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SIM Professor and Student Awarded OER Grant

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Dr. Mike Smit (SIM Professor) and Lachlan MacLeod (Dalhousie Libraries, MI student) were awarded an Open Educational Resource Grant for their project “Research Data Management in the Canadian Context: A Guide for Practitioners and Learners“.

They are part of a national collaborative project to leverage the expertise of Canadian librarians, data managers, and other experts to provide a comprehensive, bilingual, peer-reviewed textbook introducing readers to managing research data. This book will, among other things, serve as a replacement textbook for the MI course INFO 6290: Managing Research Data.

This grant is offered in partnership between the Dalhousie Centre for Learning and Teaching, and Dalhousie Libraries through the support of Dalhousie’s Strategic Initiatives Funding.

Congrats Mike and Lachlan!

Invite: Virtual lecture featuring Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress (Feb 1st)

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Please join us for the Dalhousie–Horrocks National Leadership Lecture: Library Engagement in a Pandemic & Post Pandemic Virtual World  – Dr. Carla Hayden

February 1st at 12:00 PM AST.

Bio: Dr. Carla Hayden was sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress on September 14, 2016. Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to lead the national library, was nominated to the position by President Barack Obama on February 24, 2015, and her nominations was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 13.

Prior to her latest post she served, since 1993, as CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland. Hayden was nominated by President Obama to be a member of the National Museum and Library Services Board in January 2010 and was confirmed to that post by the Senate in June 2010. Prior to joining the Pratt Library, Hayden was deputy commissioner and chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library from 1991 to 1993. She was an assistant professor for the Library and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh from 1987 to 1991. Hayden was library services coordinator for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago from 1982 to 1987. She began her career with the Chicago Public Library as the young adult services coordinator from 1979 to 1982 and as library associate and children’s librarian from 1973 to 1979.

Hayden was president of the American Library Association from 2003 to 2004. In 1995, she was the first African American to receive Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award in recognition of her outreach services at the Pratt Library, which included an after-school center for Baltimore teens offering homework assistance and college and career counseling. Hayden received a B.A. from Roosevelt University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Graduate Library School of the University of Chicago.

The 2021 Dalhousie-Horrocks National Leadership Awards will also be presented at this event. 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.

This event is free and open to all.

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Patti Bannister Receives Part Time Teaching Award

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Patti Bannister (SIM lecturer) has received the Faculty of Management Part Time Teaching Award. Patti teaches INFO 6800 (Archives) and INFO 6860 (Archives II) in the Master of Information (MI) program. Patti was nominated by MI students, and Acting SIM Director, Dr. Vivian Howard.

From the nomination letter:

SIM is extremely fortunate to have Patti as one of our instructors.  As the Provincial Archivist, she brings a wealth of professional experience into her classes and provides students authentic experiential learning opportunities using actual archival fonds when completing assignments.  She is always able to draw on practical examples and scenarios to illustrate theoretical concepts, an aspect of her teaching that students particularly appreciate.  Typical comments from her MI students include:

  • She brings a really contagious enthusiasm for archiving that impacts students positively
  • The assignments were very well–designed and gave experience of the actual work that archivists do.
  • Patti is a clear communicator and a very organized facilitator.  Course expectations were clear from the beginning, and she offered help when needed. Patti answered all student questions effectively, and she really encouraged discussion and sharing – she isn’t afraid to stray from the Powerpoint slides and improvise as well as speak candidly about the realities of archiving practices. A very engaging, approachable, and knowledgeable instructor.

Hands-on experiential courses such as the ones Patti teaches were among the most challenging to transition to online delivery, but Patti rose to the task and adapted her assignments to be as realistic as possible during the 2020-21 academic year.  Students appreciated her effort to give them as authentic an experience as possible despite the limitations imposed by the pandemic, working with archives staff and a Dalhousie videographer to create short videos that took students inside the archives and exposed them to the archival environment when in-person visits were not possible.  As an Archives I student commented about their experience during the winter 2021 term:

Patti was always happy to answer questions in class and via email outside of class. I greatly appreciated the breadth and depth of her knowledge and expertise in archival practice and being willing to offer real–life examples of how the core archival functions are put into practice. I wish I could have taken this course at another time, when we could have met in person, as I’m sure that having physical access to records for assignments and in–class exercises would have further benefitted my learning. But Patti did an excellent job trying to adapt to the online environment nonetheless! Thank you, Patti!

In addition to teaching both of SIM’s archival courses, Archives I and Archives II, Patti helped design the curriculum for both classes, particularly for Archives II, a class that was developed in response for student demand for an advanced-level course.  She has also supervised students in independent study projects and directed reading courses, and has provided mentorship that clearly extends beyond the expectations we usually have for part-time instructors.

Congrats Patti!

Dr. Bertrum MacDonald receives Faculty of Management Research Impact Award

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SIM Professor, Dr. Bertrum MacDonald, has received the Faculty of Management Research Impact Award. The Impact Award is given to a FoM researcher in recognition of their overall lifetime achievement to date. This decision is guided by traditional research metrics, such as impact factors and citations and additional considerations of the nature of the impact.

Dr. MacDonald was nominated by Acting SIM Director, Dr. Vivian Howard. From the nomination:

As a senior faculty member in the School of Information Management, Bertrum has had a distinguished career as a researcher and has been recognized with the Marie Tremaine Medal (the highest honour awarded by the Canadian Bibliographical Society) and a Dibner Resident Scholar Fellowship at the Smithsonian Institute, in addition to SSHRC and CFREF research grants totalling nearly $1 million.  Throughout his career with SIM, he has been instrumental in creating and sustaining an enriching, supportive, and productive research culture.

Bertrum has been involved in many distinguished research initiatives during his career with SIM, but his leadership of EIUI, the Environmental Information: Use and Influence research group over the past decade is one of the most significant and far-reaching.  This research group focuses on the complex interface of scientific information and policy decisions, using marine environmental and fisheries information as case studies.  The output of this research group is truly impressive: EIUI has produced 45 journal articles, 11 book chapters, one book, 76 national and international conference presentations, and 16 Masters and Doctoral theses.  Bertrum has successfully created a dynamic, collaborative, and interdisciplinary environment within his research group, and he and his team members are tackling some of the key environmental questions of our time, including strategies to mobilize scientific research in the public sphere, understanding information flows in coastal and marine decision making and in the recovery process for endangered marine species.  The impact of EIUI’s output continues to grow as does the importance and overall significance of their findings.

One of Bertrum’s most outstanding (and less visible) contributions is his encouragement of students as emerging scholars. He helps students see they have the potential for scholarship, then ensures they have the assistance, tools, support, and guidance to succeed. Bertrum is known for his rigor and his attention to detail, but also for his incredible curiosity and joy in the research process. He genuinely treats each student and their project as unique and important, and ensures they have the support to think critically and to exceed their own expectations in their development as independent researchers.  The positive impact of his mentorship of scores of students in a diversity of programs over the years really is incalculable.

Congrats Bertrum!

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