By Megan Sherry
The buzz around the ILS department this academic year is the upcoming 2025 iConference—this year hosted by the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. Taking place during the IU Spring Break, this week-long event has been in the works for months.
The iConference is an annual gathering of informational professionals—the largest in the world—and is presented by the iSchools, which are members of an international group of over 130 information schools, though no iSchool affiliation is required to attend. The conference itself is always evolving based on technological advancements, and this year’s theme is “Living in an AI-gorithmic world.” The goal is to examine how collecting, storing, retrieving, using, and distributing information is increasingly influenced by processes like generative artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, and other similar technologies.
The ILS department is especially involved in preparing for this conference. The official conference chairs are Howard Rosenbaum, Carol Choksy, and Devan Donaldson, all faculty within the department. In addition, Noriko Hara and Gillian Dunn are conference coordinators, who are responsible for much of the behind-the-scenes work. It may not be flashy, but these tasks are necessary: reserving rooms, advertising on social media, coordinating food and drink for events, making schedules for volunteers, creating directional signage, posting sponsorship slides—as well as countless meetings to stay on track. Though it may seem simple, this logistical coordination is vital for running such a large event as smoothly as possible.
Pulling together the iConference is not without its challenges. Most are outside the organizers’ control, like the replacement of a water line next to Luddy Hall that has resulted in street closures and variable traffic patterns. In addition, uncertainty about acquiring travel visas for international scholars has slowed registration. Luckily, there is a virtual portion of the conference that can provide access to events for those who cannot join us in person. Additional challenges are sure to come up during the conference as well, but the team is ready to adapt and meet them as they arise.
With less than two weeks to go, everything is coming together, and energy is high. One team member commented that this conference is exciting because it provides a platform for collaboration with so many scholars in the field:
“It’s an honor to host such a wonderful sharing of knowledge and know that we’re having such a positive impact on the field of information science.”
Another team member also expressed that helping organize an event like this not only allows them to meet people from around the world, but also to work and strengthen connections with people around IU. There is an element of pride among IU faculty and staff in hosting iConference and getting to “show off” our campus, school, and Luddy Hall.
Though there is still work to be done before the iConference commences, this event is sure to be a success due to all the hard work by the team in our ILS department.
