The Visual Information Systems Center (VISC) is pleased to announce that it has partnered with the School of Engineering to receive a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.  VISC will be developing virtual models of a nuclear power plant as a form of online education.

SIS alum, Marcia Lei Zeng, has been appointed to the International Federation of Library Institutions and Associations’ (IFLA) World Digital Library Working Group on Digital Library Guidelines. Dr. Zeng, Professor at the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University, is the only American information professional serving on the IFLA working group which is tasked with developing digital library guidelines and best practices for use by libraries and other cultural institutions around the world. Established at the conclusion of the UNESCO experts' meeting on the World Digital Library on December 1, 2006, the group’s guidelines are expected to be of value to all libraries that are creating or that intend to create digital libraries.  Dr. Zeng earned her PhD in Library and Information Science from SIS in 1992.

Patricia Lawton, Assistant Professor, was selected to participate in the 2007 Provost’s Faculty Diversity Seminar.  Lawton, who joined the SIS faculty in 2006, was honored to be invited to join 10 other Pitt faculty in addressing whether or not their courses and course materials promote or hinder inclusion.  The purpose of the seminar is to help faculty to create classroom experiences that “both contribute to students’ knowledge of their own historical identity as well as foster greater appreciation for the history, values, beliefs, and cultures of other groups in society.”  Professor Lawton, who earned her PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Library and Information Studies, teaches “Organizing Information” (LIS 2001) and “Descriptive Cataloging” (LIS 2405).

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM), Middle Atlantic Region (MAR), is pleased to announce the SIS student Mary Jo Dorsey is the recipient of the Online Training Development Award.  The purpose of the award program is to improve health professionals', librarians' and the public's skills in accessing electronic health information and to foster partnerships between health sciences librarians and health professionals, the public and other librarians.  Mary Jo was recognized for her work, “Using Wikis in Education,” as part of her work at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital, Pittsburgh.

The Center for National Preparedness (CNP) is pleased to announce that Ken Sochats has been selected as a semifinalist for the Christopher Columbus award in the Homeland Security category. The Christopher Columbus award was established by Congress to promote innovation in a number of technological disciplines.  The CNP, under the direction of SIS faculty Ken Sochats, is a broad, multidisciplinary, collaborative enterprise that engages the University’s scientists, engineers, policy experts, and clinical faculty. Members of the Center possess expertise in biomedical research, public health, medicine, national security policy, engineering, and information technology.  The Center communicates the innovative research of the University’s faculty to the broader public through the educational and training programs including this Seminar Series.

The Visual Information Systems Center (VISC) at SIS is pleased to announce that the poster entitled “Adventure Mapping” created by Ken Sochats (VISC Director) and Alison Stones of History of Art and Architecture was nominated for best poster in the Instructional Presentation category at the ESRI International Users Conference in San Diego. The ESRI International Users Conference is the largest Geographic Information Systems conference in the world with over 13,000 attendees, over 50 concurrent sessions and 600 vendor exhibits.

The Visual Information Systems Center (VISC) has received another grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. As a result, VISC will be continuing its work on metadata, which includes the Pennsylvania Safe Schools Program.

The poster entitled “Dynamic Discrete Disaster Decision Simulation System” created by Ken Sochats and Matt Kelley (of the Visual Information Systems Center at SIS) and coauthored by Larry Shuman and Bopaya Bidanda of Engineering and Carey Balaban of Medicine was nominated for best poster in the Software Integration category at the ESRI International Users Conference in San Diego.