When Rachel Gammons (’12) had to teach her first synchronous class online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she pulled herself back to a few years ago when she was in the MSIS program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, so she could extract the parts of her experience that made her feel connected to faculty and other students in virtual classrooms.

“I want it to feel like a real, holistic and complete learning experience for them. You definitely have more perspective as an online teacher if you have been an online student,” Gammons said.

Coming Full Circle

Even the most skilled and advanced researchers in the world still need to be able to access other information to support their work, so when researchers at Oak Ridge National Lab need a journal article or technical manuscript, they know where to go: the ORNL library.

The library was established in 1943, with a history dating back to around the same time as the inception of the Manhattan Project, said Anna Galyon (’09), the library’s manager and a School of Information Sciences alumna.

Lecturer: Anna Sandelli

Location: Knoxville, Tennessee

Education: MSLS from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

What do you teach at SIS?

This is my first semester teaching within SIS, and I’m teaching INSC 538, User Instruction. It’s  really a class for people interested in library instruction, working with adult learners, and curious about learning more. (Associate Professor) Rachel Fleming-May, who developed the course, describes it as being for the “accidental library instructor,” which was definitely my own experience as a graduate student and in starting my academic library career.

The School of Information Sciences hosted a special Town Hall session Jan. 19 for MSIS students, giving them an opportunity to ask questions and bounce ideas off of key faculty and staff members. College of Communication and Information Dean Mike Wirth, Clinical Assistant Professor Ericka Patillo and Associate Professor Rachel Fleming-May (current co-directors of SIS graduate studies), and SIS Student Services Coordinator Tanya Arnold hosted the meeting.

Lecturer:  Kristin Chaffin

Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Education: MSIS from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

What do you teach at SIS?

INSC 384, the database design course. This will be my second term teaching it; I taught it this past fall for the first time. It’s been a lot of fun to teach; this is not my first foray into teaching undergraduate classes, but most of the courses I have taught have been graduate courses.

Joy M. Doan has joined the School of Information Sciences this spring as an assistant professor of practice for the master’s program, and brings with her a wealth of experience as an administrator, practitioner, special subject librarian, and as an instructor.

Her most recent position was as head of the Marta and Austin Weeks Music Library at the University of Miami, which she said challenged her to tap into many areas of library and information sciences.

Featured Student: Josh Melendez

Hometown: Clarksville, Tennessee

What drew you to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville?

I’m originally from Clarksville, Tennessee, and I heard about UT from word of mouth and how great the program is and how the faculty and staff really care about students. During my high school time, I did dual enrollment at another university and got familiar with that program, and I felt my peers and teachers weren’t really passionate.

Lecturer: Jacob Kramer-Duffield

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Education: undergrad at Overland College in Ohio

What do you teach at SIS?

INSC 305 – Internet & Society. It’s sort of a survey course of how information science underlies a pretty broad range of structures and social situations within society and trying to make tangible a lot of stuff that can be more theoretical when viewed in greater context.

How has your experience as a lecturer at SIS been?