Welcome to the Ph.D. News Website. This Website contains items of interest to iSchool Ph.D. students at University of Texas at Austin. The home page "Announcements," "Activities for this Week," and "Future Events" are normally updated each Sunday. Additions and changes to the current week as well as special announcements are noted in red (or other appropriate color) . Significant future calendar events are posted as they are received and time permits. Suggested additions, corrections, and other comments are always appreciated. Email me or grab me in room SZB 463 or in the hall.

Announcements

Hooray for Don Drumtra
His committee approved his proposal
on February 3:
Business Information Organization:
A Search for Common Concepts for Information Integration

Future Events - Mark Your Calendar

Tuesday, Feb 7, 4-:5:30 PM, Dr. R. David Lankes, Reference Authoring. The iSchool Faculty Search and Speakers Committee would like to invite all iSchool students, faculty and staff to the first iForum of the Spring semester. Digital reference is not just reference interviews online. The main difference is the production of a “reference artifact.” In face-to-face reference, work must be done to retain the transaction (it must be recorded, or written down--action must occur), whereas in digital reference the opposite is true (the e-mail must be deleted, the database purged). This may seem like a small difference at first, but it is critical. With recorded transactions knowledge bases can be created, pathfinders authored, training can occur with real data, etc. This use of digital reference output is called reference authoring. This presentation will explore reference authoring, the use of induction and complexity research to manage knowledge created through reference authoring and the increasing intersection between reference and information retrieval. Dr. R. David Lankes is an Associate Professor, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University and Director, Information Institute of Syracuse, New York. Refreshments will be provided. Hope to see you all there. For more information, please contact April Norris.

Wednesday, Feb 8, 4:30-6 PM, SZB 556, UT ALA/TLA Planning and Ideas Meeting. We'll spend some time talking about the upcoming conferences in Houston and New Orleans, what types of tours and events we want to think about planning for the coming semester, and benefits of joining ALA and TLA. Drinks and snacks will be provided If you are unable to attend the meeting, but have suggestions for tours or events, feel free to email Melissa Keenan and she will bring them up at the meeting. Please contact Melissa for more information.

Monday, Feb 13, Proposals due for contributed papers. The 2006 ASIST conference "Information Realities: Shaping the Digital Future for All" will be in Austin this year November 3-9 at the Hilton Austin. This is a unique opportunity you will not want to miss. ASIS&T 2006 challenges us to explore this moment in the history of information science as people seamlessly move between their physical and digital worlds to create information realities for themselves and others. Submissions by researchers and practitioners are solicited on a wide range of topics. The Call for Papers has been issued. All submissions are made electronically via a link from the ASIS&T Web site .

PROPOSALS DUE Monday, February 13, 2006, for:
   Contributed papers
   Practitioner/Industry track
   Symposia and panels
   Pre-conference sessions
PROPOSALS DUE Saturday, February 25, 2006, for contributed posters/short papers.
ACCEPTANCE NOTICES ISSUED, April 28, 2006.
FINAL SUBMISSIONS DUE , May 27, 2006, final versions due for conference proceedings

Tuesday, Feb 14, 11:30 AM -1 PM, Goodwill Temporary Services, Hugh Smith, Protecting Records in Media Format? What do I need to know? Protecting the organizations most vital records requires the records manager to be savvy about the records stored in media format. Trying to effect control over these records is the task at hand and this requires a certain level of sophistication on the records manager to convince IT and Management that you have a role to play here. IT Managers feel their job is complete if they shift the media cartridges to an offsite location but this is not nearly enough! Let’s talk about how you gain control of all the records and really protect the media and information assets across the spectrum. Hugh Smith is Vice President of International Marketing for FIRELOCK, the world’s leading manufacturer of Modular Fireproof Media Storage Vaults. Hugh has designed and installed more vital records vaults for corporate America than anyone in the industry. His installations include some of the most secure and unique vaults in the world. Literally hundreds of billions of assets reside in FIRELOCK secured facilities and vaults. He has worked with clients such as Walt Disney Imagineering, DOCUSFE, the U.S. Department of Energy, and hundreds of financial institutions around the world. Hugh is a frequent speaker at ARMA, PRISM and Architectural Design Conferences and has presented before the Smithsonian and the U.S. Department of Energy Conference on Fire Protection. He has also published several design guidelines for records centers and vault chambers. Hugh serves on the National Fire Protection Association Technical Committee for the Protection of Records. ( NFPA 232). Goodwill Temporary Industries. Inc. is located at 1015 Norwood Park Blvd. Lunch will be provided by Iron Mountain, Members, students, and first time guests are free. The cost for others is $5. For more information please visit the ARMA Austin Website or contact Vickie Stephens.

Saturday, Feb 18, Bates, A Day at The University with Malcom Archer and Friends. The University of Texas at Austin School of Music is proud to announce our second Sacred Music Workshop. We are proud to have such esteemed presenters as Drs. Malcolm Archer, B. Glenn Chandler, Elaine Dykstra, Gerre Hancock, James Morrow, and Frank Speller. The cost of the workshop, which includes a catered luncheon, is: $40 (if registered by Feb. 1), $45 late/walk-up registration (no AGO discount, $35 for members of the Austin Chapter of the AGO (if registered by Feb. 1). We look forward to seeing you at the workshop this February! For more information and to register please visit the event Website.

Saturday, Feb 18, 3-5 PM,SZB 556, "Gracuas a Todos" Latino/Latina LIS Education Forum. The Center for Mexican American Studies  (CMAS) at the University of Texas at Austin is celebrating its 35th Anniversary this year. As part of this celebration, the the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin is hosting "Gracias a Todos," a panel discussion on Latino/Latina library and information science education. Invited panelists will speak for 10 minutes each about their educational experiences and career. We will then open the floor to discussion. We will serve light refreshments.  Attendees are invited to invite a prospective iSchool student to join them at this  event. In addition, we will accept donations of books, socks, and/or blankets for  young readers attending preK to sixth grade. These materials will  help support a  rural library program in Mexico. We hope that you will be able to participate and look forward to hearing your contributions. For more information, please contact Dr. Loriene Roy,CMAS 35th Anniversary Committee.

Tuesday, Feb 21, 9 AM - Noon, UNB San Rita, Jamie Stewart, Information on Filing US Taxes. This is the annual graduate student tax seminar sponsored by the Graduate Coordinator Network. Jamie is a Senior Tax Specialist, IRS-Stakeholder Partnerships, Education & Communication. She will be joined by UT representatives from the International Office, Payroll Office, Office of Accounting, and IRS representative who will be available to answer your questions about graduate student educational tax benefits and processes during the Q&A. Schedule is
9:00 – 9:30 Refreshments
9:30 – 10:30 am Jamie Stewart, Information on Filing US Taxes
10:30 – 11:00 am UT Panel Discussion
11:00 – 12:00 pm Q & A
For more information, please contact Nichole Evans via email or phone, 475-8649.

Thursday, Feb 23, 3-6 PM, ART 1.102, Dr. William Germano, The Graduate Author: From Research Topics to Published Book. An open invitation to graduate students from all disciplines who are interested in creating a publishable work! Dr. William Germano is author of "Getting It Published" and "From Dissertation to Book, " is former editor-in-chief at Columbia University Press, and is publishing editor at Routledge. The workshop is free, but registration is required.  Mark you calendars now! To register and see more information about Dr. Germano's workshop and related events, go to the event Website.

Friday, Feb 24, Proposals due for Connections, 2006, Bringing Together Emerging Information Studies Researchers: A Doctoral Conference in Information Studies. Connections 2006, aka the 11th Annual Great Lakes Information Science Conference, is a forum for doctoral students in information studies to meet one another, exchange ideas, present research and attend workshops and panels in a collegial and receptive atmosphere.  In keeping with a tradition of convening Connections in a city near the Great Lakes, Connections 2006 will be hosted by Syracuse University's School of Information Studies in Syracuse, New York, from May 19-21.  Our goal is to attract doctoral students working in one of three broad areas:
* Library and information science (LIS)
* Information systems (IS) and management information systems (MIS)
* Information and telecommunications policy
Doctoral students working in these areas are invited to submit abstracts for presentations, workshops and panels.  Students at all stages of their program, from first year through ABD, are encouraged to participate.

We are accepting proposals for presentations and workshops from now through February 24, 2006.  Individuals are invited to submit proposals (in the form of 300-word abstracts) to present nascent, in-progress or completed research.  Presenters will be given 10-15 minutes to present their research and 5-10 minutes to field questions.  Shortened abstracts (from those accepted) will be included in the Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science.  Also, individuals and groups of four or fewer people are invited to submit proposals to lead short workshops on topics of interest to doctoral students in information studies.  Extended abstracts must be at least one page (but not more than two) and must state workshop objectives and the means for realizing them.  Workshop leaders will be given either one or two hours (depending on the workshop) to conduct them. We are also accepting proposals through February 24 to serve as a panelist on one of up to six panels. Panel topics currently include (i) information retrieval systems, (ii) distance education, (iii) the boundaries of information science, (iv) global internet policy, (v) organizational communications and knowledge sharing, and (vi) usability research.  Panels will be made more specific or modified slightly to match the interests of accepted applicants. For more information on how to join the conference listserv, for the conference schedule, for and more detail on submissions please visit the Connections 2006 Website or contact the Conference Chair, Joe Rubleske.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES & CONTACTS

* February 24:  Deadline for submitting a proposal to participate as a presenter, as a workshop leader and/or as a panelist
* March 17: Notification of acceptance
* March 20: Registration period begins
* April 21: Deadline for shortened and revised abstracts
* April 28: Registration period ends
* May 19-21: Connections 2006 is convened

See also Ph.D. Consortium below.

Friday, March 3, Submissions due for the Ph.D. Consortium to be held in conjunction with the Doctoral Consortium in Information Studies at Connections 2006. PhD students in information studies (including LIS, IS, MIS and information policy programs) are invited to submit applications for the Connections 2006 Doctoral Consortium. The consortium offers an opportunity for Ph.D. students making progress on their dissertation research to share and discuss their research with peers and faculty mentors. It will include multiple concurrent small group sessions facilitated by experienced faculty members with expertise in the topic area or methodological approach. In addition, there will be opportunities to network with peers and faculty, learn about research and publishing strategies, and engage in discussions on research, teaching, jobs, and careers. As the purpose of the Doctoral Consortium is to share and get feedback on research, it is most useful for students who have defended a proposal (or are close to doing so). The consortium will be held on Friday 19 May 2006 as a pre-conference activity in conjunction with Connections 2006 (19-21 May 2006), at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies, in Syracuse, NY. Accepted participants will be expected to arrive in Syracuse by 6 pm on Thursday 18 May 2006. A get-acquainted event will take place at 7 pm. Participants are also encouraged to attend and present their research at Connections 2006. To apply, send an e-mail to Kevin Crowston with Subject Line "Connections 2006 Doctoral Consortium." Attach an abstract (not to exceed 5 double spaced pages including figures and tables but not references) describing the student's proposed dissertation. The submission should also include the expected timeline for completing the dissertation, including the date of the proposal defense. The DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS is 3 March 2006 and accepted participants will be notified by 17 March 2006.  Faculty participants will be identified soon. For more information or questions please visit the Consortium Website or contact Dr. Kevin Crowston .

Monday-Saturday, March 13-18, Spring break.

Friday, March 24, 7-9 PM, CAL 100, Jim Reid-Cunningham, Book Artist Lecture. This is the first annual; Mim Watson-- book artist lecture. Jim is the head Conservator at the Boston Atheneum , as well as an internationally shown book artist.  He will discuss how book conservation and book art intertwine in his work. This series is generously funded by Mr. Kim Watson in honor of his now deceased wife Mim, who was a book artist in the Dallas area. There will be an informal
reception following the presentation. For more information, pleaease contact Chela.

Monday, April 17, Fall registration begins.

Tuesday-Friday, April 25-28, TLA 2006 Annual Conference Libraries: Igniting the Passion, Houston, April 25-28. For more information, go to the conference Website. While we are on the topic, there is still room in the inn!  The 2006 TLA Conference in will be here before you know it, so make sure you reserve your hotel room if you have not already done so.  Online housing is available at the TLA website. For more information, please contact TLA or Kathy Pustejovsky, conference manager, via email or phone 328-1518, ext. 14.

Friday, May 5, Last day of classes.

Wednesday, May 17, Semester officially ends.

Saturday, May 20, 9-11 AM, Bass, Graduate School Convocation.

Sturday, May 20, iSchool Convocation.

Saturday, May 20, 7-10 PM, South Mall, UT Commecement.

Friday-Thursday, Nov 3-9, Hilton Austin, ASIST Conference. The 2006 ASIST conference "Information Realities: Shaping the Digital Future for All" will be in Austin this year November 3-9 at the Hilton Austin. This is a unique oportunity you will not want to miss. ASIS&T 2006 challenges us to explore this moment in the history of information science as people seamlessly move between their physical and digital worlds to create information realities for themselves and others. Submissions by researchers and practitioners are solicited on a wide range of topics.

Who We Are Webpage

The information on the Ph.D. student Webpage is slowly growing. Names of all current Ph.D. students have been added. Your other information is needed to complete it . Please send Don a jpeg photo, information to post, and a link to your Website whenever you can. What is this Webpage? Well, as we agreed in spring semester, 2002, we wanted to have a summary page with a list of all Ph.D. students and links to more detailed information on each of us. The summary page consist of a photo, name, academic interest, contact information, and links to other pages. A detail page repeats the summary information and provides, education, a brief biography, and specialization. Students information should be linked to each student's individual Website with their vita, resume, and any other information they may wish to provide. If there is interest, we can also add Ph.D. alumni to this list. There is an input form that might work with your browser. Otherwise you can copy and paste.

Professional Associations, Email Lists, and other Forums

Information on professional associations, student governance organizations, email lists and and other forums of interest to Information school Ph.D. students is provided through the Ph.D. Forums link on the left. Included is information on email lists, Blackboard, Websites and other forums.

Information School Forums

The school of information sponsors weekly or fortnightly iForums (or iFora) of interest to School of Information Students and Faculty. Scholars from across the campus and occasionally from other universities are invited to present their work at a forum. From time to time, Ph.D. students are also invited to present their work to the forum. Each individual forum will be listed in the above schedule when details are known.

In 2001 and 2002 , Ph.D. students organized the Ph.D. students organized a colloquia to share their work in a friendly environment. The last series we had was the Fall 2002 Ph.D. Colloquia Series. Such a series could be reestablished if there was an interest. If you are interested in leading such a series, please contact Don Drumtra for his experience on leading the 2002 Colloquia

Orientations

New students (and even old) might appreciate the following two Orientation Websites:

UT Graduate School: http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/orientation/
iSchool: http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/orientation/

Ph.D. Requirement Overview

Disclaimer. The following information is compiled from various sources and is current as of the time it was written and the documents available. It is not official UT, Graduate School, or School of Information policy. It is offered to help Ph.D. students gain an overview of Ph.D. requirements. Please refer to official sources for current information before taking irreversible action.

General. UT Graduate School requirements for award of the Ph.D. degree are listed in the UT Graduate Catalog. Detailed requirements for the School of Information are listed the provided on the Doctor of Philosophy Webpage. Lisa Kleinman provided an unofficial summary of the requirements to the participants in the Fall 2004 Ph.D. Orientation.

Milestones. Program milestones consist of development and approval of a Program of Study, satisfactory completion of course work and a comprehensive doctoral examination including written, oral, and research components, presentation and approval of credentials to Graduate School (including a separate Program of Work), approval of a dissertation proposal, research and completion of a dissertation culminating in a final examination consisting of defense of the the dissertation and final presentation approval of the student's credentials to the Graduate School. Administrative progress through most of these milestones is described in the Checklist for the Doctoral Program (1993). Annual reviews are submitted to the students Advising Committee so that the committee may evaluate the student's progress. The student's Supervising Committee monitors the student's progress after the student reaches candidacy.

Graduate Studies Committee. Within the School of Information, the Graduate Studies Committee or GSC approves the students Program of Study and Annual review.

Doctoral Program of Study. The content of the Program of Study is provided in the Guidelines for Development of the Doctoral Program of Study (ca. 1993). Lisa Kleinman and Don Drumtra have posted examples of their approved programs on their Websites.

Annual Review. Required content of the Annual Reviews is provided in the Annual Review of GSLIS Doctoral Students (2002) and the Annual Review of Ph.D. Students (draft, 2003). Lisa Kleinman and Don Drumtra have posted examples of their approved Annual Reviews on their Websites.

Qualifying Procedures. In order to qualify to apply for candidacy, the iSchool requires a written exam and oral defense (often called the comprehensive exam or "comps") and a research paper or "mini proposal" to be accepted by the student's committee. This committee (perhaps, it should be called the Examination Committee) ordinarily consists of three members of the iSchool faculty and one outside member. The three iSchool members could be your Advising Committee, potential members of your Supervising Committee, or any other three members who agree to serve. Ron Houston and Don Drumtra have volunteered to post their comps as two different examples of what was required. Their exams were open book and emailed to them on Monday at 8 AM with a response was due by Friday at 5 PM. But since the exams are student and committee dependent, another student's may be completely different. Ron and Don have volunteered to answer any questions you might have about their experiences.

Application for Candidacy. On June 1, 2004 the UT Office of Graduate Studies automated the application for candidacy and placed it online. Instructions for completion of and a link to the actual online form is provided in the application Webpage. Other candidacy requirements are also provided on that page including the requirement for the Program of Work.

Program of Work. The Program of Work is a document submitted to the Graduate School upon application for candidacy. It is discussed under "Certification of Academic Credentials" on the Application for Doctoral Candidacy Webpage. It is the "list of courses taken toward the doctoral degree." Additional details about courses included in the Program of work are provided in the Graduate Catalog.

Dissertation. Requirements for the content of your dissertation are developed between you and your Supervising Committee and the Graduate School sets guidelines for format. There are two format guidelines are provided by the Graduate School (Office of Graduate Studies or OGS), print guidelines and electronic submission guidelines. Even though you must submit your dissertation electronically, you would do well to meet both guidelines because someone might very well want to print your dissertation in the future. An a point of interest, the final authority on both the content and format of your dissertation is your Supervisory Committee--not the folks in the Office of Graduate Studies. However, the OGS folks can make life really difficult for you if you do not listen to them.

Dr. Harmon and eleven other UT advisors have published dissertation tips for doctoral students.  It is posted on the UT Intellectual Entrepreneurship, Dissertation List-Serve and Resources Webpage. The Webpage also contains a dissertation writing bibliography, reflections of former graduate deans on dissertation completion, advice from UT alumni, and numerous other useful items for Ph.D. students.

Final Oral Exam (Defense of Dissertation. A satisfactory final oral examination is required for the approval of a dissertation. The Office of Graduate Studies publishes the time and place of this examination. The exam is open to all members of the University community and the public, unless attendance is restricted by the Graduate Studies Committee. Information is available in the Graduate Catalog and an application form are available from the Office of Graduate Studies.

Application for Graduation. There are lots of forms for graduation listed by the Office of Graduate Studies. You would be well advised to visit the office of Graduate Studies well before the deadlines to be sure you have the latest information and do not forget an essential form the absence of which might hold up your graduation.

Graduation. After all that work you won't want to miss the graduation celebration and fireworks at the end of the spring semester. UT introduced a new doctoral robe in 2001, which will be first available for graduating students in May, 2005. You can be one of the first scholars to wear one.

Additional Sources. The University of Texas and the UT Office of Graduate Studies provide the latest information on degree and administrative requirements requirements in three publications:

• The University of Texas at Austin, Handbook or Operating Procedures. The HOP provides basic policy and procedures on how the University of Texas at Austin operates. Probably of most interest would be "Chapter 1, Faculty Governance, Section II, The Graduate School" dealing with what the Graduate School and the Graduate Studies Committees do.
• The Graduate Catalog. This publication provides more update information than the HOP but not as much as the Policy Manual below. "Chapter 3. Degree Requirements" is probably the most interesting, but there are items of interest in other sections as well.
• Graduate School Policy Manual. This manual supplements the HOP and Graduate providing details on OGS administrative procedures not adequately covered in the two publications.
  
• In addition The University of Texas at Austin, Revised Handbook of Operating Procedures and the Original Policy Memoranda may provide curious details that could impact Ph.D. programs. Also, for anyone really interested, Texas Law and UT System Regent's Rules and Regulations provide the underlying basis for the UT Austin HOP and other rules impacting Ph.D. students. "Part one, Chapter5, Graduate Education in the University of Texas System" is the section that is probably of most interest to Ph.D. students, but other sections are not without interest.

Course Comments of Ph.D. Students

Moved Here

Information on Qualitative Research Methods. In September 2004, Dr. Davis loaned a copy of the three-volume Sage Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods (2004) to the lab for our use. It not only provides excellent summaries of lots of issues and topics related to research methodology, but it provides reference sources under each topic to allow further exploration. A copy is also available is also at the PCL reference desk.

Content Manager: Don Drumtra . Updated, 2006 February 4