2018 News
December 31, 2018
The 2018 calendar year brought lots of “new” for the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS). We launched new outreach programs, like the Health Informatics Data Analytics and Visualization (HiDAV) boot camp, which introduced students from Historical Black Colleges and Universities to...
December 22, 2018
The Fall 2018 newsletter from UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) is now available online. This edition highlights news and events from the entire 2018 calendar year, and the digital edition is enhanced with live links and embedded video content. Click here or below to peruse this...
December 17, 2018
An avid reader since childhood, Amy Elizabeth Morgan (MSLS ’08) devoted her career to supporting libraries and encouraging reading. She was a juvenile materials specialist and worked as a Metadata Librarian with NoveList for eight years prior to her death in October 2017. Inspired by her...
December 15, 2018
At SILS’ Interactive Information Science Laboratory, researchers study how people search for information and interpret results, and develop new tools and approaches to help people find what they need faster.
If you pass through the Interactive Information Science Laboratory (IISL) on the ground...
December 15, 2018
Friends and alumni who wish to make a gift to the UNC School of Information and Library Science for 2018 should take note of important year-end deadlines to ensure your gift qualifies as tax deductible contribution for this year.
Deadlines and instructions may be very different from past years, as...
December 6, 2018
Six undergraduate students from the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) were recently inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most honored college honorary society. Membership is open to undergraduates in the college and professional degree programs who meet stringent...
December 3, 2018
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Melanie Feinberg has been awarded a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship by the European Commission. The fellowship enables experienced researchers to conduct projects outside of their home countries with the goal of...
December 3, 2018
Join the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) in London, Prague, or Berlin during summer 2019. Our programs offer students and professionals an opportunity to deepen their knowledge and understanding in a global context while offering a distinctive, hands-on experience.
Go behind...
November 30, 2018
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Professor Christopher “Cal” Lee wrote a blog post for the Digital Preservation Coalition, part of a package to celebrate World Digital Preservation Day 2018 (#WDPD2018) on Nov. 29.
Co-ordinated by the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) and...
November 30, 2018
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci is prominently featured in the recent two-part documentary The Facebook Dilemma by Frontline PBS. She offers her expert opinion on the controversies surrounding Facebook’s role in the election, the leak of user...
November 29, 2018
Zeynep Tufekci, Associate Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), made two recent contributions to the conversations surrounding data-driven healthcare and algorithmic amplification on platforms of the 21st century. Tufekci’s writing on the topics appeared in the New...
November 14, 2018
Beginning in fall 2019, students may pursue the master of professional science in biomedical and health informatics (BMHI) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a new way: online.
Dr. Leah Townsend, director of Graduate School Professional Programs at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the...
November 5, 2018
In her latest op-ed for the New York Times, UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci argues that even if no actual foreign or domestic tampering occurs, the 2018 mid-term election has been compromised because so many people now doubt the legitimacy of...
November 5, 2018
Students and mentors visit the BeAM
Space in Murray Hall.
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) collaborated with the 100 Black Men of Greater Charlotte organization to bring dozens of STEM high school students from Charlotte to UNC-Chapel Hill for the day. The group of 58...
November 5, 2018
What do you do when you can’t find a textbook that comprehensively addresses the topic you want to teach? If you’re Casey Rawson, Teaching Assistant Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), you collaborate with SILS master’s students to create a new text and publish it...
November 1, 2018
As part of its 225th anniversary celebration, UNC-Chapel Hill is profiling professional schools and academic units across campus.
SILS was the top feature on the University's homepage (unc.edu) the week of October 29. A video and graphic linked to a package that included Dean Gary Marchionini’s...
October 29, 2018
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Assistant Professor Amelia Gibson was recently a guest on “The Measure of Everyday Life,” a weekly public radio program on WNCU featuring researchers, practitioners, and professionals discussing their work to improve the human condition.
Gibson...
October 15, 2018
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Brian Sturm shared his research on how people become immersed in what they hear or read on Focus Carolina, an exclusive radio program sponsored by the university.
Dr. Sturm established Story Squad, a program that aims to...
October 4, 2018
Rebecca Vargha, Information and Library Science Librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, moderated the “From Data to Advocacy” session at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’ (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) in Kuala Lumpur...
October 3, 2018
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci discussed how domestic political polarization, feeding into the basic business model of companies like Facebook and Youtube, foster the dissemination of false and divisive materials in an op-ed published by The...
October 1, 2018
For students to get the most of their school libraries, they first need to feel like they belong in those libraries. Unfortunately, that is not the reality for many youth of color. Research shows that school librarians want to make spaces more welcoming and instruction more meaningful for their...
September 28, 2018
As an information science major at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), Caleece Nash has devoted significant time to researching digital nomads, people who use modern technology to work remotely and who are often characterized as global travelers enjoying adventurous lifestyles...
September 26, 2018
PhD student and storyteller Sarah Beth Nelson profiled by Endeavors magazine
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Doctoral Candidate Sarah Beth Nelson grew up with a passion for listening and retelling stories, which eventually led her to library and information science.
A recent...
September 26, 2018
Maggie Melo, an alumna of University of Arizona (UA) and a new assistant professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), is receiving the 2018 Top Library Cat Award from the University of Arizona Libraries at its Homecoming Library Innovation Breakfast in October. Before...
September 25, 2018
SILS master's student Katie Kehoe reads Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman,
while master's student and COYL Vice President Mara Rosenberg listens.
The Coalition of Youth Librarians (COYL) hosted its annual Banned Book Reading on Sept. 25, part of the First Amendment Day celebration organized by UNC...
September 11, 2018
Due to forecasted impacts from Hurricane Florence, the University will move to Condition 1 (Reduced Operations) of its adverse weather plan at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11. At 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 12, the University will move to Condition 2 (Suspended Operations) and remain at Condition 2...
September 5, 2018
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Dean and Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor Gary Marchionini analyzes the growth of Google since the late 1990s and the future challenges the company may face in an article published by The Conversation.
“Google’s future depends on...
September 5, 2018
Amelia Gibson, Assistant Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), is one of 10 faculty members selected for the seventh class of Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholars (FES).
Dr. Amelia Gibson
Every other year, the FES program brings together Carolina faculty members from...
September 4, 2018
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci explains how the excess of information, made possible by digital tools and social media platforms, distracts people from the important information in a new analysis published by Politico Magazine.
“We need new...
August 29, 2018
Thu-Mai Christian (MSIS ’12), assistant director for archives at the Odum Institute for Social Science and current doctoral student at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), was recently profiled for Endeavors’ Women in Science Wednesdays feature.
In her Q&A, Christian...
August 27, 2018
When people hear the word “blockchain,” they usually think of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but increasingly publishers, governments, corporations, artists, and archives are investigating blockchain technology for primacy and authenticity purposes. Potential applications range from verifying...
August 27, 2018
Ness Shortley, a Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS) student at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), has won the 2018 Young Adult Services Symposium student stipend from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). The stipend will provide Shortley with up to $...
August 22, 2018
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) hosted its annual orientation day for new Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS), Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS), and doctoral students on Monday, August 20.
Incoming graduate students discuss what
animal best...
August 14, 2018
UNC School of Information and Library Science Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci explains how digital technologies went from instruments for spreading democracy to weapons for attacking it in a new analysis published by MIT Technology Review.
"Digital platforms allowed communities to gather and...
August 10, 2018
Big data is only getting bigger, and that can cause big problems for researchers who need to store and share their data. Twenty doctoral students and post-doctoral associates from across the county learned the tools and techniques to solve these problems at the inaugural Cyber Carpentry Workshop at...
August 10, 2018
Watch this short video with Cyber Carpentry Workshop instructors and participants. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and hosted by the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), the two-week workshop in July introduced students to a variety of applications, platforms,...
July 30, 2018
Pursuing dual master’s degrees in art history and information science at UNC-Chapel Hill has allowed Devon Murphy to combine her love of art with her interest in technology. Now she has received recognition for a paper that explores how art museum staff members leverage digital resources for their...
July 30, 2018
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Dean and Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor Gary Marchionini was elected to the iSchools Board of Directors for the North America region in June.
Dean Gary Marchionini
The iSchools Organization is a consortium of more than 90 universities...
July 27, 2018
In her latest New York Times op-ed, SILS Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci explains what the tech world can and should learn from the experts who executed the cave rescue in Thailand.
"The Silicon Valley model for doing things is a mix of can-do optimism, a faith that expertise in one domain can...
July 27, 2018
The Odum Institute for Research in Social Science has been awarded $500,000 by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for a three-year grant project, Confirmable Reproducible Research (CoRe2) Environment: Linking Tools to Promote Computational Reproducibility.
Two UNC School of Information and Library...
July 26, 2018
The spread of influenza, adverse effects of opioid use for pain management, and the risk of opportunistic infections for HIV-positive patients – three issues that have significant implications for health care in North Carolina and beyond. Three issues that students participating in Carolina’s...
July 26, 2018
Watch this video for highlights from the inaugural Health Informatics Data Analytics and Visualization (HiDAV) boot camp held at UNC-Chapel Hill this summer.
The boot camp is part of Project ENABLE, or the Extensible Network-Accessible Biomedical and Health Informatics Lifelong learning...
July 25, 2018
Check out these views of Manning Hall and the SILS Library taken with on of UNC Libraries' Insta360 Pro cameras. Thanks to MSLS student Erin Black who led a recent workshop on using the cameras at the Undergraduate Library. Watch the UNC Library calendar for other opportunities to see what the 360...
July 11, 2018
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Casey Rawson and Megan Winget as teaching assistant professors, effective July 1.
Rawson and Winget, both SILS graduates, are two of five new full-time faculty members that SILS will welcome in August...
June 8, 2018
Alternative metrics provider Altmetric has awarded its annual research grant for 2018 to Shenmeng Xu, a PhD candidate at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS).
SILS PhD Candidate Shenmeng Xu
Xu’s project, titled “An Exploration of the Communication of Scholarly Articles on...
June 7, 2018
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), in collaboration with the Educopia Institute, the BitCurator Consortium, and the Council of State Archivists (CoSA), will study and expand the adoption of digital forensics tools through professional education with the support of an...
June 7, 2018
Cliff Missen, Associate Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) and Director of WiderNet@UNC, has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to assemble a coalition of librarians and educators from correctional institutions to...
June 6, 2018
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Library in Research Triangle Park (RTP) has been recognized as the Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK) Small Library/Information Center of the Year for 2017. FEDLINK announced the EPA Library’s win, along with other recipients of its national...
June 6, 2018
Helen Tibbo, Alumni Distinguished Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), has been named the 41st recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indiana University-Bloomington (IU) Information and Library Science program at the School of Informatics, Computing,...
May 23, 2018
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) has hired three new tenure-track faculty members, with appointments beginning July 1. Sayamindu Dasgupta, Marijel “Maggie” Melo, and Yue Wang bring expertise in engaging children with data science, creating inclusive makerspaces, and mining...
May 18, 2018
We’re very excited to reveal the new look, feel, and architecture of sils.unc.edu.
We’ll continue working to develop the site’s standard content and functionality over the next year, but we welcome your feedback on the current version, as well as your help in identifying any missing information,...
May 17, 2018
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) PhD student Charlene Finley has received funding from the research section of the Medical Library Association (MLA) to attend the MLA 2018 Annual Meeting and Exhibition, May 18-23 in Atlanta, Ga.
SILS PhD student Charlene Finley
“I am a member...
May 16, 2018
Watch a video with highlights from the SILS Spring Commencement ceremony. Click here for more details and photos about the event.
May 16, 2018
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) hosted its annual spring commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 13, to celebrate its 2018 Bachelor of Science in Information Science (BSIS), Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS), Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS), and...
May 16, 2018
Mary Jane Petrowski (MSLS ’78) started library school at UNC-Chapel Hill with the intention of becoming a rare book librarian, but a few courses into the curriculum, she began to doubt her decision. Then, through an internship with the EPA-RTP Library and a part-time position with the UNC Health...
May 15, 2018
Jordan Dodson discovered her love for technology in middle school when she and her father built a desktop computer together. Years later, a suggestion from her mother, who holds a master’s degree in library science from North Carolina Central University, prompted Dodson to learn more about the UNC...
April 30, 2018
Author, activist, and journalist Cory Doctorow delivered the 2018 OCLC/Frederick G. Kilgour Lecture on April 27 to an overflow crowd at the CURRENT ArtSpace in Chapel Hill.
In his talk, titled “The Internet, Peak Indifference, and the Point of No Return,” Doctorow argued that now is the time to...
April 20, 2018
Megan Threats, a doctoral student at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), has received the 2018 Clarivate Analytics/MLA Doctoral Fellowship from the Medical Library Association (MLA). Previously known as the Thomson Reuters/MLA Doctoral Fellowship, the award supports research...
April 18, 2018
Jaime Teevan, Technical Advisor to Microsoft‘s CEO, will deliver the address at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) spring commencement ceremony on May 13.
Jaime Teevan. Photo by Dan DeLong.
Teevan is responsible for helping Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella formulate technical...
April 12, 2018
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci has spent years researching and discussing the impact of social networks on social change and the threat of unchecked data collection and exploitation by those in power. With Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg under...
April 11, 2018
Project READY: Reimagining Equity and Access for Diverse Youth, led by UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Professor Sandra Hughes-Hassell and Research Associate Casey Rawson, has received the UNC-Chapel Hill Office of the Provost Engaged Scholarship Award. UNC Chancellor Carol...
April 5, 2018
Sangeeta Desai and Erin Gallagher, Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS) students at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), have received scholarships to attend the Managing Electronic Records (MER) Conference in Chicago, May 7-9.
Sangeeta Desai and Erin Gallagher
The...
March 28, 2018
Lukasz Mazur, Assistant Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) and UNC School of Medicine (SOM), has been awarded a $785,000 grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to support a three-year project titled “Simulation-Based Research to Enhance...
March 22, 2018
Author, activist, and journalist Cory Doctorow will deliver the 2018 OCLC/Frederick G. Kilgour Lecture on April 27 at 10 am in the CURRENT ArtSpace. In his talk, titled “The Internet, Peak Indifference, and the Point of No Return” Doctorow will argue that now is the time to permanently install...
March 20, 2018
Zeynep Tufekci, Associate Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) and regular New York Times contributor, authored the op-ed “Facebook’s Surveillance Machine” just days after Cambridge Analytica’s data siphoning became front-page news.
Tufekci breaks down how the voter...
March 20, 2018
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) tied for the #1 spot on the 2018 QS World University Rankings for library and information management programs. SILS and the University of Sheffield in the U.K. had the same overall score on the QS list, which evaluated programs based on...
March 19, 2018
Marian Fragola (MSLS '08), alumna of the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) and current Director of Program Planning and Outreach at NC State University Libraries, has been named a 2018 “Mover & Shaker” by Library Journal.
Marian Fragola. Photo courtesy of NCSU Libraries....
March 19, 2018
Larry P. Alford, chief librarian at the University of Toronto, has been named the 2018 winner of the Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award. He will receive a cash award and citation during the ACRL President’s Program on June 23 at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.
Larry P. Alford (MSLS '77)...
March 12, 2018
Zeynep Tufekci, Associate Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) and regular New York Times contributor, recently authored an op-ed titled, “YouTube, the Great Radicalizer.” Tufekci analyzes the impact of the website’s recommendation algorithm, which suggests content...
February 28, 2018
Erik T. Mitchell, a 2010 graduate of the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) doctoral program, has been appointed university librarian at the University of California San Diego effective April 16, 2018. Mitchell currently serves as associate university librarian of Digital...
February 27, 2018
Samantha Kaplan, a PhD candidate at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), recently won the doctoral student research poster competition at the 2018 ALISE Annual Conference. Her poster, “The everyday life and health information practices of a natural immunity advocate," relates...
February 21, 2018
For today’s graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, conducting research often starts by trying to make sense of the many tools, technologies, and work environments used in data-intensive research and computing. Fortunately, there is help in navigating this new research landscape.
The NSF...
February 21, 2018
At an international summit held in Tempe, Ariz., recently, WiderNet became one of 15 organizations to establish a new consortium and issue a declaration of principles for advancing projects, strategies, and technologies that can provide access to important digital content for people in places...
February 21, 2018
Meg Medina, bestselling Latina author of children’s and young adult fiction, will give the Susan Steinfirst Community Lecture in Children’s Literature on Sunday, April 8, at 6:30 p.m. at TheArtsCenter in Carrboro. The lecture, hosted by the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), will...
February 14, 2018
Sandra Hughes-Hassell, Professor and Coordinator of the School Library Media program at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), emceed the awards ceremony for the American Library Association’s 2018 Youth Media Awards at its Midwinter Meeting in Denver, Colorado, on Feb. 12.
SILS...
February 14, 2018
Elizabeth Bueche and Lydia Heater, sophomores and newly-admitted Bachelor of Science in Information Science (BSIS) students at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), have been selected to receive $1,000 merit-based scholarships for the spring semester. The scholarships are given...
February 14, 2018
The Library Staff Development Handbook: How to Maximize Your Library’s Most Important Resource, a new book by UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Assistant Professor Mary Grace Flaherty, has received a glowing review in the Feb. 1 edition of Library Journal.
Left: SILS Assistant...
February 5, 2018
Story Squad, a literacy initiative led by SILS Associate Professor Brian Sturm, recently received a $31,000 gift from the Heineman Foundation. The gift expands the foundation’s previous support for Story Squad’s efforts to establish a Folktale Storytelling Digital Library (FSDL) and measure the...
January 31, 2018
Following a busy 2017 that saw the publication of her book Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest and the delivery of her third TED Talk, UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci wrote her first op-ed of the year for the New...
January 30, 2018
Faculty and doctoral students from the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) will be active contributors to the 2018 ALISE Annual Conference.
SILS FACULTY
Dean Gary Marchionini will participate in a panel focused on undergraduate programs at iSchools during the Council of Deans,...
January 29, 2018
The Carolina Health Informatics Program (CHIP) and United Health Foundation have launched and exciting new partnership to help increase diversity in the health informatics field. A three-year, $1.6 million grant from United Health Foundation will create “Project ENABLE,” the Extensible Network-...
January 23, 2018
To help address the growing need for a larger and more diverse workforce of health care data analysts, technologists and experts, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and United Health Foundation are expanding access to health care data and informatics educational and professional...
