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Category: Faculty

Job Posting: Tenure-Track Lecturer or Professor (Information Management)

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The Dalhousie School of Information Management (SIM) seeks a dynamic and innovative colleague to join our team. SIM invites applications for a probationary tenure-track, tenure-track or tenured position at the rank of Lecturer, Assistant Professor or Associate Professor commencing January 1, 2018 (negotiable).

This position combines teaching, research, and administrative responsibilities. The School seeks candidates with a strong interest in, and capacity for, interdisciplinary research. Candidates will be expected to teach in at least two programs at the graduate or undergraduate levels. Professional information management experience will be an asset.

The successful candidate will have a PhD (or ABD status) in information management or a related discipline, with research expertise and/or teaching experience in one or more of the following areas:

  • Data management: analytics and visualization, curation, preservation
  • Information risk management
  • New and emerging media
  • Other relevant areas including digital transformation, organizational learning, collaboration, and knowledge management

The SIM (http://sim.management.dal.ca) offers two graduate programs: the American Library Association-accredited Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) program, and the mid-career blended learning Master of Information Management (MIM) program. At the undergraduate level, the School provides core and elective courses in the Bachelor of Management program, delivered collaboratively with the three other schools in the Faculty of Management. The School also participates in Dalhousie’s Interdisciplinary PhD program.

The SIM is part of the interdisciplinary Faculty of Management (http://www.dal.ca/faculty/management.html), which also includes the School of Public Administration, the School for Resource and Environmental Studies, and the Rowe School of Business. The Faculty of Management’s mission is to collaboratively advance management knowledge and practice, and its vision is inspiring managerial solutions to transform lives. We seek an additional colleague who will contribute to, and thrive in, this environment.

Dalhousie University (http://www.dal.ca/) is one of Canada’s leading teaching and research universities, with four professional faculties; a Faculty of Graduate Studies; and a diverse complement of graduate programs. Inter-faculty collaborative and interactive research is encouraged, as is cooperation in teaching. Dalhousie University inspires students, faculty, staff and alumni to make significant contributions regionally, nationally, and to the world.

Dalhousie University is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Halifax is a vibrant capital city and is the business, academic, and medical centre for Canada’s east coast.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. 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.

Deadline for applications: August 14, 2017

Applicants should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, copies of past teaching evaluations, and statements of teaching philosophy and of research interests. (Each statement should be approximately one page.) Applications must also include a completed Self-Identification Questionnaire, which is available at www.dal.ca/becounted/selfid. Applications should be directed to:

Ms. Kim Humes

School of Information Management

Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building

6100 University Avenue, Suite 4010

PO BOX 15000

Halifax, NS B3H 4R2

sim@dal.ca

Fax:  902-494-2451

Voice:  902-494-3656

Electronic applications are preferred.

Three SIM Faculty Receive University-Wide Teaching Awards

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Teaching Excellence

Three SIM faculty have been recognized with University-Wide Teaching Awards for their outstanding commitment to teaching and learning at Dalhousie University. Read the full announcement here.

  • Jennifer Grek Martin (MLIS ’11) received the Contract and Limited-term Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching: “A lecturer in the School of Information Management, Jennifer Grek Martin is receiving Dal’s award celebrating teaching from contract and limited-term faculty. The selection committee was impressed by Dr. Martin’s breadth of teaching experience with positive student and peer feedback, as well as her commitment with curriculum design and creative learning. ‘In a short period of time,’ the committee writes, ‘[Grek Martin has] built an outstanding portfolio and has demonstrated evidence of leadership beyond the expectations of contract and limited-term faculty.'”
  • Dr. Mike Smit received the Early Career Faculty Award of Excellence for Teaching: “An Associate Professor in the School of Information Management, Mike Smit is this year’s recipient of Dal’s award celebrating exceptional teaching and educational leadership at the onset of one’s career. A two-time Dal alumnus (both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Computer Science), Dr. Smit was cited by the selection committee for his strong commitment to students, the high standards he sets for learning, and his concern for individual student success. The selection committee writes that the praise and thanks Dr. Smit has received from his students, ‘speaks to the impact [his] instruction has had on their education.'”
  • Dr. Vivian Howard (MLIS ’95) received the Alumni Association Award of Excellence for Teaching: “Vivian Howard, this year’s recipient of the university’s top teaching award, first joined Dal in a full-time role in 1999 as one of the original instructors in the then newly launched Bachelor of Management program. Since then, she has built a reputation as an outstanding teacher and community leader. An associate professor in the School of Information Management, Dr. Howard is being recognized for her scholarly contributions on teaching and learning and for her commitment to community engagement and helping boost retention efforts for international students. She has also provided consistent support for peers across faculties on major initiatives such as the development of the Indigenous Studies minor, which launched in the fall of 2015.”

These awards will be formally presented this Fall. We are very proud of our dedicated and passionate faculty here at SIM. Congrats to all!

Dr. Mike Smit Appointed Acting Associate Dean (Research)

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Faculty Profile_Mike Smit (cropped)Official announcement from Dr. Sylvain Charlebois (Dean, Faculty of Management):

Dominika Wranik will be on administrative leave for one year, starting July 1, 2017. During her time as Associate Dean (Research), she has pioneered many of our new research initiatives and has allowed our achievements in research to be shared and celebrated. Her leave is certainly well deserved.

In her absence, I am pleased to report that Mike Smit will be stepping in as (Acting) ADR for a full year, starting July 1, 2017. Mike will be a great addition to the Dean’s Office. Mike is likely one of the most well-known Dalhousie academic researchers in the area of cloud-data, IT, and open data. As an associate professor in the School of Information Management, he is involved with the newly established Ocean Frontier Institute. He completed his PhD at the  University of Alberta, was a postdoctoral fellow at York University, and holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Dalhousie University.

Congrats Mike!

 

Dr. Joyline Makani: Research Takes Courage

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Re-blogged from CFAME Connection:

Faculty Profile_Joyline Makani (214x210)“To be engaged, today’s citizen needs to be able to tease out fact from fiction. Notably, it is not just about obtaining information and being able to cite the sources of one’s ideas but being able to digest information, think critically, and participate in dialogue among others with different perspectives.”

Dr. Joyline Makani

The Merriam Webster on-line dictionary defines “research” as a studious inquiry or examination; especially:  investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws.  Given the solemnity of that definition, we rarely recognize that we engage in “important” research daily, whether we are buying shoes, planning a trip, or considering food choices. In the end, we are what we research.

Is research for everyone?  Or just academics?  For answers, CFAME Connection reached out to Dr. Joyline Makani, the Management Librarian (Dalhousie Libraries) and Adjunct professor (Faculty of Graduate Studies) at Dalhousie University.  Dr. Makani shares insight into why research is essential in a world that revolves around complexity and change.  Join us as we begin a theme dialogue on the importance of research.

Dr. Joyline Makani:

Research is for everyone and is very necessary in the world today. Thanks to advances in information technology, we are witnessing an increasingly complex online information landscape with blurred lines between information consumers and information creators or producers.

Simply stated, anyone with a computer and access to the Internet can put anything they want onto the Internet. To heighten the complexity, there is no one, in most cases, evaluating or approving Internet content before it is made public. Thus, this type of landscape presents everyone with the challenge to develop and harness basic research skills in-order to successfully maneuver, gather and understand information and not just wait for academics to verify the truth.

In other words, analyzing information, and not just collecting it, is paramount in today’s world dominated by “fake news and alternative facts”. Each one of us engages in research daily, whether we are buying shoes, planning a trip, or considering food choices. In the end, we are what we research. As academics have long argued, research helps to shape our society.

More important, building a solid research skill set is increasingly becoming necessary for civic life, i.e., the ability to gather data and information, examine multiple perspectives and re-evaluate prior beliefs is the foundation for responsible and community-minded citizens. To be engaged, today’s citizen needs to be able to tease out fact from fiction. Notably, it is not just about obtaining information and being able to cite the sources of one’s ideas but being able to digest information, think critically, and participate in dialogue among others with different perspectives.

Research takes courage because we challenge ourselves to look beyond the obvious. It is human nature to feel comfortable with what we know or what we believe in. It takes courage to question our beliefs/biases and pay more attention rather than ignore information that does not confirm our beliefs – this is what research entails – requires checking your biases, following and interrogating the evidence where ever it leads you.

SIM Professor Emeritus, Mary Dykstra Lynch, Added to Marquis Who’s Who

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Read the full press release here:

Mary Elizabeth Dykstra Lynch has been included in Marquis Who’s Who. As in all Marquis Who’s Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

As a professor emeritus of the School of Information Management, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Dr. Lynch has proven her commitment to the principles of higher education and learning throughout her distinguished career.

Before starting in the field as head cataloguer for Dalhousie University Library, she earned a BA from Calvin College in Michigan and a Master of Library Service degree from Dalhousie University. Shortly after receiving her master’s degree she was appointed as an assistant professor at Dalhousie’s School of Library Service, later called the School of Library and Information Studies. She was an associate professor there from 1978-1982. The following year she left to become senior audiovisual librarian at the National Film Board of Canada in Montreal, returning to the Dalhousie University school in 1983. In 1986 she became director of the same institution, at the same time graduating with her Ph.D. from Sheffield University, England. From 1987 she served as a professor at Dalhousie for ten years, seven of those years continuing as director.

Throughout the course of her notable and lengthy career, Dr. Dykstra Lynch has had the opportunity to parlay her knowledge into marketable works such as “Access to Film Information” and “PRECIS: a primer” (published as the textbook of its indexing system by the British Library, London). She has served on various boards and as consultant to several libraries and other institutions in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Additionally she has been featured in Who’s Who of American Women, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in Science and Engineering.

Dr. Bertrum MacDonald Discusses His Love of Music and Information

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Dr. Bertrum MacDonald (SIM Professor and former Director) talked to Local Xpress about his love of music and information in this profile (excerpt below):

“The Halifax Camerata Singers, led by artistic director Jeff Joudrey, with the Rhapsody Quintet present Halifax 1917: From Dreams to Despair, with actor Jeremy Webb, in a sold-out show Saturday at the Halifax Central Library.

MacDonald is most deeply moved by a new commission for the choir and the quintet from Nova Scotia composer Chris Palmer that will end a theatrical concert depicting 1917 in music from the start of 1917 with New Year’s ragtime through operetta, vaudeville, sacred and secular choral music, patriotic band music and First World War songs up until the disaster.

“One of the privileges of singing in this choir is Jeff has been commissioning new works and been giving prominence to Canadian composers,” says MacDonald, “though we’ve done extraordinary work by international composers.”

Palmer’s piece is based on a poem he saw in Dalhousie University’s Rare Books Collection written in 1917 and first published in 1918 by D.M. Matheson, a former principal of Alexander McKay School.”

MLIS-Assisted Archives Project Featured on CBC

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MLIS student Domenic Rosati worked with SIM Lecturer Patti Bannister and her team on this project as a reading course this past fall. Congratulations to all involved – a very successful pilot.

“Lovers of handwriting have long cursed computers for spelling the end of the ancient craft, but a new crowdsourcing program from the Nova Scotia Archives lets them put their passion for penmanship to work in deciphering historic documents.

John MacLeod, senior archivist at the archives, said they’ve put scans of many documents online, but reading them can be tricky.

“The handwriting is at times challenging. Increasingly, in a computer world, people’s appreciations and ability to decipher handwriting is lessening over time,” he told CBC.

Earlier this year, with help from a student from [MLIS student Domenic Rosati], the archives came up with an idea to invite members of the public to read the scans online and type a transcription beside it.”

Read the full article here. 

New issue of the YA Hotline published!

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YA Hotline 104The YA Hotline is a bi-annual newsletter published by the School of Information Management at Dalhousie University. The newsletter contains information and resources for both young adults and young adult librarians including book reviews, resource lists, bibliographies, feature articles, interviews and more. The editor of the newsletter is Vivian Howard, Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Academic) and the articles in each newsletter are written by SIM students/alumni.

Issue 104 explores the evolving world of FANFICTION and includes discussions of the history of fanfiction, where to find fanfiction, ideas for using fanfiction in programming, and the relationship of copyright and fanfiction. This issue was written by MLIS alumna Gabrielle Brydges, Caitlyn Carson, Laurie Chase, Alyssa Dawson, Claire Dionne, and Megan O’Brien. This issue is freely available at https://ojs.library.dal.ca/YAHS/issue/view/685.

 

Introducing the Serendipity Society

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Photo by Samantha Copeland; logo by Ogmatter Design

Photo by Samantha Copeland; logo by Ogmatter Design

How can we burst the filter bubbles that keep people from diverse and unexpected information?

How can organizations leverage their physical and digital spaces to create a culture that supports serendipity and innovation?

What role does serendipity play in learning, science, digital humanities, and management?

These are just a few of the complex questions being tackled by international serendipity researchers and industry leaders from multiple disciplinary perspectives. To help bring these viewpoints together and encourage growth in the field, the Serendipity Society (SerSoc) was launched in November 2016 by Samantha Copeland of the School of Economics and Business, Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Lori McCay-Peet from the School of Information Management at Dalhousie University.

We invite serendipity researchers to join SerSoc but also want to point out the growing list of resources available on the SerSoc website for those interested in learning more about the phenomenon. Follow us on Twitter!

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