2020: TASCHA year in review

The words "TASCHA Year in Review" written in a white font over an image of a red and purple sunset

January 28, 2021

As TASCHA’s 20th year comes to a close, the events of this past year are a reminder of why TASCHA was founded in the first place and why our work is more relevant than ever. Following are some TASCHA highlights from 2020.    Digital inclusion As the COVID-19pandemic hit the U.S., Stacey Wedlake, using data…

Creating the Digital Bridge: Methods

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January 21, 2021

Since the last update on the Digital Bridge project, we’ve completed our data collection for the project, and we’ve begun analysis. Throughout the course of the project, several people have expressed interest in our use of audio diaries as part of our methods. This post provides the nitty gritty on the methods and our initial…

First months of Creating the Digital Bridge

A woman sitting in front of her computer and talking on her mobile phone. She is wearing a white button up shirt and a tan headscarf.

October 30, 2020

The pandemic has forced even more of our lives to move online. In Seattle, much like the rest of the country, lower income households are significantly less likely to have a computer or internet at home and have lower than average levels of computer-based digital skills. Physical distancing requirements and the unpredictability of the virus…

Research Report: Technology Access & Education for Refugee Women in Seattle & King County

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September 30, 2020

Washington state consistently ranks among the top 10 U.S. states for refugee resettlement. The state welcomed more than 14,000 refugees in the past five years, and 1,930 refugees in 2019. Most of these refugees come from Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Somalia, and Ukraine. While the number of refugees resettled each year fluctuates…

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

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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…

Research on African Libraries in Development: Perceptions and Possibilities

September 15, 2020

Source: Afusat Ogunjimi, graduate of AfLIA Leadership Academy Cohort 1, Librarian, Oyo State Library Board, Nigeria.   By: Renee Lynch, Jason Young, Chris Jowaisas, Stanley Boakye-Achampong, and Joel Sam A Problem of Perception Over the past few years, TASCHA and African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA) have been collaborating on the Advancing Library…

Passion for Libraries and Immigrant Communities Guides Katya Yefimova’s Work at TASCHA

A black and white picture of Katya Yefimova smiling at the camera.

August 4, 2020

Katya Yefimova used to drive to a library branch across town just to browse Russian-language books on the shelves. Seattle traffic couldn’t deter the University of Washington Information School (iSchool) PhD candidate from her mission: Connecting her young daughter to her family’s language and heritage.  Yefimova knows first-hand that public libraries play an important role…

TASCHA Launches Development and Access to Information Dashboards

A teal and orange graph illustrating the percentage of the population covered by at least a 3G network from 2006-2018 in South Africa

July 8, 2020

“The rights and capacity to use, create, and share information in ways that are meaningful to each individual, community, or organization.”  July 8th 2020 – The Technology & Social Change Group at the University of Washington Information School has released the Development and Access to Information (DA2i) Dashboards, a data visualization platform that tracks the…

D4D Project Launch Under New Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center at UW

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July 1, 2020

By: Chris Rothschild Senior Research Scientist at TASCHA and a Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Fellow and Dr. Araba Sey, Senior Research Scientist We live in a data driven world – a world that is over 70% ocean. Thanks to recent technological developments, massive amounts of environmental data can now be captured and fed into the…

Teaching the Importance of Data for Decision-Making Skills to High School Seniors

June 4, 2020

  It’s never too early to talk about the importance of bringing more diverse voices into data to drive policy design and impact the wellbeing of our communities. In late April, during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place restrictions, we were invited to connect virtually with a group of outstanding students from the Heritage Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota….