From the Director’s Chair: A new era at the Information School
Welcome to the spring 2025 edition of Jottings, the Information School’s semesterly newsletter for our community of alumni and friends.
As we head toward spring commencement celebrations, I am reflecting on my time as director, which will come to a close later this year. I’m honored to have led this department through the past three years, a time of growth and transformation for us. It has been a gratifying experience to work with such dedicated, talented colleagues to navigate these years together.
I also want to thank you, our alumni, for staying engaged with us and representing us well, no matter where you live or work.
In this edition of Jottings, you’ll see our state-of-the-art new home, Morgridge Hall, in its final stages of construction. This building will enable our students, faculty and staff to collaborate more closely with our colleagues in the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences, and open up incredible opportunities for education and research in library and information science. (Mark your calendars for September 26, 2025, for the official ribbon-cutting event unveiling Morgridge Hall!)
In addition, you’ll find highlights of our faculty’s recent accomplishments, including fascinating research in human-computer interaction and a project exploring how UW–Madison’s libraries support research conducted across campus. You’ll learn about an MA Library & Information Studies alum serving UW–Madison’s vibrant musical community, and you’ll meet several talented students making waves across campus and beyond. We also celebrate the impactful career of retiring Professor Catherine Arnott-Smith.
I’m grateful to share these exciting stories with our alumni and friends around the country and world.
As always, I hope you enjoy this edition of Jottings!
Take care,
Alan Rubel
Professor and Director
The Information School
iSchool News
- Morgridge Hall takes shape as iSchool prepares to move to state-of-the-art facility
- Campus libraries play integral role in research at UW–Madison, collaborative study by iSchool and UW Libraries reveals
- Research roundup: iSchool faculty publish studies in human-computer interaction and information ethics
Quick hits
- Hiring: The iSchool is excited to welcome Patrick Leeport, an expert in the area of academic and university libraries, to the position of Teaching Faculty III. Bradley Bryant will also be joining us as Teaching Faculty with a focus on cybersecurity.
- iSchool Library: Our library staff has identified and organized items for the on-site collections in our future home, Morgridge Hall, including highly usable materials for iSchool and other CDIS courses.
- PhD program: We welcomed 14 prospective PhD students for a visit to Madison on February 21, in which they connected with faculty, staff and students and learned about all the iSchool has to offer. We are excited that 8 have already accepted offers to attend the iSchool!
- Trek visit: Accompanied by UX Professor of Practice Leah Ujda, students from the student organization Design Interactive visited the Trek headquarters in Waterloo, WI, in March to learn about product design and connect with industry professionals.
- RED Talk: On April 8, UW–Madison alum Brent Seales delivered a CDIS RED talk (co-sponsored by the iSchool) in which he explored how cutting-edge technology is unlocking history’s lost texts.
- Digital Scholarship Hub: The UW–Madison Libraries are building a forthcoming Digital Scholarship Hub to be located in the 2nd floor of Memorial Library that will be an interdisciplinary, collaborative space for campus researchers at every stage of their careers. The core planning team for the hub includes Carrie Kruse, Lee Konrad, and Cameron Cook from the Libraries as well as Nikki Wiessinger and Megan Adams from the iSchool. The iSchool has a key role connecting rapid advancements in computation and artificial intelligence to catalyze research and discovery across disciplines.
Student Life
- PhD student Yinka Ajibola explores the African information technology landscape
- MS Information student Jinghao Zhou leads pioneering research at interdisciplinary School of Nursing lab
- Information Science student Anna Staresinic embraces every opportunity at UW–Madison
Alumni News
Alumni updates
Laurie Magee MA’79 is now serving on the Laguna Vista Library Board in Laguna Vista, Texas.
Antonia Houston MA’81 is the longest-serving employee at the Blodgett Memorial Library in Fishkill NY, where she serves as the Local History Librarian. She has worked at the library since 1983 (over 41 years).
Susan (Blakeley) Manalli MA’81 has retired as Head of Technical Services at Anderson County Library System, Anderson, South Carolina. Her accomplished career included stints as a secondary school Spanish teacher, media specialist, educational sales representative, and public librarian.
Jennie Woodfield MA’90 retired from the Massey University Library in New Zealand, serving as Library Web Content Leader at the time of her retirement. She had worked at the library in various roles for 32 years.
Robin Rice MA’91 is proud that the Library Research Support section of University of Edinburgh Library won the Outstanding Library Team of the Year Award from the Times Higher Education. Members of the team (including Rice) attended a gala in Birmingham to collect their award in November 2024.
Heidi Hansen MA’94 is now a full professor at Bemidji State University in Minnesota, specializing in mathematics education. She also supervises the Math Help Center, housed in the university’s AC Clark Library.
Rachel Vagts MA’97 was named Director of Special Collections and Archives at Denver Public Library, leading a new subdivision at the library consisting of four departments: Archives Services, Museum Services, Research Services and Technical Services.
Heather McClure MA’02, a librarian and archivist at the Fray Angelico Chavez History Library at the New Mexico History Museum, successfully led a major digitization grant project. Thanks to funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the voluminous document and photographic collection of Southwest archaeologist Edgar L. Hewett is now available online at the New Mexico History Museum Digital Collections.
Nichole Fromm MA’04 is now Collections Manager of the archives and library at Holy Wisdom Monastery, an ecumenical Benedictine community in Middleton, Wisconsin.
Amanda Moss Struckmeyer MA’05 is publishing a book with ALA Editions on programming for tweens, teens, and families centered around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Sarah Taylor MA’08 recently accepted a role as Collections and Resource Sharing Librarian at University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. Taylor had previously worked as the Acquisitions and Serials Assistant at the same location.
Veronica Wells MA’08 accepted a role as Associate Dean of Learning & Research at Appalachian State University’s University Libraries in Boone, North Carolina.
Brendan McCarty MA’09 was recently hired to be the Adult / Teen Librarian at the Kingsessing Library, a neighborhood branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. Kingsessing, a classic Carnegie design, originally built in 1919, is reopening in April 2025 after a two and a half year remodeling project.
John Kromer MA’11 was named a Fellow of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). Fellowship in SLA is bestowed on active SLA members in recognition of past and present service, as well as future contributions to the association and the profession.
Cristina Springfield MA’11 recently received tenure as a Professor/Librarian at Mt. San Antonio College, a large community college in Walnut, California.
Maegan Coffin Heindel MA’12—currently the Library Services Coordinator for the Madison Metropolitan School District—published a book in June 2024 with ALA Editions. Prepared Libraries, Empowered Teams: A Workbook for Navigating Intellectual Freedom Challenges Together was co-written by current AASL President Becky Calzada and fellow UW–Madison alum Val Edwards.
Johanna Boyle MA’17 accepted a role as Collection Management Librarian at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.
Amy Castro (Conley) MA’17 is now serving as Electronic Resources & Instruction Librarian at Touro University California after previously serving as Library Access Services & Instruction Librarian at the same library. She also supports the College of Pharmacy, School of Nursing, and Graduate School of Education in both roles.
Timothy George Connolly MA’18 started a new consultancy in January 2025 with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Kyiv, Ukraine, as Head of Continuity-of-Operations Planning. His work focuses on helping support WFP’s ability to provide essential humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable, especially those living in the communities along the front lines of fighting. It involves lots of data analysis and best practices research, so he is putting my MLIS to good use.
Ellen Faletti MA’18 was hired as the archivist at the Honolulu Museum of Art in Honolulu, Hawai‘i.
Meng Qu MA’18 was promoted from Assistant Librarian to Associate Librarian at Miami University (Ohio), effective July 2025. She was honored as a Highlighted Faculty and Staff Recognition nominee by the Library Dean and recognized at the Miami University Board of Trustees meeting.
Robin Gee MA’22 has published the chapter “Bridging the Gap: Practical Applications of Critical Pedagogy Frameworks in One Shot Instruction” in Critical Information Literacy Applications for All Libraries, out from ALA this summer.
Sandhya Hota MS’23 has a new role as Senior Product Engineering Associate at Management Science Associates.
Jungmin Han ’24 currently working as an IT consultant at a cybersecurity company in South Korea.