The Silverfish is the official newsletter of the Association of Library & Information Science Students (ALISS) at the University of Washington. It is published monthly by the Silverfish staff and contributors , which is made up of student volunteers from the Information School. The Silverfish strives to be the mouthpiece for all students in the iSchool; students, staff and alumni from the MLIS program as well as the PhD program, the MSIM program and the Informatics program are encouraged to become involved. The Silverfish is actively seeking contributions including articles, artwork, poetry and short stories. If you are interested in contributing or have an idea for a piece, please contact thesilverfish@gmail.com.

The purpose of the Silverfish is to publish material relevant to the experience of being a student at the iSchool—which could include anything from book reviews to bar reviews, and from interviews with faculty to reports on new technological gadgets. The Silverfish is not meant to be a scholarly publication, although we do publish student papers from time to time. We strive to keep this publication informal and fun—and hopefully to provide a welcome break from homework and classes.

Silverfish content is protected by copyright law, and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, or otherwise utilized without the prior written consent of the author. Copyright is retained by the author. All rights reserved. Editorial positions on the Silverfish staff are considered leadership positions.

Opinions expressed in the Silverfish are solely those of the author, not of the paper’s staff as a whole, ALISS or the Information School. Please direct comments to thesilverfish@gmail.com.

The name of the newsletter is derived from an insect. Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) have inhabited the earth for over 300 million years. They are pests of paper products and prefer food containing starch such as the glue found in book bindings and photographs. Silverfish are found throughout the United States and the world. They are the traditional nemesis of librarians.