As CIPR Co-Director, I’m very pleased to make this announcement:

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Information Studies (SOIS) and the Center for Information Policy Research (CIPR) is proud to welcome Dr. Nadine Kozak as the 2011-12 Postdoctoral Fellow in Information Policy. Dr. Kozak is an interdisciplinary scholar; she has a BA (Honors) in History from the University of Calgary, a MA in Communication from Carleton University, and a PhD in Communication and Science Studies from the University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Kozak’s research explores government projects and public-private partnerships created with the intent to expand broadband services to unserved and underserved communities, and analyzes how these projects are adopted in rural areas by a variety of organizations and residents. Her dissertation research analyzed the development of broadband services in two regions, rural Wyoming and rural Alberta, Canada, using interview data, ethnographic data, government documents, and newspaper reports.

During her time at SOIS, Dr. Kozak will research projects carried out with federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program funding. Her work will explore whether these projects achieve their goals of creating sustainable broadband adoption and compare these with older adoption programs in the U.S. and Canada. She plans to complete journal articles about advanced telecommunications and the results of deregulation. In addition to research and writing, while at SOIS, she would like to teach a class on the history of U.S. information policy, starting with the Post Office and culminating with the current state of telecommunications regulation.

While Nadine will greatly miss the Pacific Ocean and San Diego’s amazing beaches, she is excited to live in Milwaukee. During a brief visit to the city in June, she quickly began to appreciate Milwaukee’s age and heritage. Outside of work, Nadine would like to learn about, and enjoy, the region through food, museums, and festivals.

I’m also very happy to announce that Wilhelm Peekhaus, our 2010-2011 IP Postdoc Fellow, will be joining the SOIS faculty this fall.

The School of Information Studies (SOIS) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) invites applications for a full-time tenure-track position in Information Studies at the rank of Assistant, Associate or Full Professor. The selected applicant will teach courses in the School’s graduate and, possibly, undergraduate programs. A PhD and MLIS (or comparable degree) are required as is demonstrated ability in research and teaching.

Applicants should have a strong background in information policy, including, but not limited to, ethical, cultural, technological or political issues as they relate to the information professions, systems, and infrastructures that make up our global information society.

Experience or demonstrated ability in design and delivery of courses in a variety of formats, including distance learning modes, is highly desirable. The Applicant should demonstrate the ability to teach in at least one of the core areas in the SOIS MLIS program and advanced graduate elective courses in her/his areas of expertise. Opportunities will also be available to teach in the School’s Bachelor of Science program in Information Science and Technology. The Applicant should be willing to work closely with doctoral students and to serve on dissertation committees. Experienced researcher a plus. Applicants who are eligible for a senior level appointment are especially encouraged to apply.

The preferred expected start date is January, 2012, and no later than August 2012.

For full details and to apply, visit the official posting here (position #2730).

As Ars Technica summarizes:

[At] the urging of Wisconsin’s state telecommunications association, Republican legislators have introduced an omnibus bill that would sever WiscNet from the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s Division of Informational Technology, and bar it from taking any money from UW.

The proposed law even goes so far as to prohibit UW from taking National Telecommunications Information Agency (NTIA) broadband stimulus grants, or joining any entity that offers broadband to the general public.

These measures would force UW to return an estimated $39 million in such funds to Washington, DC, warned Tony Evers, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, last week. And they would force schools to turn to Badgernet, Wisconsin’s state wide-area-network, which depends heavily on AT&T as its primary vendor.

Today, individual members of the UW-Milwaukee School of Information Studies community has joined the chorus of voices speaking out against this bill. A PDF of the letter is here, and the full text is below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Zimmer, michael.zimmer@gmail.com

Dear members of the State Legislature:

As library and information science students, scholars, professionals, and educators, we are dedicated to maximizing and defending people’s free access to information and knowledge. Given this professional and ethical obligation, the undersigned individual members of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Information Studies community urge the removal of sections 23-26 in the currently pending UW System Budget Bill.

Advanced and affordable broadband Internet networking is critical to the success of students, researchers and industry statewide. Services such as WISCNET, and related consortial connectivity projects like Internet2 and EDUCAUSE, provide vital access to information for libraries, schools, historical societies, museums, hospitals and local municipalities across Wisconsin.

The “telecommunications” section of the legislation as proposed would severely limit broadband connectivity throughout the state of Wisconsin and would cut the networked information services various libraries and educational institutions provide to the citizens of the state of Wisconsin, such as Internet access, networking and collaboration, and online education and job training. It would also prohibit the UW System from being a member of Internet2 and other nonprofit consortia focusing on connectivity and information exchange, severely limiting state educators, researchers, and learners’ ability to participate in global, national and regional research and learning development in areas from Alzheimer’s prevention to astrophysics to child development.

The passage of sections 23-26 of the UW System Budget Bill would be devastating to the State. The undersigned individual members of the UW-Milwaukee School of Information Studies community strongly urge the legislature to remove these sections form the bill, and to support WISCNET and other connectivity initiatives that provide vital access to information in support of the State’s educational and economic development.

Signed,

(Signees are writing in their personal capacity, not as representatives of UW-Milwaukee or the School of Information Studies. Titles and affiliations are for identification purposes only, and imply no institutional endorsements.)

• Liza Barry-Kessler, Doctoral Student
• Edward Benoit III, Doctoral Student
• Katie Blank, Assoc. Special Librarian
• Dave Bloom, Researcher
• Raina Bloom, Lecturer
• Amy Cooper Cary, Director, Archival Studies Program
• Karen Davies, Assistant Professor
• Alexandra Dimitroff, Associate Professor
• Melodie Fox, Doctoral Student
• Thomas Haigh, Associate Professor
• Rebecca Hall, Web Development & Marketing Coordinator
• Catherine Hansen, Lecturer & Director, Professional Development Institute
• Anthony Hoffmann, Doctoral Student
• Adam Hudson, Lecturer
• Jessica Hutchings, Graduate Advisor
• Dick Kawooya, Senior Lecturer
• Margaret Kipp, Assistant Professor
• Sharon Lake, Graduate Advisor
• Joyce M. Latham, Assistant Professor, Co-Director, Center for Information Policy Research, Coordinator, Public Library Leadership Program
• Peter J Lor, Visiting Professor
• Marta Magnuson, Doctoral Student
• Jeremy Mauger, Doctoral Student
• Steven Miller, Senior Lecturer
• Robert Nunez, Web Developer & Graduate Student
• Wihelm Peekhaus, Post-doctoral Research Associate
• Nick Proferes, Doctoral Student
• Angela Sadowsky, Undergraduate Advisor
• Betsy Schoeller, Lecturer & Distance Education Coordinator
• Jim Schultz, Information Technology Specialist & Graduate Student
• James Sweetland, Professor Emeritus
• Gabriella Tato, Marketing Media Assistant
• Thomas D. Walker, Associate Professor
• Mary Wepking, Senior Lecturer & School Library Media Coordinator
• Bonnie Withers, Lecturer
• Iris Xie, Professor
• Chad Zahrt, Assistant Dean
• Michael Zimmer, Assistant Professor & Co-Director, Center for Information Policy Research

 

 

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Information Policy
School of Information Studies
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is accepting applications for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Information Policy for the 2011-2012 academic year.

The information policy fellowship is designed for recent PhDs who are interested in social, ethical, economic, legal, and technical aspects of information and information technologies with a focus on information policy and information ethics. All applicable research areas are encouraged to apply, but preference will be given to applicants whose work investigates the intersections of information policy, intellectual property, intellectual freedom, governance, power, and identity.

Along with continuing their own research agenda, the fellow will work closely with the Center for Information Policy Research and affiliated faculty, assist in coordination of related events, work with current PhD students, and participate in the academic and intellectual community of the School. The fellow will be expected to teach one advanced graduate course related to her/his research topic in the spring 2012 semester. The stipend for the fellowship will be $38,000 for a 12-month appointment beginning in August 22, 2011, with a $2,000 research and travel stipend. Fellows are eligible for benefits. The stipend for this position may be subject to UW System furlough and budgetary policies.

Application Information:

• Applicants must be scholars who are not yet tenured and who are no more than 3 years past receiving their PhD.
• Applicants must hold a PhD in information studies or related discipline. Applicants who do not yet hold a PhD but expect to have it by August 2011 will be asked to provide a letter from their home institution corroborating the degree award schedule. Verification of completion of degree will be required before the start date.
• Application packages must include: letter explaining research agenda, teaching interests, and appropriateness for the fellowship; a curriculum vitae; a writing sample; and 3 references.
• Send all application materials electronically to both Dr. Joyce Latham (latham@uwm.edu) and Dr. Michael Zimmer (zimmerm@uwm.edu).
• Deadline for application is April 30, 2011. Decisions to be made by May 31 2011.

For more information, please contact either Dr. Latham or Dr. Zimmer, and visit us at http://www4.uwm.edu/sois/ and http://www4.uwm.edu/cipr/.

The first position is looking for applicants with a strong background in one or more of the following areas: information policy, intellectual property, or legal/policy issues relevant to at least one of the following areas: information professions, digital libraries, management of information agencies, or information access.

The second position is focused on applicants with a strong background in information policy, including, but not limited to, ethical, cultural, technological or political issues as they relate to the information professions, systems, and infrastructures that make up our global information society.

Both positions will largely be focused on supporting our graduate programs, but opportunities to teach within the undergraduate program will be available. Applicants should be comfortable teaching a required course in our MLIS program, develop advanced graduate courses in their area of expertise, and be ready to support our (excellent) information policy PhD students. Both positions would likely result in close affiliation with the Center for Information Policy Research.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions about these positions, or SOIS generally. I also plan to be at ALISE 2011 in San Diego, in case anyone wants to sit down for an informal (and unofficial) chat. Deadline for priority consideration is December 10, 2010. See the official job postings (linked above) for more details.

Overcoming Barriers to Information Access (B2A):
Educating the Next Generation of Library and Information Science Leaders Doctoral Fellowships
Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program

The UW-Milwaukee, School of Information Studies is now accepting applications for six full-time doctoral students with research interests that address barriers to information access as they relate to one of the three areas of specialization within the doctoral program:

• Information organization – e.g., cultural bias in knowledge organization systems
• Information policy – e.g., information poverty and accessibility, digital divide issues
• Information retrieval – e.g., human-computer interaction barriers, system design to accommodate different information seeking styles

FELLOWSHIP DETAILS

Applicants selected for admission through this program will receive fellowships to cover:

• Tuition and benefits for full-time study for three to four years
• A scholarship/stipend of approximately $19,000 annually during the first three years of the program
• Annual travel support for attendance at relevant conferences
• A laptop computer with essential software
• An annual allowance for the purchase of books and software

Admitted students will be provided extensive mentoring, opportunities to engage in research in their areas of interest, teaching opportunities, and other opportunities for engagement in SOIS activities.

We are committed to providing priority enrollment to applicants from under-represented backgrounds that will increase the diversity of doctoral graduates in library and information science. Diversity will be considered in all its forms: race/ethnicity, physical challenge, gender/orientation minorities, etc.

DEADLINE

For complete application details, please visit the PhD Application Information page. The deadline for receipt of applications for the 2011-2012 program consideration is January 15, 2011.

CONTACT

For more information about the B2A program and the PhD in Information Studies, please contact:

Professor Dietmar Wolfram
Director, PhD Program in Information Studies
School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
P.O. Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201

Telephone: (414) 229-6836
Fax: (414)229-6699
E-mail: dwolfram@uwm.edu

L&I SCI 691: Special Topics in Information Science: Search Engine Society (syllabus)

Search engines have become the center of gravity of our contemporary information society, providing a powerful interface for accessing the vast amount of information available on the World Wide Web and beyond. The audacious mission of Google, for example, is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Attaining such a goal necessarily results in significant changes to the ways in which information is created, stored, retrieved, and used. This course will critically examine the nature of search engines and their role in our information society, and reveal the unique challenges they bring to bear on information institutions, information policy, and information ethics.

Readings include:

• Battelle, J. (2005). The search: How Google and its rivals rewrote the rules of business and transformed our culture. New York: Portfolio. [selected chapters]
• Halavais, A. (2008). Search Engine Society. Cambridge: Polity. ISBN: 978-0-7456-4215-4
• Grimmelmann, J. (2009). The Google Dilemma. New York Law School Law Review, 53
• Hoofnagle, C. (2009). Beyond Google and evil: How policy makers, journalists and consumers should talk differently about Google and privacy. First Monday, 14(4).
• Pasquale, F., & Bracha, O. (2007). Federal Search Commission? Access, Fairness and Accountability in the Law of Search. U of Texas Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 123
• Samuelson, P. (2009). The Dead Souls of the Google Book Search Settlement, Communications of the ACM, 52(7), 28-30
• Spink, A., & Zimmer, M. (Eds.). (2008). Web Search: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. [selected chapters]
• Vaidhyanathan, S. (2007). The Googlization of Everything and the Future of Copyright. University of California Davis Law Review, 40(3), 1207-1231.
• Zimmer, M. (2008). Privacy on Planet Google: Using the Theory of “Contextual Integrity” to Clarify the Privacy Threats of Google’s Quest for the Perfect Search Engine. Journal of Business & Technology Law, 3(1), 109-126.

L&I SCI 960: Doctoral Seminar: Information Policy (syllabus)

This is a doctoral level seminar in information policy. This seminar will examine the conceptual, institutional, and practical foundations of information policy, law, and ethics. The course explores some of the key paradigms, principles, and forces (privacy, political economy, intellectual property, borders, access, code, protocols, networks) that have both shaped – and are shaped by – information policy. Particular attention will be paid to the relationship between information infrastructure and information policy, as well as the exploration of these issues through transnational and intercultural lenses.

The course will also strive to hone students’ skills as young scholars in information policy, including the drafting of brief research statements, writing of public scholarship, and comparative analysis of policy perspectives.

Readings include:

• Benkler, Y. (2006). The wealth of networks: How social production transforms markets and freedom. New Haven: Yale University Press.
• Bennett, C. J., & Raab, C. D. (2006). The governance of privacy: Policy instruments in global perspective. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
• Braman, S. (2009). Change of State: Information, Policy, and Power. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
• DeNardis, L. (2009). Protocol politics: the globalization of Internet governance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
• Galloway, A. (2004). Protocol: How control exists after decentralization. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
• Lessig, L. (2006). Code: Version 2.0. New York: Basic Books.
• Nissenbaum, H. (2009). Privacy in context: Technology, policy, and the integrity of social life. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press
• Noronha, F., & Malcolm, J. (Eds.). (2010). Access to knowledge: A guide for everyone. Kuala Lumpur: Consumers International
• Vaidhyanathan, S. (2001). Copyrights and copywrongs: The rise of intellectual property and how it threatens creativity. New York: New York University Press.
• Zittrain, J. (2008). The future of the Internet and how to stop it. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Along with these new courses, I’ve been named the official (no longer interim) director of SOIS’s undergraduate program, the (newly-renamed) B.S. in Information Science and Technology. I’m very excited about the challenge of running this degree program, and look forward to working with my colleagues — and our students — to help the program meet its full potential.

The School of Information Studies (SOIS) is proud to welcome Wilhelm Peekhaus as the 2010-11 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Information Policy.

Peekhaus earned a Doctorate in Library and Information Science in 2008 from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario (Canada).  Peekhaus comes to SOIS from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois where he was the 2008-10 Information in Society Postdoctoral Fellow. In 2003, he earned a Master’s of Library and Information Science from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in 1992 from McGill University in Montréal, Quebec.

Peekhaus’ doctoral study primarily focused on the biotechnology community and information policy in Canada. In 2008, he successfully defended his dissertation, Canada’s Biotechnology Strategy: Struggles on the Knowledge Commons. At Illinois, he taught courses in information policy. In addition to numerous international conference presentations both within and beyond LIS, his work has been published by the Canadian Journal of Law & Technology, Government Information Quarterly, Journal of Information Ethics, and Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society.

“This is new ground for SOIS and we’re eager to welcome Wilhelm to our team,” said Center for Information Policy Research Director Elizabeth Buchanan. At SOIS, Peekhaus will help enhance the research profile of the school while also teaching graduate level courses. “Wilhelm brings a lot of experience with him to SOIS, and we know that he’ll play a big part in advancing our reputation as a leader in information policy.”

“Bringing in Wilhelm is a big step for SOIS,” said SOIS Interim Hope A. Olson. “With our recent grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and a postdoctoral program in place, SOIS has cemented its academic reputation as a leader in library and information science research.”

One thing I try to instill on my students is how the role of an information professional is to utilize systems to gather information, organize it, make it understandable and useful, turn it into useful knowledge, and communicate it to guide decision-making and other vital functions. From this loose definition, I’ve arrived at a few (rough) catchphrases to try to market our degree’s new identity:

• Some build systems. An IST grad makes systems work.
• An engineer might focus on what a system can do. An IST grad looks at what people can do with the system.
• IST: Building decision systems.
• IST: Developing information systems to make your business work.

And so on, with some struggles.

But today, I think I found a new slogan.

In Milwaukee, we felt the magnitude-5.0 earthquake struck the border region of Ontario and Quebec in Canada. This was quite an unusual event for Milwaukee, especially for a quake so far away. Those in the upper floors of our office building on campus could feel the building sway; some reported bookshelves shaking and other items rocking in their office. Uncertain what was happening, many of us evacuated the building. Figuring it was some kind of earthquake, I took that opportunity to walk over to the Geosciences Department on campus to see if anything was recorded on the University’s seismometer.

Sure enough. So, being the social media/info-geek that I am, I snapped a photo of the display with my phone and posted it to Twitter. By the time I’d walked back to my office, my Facebook status update (sorry, friends only) already had reactions and confirmation that it was indeed an earthquake from Canada.

Meanwhile, I was contacted by someone from the front office at the College of Arts & Sciences (which houses Geosciences), asking if they could repost my picture on their Facebook page. Of course, that’s what social media is for. So, they posted it, thanking me for providing the image (although the phrasing could cause people to believe I’m a professor in Geosciences). Then, I discover that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s article about the quake also uses my photo, but this time correctly identifying me as a faculty member at SOIS.

Now, I have no problem with my photo being used. But some noteworthy items come to light in this episode:

1. It’s interesting that the campus academic unit called to ask for permission before reposting my image, while the for-profit media company did not, apparently having no qualms about using others content for their own “reporting”.
2. It’s even more interesting that apparently no one in Geosciences felt it necessary to issue some kind of official release of data regarding the quake and the university’s official monitoring results. They’re the one’s with the equipment and expertise. I’m just a geek that knew where the seismometer was located and had a camera phone. Why is the university and the local media left to rely on my image (complete with my reflection on the glass) to document this event? What good is the public display of the university seismometer if the information isn’t shared or distributed?

This final point returns us to the search for a suitable catchphrase to explain what our IST program is offering. While the geologists have the equipment and expertise to create information (the seismic graph), the information has only been distributed and made useful by an intervention by an information scholar (me) and my online social networks.

Thus, I have a few new catchphrases:

• A scientist might create information, but an information professional makes it useful.
• Anyone can make information, but an IST grad makes it work.

One challenge our students have faced, however, is explaining the name of the degree: Bachelor of Science in Information Resources (BSIR). Potential employers didn’t know what BSIR meant, and they couldn’t easily recognize what skills our graduates could bring to their organization. Similarly, parents and potential students seeing our major listed in university brochures couldn’t connect BSIR with particular job skills or career paths.

To correct this, the School has changed the name of our undergraduate degree program. Starting this fall, our students will earn a Bachelor of Science in Information Science & Technology.

Here’s the press release announcing the change [PDF]:

SOIS Announces New Name for Undergraduate Degree

To better reflect the skills students bring to the workplace, the School of Information Studies (SOIS) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will change the name of the undergraduate program from the Bachelor of Science in Information Resources (BSIR) to the Bachelor of Science in Information Science and Technology (BSIST). The change will officially be recognized at the beginning of the 2010-11 academic year.

SOIS Interim Undergraduate Director Michael Zimmer feels that with the way the information-based society has progressed, the BSIST more accurately aligns the program and its graduates with both the discipline and the needs of the economy.

“We haven’t changed the content of the major, only its name,” said Zimmer. “While ‘Information Resources’ made sense when the undergraduate program was first introduced as an off-shoot of the School’s successful Masters in Library and Information Science, we feel that ‘Information Science and Technology’ provides a more meaningful identity for today’s students, and it is more recognizable by potential employers.”

Given the interdisciplinary nature of the degree, SOIS administrators feel that the change comes at the right time for students entering the marketplace, and should provide them a big advantage.

“The new name reflects the dual nature of the degree program: the information science aspect focuses on the nature of information and the impact of information systems in society,” said Zimmer, “while the information technology aspect is centered on practical training in the development of advanced information systems.”

“The BSIST is a burgeoning program and we feel that this new name does it justice,” said Interim Dean Hope A. Olson. “The program is designed to create strong professionals in the information science field. With the new name, more people will pay attention to our quality students and faculty.”

The new name also comes at a time when the program has grown significantly in numbers. Since 2000-01, the school has increased the number of BSIST majors by almost 50%. In the fall, the BSIST expects that growth to continue.