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News from the Department of Information Science (formerly SIM)

Archives for Louise Spiteri

Society for Scholarly Publishing Travel Grants

2013 Travel Grant Program
Each year, the Society for Scholarly Publishing invites applications for the Annual Meeting Travel Grant program.

Students of publishing and information science, together with early career professionals in the first three years of employment in the publishing and information industry, are invited to apply for one of up to 14 awards that SSP will make in 2013.

The awards this year will support travel to and attendance at the SSP 35th Annual Meeting, to be held June 5-7, 2013 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, CA.  For further information, please go to http://www.sspnet.org/careers/travel-grants-recipients/

 

SIM end-of-year Victory Party. Save the date.

SIMSA will be hosting an end-of-year Victory Party at the Victory Arms on Saturday, April 6.
All students, staff, and friends of Dalhousie’s School of Information Management are welcome!

Here are the important details:
Saturday, April 6, 2013, 8pm-1am
Victory Arms Pub, Lord Nelson Hotel, 1515 South Park Street, Halifax, NS
Appetizers will be provided

Tickets ($10 students/$15 staff) will go on sale Monday, March 18 and can be purchased from James Ross or me.

Hope you can attend,
Amanda Fulerton

SharePoint 2010 Information Search Service Log Redesign for measurable indicators and service outcomes: Request for interest for a potential MLIS reading course

An opportunity to further develop systematic information search skills, SharePoint design skills and information analysis and reporting skills.

Library, Knowledge and Research Services for Annapolis Valley Health, South Shore Health and South West Health has a log to track services in the form of a SharePoint List with records back to 2002.  Log fields capture client demographics, details on the information need or information management need including subject and purpose (patient care, service planning, education, etc.), resources used (staff time, databases, etc.), search results and searcher satisfaction level.

At this time Searchers wish a review of related research to inform redesign of the log to more effectively link services to outcomes (patient outcomes and health service outcomes).

The student will prepare a syllabus and then take a stepwise planned approach to:

  1. Self-directed reading maintaining an annotated list of completed readings
  2. Conducting a systematic search of the research literature related to mediated information search services and service outcomes.  The search will follow methods as described in Booth et al. (2012). Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review.  These will include
  3. Examine up to four existing commercial search/service log programs to see whether they address service outcomes
  4. Revise the service log to meet client needs based on search results
  5. Summarize reading course work as an academic poster.
  • the framed search question
  • the mapped concept(s) associated with the search questions
  • a scoping search report to include charts describing publication timeline and size of the literature by subject domain
  • Searches of up to four sources, including commercial databases and grey literature resources
  • Documentation of search methods
  • Search results organized within a Refworks Refshare folder

 

This reading course will allow a student to apply and further develop skills gained in INFO 5515 Organization of Information and INFO 5530 Information Sources and Retrieval.  These include

  • Client engagement
  • Service planning, delivery, logging and reporting
  • SharePoint 2010 and Reference management software
  • Health databases, library and information science databases, grey literature

Please refer to MLIS Reading Courses: Policy and Procedures (INFO 6700/6710) http://sim.management.dal.ca/Courses/MLIS%20Courses%20Offered/Reading_Courses.php, then contact Dr. Jacqueline MacDonald: jacqueline.macdonald@dal.ca for more information.

 

Workplace e-Learning Standards and Outcomes: development of a learning management system evaluation framework: Request for interest for a potential MLIS reading course for the 2013 fall term.

An opportunity to further develop systematic information search skills, information analysis and reporting skills, and program evaluation knowledge.

Western Nova Scotia’s District Health Authorities have taken a centralized approach to e-learning module development since 2002.  The Library, Knowledge and Research Services Department’s work as presented in September 2006 led to the provincial health Medworxx learning management system (LMS) https://elearning.nshealth.ca/ being established.  Although the Department has one of the few especially trained e-learning technicians on staff in Nova Scotia’s health system, and our modules are in use throughout the province, the service currently lacks an evaluation plan.

 

At this time, we need a review of research related to workplace e-learning outcomes and LMS management standards to inform design of a service evaluation framework.

The student will prepare a syllabus and then take a stepwise planned approach to:

  1. Self-directed reading maintaining an annotated list of completed readings
  2. Conducting a systematic search of the research literature related to workplace e-learning and learning management systems. The search will follow methods as described in Booth et al. (2012). Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review.  These will include:
  3. Examine search results to identify outcomes and standards.
  4. Use SharePoint 2010 to prepare information for framework synthesis by extracting data to a SharePoint List or Library so that it can be viewed as a side-by-side comparison table.
  5. Summarize reading course work as an academic poster.
  • The framed search question
  • The mapped concept(s) associated with the search questions
  • A scoping search report to include charts describing publication timeline and size of the literature by subject domain
  • Searches of up to four sources, including commercial databases and grey literature resources
  • Documentation of search methods
  • Search results organized within a Refworks Refshare folder

 

This reading course will allow a student to apply and further develop skills gained in INFO 5515 Organization of Information, INFO 5530 Information Sources and Retrieval and INFO 6730 Records Management.  These include:

  • Client engagement
  • SharePoint 2010 and reference management software
  • Health databases, library and information science databases, grey literature.

 

Please refer to MLIS Reading Courses: Policy and Procedures (INFO 6700/6710) http://sim.management.dal.ca/Courses/MLIS%20Courses%20Offered/Reading_Courses.php, then contact Dr. Jacqueline MacDonald: jacqueline.macdonald@dal.ca for more information

Design of a Research Data Management Centre using SharePoint 2010: Request for interest for a potential MLIS reading course for the 2013 fall term.

An opportunity to further develop systematic information search skills, records management skills, SharePoint design skills and information analysis and reporting skills.

The University of Leicester’s Data to Knowledge (D2K) Research team requires a centralized approach to managing research records (data and documents) created by and for its various projects.  The team currently holds several medium to large grants in support of harmonizing the use of data held by international biobanks and cohort studies. The transdisciplinary research encompasses topics including genetic epidemiology, software/middleware technologies, data access and privacy, and the communities of scientific knowledge.  The D2K projects are overseen by Dr Joel Minion, Senior Research Manager.

This work will explore whether records and information management principles applied to SharePoint 2010 records centre and in place records management features might provide structure for a solution.

The student will prepare a syllabus and then take a stepwise planned approach to:

  1. Self-directed reading maintaining an annotated list of completed readings
  2. Conducting a systematic search of the research literature related to research team records management.  The search will follow methods as described in Booth et al. (2012). Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review.  These will include:
  3. Examine up to four existing commercial research data/records management systems to see whether they address service outcomes
  4. Design an approach to records management for the Data to Knowledge (D2K) Research Group using SharePoint records centre and in place records management function
  5. Summarize reading course work as an academic poster.
  • the framed search question
  • the mapped concept(s) associated with the search questions
  • a scoping search report to include charts describing publication timeline and size of the literature by subject domain
  • Searches of up to four sources, including commercial databases and grey literature resources
  • Documentation of search methods
  • Search results organized within a Refworks Refshare folder

 

This reading course will allow a student to apply and further develop skills gained in INFO5515 Organization of Information, INFO 5530 Information Sources and Retrieval and INFO 6730 Records Management.  These include:

  • Client engagement
  • Records management
  • SharePoint 2010 and Reference management software
  • Health databases, library and information science databases, grey literature.

 

Please refer to MLIS Reading Courses: Policy and Procedures (INFO 6700/6710) http://sim.management.dal.ca/Courses/MLIS%20Courses%20Offered/Reading_Courses.php, then contact Dr. Jacqueline MacDonald: jacqueline.macdonald@dal.ca for more information.

Professional Mentorship Program Wrap-up Party

Dear SIM students, faculty, and staff:

The CLA Dalhousie Student Chapter would like to invite you to the Professional Mentorship Program Wrap-up Party!  Note: This event is open to all SIM students, faculty, and staff, regardless of involvement in the Professional Mentorship Program.  For those students who aren’t involved, this would be a great opportunity to learn more about how the program works and to meet a great group of professionals!

WHEN:  Wednesday, March 27th at 5:00 p.m.

WHERE:  The Pub, Dalhousie University Club, 6259 Alumni Crescent (located just off South Street).

Purchase of food and drinks is available on site.  More event details will follow.

Please RSVP for this event.  For program participants, we invite you to contact your mentor to encourage his or her attendance.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

Jannaya Jensen
Dalhousie CLA Student Chapter First-year Representative

Reflections on the MIM program

fedorukChristine Fedoruk

Manager of Reporting Services

Hansard Services, Legislative Assembly of B.C.

 

On May 28, I will cross the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium stage in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to receive the Master of Information Management (MIM) degree from Dalhousie University. Securing my parchment, I am likely to reflect on my newfound specialty and on what it is like to take on graduate studies from the opposite coast.

As a discipline, information management considers the whole information lifecycle, from creation through organization, management, use and distribution to eventual destruction or permanent retention. MIM coursework applies theory from information science, library and archival studies, computing science, management science and legal studies to analyze and address such practical problems as developing effective records retention policy, managing information privacy and security risk, capturing corporate knowledge and preserving electronic information for the long term.

Dalhousie’s MIM is a year-round program. Each semester combines three months of distance study with a two-day residential intensive. Active participation is a core program requirement. Students are expected to engage comprehensively with weekly discussion topics or questions. For two courses I attended a live lecture; for the remaining six, I viewed the archived audio stream. The generally asynchronous study model makes it possible to balance full-time employment with graduate studies.

On-site intensives live up to their name. Working through information management problems quickly and as part of a team, students gain confidence in applying key course concepts while experiencing real-world challenges — namely, limited resources and time.

One of the MIM program’s strengths is the dynamism of its participants. I had the opportunity to study with a leading national adviser in information and privacy legislation. MIM faculty are leaders and multiple grant- and award-winners in their respective fields. With student cohort members from the federal public service, global multinational companies, law enforcement, federal security agencies and other diverse employers, discussions were thought-provoking, well-rounded and hard-hitting.

Rather than finding distance study alienating, I found Dalhousie’s unique blend inspiring. As a formidable research university, Dal’s combination of faculty expertise, research foci and top-rate academic resources made an appreciable difference to the study experience.

Having completed the program, I acknowledge the most important applied skill as asking the right questions at the right times, when approaching the application of new technologies, architecture, interfaces, etc., to Hansard products and services.

Whether considering the fundamental role of the Web as our public portal or improving the internal systems that support transcription, I understand how each piece fits in the overall information lifecycle as well as how it ultimately serves our key stakeholders. MIM studies have strengthened my professional understanding of the role Hansard Services plays in the information universe — and made me look continually forward to what the future holds in store for the Official Report.

Invitation to participate in a study on Your Experience in Digital Environments

Are you a professional, academic, or graduate student who frequently searches for and monitors information relating to your work or area of research? We are interested in your perceptions of the digital environments (e.g., websites, intranets) that you use and how these perceptions may be related to your personality traits and work environment.

Please take approximately 15 minutes of your time to respond to our survey. You will have the chance to enter your name in a draw for one of twenty $20 gift certificates for Amazon.ca.

http://projects.cs.dal.ca/infostudy/survey

The study started February 13th, 2013 and will continue until the target number of 300-400 participants is met and may be completed at your convenience. This survey is part of Lori McCay-Peet’s Ph.D.  research at Dalhousie University that is investigating individuals’ experiences in digital environments. This research will help in the development of better digital environments.

Your participation in this study is voluntary and will be kept confidential. You may withdraw at any time.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Lori McCay-Peet at Dalhousie

University: mccay@dal.ca

Lori McCay-Peet (MLIS)

PhD Candidate, Interdisciplinary Studies, Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Co-investigators:

Dr. Bertrum MacDonald

School of Information Management, Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

 

Dr. Elaine G. Toms

Information School, The University of Sheffield Sheffield, United Kingdom

Book sale

Dalhousie’s own Librarians Without Borders and Association of Canadian Archivists groups are presenting a used book sale March 21st and 22nd and we need your donations! There will be a donation box in the SIM Common Room where you can drop off your spare books. Any and all subjects are welcome!

The book sale will take place in the Student Union Building on March 21st and 22nd, so once you’ve got some room on your bookshelf, stop by for some great deals on used books.

Stay tuned for more details, and have a great Reading Week!

 

Karen Vermeylen

Co-Chair, ACA – Dalhousie Chapter

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