October 22, 2021 By Hillary Tune

Student Spotlight: H.B. Fach Discusses Neurodiversity and Information Sciences

Featured student: H.B. Fach

Location: Lavergne, Tennessee

Career Background: I’ve been in libraries in one form or another since 2008, ever since I started part-time at Lavergne Public Library. I went to Nashville Public Library after that, and then the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Currently I’m with HCA Healthcare in their Knowledge Management division.

Why information sciences?

I didn’t really know what I was looking for, but a lot of state and federal government jobs aren’t known for a lot of advancement or growth, which I why I chose to leave. I wanted an opportunity to spread my wings … Read more “Student Spotlight: H.B. Fach Discusses Neurodiversity and Information Sciences”

Diversity & Inclusion

October 15, 2021 By Hillary Tune

Associate Professor Awa Zhu Elected ASIS&T Deputy SIG Cabinet Director

After serving in different positions over several years in two Association of Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) Special Interest Groups (SIGs), Associate Professor Awa Zhu was recently elected to serve as the Deputy SIG Cabinet Director for ASIS&T. She will transition into the role at the end of the upcoming ASIS&T Annual Meeting, which is being held both virtually and in-person in Salt Lake City Oct. 30-Nov. 2, 2021.

For Zhu, this is an opportunity to transfer knowledge she’s picked up working in positions such as chair, co-chair, treasurer, and more, in her two SIGs, which are SIG-Social Informatics … Read more “Associate Professor Awa Zhu Elected ASIS&T Deputy SIG Cabinet Director”

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

October 1, 2021 By Hillary Tune

Alum Ari Baker Steps Into Their New Role as Tenn-Share Director

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”

September 24, 2021 By Hillary Tune

$737K NSF Grant Awarded to HBCU Research Project that Includes Assistant Professor Jiangen He

SIS Assistant Professor Jiangen He is part of a project recently awarded a $737,596 National Science Foundation grant that will take an in-depth, systematic approach to explore why faculty join or leave historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Besides He, there are three other institutions and four other researchers involved in the three-year-long project. They are: Associate Professor Erjia Yan, Drexel University; Assistant Professor Mat Kelly, Drexel University; Assistant Professor Chaoqun Ni, University of Wisonsin-Madison; and Associate Professor Robert Palmer, Howard University. The share of the grant money awarded to UT is $191,102, which will aid He in conducting his … Read more “$737K NSF Grant Awarded to HBCU Research Project that Includes Assistant Professor Jiangen He”

Announcements

September 16, 2021 By Hillary Tune

Student Spotlight: Matthew Cowan Brings Knowledge Management to Cybersecurity

Featured Student: Matt Cowan

Location: Knoxville, Tennessee

Education/Career Background: I finished undergraduate in 2014 at the University of Alabama, where I studied geology. Between then and now, I worked largely in real estate and hospitality.

Why information sciences?

I came to the School of Information Sciences because I realized there’s such a gap in how many people understand so many processes and how they have access to those processes – I was interested in that blend of resource development and resource deployment. I’m a generally curious person, I like learning and I like when learning is easy, and finding things … Read more “Student Spotlight: Matthew Cowan Brings Knowledge Management to Cybersecurity”

September 2, 2021 By Hillary Tune

PhD Student Jessica Barfield Named ASIS&T Emerging Scholar for AI Voice Research Done with Professor Dania Bilal

A collaboration between the College of Communication and Information PhD student and School of Information Sciences professor has resulted in innovative research that reaches into the future of AI-powered voice digital assistants and explores how it can be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

This research resulted in a co-authored paper and an award for the doctoral student, Jessica Barfield. Barfield was named the 2021 Emerging Social Informatics Researcher Award from the Association for Information Sciences and Technology (ASIS&T) Special Interest Group in Social Informatics, in part for the paper, “Hey There! What Do You Look Like? User Voice Switching and … Read more “PhD Student Jessica Barfield Named ASIS&T Emerging Scholar for AI Voice Research Done with Professor Dania Bilal”

August 26, 2021 By Hillary Tune

SIS Lecturer and CCI PhD Alum Iman Tahamtan Takes on UX Researcher Role at JP Morgan

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”

August 20, 2021 By Hillary Tune

Assistant Professor Brian Dobreski Earns NASKO’s Best Paper Award Examining Aristotle’s ‘Categories’

Brian Dobreski in front of Circle Park What does an ancient Greek philosopher have to do with information sciences? SIS Assistant Professor Brian Dobreski answered that in a spring 2021 special topics course, Knowledge of Organization Systems, when he had students read and discuss Aristotle’s writing, “Categories.” Not only did it provide some interesting discourse, it inspired Dobreski to write a paper, “Re-examining Aristotle’s Categories as a Knowledge Organization System,”an which earned the Best Paper Award at the recent North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization (NASKO) conference.

Spring 2021 was the first time this course was taught at SIS, and its focus is to teach students … Read more “Assistant Professor Brian Dobreski Earns NASKO’s Best Paper Award Examining Aristotle’s ‘Categories’”

August 13, 2021 By Hillary Tune

Professor Dania Bilal: Inaugural IDEA Institute on AI at UT a Success

After a lot of hard work and planning, the inaugural IDEA (Innovation, Disruption, Enquiry, Access) Institute on Artificial Intelligence was successfully launched and completed this July at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

“It exceeded all our expectations and was the first nationwide event, as far as we know, to train people in aspects of AI in library and information environments. We had different types of positions and organizations, from web developers to data scientists and engineers,” she said.

The Institute was born out of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and SIS Professor Dania Bilal … Read more “Professor Dania Bilal: Inaugural IDEA Institute on AI at UT a Success”

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

School of Information Sciences
College of Communication and Information