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News from the Department of Information Science (formerly SIM)

Category: Students

Jennifer Vey awarded the 2013 Stephanie Downs Memorial Award

We are very pleased to announce that Jennifer Vey has been selected as the 2013 recipient of the Stephanie Downs Memorial Award.

As the recipient of the Stephanie Downs Memorial Award, Jennifer  will have the opportunity to make contributions to the lives of international students within the Faculty of Management by:

  • Participating on the planning committee for the international student orientation.
  • Acting as one of the facilitators during the international student orientation.
  • Providing content and updating the Faculty’s international student website

Candidates for the Stephanie Downs Memorial Award are selected for their demonstrated commitment to leadership, student life at SIM and to international librarianship.

Jennifer completed two years of her BA in Mexico, where she gained an intimate knowledge of the country and its people. While in Mexico, Jennifer taught English as a volunteer in a local orphanage. After graduation, Jennifer was employed for two years in Korea as an English instructor in a variety of subjects such as literature, social studies, science, and grammar.

At Dalhousie, Jennifer is the technical chair for the Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary Management, and wishes to join the Librarians Without Borders team in the upcoming academic year.

Learning to Design Mobile Apps

Duncan MacPherson, Dianna Ramdial-Harriram and Lisa Rambadhan showcasing their “Dal Path Finder” app design to Dr. Gruzd

Mobile Internet is quickly becoming the Internet! And in this new world of mobile, the mobile app is king.

On April 2, 2013 students at the School of Information Management gathered to showcase their mobile app concepts at SIM’s Mobile App Concept Design Competition. The competition was organized by Dr. Anatoliy Gruzd and was part of the INFO 5590: Information Management Systems course.

As part of this course, students were asked to work in teams of three-to-four to develop a novel mobile application that can help organizations to better deliver information and services to their end users.  Students had to research the information needs of their respective organizations and come up with an app to address those needs.

Kevin Hartford presenting his team’s “Readable PDF” app concept (1st Place)

On the day of the competition, the teams gathered in Dal’s interactive learning studio located in the Killam Library, also known as LINC – Learning Incubator & Networking Centre (LINC) to present their mobile app concepts. Their apps were evaluated by judges with expertise in mobile app and enterprise development, information management and user interface design, including:

  • Dr. Sujit Sur, Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University
  • Dr. Keith Lawson, Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University
  • Dr. Derek Reilly, Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University
  • Dr. Bonnie MacKay,  Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University
  • Lori McCay-Peet, ID PhD candidate, Dalhousie University
  • Cam McDonald, Purchext

Amanda Fullerton, Amy Lorencz and Nancy McPhee discussing their app design called “Dalhousie Access to Library Available Computer Stations (DALACS)” with Dr. Bonnie MacKay (one of the judges)

Each judge played the role of an “investor” with a hypothetical $1 million to invest.  They could invest the entire amount in one idea or split it among a few of their favorites. At the end of the event, the top three apps (determined by the amount of “hypothetical” funds they have attracted) received prizes.

The apps featured in the competition ranged from the imaginative to the practical including leisure apps for hikers in HRM and Nova Scotia to apps for managing the balance on a Dal student card and one that helps students to navigate through campus buildings. There were also apps for gym users, parents looking for playgrounds for their kids, night sky lovers, tourists wanting to track their checked-in luggage, and readers looking for the next best seller book to read.

The three winning teams were:

  • 1st place – Group #8: Readable PDF (Alan Chorney, Lisa Gauthier, Kevin Hartford, Leah Rae)
  • 2nd Place – Group #3: Go Hiking NS (Matthew Clarke, Jordan Cook, Roger Gillis, Katie Olthuis)
  • 3rd Place – Group #17 : QuickScript (Carolyn Bentzen, Ryan Dyck, Michael Groenendyk, Darrell Yates)

Congratulation to the winning teams!

Below is list of all of the app ideas presented at the event.

 

  • Group #1: Halifax Playgrounds
    Megan Clark, Jaimie Fedorak, Lee Danielle Hubbard, and Emily LeGrand
  • Group #2: Where to Go Halifax!

    Melissa Rothfus, Arryn Seburn, Elyse Sparkes, and Lacey Wilson

  • Group #3: Go Hiking NS
    Matthew Clarke, Jordan Cook, Roger Gillis, Katie Olthuis
  • Group #4: AcademiaMapp
    Catherine McGoveran, Laura Thorne, Jane Willwerth, Stephanie Woods
  • Group #5: Dal Path Finder

    Ruth Collings, Duncan MacPherson, Dianna Ramdial-Harriram, Lisa Rambadhan

  • Group #7: HRM Trails App

    Chantal de Medeiros, David Reynolds, Joanna Veale, Britanie Wentzell

  • Amanda Fullerton, Riel Gallant, Amy Lorencz, Nancy McPhee
  • Group #10: MyDalCard Mobile Application

    Hilary Stamper, Stephanie Duncan, Chelsea Heighton

  • Group #12: My Goodlife Fitness

    Erin MacPherson, Mengjia Zhang, Victoria Kammelu, Winifred Enyeji

  • Group #16: Next on the List…

    Samantha Fritz, Breanna MacLeod, Leah Pohlman, Christine Wu

  • Group #17 : QuickScript
    Carolyn Bentzen, Ryan Dyck, Michael Groenendyk, Darrell Yates

Call for expressions of interest: Directed reading class

This is an opportunity for a directed reading class focusing on the “One Book Nova Scotia” reading program. The reading class will consist of a research study with the following components:

1. Review of the research literature related to mass reading events;
2. Creation and analysis of an online survey of One Book Nova Scotia participants;
3. Analysis of social media posts related to One Book Nova Scotia;
4. Preparation of a report summarizing all findings;
5. Preparation of a poster summarizing the study.

This independent study project should be completed in the fall term. Interested students should read the INFO 6700 Reading Course information on the MLIS website.

If you are interested in being considered for this project, please reply to
Vivian Howard (howardv@dal.ca) by April 30 indicating your interest and
qualifications, particularly your prior experience creating and analyzing online surveys.

Librarians Without Borders group travels to Guatemala

MLIS student Christine Wu is participating in the Librarians Without Borders service trip to Guatemala.

CANADIAN LIBRARIANS HELP GUATEMALAN CHILDREN TAKE HOME LIBRARY BOOKS FOR THE FIRST TIME

TORONTO, Apr. 9, 2013 — Elementary school students in Guatemala will be able to borrow books from the library for the first time, thanks in large part to the work of Canadian library students.

Librarians Without Borders members from across the country will be traveling to the Miguel Angel Asturias Academy in Quetzeltenango (Xela), Guatemala from April 13-28, 2013 to collaborate on the development and operation of a school library.

LWB has partnered with the Asturias Academy since 2009 to support the Academy’s vision to build a sustainable community library in the school. This year’s on-site work marks a major transition for their library: we are implementing cataloging, searching and borrowing technologies (and training the staff on these tools) to enable students to locate and check out books for the very first time.

Many Guatemalans are restricted from getting a quality education, in part due to a severe lack of access to books and literacy materials. In a country where books are taxed beyond the reach of the 75% of the population who live in poverty, it’s almost impossible to get children excited about reading because many cannot get actual books in their hands.

This year, we plan to change that.

Over the course of 2012, with the help of a full-time on-site librarian funded by Librarians Without Borders, students far surpassed the reading goal of 4 books per year, reading on average some 14 books per year.  Given this enthusiasm, imagine the impact on (the less than 60%) literacy levels of Asturias’ predominantly indigenous students and their families  — once they can check books out of the library and bring them into their homes. This is an unprecedented opportunity in Guatemala.

About Librarians Without Borders
Librarians Without Borders (LWB) is an action-oriented non-profit organization that strives to narrow information access inequities worldwide by supporting libraries in developing regions and domestic communities.

We enact our mission by collaborating with partner communities to identify their needs and then mobilize our volunteers – the core being student librarians in a service-learning model – for in-the-field development.

We believe that access to information is vital in supporting learning and literacy, reducing poverty, empowering citizens, and building healthy, strong communities.

For more information

Carla Wintersgill
LWB Communications Specialist
carla.wintersgill@lwb-online.org
www.librarianswithoutborders.org

$200 student grant for the APLA conference in Charlottetown

The PEI Professional Librarians’ Association is pleased to announce approval of a $200 grant for a student to attend the APLA library conference this May in Charlottetown. The student must be a PEI resident and will provide a report of the conference to the Association by mid-June. The student should currently be enrolled in a Masters of Library and Information Science at a Canadian university. The deadline for applications is May 1. The grant will be provided at registration.

Please contact PEIPLA President Louise Mould at lmould@eastlink.ca

Congratulations on a successful launch of DJIM Volume 9(1)

Just a quick note from the Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary Management launch to congratulate everyone involved in putting together the latest volume.  Managing a peer-reviewed publication requires a great deal of hard work, collaboration, and collegiality, qualities that are admirably demonstrated by our Faculty of Management students.  My congratulations also to the authors, and I look forward to reading their papers.

Calling all MLIS students who are attending the Medical Library Association’s Annual Meeting in Boston this May

Enhance your MLA 2013 conference experience through Colleague Connection.

Colleague Connection is a mentoring program that pairs newer members or first-time meeting attendees with returning, more experienced members during the 2013 Annual Meeting. The purpose of Colleague Connection is to introduce new attendees to the Medical Library Association and help them get the most out of the Annual Meeting in Boston.

If you are a new member or first time conference attendee, consider pairing up with an experienced colleague at MLA ‘13! Colleague Connection allows you to have your questions about the conference answered, maximize your time, choose the best programs and meetings to attend, meet new colleagues, build your professional network, and discuss new ideas. Initial contacts made through Colleague Connection can lead to lifelong friendships with your peers and increase your professional network. Don’t be left out – sign up today: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KZBMKD7.

Those who register by Saturday April 27th will be guaranteed to receive their mentor before leaving for the meeting. Once assigned, each pair of colleagues will be responsible for working out a time to meet and connect.

If you have any questions, please contact Ryan Harris (rharris@hshsl.umaryland.edu, 410-706-1315).

DJIM’s Spring Launch – April 4th

The Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary Management would like to invite you to the 2013 Spring Launch where we’ll be publishing Volume 9, Issue 1. Come celebrate with us and hear from some of our authors as they discuss their articles and experience being published in DJIM! The DJIM Exec will also be speaking about their progress and accomplishments in the past year as well as future plans.

When: Thursday, April 4th, 2013 — 12pm

Where: Kenneth C. Rowe Building, 3rd Floor, Room 3089

Light refreshments will be served!

djim-atrium-launch

SIM student wins SSHRC storytellers challenge

Congratulations to SIM student Catherine McGoveran for being among 15 finalists of the SSHRC  Research for a Better Life: The Storytellers challenge.  Catherine will be awarded a prize valued at $3,000 CAN; registration (provided by the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences ) and two nights’ accommodation at the 2013 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Victoria, BC; an invitation to participate in a special two-day communications workshop (June 2 and 3) at Congress; and a slot in the Storytellers Showcase, where they will compete for the chance to deliver a featured presentation at the World Social Science Forum in Montreal this October. For further details, please visit the SSHRC website.

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