SIM Associate Professor, Dr. Mike Smit, is giving a free talk in Ottawa on October 11th. Full details below. RSVP here. Please share!
Profiles: MLIS Student Interns at Dalhousie Libraries
Many of our MLIS students complete internships with Dalhousie Libraries during their studies. Internships are just one of the work-integrated learning opportunities available to students in our MLIS program.
Alicia Whidden, Lindsay Warner, Nicole Dalrymple (you can also learn more about Nicole’s Practicum at Pier 21 here), Rebekah Prette, Caroline Korbel, and Christine Cousins 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 MLIS 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.
Why archives are using police investigation techniques to preserve our digital past
Creighton Barrett – SIM alumnus (MLIS ’11), instructor and Digital Archivist at Dalhousie University – recently stopped by CBC Radio to discuss ways librarians like him are using police forensic techniques to solve the mystery of data storage in the 21st century.
MLIS Alumna to Present at 2017 CALL Conference
SIM alumna, Hannah Steeves (MLIS ’16) will be presenting at the 2017 CALL (Canadian Association of Law Libraries) Conference in Ottawa, May 6-11th.
Her lightning talk, Lawyers, Gymnasts, and Researchers: Using a Flipped Classroom to Teach LRW, discusses the current landscape of how legal research is taught to law students across Canada and how a flipped classroom approach can add value to their education and simultaneously improve soft skills. From Hannah: “The poster below, Canadian Legal Information Professionals’ Information Activities: What do they do and how to they tweet?, outlines a research paper completed during my time at SIM as a student on a topic that continues to interest me today. I am grateful for the opportunity to present these items and thank those at SIM for getting me started.”
Dr. Joyline Makani: Research Takes Courage
Re-blogged from CFAME Connection:
“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.
MLIS Interns Contribute to Dal Libraries Online Tutorials
Did you know that Dalhousie Libraries has a collection of quick and easy online video tutorials online that explain how to use various library services? These instructional videos cover many different topics relating to research and many are less than 2 minutes long. Many of our MLIS students have assisted with producing these videos, including two recent additions:
- Basic searching in the Archives Catalogue – https://vimeo.com/210436014
- Using the clipboard in the Archives Catalogue – https://vimeo.com/210436216
These particular videos were produced by Learning & Instruction Librarian [and SIM instructor] Lindsay McNiff, Archives Assistant Jennifer Lambert, and Killam Memorial Library Student Intern [and MLIS student] Jacob Ericson. In addition to the links above, the videos are also embedded in the Guide to Archival Research: http://dal.ca.libguides.com/archivalresearch
We are proud of the work of all MLIS student interns, and encourage everyone to utilize these excellent resources!
Workshop: Evaluation at Unicef (April 7th)
EVALUATION AT UNICEF: BRINGING THE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE TO THE LOCAL SETTING
This workshop is sponsored by Dalhousie’s Master in Information Management Program (MIM) and the Nova Scotia Chapter of the Canadian Evaluation Society (CESNS).
This interactive workshop will provide the opportunity to examine the influence of international evaluation demands and practice on our local work. There will be a panel of local evaluators who will comment on the applicability of international evaluation to the local setting.
The workshop will explore the following topics:
- UNICEF and its relationship with the UN
- Evaluation requirements and use in decision making at UNICEF
- UNICEF evaluation examples
- Discussion of evaluation in local and international settings
- Data mining and visualization
The Presenter – Raed Abdel Sater
Raed Abdel Sater is the information manager for the UNICEF Lebanon office. Since 2012, he worked in different emergency operations for UN agencies intervening in the middle east and supporting planning, implementation and management of monitoring and evaluation systems.
Before joining UNICEF in 2014, Raed served as Data manager in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon supporting national and international research and intervention access programs.
Raed is a MIS specialist with extensive experience in design and management of research, monitoring and evaluation, capacity building on evaluation methodologies; promotion of a culture of information use and utilization of information for evidence-based decision-making.
Raed is a student in the Masters in Management Information Program at Dalhousie. He is studying on-line from Lebanon.
Starts: Friday April 7, 2017 – 09:00 AM
Ends: Friday April 7, 2017 – 12:30 PM
Location: Room 3089, Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building, 6100 University Ave., Halifax
Cost: FREE
Additional Information: Register by April 5, 2017: https://cesns.ca/store/evaluationunicef.html
The workshop is provided free of charge by CESNS and the MIM Program at Dalhousie.
Light refreshments will be provided.
For questions, contact Dorian Watts at pd@cesns.ca
IM Public Lecture: Ken Field (Trent 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.
Citation Analysis as a Tool for Collection Management and Development
Ken Field
Trent University
Lecture Details
Monday, March 6th, 2017
9:00-10:00am
Room 1016, Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building
6100 University Avenue
*embedded in the class INFO 6540: Data Management
Abstract: This presentation will begin with a review of what has brought libraries to this point in serials acquisition history and how the current state of things affects serials collection management decisions. This will be followed by an overview of the current state of affairs in serials management at Trent University and a description of the use of citation analysis, along with other tools, in the aid of making better informed decisions about serials management.
Biography: Ken has worked at Trent University for the past 28 years occupying roles as a serials cataloguer, serials librarian, access services librarian, and is currently the head of Trent’s first branch library on its Durham Campus in Oshawa, Ontario, and the University’s Copyright Officer. He obtained a BMusEd from Dalhousie in 1980, a Master of Library and Information Science from UBC in 1984, and a Graduate Professional Certificate in Library Sector Leadership from the University of Victoria in 2011.In addition to his work in the Library, he was Principal of Lady Eaton College, one of Trent’s five residential colleges, from 1996 to 2000, and was Acting Head of the Durham Campus in 2012/13.
During his sabbatical year, he will be undertaking a citation analysis of publications of Trent Humanities and Social Sciences faculty for a 2 or 3 year period in order to gain a better understanding of the types and sources of the resources that faculty have been using in their research. The goal is to provide the Library with a better sense of whether the resources it collects and makes accessible are meeting the research needs of the faculty. He will also continue to actively monitor developments in copyright, both nationally and internationally, and provide advice and guidance to the Trent University community on how any changes may effect the application of copyright law to community practices.
Opening Canadian Innovation Data
By Ryan Whalen (SIM Assistant Professor):
I recently wrote a short piece for Policy Options magazine about the state of innovation data in Canada. The Federal Government has stressed the importance of Canadian innovation, the merits of evidence-based policymaking, and the value of open data. Unfortunately, these professed ideals seem to be lost in translation when it comes to the formulation of innovation data policy.
Unfortunately, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) insists on securing its data behind a paywall, and requiring researchers to sign restrictive non-disclosure agreements if they wish to have bulk data access. This fee-for-data policy leads to a variety of inefficiencies for Canadian R&D and research on Canadian innovation.
I submitted access to information requests to determine just how much money CIPO was bringing in by insisting on charging for this data. Doing so revealed that in recent years CIPO has grossed about $24,000 per year by selling patent data. In the context of an organization with a $150 million budget, the few thousand dollars made by selling Canadian innovation data back to the public (its rightful owners) is negligible.
Instead of walling-off its data, CIPO should open it to all by providing access to bulk data in the same way that the USPTO—its American peer—does. Doing so would entail a marginal cost for CIPO, while offering great benefits to Canadian innovation, and innovation policymaking.
The power and quality of resilience
In this article, Andy Molinsky, a professor at the Brandeis International Business School, discusses the importance of personal resilience. Resilience is generally defined as the ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy. Resilience gives us the inner strength to persevere, and to fight through our fears and insecurities. Molinksy highlights three main considerations:
- We’re more flexible than we give ourselves credit for.
- We’re braver than we think.
- The situation we’re worried about probably isn’t as bad as we think.
- We have more resources than we think.
Molinksy adds: Don’t underestimate how flexible, brave, and capable you actually are. Give it a go, and chances are, you’ll probably end up surprising yourself.