Information Institute (iInstitute)

About iInstitute and iSchools

Today, the iSchool organisation involves over 80 prestigious universities from around the world. The aim of the iSchools organisation is to promote and practice the iField. Disciplines of the iField include computer science, library and information science, business informatics, knowledge management, business, sociology, psychology, philosophy, ethics, linguistics, media, with a range of applied fields and disciplines such as astronomy, medicine, biology, health, history, religion, archaeology, musicology, literature, art.

The need for the iField and the iSchool at Linnaeus University is best described in the following paragraph by Professor Andrew Dillon, Head of iSchool at the University of Austin at the time, Linnaeus University's iSchool project advisor (2017):"

"The most pressing problems of the 21st century are trans-disciplinary and invariably mediated by information or its associated technologies. To lead change, scholarship must cross boundaries and equip the next generation of graduates to think in terms of leveraging human abilities through new IT. There is no single subject or discipline for this, it has to be outside traditional boundaries or it will not work. To do this, an iSchool at your university is essential. Without it, progress will invariably be limited and narrow".

Linnaeus University got accepted as a member of the iSchools organisation in December 2017.

Watch our presentation

iInstitute presentation

News items about iInstitute

Management

Head of iInstitute

Koraljka Golub Associate Professor
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Deputy Head

Marcelo Milrad Professor, Vice-dean
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iBoard members

iAdvisors

iAffiliates

Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Faculty of Social Sciences

Italo Masiello, Professor, Department of Pedagogy and Learning

Faculty of Technology

School of Business and Economics

Office of External Relations

Mathias Gaunitz, Innovation Adviser

Previous iBoard members

Joacim Hansson Professor
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Highlights of iInstitute

May 2019: Christian Wartena, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hanover, held a lecture named Analysis of Image Captions in Scientific Publications. Video. Slides.
May 2019: A blog post on Fredrik Hanell’s research “The digital daily lives of pre-school student teachers” has been published on the iSchools website.
January 2019: Call for proposals: A special issue of Education for Information on Emerging interdisciplinary curricula in the information sciences
December 2018: Call for proposals: Information Organization in Digital Humanities: Global Perspectives
Digital Humanities Day with Frank Fischer, co-director of DARIAH-EU and Associate Professor for Digital Humanities at the Higher School of Economics, Moscow. October 30, 2018. See a five-minute interview with Frank Fischer on "Why DARIAH?" here: https://vimeo.com/305977797
BAL-ADRIA Summer School on Digital Humanities, Zadar, Croatia, June 16–23, 2019 (keynote: Geoffrey C. Bowker, University of California, Irvine.
Seminar by Jean-Francois Blanchette, University of California, Los Angeles, May 18, 2018. Abstract. Video.
The Making of an iInstitute (top story at Information Today, May 9, 2018)
Inauguration lecture of the iInstitute: Christine Borgman, University of California, Los Angeles, May 7, 2018. Abstract.
Linnaeus University accepted as member of prestigious iSchools organisation April 27, 2018 (news item in Swedish).
Seminar "Emerging Information Field, iSchools Organisation, and Potential for Linnaeus University". Michael Seadle, Executive Director of iSchools; Dean of Faculty of Arts, Humboldt University and Sam Oh, iCaucus Chair-elect; Head of School, Library & Information Science and Data Science Department, Sungkyunkwan University, featured. The recorded video of the seminar is available at: https://connect.sunet.se/p92gwguambp/. Presentations by Sam Oh & Michael Seadle. November 3, 2017.
Digital Humanities Initiative

Building a Master in Digital Humanities

Education in Digital Humanities has been discussed at Linnaeus University since 2015. At the moment Linnaeus University offers:

Course Programming for Digital Humanities
A Summer School in Digital Humanities, in collaboration with University of Zadar, Uppsala University, iInstitute and Linnaeus University’s Centre for Data Intensive Sciences and Applications.

Plans to introduce Digital Humanities as a new subject of study are under way, as well as the Master and Magister programme in Digital Humanities.

Board members

Elisabet Göransson, Lund University
Italo Masiello, Linnaeus University
Koraljka Golub, Linnaeus University
Ludvig Papmehl-Dufay, Linnaeus University/Kalmar County Museum
Marcelo Milrad, Linnaeus University

Our vision

Our long-term vision is to create a leading education, development and research regional centre in the iField, that combines in novel ways already existing expertise from different Linnaeus University departments and faculties working in close collaboration and co-creation with relevant stakeholders from the surrounding society. Addressing future societal challenges would be possible by highly skilled professionals whose education has been markedly enhanced by practice-informed education and joint, cross-sector innovation. Strategic values to be developed during these efforts refer to uniting and consolidating the expertise we already have to create new constellations for collaboration leading to new knowledge and products (expertise, education, research, public and commercial services relevant for the region, such as a cultural tourism industry perspective), resulting in a return on investment.

Plans for the first period (24–36 months) are to focus on the development of new educational programmes and research as outlined in the figures below.

Vision and strategy for 2019–2023

iInstitute Vision and strategy 2019–2023

A graphical view of the iSchool concept at Linnaeus University, October 2017.

Current research and education nodes affiliated with the iInstitute.

Current and planned programmes affiliated with the iInstitute.

View the figures enlarged

External supporters

Supporters

Asia

Sam Oh, PhD, Professor, Sungkyunkwan University(SKKU), LIS and Data Science; Chair, iSchool Caucus (2018-2019)

Australia

Ying-Hsang Liu, PhD, Lecturer, School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University

Europe

Andrew M. Cox, Senior Lecturer, University of Sheffield
Jens-Erik Mai, PhD, Professor, Head of Department, Department of Information Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Isto Huvila, PhD, Professor, Uppsala University
Paavo Aarvola, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Tampere
António Lucas Soares, PhD, Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto
Kim Tallerås, PhD, Assistant Professor, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences
Tatjana Aparac-Jelusic, PhD, Distinguished Professor, retired from University of Zadar, Croatia

United States

Christine Borgman, PhD, Distinguished Professor, University of California at Los Angeles
Geoffrey C. Bowker, PhD, Chancellor's Professor, University of California at Irvine
Andrew Dillon, PhD, Professor and Dean, School of Information, University of Texas at Austin
Michael B. Eisenberg, PhD, Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, a founder of the iSchools movement
Marija Dalbello, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University
Joseph T. Tennis, PhD, Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Information School, University of Washington

iInstitute in the words of our supporters

"In the information age, every university needs a unit that brings faculty and students together from across the institution to focus on the key knowledge, skills, and issues of information and technology. Welcome, Linnaeus University, to the global community that does just that – to the iSchool community.I think the idea of establishing an information school with those elements is both innovative and very exciting... I think it could help lay the foundation for what an iSchool could also be!"

Michael B. Eisenberg, Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, a founder of the iSchools movement.

"The most pressing problems of the 21st century are trans-disciplinary and invariably mediated by information or its associated technologies. To lead change, scholarship must cross boundaries and equip the next generation of graduates to think in terms of leveraging human abilities through new IT. There is no single subject or discipline for this, it has to be outside traditional boundaries or it will not work. To do this, an iSchool at your university is essential. Without it, progress will invariably be limited and narrow."

Andrew Dillon, Head of iSchool, University of Texas as Austin

"This is an exciting new venture which will place Linnaeus University at the forefront internationally of the burgeoning iSchool movement. Since information occupies a central place in our society – from data science to social media, from library classification to knowledge organization – it is both appropriate and timely that this innovative institute is being created".

Geoffrey C. Bowker, Chancellor's Professor, University of California at Irvine

"I think the idea of establishing an information school with those elements is both innovative and very exciting... I think it could help lay the foundation for what an iSchool could also be!"

Jens-Erik Mai, Head of Department, Department of Information Studies, University of Copenhagen

"...assembling quite a diverse set of units seems to me a novel and potentially very fruitful approach."

Andrew M Cox, Senior Lecturer, University of Sheffield

"I am so glad that you and your colleagues continue with efforts to join the iSchool community. I have been involved with the development of iSchools in the United States from early beginnings as an external follower and even had a privilege to attend their iCaucus meeting in Washington in 2007. There I learned about the importance to discuss the future of LIS education and profession in regards of strengthening the position of LIS departments inside University by opening up and designing new profiles with other, relevant, departments/programs.

By all means, to my knowledge, your department managed to attract the attention of other teachers/researchers at your university up to now, and it seems to me that by entering the iSchool family you could gain more strength both in teaching and research area. Having said that, I mean that potentials of cooperation not only between departments at your own University but also with other Universities across Europe and wider, could enable you to submit research proposals, cooperate in PhD education and exchange students and teachers/researchers with other iSchools.

I am very glad to learn that Michael Seadle and Sam Oh visited your university and hope that this visit opened up new possibilities for your department, digital humanities and other fields in which LIS could contribute a lot."

Tatjana Aparac-Jelusic, Distinguished Professor, retired, University of Zadar, Croatia

The iSchool project at Linnaeus University, November 2016-November 2017

For more information on the iSchool project, please follow this link!

iSchools