By Anna Larson
The ILS department was well represented at the 2022 ASIS&T conference, with multiple faculty members, researchers, and students attending. For many, it was the first in-person conference since the beginning of the pandemic. PhD students Meredith Dedema and Jieli Liu both expressed their excitement to be back in person. Dedema said it was “really nice to talk to people and have conversations face to face again,” and Liu “was so happy to see all the outstanding researchers in our field and say ‘hello.’”
Students and faculty alike presented posters and research papers, and many participated in SIG (special interest group) workshops both virtually and in person. Faculty members Kahyun Choi, Pnina Fichman, Noriko Hara, Rongqian Ma, and John Walsh all had work accepted for the conference, many of whom collaborated with ILS students. PhD students Pei-Ying Chen, Dedema, Liu, Huixian Tian and Megan Vladiou represented ILS at the conference as well.
Dedema reported that the many paper sessions, panels, and poster sessions she attended “were all interesting and inspiring.”
Liu similarly said, “[One] highlight was that I listened to a lot of wonderful presentations which really inspired my future research.”
Both Liu and Tian commented on the valuable feedback they received from the workshops they attended. Liu expressed her gratitude that the attendees of the SIG-SI workshop session “were friendly and gave me practicable suggestions for improving the paper.”
Tian said that fellow workshop participants received her paper well. “They gave me encouragement and practical feedback. Some scholars reached out to me and offered further conversations. It was very heartening to feel the passion and support from this community.”
Faculty and students alike were recognized at the conference for their work. Choi and Dedema received the Best Presentation award for their paper in the SIG-AI workshop titled “AI & Co-design in public libraries: Empowering underserved youth to cultivate symbiotic relationships between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and their communities.” Other authors included Hee Rin Lee (Michigan State University faculty), Selin Akgun (Michigan State University PhD student), Ji Youn Shin (University of Minnesota faculty), and Pooja Malvi (Michigan State University master’s student).
Fichman (PhD Program Director) and Howard Rosenbaum (Graduate and MIS Program Director) both received Distinguished Member Awards at the conference. According to the ASIS&T description of the award, it is an “elite status… attained by those with a demonstrated commitment to mastering their profession through sustained educational pursuits and a proven track record of service to both their community and the information science and technology field.”
ILS was represented in organizational roles throughout the conference as well. Fichman and Rosenbaum served on the ASIS&T Annual Conference Program Committee and co-organized the Doctoral Colloquium, while PhD Student Pei-Ying Chen served as the SIG-MET chair and workshop co-organizer.
Overall, the ASIS&T conference was a success for the ILS department with strong representation and multiple awards won. Echoing the words of Dedema and Liu, we are “looking forward to seeing everyone in London next year!”