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Ingbert Robert Schmidt

ifloyd2@gmail.com
http://ingbert.org/

Research Interests

I am interested in developing methods for design of sociotechnical systems. I understand this activity as guided evolution in sociotechnical ecologies. In particular, I have three areas of interest:

Education

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC), Champaign, IL: Sept. 2004 to present.
Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) M.S., Ph.D. Candidate. GPA: 3.86/4.00.
Courses include: Social Informatics, Rapid Prototyping and Evaluation, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Scenario-Based Design, Systems Analysis and Management, Design of Information Use Studies, Use and Users of Information, Computer-Mediated Communication, Contemporary Philosophy of Science, Knowledge Representation, Knowledge Representation and Formal Ontology, Information Modeling, Information Organization and Access, Organizational Psychology, Folklore, Self-Organizing Systems, History and Foundations of Library and Information Science, Indexing and Abstracting, Multivariate Analysis, E-Learning Independent Study, Doctoral Research Methods, Storytelling, Libraries and Information in Society. Audited: Ethnographic Research Methods, Qualitative Methods in Research, Data Analysis for LIS, Ontologies in the Humanities.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, M.A.: Sept. 1997 to June 1998; Jan 1999 to Jan. 2001.
B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, January 2001. GPA: 4.2/5.0.
Experimental Cognitive Science track, concentration in German. Courses include: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Statistical Methods, Probability and Random Variables, Social Psychology, Cognitive Processes, Cognitive Development, Origins of Behavior.

Research Experience

Research Group Participation

Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Research Work Experience

UIUC, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Champaign, IL.
Research Assistant for Professor Michael B. Twidale: Jan. 2008 - Aug. 2008; Jan. 2009 - Aug. 2009; May 2012 - Dec. 2012.
Volunteer Co-Coordinator of Eclectic Design Research Group (EDRG): Sept. 2004 - May 2010.
  • Performed research on rapid design and design evaluation methods, including various forms of rapid prototyping, paper prototyping, scenarios, personas, and some agile methods.
  • Researched ways of obtaining some of the benefits of Participatory Design with more rapid methods, especially regarding user participation in making design decisions and creating usable prototypes that users could integrate into their daily work activities.
  • Identified and described patchwork prototyping, a method of participatory rapid prototyping common in use but not described in the research literature.
  • Studied barriers to technology adoption, especially collaboration, collaboratory, and cyberinfrastructure software with a special emphasis on interaction and interface problems.
  • Studied how social relationships, institutional culture, and familiarity with technology interacted with system & interface design.
  • Studied design education, and participated in the exploration of rapid/agile research methods.
  • Maintained Eclectic Design Research Group (EDRG) website.
  • Organized and led EDRG meetings.
  • Researched and helped pursue grants and other funding opportunities, including NSF, Mellon, Kauffman Foundation, etc.
  • Helped run a Wildcard Session at the iConference 2008
UIUC, Graduate School of Library and Information Science Assistant Dean's Office, Champaign, IL: June 2010 - Aug. 2010, June 2011 - Aug. 2011.
Research Assistant.
  • Helped create alumni survey.
  • Developed survey questions.
  • Set up online survey software.
  • Processed Survey Data & Wrote Report.
UIUC, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Champaign, IL: Sept. 2004 - Dec. 2005.
Volunteer Researcher for the Inquiry Research Group.
  • Participated in developing iLabs, an experimental web-based collaboration-support support system, by gathering usability data and design requirements.
  • Studied the adoption of the technology by particular user communities, with a particular focus on barriers to adoption and how they can be overcome.
  • Conducted brainstorming sessions with the main developer regarding information architecture and interface design of the system.
MIT, Center for Learning and Memory, Cambridge, MA: Sept. 1999 - Feb. 2001.
Research Assistant for Professor Matt Wilson.
  • Successfully managed and completed an independent research project that investigated the relationship between behavior and memory formation in rodents by monitoring the activity of multiple hippocampal place cells using adjustable microdrive arrays during spatial navigation tasks
  • Personally responsible for in depth literature research (library, database and on-line), experimental design, apparatus construction and assembly, animal training and care, assistance with surgery, data collection and data processing using advanced mathematical techniques isolating cells by clustering data spike points across six dimensions and performing statistical analysis on the results.
  • Professional presentation (written and oral) of analysis in group meetings involving multiple labs to professors, post-doctoral associates, graduate student researchers, administrators and managers
  • Experimental preparation consisted of constructing conical microdrive arrays of 25 to 35 tetrodes (bundles of four microelectrodes), surgically mounting the arrays on the animal subjects (rats), lowering the electrodes into the hippocampus, animal behavioral training and care, and data collection utilizing a specialized array of amplifiers and computers.
  • Collaborated in research of neural learning funded by a 1.2 million-dollar Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) research grant.
  • Used knowledge of C, HTML, MATLAB, postscript, and UNIX scripting commands to write, proofread and optimize programs and scripts.
  • Aided in maintenance of local area network comprised of both Unix and Windows machines.
MIT, Clinical Research Center, Cambridge, MA: June to Sept. 1999.
Research Assistant.
  • Collaborated in research of the behavioral and pharmacological effects of Cocaine, Dexfenfluramine ("phen-fen"), and Melatonin, especially regarding activity levels, weight, levels of various neurotransmitters (Serotonin, Dopamine) in the brain, and levels of various intracellular neural messengers (cyclic AMP, cyclic GMP).
  • Extensive qualitative, quantitative and statistical analysis of complex behavioral data.
  • Designed and constructed equipment to aid in laboratory investigations using the MIT BCS machine shop.
  • Collected behavioral data, pharmacological data using radio-chemical assays, and contributed to the application of new experimental methods.
  • Responsible for care and handling of over 60 animal subjects (rats) at a time.
MIT, Plasma Science & Fusion Center, Cambridge, MA: Sept. 1997 to May 1998.
Research Assistant.
  • Assisted in research using a 3+ Tesla toroid with low density plasma to simulate atmospheric plasma.
  • Constructed probes and machined probe components out of aluminum & ceramic for immersion in simulated atmospheric plasma.

Other Research-Oriented Activities

Teaching Experience

Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Social Aspects of Information Technology - INFO202 Spring (January - May) 2013
  • Teaching Assistant: Led weekly discussion section, led one full-class lecture, fully responsible for grading and providing personalized feedback to students. Teaching styles used included lecturing, group work, and fostering discussion.
  • Course Description: This course introduces students to the field of Social Informatics. Social Informatics analyzes interactions among people and information/communication technologies(ICTs). This includes attention to a range of social, political and economic issues from the individual to societal levels. The class also explores the effects of different social and technical contexts on the creation and use of information/communication technologies. Issues covered in this classinclude: basic concepts of social systems, ICTs, and their interactions; uses of mobile information technology devices (such as cell phones, smart phones, and tablets); online interaction and virtual community; information technology and work; and laws and policies related to information technologies. This class serves as one of the three required core courses for the UIUC Informatics Minor.
Entrepreneurial IT Design - LIS490IT Spring (January - May) 2011
  • Co-Instructor of Record: With other co-instructor, responsible for all aspects of teaching the course, including developing course materials/syllabus, teaching/lecturing, and grading.
  • Course Description: Introduces students to a range of rapid prototyping techniques and methods to analyze needs, opportunities and design spaces. Students will work in teams to develop ideas for novel computational devices or applications to meet identified needs. Covers the interlinked entrepreneurial skills of identifying an unmet need, exploiting technological opportunities, exploring a design space to refine an idea, and communicating a design vision through demonstrations with prototypes and proofs of concept. This enables developers to show how their envisaged working interactive technology will be used productively in a particular real-life context. Communicating the vision of computational devices is a challenge because dynamic use in context is hard for people other than the device's developers to imagine. The ability to produce convincing, clear, powerful demonstrations even at the early stages of a project is a highly valuable entrepreneurial skill, and also highly applicable within an organization.
Museum Informatics - LIS490MU Spring (January - May) 2012, 2010
  • Teaching Assistant: Assisted with developing the syllabus, teaching/lecturing, grading, and personalized feedback. The course was an online distance education course, thus helped students with technical support and supplemented lecture with backchannel communications. Engaged students in forum discussions.
  • Course Description: Covers information organization and access in museums, exploring the relationship between information technology and modern museum environments. Students learn about classification systems for museums, computer systems for information storage and retrieval, universal access to shared electronic data, copyright in the digital world, virtual museums, interactive exhibits, and information management in museums, through lectures, computer-based activities, and interactive discussions. The final project involves design of an electronic portfolio of virtual museum resources. Students are encouraged to approach class topics from their individual backgrounds in the humanities, sciences, or social sciences. There will be additional assignments required of graduate students.
Web Technologies and Techniques - LIS390W1A Fall (Aug. - Dec.) 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007
  • Instructor of Record: Solely responsible for all aspects of teaching the course, including developing course materials/syllabus, teaching/lecturing, and grading.
  • Course Description: This course provides an introduction to the technologies behind the Web. Topics covered include: hypertext, hypermedia, the history of the Web, the role of Web standards and their impact on the development of Web resources. The course introduces principles of Web design and usability. Students will gain an understanding how the Web works and how to design, construct, evaluate, and maintain Web-based materials.

Other Teaching Experience

The Floyd Solution, New Orleans, LA: May 2002 to April 2003; Cambridge, MA: Sept. 2001 to Jan. 2002.
Private Tutor.
  • Instructed clients of various backgrounds, including home-schooled high school, undergrad, and grad level students.
  • Subjects taught include: math of various levels including calculus; written and verbal English—including pronunciation, slang, improving a client’s accent, grammar, reading comprehension, literature, writing skills, essay writing and vocabulary; American history; American culture; and GED, SAT, GRE, GMAT and Citizenship test preparation. Instructed clients in both learning skills and test-taking skills.
  • Provided introductory lessons in Windows, MS Office, the internet and web-browsing, and simple customization and maintenance of personal machines to novice computer users.
  • Provided consultation on business school applications and essays for top MBA programs.
Boston University, Metropolitan College, Boston, MA: Aug. 2001 to Jan. 2002.
SAT, GRE Tutor.
  • Instructed classes of 20-35 students in Verbal, Math, Analytic, and test-taking skills for the SAT & GRE.
  • Used an interactive format and structured the classes to cover the maximum amount of material while keeping the class focused on the areas where the students felt they needed the most work.
  • Approached lessons by keeping in mind the perspective of the students so as not to overlook details important to the understanding of the material.
  • Included emphasis on test-taking skills and strategies, and on familiarizing students with the format of the test.
  • Developed strong presentation, organizational and interpersonal skills while maintaining classroom discipline.

Other Work & Volunteer Experience

Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO) IFT/AFT Local 6300, AFL-CIO, Champaign, IL.
Co-President (elected): May 2009 - May 2010.
  • Coordinated an organizing drive that increased membership from 44% to 54%.
  • Co-chaired the Coordinating Committee (CC), the GEO's executive body.
  • Worked with the Treasurer and other Co-President to restructure the $750,000 annual budget to match actual GEO expenditures, to simplify the accounting process, and to eliminate lines of spending that were no longer needed.
  • Direct Supervisor of GEO Staff (2 full-time permanent organizers, 1 part-time administrative assistant, plus 3 temporary organizers during Fall 2009).
Stewards' Council Co-Chair (elected): May 2011 - September 2011.
Stewards' Council-Coordinating Committee Liason (elected): January 2011 - December 2012.
GSLIS Steward & Active Member: September 2008 - August 2010, January 2011 - present.
  • Conducted office visits with Staff.
  • Conducted and coordinated systematic turnout efforts for rallies, important General Membership Meetings, and other events. This included phonebanking, individual personalized emails, hard commits, and office visits.
  • Member of Coordinating Committee; trained new officers & new staff; developed long-term strategy.
  • Lobbied Illinois State Senators and Representatives in Springfield on behalf of the GEO and the IFT.
Bargaining Team (elected): March 2009 - January 2010 & January 2012 - December 2012.
Bargaining Research Group: September 2009 - January 2010, October 2011 - present.
  • Despite a recession in 2009, successfully negotiated contract after a two day strike in November that gained approximately $1.5 million/year in wages and benefits and secured tuition waivers for the Bargaining Unit.
  • Negotiated a successful contract in 2012 that maintained tuition waiver protections, despite a 3 year concerted effort by the university to eliminate them.
  • Surveyed membership about contract issues, developed the bargaining platform that was approved by a membership vote, developed contract language for our contract proposal, developed counter-proposals, did research necessary to write precise contract language and to make effective arguments both in the bargaining room and in the press.
Strike Committee Co-Chair (elected): October 2009 - November 2009.
Strike Committee Member (elected): November 2012 - December 2012.
Strike Working Group: September 2009 - November 2009, April 2012 - November 2012.
  • Coordinated a strike in November 2009 with over 1000 people on our picket lines.
  • Planned strike logistics; served as a runner & coordinated the picket lines during the 2009 strike.
  • Planned strike logistics and organized members to strike in 2012; strike was averted.
Personnel Committee Co-Chair (elected): May 2009 - May 2010.
Personnel Committee Member (elected): May 2009 - August 2010, May 2011 - September 2011.
  • Hired 3 temporary organizers and 1 permanent organizer in 2009. Hired 1 permanent organizer in 2011.
  • Developed text for job advertisement; reviewed resumes; developed interview questions; conducted interviews both on the phone and in person; checked references; participated in the hiring decision; notified candidates of acceptance or rejection decision in person, over the phone, and via email (as appropriate).
  • Conducted staff bargaining in Summer 2010 & 2011.
Communications Committee: September 2008 - August 2010, January 2011 - present.
  • Reviewed and edited posters, fliers, and press releases.
  • Helped with migration of website from Moveable Type to Wordpress; performed requirements analysis for new site.
  • Updated database scripts for processing member information; brainstormed update to database structure.
  • Conducted training on wikis, blogs, and mailing list software with members.
  • Setup, maintained, and migrated email lists.
Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance (UGA), Champaign, IL, Dec. 2009 - Jan. 2012.
Volunteer, GEO Liason.
  • The UGA is a coalition of undergraduate activists from many different UIUC Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) and graduate students from the GEO focused on building solidarity for on-campus activism including union support, tuition freeze advocacy, & undocumented immigrant support.
  • Helped plan & organize UGA activities including rallies, town hall meetings, awareness-raising activities, tabling & flyering.
  • Developed long-term organizing strategies.
  • Provided guidance, instruction and training to undergraduate members of the UGA based on the organizing knowledge developed from service with the GEO.
Central Illinois Jobs with Justice (JwJ), Champaign, IL, Aug. 2009 - present.
Volunteer, GEO Liason.
  • Participated in monthly planning meetings, helped organize around issues, promoted GEO participation in JwJ events.
UIUC, Graduate School of Library and Information Science Publications Office, Champaign, IL: Aug. 2006 - Aug. 2007.
Research Assistant.
  • Helped create, maintain, and organize materials in the GSLIS community of IDEALS. IDEALS is the UIUC Institutional Repository.
  • Publicized the community within GSLIS, recruited and facilitated faculty, staff, and student submissions.
  • Walked faculty through the submissions process, answered questions and concerns that were raised.
  • Collected feedback from faculty and staff about IDEALS in general and about the submissions process in particular, including process, interface, and presentational issues; provided it to the IDEALS administrators.
  • Contacted publishers to establish copyright permissions for placing their publications in IDEALS
  • Collected information about, prepared, and organized materials being sent to a mass digitization effort.
  • Gathered publication information from faculty, compiled it, and researched copyright policies of publishers.
UIUC, Educational Policy Studies, Champaign, IL: March 2006 to June 2006.
Research Assistant for Professor Luis Miron.
  • Helped to construct a research framework to investigate New Orleans schools post-Katrina using a Social Informatics perspective.
UIUC, Center for Computing in Humanities, Arts, and Social Science, Urbana, IL: Aug. 2005 to Apr. 2006.
Research Assistant/Program Coordinator.
  • Created the first version of the Center for CHASS website (http://www.chass.uiuc.edu/), including both content and design.
  • Processed data collected in a semi-structured survey.
  • Organized events such as lectures, workshops, and mini-conferences.
UIUC, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Champaign, IL: Aug. 2004 to Oct. 2005.
Research Assistant for Professor Caroline Haythornthwaite.
  • Helped organize the Association of Internet Researchers 6.0 Conference. Duties included assembling the list of reviewer, contacting reviewers, monitoring the submissions process, distributing abstracts to reviewers, organizing the sessions, etc
  • Helped with organizing submissions and running the review process for a special issue of the Journal for Computer-Mediated Communication

Publications & Presentations

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

Schmidt, Ingbert (2013). Re-Inventing the Wheel: The Re-Creation of Documents in a Bumble-Bee Organization. iConference 2013. [notes paper]

Twidale, Michael B.; Schmidt, Ingbert; Ginger, Jeff; Organisciak, Peter; Lueg, Christopher (2013). Design Jams in iSchools: approaches, challenges and examples. iConference 2013. [alternative event]

Twidale, Michael B.; Cunningham, Sally Jo; Howison, James; Williams, Kate; Organisciak, Peter; Ginger, Jeff; Smith, Brittany; Schmidt, Ingbert (2013). Tech Learning Potluck. iConference 2013. [alternative event]

Reynolds, Rebecca; Allen, Warren; Erickson, Ingrid; Ho, Shuyuan Mary; Howison, James; Schmidt, Ingbert (2013). Sociotechnical Systems Research: Advancing Clear Definitions, Conceptual Boundaries, Shared Understandings, and Promising and Fruitful Research Problem Domains. iConference 2013. [workshop]

Schmidt, Ingbert R. (2013). Document & Knowledge Reincarnation in a Bumblebee Organization. ALISE Annual Conference 2013. [poster/abstract]

Floyd, Ingbert R.; Dousa, Thomas M.; Twidale, Michael B. (2009). From the Social to the Individual and Back: The Cognitive Materialist Interpretation of Boundary Objects and Its Implications for Knowledge Organization. Special Interest Group: Classification Research pre-conference workshop at The American Society for Information Science & Technology Annual Meeting 2009. [poster/abstract]

Floyd, Ingbert R. (2009). Multiple Interpretations: Implications of FRBR as a Boundary Object. The American Society for Information Science & Technology Annual Meeting 2009. [poster/short paper]

Floyd, Ingbert R.; Gurzick, David; Haythornthwaite, Caroline; Brock, Andre (2009). Engaging Multidisciplinarity in Sociotechnical Internet Research: A hands-on workshop. Internet Research 10.0 - Internet: Critical. [workshop (co-organizer)]

Goggins, Sean P.; Floyd, Ingbert R.; Grudin, Jonathan; Sawyer, Steve; Erickson, Ingrid; Dabbish, Laura; Reddy, Madhu; Ribes, David (2009). The Science of Socio-Technical Systems in iSchools. iConference 2009. [workshop (co-organizer)]

Floyd, Ingbert R.; Jones, M. Cameron; Twidale, Michael B. (2008). Resolving Incommensurable Debates: A Preliminary Identification of Persona Kinds, Attributes, and Characteristics. Artifact, 2(1), 12-26. [journal article]

Floyd, Ingbert R.; Twidale, Michael B. (2008). Learning Design from Emergent Co-Design: Observed Practices and Future Directions. Presented at Designed for Co-designers workshop at the Participatory Design Conference 2008 (PDC 2008). [workshop position paper]

Twidale, Michael B.; Floyd, Ingbert R. (2008). Infrastructures From the Bottom-Up and the Top-Down: Can They Meet in the Middle? Proceedings of the Participatory Design Conference 2008 (PDC 2008). [short paper]

Jones, M. Cameron; Floyd, Ingbert R.; Twidale, Michael B. (2008). Teaching Design with Personas. Proceedings of the Human Computer Interaction in Education 2008 (HCIEd 2008) Conference, Rome, Italy. [conference paper]

Jones, M. Cameron; Floyd, Ingbert Robert; Twidale, Michael B.; Adamczyk, Piotr D. (2008). Mapping the Design Space of Design Education in iSchools. iConference 2008, Los Angeles, CA, USA. [wildcard session (co-organizer)]

Floyd, Ingbert R.; Renear, Allen (2007). What Exactly is an Item in the Digital World? The American Society for Information Science & Technology Annual Meeting 2007, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [short paper/poster]

Floyd, Ingbert R.; Jones, M. Cameron; Rathi, Dinesh; Twidale, Michael B. (2007). Web Mash-ups and Patchwork Prototyping: User-driven technological innovation with Web 2.0 and Open Source Software. HICSS 2007: 40th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2007. [conference paper]

Jones, M. Cameron; Floyd, Ingbert R.; Twidale, Michael B. (2007). Patchwork Prototyping with Open-Source Software. In The Handbook of Research on Open Source Software, St. Amant, K. and Still, B. (Eds), Idea Group, Inc., PA. [book chapter]

Unpublished Presentations

Schmidt, Ingbert R. (2012). Re-Inventing the Wheel: The Re-Creation of Documents in a Bumble-Bee Organization. PhD Seminar Guest Presentation, School of Information Studies at Syracuse University. [slides]

Schmidt, Ingbert R. (2012). Re-Inventing the Wheel: The Re-Creation of Documents in a Bumble-Bee Organization. GSLIS in a Flash, School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. [slides]

Floyd, Ingbert R. (2005). The Use of Feedback and Research in a Successful Distance Education Program. Association of Internet Researchers Conference 6.0: Generations, 2005.

Professional Service

Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

  • Doctoral Studies Committee Student Representative – May 2005 - August 2007
  • PhD Student Orientation Committee – May 2005 - October 2009
  • Lecture Committee – 2004 - 2006

Reviewing

Other Professional Service

Skills

Computer, Technical: Windows 7/XP/2000/98/95/Servers, Mac OSX, UNIX, Linux; SSH; HTML & CSS; PHP, C, MATLAB, Javascript, Lisp, Scheme; Statview; TCP/IP Networking.

Computer, Internet: Can administer, install & customize Open Source Software applications (esp. PHP-based applications) like Drupal, Wordpress, Mediawiki, Moodle, Moveable Type; used Dreamhost, Nearlyfreespeech.net.

Computer, Office: MS Office (Word/Excel/PowerPoint); Google Docs; Google Calendar; Corel WordPerfect; LaTeX; Lotus Notes; QuickBooks; data entry; type 75 wpm.

Management: Direct Supervisor; Employee Training; Hiring/Firing; Developing and Codifying Office Procedure: write-up & enforcement; Scheduling; Leadership; Communication Skills.

Teaching: Individual & Classroom Teaching Experience, ability to adjust teaching to level of students, extensive use of feedback to measure effect of teaching on students.

Librarian: Internet & Database searching, information organization & classification including taxonomy creation.

Languages: Conversant in German.

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