May 4, 2006
The future is now for the UW’s iSchool
A decade ago, with much fanfare, the UW undertook a study of what should happen to what was known at the time as the Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences. A distinguished group of educators and administrators, dubbed the “Futures Committee,” looked around at the resources that were available on campus and in the community. They issued a bold plan, calling for the re-creation of the school as a vital piece of the Information Age in a city known as one of this age’s capital cities.
At that time, the Library School, founded in 1911, had a core of just six faculty and two staff. It offered only a master’s degree. It had a loyal following among its alumni, but its reputation could be regarded as a closely-held secret.
Fast forward to 2006. The Information School, known colloquially as the iSchool, now has 40 faculty members and a staff of about 30. It offers an undergraduate major, two master’s programs, a doctoral degree and distance education. An iSchool degree has become hot property, with its graduates prized by many of the region’s high-tech companies. Recent rankings in US News & World Report, while hardly the sine qua non for an academic unit, indicate its reputation among peers: overall, the school placed fourth nationally, while six of its programs were judged to be in the top 10.
Dean Harry Bruce agrees that what has happened can be called a transformation, “but we have managed to hold onto the core of what the school has been since its founding. We have loyal alumni and we want them to feel that they are part of the story of the school, that this is a continuation of what began nearly a century ago. This is simply the next phase of that story.”
As the school’s second dean, Bruce is building on the work of Mike Eisenberg, brought here in 1998. At the time, Eisenberg described himself as a builder. He looked at the recommendations that were given to him and saw that they were worthy, but rather than take on the challenges one at a time he pursued many of them simultaneously.
“We were presented with a unique opportunity,” says Bruce, who came to the UW in 1999 as associate director for research and program development. “We were able to hire people who share Mike’s vision, who wanted to contribute to the development of the school’s story and to make it theirs.”
The founders also have been able to create a culture intentionally, one based on “mutual respect, collegiality, open communication, collective governance, consensus building and good will,” Bruce says. One of the refreshing things he finds is that people are unwilling to say it can’t be done.
One problem the school confronted was a shortage of research space. To solve it, they created the iSchool Research Commons off campus, in a facility that is funded by indirect costs from the research conducted there.
Almost from the beginning the school has had a sense of momentum, supported by dynamic leadership and the cooperation of the central administration. Within 18 months of Bruce’s arrival, the development of degrees, including a doctoral degree, had begun. “We found there was a pent-up demand for our educational offerings, so we needed to work quickly,” he says.
In 2006 it appears natural that a school in Seattle should be devoted to the study of information. And of course the connections between the school and that information community are replete, ranging from internships to research to the membership on the school’s advisory and founding boards.
“Information technology has played an important role in enhancing people’s lives,” Bruce says, “but that doesn’t mean that the technology is necessarily people-centered. Our faculty tries to look at the quality of people’s interaction with technology. We’re able to assume a reflective role.”
An example of this role is Bruce’s own research, a project titled “Keeping Found Things Found,” in which he collaborates with Professor William Jones. The project focuses on what people do with information that comes their way, especially the information that they intend to use again. “Most people in their jobs don’t see information as an end in itself, but as a way to accomplish something, to make their working lives better. I think many of us are challenged by the role that information has in our lives, and this project is one way of helping people address those challenges.”
The iSchool education sits squarely at the interface between information and people. The school’s graduates are equipped to help individuals and organizations acquire the information that they need at the time that they need it to help them solve crucial problems.
After breathtaking growth in its first eight years, Bruce sees a time of consolidation in the near term. “We need to maximize the capacity of what we’ve created and target our future growth in areas that will distinguish us as an information school,” he says.” Our special expertise is in the human-centered approach to technology. We want to continue to be interdisciplinary and agile, because the environment changes so quickly. The University of Washington presents unique opportunities for collaboration, because we’re able to bring together people from so many different disciplines and fields to look at a problem from different perspectives.”
One of Bruce’s ambitions is to make the iSchool a model for much of what its faculty preach — as a showcase of excellence for the organization and management of information in day-to-day interactions.
“People are complex,” he says. “We want to enhance the way people use information in their lives.”
At the same time that the school explores new frontiers in information management, it remains true to its roots, recently creating a professorship in children’s and youth services. As some faculty are teaching cybersecurity, others are visiting leaders in the library community in Washington and Oregon.
In 1996, the Futures Committee found that the Information School was uniquely positioned “to build a new and outstanding library and information science program that will rapidly achieve national and international prominence.”
Within a decade, that goal is well within reach, if not already achieved.
