This IUB ILS Newsletter provides a great opportunity for us to reflect on the past year. It has been an exciting year for ILS. The department is thriving with wonderful faculty, students and staff. We have a new face in ILS, Gillian Dunn, as an administrative assistant, but familiar faces like Michelle Dunbar-Sims are still keeping things flowing smoothly.
IUB ILS had a strong presence of faculty and students at ASIS&T in London in the fall. Our Luddy School Dean Joanna Millunchick attended two ILS alumni gatherings at both ASIS&T and ALA annual meetings. I hope some of you had a chance to meet her in person. We also held a virtual alumni event for the first time, and it was great to see some of you online. On campus, we are collaborating with various departments (e.g., Art History) to provide accelerated master’s programs, and we continue to partner with the Ruth Lilly Dean of IU Libraries, Diane Dallis-Comentale (IU MLS 1997) to provide support for ILS students. IUB ILS and IU Libraries also co-sponsored various events such as Open Access Week, Banned Books Week, and a visit with the tenth archivist of the United States.
Many of our students stated that they came to ILS programs at the recommendation of our alumni. Thanks to your support, our MLS and Ph.D. applications were up this past year. Please keep spreading the good word! You are helping us to recruit excellent students. If you want to know what’s new in ILS, be sure to check out our social media and/or recently established blog at go.iu.edu/6qfD.
It’s been a pleasure working with brilliant and dedicated colleagues and students this past year, and I hope for many more years to come. I am especially thankful that Dr. Fichman stepped up to serve as Interim Chair this spring semester. Finally, I wish the Class of 2024 continued success.
We love to stay connected with our alumni community and would appreciate hearing from you periodically about your endeavors and experiences. Thank you all for your steady support to IUB ILS.
Warm regards,
Noriko Hara, ILS Department Chair