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Category: Alumni

Job Posting: SIM Professional in Residence

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Professional in Residence, 2021-2022
Call for expressions of interest

The School of Information Management (SIM) is seeking expressions of interest for a Professional in Residence (PIR) for the 2021-2022 academic year.  This person will coach Master of Information (MI) students in the development of professional skills needed to launch their careers. The PIR can engage with students virtually, so the opportunity is open to qualified candidates in any location (not limited to the Halifax area).

Time commitment: A maximum of 5 hours/week for the 12-week fall and winter terms (September-December 2021 and January-April 2022).

Expectations:

  • Delivery of at least one professional development workshop each term on topics such as preparing professional cover letters/resumes and preparing for job interviews.
  • Organizing a mock interview competition in the winter term (with help from SIM admin).
  • Availability for drop-in office hours (online or virtual) and individual student consultations (approximately 2 hours/week).
  • Availability to review and provide feedback on student cover letters and resumes.

Requirements:                                                                                                            

  • MLIS degree or similar.
  • Currently working or recently retired from the Information Management profession (any area/field).
  • Experience with the following is an asset: human resource management, education, developing and delivering professional development events and programs, mentoring, advising.

Please provide a written expression of interest explaining why this opportunity appeals to you.  Letters should be sent to Janet Music, MI Program Coordinator, by April 30th, 2021 (jlmusic@dal.ca).

Honorarium: $3000 per term (a total of $6000)

Dalhousie University is committed to fostering a collegial culture grounded in diversity and inclusiveness. The university encourages applications from Aboriginal people, persons with a disability, racially visible persons, women, persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities, and all candidates who would contribute to the diversity of our community. For more information, please visit www.dal.ca/hiringfordiversity.

SIM Alumnus Appointed Library Services Supervisor

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Reposted from the Dalhousie Libraries blog:

We’re pleased to announce that David Ryan (MLIS ’08) is the new Library Services Supervisor, based at the Sexton Library. David will be a familiar face to many as he’s been working in term positions with the Dalhousie Libraries since 2018, having worked at both the Sexton and Kellogg libraries.

David graduated from Dalhousie with his MLIS in 2008. Since then, in addition to the Dalhousie Libraries, he’s worked at Mount Saint Vincent University and the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in roles such as reference and instructional librarian, cataloguer, and lecturer. David also has a background in communications. Over the past year, in addition to providing front line service at the Sexton Library and Resources support on the streaming video initiative, he’s written graduate and online teaching faculty profiles for Dal News on behalf of the Dal Libraries and the Academic Quality Team.

Join us in welcoming David as the newest permanent member of the Dalhousie Libraries team.

SIM Alumna Appointed Dalhousie Indigenous Services Librarian

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Shared from the Dalhousie Libraries blog

Congrats to Samantha Adema (MLIS ’19) on being appointed the new Indigenous Services Librarian at Dalhousie Libraries. She started in this role on September 1st.

From Dal Libraries: Sam (L’nu/Mi’kmaw) is a member of Sipekne’katik First Nation. She has a Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) from Dalhousie (2019) and a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Mary’s, where she majored in history and classics and spent time at the Basentello Valley Archaeological Field School in Italy.

Sam is a familiar face to many of us in the Dalhousie Libraries because she worked as an intern in the Sexton Library while she did her master’s degree. She has also worked at Halifax Public Libraries as both a community assistant and a library assistant. At HPL, Sam’s primary responsibilities included building relationships with community members; building an inclusive, welcoming atmosphere; and providing services to library users such as one-on-one technology instruction and assistance with reference and research questions.

Sam has done research projects about unemployment among Nova Scotia’s Indigenous youth and the potential for the public library to forge additional community partnerships to better serve the urban Indigenous population in North-End Halifax. She worked with community members and staff at the Mi’kmaq Native Friendship Centre and staff at the Museum of Natural History to show how community-led principles had a positive effect in boosting Indigenous attendance and involvement with the museum.

As Dalhousie’s Indigenous Services Librarian, Sam is currently working remotely due to current on-campus restrictions related to COVID-19, but she is available to answer research questions via email and is available for remote consultations via Microsoft Teams for more in-depth research questions. When we return to campus, Sam will be based out of the Killam Memorial Library, but she is available to work with people from all campuses.

Sam works closely with faculty, researchers, staff, and students to support learning and research on Indigenous topics in all disciplines. She will also coordinate reference support, programming, and other services to users of Dalhousie’s National Centre for Truth & Reconciliation Hub in the MacRae Library.

“Indigenous Services is a priority within the Dalhousie Libraries and we are thrilled to have Samantha join our team. These services are for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, staff, and faculty but also for the local Indigenous communities,” said Elaine MacInnis, Associate University Librarian Services and Head, MacRae Library.

 

NS LGBT Seniors Archive Launches October 15th

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Submitted by Lydia Hunsberger (MLIS ’20 and Research Assistant, NS LGBT Archives Project):

The Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive is a community archive initiative led by Dr. Jacqueline Gahagan and funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Seniors Age-Friendly Communities Grant and Dalhousie University Libraries. The purpose of this archive is to build connections among older LGBT adults and the broader community and aims to raise awareness and appreciation of the various social, economic, and artistic contributions from members of our older LGBT communities across Nova Scotia.

The official launch is scheduled for October 15, 4 – 5 pm. You can find the link to our virtual launch event here. Please contact jgahagan@dal.ca for more details.

This province-wide project will provide a platform to both increase social interaction and community involvement among older populations and will also create a living legacy through the collaborative development of a publicly accessible and searchable archive for use by community members, seniors, older and younger generations of LGBT populations, researchers and students, among others. The Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archives works in conjunction with a Community Advisory Committee (CAC), comprised of community members and stakeholders that work with the archives team as volunteers to provide recommendations and vision for the project, connect the archives team with new donors, and assist with collection of materials and oral histories.

The Nova Scotia LGBT Seniors Archive houses a variety of materials from organizations such as Lesbian and Gay Rights Nova Scotia, Gay and Lesbian Association of Nova Scotia, Mister Atlantic Canada Leather, Safe Harbour Church, and Church Members Assembled to Respond to AIDS, among many more.

You’re Invited to the 2020 SIMAA Welcome Event

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Open to all SIM alumni, students and faculty:

The School of Information Management Associated Alumni’s upcoming Welcome Event will take place via Microsoft Teams on September 29 from 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm. Click this link to join the event.

A panel of alumni and returning students will be sharing with you what they wish they knew when they started out, how their careers have developed, and what they’ve learned along the way, among other topics!

Our panelists include:

* Marc Harper, Bibliothecaire de reference, Bibliotheque Champlain, Universite de Moncton

* Ali McLaughlin, MI Candidate 2020

* Tamanna Moharana, MI Candidate 2021

* Margaret Vail, Academic Librarian, Angus L. Macdonald Library, St. Francis Xavier University

* Suzanne van den Hoogen, University Librarian, Patrick Power Library, St. Mary’s University

* Kelli Woo Shoo, Manager Client Services, Nova Scotia Provincial Library

* Ellie Bernard-Wesson, moderator, alumni 2020

We encourage you to ask questions of our panelists at the end. This is an excellent opportunity to connect with other members of the SIM family — experienced alumni, new professionals, and students alike. Everyone is welcome and we hope to have you there!

While it is not necessary to RSVP, please do so if you can to Katherine Luber, SIMAA Vice Chair, by the evening of Monday, September 28. Her email is kluber@dal.ca. This is strictly to get an idea of numbers — no one will be turned away if you can’t confirm ahead of time.

– SIMAA Executive

SIM Alumna Publishes Debut Novel

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Deborah Hemming’s debut novel “Throw Down Your Shadows” was published by Nimbus on July 30th. Deborah is an MLIS graduate (2017), a Reference and Research Librarian with Dalhousie Libraries, and the interim IM Liaison Librarian. An interview and review was included in the Chronicle Herald on August 21st (excerpt below – read the full article here).

Congrats Deborah!

From the Chronicle Herald: The lush vineyards of the Annapolis Valley (not far from where she lives and where she spent her adolescence) provide the backdrop for Deborah Hemming’s debut novel, a coming-of-age story with a surprising twist.

“I think I always wanted to set a book here,” she said in an interview from her home in Wolfville. “It was a really magical place to grow up. It felt really free.”

Hemming spent her childhood years in Port Williams, a small community just outside Wolfville. Maybe it is why she is drawn to stories set in rural places. While fictional characters living in cities can find anonymity to develop and evolve through their varied experiences, those living in the country face something different, she said.

“Rural stories don’t provide that anonymity,” she said. “You are known. Characters seek out change and growth in other ways. The whole idea of pushing boundaries is different. You have to do it interpersonally.”

Throw Down Your Shadows (Vagrant Press), follows 16-year-old Winnie as she navigates growing up on the fringes in rural Nova Scotia alongside her three best friends, all boys. Their lives change dramatically when Caleb, a new boy from the city moves to town. Under Caleb’s influence, Winnie and her friends test boundaries, and in the process reveal to themselves their inner complexities, desires, and darkness.

Alison Brown appointed Research Ethics Officer (Dalhousie Faculty of Management)

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Alison Brown (MLIS ’17) has been appointed the new Research Ethics Officer for the Faculty of Management.

Alison is a SIM lecturer and is currently enrolled in Dalhousie’s Interdisciplinary PhD program. She has also served as a mentor in the Management without Borders course, and as a research project manager in the Early Childhood Collaborative Research Centre.

Alison will work across the Faculty to support all the course-based research ethics requirements, including the management and of applications, some instruction related to research ethics requirements, and the liaising with Dalhousie’s Research Ethics Board.

All research involving humans taking place at Dalhousie requires ethics approval. At the Faculty level, Alison will review and has the authority to approve minimal-risk course-based non-thesis research.

Call for Nominations: 2020 Outstanding Alumni Award

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The Associated Alumni of Dalhousie University’s School of Information Management present an award annually to honour a member who “has made an outstanding contribution to Library and/or Information Management.”

Please help us to select the next illustrious recipient of this award by reviewing the award guidelines and submitting a nomination to draw our attention to a great colleague.

Awardees may be at almost any career stage as long as their accomplishments to date are a strong fit for the Selection Criteria:

  1. Innovation and leadership within their professional roles
  2. Research, presentations, outreach and publication record
  3. Service to relevant professional organizations
  4. Mentoring and support for junior colleagues

See Award Guidelines

Deadline for Award Nominations: 15 August 2020

Please send completed nominations to the Outstanding Alumni Award Committee Chair, Kelli WooShue, at Kelli.WooShue@novascotia.ca

Queries are most welcome.

SIMAA Outstanding Alumni Award Committee 2020:

  • Kelli Woo Shue, Committee Chair and Manager, Client Services, NS Provincial Library, Kelli.WooShue@novascotia.ca
  • Fiona Black, 2018 award recipient and A/Associate Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Dalhousie University, fiona.black@dal.ca
  • MJ D’Elia, 2019 award recipient and Associate University Librarian, University of British Columbia-Okanagan,  mj.delia@ubc.ca
  • Deborah Hemming, Learning and Instruction Librarian, Dalhousie University Libraries, Deborah.Hemming@dal.ca
  • Angela Horne, Director, Rosenfeld Management Library and the Research Library Humanities and Social Sciences Division, UCLA, ahorne@library.ucla.edu

Credentialing a career: New MIM grad John Jenkins complements career experience with formalized learning

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Shared from the CEGE website here.

John Jenkins already had significant experience in the IT industry when he decided to take up the Master of Information Management (MIM) program. Working mostly in the offshore oil industry on projects like Hibernia and Terra Nova, by the time he started the program he was already a Chief Information Officer at engineering and construction firm Kiewit Corporation. But Jenkins always felt that his formal learning needed to catch up with his job title. “I had a bit of imposter syndrome, thinking ‘how can I be responsible for $10 billion worth of work with a technology diploma?’” says Jenkins, who had been working steadily in the IT field ever since completing his initial training at age 18.

Looking around at programs that would fit his busy CIO schedule, he discovered the right fit nearby. “I found the Master of Info Management and it was right up my alley,” recalls Jenkins. He put together a work portfolio and entered the program in 2013 based on this evidence of his prior learning. “I was accepted, and over the moon,” he says. The fact that he could do the degree remotely was a big plus.

Engaging and immediately applicable

Today’s MIM is made up of 9 courses and delivered 90 percent online, with an intensive, in-person session held for 2 to 3 days at the end of each course. Jenkins says he knew he’d made the right choice with the program from his first class, taught by Bertrum MacDonald. “He was incredibly knowledgeable and engaging, and definitely provided a fantastic introduction to the program in general,” recalls Jenkins.

Jenkins also loved the intensives at the end of each course. “It was great to meet my classmates; there’s a camaraderie for a brief time that you don’t always get when working remotely,” he says, adding that he also welcomed the chance to visit Halifax from his home in Newfoundland. “It’s also nice to visit the university you’re attending in person.”

Several times he was able to apply the learning from his courses in his workplace immediately. For example, finishing a course on information policy happened to coincide with one of his roles. “My new employer was just starting to mature in this area, so I was able to walk into the new organization with this fresh learning in mind. That really drove one of my major initiatives, to expand our quality management system,” says Jenkins.

Moving on and making it to graduation

After living in Newfoundland for most of his life, Jenkins moved to Montreal to take up his current role as vice-president of information technology and information management at engineering firm Morrison Hershfield. That’s where he took his last course, just under the wire of the program’s seven-year completion limit due to a previous course being interrupted by a fast-acting cataract that had left him briefly blind (he had surgery to fix it). Jenkins credits the program support staff with getting him back on track for his final credit, which he completed during the pandemic while at the same time overseeing the move to remote working for the 1,200 employees who work at Morrison Hershfield.

Jenkins is a happy grad, calling the MIM program unique for its broad focus. “It’s the ultimate generalists’ program for technology and information management: it doesn’t delve too deeply into the technology, but it addresses all key areas,” he says. In an industry that often supports specialization, Jenkins says he’s noticed that those who rise to the top are the ones with a broad understanding, something that he too favours when hiring. “It’s now widely recognized that CIOs of today are people who have that broad range of skills, and few schools give you that training.”

Class of 1981: Staying connected from a distance

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Submitted by Terri Tomchyshyn (MLS ’81):

Every spring librarians anticipate the opportunity to renew acquaintances, participate in professional development activities and reconnect with fellow classmates. This happens at annual library conferences taking place in many cities across North America and in fact, around the world. A highlight of any conference is the gathering of alumni of the various schools with Dal’s IM program being no exception. A tradition started by beloved director, Dr Norman Horrocks, and continued to this day by the school’s directors, the alumni gathering is a storied tradition anticipated by Dal alumni attending a library conference just about anywhere in North America. 

This year, there was not a conference in sight; librarians were not exempt from COVID-19 restrictions.

 Dal’s Class of ’81 known as Masters of Library Service alum, have been a tight knit group of friends since our first week of school. Isolation orders were not going to keep us from finding a way to get together to celebrate our friendships and shared experiences going back over 40 years! 40 years!  Yes, we find that number hard to believe too! 

We decided to meet virtually. The gathering was more inclusive because of the nature of its medium. Thirteen of us from Vancouver to Newfoundland, as well as Australia and New Zealand met via Zoom at the end of May to celebrate and hear how the pandemic is impacting on our lives. Appropriate beverages and snacks were included – dependent on time of day.  There were reminiscences of our 30th reunion – held at the then brand new SIM offices and classrooms; and there are plans being made for a (hopefully) real time gathering at Dal for a 40th reunion in 2021.

The Class of 81 has always had a reputation for its camaraderie and spirit. We did it again, despite the barriers of not not being able to meet physically. We had a grand three hours catching up and celebrating ourselves. We look forward to doing it again.    

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