Zimmer points out, while Facebook is giving more options to the user, the social

24 | Inside SOIS

networking site has actually made it more difficult for users to change their settings.

“The challenge is that sometimes, it looks like you’re sitting in the cockpit of a 747,” Zimmer said in the interview concerning the usability of those settings.

Zimmer believes that Facebook is playing with fire by changing their privacy controls. “This is their [Facebook’s] Microsoft moment,” said Zimmer, referring to Microsoft Corporation’s reputation for dubious practices. In his blog – michaelzimmer.org – he points out that not only has Facebook made it more difficult to change their manual settings, but “Facebook still considers your friends list ‘publicly avail-

able,’ and therefore it will always be visible to third-party applications.”

According to Zimmer, the controversy probably could have been avoided. “It started off positive when they announced that they were taking steps to prompt users to look at their privacy settings” he noted, “which is something I think all users should do.”

Zimmer believes that all users should reexamine their privacy settings at least once every six months, but admits that probably only ten percent of the internet-using population does.

Since Facebook announced the changes in mid-December, the blogosphere has been

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

3

Latham Elected to WLA IFRT

S

OIS is pleased to announce that Dr. Joyce Latham, assistant professor, was elected as a 2010 Member-at-Large representative to the Wisconsin Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT).

Since coming to SOIS in 2008, Latham has devoted time to both her students and important issues in the field, such as intellectual freedom. A former executive director for the Onondaga County Public Library system in Syracuse, New York, as well as head of automation for Chicago Public Libraries, Latham is no stranger to protecting library integrity.

Latham’s drive to serve in professional organizations is impressive, as she has been active with

both the New York Library Association and the Maryland Library Association in the past. She is excited about the future of the IFRT, noting that there a lot of lessons to be learned from the recent book challenge in West Bend. “We can do a lot more to be supportive of individuals and institutions,” she said.

This isn’t the first time a UWM representative will be serving on the IFRT, either. In the past few years, Linda Mooney, a SOIS graduate student, Marta Magnusson, an alumna, and Elizabeth Buchanan, an associate professor have all served on the IFRT.

Congratulations and good luck, Joyce!

Buchanan Busy with Ethics Research

E

lizabeth Buchanan was an invited faculty speaker at the 2009 Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIMR) Annual Conference in Nashville, TN., to speak about her ongoing research into Institutional Review Boards and online research ethics. In February she presented in Seattle at the Office of Human Research Protection (OHRP) Regional Research Forum; she will also present at the OHRP’s Chicago Research Forum in May. Dr. Buchanan, with Peter Paik (Religion) and Andrea Westlund (Philosophy) were awarded a campus Learning Community Grant around information ethics through the Center for Instructional and Professional Development (CIPD). The grant is designed to spark innovative interdisciplinary conversations and research in ethics.

Faculty Updates...

abuzz with ire over Facebook’s decision.

As a specialist in information policy, Zimmer has been leading the charge. Long familiar with contemporary internet media giants like Google, Facebook and MySpace, he feels comfortable as an educator in the subject.

“It’s my role. That’s why I teach, that’s why I write, and that’s why I blog about it,” he said.

With over 350 million users, Facebook has become a household name around the world – what Zimmer refers to as the “de facto platform” for information sharing – but this is not the first time that it has gotten into some hot-water. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, which has much

more stringent privacy laws than the United States, recently threatened to ban Facebook unless it revisit its policy towards privacy.

Despite this Zimmer says that Facebook is doing good things. “I use it,” he admits, “but my role is to keep them on their toes.”

Zimmer has also been featured on WUWM’s program Lake Effect as well as more recently on American Public Radio’s Future Tense.

For the past two years, he has also organized UWM’s celebration of OneWebDay, a day dedicated to the internet and its role in society.

To listen to the interview, please follow the link below: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122207591

Winter 20102009 | 25| Summer

25

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

The Gift of

Education

IInformation. n C Connection.

P Philanthropy.

Featured Fund

Ted Samore Memorial Lecture Series Fund • Annual lecture series in memory of Emer. Prof. Ted Samore, who set the bar for research in the field of library science. Speakers are national and international scholars in the field of information studies.

Ted Samore Memorial Scholarship Fund • Named in memory of Emer. Prof. Ted Samore, who had keen interest in international library and information science. Awarded to a graduate student based on academic achievement.

Ih have ave been here for almost one o year and many ask me about scholarships and other funds we have available. It gives me great pride to educate those who ask questions, but not everyone has an opportunity to ask.

Support scholarships for SOIS Students!

Examples of other scholoarships and funds that help SOIS and our

Did you know? > We have nearly 20 scholarships and other funds

students: Arthur & Irene Burckel Scholarship Fund Mary Lou Zuege Scholarship Alexandra Dimitroff/Thomas Walker Scholarship Timothy L. Ericson Scholarship in Archival Studies H.W. Wilson Foundation Scholarship SOIS Towards A Diverse Profession Scholarship Doralyn Hickey Memorial Scholarship Allen J. Mc Andrews and Helene Ingwersen Mc Andrews Scholarship Sweetland Intellectual Freedom Fund SOIS Alumni Annual Fund

already established at SOIS. Even more scholarships are available to our students from our partners like WLA. > Alumni also support our current funds, in any amount they can. > Donors and alumni have created scholarships in the name of someone they admire – a former SOIS Dean, a former SOIS professor, their parents or a family member. > Our students receive anywhere from $250-$2,500 per scholarship or award because of support from alumni

To learn more about all the scholarships and funding opportunities within SOIS please visit our website: www4.uwm.edu/sois/resources/scholarships.htm

and donors. > Endowed scholarship funds are established with a minimum of $40,000 which can be given in gifts over time, through a pool of gifts from multiple individuals, with a

Many people think of giving as a large donation… but many don’t realize that $50, $100 or $250 annually over several years is a big gift that really makes a difference!

planned gift, or in one lump sum. > Endowed scholarship funds are permanent – they help our students in perpetuity!

Other ways you can make a big impact... > Giving $25, $50, or $100 now, and increasing that amount later. > Splitting your annual gift into quarterly payments. > Establishing a bequest or other planned gift to benefit SOIS. This can include a life insurance policy, retirement fund, or charitable gift annuity. > Giving a gift from your stock portfolio. > There are so many options!

Donate to SOIS Scholarships www4.uwm.edu/giving/

26 | Inside SOIS

Philanthropy is about making it work for you and your family; it’s about putting thought into how you want to make a difference, in any way you can. Then working with us or your financial advisor on creative ways to make that happen!

Talk with me for more information!

Katie Sparks, Office of Development & Alumni Relations, SOIS 414-229-3080 kasparks@uwm.edu

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

3

PDI Professional Development Institute Course Offerings

Catherine Hansen, Professional Development Institute Director

Introduction to Google Maps and Geographical Mash-ups

Music Cataloging with Richard Smiraglia

Adam Hudson – Lecturer 4/4/10 – 5/16/10

This five-day onsite workshop is designed for those who wish to gain a fuller understanding of the bibliographic control of music materials (scores, sound recordings, videorecordings) and their inherent bibliographic characteristics. Participants will gain experience working with the special problems of descriptive cataloging, authority control, subject analysis and classification of music materials.

This 6 week online course will introduce participants to Google Maps and the ways in which its functionality can be applied to libraries. Other topics will include GIS, Google Earth, and geography within the field of information science.

Integrating Resources Cataloging Steve Miller – Senior Lecturer 4/05/10 – 4/30/10 This four-week online workshop is designed for practicing catalogers from all types of libraries who have a working knowledge of the MARC21 bibliographic format and AACR2. The course provides guidance to catalogers who may be responsible for cataloging integrating resources of all types, with an emphasis on remote access electronic integrating resources.

Richard Smiraglia – Visiting Professor 6/14/10 – 6/18/10

Metadata for Digital Collections Steve Miller – Senior Lecturer Fall dates to be announced This eight-week online workshop provides a substantial introduction to creating and managing descriptive metadata for digital image collections in libraries, archives, and museums. It includes hands-on exercises in creating metadata for digital images using Dublin Core and MODS, and a little using VRA. Participants will be introduced to commonly-used controlled vocabularies for digital collections, as well as to XML, OAI, metadata harvesting, mapping, and interoperability.

Public Library Day: Negotiating Change: The Public Library and Cultures

Course Registration Options

Dr. Jorge R. Schement 5/20/10

> http://www4.uwm.edu/sois/CE/index.html

Dr. Jorge R. Schement, Dean of the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies at Rutgers University, will be the featured speaker at the 2010 Public Library Day (onsite) presented

by UWM’s School of Information Studies. Dr. Schement will be speaking on changing demographics and the library. The event will also feature a presentation by BSIR Instructor Adam Hudson, who will discuss using Google to investigate local demographics for libraries.

Online Phone > Call 1-800- 349-3432 or (local) 414-229-4707.

In-Person > Register in person at the School of Information Studies, Bolton Hall 5th floor, 3210 N. Maryland Ave. Mon. through Fri., 8 am - 4:30 pm central time.

http://www4.uwm.edu/sois/CE/index.html Access to Knowledge (A2K4) conference SOIS Dean Johannes Britz and Dr. Michael Zimmer, along with distinguished researcher Dr. Rafael Capurro and CIPR member Dr. Dennis Ocholla traveled to Yale University for the 4th Access to Knowledge (A2K4) conference on February 12-13, 2010. The School of Information Studies (SOIS) was one of several organizing partners for the event. The two-day conference highlighted the importance of building consensus in the field of information ethics. SOIS faculty members presented on African information ethics.

Photo: Dr. Michael Zimmer, Assistant Professor & Dr. Rafael Capurro

Winter 2010

| 27

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MILWAUKEE

Inside SOIS Seeks Your Feedback!

Oops!

Congratulations!

The following grads were inad-

Fall 2009 Graduates

vertantly omitted from the last is-

In order to improve the relevant content, Inside SOIS will be running an online survey to follow

sue of Inside SOIS. We apoligize for this error and wish you the most sincere Congratulations!!

this issue. Students, faculty and alumni should look for a link to the survey in an email. If you don’t receive an email from us, please go to:

http://tinyurl.com/yzr2py9 Thanks for your feedback!

Keep us Informed!

We invite all students and alumni to send us your updates and news for future issues of the Inside SOIS newsletter. Please send news to Rebecca Hall (rjhall@uwm.edu) or Dan Rude (dprude@ uwm.edu) We’d love to hear from you!

Photo by: Sierra Linton

SOIS Team Britz-Krieg Storms Panther Prowl On October 11, 2009, SOIS team Britz-Krieg participated in the Fifth Annual 2009 UW-Milwaukee Panther Prowl. It was a beautiful, crisp sunny day on Milwaukee’s East Side. The Panther Prowl is a 5k run/ walk to raise scholarship money for UWM students.

The path runs through the UWM campus and through Upper Lake Park. All 15 participants survived with only a few aches and pains. The SOIS team looks forward to seeing everyone on October 10, 2010 for the Sixth Annual 2010 Panther Prowl!

28 | Inside SOIS

BSIR Spring/Summer 2009 Craig Behnke Erin Coppersmith Bradley Dougherty Renea Drews Leslie Grooms Sou-ba Her Emily Johnson Kristin Johnson Pamela Johnson Trendi Kampstra Casey McCormick Matt Rismeyer Heather Snamiska Michael Walrath MLIS Spring/Summer 2009 Emily Adams Christine Barth Meagan Bellin Edward Benoit Stefanie Borkert Laura Chipman Sharon Curtis Katalin Czegledi Michelle Dupay Anne-Marie Eggleston Edward Graves Melody Hanson Megan Hawley Anthony Hoffmann Joy Hopkins Belinda Hurley Carissa Kammeyer Wendy Kamps Amy Lisinski Gayle Moore Hayden Murphey Kathleen Neil Daniel Nelson Michelle Neilsen Ott Julie Norton Stephen Ohs Michael Reed Mary Ryan Jennifer Schultz Emily Seelig Karen Walker Barbara Watkins Stephanie Ziegler

BSIR Fall 2009 Mary Baumann Kimberly Becker Eric Cumming Titilayo Dada Howard Duboff Kenton Farmer Ashley Fenrick Yvonne Hatchett Steve Holmes MLIS Fall 2009 Anna Appleman Adrienne Ballew Lyndy Bartlett Sarah Beaver Nancy Bennett Annette Bielema Laura Boysen Rebecca Brown Linda Burdette Crystal Buss Jowanda Campion Rose Cotton Rex Dahl Janice Davis Matthew Derpinghaus Samantha Doan Timothy Drouhard Kathleen Edwards-Thomas Brook Engebretson Patricia Fickett Nicole Forsgren Mary Ann Friedlander Thomas Geilfuss Lacey Giordana Philip Gordon Deborah Graham Sofie Grant Laura Gravander Sarah Gustafson Marion Hanson Aleshia Heckel Jay Heims Susan Hersh Mehta Hess Brandon Hines Ann Ingebritson Joel Jeffries Robin Jensen Tracey Johnson Nathan Kelly

Matthew McQuown Kory Meudt Ryan Moore Robert Nunez Charles Roeder Anthony Scarpace Adam Schroepfer Casey Wegner

Herbert LaGoy Laura Lauderback Julie Levac Catherine Lowry Amy Lukich Janice MacLeod Cristi Macwaters Margaret Manser Stephanie Martin Shannon Maslach Ann McCartan Colleen McCorkell Leslie Meyer Jacob Munford Megan O’Brien Cory O’Meara Shelley Oakley Christopher Oswald Selva Palani Samuel Palsmeier Shannon Phipps Tatiana Prokrym Jessica Pugh Allen Ramsey Christy Richardson Daniel Rude Taryn Sauer Gayle Schaub Matthew Schulz Matthew Shoemaker Nathan Snortum Lindsey Stafford Nancy Stanwood Erika Swain Matthew Sweere Anne Thom Kathleen Tromp Lori Vintika Emily Weiss Amber Williams

If you don’t see your name here...please let us know!

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

3

News from the Student Org: A C T I VAT E Y O U R M E M B E R S H I P - H O W ? PA R T I C I PAT E !

STUDENT ORGANIZATION NEWS: This spring the SOIS Student Organiztions remains very active! We are currently seeking dedicated students to serve on the executive council, members help set policy, debate current issues, act as representatives on SOIS and UWM campuswide committees, and are responsible for position-related tasks.

Not only is the SOIS Student Organization a great way to gain practical leadership experience and shape your resume, but it also gives you the opportunity to meet students, faculty, staff, and be heard within our school.

We are seeking volunteers for various positions at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Vacant positions may include the follow:

ENT EANS EV H THE DET WITH THE DEANSGS IT W E E F E IN M LL COF NCE TO LL THE TH

> Communications Manager > Marketing Coordinator > Secretary > Distance Education Representative

FA

CHA UT A TS HAD A AND LEARN ABO STUDEN ONS TI S E U Q TER! TO ASK .

CH SEMES N AT SOIS HELD EA GOING O THE DEAN’S IS COFFEE

WITH

STUDENT ORG SOCIAL MEDIA LinkedIn http://linkedin.com (UWM-SOIS:Student Organization)

Facebook http://facebook.com/soisstudentorg

Twitter http://twitter.com/soisorg

Flickr

T SOIS Student Organizations are also excited to announce an upcoming event for The this spring! As part of our effort to help students connect and learn more about profesth ssional life, we’ve organized a resume workshop event. We’re also hoping to continue to provide more opportunities in the future. Got an idea? Help us plan an event!

If you have any questions, comments, or wish to get involved with your student organization please don’t hesitate to contact us online at http://soisorg.uwm.edu or by email at sois-org@uwm.edu NIC F F ER PIC Y, STA SUMM G ACULT FROM R F O IS O ENT IES OP S

STUDAIN DIDN’T STD THEIR FAMIL MMER THE R DENTS AN E AT THE SU TU AND S A GREAT TIM G HAVIN !

PICNIC

http://flickr.com/soisorg/

vimeo http://vimeo.com/soisorg

SAVE THE DATE! Resume Workshop April 16, 2010 SOIS Town Hall - Info Session April 26, 2010 Visit the website for more info

Contact the Student Organization to get involved! sois-org@uwm.edu

soisorg.uwm.edu

Winter 2010

| 29

INFORMATION our focus INTERNATIONAL our scope INTERDISCIPLINARY our mindset

Save the Date!

IOrg Lecture Series April 6, 2010 : Thomas Dousa April 8, 2010 : Jane Greenberg April 22, 2010 : Charles van den Heuvel & Richard P Smiraglia

Stay Informed!

There are many ways for you to stay informed and up to date with the news and events at the School of Information Studies.

Email Lists

RGIR Lecture May 3, 2010

Subscribe to the SOIS News list and

Featuring: Peiling Wang

and announcements in your inbox. Learn

Ted Samore Lecture May 7, 2010

resources/maillists.htm

Featuring: Mary K. Chelton

Facebook

SOIS Recognition Ceremony May 14, 2010

recieve the SOIS Electronic Newsletter

more online at: www4.uwm.edu/sois/

Follow us on facebook! Become a fan of uwmsois or join the UW-Milwaukee School of Information Studies group to

Public Library Day May 20, 2010

stay connected with us! www.facebook. com/uwmsois

Featuring: Jorge R. Schement

Twitter

PO Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201

For event locations and times visit:

Stay connected with us on twitter!

www4.uwm.edu/sois/

www.twitter.com/uwmsois

3