Category Archives: Student News

April 8, 2022 By Hillary Tune

Student Spotlight: Kristina Larsen Becomes Rare Map Librarian After One Semester in MSIS

Featured student: Kristina Larsen

Location: San Francisco, California

Education: Undergraduate degree in studio art and sculpture from Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass.

What is your professional background?

For my undergraduate degree I studied painting and sculpture at Hampshire College. After graduation, I didn’t have plans and went on a road trip with a friend to California. I thought I would be here temporarily but I have stayed in the Bay Area ever since.

For the first decade or so I made art and worked part time in offices for architects, artists, and writers, and I ended … Read more “Student Spotlight: Kristina Larsen Becomes Rare Map Librarian After One Semester in MSIS”

April 1, 2022 By Hillary Tune

MSIS Student Kelsey Badger Named Volunteer of Distinction: Extraordinary Professional Promise

Kelsey Badger came into the School of Information Sciences master’s program with the honor of being accepted into the Collaborative Analysis Liaison Librarians (CALL) program, and she will continue that tradition of excellence with the honor of being named a University of Tennessee, Knoxville Volunteer of Distinction: Extraordinary Professional Promise. She’s also already accepted a position at the Ohio State University as a research data librarian, which she will start after she graduates from SIS this May.

SIS Clinical Associate Professor Carolyn Hank nominated Badger for the award, stating that she has exceptional work ethic and outstanding academic … Read more “MSIS Student Kelsey Badger Named Volunteer of Distinction: Extraordinary Professional Promise”

March 25, 2022 By Hillary Tune

Student Elisha Jewell and Assistant Professor of Practice Joy Marie Doan Research How NFTs Can Benefit Libraries

Libraries are often places of innovation, many times embodying the adage, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Sitting at the crossroads of technology and information access gives information sciences professionals a unique view of the world, and in the case of School of Information Sciences master’s student Elisha Jewell, a unique take on the blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

“What my research is really aiming to do is to provide fundamental knowledge to library and information professionals about blockchain technology and NFTs. We want to shed a light on how this technology can provide an opportunity for music collections in … Read more “Student Elisha Jewell and Assistant Professor of Practice Joy Marie Doan Research How NFTs Can Benefit Libraries”

March 11, 2022 By Hillary Tune

Student Spotlight: Amy Snyder Lands Fellowship with Library of Congress

Featured student: Amy Snyder

Location: Knoxville, Tennessee

Education: Undergraduate degree in English and minor in art history from University of Virginia

Why information sciences?

I went to undergrad at the University of Virginia and was an English major over there and an art history minor. I started working in the small special collections library and I fell in love with it, I was a cataloging assistant. It was really cool to work with all the old books and I was like, I want to do that.

I worked at two other positions in the library, shelving books … Read more “Student Spotlight: Amy Snyder Lands Fellowship with Library of Congress”

March 4, 2022 By Hillary Tune

MSIS Student Sarah Calise Founds Nashville Queer History Digital Archive, Lands Deal to Write First Book on Nashville’s LGBTQ+ History

It’s easy to forget history, but even more so if no one preserves it. Sarah Calise, an archivist and a student in the School of Information Sciences master’s program, is someone who specializes in preservation. So when they saw the history of Nashville’s LGBTQ+ community slowly slipping away, they also saw an opportunity to make a lasting difference. Now they are at the helm of a significant digital archives project called Nashville Queer History, and they are writing the first book ever about that history.

This project came to fruition when Calise was given a big project assignment in … Read more “MSIS Student Sarah Calise Founds Nashville Queer History Digital Archive, Lands Deal to Write First Book on Nashville’s LGBTQ+ History”

Diversity & Inclusion

February 18, 2022 By Hillary Tune

A Trio of Friends Journey Through Work and the MSIS Program Together

It’s not unusual for students to take a meandering path that ends with them entering the MSIS program—some wander a little, and others even make hard turns into a drastic career change. But rarely do those paths intersect the way that those of three current MSIS students have: Carolyn Shafer, Jenny Huffman, and William Judd.

Not only are the trio all enrolled in the program at the same time, they’re also all working at the same library branch, Putnam County Library in Cookeville, Tenn. But to top it off, they knew each other even before they worked together and they … Read more “A Trio of Friends Journey Through Work and the MSIS Program Together”

February 1, 2022 By Hillary Tune

Student Spotlight: Jessica Woofter on Databases and Data Analysis

Featured Student: Jessica Woofter

Location: Knoxville, Tennessee

Education: Bachelor’s in General Studies with a focus on Business and Technical writing

Career: Data Analyst at the University of Tennessee’s Environmental Health & Safety

Why information sciences?

I am definitely not a traditional student. I did not take a straight path to complete my college degree or getting into the SIS graduate program. I started college in 1998 seeking a pre-veterinary degree from Georgia Southern University (GSU) in Statesboro, GA. I dropped out to gain work experience and focus on myself. My spouse and I moved around the country for work, fell … Read more “Student Spotlight: Jessica Woofter on Databases and Data Analysis”

December 8, 2021 By Hillary Tune

SIS Grad Student Songhee Kim Becomes CCI’s UX Lab Manager and Graphic Designer

At her heart, Songhee Kim is an artist, and she’s found ways to incorporate that into her career path over the years. She earned an undergraduate degree in 3D animation and visual effects from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and went on to work for projects such as Disney Junior’s “Sophia the First” and CBN’s “Superbook.” Now she is the College of Communication and Information’s User eXperience Lab manager and graphic designer, as well as a graduate student at the School of Information Sciences.

Kim met her now-husband in Seoul, Korea, when he was stationed there with … Read more “SIS Grad Student Songhee Kim Becomes CCI’s UX Lab Manager and Graphic Designer”

October 8, 2021 By Hillary Tune

SIS Faculty, Students to Participate in ASIS&T 2021 Annual Meeting

At the end of this month, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will be well-represented at the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) in Salt Lake City. It is at this conference that SIS Professor and Director Abebe Rorissa will move into the position of ASIS&T President-Elect Nov. 2, but many others from the SIS community are also presenting their work or participating in panels and workshops. They include:

Associate Professor Xiaohua “Awa” Zhu is co-leading the 17th Annual Social Informatics Research Symposium and the 3rd Annual Information Ethics and Policy Workshop: Sociotechnical Perspectives on Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (SIG-SI

August 12, 2021 By Hillary Tune

MSIS Student Diona Eberhart Layden Awarded ALA Spectrum Scholarship

Diona Eberhart Layden is a licensed attorney and has served as a judicial law clerk for the Tennessee Supreme Court, worked in the Davidson County District Attorney General’s Office, and currently serves as a Guardian ad Litem in the Davidson County Juvenile Court. But after two decades of working as a lawyer, she decided she “wanted to do something a little different” and is currently entering her second year in the MSIS program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

She was recently announced as a recipient of an American Library Association Spectrum Scholarship, which “actively recruits and provides scholarships to … Read more “MSIS Student Diona Eberhart Layden Awarded ALA Spectrum Scholarship”

Diversity & Inclusion

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School of Information Sciences
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