Last modified: Tuesday, April 8, 2003
Shaw named interim dean for SLIS
Debora Shaw will be recommended to the Indiana University Board of Trustees as interim dean of the School of Library and Information Science through the 2004-05 academic year, according to an announcement today (April 8) by Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Stephens Brehm. Shaw succeeds Blaise Cronin, who has served as dean since 1991.
Shaw is currently associate dean and associate professor in the school. Her research interests include information seeking and use by humanities scholars, as well as the design and impact of electronic information sources. Shaw teaches regularly on information services and the retrieval of online information.
Shaw has been a frequent co-author with Cronin, and the two have written articles on image-makers and author-nationality relationships. In addition, Shaw has published in the areas of undergraduate use of CD-ROM databases and bibliographic database-searching by graduate students in language and literature.
"After serving seven years as an excellent associate dean, Debora is well prepared to direct the school," Brehm said. "Her work as the head of the data services division of the Indiana State Library and her research in online databases encompasses the two major fields encompassed in the school. I will value her counsel as we examine the ways to maintain and enhance IU's reputation as a leader in information technology."
Shaw earned her M.A.L.S. degree at the University of Michigan School of Library Science in 1974 and received an IU doctorate in information science in 1983. She is a graduate of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation Academic Leadership Program and received the 1993 Watson Davis Award for outstanding continuous contributions and dedicated service to the American Society for Information Science. A member of the American Library Association, Shaw also served in 1997 as president of the American Society for Information Science and Technology.
"The demands of the Information Age challenge the School of Library and Information Science to prepare information professionals for unprecedented opportunities and responsibilities in libraries and many other settings," Shaw said. "I look forward to working with the excellent faculty and supportive alumni who have made the school a national leader in library and information science."
