Thanks to the hard work of Sarah Jane Dooley (MLIS ’05, Dalhousie Libraries) and MI students (now alums) Liana Nand, Robyn Nicholson, and Kathleen Pond, our 50th anniversary commemorative booklet is now complete. You can visit the SIM50 page of our website to view. The booklet outlines SIM’s history, from inception in 1969 to today, and includes many wonderful photos from our archives.
We appreciate everyone who helped celebrate our first 50 years.
Here is to the next 50!
SIM graduate Justin Fox (MLIS ’95) has been appointed Director, Student Success at the Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture.
As Justin says: “My IM background has been invaluable throughout my career. The ability to analyze, assess, interpret and manage data and information is critical in an environment driven by informed, evidence-based decision-making. I like to say I work in the people business. We use information to develop and deliver programming that meets or exceeds the needs of students. It’s honourable work.”
Justin graciously supports our annual IT Leadership Award, given to a graduating student has demonstrated leadership, agility and creativity connecting people to information through technology.
Congrats, Justin!
SIM is pleased to welcome our two newest faculty members!
Jamila Ghaddar: Dr. Jamila Ghaddar is a long time archivist and librarian. She was recently awarded a PhD from the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, where she completed a Master of Information in 2014. Jamila successfully defended her doctoral dissertation on July 16th, entitled “Provenance in Place: Archives, Settler Colonialism & the Making of a Global Order.”
Her research interrogates the complex dynamics between information and heritage domains, on the one hand, and issues of race, colonialism, gender, history, and memory, on the other. She is eager to contribute to the interdisciplinary environment at SIM at Dalhousie University through her teaching, research and service.
Alison Brown: Alison graduated from the Dalhousie Master of Information (MI) program in 2017 and has been a sessional lecturer since 2020.
Where are you from? What did you do before coming to Dalhousie? I come from the small village of Petitcodiac, New Brunswick. I have lived, worked, and played in many places – with street-involved youth in Tanzania and Thailand, feminist lawyers in Kenya, community journalists in Vancouver, social justice educators in Toronto. Before coming to Dalhousie in 2015, my partner, two kids, and I drove to Costa Rica where we lived for a year eating pineapple (that grew in our yard!) and helping to protect sea turtles.
What drew you to the School of Information Management and Dalhousie? A continued strong focus on librarianship (unlike some other ISchools I considered). The small size of the school with engaged and dedicated faculty. A return closer to home
What are your research and teaching interests? Research interests: picture books and critical empathy; community-led librarianship; social justice, action research, collaboration
Teaching interests: community-led services, children’s and youth services, research methods, collaboration, human information interaction, information society
Tell me about something you’re proud of accomplishing. Raising ridiculously lovely children
What’s something your new colleagues might be surprised to learn about you? In 1998, I hitchhiked from Tanzania to South Africa. There are many stories 😊
Dr. Mike Smit (SIM Professor) has been awarded an NSERC research grant for his project “Assessing the quality of research data infrastructure software”. More details below. Click here to read the full announcement.
Congrats Mike!
A total of 44 Dal researchers are the recipients of over $7.3 million in funding from NSERC’s Discovery Grants and Research Tools and Instruments Grants Programs.
The Discovery Grants (DG) program is NSERC’s largest and longest standing program. By supporting ongoing research programs with long-term goals, Discovery Grants give researchers the flexibility to explore promising avenues of research as they emerge. Recipients are not only making an impact on their field of study, but are specializing in research with the potential to impact the world.
The Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) grants program fosters and enhances the discovery, innovation and training capability of university researchers in the natural sciences and engineering by supporting the purchase of research equipment.
Some of the successful projects include:
Researcher: John Frampton
Faculty: Engineering
Project: A bioprinter system for fabricating advanced biomaterials
Researcher: Kimberly Brewer
Faculty: Medicine
Project: Development of quantitative multi-contrast molecular imaging
Researcher: Julie LaRoche
Faculty: Science
Project: Renewal of essential flow cytometry instrumentation for the study of marine microbes
Researcher: Mark Obrovac
Faculty: Science
Project: New chemistries for metal matrix composites
Researcher: Mike Smit
Faculty: Management
Project: Assessing the quality of research data infrastructure software
More on NSERC’s Discovery Grant program can be found here.
SIM is hiring part-time academics to teach the following courses:
Please apply through PeopleAdmin, via the links above. Questions? Email sim@dal.ca