Rutgers iSchool Associate Professor Chirag Shah has been awarded $100,000 by the Amazon Research Awards program for his project “Addressing Cold Start Problem in Personalization and Recommendation Using Proactive Information Retrieval.” The grant will be distributed in two parts: $80,000 in monetary funding, and $20,000 in AWS cloud services credits.

The proposal takes on the issue of search and browsing difficulties, where users often do not know where or how to begin a search. The project will use existing data from a number of browsing and searching studies to build behavioral models for proactive information retrieval (IR), and test them using a new user study involving online searching and browsing. The results will include a new algorithm that will use a small amount of browsing data from a user’s session and make predictions about the nature of the task. This algorithm will also be able to provide recommendations before even the searcher realizes the need for them, thus being proactive in an IR episode and addressing the possible cold start problem.

“We have entered the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where artificial agents are becoming an integral part of our lives, being more proactive than reactive,” Shah said. “This project will design, build, and test information agents that learn from our behaviors and offer crucial support in a proactive manner.”

Also serving as Director of the InfoSeeking Lab, Shah’s work focuses on interactive information retrieval/seeking, with an emphasis on those involving social and collaborative aspects.

Click here for more of this story on the Rutgers iSchool website.

Human-computer interaction theorist Dr. Ben Shneiderman of the UMD College of Information Studies’ HCIL research lab is shaking up the research world by questioning the value of curiosity-driven research conducted in laboratories. “[In] our knowledge-rich, information-overloaded world, new models are needed…” he says.

With his Twin-Win Model of research, Dr. Schneiderman challenges the value of research that solely creates new knowledge. The Twin-Win Model contends that in this day and age, for new research to be impactful, it must be tied to actionable insights that can lead to societal benefits.

According to a recent UMD story written by Mia K. Hinckle, the Twin-Win Model theory is controversial as many researchers actively reject collaborations with businesses with the fear that it will taint the validity of their research or damage their academic credibility. However, Dr. Schneiderman argues that interdisciplinary ideas are not sufficient to achieve the goal of high research impact—that research must solve authentic, real-world problems and that partnerships with businesses or organizations provide a forum to identify these problems, test research, and disseminate actionable solutions.

Click here for more of this story on the UMD iSchool website.

The iSchools organization is pleased to announce that Department of Library and Information Science at a Kyungpook National University has become the organization’s newest member. The Korea-based school becomes the 98th member to join our consortium of schools dedicated to advancing the information field.

Located in the Daegu Metropolitan City, KNU LIS has 7 full-time professors as well as a number of adjunct professors. The school’s doctoral program was established in 2000. In 2018 the school had 9 doctoral students, 18 master’s students and 165 undergraduate students. Significant research areas include Bibliography, Information Organization, Information Service Management, Bibliometrics, and Information Retrieval. 

The school cites several objectives for joining the iSchools, including the establishment of a framework that extends the existing iSchools model to accommodate characteristics specific to Korea, constructing a roadmap for world-class education, and laying the foundation for academia-industry-government symbiosis.

“Our aim is to establish a new direction for LIS in Korea that is firmly rooted in cross-institutional and international collaborations as well as academia-industry-government synergy,” the school notes in its successful application. “By capitalizing on school-wide initiatives, we hope to focus and extend our efforts to educate the next-generation information professionals that can interpret and analyze theoretical constructs of information science to synthesize practical applications for everyday life. Under the iSchools umbrella, our efforts toward that goal will not only gain in credibility but also be afforded a framework that can transcend existing boundaries.”

The College of Computing & Informatics at Drexel University is pleased to announce that its Master of Science in Health Informatics (MSHI) degree program was granted full accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM).

CAHIIM is an independent accrediting organization whose mission is to serve the public interest by establishing and enforcing quality Accreditation Standards for Health Informatics and Health Information Management (HIM) educational programs.

With this accreditation, Drexel’s MSHI program is ensured to meet the rigorous academic standards set forth by CAHIIM, and is the first CAHIIM-accredited health informatics program in the Greater Philadelphia area. Students who graduate from CCI’s CAHIIM-accredited program are eligible to sit for professional certification exams including Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) and Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) offered by AHIMA.

“With recognition from the top accrediting body in health informatics and information management education, our MS in Health Informatics program is recognized among the best programs in the nation,” said Professor and MSHI Program Director Christopher C. Yang, PhD. “Our interdisciplinary curriculum, led by a world-class faculty, is helping health and computing professionals to advance their knowledge in the health IT field and achieve their career goals.”

Click here for more on this story on the Drexel website.

The iSchools are pleased to announce that Dr. Maia Jacobs of the Georgia Tech iSchool has been named winner of the 2019 iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award. The runner up is Dr. Jennifer King of the UC Berkeley iSchool. The iSchools organization congratulates both honorees on their achievement. The pair will be recognized at the upcoming iConference 2019 in Washington DC.

The iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award recognizes the best iSchool dissertations of the preceding year. Nominations are solicited from all members of the iSchools organization, now approaching 100 institutions worldwide, and judged by an award committee drawn from leading international schools. The winner receives a cash prize of $2,500 US, the runner up $1,000. This year’s committee was chaired by Prof. Tawanna Dillahunt of the University of Michigan (USA) and Prof. Voker Wulf of the University of Siegen (Germany).

Dr. Jacobs’ winning dissertation is titled Personalized Mobile Tools to Support the Cancer Trajectory. The Award Committee felt it was timely and important, and lauded its impact in how patients manage their health. “Dr. Jacobs’ thesis Personalized Mobile Tools to Support the Cancer Trajectorycontributes MyPath, an adaptive system that provides personalized support to patients throughout their cancer journey, including diagnosis, treatment, and post-treatment survivorship. Her research provides insight into the usability of recommender systems within a health context and finds promise in recommendations that stimulate coping behaviors. Dr. Jacobs’ dissertation stands out because of its strong contributions to health informatics, HCI, and innovative methods that can be used across these fields. The thesis was well-written, the research questions well designed, and Dr. Jacobs did an outstanding job of putting her research questions into context making it the clear winner for this year’s competition.”

The Committee had this to say about the work of runner-up Dr. King: “In the thesis Privacy, Disclosure, and Social Exchange Theory, the author uses Social Exchange Theory (SET) to explore reasons why individuals decide to disclose personal information to companies. The object of exchange implied by this approach draws on rather strong background assumptions like an objective givenness or unity of information as an object of study. Granted that individuals entertain relationships to companies it may indeed be worthwhile to analyze the impact of such relationships on the disclosure of private information in return for gratifications expected. The assumption about the applicability of SET to privacy issues is tested by empirical methods, i.e. qualitative interviews and three online surveys. The author provides clear descriptions of the methods and reasons for using each approach and also delivers a satisfying discussion of the theory.“

Dr. Jacobs and Dr. King will be recognized during a presentation at iConference 2019, which takes place March 31 – April 3 in Washington DC. iConference 2019 is expected to draw more than 500 information scholars and researchers from around the world, and registration is open now, with discounted early rates available through Jan. 21.

The iSchools will begin accepting nominations for next year’s Doctoral Dissertation Award in July. All member schools are invited to submit a nomination. The iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award was established in 2013 to honor outstanding work in the information field. Details on previous honorees can be found here.

The iConference 2019 program schedule is now available for viewing. Presented in a searchable, interactive format, presenters can quickly find their session by putting their last name or title fragment into the search field.

Conference 2019 will take place March 31 – April 3 in Washington DC. Conference registration is now open, with discounted early rates available through January 18. A limited supply of specially priced rooms are available at the conference hotel; lodging details can be found on our venue page, along with additional information about travel, visas, and letters of invitation.

A quick look at this year’s program schedule reveals more than 75 peer reviewed papers, 13 Workshop, 14 interactive sessions, and much more. Keynote speakers include Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, Kentaro Toyama of Microsoft Research India, and Brewster Kahle of the Internet Archive. Visit the conference website for additional details.

About the iConference
iConference 2019 will take place March 31 – April 3, 2019, in Washington DC under the banner theme “Inform | Include | Inspire.” The event is presented by the iSchool at the University of Maryland, College Park in collaboration with the Syracuse University iSchool and the iSchool at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Sponsors include the Computing Research Association, Emerald Publishing, Elsevier, MDPI and ALISE.

An annual presentation of the iSchools organization since 2005, the iConference brings together scholars and researchers from around the world to examine critical information issues in contemporary society. The iConference is open to any and all information scholars and researchers, regardless of institutional affiliation. An openness to new ideas and research fields in information science is a primary characteristics of the event. Attendance has grown every year; participants appreciate the inspiring sense of community, high quality research presentations, and myriad opportunities for engagement and networking.

Data science is rapidly transforming society and the academy. In response, Berkeley has established programs in data science that span the campus, and is now looking for an Associate Provost to lead these efforts and to ensure that Berkeley’s engagement with data science reflects the Berkeley’s values of excellence and inclusion and enhances their mission of serving the public through the creation and sharing of knowledge. As an institutional vehicle for moving forward in data science, Berkeley has created a new division, provisionally entitled the Division of Data Science and Information, which will be built on the disciplines of computation and statistics, their application across fields, and the exploration of their human, social, political, artistic, and scientific implications.

The new division will wholly incorporate the current Data Sciences Division, the School of Information (iSchool), the Department of Statistics, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), and the Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS). EECS and Statistics will also remain a part of their current colleges. A signature of the new division will be the Data Science Commons, a new structure for Berkeley that will empower groups of faculty across the University—with common interests in diverse aspects of the foundations, applications, and implications of data science—to establish new cross-cutting academic programs.

The Associate Provost will serve as the leader of this new division, and as Dean of the School of Information. Among the roles envisioned for this new position are fostering data science across the campus broadly and supporting interdisciplinary synergies within this new division. There is both a pedagogical mission and a research imperative to data science. Berkeley’s efforts are already off to a strong start; the new, integrative undergraduate data science major is the fastest growing major in Berkeley’s history, attracting more than 1,000 pre-declarations in its first year. Data science is also rapidly infusing into curricula and classes across the campus. In terms of research, Berkeley, long a leader in these fields, is building on its long-standing strengths and breaking ground across new frontiers. The scope of this movement is remarkable: for example, this academic year, one fifth of all faculty searches at Berkeley are strongly tied to data science.

To bring about this innovative change, Berkeley seeks an Associate Provost and Dean who will provide vision as well as strategic and intellectual leadership to this endeavor. Candidates must have an earned doctoral degree or equivalent international degree and a distinguished record of scholarship that merits a tenured appointment as a Professor. Candidates must also have significant leadership experience in a complex institutional environment as well as a track record of fostering diverse, inclusive and excellent organizations, and in seeking philanthropic support and establishing strategic partnerships.

UC Berkeley is internationally renowned for comprehensive excellence, the opportunities it affords students of all backgrounds, and pioneering achievements across all disciplines. The Berkeley campus is home to more than 30,000 undergraduates and more than 11,000 graduate students, and approximately 1,500 ladder-rank faculty across more than 65 academic departments and 80 research units.

Visit the UC Berkeley website to learn more about this opportunity and how to apply. The search is being facilitated by the Witt/Kieffer executive recruiting agency.

The School of Information Studies at Syracuse University has launched a search for a new Dean. Current Syracuse iSchool Dean, and former iSchools Organization iCaucus Chair, Elizabeth D. Liddy, will step down and retire in May, 2019.

Reporting to the Syracuse University Provost, the Dean will collaborate with the 12 deans of the other schools and colleges at Syracuse and with senior University leadership. The Dean will oversee 50 tenure-track faculty members, professors of practice and teaching faculty, and a staff of 50 and will be responsible for an operating budget of $62 million.

The Syracuse iSchool, a founding member of the iSchools Organization, is a globally recognized leader in advancing knowledge and developing creative, thoughtful, and technically capable leaders in the information field. The mission of the iSchool is to expand human capabilities by connecting people, information and technology. The faculty and staff of the iSchool are committed to preparing students to become leaders in the information field and using information to solve problems faced by individuals and organizations. Together, the faculty, staff and students of the iSchool impact research and the information profession through scholarship, rigorous education opportunities and commitment to service that advances science, improves professional practice and contributes to society.

Consistently ranked among the top five programs of its kind in the country by U.S. News and World Report, the Syracuse iSchool offers degree programs at the undergraduate, masters and doctoral levels; master’s programs are available both on campus and online.

The next Dean will lead Syracuse’s iSchool at a time when its disciplines are in increasingly high demand by undergraduate, professional and graduate students. The Dean will have the opportunity to capitalize on this exciting information age by focusing on fostering academic excellence, advancing the research agenda, building institutional capacity, and raising visibility and resources.

Founded in 1870, Syracuse University is a private, coeducational, research institution in the heart of central New York, where students choose from more than 200 majors, 100 minors, and 200 advanced degree programs. Syracuse is a university of national stature and international opportunity, known for its professional programs, investment in research and innovation, and school spirit.

Click here for full details on the Syracuse University Job’s Board.

This search is being handled by Russell Reynolds Associates, executive search consultants. Inquiries, nominations, and expressions of interest can be sent to: SyracuseiSchool@russellreynolds.com.

Axon Enterprise, formerly known as Taser International, recently shifted its focus from stun guns to body-cam video following the killings of a number of unarmed black citizens by police. Researchers have followed Axon’s plans to build artificial intelligence systems, AI, to process, label and interpret police body-cam video and have now expressed doubts in an article published in IEEE Spectrum.

In the article, Dan Greene, assistant professor at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies and his colleague, Dr. Genevieve Patterson, a computer vision researcher, question the practicality of Axon’s strategy and the preparedness of Axon’s proposed AI capabilities.

The application of machine learning for the classification of police body-camera video has become a major flash point in the broader debate over whether proprietary software should be incorporated into the criminal-justice system. In their article, “The Trouble With Trusting AI to Interpret Police Body-Cam Video”Greene and Dr. Patterson discuss their concerns and also offer suggestions for how to manage technology that is on the horizon.

Click here to read this news story on the UMD webstie.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received a grant for $1.1 million from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for a project to develop a toolset that will enable institutions to more quickly and efficiently process emails included in born-digital collections. The project will specifically explore the use of machine learning to separate irrelevant emails from those that should be preserved, and will apply natural language processing methods to identify topics of interest within those records so the messages can be tagged for improved organization and retrieval.

The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) is partnering with the State Archives of North Carolina under the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NC DNCR) for the two-year project. The Review, Appraisal, and Triage of Mail (RATOM) project’s goals are particularly significant for organizations, including libraries, archives and museums (LAMs), that need to provide public access to records while protecting private information.

RATOM project personnel include SILS Professor Christopher “Cal” Lee, who will serve as Principal Investigator (PI), as well as SILS Research Scientist Kam Woods (Co-PI) and DARNC Section Head of Digital Services Camille Tyndall Watson (Co-PI).

Click here for more details on the UNC website.