Published: May 29, 2018 by Priscilla Ameneyro

Time flies when you’re in graduate school! It seems like just yesterday I was writing my reflections on Fall 2017. This was my last spring semester in the program as I plan on graduating at the end of the year, so it was a special one! I completed an internship and took a variety of one and two unit classes, as well as continued writing for this blog. Here’s some of the highlights of last semester in case you missed them:

Library 2.0 Mini-Conference  
The first Library 2.0 conference of the year, “Design Thinking: How Librarians are Incorporating it into Their Practice,” was held online and for free on March 8. This is the eighth year that the School of Information has presented a series of virtual conferences focused on the future of libraries. Check out my previous blog post for some of the conference highlights and look out for an upcoming post about the next mini-conference on June 7, “Blockchain Applied: Impact on the Information Profession.”

Director’s Forum
Dr. Hirsh hosted another virtual coffee chat in February, which was a chance for iSchool students to get updates and ask questions. I shared some of the highlights in an article and you can also watch the recording. As well as news from the iSchool, the director covered topics like career advice, conferences and celebrated student successes. Don’t miss the next forum in Fall 2018!

Faculty Achievements
SJSU staff were busy in Spring! Dr. Hirsh published the second edition of her textbook, Information Services Today: An Introduction, with contributions from several iSchool faculty members; find out more details here. Dr. Shelly Buchanan became the 11th graduate of the Gateway PhD program, and Dr. Debbie Weissmann and Diane K. Kovacs were selected to participate in the SJSU eCampus Immersive Learning Institute focused on augmented reality and virtual reality technologies and pedagogies (click this link for the full story). The director also recognized several faculty members at an awards reception in February, including Dr. Virginia Tucker (Outstanding Professor), Dr. Kristen Rebmann (Distinguished Scholar) and Beth Wrenn-Estes (Outstanding Lecturer).

Student Accomplishments
Kicking off the semester were 20 students who received special session scholarships and another five new students who were awarded Director’s Scholarships for Excellence. Here’s a few more student accomplishments from Spring 2018:

• Five graduating students received Director’s Awards
• Eké Williams received the Inaugural Innovative Librarians Award
• The Ken Haycock Award for Exceptional Promise went to Felicity Murphy

That wraps up another successful semester at the School of Information. I wish you all a fantastic summer. Stay in touch as I’ll continue to post to the iStudent Blog throughout the break and I’ll see you again in fall!