Info Session about co-op programs at SLAIS: The iSchool at UBC

Wednesday, September 26, 2012, 12:15 pm
365 Laurier Ave W., Departmental Boardroom (2nd floor), Ottawa

Are you looking for help in providing information services to your clients? Do you need someone to assist on a special project?
 
Co-op students from  SLAIS: The iSchool@UBC can help.

For over five decades, the iSchool at UBC – more formally known as the School of Library, Archival & Information Studies – has been a leader in educating information professionals in Canada, equipping them with the knowledge and understanding necessary to obtain and manage information in an increasingly complex world.

SLAIS students are trained in today’s best professional practices, and they will be tomorrow’s leaders in planning, implementing, and promoting the preservation, organization, and effective use of society’s recorded information and ideas. Unique to this School is the Masters of Archival Studies, which recently received the Inaugural Award for Academic Excellence from ARMA International, as well as the Dual MAS/MLIS Joint degree.

The skills and knowledge sets they bring include:

• Collection evaluation
• Creating metadata & resource descriptions
• Database creation & search functionality
• Digitization project management
• Document appraisal & organization
• Indexing & classification
• Instructional skills
• Interface design
• Records management
• Reference service
• Research & analysis
• User surveys & needs assessments
• Web design & content development

Come to an information session to learn more.

Speakers: 

• Julie Walchli (Director, Arts Co-op Program)
• Recent graduates from the program now working in permanent roles in the NCR

RSVP

• E-mail cla.govlib@gmail.com

Alma Matters: News from the Schools

News of interest from the LIS/LIT programs in Canada.

Dalhousie University, School of Information Management

• The latest issue of Inforum is now available on the SIM website.

McGill University, School of Information Studies

• Alumni cocktails @ SLA conference in Chicago

Université de Montréal, École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information

• Voyage d’étude en Finlande du 3 au 18 août 2012 et congrès de l’IFLA

University of Alberta, School of Library and Information Studies

• uAlberta SLIS Requests Input re: Accreditation
• New Faculty Join uAlberta SLIS

University of British Columbia, School of Library, Archival & Information Studies

• Dr. Victoria Lemieux appointed acting director of Media and Graphics Interdisciplinary Centre

University of Ottawa, School of Information Studies

• ÉSIS is pleased to announce the appointment of two new tenure-track faculty members on July 1, 2012: Dr. Inge Alberts and Dr. André Vellino. Welcome to the information studies team!

University of Toronto, Faculty of Information

• Day-in-the-life on YouTube documents iSchool students
• KMDI announces Prof. Clement as interim director

Western University, Faculty of Information and Media Studies

• Dr. Pamela McKenzie has been appointed an Associate Dean in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies.

uAlberta SLIS Requests Input re: Accreditation

Colleagues:  The School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) here at the University of Alberta is currently in the process of preparing for the re-accreditation of our MLIS program by the Office for Accreditation of the American Library Association.  At present we are engaged in an intense period of preparation for our external review.  An External Review Panel will visit SLIS in March, 2013.  Accreditation ensures that our graduates’ professional preparation is recognized throughout North America.

The accreditation process includes consultation with our stakeholder groups, as well as the gathering and analysis of data to demonstrate the value of the MLIS program. As part of the process, over the course of the next few months we will be requesting volunteers to participate from various SLIS constituencies (i.e. regional employers, alumni, non-alumni practitioners, students, etc.) in facilitated focus groups and possibly other survey mechanisms. Please watch for additional information.

Today, however, I am making a particular request and in the process disturbing, I know, the tranquility of your summer.  I am asking, respectfully, to receive any comments/suggestions/observations you may wish to make with regard to the School, particularly in terms of its present programs or any recommendations you may have for its future programming.  Your expressions should be sent to me, with an indication as to whether you would wish attribution.  In the absence of the latter direction, all submissions will be treated as anonymous.

Please feel free to forward this request as you feel is appropriate.

We appreciate the continuing support of the library community as we engage in this strenuous, but important process.  I do sincerely wish you a restful summer, and hope that this year continues to bring you personal and professional enjoyment.

Ernie Ingles
Director, School of Library and Information Studies
University of Alberta
Ernie.Ingles[@]ualberta.ca

Vice-Provost Tel: 780-492-5170
SLIS Tel: 780-492-3932

New Faculty Join uAlberta SLIS

Edmonton, Alberta, June 30, 2012. The University of Alberta, Faculty of Education, School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) is pleased to announce two tenure-track faculty appointments: Dr. Tami Oliphant and Dr. Michael McNally. Their appointments are effective July 1, 2012.

Dr. Oliphant earned her doctorate from the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS) at the University of Western Ontario and she is a SLIS alumna having earned her MLIS from the University of Alberta in 2001.

Tami previously taught undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Western Ontario and has been teaching at the University of Alberta in a term position the past year. She has taught such courses as ‘Publishing, Media, and Librarianship’ and ‘Research Methods’. She has worked in academic libraries, public libraries, communications and planning, and as a researcher at the University of Alberta and the University of Western Ontario.

Her doctoral research focused on how people use information and discursive strategies to justify, argue, or explain why they did or did not use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to treat depression. Her current research interests include information behaviour, publishing and media, research methods, and user services. She is also currently working with the Public Library Services Branch of Alberta Municipal Affairs in understanding library usage in rural Alberta with the purpose of contributing to the continuous improvement of services.

Dr McNally also earned his doctorate from the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS) at the University of Western Ontario, where in 2007 he had previously completed his MLIS.

Michael taught in the FIMS program at the graduate level in such courses as ‘Information Policy’, ‘Research Methods and Statistics’, and lectured in ‘Foundations of Library and Information Science’. He has worked in a corporate library setting, and has been a researcher for the Canadian International Trade Tribunal.

His doctoral research focused on intellectual property and its alternatives, and he has current research interests in the theories of the information society, radio-spectrum management and libraries, user-generated content and the economic and social aspects of innovation.

SLIS welcomes both Tami and Michael. We look forward to their contributions to SLIS as the School delivers on its goal to develop reflective and inquisitive information and library service leaders. In turn, SLIS, the Faculty of Education and the University of Alberta looks forward to providing Michael and Tami with a supportive environment to permit them to fulfill their respective academic career aspirations.

For further information, contact:

Ernie Ingles,
Vice-Provost and Director, School of Library and Information Studies,
3-18 Rutherford South,
Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada, T6G 2J4

Tel: 780-492-3932

Breathing New Life into the Profession: LIS Education in the 21st Century

Source: http://www.slais.ubc.ca/news/current-news.htm

Two directors of Canadian schools of library and information studies shared their perspectives on the direction of LIS education in the 21st century at an event this week at The University of British Columbia.

Caroline Haythornthwaite, Director of the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, the iSchool at UBC, and Louise Spiteri, Director of the School of Information Management at Dalhousie University, presented “Breathing New Life into the Profession: LIS Education in the 21st Century” on Wednesday, June 27 as part of the BC Research Libraries Group Lecture Series.

Libraries and library roles are undergoing rapid transformation in the 21st century. In the face of such enormous change, some libraries are choosing non-library trained professionals to fill key new roles; others are looking to non-library professional programs to help train library professionals in new roles, while still others are demanding library education change immediately to meet the demands for new skill sets required for new library positions. Dr. Haythornthwaite and Dr. Spiteri spoke to the many challenges facing library and information professional programs in preparing professionals for 21st century roles.

A recording of the webcast is available.

University of Alberta to Launch Online MLIS Program

Source: http://www.slis.ualberta.ca/en/SchoolOfLibraryAndInformationStudiesNews/2012/May/OnlineProgramAnnouncement.aspx

The University of Alberta’s fully online, ALA-accredited Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) program will be launching soon. The program will offer the convenience and flexibility that you need to prepare for a career in the information studies profession. At SLIS, we provide you with the foundational knowledge and specialized skills necessary for leadership roles in libraries and other information organizations through your choice of elective streams – the MLIS in Small & Medium-Sized Public Libraries.

The anticipated start date for this program will be Fall 2013.

If you would like to be emailed when more information becomes available, you can subscribe to updates by emailing slisadmissions@ualberta.ca with your name and email address.

Highlights of the Program:

• No residential requirements
• 18 Credits in core courses – LIS 501, 502, 503, 504, & two technology courses.
• 30 Credits in elective stream
• Electronic Portfolio Capping Exercise
• Supportive, cohort-based online learning environment
• Opportunities to engage with professional communities
• Affordable tuition

Ann Curry Named UBC Professor Emerita

Source: http://www.slais.ubc.ca/news/current-news.htm

The School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, The iSchool at The University of British Columbia is pleased to announce Dr. Ann Curry has been named a UBC Professor Emerita.

Dr. Curry was a faculty member at SLAIS from 1990 to 2007, and is also an alumna of the School, earning her MLS from UBC in 1980. She holds a BA and BLS from the University of Alberta, and her Ph.D. is from the University of Sheffield. Dr. Curry is renowned for her inspirational teaching, for which she received both the prestigious UBC Killam Teaching Award and the ALISE Award for Teaching Excellence in Library & Information Science.

Her research focuses on censorship and intellectual freedom, as well as access to information issues associated with controversial topics and with restricted access for specific groups. She has a lengthy and successful association with the Library Association of Alberta, the British Columbia Library Association and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, where she worked to defend and promote the principles of intellectual freedom in Canada. Currently she is examining information ethics and the influence of the internet and social media on the changing nature of information access.

Dr. Curry left the University of British Columbia in 2007 to take the position of Director for the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta. She served in that role until 2011, and is currently a Professor in the Faculty of Extension Graduate Program in Communication and Technology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

CLA Student Article Award Contest

Eligibility

The contest is open to all students registered in, or recently graduated from, a Canadian library school, a library technician program, an information science program (including distance education programs), or faculty of education library program.

Registered students may be full or part time; graduates should have completed their studies within one year of the competition’s closing date of March 31, annually. Articles submitted must be written while the student is enrolled in a program of study, or within one year of graduation.

Each contestant must submit a faculty member’s statement attesting to the fact that the article fulfills the above requirements.

Multiple-author papers are eligible, but in the event such a paper is selected, only one prize will be awarded.

Submissions may be in English or French.

Prize:

• $200 choice of CLA/ALA publications.
• The winning article will be published in Feliciter,the magazine of the Canadian Library Association/Association canadienne des bibliothèques. (Winning articles in French would appear in both official languages).

Content and Style

Articles should discuss, analyse or evaluate, in a clear and readable style, timely issues in librarianship or information science. Conclusions and premises should follow logically, and statements should be supported. Essays or term papers should be reworked into an article suitable for publication. The style should be informal but informative. References, if required, should be drawn from Canadian sources as much as possible and follow CLA’s style sheet, and also available from the CLA Office at (613) 232.9625 ext. 322 or e-mail: info@cla.ca.

Originality

All manuscripts must be the original, unpublished work of the contestant(s). Entries must be submitted exclusively to the Canadian Library Association/Association canadienne des bibliothèques during the competition period.

Format for Submission

Manuscript length should be between 1,000 and 1,500 words, typewritten on 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper, double spaced, with generous margins. One copy should be submitted electronically to the following address, no later than March 31: 

• info@cla.ca

Include a separate page containing the following information:

• Full title of entry; name of the author(s);
• home address and telephone number;
• name of the program in which author(s) is/are registered; and,
• a faculty member’s verification. This should be on letterhead of the institution in which author(s) is/are registered.

Judging

A panel of judges will read and evaluate all entries; additional evaluators may be called upon to assess submissions in French.

Judges look for:

• originality;
• value and relevance of the information presented;
• consistency and accuracy;
• style and readability;
• and suitability for publication.

If, in the opinion of the judges, no article submitted satisfies these criteria, the panel reserves the right to not select a winner.

News from the University of Alberta Libraries: Ernie Ingles to step down as Chief Librarian

Date:		February 15, 2012
To:		Deans, Chairs, and Directors Faculty and Staff, Faculty of Education, School of Library and Information Studies University of Alberta Libraries Staff
From:		Carl G. Amrhein Provost and Vice-President (Academic)
Re:		Chief Librarian

After a long and distinguished career at the University of Alberta, Ernie Ingles has recently announced his intent to step down from the position of Vice Provost (Learning Services) and Chief Librarian. Ernie has been an integral member of the library and information management community for many years, providing critical leadership to the Learning Services portfolio and representing the University in a variety of national and international forums. The outstanding reputation enjoyed by the University of Alberta Libraries is in large part due to Ernie’s foresight and direction.

Ernie has been serving as Director of the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) within the Faculty of Education since August, 2010. Dean Snart and I are delighted that Ernie has agreed to continue in this role until June 30, 2013. Although Ernie will be focussing his energies on SLIS, he will remain a Vice Provost during this period to continue working on my behalf on a small number of institutional projects.

The effect of these changes means that the University will be commencing a search for a new Chief Librarian. Mary-Jo Romaniuk has served as the Acting Chief Librarian during Ernie’s tenure in SLIS. She has now requested that she be able to commence her administrative leave to enable her to complete her PhD studies. Thus, Mary-Jo will be ending her assignment as Acting Chief Librarian and starting her leave on March 30, 2012. I would like to thank Mary-Jo for her willingness to serve in this capacity during the last eighteen months and wish her continued success in her PhD program.

Following consultation with senior library staff, an Interim Chief Librarian will be appointed to provide leadership to the libraries until a new Chief Librarian is in place.

Event in Ottawa: Learning Fair for Information Professionals

Tuesday, February 14, 2012, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
365 Laurier Avenue West (Guy Belisle Room)

The Canadian Library Association’s Government Network invites you to an Information Management Learning Fair featuring some of the leading providers of professional education, training and development programs in Canada.

Come find out about opportunities to:

• develop new skills,
• keep-up with current issues and trends in the field,
• enhance your credentials, and
• advance your career.

Representatives from participating organizations will be available to answer questions about their programs.

Participating Organizations:

• AIIM
• Algonquin College, School of Health & Community Studies, LIT Program
• ARMA-NCR Chapter
• Canada School of Public Service (invited)
• Canadian Library Association / Association canadienne des bibliothèques
• Dalhousie University, School of Information Management
• University of Ottawa, School of Information Studies
• University of Toronto, Faculty of Information, iSchool Institute (tentative)

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When: Tuesday, February 14, 2012, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Where: 365 Laurier Avenue West (Guy Belisle Room)

For more information, please contact cla.govlib@gmail.com