LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE NEWS The School of Information Studies at Syracuse University The Original Information School
April 2006 **************************************************************** Library and Information Science program ranks No. 3 in U.S. News and World Report The Library and Information Science program at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies has been ranked number three in the 2007 U.S. News and World Report Best Graduate Schools special issue. The School also received top rankings in four specialty categories: * number one in Information Systems * number two in Digital Librarianship * number four in School Library Media, and * number eight in Health Librarianship. The School retained the number three position in Library and Information Science from a previous ranking done by U.S. News in 1999. The new ranking represents a step up for Syracuse, breaking a tie for sole possession of the number three spot. The rankings in Digital Librarianship and Health Librarianship both represent strong forays into two categories ranked for the first time this year, while the School advances six places to achieve its number four ranking in the School Library Media category. Information Management moves up from second place to claim its number one spot. The School of Information Studies now joins fellow Syracuse University college, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, with a number one ranking by US News & World Report. The magazine bases its rankings on a peer assessment survey. A dean, a program director, and a senior faculty member from each ALA-accredited library and information school were asked to rate the quality of the academic programs at each of the other accredited schools on a scale of one to five. The average scores were used to determine each school's place in the overall rankings. The specialty category rankings were determined by the number of nominations each school received in that area by the survey respondents. The ranks are published in the April 10 issue of U.S. News and World Report, available April 4 on newsstands. For more information about the rankings process and to view the complete lists, please visit: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/lib/libindex_brief.php **************************************************************** Library Journal names Syracuse alumnus Tito Sierra a top "Mover & Shaker" Tito Sierra, the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries' Digital Technologies Development Librarian, has been named one of the 2006 "Movers & Shakers who are transforming libraries for the future" by Library Journal. Sierra is profiled in the April 15 issue of Library Journal, which is read by over 100,000 librarians nationwide. Described as a "dot-com guru" by the magazine, Sierra joined the Libraries in January 2004, after capping off several years of experience at Amazon.com with a Master of Science in Information Management from Syracuse University. He has applied his skills toward numerous digital initiatives at the NCSU Libraries, including Quick Search, the Libraries' customized website search engine, and its revolutionary new online catalog. Recently, Sierra was selected to participate in the Minnesota Institute for Early Career Librarians from Traditionally Underrepresented. In 2005 he won a Digital Library Federation (DLF) Forum Fellowship for Librarians New to the Profession to defray the costs of attending the DLF's Spring Forum. Only five information professionals are selected each year for the prestigious fellowship. Sierra holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Harvard University. He completed his Master of Science in Information Management in December 2003. **************************************************************** Dr. Ruth Small selected for Meredith Professorship The Meredith Professorship Committee reviewed the works of Syracuse University's teaching innovators, selected finalists and made recommendations to Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor, who chose two of SU's best teachers as the next Meredith Professors. One of the two selected was the School of Information Studies' professor and director of the Center for Digital Literacy, Dr. Ruth Small. As a recipient of the honor, Professor Small will be designated a Meredith Professor for three years, during which time she will receive a supplementary salary award, a fund to support her proposed research project, and additional money to develop her academic unit. After completing her term, Professor Small will retain the title of Meredith Professor and be enrolled for life in the Meredith Symposium, which provides an ongoing forum for the discussion of teaching excellence. Professor Small's Meredith project, "Enriching Literacy through Information Technology" (or E*LIT), will provide K-12 students with interesting and relevant technology-based tasks that motivate them to explore their world through books and technology, while encouraging a librarian-teacher collaboration to implement these tasks. In its first year, the project will involve graduate students from three S.U. schools. Over the next three years, at least three more S.U. schools will be added. The Meredith Professorship recognizes and rewards outstanding teaching, and is designed to foster research and dialogue on teaching excellence. Any regular, tenured member of the faculty in any of SU's schools or colleges is eligible for nomination by his or her respective dean, in the form of a letter and résumé outlining singular, concrete examples of teaching excellence. Professor Small has been on the faculty of the School of Information Studies since 1989. In addition to the Center for Digital Literacy, she directs the library and information science-school media program, including Preparing Librarians for Urban Schools (PLUS), a distance learning program for library service in high need urban schools. **************************************************************** Professor Dave Lankes speaks about his new project, Credibility Commons R. David Lankes, an associate professor at the School of Information Studies and director of the Information Institute of Syracuse, along with Michael Eisenberg, professor and dean emeritus at the University of Washington Information School, has begun work on project aimed at addressing what one of the most difficult problems in evaluating information gathered on the Internet: credibility. Lankes and Eisenberg have gotten together to create what they call the "Credibility Commons." The Commons is envisioned as a place where researchers can come together to develop ideas for improving the credibility of Internet searches and Web information. It is also envisioned as a location for making different Web search tools and collections available to the public to raise awareness regarding issues of credibility. "Most popular searches that people use simply rank sites based on how many Internet links they have - in other words, how popular they are," Eisenberg says. "This tells the searcher nothing about whether the information there is authoritative, documented, complete or unbiased." Credibility issues have been a problem for students, who rely increasingly on the Internet for most if not all of their research. A study conducted by researchers at Colorado State University revealed that, just 27 percent of 500 Web sites used for research by Colorado high school students were judged as reliable. In an interview with the Chronicle of Higher Education earlier this month, Lankes offered some new details about the project. He told the Chronicle that Credibility Commons will investigate as a possible solution the creation of a search engine that points users toward those sites known for their credibility among professional searchers, such as reference librarians. "If we mine those sites that librarians and professionals in a variety of fields use, they might outperform conventional searches in terms of credibility," Lankes says. He also specified that any software developed as part of Credibility Commons will be available free to the public with one restriction: Anyone who uses software from the site to develop new programs must in turn share their work with the Commons community. Finally, Lankes said that he envisions the Commons hosting a "digital reference face-off," which would involve expert searchers in a contest to demonstrate the most credible and effective searching techniques. The Credibility Commons project is sponsored by a two-year, $250,000 grant from the Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, a group deeply invested in improving access to credible information on the Web. **************************************************************** Coming up* Vermont Library Conference When: May 16 and 17 Where: Burlington, VT For more info: http://vermontlibraryconference.org SLMS Conference When: April 27-29 Where: Rochester, NY For more info: http://www.ggw.org/rasl/2006_conf.html ALA Annual Conference When: June 24 to 27 Where: New Orleans, LA Booths: #3552 (IST) and #3551 (WISE) For more info: http://ala.org/annual **************************************************************** For more information. . . Amy Sloane-Garris Director of Communications and Enrollment Management Syracuse University--School of Information Studies Tel: 315.443.6885 Fax: 315.443.6886 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.ist.syr.edu ---------------------------------------------- CLASS-L list. Instructions: http://www.classification-society.org/csna/lists.html#class-l
