How Public Libraries Can Help With Data Literacy and Build More Inclusive Data

A group of colorful hexagons. In the center of each hexagon are outlines of human heads with lightbulbs above them.

September 21, 2020

Earlier this summer, TASCHA Principal Research Scientist, Maria Garrido, and Senior Research Scientist, Chris Rothschild were invited by Infopeople to conduct a four-week online course intended to provide California librarians with the opportunity to learn about assessing marginalized voices in data and its importance from a public library perspective. The course was designed to explore…

Event: TASCHA at the iSchool Research Fair

March 6, 2017

TASCHA researchers will be presenting their ongoing work at the annual iSchool research fair on March 9th, 6:30-8:00pm in the HUB South Ballroom. With topics ranging from the future of libraries to the development of a information literacy curriculum for mobile users, the fair is a chance to speak with researchers about the many ways TASCHA is…

Join the U.S. Impact Study at the American Library Association annual conference

June 24, 2015

The American Library Association (ALA) is holding their annual conference June 25-June 30, 2015 in San Francisco. This year, TASCHA collaborators Samantha Becker and Stacey Wedlake from the U.S. Impact Study group will be attending and highlighting some of their great work on library measurement and evaluation. So, if you’re heading to ALA, be sure to join them as they represent two of their projects, the Impact Survey and the Edge Initiative.

TASCHA faculty to present on social media data analysis

March 5, 2015

On Tuesday, March 10, 2015, Maria will present to the Data Management Association of Puget Sound (DAMA of Puget Sound) on her research involving collecting and analyzing data from social media platforms. Using examples from her work investigating the role of Facebook in the Arab Spring and the use of Twitter as a collective voice in political protests, Maria will explore the challenges that researchers face when collecting and analyzing data from social media platforms.

Upcoming event: If mobile phones killed the telecentre, what is next for public internet access?

May 6, 2014

TASCHA is excited to announce that we’ll be participating in an upcoming event on public access ICTs, hosted by the Center for Collaborative Technologies at IREX in partnership with Kurante. Below is a description of the event (originally posted on ICTworks by Wayan Vota); space is limited, so if you’d like to join us in DC for this event, please RSVP now.

Upcoming event: The Politics of Information in Myanmar

February 13, 2014

Myanmar (Burma) has spent decades under authoritarian rule. It was isolated politically and economically from the rest of the world and home to one of the world’s longest civil wars. In the last few years, Myanmar has begun a transformation from authoritarian to democratic rule, from economic isolation and underdevelopment to an integrated market economy, and from war to peace. Come hear Myanmar expert and Jackson School of International Studies Professor Mary Callahan speak about her experiences living, researching, and working in Myanmar as this process has unfolded. She will also discuss a new USAID/Microsoft-supported information literacy project, housed in the Jackson School and initiated in collaboration with Burmese civil society groups and the Information School’s Technology & Social Change Group (more details on the project coming soon!).

TASCHA heads to Cape Town for ICTD 2013

December 4, 2013

The International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) takes place in Cape Town, South Africa December 7-10, 2013. Researchers from TASCHA regularly participate in this conference, usually held every 18 months. This year, TASCHA Director Chris Coward will present a paper at the conference based on the Global Impact Study, “The impact of public access to ICTs: Findings from a five-year, eight-country study.”

The roles of Facebook in the Egyptian Arab Spring

July 9, 2013

I recently presented a paper on the different roles of Facebook during the Egyptian Arab Spring at the International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries (IFIP) 2013. This conference is one of the most important spaces to critically discuss the social implications of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in developing countries. IFIP not only brings together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers from different parts of the world, but also provides a multidisciplinary and multicultural space to discuss, plan, and work on theoretical, methodological, and practical challenges that ICT for development faces. IFIP 2013 focused on outlining crucial future challenges for the area, gaps that have not been addressed sufficiently, new technological possibilities, better understanding of institutional dimensions, and critical reflection on methodological approaches and theoretical positions that may guide our future thinking.

Youth, ICTs, and Democracy: Recent presentations

April 16, 2013

A recent TASCHA project, in the research area of Social Movements, explored how Facebook and social media was used in Egypt before and during the Arab Spring. The Youth, ICTs, and Democracy in Egypt project drew on social movement theory and emphasizes various lines of analysis, asking the main research question, how did the use of ICTs impact the evolution of the youth movement and the trajectory of the Egyptian revolution? Findings from this research have recently been presented at multiple venues by members of the project team.

TASCHA faculty to present on influential Tweeting & social movements at Change

January 17, 2013

What makes a Tweet influential, particularly during a social movement? Do influential Tweets share common messaging with other Twitter users and social media outlets? TASCHA Research Faculty member Maria Garrido, along with Alexander Halavais of Arizona State University, will present on the role of Twitter and the characteristics of influential Tweets and Twitter users during the G-20 meeting protests in 2009 at next week’s meeting of University of Washington’s Change group. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 from 12-1pm in the University of Washington’s Allen Center, room CSE 203.