Congrats Mike!
(Reposted from Dr. Dominika Wiesia Wranik, Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Management)
SIM Alumna Compiles Nationwide Book Recommendation Publication
MLIS alumna Zoe Dickinson has worked with Librarianship.ca (not-for-profit organization started to support and strengthen our community and advance its information professionals) to compile a new publication entitled “Canada’s Favourites: Book Recommendations Coast to Coast” in honour of International Literacy Day/Canadian Library Month. The recommendations come from Canadians from all walks of life, including politicians, journalists, sports stars, authors and librarians.
From the web announcement: “We asked our contributors to share books that had impacted their lives, their current reads, and their recommendations for other Canadians. It was inspiring to see how excited Canadians are to talk about what they’re reading!”
Great job, Zoe! Read the full publication here.
SIM Professor Bertrum MacDonald Appointed Visiting Researcher by the International Ocean Institute-Canada
Read the full announcement here.
“Bertrum MacDonald, research lead for the Environmental Information: Use and Influence (EIUI) research program, has been appointed Visiting Researcher by the International Ocean Institute-Canada (IOI-Canada) for 2016-2017.
Dr. MacDonald, who recently concluded a term as Dean of the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie and is on a year-long research leave, will continue his line of study aimed at advancing understanding of the many pathways of information (scientific, social science, and local) at the science-policy interface in marine environmental contexts. He and EIUI colleagues recently published Science, Information, and Policy Interface for Effective Ocean and Coastal Management (CRC Press, 2016), which is the first book to focus exclusively on the role of scientific information in the development of coastal and ocean policy and management of the oceans. The EIUI research program is pursuing case studies with governmental and intergovernmental organizations in Canada and internationally.
This research is currently supported by an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The EIUI team will also be undertaking studies in research modules of the recently announced Ocean Frontier Institute that is supported by a $93.7 million grant Canada First Research Excellence Fund to Dalhousie University.”
Dalhousie Libraries News Roundup (Fall 2016)
Submitted by Marlo McKay, Communications Coordinator, Dalhousie Libraries:
Dalhousie Libraries Staff Changes
- Norbert Addo has been hired as a permanent Help Desk Technician in the Killam Library. He first started working there 2014 while he was a student, providing IT assistance to students and faculty alike.
- Leah Unicomb started as the new Manager of Library Services at the MacRae Library on July 4. Leah is responsible for the daily management of the library including staff, services, and facilities.
- Lucy Kiester has been hired as the new 10 month limited term Instruction and Reference Services Librarian in the W. K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library.
- Hannah Steeves has been hired as the new limited term Instructional and Reference Services Librarian in the Sir James Dunn Law Library.
- We recently said goodbye to Copyright Services Coordinator John Yolkowski. We wish him well in his new role at SMU.
Service Enhancement for GIS & Data Services
The GIS Centre and other data services at the Dalhousie Libraries have been brought together with the goal of supporting a wider variety of teaching, learning, and research activities. Leading this activity will be the new Coordinator of GIS & Data Services, Gwen MacNairn. Gwen brings her impressive record of the provision of library services, experience in the development and oversight of staff training, and her knowledge of ESRI and GIS applications to this new system-wide role that began August 15. Gwen has a strong service orientation, having worked for the past fifteen years as the Computer Science Librarian for the Faculty of Computer Science, and most recently as the Assistant Head of the Killam Memorial Library. She is also the liaison librarian for the Medical Sciences program, and spends her time in the Kellogg and Killam Libraries in this capacity. Click here for full details.
Dalhousie and Halifax Public Libraries Team Up to Purchase Video Difference Film Collection
The carefully curated collection at Video Difference, a landmark video rental shop in Halifax, has long been important to Dal’s Film Studies program. When Video Difference announced it was closing in August, some Dalhousie faculty began to work quickly in an effort to try and purchase some of Video Difference’s collection. Deciding to join forces, Halifax Public Libraries and Dalhousie purchased approximately 5,500 titles from the Video Difference DVD collection. The collection will be housed jointly in the Killam Memorial Library and at Halifax Public Libraries. Dal’s portion of the purchase amounts to over 1,000 titles in subject areas which support classes at the university, including silent film, French and Spanish cinema, and films from Ireland, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand. But the entire collection will be readily available to both the Dal community and the broader public. Click here for full details.
Summer Shine
In early September, the Dal Libraries held our annual welcome reception for the Dal School of Information Management (SIM) students. This event now includes the Summer Shine presentations – this year featuring the summer projects by our six SIM interns and one Young Canada Works student.
- Keri McCaffrey: Developing Training Modules for Kellogg Navigators
- Alice Albarda: Digitization at the Dalhousie Archives
- Lauren Bull: Sign(s) of the Times
- Jacob Ericson: Citation Style Libguide & Cockerell Fine Bindings
- Deborah Hemming: Comments, Compliments, & Complaints: Creating a Feedback Database for the Killam Library
- Nick Manuel: Collection Management of Physical & Digital Resources at the Kellogg Library
- Domenic Rosati: Collection Assessment of Physical Carriers of Born-Digital Archival Material
PechaKucha Event: In late August we held the first annual Dal Libraries Conference Season Pecha Kucha event, featuring presentations by 12 Dal librarians and staff. Everyone who attended a conference that spring or summer was encouraged to do a PechaKucha-style presentation about it—20 slides for 20 seconds each on the theme of “What can the Dal Libraries use from what you learned [at the conference]?”
Dalhousie-wide Records Management Project: In June, funding was approved to hire a Records Management Consultant to help Dalhousie finalize a Records Management Policy and best practices, and implement a program under the auspices of the Libraries, based in the Archives. It has been a busy time informing various constituencies and consulting regarding specific RM needs in each unit.
Oriel MacLennan: an enduring study of Marie-Claire Blais: Dalhousie Librarian Oriel MacLennan has just published a second bibliography about Québec writer Marie-Claire Blais. Oriel has been researching Marie-Claire Blais for almost thirty years. In addition to the two bibliographies, she has also written and collaborated on two articles and appeared in a documentary about Blais. An important figure in the Canadian literary scene, Blais is known for producing works of great scholarly interest. She has written more than thirty novels that have been translated into English, German, Russian, and Chinese.[1] Blais has also won many awards for her work, including four Governor General’s Literary Awards, in 1968, 1979, 1996, and 2008. Click here for more details.
Reading with J.A. Wainwright: One of our most respected Dalhousie Canadian literature teachers and writers (now retired from teaching), Dr. J. A. Wainwright, gave a reading on Tuesday, October 4 in the program room on the fifth floor of the Killam Library. Dr. Wainwright is the author of five books of poetry, five novels, and two biographies. His most recent work of fiction is The Last Artist (2016). He is McCulloch Emeritus Professor in English at Dalhousie University. Click here for full details.
Dal Libraries Presents a Digital Preservation Management Workshop: The Dalhousie Libraries organized a five-day Digital Preservation Management (DPM) Workshop this September. The workshop was led by internationally recognized digital preservation experts Nancy McGovern (Director of Digital Preservation at MIT Libraries) and Kari Smith (Senior Digital Archivist at MIT Institute Archives), along with guest instructors and presenters both in-person and virtually. There was also a keynote presentation by Evelyn McLellan, President of Artefactual Systems. Click here for full details.
Stepping up in Inclusive Library Practice in Alberta
By Robyn Gray (MLIS ’16):
Since graduating from Dalhousie’s MLIS program in 2016, Robyn Gray has been working in Elk Point, Alberta at the Northern Lights Library System. Each of Alberta’s “library systems” consists of a structure where they are accountable for several libraries in small, rural areas. Northern Lights is responsible for 47 different libraries (covering a total of 53 municipalities), and as a system, we are able to offer job training, IT support, and numerous physical and digital resources for each member library. While each library is independent with its own manager, staff, and operations, being part of a system allows for greater opportunities.
Recently, a grant was provided for Albertan library systems that are within the vicinity of First Nations Reserves and Metis Settlements (Alberta is the only province in which Metis people have a land base). While public libraries are meant to serve the needs of all peoples, some libraries have had limitations in how they meet the needs of Indigenous populations. Because of their status under federal jurisdiction instead of provincial legislation, there were higher library membership fees [1], and very few programs available to them that touched on their culture.
It has been rewarding to see the ways that this grant is being used to increase the quality of service for Indigenous peoples. Managers and staff at each library within the Northern Lights system are being provided with cultural sensitivity training, including a historical tour of Blue Quills Residential School. Staff at Northern Lights have conducted outreach into Indigenous communities through attending Pow Wows and Treaty Days, and taken this as an opportunity to welcome Indigenous peoples to the library. Thanks to provincial funding, library membership fees for Indigenous peoples are now equal to what they are for all municipality members, and programs are being integrated into libraries that embrace their culture. Most recently, an event called “Kookum’s Storytime” was held at the Bonnyville Municipal Library. Because political and financial barriers have now been removed, Northern Lights is able to work on cultural and sociological barriers that have existed within communities.
Robyn feels extremely grateful to be in a workplace that shares her values. While she learned so much about the importance of libraries, inclusiveness, and outstanding service during her time at Dalhousie, she now gets to put theories into action. Providing equitable services to Indigenous peoples is a crucial step to providing all people of all cultures with the resources and support they need in their local libraries.
[1] Unlike in other provinces, some Albertan libraries charge a membership fee for all patrons
Congrats to our October Graduates!
The School of Information Management would like to congratulate all Fall graduates, including Breseis Li, who received her MLIS degree today!
SIM would also like to send our best wishes to Dr. Jennifer Baechler who was awarded her PhD today. SIM students know Dr. Baechler through our Management Without Borders course. Congratulations Jenny on this significant achievement.
We extend our best wishes to all students graduating today. Your future is bright and you should be very proud of your accomplishments.
To all alumni: We consider you to be part of the SIM family and look forward to hearing about your successes and supporting you in your ongoing careers. Please continue to communicate with us via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter (@dalsimnews), and this blog.
SIMAA Hosts Another Successful Welcome Reception
The School of Information Management Associated Alumni (SIMAA) hosted their annual Welcome Reception and Outstanding Alumni Award presentation on Wednesday, September 28th. A time to eat, drink, and be merry, the annual event is always a warm and welcoming opportunity to connect and catch up with colleagues. Taking place in the beautiful Great Hall of the Dalhousie University Club, this year’s event was well-attended by members of the SIM alumni community in Halifax and beyond, as well as a number of current SIM students. The SIMAA Executive and guests were also pleased to welcome Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Dalhousie University’s new Dean of Management.
Shelley McKibbon, Vice Chair of SIMAA and emcee of the event, was proud to present this year’s Outstanding Alumni Award to Crystal Rose, member of the SIM Class of 2005. Ms. Rose is currently the Acting Associate University Librarian at the Ferriss Hodgett Library, Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland. She was enthusiastically nominated by her fellow alumni through a number of glowing letters. Upon accepting the award, she spoke to the crowd about her wide range of experiences during her time as a public and academic librarian, and also offered excellent words of advice to students and new professionals.
Many thanks are in order to the SIMAA Executive and to Marianne Hagen, Alumni Relations Officer at the Faculty of Management, for helping organize and execute a successful event. We look forward to seeing and hearing more from our alumni as the year progresses.
Written by: Leah Boulos / Photos by: Christine Cousins
IM Public Lecture: Suzuette Soomai (Dalhousie University)
The Information Management Public Lectures give attention to exciting advances in research and professional practice. The topics are diverse reflecting the importance and global extent of Information Management in today’s society. The lectures are open to all members of the Dalhousie campus and surrounding community. Click here for the full schedule. We encourage you to attend in person, but if that is not possible you can access a recording on our website following the lecture. Live streaming is not currently available.
Understanding the Complexity of Fisheries Information Use at the Science-Policy Interface
Suzuette Soomai
School of Information Management, Dalhousie University
Lecture Details
Thursday, October 6th, 2016
5:35-6:35pm *embedded in the class INFO 5500: Information in Society
Room 1011, Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building, 6100 University Avenue
Abstract: The factors influencing scientific communication are contingent on the characteristics of the many dynamic and iterative science-policy interfaces among decision-makers, scientists, and other stakeholders as revealed in case studies of the Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This talk presents the important drivers to information production and the key enablers and barriers to communication based on direct observations at the organizations’ meetings coupled with interviews of fisheries scientists and managers. Unique features of decision-making and information use enable the production of credible, relevant, and legitimate information in each organization, including trade-offs in these attributes to support fisheries governance objectives. Understanding the interface can equip the organizations to evaluate or modify practices to increase the uptake of their information in decision-making and enable stakeholders to determine their most appropriate entry point in a decision-making process.
Biography: Dr. Suzuette S. Soomai is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Environmental Information: Use and Influence (EIUI) research program at Dalhousie University. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the role of scientific information—produced by fisheries management organizations— in policy- and decision-making for marine fisheries management. She holds an Interdisciplinary PhD and a Master in Marine Management (MMM) from Dalhousie University. She also holds a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Zoology and a BSc (Hons) from the University of the West Indies.
Dr. Soomai has considerable experience in fisheries resource assessment and management as she was a government fisheries scientist in Trinidad and Tobago. She has worked closely with commercial/large-scale and small-scale fishers in the Caribbean as well as regional an international fisheries management organizations in a range of research activities including fish stock assessments, freshwater aquaculture farming, and at-sea testing of marine bycatch reduction gear technologies.
IM Public Lecture (Ryan Whalen)
The Information Management Public Lectures give attention to exciting advances in research and professional practice. The topics are diverse reflecting the importance and global extent of Information Management in today’s society. The lectures are open to all members of the Dalhousie campus and surrounding community. When feasible, recordings of the lectures are posted for wider circulation. For the full schedule, visit the Public Lecture page of our website.
Complex Innovation & the Patent System
Ryan Whalen
School of Information Management, Dalhousie University
Lecture Details
Thursday, September 22nd, 2016
5:35-6:35pm *embedded in the class INFO 5500: Information in Society
Room 1011, Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building, 6100 University Avenue
Abstract: As the universe of available information becomes larger and innovation becomes more complex, the task of examining patent applications becomes increasingly difficult. This project demonstrates that the United States Patent Office has insufficiently responded to changes in the information universe and to innovation norms, leaving the Patent Office less able to adequately assess patent applications, and more likely to grant bad patents.
After first demonstrating how innovation has been responsive to contemporary innovation norms for hundreds of years, this project uses information and data science methods to empirically demonstrate how innovation has drastically changed in recent decades. After empirically demonstrating the changed innovation system and the inadequate response to these changes by the Patent Office, this presentation concludes with policy prescriptions aimed to help the Patent Office implement examination procedures adequate to assess 21stcentury innovation. These prescriptions include more granular crediting for the time spent by examiners assessing applications, an increased focus on teamwork at the Patent Office, improvements to the inter partes review process, and alterations to the analogous art doctrine.
Biography: Ryan Whalen is a faculty member of Dalhousie University’s School of Information Management. His research focuses on innovation policy, intellectual property law, and computational social science. He holds a JD from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, and a PhD in Media, Technology, and Society from Northwestern University.
NOTE: We encourage you to attend in person, but if that is not possible you can access an audio recording + slides on our website following the lecture (a notice will be sent when posted). Web streaming is not currently available.
Domenic Rosati Chosen as the 2016 Recipient of the Dalhousie-Horrocks National Leadership Fund
The School of Information Management is pleased to announce that Master of Library and Information Studies student, Domenic Rosati, has been selected as the fourth recipient of the Dalhousie-Horrocks National Leadership Fund.
This Fund was established in 2007 to honour Dr. Norman Horrocks, OC, PhD, FCLIP (1927-2010) for his outstanding leadership in the field of librarianship in North America, Australia, and Europe. Over several decades Dr. Horrocks, former Director of the School of Information Management and Dean of the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University, pursued a distinguished career of very active involvement in professional associations in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Australia, the United States, and Canada. His many contributions, for which he received local, national and international recognition, have advanced the field and the careers of countless individuals. The fund supports a scholarship and an associated lecture series through an endowment donated by the many former students, colleagues, friends and admirers of Norman Horrocks.
Domenic Rosati is a 2nd year Master of Library and Information Studies student at Dalhousie University, with a background in both computer science and history. His main interests concern how robust and scalable information systems or processes can be used to solve problems or open new avenues of information collection and discovery. In his words: “The lifecycle of the digital record looms particularly large in my estimation of the future of information management. While I tend to think digitally, archival practice of acquisition, appraisal, arrangement and description are still important to how I view designing information systems. Programming, particularly using JavaScript and Python, tends to be my tool of choice for testing IM concepts.”
Domenic has work experience in various archival and records management settings, and some recent projects include collections assessment of born-digital records in the Dalhousie Archives, the testing and analysis of the Gitbook publishing platform, and the implementation of a crowdsourced transcription web application with the Nova Scotia Archives. He is currently working with the Dalhousie University Archives and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in order to collect, preserve, and make their records available. When he is not working, he enjoys spending time with his partner and two kids, and is a voracious reader of reference and textbooks.