What do examining sentiments towards the Islamic State on Twitter, strategies for Digital Literacy and Community Led Services have in common?  All are research topics explored by MLIS students this past year.  Research is an important component of our Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) program, with students completing reading courses, theses, and working as research assistants on varying projects with our faculty members. They work very hard on these projects so we wanted to share and celebrate their efforts.

On April 7th, SIM faculty, alumni, students and special guests gathered in Rowe 3089 to do just that. First, a total of ten students condensed their research into 5 minute “lightning talks” to deliver to the mixed audience. The projects varied widely in scope and explored timely issues in the field of information management, such as data literacy, programming, community-led services, public libraries, social media, research data management and e-books. The lively Q&A period following each presentation clearly demonstrated the fascinating and cross-professional nature of the subjects.

After the lightning talks, guests gathered in the adjoining room for a poster session highlighting projects by 6 more MLIS students on topics such as medical student information seeking behaviour, digital recommender systems and corporate information management. Guests enjoyed light refreshments and discussions with presenters while viewing the colourful poster “gallery”.

A full list of presenters and topics can be found here. Learn more about SIM’s research efforts on our website, or through this blog!