Menu

INFORM

News from the Department of Information Science (formerly SIM)

Archives for Who’s Who

In Memoriam: Lise Fortier (MLIS ’02)

SIM is sad to report that MLIS alumna, Lise Fortier, has passed away.

From the obituary:

Lise Fortier, age 47, born and of Saskatoon died on June 2nd, 2023. Lise is survived by her husband, her parents (J-Michel & Dorothy Fortier), her sisters (Paula & Laura Fortier), her nephews, her niece, and loving in-laws.

After graduating from Bishop J Mahoney HS in 1993, Lise studied at USask. She then attended Dalhousie University to pursue her goal to become a librarian. Lise worked at Saskatoon Public Library for over 25 years. She enjoyed working with the public and providing them with the services they needed.

Lise loved stories in all formats: books, movies, TV shows, and told. Hearing stories and recommendations for books, movies, and TV shows from friends and strangers always entertained her. It was a great way to expand her knowledge and expose her to new interests.

Gaining new experiences was something Lise sought. Learning new skills was always a pursuit. Lise learned how to sew, which allowed her to add dresses to her already extensive collection and to create items for her home. She had a friend teach her how to cross stitch so she could make fun gifts for the people she knew. She also took Spanish lessons to use on her travels. Lise looked for adventurous activities to try as well, like ziplining in the mountains, surfing, and white-water rafting. She was open to new experiences. Lise enjoyed cooking and baking. She kept growing her recipe collection. She and her husband were fond of supporting local restaurants and searching out new places to eat. On their travels, they would seek out good places to eat with a focus on local cuisine. Sometimes Lise would be inspired to try to make similar meals at home, as long as it was not too complicated. Lise loved food.

Lise was lucky to make good long-time friends, many who live in other parts of Canada. This allowed her the opportunity to visit almost every province and territory, all except the Yukon. She loved to travel and explore new places. Lise’s husband was a wonderful travel planner and arranged for them to visit many of the destinations that they wished to see. She also had some friends who would travel with her or invite them on their excursions. They knew Lise would often take them up on these offers. Lise had fond memories of traveling with her family to Maui and spending time with her in-laws in Mexico. She appreciated these moments to spend time with family in new environments and have shared adventures.

A prayer vigil will be held on Wednesday, June 7th at 7:00 p.m. Funeral service will be held on Thursday, June 8th at 10 a.m. Both are to be held at St. Anne’s Catholic Church on Lenore Drive. All are welcome.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Friendship Inn (https://friendshipinn.ca/donations/), Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre (https://saskatoonfoodbank.org/donate) or Saskatoon Public Library (saskatoonlibrary.ca/donate-now).

 

Alumni Profile: Danielle Hubbard, MLIS 2013

By: Toni Beaton (First-year MI Student)

Danielle Hubbard graduated with her MLIS degree in 2013 and was recently appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Okanagan Regional Library in British Columbia. I had the pleasure of interviewing Danielle and chatting with her about her rapid career trajectory since graduating.

Please tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What initially brought you to the information management field?

Portrait of Danielle Hubbard

My name is Danielle Hubbard, and I grew up in Victoria, BC. When I was an undergraduate student, I worked as a Page for the Greater Victoria Public Library. My mother was a Circulation Clerk, so I don’t know if it would’ve occurred to me to apply there otherwise. Partway through my undergraduate in Art History, it occurred to me that my [degree] was not terribly employable. After having a casual conversation with my mom, she didn’t push me towards librarianship or try to convince me, but it was an offhand comment about wishing she’d become a librarian. My mother is a very wise person. I took her non-advice and went to Dalhousie, and graduated in 2013. I’m now the Chief Executive Officer of the Okanagan Regional Library.

Which area of information management most interests you? Did you know this coming into your MLIS program, or did you discover this along the way?

When I entered the MLIS program, I thought I wanted to be an academic librarian. Like many librarians, I’m an introvert. The thought of doing something behind the scenes was appealing. When I started at Dal, I decided by week two that it was not what I wanted to do. I [was drawn] to the public library courses. I took a lot of programming, outreach, and children’s services [courses]. I really care the most about creativity and impact; that I’m doing something creative, and that I can see the positive impact of the work I’m doing. That seemed the most available to me first through programming and outreach, and felt it was even more true in upper management. I had a brief foray in children’s services, which is also very creative.

What has your career trajectory looked like since graduating from MLIS in 2013?

I did my four-week practicum at the Salt Spring Island Public Library [in British Columbia], partially because I love the Gulf Islands, but also strategically because this was a place I’d like to live and work. I wanted to use my practicum to make connections. I then worked there over the summer in children’s programming, which was a really good learning experience. Unlike a big city or regional system, when you work for a small, independent library early in your career, you get tossed into everything. There aren’t departments or silos, and you do whatever you are asked to do. In my second year of grad school, a librarian position at the Salt Spring Island Public Library came up (with a focus in outreach and youth services). I got the position, and I think my connections from the year before helped. I’d say the theme of my career path is that I never meet the requirements of the job postings. This one was [requiring] 3-5 years of experience, and I had just graduated. But the board knew me, and the chief librarian knew me.

After working there for several years, I then moved to Manitoba and worked for the Western Manitoba Regional Library as a Programming and Outreach Librarian. Similar to Salt Spring, that was an unexpectedly good career move. Rural Manitoba is very poorly funded, and public libraries there have some of the least funding in the country. These factors meant I had a lot of free reign to work however I could, with no budget for programming and outreach. I then applied for the Director of Library Services (Chief Librarian) role. I’d only been out of grad school for 5-6 years, and I was not qualified. But I applied, and was offered the position. I think again, because I had already built relationships with the library board, they trusted me as an employee. I had this job through the bulk of the pandemic, for 2.5 years.

My mother [became ill], and I resigned [from the Western Manitoba Regional Library] to move back to the coast to look after my mom in her last few months. When it became clear my mother was not going to get better, I looked for work closer to home; I worked for a time at the Port Moody Public Library in Greater Vancouver. After having been the director of a regional library system, I found that [this role] wasn’t demanding or creative enough. I began looking in the field again [for a job], and was offered a position as the Director of Public Services for the Okanagan Regional Library based in Kelowna. It’s one of the five biggest systems in BC, and geographically spans from Golden in the north down to Osoyoos in the south. I was initially responsible for the northern half of the system (staffing, programming, and outreach activities). Very soon after I started, the CEO announced his retirement and recommended I apply. I like putting myself out there and trying new things, so I applied. I was interviewed three times, and was then offered the position. I’ve been the CEO since November 1st of last year, so almost six months.

Congratulations on your new position as CEO of the Okanagan Regional Library. Please tell us more about your position. What are your roles and responsibilities? What does a typical day look like for you?

The term CEO in the public library is really synonymous with Chief Librarian, City Librarian, Executive Director… it just means you are the top staff member. I report to a board of elected officials with representatives from each of the ORL’s member communities. I am ultimately responsible for all operations of the library system; everything from finances, operating budgets, services for the public, our human resources, marketing, outreach… ultimately, I’m responsible for all of that. I have an executive upper management team of seven members, and then all of the staff of the library flow out from them. The majority of my time I spend interacting with those seven members of the management team.

I see my role as moving things forward. As the CEO, you are the connector; for example, taking IT, public services, and HR together, and finding a [common] ground that will work for all of them. It’s also my role to set and move initiatives forward. Right now, we’re in the early stages of doing strategic planning. The onus falls to me to set meetings and deadlines, and hold people accountable. Sometimes it’s like herding everyone forward. I also do a fair bit of work with the board (24 people). We have four annual meetings. They need to be in the know of what the library is doing, so that their municipalities will want to remain within the library system. It’s a very interpersonal, political, and tactical role. Honestly, it’s very far-removed from any assignment I ever did in grad school. I might be attending a finance committee, or driving to Revelstoke to speak to their city council, or attending a union labour management meeting, or a building project meeting, or talking to the press about a drag storytime we’re going to host… it’s hard to say exactly what a normal day is. It’s usually a lot of emails and lot of meetings.

Lastly, what advice would you offer second-year MI students graduating this June, as they enter the information management professional field?

I want to emphasize – be willing to move around, take initiative by applying for work that stretches your on-paper credentials, and take initiative within a role and be able to articulate what you uniquely contributed [in future interviews].

As you enter the profession, even if you don’t enjoy your very first role, learn what you can and contribute what you can. Be aware of where there might be gaps in what you know; for example, what are some of the experiences employers are looking for you to have? Project management, financial leadership? Where could you get those experiences, or how can you spin your experiences to show you are able to do that? Librarianship is so dynamic. You won’t have a cut and dry role. Really demonstrating that you are able and willing to go with the flow and set your own direction is what employers are looking for.

Apply above your rank, even if you don’t meet all the requirements… go for it anyway. I oversee hiring in my role, and right now public libraries are desperately looking for MLIS [MI] graduates. If you are willing to move, you stand a very good chance. I can’t speak for all organizations, but certainly based on my own experience and the conversations I have with other library leaders, I keep hearing the question, “Where did all the librarians go?” Being willing to move around really sets you up for career success, if that is what you want to prioritize. I don’t think it would’ve happened this way [my career path] if I hadn’t had my experiences in Manitoba before moving back to BC. Sometimes you just can’t gain the same diverse array of experience if you stay in one place.

Highlighting MI Student Work at The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21

By: Toni Beaton (First-year MI Student)

This week, I had the opportunity to speak with several School of Information Management students whom are both current and past employees and volunteers at The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Lisa Phinney, Maddie Hare, and Lara Morrison shared their experiences at Pier 21, as well as advice on those looking to enter the museum or heritage sector.

Please begin by introducing yourselves, including what drew you to the museum or heritage sector within the field of information management.

Lisa: When I first joined this program, my goal was to always work in museums. I have a background in anthropology, so I really wanted to combine it with this management degree. I thought, what better way to do so than to work in a museum? There happened to be an opening last fall [at Pier 21] and I got the job. I [looked forward to] getting exposure to see what the museum sector would be like, and then go from there.

Maddie: When I started at SIM, I wasn’t really considering working in museums. One of my colleagues at the Kellogg Library connected me with her husband who was Head of Digital Collections at Pier 21. I was so interested in archives and digital preservation, so we discussed opportunities to volunteer in this area. That position didn’t exist yet, and they [Pier 21] were going through a transition, so the volunteer coordinator, Annette Carter, suggested that I volunteer in “Visitor Experience” in the meantime to familiarize myself with the museum. I already loved the museum, and my grandmother actually came through Pier 21! Now it’s been a year, and I’m still in Visitor Experience; I really enjoy it.

Lara: I also have had some experience working in the heritage sector before, and that’s where I wanted to go with this degree as well. The fact that Pier 21 is a very local museum was really attractive to me when I saw the job posting. I have a background in history, and am really interested in Canadian history; you can’t discuss Canadian history without discussing immigration. A lot of people have very personal connections to immigration in Canada. That was really interesting to me in terms of working in a museum like that.

What is your (current or past) role within The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, and in which area(s) of the museum were you affiliated?

Lisa: I was hired in September of 2022 as a Heritage Interpreter. It is within Visitor Experience, and my role was to lead and facilitate tours throughout the Pier 21 exhibition, help visitors, work the front ticket counter, sit in exhibitions to answer questions, give directions, and be on the floor face-to-face for visitor help. I was there for 6 months in a contract position.

Maddie: I’m in Visitor Experience, and I work on the floor alongside the interpreters as a volunteer. I answer questions, greet guests, talk about the museum, offer directions, facilitate our activities (including our citizenship table). We have a reflections area where guests can offer reflections on what immigration means to them; I really love chatting with guests about things they’ve written there. We also have an area where people can write their name and story on a tag, and put it on a map. I help to facilitate these types of activities. I also assist with special events at the museum in the evenings, such as the “Voices of the Pandemic Latinx Community Celebration,” the “Canadian Association of Executives: Discover Halifax,” as well as the Pier 21 booth at the Dalhousie Societies Expo.

Lara: I was working as a Genealogical Researcher/Library Assistant for the Scotiabank Family History Centre within Pier 21. The service offered there is open to visitors or anyone who visits the museum, and we do genealogical research for them. It’s a really interesting opportunity to talk with people face-to-face, get a little bit of their family history, and then take a dive into the historical records that we have. Typically, we would use digitized records like the census or ship records. Essentially, we’re trying to find passenger manifests from when people came into Canada. There are some limitations on that, of course, with privacy laws; typically, we only have [records created] before 1935, although there are some exceptions. It was a really great opportunity to talk to people all day, every day, in the summer I was working there. For a lot of people, they themselves came over [to Canada]; it was really interesting to hear people’s stories and the memories that they were sharing with us. It’s a really emotional and difficult topic to discuss for some people, but it’s also really celebratory as well for others. There’s a lot of feeling behind all of those stories.

What have been your most enjoyable takeaways from your experiences at Pier 21?

Lisa: Those really personal interactions you get with visitors. Everyone has a unique story, and you do meet some really interesting people. One of my very last days there, I met a lady whose father had come through Pier 21. Her father and her uncle had fled Poland; they were taken prisoner and had to spend 17 months in Serbia. Then, they fled Serbia and ended up in an East African country. When Canada was looking for labourers, they sent over a boat; her father and uncle lied about their ages so that they could be eligible [to immigrate]. It was a really powerful and unique story I hadn’t heard before. She then spent a good hour in the Family History Centre. It’s moments like that you really appreciate what you’re doing. In those one-on-one moments with visitors, you realize what you’re doing is actually very important.

Maddie: Connecting with guests can be really personal. Hearing their stories and family histories is always really moving to me. We get a lot of cruise ship passengers coming through the museum, and I always really enjoy interacting with them and helping them learn about Canada’s immigration history. I find they, [as well as] newcomers to Canada, really connect with the museum. I love to hear their stories. There’s a wedding dress in the museum from a war bride who came over to Canada; one of the employees who works there [at Pier 21], it’s her grandmother’s best friend’s dress. I was just blown away, because that’s such a direct connection to an object in the museum. On a personal note, my grandmother came through Pier 21 from Italy. Getting to make connections through the museum is amazing; another of the volunteers is Italian, so we’ve chatted about our family history. During Italian Heritage Month, reading all the guests’ stories about their families coming down [to Canada] was really moving.

Lara: Having studied history in school, and as someone who is really interested in archives and archival materials, it is really interesting to speak to the people who are actually documented in those records. We get to interact with people on a very personal level about that. It’s really interesting when you see people coming in to [investigate their family stories]. I remember someone who had always been told their grandmother was born on a ship. And sure enough, we saw in the records, alongside their family someone had pencilled in, “+ Baby born at sea” on the ship’s passenger manifest coming into Canada. It was really cool to be able to do that research for them. It’s a very personal connection, and adds a lot to archival literacy in terms of being able to think critically about records (and how much is left out of records). They are only telling a part of the story; it makes it very real when you get to see it right in front of you.

What advice would you give to current MI students interested in the museum sector?

Lisa: Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Don’t be afraid if you don’t have the qualifications. You learn a lot as you go, and you don’t have to have all the answers at first. My biggest worry was that someone would ask me a question, and I wouldn’t know the answer. The whole point of it is, you don’t have to have the answers. Part of the experience of the museum is learning and growing with your visitors. Just apply! Apply everywhere, regardless if you think you fit the job description or not. Kristine Kovacevic is who you want to speak with and reach out to if you have any interest in working as a Heritage Interpreter at the [Pier 21] museum.

Maddie: Annette Carter is a great person to reach out to for those who want to volunteer! There are lots of volunteer opportunities, and always some things students can get involved with… especially during the summer when the cruise ship season starts. I was supposed to volunteer in a different behind-the-scenes roles, and initially thought Visitor Experience would not be for me. I actually really enjoy it, I have learned a lot, and met a lot of wonderful people in the GLAM sector. Be open to different roles, because you can always find connections and learn something new. There’s a lot of different, interesting events going on, and volunteering is a great way to get experience within museums. It is a great way to meet people and get involved in the community.

Lara: Think about what interests you in particular, and what are some of the skills that you do have. I think museums are a really interesting sector, because there are so many directions they can take you. There’s behind-the-scenes work, there’s front-facing public service, there’s a lot of creative [opportunities] as well. There’s a lot of intersections with education. Don’t be shy about using your past work experiences to coincide with current work positions at museums. Even if you don’t hit all of the qualifications, still apply – you are probably bringing something [unique] they will need!

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Lisa: Pier 21 is a very different museum from what is considered a traditional museum, but I think that’s what makes it all the more interesting. It’s very specific, but very poignant. If you’re looking for something a little different in the GLAM sector, Pier 21 is definitely that niche spot.

Maddie: For incoming SIM students who are new to Halifax, definitely make a point of getting down to the museum. There’s a lot to learn, and there are rotating exhibits.

Lara: Go when there isn’t a cruise ship, if you can!

For further information about The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, including volunteering and employment opportunities, please visit their website at https://pier21.ca/. 

Alison Brown Featured in 2023 Dalhousie ‘Open Think’ Initiative

Dalhousie’s Open Think Initiative highlights PhD researchers each month from across Dalhousie University. They draw on their studies to publish articles that provide context for the world’s toughest challenges, highlight thorny issues we’ve not even begun to contemplate, and open up fascinating worlds to inspire our spirits.

Alison Brown is an Interdisciplinary PhD student, and Lecturer in SIM.

Click here to learn more about her research. Click here to read her first post. Keep an eye on the website here for future posts.

From the Open Think website:

Alison Brown studies how bringing people together to read aloud and discuss compelling literature can strengthen wellbeing and build social inclusion in our diverse communities.

“For many, reading is deeply personal. We read to make sense of our lives, escape into the unknown, find companionship in the familiar, discover what we and others are capable of. All of this can be amplified when we read aloud together.”
 @QuillAndSpade

Dr. Colin Conrad on his new role as Interim Director (Master of Digital Innovation)

By: Toni Beaton (First-year MI Student)

Dr. Conrad headshotDr. Colin Conrad is an Assistant Professor with the School of Information Management (SIM). He is currently serving a 6-month interim directorship for the Master of Digital Innovation (MDI) program here at Dalhousie University. I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Conrad to learn more about his new role:

Please tell us your new title and briefly explain your key responsibilities.

I am the Interim Director of the Master of Digital Innovation, and am filling in for Dr. Vlado Keselj for 6 months. The program is interdisciplinary between Computer Science and Management. The biggest things I do within this position are being responsible for cultivating both the program and the student experience, being able to regularly liaison with students on how they achieve their goals, deal with admissions, and guide the strategic vision for the program as it goes through a review.

How would you describe the MDI program to someone who is not familiar with it?

This is Dalhousie’s premier program for dealing with the intersection of technology and different applications of business. For instance, the MDI is designed to equip students to go into different areas of the economy and identify the ways in which digital technologies are transforming those areas. It’s about advancing digital technology and improving those areas of discipline. It is also a program for other professional disciplines, such as health informatics, and non-profit organizations, such as DeepSense. We have three certificates; one of them is in digital business for people primarily interested in business, there is one in health information for those who want to work in health industries, and one in data science for those interested in data science applications to other areas of society and the economy.

What courses will you be teaching in the MDI program?

I’ve been teaching a core course called “Digital Transformation;” it is the first of two core courses in the MDI program. It is a super cool course, because it involves business, management, communications, and technology. In this case, students learn about identifying problems that organizations face, how to prototype solutions using technology, and then guiding an innovation process from beginning to end. It is a very hands-on course and is taught by two instructors (one from Management and one from Computer Science). One of the features of our program is that it is very interdisciplinary; we want to offer an immersive experience where students receive mentorship. It’s been a great course, and I’m optimistic that it will once again be well received by students (this is my third year teaching it).

What connections do you see between the MDI and SIM programs?

There’s a lot! People come into MDI primarily to find a job in digital transformation; SIM students often have a broader interest. Whether that means they are working in non-profits, they really care about things like the social good. In SIM, students often come from interdisciplinary backgrounds, but especially from the Arts and Social Sciences. In MDI, students are mostly coming from Computer Science backgrounds. There’s also a different balance between international and domestic students; in SIM, there are mostly domestic, whereas in MDI, there are mostly international students.

Other than those differences, they have more similarities than anything else! They are both interested in the intersection of information in society (in the case of SIM), and digital technology in society (in the case of MDI). Those two things overlap a lot. There are opportunities for shared courses, collaboration, and social opportunities. A lot of MDI students take our “INFO 6540 Data Management” course, for example. There are students within SIM who have gotten involved and really been transformed by this community. Some of our SIM students who are more technical in their interests have taken a course called “Data Mining and Data Warehousing” offered through MDI.

Do you have any special goals you are hoping to accomplish during your time with the MDI?

I want to have a really good understanding of what motivates students to go out and meet other people. One of the things we saw during the pandemic was that it was very difficult to do that; I want to know how we can go about creating a greater sense of community within the MDI cohort. I also want to find the right way to structure the program in making everything more flexible. Right now, we don’t have a lot of flexibility within our rigid certificate programs; I want to have students use the MDI in a way that they are best able to achieve their goals. For example, if a student is passionate about user experience in health, how can we take our current structure and empower that student? Those are the two things I am looking at.

Do you have any other comments you’d like to add? 

SIM is a stakeholder in a new initiative called the College of Digital Transformation, and this is going to be an initiative related to the program. It’s a new partnership between Computer Science and Management. There will be lots of opportunities to collaborate and enrich each other’s communities. That’ll be something to watch over the next year!

If you’d like to learn more about the MDI program, please visit their website at: https://www.dal.ca/academics/programs/graduate/digital-innovation.html.

Sakshi Jeswani: My Summer Internship with DeepSense

By: Toni Beaton (MI Student)

Sakshi Jeswani is a second-year student in the Master of Information program here at SIM. This past summer, Sakshi completed a three-month internship with DeepSense. I had the pleasure of interviewing Sakshi to share more about her internship experience, her roles and responsibilities, and her tips for first-year students contemplating their own internships.

Please tell us a bit about your internship with DeepSense. What drew you to choose an internship with this company? What were your main responsibilities?

I applied for the Data Readiness program offered by DeepSense. They have a student pool in which they invite students to submit their resumes, and they have different companies with different projects which are assigned to students according to their capabilities and interest. I applied in that program, and I went home because I had given up on getting an internship in the summer! When I was at home, I ended up getting a call for the interview, and I gave the interview from my home. I was selected for the AI and Machine Learning intern position and flew back to Halifax to start the internship. I got to see my family, and I also got to do the internship!

It was an internship with a company called Global Spatial Technology Solutions. It was machine-learning work; the project was predicting the estimated time of arrival for the vessels considering weather variables. The vessels coming to the port need to have an assigned place on the port. Some vessels book their port in advance by entering the incorrect time of arrival. The project was an extension to the current ETA model the company has. I used different machine-learning models to predict the time of arrival. Most of the work was exploratory data analysis (EDA). I was new to the ocean sector and didn’t know anything about it! My supervisors were really helpful, and helped me throughout the project. We found many things that needed to be removed from the data sets, so there was a lot of data filtering that needed to happen to make the model more accurate. The models that I used were Linear Regression, GLM, Random Forest, and XGBoost (different machine learning models) to understand which model fits best with the data.

How did the work in your internship connect to what you learned in the first year of your MI degree?

One day, the CEO of the company (Global Spatial Technology Solutions) called me, and I had a meeting with him. I told him about all the courses I’m taking and planning to take at SIM. I think that was a major contributor to getting the part-time work that I have with the company. I also think I got the internship because of the Data Science course that I took with Dr. Philippe Mongeon. There was a final project in that course that I did, and that’s the project that I showed them in the interview. I think they were really impressed, because they were also using R (a programming language), which was what I learned from my course.

INFO5590 was also helpful. I took the Business Analytics course (INFO6513 with Dr. Colin Conrad) and it has a bunch of helpful technologies that we learned throughout the course. I learned Tableau in that course; because of which, I got a practicum with Dal Analytics! In my resume, I added all of technologies I learned in INFO6513, which was very helpful [in gaining my internship].

What would you say was the most rewarding part of your internship?

I cannot describe how helpful the supervisors were, and are now as well! I got to learn a lot from them, because they have been working in the industry for so long. I am getting transferred to a GIS project and it will be very helpful for me to gain practical industry knowledge along with taking the GIS course with Jennifer Grek Martin.

Congratulations on your offer of employment with DeepSense! What will your main roles and responsibilities be?

Right now, I am still completing the project that I started in my internship. The internship time was three months which was less according to the project requirements. It will go until the end of October; in November, they will transfer me to another project. The company deals with spatial data and the project involves building maps. One of my supervisors is a GIS data scientist, so I am learning from the course and then applying it as well.

Looking forward after graduation, are you hoping to stay in Halifax and find full-time work? What would be your ideal job after graduation?

I think I’ll stay in Halifax, but it also depends on the job profile that I get. I might also move, but I’m not sure about it yet. I want to work in the data science field. But, taking the GIS course, I’m building my interest towards GIS! I’d love to do a combination of both.

Lastly, what advice would you offer first-year MI students considering a potential summer internship?

I would suggest starting early and building connections. LinkedIn helps a lot in connecting with people working in the same industry. Janet helps in getting the practicum which could help build connections for your internship. I would like to say to anyone considering an internship: I believe that things fall in place.

SIM sends congratulations to Sakshi on the successful completion of her internship, and subsequent job offer from Global Spatial Technology Solutions!

SIM Welcomes New Tenure Track Professors

For immediate release: Dalhousie SIM Welcomes New Tenure Track Professors

Tuesday, October 18th, 2022 (Halifax, NS) – SIM is excited to announce two new tenure track hires: Dr. Stacy Allison-Cassin and Dr. Jamila Ghaddar.

Dr. Allison-Cassin began her appointment as Assistant Professor on July 1st, 2022. She holds a BMus Honours from Wilfrid Laurier University, MMus from Duquesne University, MMISt from University of Toronto, and a PhD in Humanities from York University. Before coming to SIM, she held a limited-term appointment of Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto; and as an Associate Librarian at York University Libraries, as Teaching and Learning Librarian, Digital Humanities Librarian, W.P. Scott Chair in E-Librarianship, and Music Cataloguer at York University Libraries; and the National Librarian at the Canadian Music Centre. She is a Citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario and Chair of the Indigenous Matters Standing Committee of IFLA. She sits on an a number of advisory roles including Library and Archives Canada’s National Union Catalogue Advisory Committee, the Researcher Council of CKRN, and recently was an advisor on OCLC’s Reimagine Descriptive Workflows project. Her research concerns the ways knowledge structures shape meaning and how we come to know and understand the world, especially as it concerns intangible culture, media, and marginalized communities.

Dr. Ghaddar will begin her appointment as Assistant Professor on January 1st, 2023, after completing a limited-term appointment. She holds a BA Honours in Anthropology with a Minor in Linguistics from McMaster University, and an MI and PhD (Information Studies) from the University of Toronto. She is currently a SSHRC-funded Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Manitoba (UofM), where she works with Raymond Frogner at the National Centre for Truth & Reconciliation and Dr. Greg Bak at the History Department. She is also an instructor in the Archival Studies stream of the University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg Join Master’s Program in History, and a Visiting Fellow at the University’s St. John’s College. Previously she was Project Coordinator of the Diversity of Design Project (PI: Dr. Nadia Caidi) at the University of Toronto; a Library Archival Fellow at the American University of Beirut; and a Senior Doctoral Fellow at the Equity Department at the University of Toronto’s New College. Dr. Ghaddar’s research explores the complex dynamics between race, class, gender, sexuality, and citizenship in archival, library, media, and digital domains.

As highlighted in their bios, Drs. Allison-Cassin and Ghaddar bring valuable experience in decolonizing curricula and collaborative research and will contribute significantly to D (equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, decolonization) initiatives in SIM and in the Faculty of Management. With these new positions, SIM and FOM can continue to build a strong foundation in all programs Faculty-wide that reflects social justice concerns within society.

From Dr. Sandra Toze (Director, School of Information Management): “As the information professions continue to respond and change, it is very exciting to be able to build capacity in the areas of social justice and decolonization. We welcome both Drs. Allison-Cassin and Ghaddar and are looking forward to supporting their important work, and collaborating with them on strengthening our programs, and providing excellent opportunities for our students to learn.”

From Dr. Kim Brooks (Dean, Faculty of Management): “It is exciting to have a new colleague with Stacy’s depth of experience joining us at the Faculty of Management.  I’m particularly fascinated by her engagement with ‘wiki’ publications and am confident that her research and teaching will help us expand our Faculty’s footprint in important ways. Jamila has already brought so much to our Faculty.  Her work with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has enhanced the experience she brings to her research and teaching.  I know that her course on Antiracism and Diversity in the Information Professions was a real inspiration and change-maker and look forward to having her talents within our community.”

When asked about their new appointments, Drs. Ghaddar and Allison-Cassin said the following:

Dr. Stacy Allison-Cassin: “I’m thrilled to join the School of Information Management and excited to build capacity in relation to research on knowledge justice and Indigenous matters in information studies. I’m also excited to have the opportunity to work with students, faculty at SIM and beyond on issues related to social justice. There’s such a need in librarianship, other information professions, and in related domains for substantive change to practice, culture, and technology.”

Dr. Jamila Ghaddar: “SIM is an incubator for new ideas, fresh thinking and critical perspectives on information, its institutions, and infrastructures. It is as exciting and dynamic as it is warm and welcoming. Here, you can aim high and find the support you need to succeed. I look forward to continuing to work with the amazing SIM team as I further expand and deepen my work for equity, decolonization and antiracism through curriculum development, partnership building, research, community engagement, and knowledge mobilization. My work begins from a strongly held belief that within our increasingly information driven and technologically mediated world, information scholars and professionals can play a crucial role in addressing the social justice issues of our time.”

Media contact:
Dr. Sandra Toze
Director, School of Information Management
Dalhousie University
Sandra.toze@dal.ca

Profiles: MI Interns at Dalhousie Libraries

Many of our MI students complete internships with Dalhousie Libraries during their studies. Internships are just one of the work-integrated learning opportunities available to students in our program.

Annette Amenta, Anne Summerhays, Courtney Svab, Mansi Trivedi, Kate Anderson, and Maddie Hare all completed internships at Dalhousie Libraries this year. Click on each name to read their profile, and learn more about why they came to the MI program, and what projects they worked on at their respective libraries. Their stories illustrate the breadth of experiences available in our program and the field.

Special thanks to Dalhousie Libraries for their continued support of our students!

 

2022 Convocation: MI Graduate Theses

The SIM spring convocation ceremony is taking place on Thursday, June 2nd. Six of our Master of Information (MI) graduates completed a thesis. The breadth and variety of topics illustrate the interdisciplinary nature of the MI degree, and of the information science field in general. Read more about three of the theses below.

Jordan Audas: “The price of glass slippers: Folklore, intellectual property, and neoliberalism” (full details)

This research presents a theoretical framework to illustrate the way that individualism facilitates the exploitation of communal goods, particularly in connection with the commodification of folklore present in neoliberal society. Although contemporary folklorists understand folklore as the product of mutually sharing traditions – a peer-to-peer and collaborative process which continuously evolves through community participation – the insertion and prioritization of the individual by historical folklore collectors, copyright law, and neoliberal ideology functions to transform the creation and dissemination of folklore into an individual’s intellectual property. Historical folktale collectors made it possible to copyright folklore, to fix these tales and songs to a singular author figure; what started with a desire to protect national heritage by “saving” the last remaining products of the folk was quickly transformed by the copyright industry into an income generation tool. The positioning of the individual above the community in the folklore process serves the purpose of copyright, a system designed to reward the author figure, the solitary and individual genius, and coincides with the ideology of neoliberalism, which places further emphasis on the individual, validating the increase of protection of physical and intellectual property through privatization and commodification. The prioritization of the individual makes it possible for folklore to be bought, sold, or traded – just as any other commodity. This research was made possible through a generous grant of $17,500 by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), based on a successful application to the 2021 Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s competition (CGS M).

Poppy Riddle: “Visualizing Keyword Co-occurrence from Two Queries to Aid Exploratory Search” (full details)

Click here to read a full profile about Poppy

I have been researching the intersection of bibliometrics and information visualization as I am interested in how searching for information can be improved and if visualization provides a better way to search through and find what you are looking for. My thesis investigated a method of information visualization comparing keyword co-occurrence between two database queries to address the challenges of current discovery systems in academic settings. Its purpose was to illustrate how search terms have keyword exclusions that are unique to each and may inform the user of work might be missed or what might refine future searches. Results suggest that while some keywords are co-occurring and linked, there are exclusive keywords that may impact an information seeker’s desired topic and may provide valuable information to support decision making in their exploratory search process. Interpretation of results using heuristic analysis suggests this visualization would present more benefits to the information seeker as an interactive visualization than a static one. The outcomes of my thesis may be implemented by an academic librarian with beginner level Python programming experience. Future work will include advancing this concept to an interactive visualization for evaluation, and exploring other ways to visually map information, including using 3D and VR. My goal is to continue researching and developing ways in which we interact with large amounts of diverse information, which is easy to us, and might even be fun. This research received funding from Coalition Publica ($5500) for support of this work.

Lisa Olson: “Plague Discourse: Political, Religious, and Medical Publications in England, 1603–1666” (full details)

The plague pandemic known as the Black Death reached the shores of England in 1348 and went on to kill around 30–40 percent of England’s citizens. Following the Black Death, the disease became endemic in England, and continued to bedevil the country for another three hundred years. While the seventeenth century saw England’s last plague epidemic, it also saw some of its worst, experiencing major outbreaks in 1603, 1625, 1636, and 1665. During this time, citizens looked to the political, religious, and medical realms for answers to their questions and various authoritative figures answered through print. The century also saw an increase in the quantity, popularity, and accessibility of printed texts in England and society became increasingly equipped to process the influx of texts concerning the illness. These texts, therefore, likely shaped many citizens understanding of the plague. Using qualitative discourse analysis and historical research, as well as quantitative content analysis, this thesis examines a sample of texts from the political, religious, and medical spheres to gain insight into the information being conveyed to the public about the plague at this time and discover how the discourse of these three spheres coexisted. The findings of this study offer insight into the relationships between the political, religious, and medical spheres and how they were affected by plague between 1603 and 1666. They also provide timely insight into responses to widespread health emergencies, such as the current (2019­–2022) coronavirus pandemic.

In Memoriam: Marie DeYoung (MLIS ’80)

SIM joins the many colleagues and connections of Marie DeYoung across the country in mourning the loss of an exceptional librarian and friend. Marie endlessly supported SIM and our students, and among her many honours she was awarded the SIMAA Outstanding Alumni award. We feel fortunate to have had her in our community, and are celebrating her life well lived with all of you.

From the obituary (click here to read in full):

Marie Elizabeth DeyoungMarie Elizabeth DeYoung hung out a perfect line of clothes a week before she died. “That’s my last line,” she said as her sheets dried in the wind and sun just as they were supposed to do. A day later, Marie spent the last day in her Halifax home putting her documents into folders – one for legal documents, one for subscriptions, one for appliance manuals, one for bank and credit card accounts. A librarian by vocation and by disposition, she saw putting files in the right folders as a first principle. A principle with a purpose. Get yourself organized, and you might just put the precious time you have on earth to good use. Marie did just that. In her last year of life, after major surgery, Marie seized the day by taking one final trip to Europe. She always flew business class, stayed in good hotels, dined well and came home after a few days to her spotless home on a leafy Halifax street to watch Jeopardy on her ancient cathode ray TV. Earlier in the day, pre-Jeopardy, Marie would tune her stereo to CBC Radio to listen to classical music while she read a book. A glass of fresh water was left on an end table for Alice, her cat. A half dozen or so novels, borrowed from the Halifax Public Library, were stacked neatly on the coffee table.

Marie worked in libraries for most of her career, though she never called it work. Managing information, cataloguing books, guiding students through the stacks and through life – these were all part of the vocation she loved. Her distinguished career was also reflective of that passion. After completing her Master of Library Service degree at Dalhousie University in 1980, Marie managed libraries at the Nova Scotia Departments of Justice and Labour before taking senior positions at the Nova Scotia Community College and finally Saint Mary’s University, where she served as University Librarian for ten years before retiring in 2018.

A private celebration of Marie’s life will be held at a later date. Donations can be made to a charity of your choice. Marie’s favourites included the World Wildlife Fund and Bide Awhile animal shelter.

TOP