Master of Information Courses
Digital Preservation
This course evaluates the interconnectedness of digital preservation, digitization, copyright, and curation of digital collections. Digitized formats and media and born digital content are crucial to the success of cultural heritage digital collections. Digital preservation ensures this content is accessible and stable for many lifetimes. The goal of this course is to give students an advanced look into the world of cultural heritage digital preservation. This course allows students to explore their own interests in typical cultural heritage formats and media held by museums, libraries, and archives. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Write a grant proposal focused on digital preservation and digitization of collections
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Assess copyright of cultural heritage materials for public digital access
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Compare and contrast controlled digital lending practices across an array of institutions
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Evaluate digitization best practices and advanced imaging techniques in cultural heritage institutions
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Use frameworks such as Open Archival Information System (OAIS) and National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) levels to assess digital preservation strategies
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Utilize time management techniques to understand the intertwined nature of digital preservation and project management
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Develop a personal digital collection while ensuring its long term accessibility and digital preservation status
Notable Projects
Mock NEH Grant: Saving the Austin Community’s Film & Video with the APL Mobile Memory Lab
I wrote a mock grant for the Austin Mobile Memory Lab, a monthly super and regular 8mm film and VHS and SVHS digitization workshop for people living in and around Austin. With user permission, these home videos would be added to the History Center's video collection. This idea was inspired by the Texas Archive of the Moving Image's Texas Film Roundup program.
Paper: Considering Copyright and Controlled Digital Lending Through a Natural Rights Lens
Intro: The advancement of technology has introduced new ways of consuming information, some of which are perceived as threatening to those who benefited from the old models of distribution. Digitization allows for many copies of an object, accessible to multiple users at once. Obviously, this can be problematic for creators who once had more control of their work through the disbursement of physical copies, but there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. In the realm of libraries, there is much to gain from digitization through the system of Controlled Digital Lending. The ability to access books digitally allows for increased access to populations who may be inhibited by geography, disability, or economic status, and it can be crucial in times of crisis, as it was at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It can help libraries retain copies of older works that are still valuable but take up much-needed shelf space in an ever-expanding collection. CDL can exist in such a way that it adequately balances the protection of authors and their work with the social benefits of literacy and education for all. To understand how CDL functions, one must understand key points of copyright law as well as the main tenets of the CDL program.
Digital Collection and Personal Digitization Project: Bertram Family Photos, 1910s to 1930s
For this project I digitized family photos from the early 1900s and used Preservica as a collection management tool. I added basic Dublin Core metadata to each item.
Preservation of Library & Archival Materials
How to keep what we have for as long as we want to have it. The risks to physical materials, and the ways of preventing loss. Deterioration, environmental controls, and principles of handling. Reformatting. Digital preservation.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Understand why the contents of libraries are at risk.
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Assess the problems in a particular library.
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Recommend solutions.
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Assess the relative advantages of repair or reformatting.
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Preserve digital information.
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Create plans for physical protection.
Notable Projects
Cellulose Acetate Preservation Leaflet
For this assignment I created a leaflet that could be used by library/archives staff to identify the cellulose acetate format and its preservation risks. I include key identifying features of the format, inherent vices, storage and handling best practices, and treatment options.
Preservation Assessment: The Benson Latin American Collection at UT Austin
Using the Patkus/NEDCC Assessing Preservation Needs: A Self-Survey Guide as a reference, I performed a general preservation assessment of The Benson Latin American Collection at UT Austin. I'm very grateful to the staff of the Benson who allowed me to interview them for this paper.
Information Literacy, Learning & Teaching
Development of effective instruction in the use of information resources and technologies in all types of library settings. Special attention is paid to adult learning theory and to the integration of information seeking behavior with instructional design. Students practice instruction in cooperation with librarians and library users in various settings. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Identify their personal learning and teaching styles and will be able to articulate their instructional philosophy.
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Demonstrate their ability to apply instructional design to meet the learning needs of specific audiences.
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Produce some basic learning aids.
Notable Projects
Teaching Philosophy Statement
Intro: My information literacy teaching philosophy is based on the concept of developing agency in learners through critical thinking, question-asking, and contextualizing. I believe that teaching is more effective when it speaks to the interests of the learner, that teachers should trust students to know what they need and want, and that each person carries with them a landscape of information built on their background and experiences which can be valuable information for informing the landscapes of others, including teachers (SCONUL, 2011). My teaching utilizes Problem-Based Learning and active learning strategies, which emphasize “participating in and reflecting on experiences,” and draws from social constructivist learning theory, which “[understands] learning as taking place through dialogue and social interaction” (Hicks & Sinkinson, 2021, pp. 749, 750). I strive to recognize that information can come in many forms and to reject an information hierarchy with roots in western and/or white supremacy—for example, one that privileges textual records over oral histories, decries the shakiness of a citizen journalist’s cell phone video, or automatically grants factual legitimacy to a source based on its social influence. Please reach out if you'd like to read more!
This was originally created as a VoiceThread presentation which you can open and click through here. Click on the box on the left-hand side of the screen that says "PMW" to hear my voiceover. I've included a video version above, but you may need to skip ahead to hear the voiceover.
Lesson Plan & Teaching Demonstration
I created a lesson plan for high school seniors visiting the Austin History Center with their history/social studies class either in person or through the use of the online databases. I used the topic of the war on drugs to demonstrate how public policy is shaped by narratives. Watch the video above for more information.
Cataloging & Classification
This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of cataloging and classification. It emphasizes the functions of library catalogs identified in Functional Requirements of Bibliographic Records, as well as the use of Resource Description and Access, Library of Congress Subject Headings, and the MARC21 (MAchine Readable Cataloging) encoding format in the creation and maintenance of such catalogs. It likewise covers the use of the Dewey Decimal Classification and the Library of Congress Classification as vehicles for access to information and in the organization of library collections. Due attention is given to the history of cataloging and classification and to the impact of the past on current practice and emerging developments. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Define and understand terminology used in the organization of information.
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Use, interpret, and evaluate bibliographic information in a variety of catalogs.
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Describe works using standard systems and tools for organizing information.
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Analyze works in order to determine their content and purpose.
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Create catalog records for print resources.
Card catalog from page 167 of "Manual of library classification and shelf arrangement" (1898) via Wikimedia Commons
Ethics, Values, & Change in Information Practices
The course prepares students to think critically about ethical debates surrounding information and technology in their personal and professional futures. Drawing from classical ethical frameworks and more current and diverse concepts of justice that focus on race, class, and gender, we analyze case studies from real-life situations to discuss, understand, and critique the value systems and power structures embedded in information work. Cases examine how information technologies shape and are shaped by cultural, societal, professional, community, and individual values, including an exploration of the impact of such values on professional practice, decision-making, and public policy. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Identify ethical dilemmas that may arise in professional or workplace situations related to information, technology, or data work;
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Demonstrate an ability to apply different ethical frames to real-world problems that arise in information professions;
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Evaluate how cultural norms have shaped the study of information ethics and values;
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Articulate how power operates within information society and identify avenues for change;
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Apply critical thinking skills in identifying the stakeholders involved in an organization’s decision making as well as the implications of a decision;
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Provide research, factual information, and the impact on stakeholders in arguing a case;
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Distinguish the relationship between ethical principles and codes of ethics in making sound decisions.
Notable Projects
Paper: Bringing Critical Information Literacy to the Public Library
Intro: Public libraries are trusted institutions in the U.S. and some of the few places citizens can go that are free from private corporate influence and the coercive forces of consumer culture (Geiger, 2017). As outlined by the Public Library Association, community well-being is at the core of the mission of public libraries. As online encounters with mis- and dis-information become commonplace, as social media becomes a main source of news, and as opaque algorithms become more responsible for determining the constraints of our information landscapes, critical information literacy (CIL) skills are needed. Teaching information literacy (IL) in public schools and universities is not enough. Because public libraries serve everyone regardless of age or ability to pay, IL skills developed there can affect a different socioeconomic group. Because public libraries are an extension of public education but take more of an at-will, non-coercive form, the approach to IL must look different than it does in university and school settings. Public libraries must instead speak more to the interests and needs of communities and weave IL into programs that address those needs. By validating the experiences of community members, addressing community needs, and facilitating public discussion that features a variety of perspectives and ideologies, public libraries can help patrons develop agency and a skeptical approach to truth claims and media that in turn affects their decision-making. Please reach out if you'd like to read more!
K. Kendall, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Audre Lorde, whose piece "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" we read and discussed
Discussions on the Following Subjects
data activism, the movement to privatize public schools, neoliberalism, the concept of neutrality, classical ethics, data privacy and surveillance, information as a commodity, mis and dis-information, information practices and their environmental consequences
Information Visualization
Design of presentations using texts, graphics, images, sounds. User interpretation, navigation, and interaction with visualizations. Visualization in information retrieval, and interfaces in library and information processes. Effective display and presentation of information in organizational contexts, using various formats, both print and electronic.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Understand human visual perception and how it relates to creating effective information visualizations.
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Understand the key design principles for creating information visualizations.
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Recognize the major existing techniques and systems in information visualization.
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Evaluate information visualizations tools.
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Design new, innovative visualizations.
Notable Projects
Mapping Austin's Spanish Speakers for Library Language Services
For this project I wanted to investigate where the majority of Spanish-speaking people live in the city of Austin, how this has changed over time, and which library branches serve them. I used twelve Census datasets for 2011 through 2022 and utilized Tableau to create a series of gradient maps communicating this information. I also created graphs to determine if there was a possible correlation between education levels and poverty levels. I used all of this information to write a report arguing for increased Spanish-speaker staffing in various library branches on the northeast and southeast sides of the city.
Using census data organized in Tableau, I created a visualization gif to show how the population of Spanish speakers changed in each zip code from 2011 to 2022.
Search & the Information Landscape
This course explores professional, user-centered strategies for seeking, finding, retrieving, managing, evaluating, and sharing information across an array of traditional and emerging digital platforms, as well as the evolving role of the information professional. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Discuss search in an informed manner, using critical terminology and concepts derived from popular, professional and scholarly literature.
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Demonstrate expertise in use of the search features, structure and syntax used by major online proprietary databases.
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Engage and communicate effectively with users/clients/students to determine and meet their information needs in both face-to-face and digital settings.
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Describe and respond to key concepts in judging search effectiveness and evaluating the credibility, validity and usefulness of content.
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Differentiate among, and assess the value of, emerging genre of search engines and portals, social media and curation platforms in the process of developing a rich and diverse professional search toolkit
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Create and curate guidance and instruction in a variety of forms, including: Web-based search guides and current awareness strategies for targeted clients, organizations or groups of users.
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Demonstrate tactics for keeping up with search tools, data, resources, and strategies in a shifting search environment
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Demonstrate the evolving value and the services of an information professional in the information abundant, DIY search ecosystem.
Notable Projects
Database Demos: PolicyMap and ProQuest Congressional
I created screencast demonstrations of the databases Policy Map and ProQuest Congressional.
Click the image to visit the LibGuide!
I created a LibGuide about DIY Repair curating both online resources and resources local to Austin, Texas. The guide is aimed at city of Austin residents and encourages them to become users of the Austin Public Library, but its online portion is useful to users anywhere. It is especially useful for people who: •want or need to save money •have more time than money •are interested in environmentalism •want to learn about in-person resources and community events related to DIY repair
I made this video on how to use the APL Catalog to find books and tools to accompany my LibGuide on DIY Repair.
Foundations of Preservation & Archives
Students will get an introduction to the current issues and trends in preservation, archival theory, and conservation. They will learn about the historical and emergent forms and how materials of cultural and scientific knowledge are accessible to present users and future generations, about the methods of assessment for providing access to analog and digital records as trustworthy evidence and memory covering activities of individuals, families, organizations, groups, and movements. Focus will be on critical thinking around privacy, human rights, social justice, activism, and memorial contestation. Students will be oriented to the principles of archival professional practice of arrangement and description; appraisal theories; and learn about the practices for diverse organizations in the changing perspectives and social contexts. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Comprehend the foundational dimensions of the archival and preservation practice and theory in the historical and the changing perspectives and social contexts.
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Evaluate institutional frameworks, representational systems, and organizational schemes related to archives and preservation.
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Understand the politics of archives and preservation for the knowledge continuum in diverse contexts and media forms.
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Understand the contemporary practices involving archival material and curating a collection.
Notable Projects
Personal Collection & Finding Aid
For this project I created a finding aid for the personal papers of a local activist and organizer. The collection included campaign materials, including flyers and stickers, cards and letters from politicians and political peers, photographs, and printer material from the years 2011 to 2024. I also created a corresponding MARC record.
Archival Lab Remix: Posters for the Public
The purpose of this project is to teach middle or high school children (and adults, if adapted for a public library setting) about the history of the Work Projects Administration (formerly Works Progress Administration) and specifically the Federal Art Project in the context of the Great Depression. More specifically, the lesson will focus on the WPA Posters created by the Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1940 and the social messages they propagated. Students will explore the posters in the Library of Congress collection before identifying a contemporary issue for which they would like to design a poster. In addition to learning about this specific moment in history, students will: -Reflect on the role of government in the lives of citizens -Identify important contemporary social issues in their personal lives or community through reflection and/or through browsing local newspapers -Begin to consider how messages are encoded in media, for better or for worse, thus developing media literacy skills -Analyze artwork and design choices and apply what they’ve learned to their own designs -Learn how to browse and search an online archive -Develop a sense of agency in problem-solving community issues and as an artist
Paper and Presentation on Michel-Rolph Trouillot's Silencing the Past
This assignment asked me to choose a monograph, outline the main arguments of the work, and design a series of questions for discussion.
Paper: Social Justice Archivy in Chile, Colombia, and Argentina
Intro: What does it mean to be a social justice-oriented archive? In 2013 and 2014 the Nelson Mandela Foundation, led by archivist Verne Harris, and the GIZ Global Leadership Academy (a group commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) assembled a series of group discussions “on memory work in contexts where oppression, violent conflict or systemic human rights abuses have taken place” (Gould & Harris, 2014, p. 1). Through these conversations they attempted to define terms like “justice,” “democracy,” “truth” and “reconciliation” but could not reach consensus. This is to say that while they did emerge with a document delineating the principles of practice, the work of reflecting on the goals and practices of social justice-oriented memory work and defining one’s own praxis is very difficult. There are myriad theoretical concepts that have guided archives in these pursuits. By examining the three related concepts of feminist ethics, liberatory theology, and liberatory memory work, with specific examples where each has been demonstrated in archives in Chile, Colombia, and Argentina, one can begin to define social justice archivy. Please reach out if you'd like to read more.
Records Management
Examination of the document life-cycle of the records of organizations: generation and control--filing, storage, and retrieval systems using various technologies; protection and disposition--retention regulations and practices. Discussion of how records management concepts and contexts differ from archives and library organization and retrieval systems. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Understand the scope of records and information management and the role of the records manager in business or governmental organizations.
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Recognize the relationship of records management to other elements of information management, such as data processing, word processing, and telecommunications.
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Apply the management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling to the design and implementation of records management programs.
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Implement the principles of a records retention program, including the inventory process and retention schedule development.
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Plan and organize active records programs that include classification, retrieval, and control.
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Plan and organize inactive records programs.
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Plan and organize vital records protection programs.
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Recognize the application of micrographics and related technologies including electronic document imaging.
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Apply basic cost analysis, systems analysis, and problem solving techniques to records management functions.
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Understand the career opportunities in records management and comprehend the professional, ethical, and legal responsibilities of the records manager.
Notable Projects
Paper: Records & Information Management Ethics
Intro: Records and Information Management (RIM) professionals shape the world around them through their handling of a record throughout the duration of its lifecycle. RIM professionals interact with records in ways that serve the day-to-day operation of their organization, which in turn affect the lives of the people who that organization serves, and in ways that shape the larger historical record. For this reason, it’s important that those professionals follow codes of ethics in personal, professional, and organizational contexts. It’s also important to acknowledge that what is good for the organizations can, in some situations, conflict with what is good for other stakeholders, and complex situations like this require ethical reasoning prior to decision-making. Please reach out if you'd like to read more.
I took the role of a Records Management Consultant and created a mock record retention schedule for a large public library system. I included record title, record description, office of record, retention and disposition, and I wrote an accompanying memo with references to local government code and information from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Knowledge & Society
Introduction to the production, dissemination, and consumption of knowledge in society, related to roles of information professionals and the functions of libraries and other information institutions. Differences among disciplines in how knowledge is recorded and transmitted. Global issues and trends in society that have affected scholarly communication and the access to information for the public. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Compare and contrast diverse knowledge systems and understanding of their role in framing social worlds, moral codes, and practice.
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Understand knowledge systems from a historical and multicultural perspective.
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Assess the role of contemporary library and information agencies in providing access to knowledge systems through information infrastructure and the role of information professionals.
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Express their epistemological position and evaluate how it may affect their contribution to knowledge production in building information infrastructures (selection of materials, providing access to materials in information agencies).
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Examine historical artifacts in the context of production, dissemination, and consumption of knowledge.
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Evaluate representational systems and organizational schemes for access of knowledge artifacts in a variety of settings, with an emphasis on the traditional context of information work in libraries, archives, and museums.
Notable Projects
Paper: The Impact of Communications in Information Literacy in the Field of Librarianship
Intro: Communications in Information Literacy (CIL) is biannual, “open access, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the advancement of information literacy research, practice, theory, and opinion.” It is primarily focused on information literacy in a college setting, and scholars in the field including Emily Drabinski and Eamon Tewell consider it one of the top journals for publication in this subject area. The journal was founded in 2007 by academic librarians Stewart Brower and Christopher V. Hollister who felt that there was a hole in the scholarship and that creating a home expressly dedicated to information literacy (IL) research was necessary. CIL publishes two issues each year: a spring issue and a fall issue. The first issue was published online in May 2007 using the journal platform Open Journal Systems, an open source application developed by the Public Knowledge Project (Brower & Hollister, 2010). The editorial board in 2007 included Karen Bordonaro from Brock University, Jean Caspers from Linfield College, Nancy Dewald from Penn State, Jennifer Dorner from Portland State University, Tom Pirrung, Patrick P. Ragains from University of Nevada Reno, Jon Ritterbush, Terry Sklair Taylor, and Beth Woodard from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Editor Christopher Hollister is extremely kind and accessible and was interviewed for this report.
Paper: The Impact of Jeremiah the Innocent: Mental Health and the Public Art of Daniel Johnston
This paper seeks to understand the possible impact that public art like this can have on mental health, the relative impact of destigmatization, and the roles and responsibilities of private and public actors in aesthetic initiatives like these versus in addressing material solutions to poor public health. It also examines how selective memory and the narrative flattening of historical figures can be used for commercial interests. Previous destigmatization studies will first be reviewed and then applied to the art of Daniel Johnston and its effect in Austin. Local news sources, online forums, interviews with librarians, as well as my own observations of the painting and library patronage are included in this investigation.
Information Technologies
This course offers students a hands-on introduction to software tools and technology used in the creation and delivery of information services. Students will learn key concepts and skills related to Web technologies (e.g., HTML, CSS, Frameworks), Web programming (e.g., JavaScript, PHP) and Data management (e.g., MySQL). Students will learn how to use and evaluate Web services and open source software tools. Students will learn how information technology is used in today’s information organizations and libraries, e.g., integrated library systems, technical services, document management, and provision of Web services. The knowledge and skills conveyed in this course will assist students in applying information, web and data technologies in various information services and in their professional practice. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Create Screencasts and Work with Different Media Types, such as images, audio and video.
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Utilize Web Services, such as online surveys, Google Analytics or Web APIs, in the design and development of information services.
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Create and upload HTML Web pages that are standards compliant and contain relative and absolute links, tables, images and embedded video or data widgets.
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Design external Cascading Style Sheets that control the layout and visual appearance of a set of Web pages.
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Design Responsive Layouts that control the layout and visual appearance of a set of Web pages on different display devices.
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Understand the Basics of JavaScript to create simple or customize existing code samples.
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Understand the Basics of Scripting Languages, such as PHP, to create simple and useful scripts to develop information service.
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Create a Database Application using MySQL that shows information organized into one or more Tables, a data entry Form, multiple Queries for simple information retrieval, and one or more Reports for the presentation of information.
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Evaluate an Open Source Software Tool and assess the advantages and disadvantages of using such tools in a library or business setting.
Notable Projects
Dynamic Website Using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL
For this project I had to create at least 9 HTML pages and at least 1 PHP page. Other requirements included local/anchor hyperlinks, a survey with radio buttons and survey results stored in a MySQL table, a form using JavaScript to ensure that at least two checkboxes were selected, and more. Click the link below the image gallery for the full list of requirements.
Human Information Behavior
Behavior vis-a-vis information as it bears on problems in library and information services and forms a theoretical and professional base for such services. Diverse contexts of information behavior; processes of information seeking, searching, using, and valuing. Assessment of studies of human information behavior in terms of relevance to library and information services. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Understand human information behavior, library and information science and the relationship between the two.
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Read about, discuss and write about information behavior.
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Recognize the differences between professional and scholarly literature.
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Identify information behavior in all aspects of life.
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Record, analyze and conceptualize information behavior in professional settings.
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Analyze specific research findings about information behavior in a variety of different contexts.
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Facilitate the pursuit of a variety of information behaviors as an information professional.
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Approach issues from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Picara Espacio de Comunicación Feminista, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Notable Projects
Paper: Responding to the Information & Social Needs of Older Adults Amidst an Epidemic of Loneliness
Intro: This paper reviews studies on the information-seeking behavior of older adults, defined as people over the age of 65, and focuses largely on their preference for obtaining information through social networks. When developing a service proposal for this group, librarians should consider the barriers to older adults’ information access as well as the current loneliness epidemic and look for answers to addressing them through the lens of Savolainen’s theoretical framework of everyday life information-seeking, Fisher’s studies of “information grounds,” and the concept of social capital. An intergenerational program that utilizes a service-learning model is proposed to address needs concerning digital literacy and social connection.