2020 News
December 19, 2020
Amelia Gibson, Assistant Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), graduate from the Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholars (FES) program in a virtual ceremony hosted by the Carolina Center of Public Service on Dec. 11, 2020.
Gibson was part of Class VII of the FES program,...
December 15, 2020
Dr. Irene Owens, PhD
SILS Distinguished Alumna Irene Owens (PhD ’95) has created a fund to support new students of color and those interested in issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS).
The fund will make it easier for such students...
December 11, 2020
Javed Mostafa, Professor and Director of the Carolina Health Informatics Program (CHIP), will complete his five-year term as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST) in January 2021.
Mostafa brought extensive editorial and publishing...
December 11, 2020
David Gotz, Associate Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) and Assistant Director of the Carolina Health Informatics Program (CHIP), teamed with two other University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers this spring to create an interactive, online...
November 13, 2020
Maggie Melo, Assistant Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), and Jennifer Nichols, Digital Scholarship Librarian at the University of Arizona, have co-authored a new collection that captures how librarians and educators have disrupted and re-made their makerspaces...
November 11, 2020
Tressie McMillan Cottom, Zeynep Tufekci, and Francesca Tripodi, faculty members at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) and researchers with the Center for Information, Techology, and Public Life (CITAP), recently wrote columns for national publications examining different...
October 20, 2020
Faculty and students from the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) will be part of several workshops and presentations at the ASIS&T Virtual Annual Meeting, starting Thursday, Oct. 22.
Ryan Shaw, SILS Associate Professor
Conceptual Models in Sociotechnical Systems Part 1&2...
October 8, 2020
Given the significant time and resources needed for most neuroimaging research, scientists in the field could greatly benefit from reusing data collected by other scientists. Unfortunately, current databases are disconnected, incomplete, and often difficult to search.
Arcot Rajasekar and Ray...
October 6, 2020
Tressie McMillan Cottom, Associate Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), has been named a fellow in the MacArthur Foundation’s Class of 2020.
MacArthur Fellows are selected for their “extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits,” and receive...
October 2, 2020
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) has stopped requiring graduate program applicants to submit Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores. SILS implemented the change over the summer, so students matriculating in January will be the first cohort admitted under the revised standards. ...
October 2, 2020
Brian Sturm, Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), has been awarded nearly $150,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to help facilitate a national conversation about enhancing education for library...
September 4, 2020
Amelia Gibson, Director of the Community Equity, Data & Information Lab (CEDI) at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), Kristin Tully and Erin McClain of the UNC Center for Maternal and Infant Health (CMIH), and Kate Menard from the UNC Department of Obstetrics &...
August 27, 2020
Zeynep Tufekci, Associate Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) and Principal Researcher for the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP), was lauded in the Aug. 23 New York Times for her ability to evaluate complex social and technological issues...
August 17, 2020
The Society of American Archivists (SAA) has presented the 2020 SAA Council Exemplary Service Award to Helen Tibbo, Alumni Distinguished Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), for her work on the Archival Metrics project.
Professor Helen Tibbo
Tibbo shares the...
August 17, 2020
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) will host faculty lightning talks each Friday at 12:00pm from Aug. 21 to Sept. 25. These virtual events are open to everyone.
Faculty members will give brief (10 minutes or less) talks on their research interests and projects.
Click on the...
August 11, 2020
Dr. Terika McCall, PhD, MBA, MPH, on Carolina’s campus in spring 2020.
The Carolina Health Informatics Program (CHIP) recently celebrated a significant milestone as Terika McCall became the first student to graduate with her Doctor of Philosophy in Health Informatics.
CHIP launched its PhD...
July 15, 2020
SILS Associate Professor Mohammad Hossein Jarrahi
Mohammad Hossein Jarrahi, Associate Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), has been awarded funding from the NC Policy Collaboratory for a project that will document the impact of COVID-19 on gig workers and their...
July 8, 2020
Sayamindu Dasgupta, Assistant Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), has been awarded funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a two-year project aimed at fostering data literacies in middle-school and high-school-aged children.
The $175,000 grant is...
July 7, 2020
This summer, ALA Editions published an updated and revised second edition of Collection Management for Youth by UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Professor Sandra Hughes-Hassell.
The book offers models and tools that will help library staff develop and maintain collections that...
July 6, 2020
Maggie Melo, Assistant Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), has been awarded funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study how the physical and affective characteristics of makerspaces encourage or inhibit participation by students from marginalized...
June 29, 2020
The Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has selected Kathryn Peters as its first executive director, effective July 6.
Kathryn Peters has been named executive director of CITAP
Carolina established CITAP last summer with a...
June 16, 2020
Today, June 16, the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) joins with units across campus for #GiveUNC, an opportunity to share stories about what makes Carolina so special and encourage our alumni and friends to show their support.
Our focus for the day is our students. We are...
June 9, 2020
Dr. Francesca Tripodi
Sociologist and media scholar Francesca Tripodi will join the faculty of the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) as an assistant professor, effective July 1. Tripodi’s research examines the relationship between social media, political partisanship, and...
June 2, 2020
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Dean Gary Marchionini shared the following message with SILS students, faculty, staff, and alumni via email on June 2.
I am pained, outraged, and frustrated by the latest killing of an unarmed black man in the United States. The police officers...
May 18, 2020
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci joined with over 100 experts – including two Nobel laureates, the editors-in-chief of Nature and The Lancet, and medical and scientific leaders from Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and the University of Texas – to sign...
May 14, 2020
Jason Griffey (MSLS'04), alumnus of the UNC School of School of Information and Library Science (SILS), was invited to deliver the SILS Spring Commencement address at the Dean E. Smith Center on May 7.
Though the SILS ceremony and other University graduation events were postponed due to COVID-19,...
May 10, 2020
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) is proud to recognize its 2020 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS), Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS), and Bachelor of Science in Information Science (BSIS) graduates.
Visit our recognition...
May 7, 2020
Dr. Barbara Burns Moran, PhD, long-time faculty member and former dean of the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), passed away at age 75 at her home in Chapel Hill, N.C., in the company of her family on May 2, 2020.
SILS has created a memorial page to honor Dr. Moran. Visit to...
April 21, 2020
Xavier Nonez, a junior minoring in information systems at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), was one of three students awarded the UNC Harvey Beech Scholarship in 2020.
Nonez is majoring in business administration and plans to pursue a career infused with business and tech....
April 21, 2020
Forbes magazine recently profiled UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) PhD candidate Megan Threats in an article about soon-to-be doctoral graduates. The story focused on doctoral women of color who are thriving despite the interruptions and disappointments caused by COVID-19.
Dr....
April 21, 2020
In recent columns for The Atlantic, UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci examines the World Health Organization’s problems and plight, the need to adopt policies that will help people cope with the pandemic for its duration, and the importance of...
April 16, 2020
Author, professor, sociologist, and National Book Award finalist Tressie McMillan Cottom will join the faculty of the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) as an associate professor, effective July 1. McMillan Cottom will be affiliated with the Center for Information, Technology, and...
March 24, 2020
In her latest contribution to The Atlantic, UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci explains that the COVID-19 crisis engulfing the United States is not only a failure of leadership, but also the result of asystemic thinking that allowed organizations...
March 23, 2020
Carolina students facing financial hardships because of the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak can apply for assistance through the Carolina Student Impact Fund.
The fund helps students who budgeted carefully for the semester but are now facing unexpected financial challenges, such as the loss of...
March 17, 2020
In her latest op-ed for the New York Times, UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci explains why telling people they didn't need masks to protect themselves from coronavirus COVID-19 misfired and possibly even fueled hoarding.
Contradictory messages...
February 27, 2020
Meredith R. Evans, Director of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, will give the keynote address at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s 2020 Doctoral Hooding Ceremony on May 9.
Dr. Meredith Evans in the recreation
of President Carter's Oval Office.
Evans...
February 25, 2020
UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) faculty members David Gotz and Yue “Ray” Wang have been awarded over $200,000 in grant funding to develop a system that will allow users to bring unstructured contextual information into structured data visualizations.
The year-long project, “...
February 25, 2020
In her latest column for The Atlantic, UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci argues that China’s increased use of surveillance and censorship may have prevented its leader from recognizing the Coronavirus threat until it became an international...
February 18, 2020
Javed Mostafa, Director of the Carolina Health Informatics Program (CHIP), and CHIP core faculty member Saif Khairat were recently featured on Focus Carolina, a program on WCHL radio that highlights important research at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Mostafa discusses his work on improving information retrieval...
February 18, 2020
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) recently awarded $1,000 scholarships to three information science majors: Solomon Duncan, Laura Haller, and Rachael Head. SILS annually confers the merit-based scholarships to recently admitted Bachelor of Science in Information Science (BSIS...
February 15, 2020
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) invites nominations and applications for the Louis Round Wilson Distinguished Professorship. This tenured, full professor appointment honors the legacy of Dr. Wilson, the first librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and...
February 6, 2020
All students, faculty, and staff of the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) are invited to submit nominations for the 2020 Deborah Barreau Award for Teaching Excellence.
SILS will recognize one full-time faculty member and one adjunct faculty member at the spring commencement...
February 4, 2020
Zeynep Tufecki, Associate Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), offers a detailed analysis of what went wrong in Iowa and outlines a more secure route for reporting results in her latest column for The Atlantic.
“Who Needs the Russians? Don’t blame shadowy foreign...
January 24, 2020
John E. Ulmschneider, Dean of Libraries and University Librarian at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), has been named the 2020 ACRL Academic/Research Librarian of the Year. The award, sponsored by GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO, recognizes an outstanding member of the library profession who...
January 15, 2020
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) has three international summer seminars planned for 2020, including a brand new course focused on libraries and librarianship in Spain.
SILS Assistant Professor Maggie Melo will lead “Books in Barcelona – Examining Library Science in Spain,”...
