We know that everyone’s lives have been impacted by this pandemic, and just as we have adjusted our work and support for students here at the School of Information Sciences, many of our alumni have had to drastically change everyday operations. We reached out to some of our alums to see how they and their organizations were handling the changes, and providing stability and continued access to resources in this time of uncertainty. Here is what they told us:

Hilary Jasmin

Research and Learning Services Librarian

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Memphis, Tenn.

SIS Student & Staff Member Hillary Tune (featured at 0:29) sews face masks for Knox Makes Masks

During this time, people are coming together (while staying apart), and doing what they can to support and inspire their community. The members of the SIS community are no different; alumni, faculty, students, and staff are already stepping up and embodying the Volunteer Spirit during this difficult time.

Julia Proctor and some fellow students have worked for months on reinstituting the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s student chapter of the Society for American Archivists (SAA). While at first it may have seemed that the timing of their inaugural special speaker wasn’t ideal – with it being the Sunday after Spring Break and in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis – the group decided that it would be a great distraction for other students during this tumultuous time. And they were right, Proctor said.

It was by chance that Aisha Johnson-Jones found information about the historic Julius Rosenwald Fund Library Program while she was doing research on increasing African-American diversity in archives. As she started learning more about the program, she started asking around to see what research had been done on the topic. When it became clear that it was an untouched subject, she knew it was her calling to bring the story to life – how one philanthropist funded libraries and schools for African-Americans and made a lasting impact.

Featured student: Jeff Zentner

Location: Nashville, TN

Education: Bachelor’s degree in communications from University of Utah, law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School

Career/Background: I’ve had a number of different lives. I used to be a musician. As a musician, I recorded several albums with bands and solo, and wrote a bunch of songs. I’ve worked with Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, and Debbie Harry. I toured and played festivals and such. That was a lot of fun but it ran its course.

It was his longtime love of hiking that pushed Ken Wise from being an accountant to becoming director of the UT Libraries’ Great Smoky Mountains Regional Project in 1998. So it was a little bit of being in the right place at the right time, and a lot of passion.

Brooke Olson (’19) was a project manager for almost a decade when she decided it was time for a career overhaul. The Nashville resident began taking distance education classes through SIS in 2017, but she knew she wanted a look at what happens behind the scenes in a library before deciding that was her endgame.

“I have no library experience at all and I knew if I wanted to find a job in the library system I needed some hands-on experience,” she said.

MSIS student Rachael Murphy started an assistantship at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Hodges Library in fall 2019, conducting a “kindness audit.” The audit takes an inventory of all the signage throughout the library to assess what kind of messages or ideas are being communicated to those who walk into the building.

“We’re looking at, do they feel comfortable, do we create spaces that make them want to come back? We’re taking into consideration people who have disabilities or marginalized identities, things that people may not consider when they think of a library,” Murphy said.

Recent graduate Amanda Liford (’19) transitioned from a student practicum into an assistantship at the US Geological Survey this past year, and now she’s hoping it could turn into a full-time career as a data manager at the organization.

SIS and CCI are fondly remembering the life and service of Donald W. King, a long-time supporter of the school and college and an SIS adjunct professor, who died in November at the age of 87.

King served on the CCI Board of Visitors from 2011-2014, was a member of CCI’s Bickel Society, and was the co-creator of the Tenopir-King Research Excellence Fund with SIS Chancellor’s Professor Carol Tenopir. Tenopir said one of the reasons she came to the University of Tennessee in 1994 was to have an opportunity to do research with King.