Jill Grogg and Teddy Gray were in the same cohort and both graduated from SIS in 2001 and went their separate ways but into the same career path: academic librarianship. Several years later, their paths converged again when both departed their academic librarian positions and began working for LYRASIS. It’s a job that combines their passions for making information accessible with building up communities in information sciences organizations.

Working at a Consortium

LYRASIS is a consortium, which means it does the work for its library, museum, and archives members when it comes to negotiating licenses, getting the best price … Read more “Alumni Jill Grogg and Teddy Gray Talk About Working at a Consortium”

Children’s picture book author and school librarian Alice Faye Duncan (’91) looks for those moments in history that define generations yet are not often discussed—and especially aren’t stories typically told via picture book.

She was the first-ever picture book author to delve into the Memphis Sanitation Strike and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in her book “Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop,” and now she’s taken on Juneteenth and the Tent City civil rights movement in Fayette County, Tennessee, in her next two books to be released in January 2022.

Becoming a Writer

As a child of two teachers, … Read more “SIS Alum, Children’s Author & School Librarian Alice Faye Duncan to Publish Two New Books”

Like any good story, Stacey Smith’s (’14) has a thread of repeated themes; throughout her adult life she would be pulled back to her hometown of Memphis and she would consistently gravitate to libraries. The satisfying ending is that she went full circle and became the director of the library at her undergraduate alma mater, LeMoyne-Owen College, in 2019.

As many information and library science professionals do, Smith fell into library work by proximity. She was getting her master’s in English from the University of Mississippi but was at Oxford while conducting thesis research (which focused on Mary Shelley … Read more “Alumna Stacey Smith on Being Library Director at LeMoyne-Owen College, Her Alma Mater”

“I couldn’t really imagine a world in which I would be so happy in my work life. Work was always work, and although I knew other people who found fulfillment in it, I really didn’t think that was realistic for me,” she said. “I feel so differently now and I am incredibly excited about the opportunities that have come my way as a result of … Read more “Recent Alum Gillian Kelly Talks about Her New North Carolina Biotechnology Dream Job”

After working 13 years at the same place, Ari Baker decided it was time to see where else they could leverage their information sciences skills. Though Baker loved being a librarian at the Blount County Public Library, they realized their entire career had been spent there. That’s when they saw the job opening for the director of Tenn-Share.

“It was a really hard decision, I am still very passionate about public libraries… I was interested in doing something new and branching out but I didn’t want to have to move. I wanted to stay in Blount County as I’ve … Read more “Alum Ari Baker Steps Into Their New Role as Tenn-Share Director”

It’s been an exciting and transitional summer for Iman Tahamtan, a recently graduated College of Communication and Information doctoral program alum, and now SIS lecturer. Not only did he successfully defend his dissertation in July, but he also stepped into a new role as a senior user experience researcher for the Machine Learning and Intelligence Operations Product team at JP Morgan in Columbus, Ohio.

Though he interviewed for jobs in academia, Tahamtan was offered the UX researcher position and couldn’t pass it up. While many UX researchers are assisting with end products such as a websites or applications, he will … Read more “SIS Lecturer and CCI PhD Alum Iman Tahamtan Takes on UX Researcher Role at JP Morgan”

This started as a project for one of her MSIS classes that required students to do something for a community organization. At that time there was an ongoing refugee crisis, so Marler chose … Read more “MSIS Alumna Lara Marler Creates 68 Kindergarten Readiness Backpacks for Bridge Refugee Services in Knoxville”

As good leaders do, Reech-Harper deflects much of the praise for how the Rapides Parish Library changed services and implemented new ideas during the COVID-19 pandemic, preferring to … Read more “2021 SIS Alumni Innovator’s Award: Celise Reech-Harper”

What do marine biology, sustainability, marine policy and management, data repositories, commercial information management, project management, information sciences, and publishing all have in common? These are all fields MSIS alumna Amy Forrester (’16) has worked in throughout her career. It’s fitting that she stepped into the role of assistant director of the Center of Information and Communication (CICs) at the College of Communication and Information (CCI) this past year, where she’s found the perfect fit for her varied experience and expertise.

“I have content expertise to talk about all the pieces to be involved, so it’s not just being a … Read more “MSIS Alum and CICS Assistant Director Amy Forrester on Her Interdisciplinary Career”