Issue 8 - June 2004 

Welcome! In this issue:

	* Dean's Word 
	* School of Information Commencement Ceremony 
	* University launches UTOPIA project with help from iSchool 
	* 2nd Annual Edible Book Festival 
	* Strong Alumni Presence at TLA Dinner 
	* Student, Faculty and Alumni News
	

* Dean's Word
Greetings and welcome to the latest e-newsletter for alumni and
friends of the School of Information.  It has been a good year for the
School in terms of student enrollments, graduation rates, faculty
recruitment and research.  Given the centrality of our field to many
disciplines, we have embarked on a plan to develop new relationships
across campus.  We have targeted portfolio programs, which allow
students to gain specialist education across disciplines, as one area
for growth.  This semester we also became active participants in the
graduate program in nonprofit and philanthropic studies.  A joint
proposal between our School, the College of Communications and the LBJ
School of Public Affairs has also been made to create a new portfolio
in Communication, Information and Policy.  Discussions have also
progressed on the creation of a new program in Museum Studies at UT,
in which our School will be a major player.  On top of this, plans are
advancing for the launch of an undergraduate minor in information
studies.  All of these initiatives position the School more centrally
in the wide range of information-related activities at this campus,
while allowing our own students to bring our values and skills to bear
on a host of related fields.

We expect to announce shortly the name of another new faculty member
who will join us in Spring 2005.  This will be our fourth new faculty
member in two years.  We are delighted with the number of applicants
and the quality of hires we have been able to make.  There is more to
come, and we anticipate recruiting further faculty in the coming
year.  This newsletter also falls at a time when other exciting
developments that will advance our school are also under discussion,
but I will leave announcement of these to a more appropriate
time.  Stay tuned and stay connected.


* Spring 2004 Commencement Ceremony
On Saturday, May 22nd degree candidates and their family and friends
attended the School of Information Commencement Ceremony.  Dale
Ricklefs, (1977), Round Rock Public Library Director, presented the
2003 Beta Phi Mu Outstanding Student Award to Maria Esteva.  LBJ
Library and Museum Director, Betty Sue Flowers, presented the
convocation address.  The ceremony honored four PhD and 46 Masters
graduates.  More information can be found at
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/about/news/commencement_04282004.html

* University launches UTOPIA project with help from iSchool
On March 6th UT launched the much-anticipated UTOPIA project.  A
web-based gateway into the cultural treasures and faculty expertise at
UT Austin, the website offers a new way for the University to share
its knowledge outside of the physical walls and classrooms.  School of
Information Dean Andrew Dillon is a member of the project's Steering
Committee and has been influential in shaping the project's direction
and strategy.  Last summer, Dean Dillon, Vice President of Information
Technology Dan Updegrove, and UTOPIA's Project Director Liz Aebersold
ran a masters level summer seminar for iSchool students.  The work,
thought and discussion produced in this class guided the project work
through its practical and theoretical challenges.  Two students from
the class, Andrew Switzky and Sam Burns, went on to work as interns
with the project.  Andy continues to play a significant role with the
project as he focuses on the user experience, information
architecture, usability testing and project management.  In addition,
through the UTOPIA grant program, iSchool faculty member Barbara
Immroth has received two $20,000 grants from UTOPIA (in partnership
with the College of Education) to create the websites "Talking Over
Books," and "Books R4 Kids" which focus on children's language
development and literacy growth.  To explore the UTOPIA website go to
http://utopia.utexas.edu/


* 2nd Annual Edible Book Festival
The Collection Deposit Library was the site for the 2nd Annual Edible
Book Festival held on April 1 and sponsored by the iSchool's
Preservation and Conservation Studies program.  Students, faculty,
staff, and various onlookers joined in on the fun creating edible
works of art all in the name of a book.  To learn more go to:
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~ebf or visit the Daily Texan at
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2004/03/30/Focus/The-Incredible.Edible.Book-644926.shtml


* Strong Alumni Presence at TLA Dinner
The Texas Library Association 2004 Annual Conference (TLA) iSchool
Alumni Dinner drew over 80 alumni, faculty, students, and guests to
Rosario's Mexican Restaurant in the historic King William District in
San Antonio.  Special guests included two former deans, Brooke Sheldon
and Roberta Shaffer, Darryl Tocker of the Tocker Foundation, and
Barbara Stripling, candidate for president of ALA.  Following brief
comments by Dean Andrew Dillon, names were drawn for door prizes.  The
prizes went to Dana Hutchins (2001), Linda Reeves (2001), and Dawn
Fontana (2003).  Michelle Thomas (2004) received a special door prize
that was awarded to students who attended the dinner.  Photos and
additional information about this year's event can be found at
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/about/news/tla_conference_03232004.html


* Student News
Students Anne Marie Donovan, Maria Esteva, Addy Sonder, Susan Trombley
and faculty member Patricia Galloway presented "Archival Appraisal,
Websites, and Dspace TM" at the first IS&T (The Society for Imaging
Science and Technology) Archiving Conference held in San Antonio.

Maria Esteva (2003), and iSchool doctoral student, won the 2003
Student of the Year award presented by the Beta Eta Chapter of The
International Library and Information Studies Honor Society (Beta Phi
MU).  The recipient, selected by the iSchool faculty, recognizes
outstanding academic work and leadership.

Hannah Fischer (2004) won the Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF)
competition.  The PMF attracts outstanding masters and doctoral-level
students to the Federal Service.  An article about Hannah and her
accomplishment can be found in the UT Alumni Magazine, The Alcalde
(May/June 2004, p. 25).

Libby Peterek, iSchool masters student, was selected by the UT
Graduate Student Association as the Outstanding Teaching Assistant for
the year.  She was honored at a reception where she received a check
for $1,000 and a plaque commemorating the award.

Kathleen M. Smith, iSchool masters student, won the Rovelstad
Scholarship in International Librarianship.  The award covers all
expenses to attend the International Federation of Libraries 2004
Annual Conference to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in August.


* Faculty News
A list of recent publications from faculty can be found at
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/research/publications.php

Dr. Randolph Bias received a 2004 IBM Faculty Award of $40,000 to
support research in user interface design.  The competitive award
recognizes Dr. Bias' 20 years of research and practice in the area of
usability engineering.

Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa, assistant director for Preservation and
Conservation Studies at the School of Information, has been elected
President of the Association  of North American Graduate Programs in
the Conservation of Cultural Property (ANAGPIC).

Dr. Donald G. Davis, Jr. has been awarded a 2004-2005 Big XII Faculty
Fellowship from the UT Graduate School.  UT collaborates in a Big XII
Faculty Fellowship Program to stimulate scholarly initiatives among
the universities that became affiliated through formation of the Big
XII Athletic Conference.  Dr. Davis will collaborate with a colleague
at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.  The grant pays for travel and
a two-week per diem to produce the third edition of American Library
History: A Bibliography.

Dean Andrew Dillon was a keynote speaker at two conferences this
semester.  First, he spoke on the future of the LIS field at the AMIGOS
2004 Conference in Puebla, Mexico in February.  In May, he was the
keynote speaker at CUMREC 2004, the national conference for university
technology managers, where he spoke on the need for better analyses of
user behavior in the design of organizational IT.

Dr. Patricia Galloway presented "Teaching Digital Records Archiving
with DSpace at the University of Texas at Austin" at the DSpace
Federation Users Group meeting held at MIT in Cambridge, MA.

Dr. Bill Lukenbill and Dr. Barbara Immroth were awarded a $5,000 grant
from Kent State University in connection with the Institute for
Library and Information Literacy Education (ILILE) entitled "Promoting
Information Literacy & Teacher-Librarian Collaboration through Social
Marketing Strategies."

Dr. Emilio Zamora in collaboration with the UT Public Policy
Institute, the Mexican American Library Program, and the Center for
Mexican American Studies hosted a three-day round table discussion
entitled Women and the Raza Unida Party.  Go to
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/about/news/raza_unida_04082004.html for
a list of participants.


* In Memoriam
Betty June Kahler Berry, former adjunct professor, died on February
16.  Dr. Berry taught the iSchool course Designing and Producing
Learning Materials for many years.


* Alumni News

Numerous alumni attended this year's Texas Library Association annual
meeting held in San Antonio in March.  Many of you stopped by our
booth and signed up to update your address or to receive the e-news.
Those of you who signed up were eligible for a drawing for an official
iSchool t-shirt or coffee cup.  The winners are:

T-shirt
Betty Thompson, Taylor
Emily Gardner, Austin
Christine Pouncey, Farmers Branch
Laurie Thelen, Round Rock
Barbara Sentesi Cosart, Austin

Coffee cup
Toy Thomas, Cedar Hill
Gretchen Pruett, Georgetown
Kristin Fance, Houston
Emily Gardner, Austin
Martha Rinn, Seguin


Two alums were recently featured in the Movers and Shakers 2004
edition of the Library Journal.

Jennifer Hain Teper (MLIS 2000 w/certificate in conservation and
preservation) and Jill Emery (MLIS 1995).  Jennifer is the Head of the
Conservation Unit at the Main Library and Assistant Professor of
Library Administration at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.  Jill is the Director of the Electronic Resources
Program at the University of Houston Libraries.  The complete articles
are in the March 15th supplement to Library Journal, titled "Movers &
Shakers 2004: The People Who Are Shaping the Future of Libraries".
Read the full profile at
http://www.libraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=LJMS

Want to know more about alumni and what they are doing? Point your
browser to
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/people/alumni_updates_06012004.php 

If you have news that you would like to share, please send it to
chansen@ischool.utexas.edu


* Alumni Careers Information
Students pursuing their Master's and PhD's in Library and Information
Science often wonder what really comes after graduation.  Our alumni
have answers that help to dispel some of the mystery.  Please help us
showcase the wide variety of careers our alumni have pursued by
allowing us to list you on our Alumni Careers Website,
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/careers/alumni_careers.php

To be included, just send us an e-mail (careers@ischool.utexas.edu)
with the following information:

Name
Degree (MLS, MLIS, MSIS)
Year of graduation (we can help if needed)
Organization for which you work
City and state/country where you work.
 
This resource illustrates where our graduates work and the variety of
careers they have pursued.  Additionally, it provides current and
prospective students with an idea of the opportunities that await them
after graduation.


* Contact Us
The School recently mailed to all alumni a "Please stay in touch"
postcard.  Please let us know if you or your fellow alums did not
receive one - we will be happy to mail you one! You can send your
requests to chansen@ischool.utexas.edu

If you know a fellow colleague who has graduated from our program and
who is not receiving this electronic newsletter, please forward a copy
and point them to the subscription page on our site at:
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/people/alumni.html


Alums mailing list
alums@ischool.utexas.edu
https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/mailman/listinfo/alums

Moving? Need to update your alumni records? An "Information for
Alumni" page has been set up with various links to help make it
convenient for you.  Please go to
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/people/alumni.html to learn more.