University of Maryland
HCI Lab Symposium
iSchools, iCaucus, iField,
iFaculty, iStudents – i..i..i.
What Gives?
Mike Eisenberg
iSchool, University of Washington
May 27, 2009
- Prologue -
M. Eisenberg 2009
- The End -
The Question
How can we best
meet the
information needs
of users?
Multiple Choice
How can we best meet the
information needs of
users?
(a) technology
(b) training
(c) it all depends…
Answer
“It all
depends…”
Eisenberg’s Rule
“Users”
“It all depends…”
M. Eisenberg 2009
Depends on …
NEEDS
SYSTEMS
SITUATION
VALUES
TYPE
RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT
USER(S)
PROCESSES
ORGANIZATION
BEHAVIOR
Common Binding Perspective
- Feature presentation
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M. Eisenberg 2009
Agenda
1. The Information Perspective
2. iSchools and the Information Field
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Academic programs
Research
Attributes
3. Doctoral education
4. Q&A
M. Eisenberg 2009
Agenda
1. The Information Perspective
2. iSchools and the Information Field
•
•
•
Academic programs
Research
Attributes
3. Doctoral education
4. Q&A
M. Eisenberg 2009
The Science of Information
Policy
Systems
Behavior
Storage &
Retrieval
Management
USERS
Services
Organization
Resources
Agenda
1. The Information Perspective
2. iSchools and the Information Field
•
•
•
Academic programs
Research
Attributes
3. Doctoral education
4. Q&A
M. Eisenberg 2009
Academic Perspectives
Electrical Engineering
Computer Science
Business
Information
M. Eisenberg 2009
Information Field
Information Technology People
M. Eisenberg 2009
Higher Education Today
• The research imperative: produce or perish.
• For academic programs, there is no free
lunch.
• If not high impact, at least high visibility.
• Fund raising – who loves ya, baby?
• Big (or at least critical mass) is beautiful.
• While not futile it’s still feudal.
M. Eisenberg 2009
The Independent Information School
Critical Mass
• Programs on all levels – bachelors, masters,
doctorate
• Visibility-on campus & in the broader community
• Plenty of students
• Diverse faculty
• Significant support staff
• Research funding
• Endowment & fundraising
• State-of-the-art facilities, technologies, and space
M. Eisenberg 2009
Academic Programs
• Bachelor’s
– Informatics
– Information
– Information Management & Technology
• Master’s
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Library Science
Library & Information Science
Information Management
Information
Information Science
• Doctorate
– PhD
– Professional Doctorate
M. Eisenberg 2009
Sample Course
INFO 200
Intellectual Foundations of Informatics
M. Eisenberg 2009
Research
• Broad-based & inclusive
• Across all faculty
• Theoretical and applied
• Collaborative (within faculty, across
campus, and with colleagues globally)
• Involves students on all levels
M. Eisenberg 2009
Research That Makes a Difference
People
Technology
Information
M. Eisenberg 2009
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biomedical informatics
Cataloging: conceptualization, use, and
design
classification
cognitive work analysis
computer-supported cooperative work
electronic government
design methods for systems and
information
digital libraries
digital reference
human-computer interaction
human information behavior
intellectual property
interaction design
international aspects of information
systems
knowledge management
knowledge organization
natural language processing
networks – technology, community, and
society
organizational impacts of information
systems
security
organizational learning
programming teams
social networks
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information ethics
information literacy for life-long
learning
information management
information and the quality of life
information policy
information retrieval
information services
information technology management
information and system dynamics
information systems for children and
young adults
philosophy & theory of information and
library
privacy rights
school and public library services for
children and young adults
socio-technical analyses of information
systems
text and data-mining
user centered design & evaluation of
information systems
value sensitive design
organizational sustainability
personal information management
virtual worlds
Information literacy
M. Eisenberg 2008
UC Irvine iSchool
• SPROUT - Security and Privacy Research OUTfit
• Security in Unattended Wireless Sensor Networks
• Shows that, in the presence of a powerful mobile adversary, securing data
stored on unattended sensors presents some interesting challenges and opens
up an exciting new line of research.
• Sponsor: Secure Computing & Networking Center (SCONCE)
University of Maryland iSchool
• International Children's Digital Library (ICDL)
• Investigates how children access and use digital books to
explore diverse cultures using a library containing almost
3,000 digitized books from over 37 countries.
• Sponsors: National Science Foundation; Institute of
Museum and Library Services; Microsoft Corporation;
Adobe Systems Incorporated, …
Florida State University iSchool
• Leadership in Action: School Library Media
Specialists for the 21st Century: Leaders Educated to
Make Difference
• To determine how library and information science education
can better prepare school library media specialists to be
leaders in the integration of technology in their schools.
• "This new grant will essentially determine if our leadership
graduates can not only talk the talk but walk the walk.“
• Sponsor: Institute for Museum & Library Services
(IMLS)
University of Toronto iSchool
• The State of Information Post 9/11
• Examines the legislation, policies and practices around "information"
and informational activities in various countries, following the 9/11
attacks.
• In their quest for protecting citizens and enhancing national and global
security, many governments have increasingly tightened control over the
production, management and diffusion of any information deemed of a
sensitive nature.
• This research project examines the significance and the consequences of
such practices for various sectors of society, including the media and
publishing sectors, the scientific and academic circles, civil society, and
ultimately the broader public.
• Sponsorship: two grants from the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council (2004-2010)
• I-Schools Caucus
• To pursue common objectives with a
collective commitment of resources
• Originally 5, then 9, now 25, soon ??
• iConference (4th annual at UNC in 2009,
UIUC in 2010, UW in 2011)
• International – Wuhan (China), Royal School
(Denmark), Singapore Management Univ,
Humbolt Univ Berlin (Germany)
M. Eisenberg 2009
iSchool Attributes
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Big Tent
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Collaborative
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At the Center
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Innovative & Entrepreneurial
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Increasingly Visible
http://flickr.com/photos/smorkus/
M. Eisenberg 2009
Big Tent
M. Eisenberg 2009
Disciplinarity
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MultiInterCrossTransAll of the above?
M. Eisenberg 2009
At the Center…
http://flickr.com/photos/smorkus/
M. Eisenberg 2009
seattle magazine
Not just another computer geek
Are hackers using your PC to spew spam and steal?
Google for a grade
E-serenity, now!
Reeling from e-mail, cable TV, and cell phones,
info-environmentalists try to reclaim mental green space.
The New York Times
WHAT'S NEXT; Now Where Was I? New Ways to Revisit Web Sites
M. Eisenberg 2005
Agenda
1. The Information Perspective
2. iSchools and the Information Field
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Academic programs
Research
Attributes
3. Doctoral education
4. Q&A
M. Eisenberg 2009
Challenges
• No clear body of mastery knowledge, skills, and methodologies
for all information doctoral students.
• Students do not and will not necessarily come from an
information major.
• Undergrads and masters programs are almost all professional
programs. Purpose = to educate for a profession.
• Under big tent, faculty come from many different fields: business,
computer science, psychology, library science, as well as the
emerging information programs.
• These faculty have approaches and conventions that differ.
M. Eisenberg 2009
But…
• We ARE an emerging field in our own right.
• We are NOT simply a bunch of fields
thrown together or the intersection of a
number of fields or puffed up library
science or watered down computer science.
M. Eisenberg 2009
Eventually …
• We will have students entering our
academic and research career
ladder from undergraduate up.
• These students who come up through
the information field ladder will be
very different from most of those
today who come from a range of
different fields and traditions.
M. Eisenberg 2009
Also…
• Undergrad information students will likely be
exposed the main tenets of the field – e.g., the
user perspective (human-centered system design,
user-based information services, knowledge
organization, key policy understandings, behavior,
search).
• Those who come from other areas will need to
bridge the gap, perhaps with more extensive preprogram preparation, including a discipline-based
masters, as opposed to a professional one.
M. Eisenberg 2009
Therefore…Near Future
• Create a rich research environment – with multiple avenues
of learning and becoming socialized into the field
(colloquia, classes, mentoring). Students must be engaged –
either required or expected or compelling.
• Lots of projects, speakers, sharing, community-building.
• Doctoral education involves knowledge and skills, but also
developing a worldview and mindset. PhDs come to look
at the world in different ways – not nec. better, but
different. Find ways to facilitate that growth.
• Embrace philosophy of the big tent – faculty respect and
support each other. If not able or willing to directly
collaborate, still support each other’s traditions.
M. Eisenberg 2009
And…Near Future
• Base programs more on an apprenticeship model – rather
than many required courses and a set sequence, design for
flexibility and alternative paths.
• Aim high and for the conceptual. The PhD is a research
degree, not an advanced professional degree. .
• Be very careful in admissions – make sure there is a critical
mass of faculty in an area that a student is interested in.
And make sure that faculty in that area are committed to
working with a student before admitting.
• Doctoral degree = “getting 3 regular faculty to agree with
you.” Make sure there are at least 3!
M. Eisenberg 2009
More Long Term
• Help to build and champion this information
field!
• Look broadly at the academy and how it is
changing and how society is changing.
– Online learning
– Social networking
– Collaborative
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Cross college, school, dept.
Cross-university
Business
Government
National & Global
M. Eisenberg 2009
- Conclusion -
M. Eisenberg 2009
Long Term
• It’s an information wonderland out there!
Let’s take advantage of it.
• Think big and bold…not small and
incremental.
• Promote what is uniquely “information” and
then collaborate with others (music, business,
medicine, law, anthropology, poetry,
computer science, public affairs…almost
anyone!)
M. Eisenberg 2009
Opportunities
• What are the biggest, most pressing
problems?
Let’s tackle them!
• What do our universities and outside
partners value (innovation, making a
difference, collaboration, self-supported
growth)?
Let’s do that!
M. Eisenberg 2009
Opportunities
• We can be leaders in the academy
and in society:
From the information perspective.
• Above all…
M. Eisenberg 2009
Think
The
iSchool
is
my school!
M. Eisenberg 2009
- The end –
(really)
M. Eisenberg 2009