University of Washington Information School

University of Washington Information School Visit ischool.uw.edu to learn more. Our work helps people address information challenges more ethically, effectively and with a heightened sense of possibility.

The UW Information School offers an undergraduate degree in Informatics and four graduate degrees: MLIS, MSIM, Museology and a doctorate in Information Science. The University of Washington Information School, or "iSchool," is shaping the ways people create, store, find, and share information. We offer degrees in Informatics (BSc), master's programs in Library and Information Science (MLIS) and Information Management (MSIM), and a PhD in Information Science. With almost 700 students, we are one of the gems of the University of Washington campus, with students, faculty and researchers exhibiting strong leadership in their respective fields.

A new project by CALMA, our Center for Advances in Libraries, Museums, and Archives, aims to develop a research roadmap ...
09/30/2026

A new project by CALMA, our Center for Advances in Libraries, Museums, and Archives, aims to develop a research roadmap for cultural institutions. The respected Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) recently awarded the project a major grant. CALMA Director Sharon Streams is leading the project in collaboration with Ben Lee and Jessica Luke. Learn more in our new article by Curran Nielsen: https://ischool.uw.edu/news/2026/09/calma-wins-grant-build-research-roadmap-libraries-museums-archives

A warm welcome to new and returning students and your families!Campus is brimming with new-school-year excitement, and w...
09/23/2026

A warm welcome to new and returning students and your families!

Campus is brimming with new-school-year excitement, and we’re glad to welcome all incoming students to UW, whether you’re joining us here on campus, or from where you live; from high school or from another institution, or after some time away from school - you are welcome here!

This week we’re hosting our Information School iWelcome event celebrating new students in all of our programs: AI Certificate, Informatics, MLIS, MSIM, Museology and Ph.D. We invite you to connect with all that our community has to offer. Students will learn more about getting involved in the campus community, engaging with faculty, meeting staff, and discovering other opportunities to make the most of your time at the UW iSchool.

Information School Dean Anind K. Dey will speak at iWelcome, and so will Nassim Parvin, Director of IDEAS (Office of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Sovereignty).

A few other details about the event below:
-There is limited to no parking directly onsite at the iWelcome venue. Padelford parking garage is nearby, and includes paid option. The E18 lot is also a paid parking option, near Alaska Arena.
-Campus is well served by light rail and bus routes (check out King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit), and once your Husky ID is activated, you will have free public transit access with your ID card!
-The venue is an accessible space with no steps.
-Please note that photographs will be taken during this event for documentary and marketing purposes. There will be a way to opt out of photos, if you need or prefer.

New students, we hope to see you then! Check your email for further details.

Join the dynamic, interdisciplinary faculty at the University of Washington Information School. We're hiring for the fol...
09/21/2026

Join the dynamic, interdisciplinary faculty at the University of Washington Information School. We're hiring for the following positions:

• Assistant Professor, Tenure-Track, AI
• Assistant Professor, Tenure-Track, Library Information Science
• Assistant Professor, Tenure-Track, Information Systems and Information Management
• Assistant Teaching Professor, Teaching-Track, Information Systems and Information Management

Please share widely! Learn more and apply on our website: https://ischool.uw.edu/about/jobs/faculty

Whether you’re starting your first quarter or heading into your final year, September is a great time to think about wha...
09/18/2026

Whether you’re starting your first quarter or heading into your final year, September is a great time to think about what comes next. Check out this month’s Hot Jobs for opportunities across data, libraries, public services, research, and more:
 
Amazon Web Services (Seattle, WA) - Customer Solutions Manager, AWSI - 2027
AWS is searching for candidates to apply to their Emerging Talent program within AWS Industries and Strategic Accounts to develop the next generation of AWS Customer Solutions Managers. Includes 12 months of mentorship. https://bit.ly/4xwfEpE
 
Texas Tech University School of Law Library (Lubbock, TX)- Assistant Librarian of Law / Instructional Services Librarian
In this position, the Law Library Faculty member will have primary administrative responsibility for instructional services while participating fully in the academic and professional work of the Law Library Faculty. https://bit.ly/4h7ESo8
 
Maryland Center for History and Culture (Baltimore, MD) - Curatorial Assistant
The Curatorial Assistant provides foundational research, administrative and logistical support for MCHC’s exhibitions and collections care. Career Opportunities – Maryland Center for History and Culture: https://bit.ly/4713tGu
 
Pierce County (Tacoma, WA) - Public Disclosure Systems Analyst
As a member of the Public Records team, you will perform complex, specialized, and technical eDiscovery work in support of the County’s eDiscovery and records management processes. https://bit.ly/4xutLvG
 
UC San Diego (San Diego, CA) - Associate Project Scientist
The Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA) is an independent research group at the UW San Diego Supercomputer Center. They are currently searching for an Associate Project Specialist who will take on scientific and technical responsibility for research projects within CAIDA’s program. Learn more and apply: https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF04642

09/17/2026

Winnie the Pooh in the AI age? 🐻📚🍯

UW Information School Ph.D. student Imani Finkley spoke with University of Washington News about a new study looking at gender in AI-generated stories for children.

Finkley, along with iSchool Assistant Professor Melanie Walsh and UW Sociology student and Informatics alum Yuanxi Li wanted to know: What happens when AI tells stories about talking animals?

The University of Washington researchers analyzed about 24,000 stories generated by six leading AI models (Claude Sonnet 4.5, Gemini 2.5, GPT-4o, GPT-5.1, Mistral Medium and Olmo 3). They found that 57% of the characters were gender-neutral or ungendered, 41% were male and just 2% were female.

The researchers tested seven different animals — bear, bird, cat, dog, mouse, pig, rabbit — and four different settings: farm, kitchen, river, store. They also adjusted models’ “temperature,” essentially the degree of randomness in the generated text.

Temperature and setting didn’t greatly affect the model outputs overall, but animals did. Cats were gendered female 7% of the time, the most of any animal. Birds were 96% neutral.

“The neutrality of these AI models didn’t just erase female characters — it was all non-masculine identities,” Finkley says.

“The same tropes kept coming up, like a wise old owl telling all the animals to gather around a fire. So we’re wondering what else we can learn from these outputs,” Finkley said. “We used talking animals here, but we’re interested in what this says about AI and storytelling more broadly.”

The team presented their research at the 2026 ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency in Montréal.

Information School alum Steph Ballard, Ph.D. '23, MLIS '17, credits her graduate work with the UW's Value Sensitive Desi...
09/16/2026

Information School alum Steph Ballard, Ph.D. '23, MLIS '17, credits her graduate work with the UW's Value Sensitive Design Lab for teaching her to translate between technology and policy. This year, she was honored with the iSchool's GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) Award for her impact on the field.

Today, she is helping shape how one of the world's biggest tech companies handles AI safety.

As director of responsible AI practice at Microsoft, Ballard works on building baseline security requirements for teams developing AI, weighing "frontier risks" like bioweapons, cyberattacks, and belief manipulation.

"There's much uncertainty in the field," she says. "One way we operate is to always make the next best decision and do it quickly."

Read more about Ballard's work on the AI frontier: https://bit.ly/StephBallard

iSchool alumni - do you have an update to share? Share your update through the link below for a chance to be featured! 💜...
09/16/2026

iSchool alumni - do you have an update to share? Share your update through the link below for a chance to be featured! 💜🎉
ischool.uw.edu/alumni/updates

After a horrific and significant event takes place – what remains? In his newest podcast episode, released on the 25th a...
09/11/2026

After a horrific and significant event takes place – what remains?

In his newest podcast episode, released on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Associate Professor Joe Janes addresses the material and information related to that fateful day. From a flight attendant’s log book from United 93, to a squeegee used to free people trapped in a World Trade Center elevator 50 stories high, to thousands of flyers made by New Yorkers trying to locate their missing loved ones, Janes tells the stories of the artifacts from this time, where they are collected today, and what they can tell us about the future.

“‘Never forget’ is easy to say, but difficult to achieve without tangible reminders,” Janes says.

Listen to the podcast: https://ischool.uw.edu/podcasts/dtctw/documents-911

🧬 End-of-summer internship spotlight: Through internships and Directed Fieldwork (DFW), iSchool students and alumni gain...
09/02/2026

🧬 End-of-summer internship spotlight: Through internships and Directed Fieldwork (DFW), iSchool students and alumni gain on-the-job skills in information science, library, tech, government, museum and other settings. In this year’s internship roundup, we’re shining a spotlight on these impressive students’ work:

• Thomas Tang, Informatics - Business Analyst Intern, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine
• Shubi Handa, MSIM - Design Operations Intern, Centene Corporation
• Shruti Tanpure, MSIM, 2026 Talent Management Co-op, Ford Motor Company
• Sarah Harris, MLIS - Directed Fieldwork, Parkshore Senior Campus Community Library
• Rachel Ho, MSIM - Data Intern, Public Health – Seattle & King County
• Nicole Román Abreu, Museology - Steele Curatorial Intern National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
• Neel Mehta, Info. - Data Scientist Intern at Eye Spy Foundation and Data Analyst at F5
• Mouly Dewan, Ph.D. candidate - Research Intern, Microsoft
• Molly O’Donnell, MLIS - Directed Fieldwork, California School for the Deaf
• Mohriz Murad, Info. - Software Development Engineering Intern, Expedia Group
• Katelyn Mei, Ph.D. candidate - Research Intern at Microsoft Research Lab, NYC
• Jeffrey Ye, Info. - Research Intern, Seattle Children’s
• Jason Evans, MLIS - Directed Fieldwork, UW Rome Center collection
• Hebaq Farah, Informatics - Sales Intern The Duracell Company and Retail & Digital Marketing Strategy Intern, Nintendo
• Ethan Wang, Informatics - Agentic AI Engineer Intern, Kashmir World Foundation
• Erich Chase, Museology - Collections, Interpretation, and Archives Intern/ occasional Moomintroll, National Nordic Museum
• Anusree Kandibanda, Informatics - Software Engineering Intern, PBS Distribution
• Anukriti Kumar, Ph.D. candidate - Research Scientist Intern, Adobe
• Alyssa Johansen, MSIM - Project Management Intern, Nintendo of America
..and many more than could be listed here.

Congrats on these exciting career moves!

09/01/2026

Nothing beats campus in the fall 🧡🍂

Address

Mary Gates Hall, Suite 370, Box 352840
Seattle, WA
98195

Telephone

+12066859937

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