Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Another 2009 SLA Conference Award

If you're interested in attending this year's SLA Annual Conference, the Environmental and Resource Management Division of the SLA would like to cut you a break. All you have to do is write them a 300-500 word essay describing your interest in environmental and resource management librarianship.

That's a pretty low word count! You could probably knock that off in two or three paragraphs. Apply apply apply.

Here's the full release:

2009 ERMD Student Award announcement

The ERMD student Award recognizes a student who is especially interested in pursuing a career as an information professional dealing with environment and resource management issues. A $500.00 award, plus an additional $750.00 in SLA conference expenses will be paid to the student that writes an exceptional 300-500 word essay describing their interests in the issues facing information professionals in this field. For more information see the ERMD website at: http://units.sla.org/division/derm/student/student.cfm

Beth Wohlgemuth, Head Librarian

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Professional Profile: Jenn Reid - Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, LLP


Question: Please describe your position at Osler.


As a librarian at Osler, Jenn commits half her time to training and half to reference services. As a reference librarian, Jenn helps partners, lawyers and new hires with various legal reference duties. When performing these duties, half her day is spent at the reference desk located at the entrance to the library. Here she fields reference questions by phone, email, or in person. When not at the reference desk, Jenn acts as a reference partner at her own desk. Since many reference queries in her office are time sensitive, she can field reference questions by phone or email while the reference desk is busy, allowing her to locate the appropriate resources without distraction.


Jenn is the primary individual responsible for training employees in the use of library resources. Her busy season runs in May and August when articling students and new hires are taken on and the biggest training programs are run. Each of the sessions run one month, and include 10-11 programs. Each program runs about 1-3 hours each and is repeated 3 or 4 times based on the number of hires. Many of the librarians in the office run specialized programs during this time, but Jenn herself is responsible for approximately 50% of the learning process.


Although May and August may be the busiest training times, Jenn’s teaching duties continue throughout the year. She is responsible for producing and updating finding aids, user guides, and online resources. If individuals are hired outside of May or August, separate individual training sessions must be performed. Lunch and learns are also held throughout the year. When she is not teaching, new programs must be designed while old ones are retooled. Currently, Jenn is leading a major project that is evaluating the effectiveness of learning within the sessions. These training duties, combined with her reference responsibilities, keep Jenn very busy throughout the year, but it is an experience that she describes as rewarding and enjoyable.


Question: Please discuss your career path including education.


Jenn began her education at Queens University as a Classics and English major. A class visit from a librarian got her interested in information studies. On a visit to Dalhousie, she met with the Faculty of Information’s own Judy Dunn, who was working there at the time, and after an informative lunch decided to enrol in their MLS program. During this program, she began to become more focused on the technology and information literacy side of information studies, mostly through her TA duties. Jenn received hands-on experience through a practicum at the

ROM, which was completed during her second year.


Between her first and second years of the program, Jenn worked at Hewlett Packard in a non-library capacity. However, she decided to use the opportunity to gain valuable experience. Jenn’s job was to analyze customer feedback. She took the initiative and designed a database to come up with a matrix to track the feedback she was receiving. This led to a position at the Center for Management Informatics at Dalhousie, which gave her great research experience and directly led to her current job at Osler.


Question: What advice do you have for those in a Master of Information Studies (MISt) program just getting into the field?


Jenn’s primary advice is that a MISt student should not narrow their options while enrolled in the program. What a student may think they want at the start of the program may not necessarily be the perfect fit for them. There are so many different paths with a MISt degree that it is important to diversify your experience and keep an open mind.


It is also very important to network. Jenn said that her own experience as the student president of the SLA at Dalhousie was invaluable, and she advises that one should never be afraid to ask a professional for coffee to get some one-on-one time. Gaining these networking connections early in one’s student life will result in more opportunities later on. Jenn also says that alumni contacts should be maintained after graduation.


As a professional, Jenn is still networking outside of her workplace. She is currently on the education committee of the Toronto Association of Law Libraries (TALL) and has also recently been appointed the Finance Director for the Toronto Chapter of the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD). These activities do not take up a huge amount of Jenn’s time, and yet they lead to invaluable networking opportunities.


Question: Where do you see the field going in the next 10 years?


Jenn explains that the livelihood of the librarian profession depends on our ability to market ourselves in the right way. As long as librarians can show that they are relevant and important, through statistics and services offered, then the profession will be treated as relevant and important. Jenn does not see the profession slowing down at all, with expansion into knowledge management and competitive intelligence. The toughest part may be escaping the “L” word, as it often invokes the image of someone who only stocks shelves in a public library. As long as librarians can continue to offer valuable research, training, knowledge management, and many other services that are valuable to private and public organizations, the possibilities are limitless.


-Interview conducted by Robert Keshen

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Media Commons Lecture & Cold Storage Tour a success

Last week, the SLA-TSG hosted a tour of the Robarts Library Media Commons and Cold Storage Facility. While the Media Commons and its holdings are open to the public, to researchers, students, and faculty, the Cold Storage Facility is restricted to Media Commons staff. Apart from those who work at the Media Commons and/or have studied with Brock Silversides, few people appear know of the facility's existence. But more on that later...

The third SLA-TSG tour of 2008/2009 began in the Media Commons, where we were treated to a candid and insightful discussion by Brock Silversides, Department Head and AV/Media Specialist. Throughout the evening, Brock discussed the digitization of non-textual documents, Media collections development, long-term storage methods required for AV materials, and the importance of capturing and archiving our ephemeral day-to-day pop culture.

In this informal, yet informative session, students were able to ask questions and address issues outside the scope of traditional library practice (and instruction, for that matter). All in all, the lecture/Q&A was a real eye-opener, and a fabulous introduction to the field of Special Media Collections Development and Preservation.

Following the discussion, Brock treated us to a 'Behind the Scenes' tour of the Media Commons, and showed us the equipment room. Reel-to-reel machines, beta (yes, BETA) and VHS players, CD-rom and DVD burners, and a host of equipment that I had never seen before was explained to us by the resident AV technician, aka McGyver.

Next, we proceeded to the Cold Storage Facility, where materials once belonging to Lions Gate Films, Alliance Atlantis, and several record labels are kept on ice (ok, not really on 'ice', but chilled to 5c). The facility is over 5,000 sq feet -- it's size rivals vaults belonging to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Library & Archives Canada (Gatineau) -- and utilizes 15 different chillers as it preserves films, videos, audio tapes, photographs and paper memorabilia. During the tour, preservation measures and logistics were discussed; AV materials are fragile, and not 'built to last', which is why special treatment and care is required.

For those students who might be interested: the iSchool summer session course, Special Topics in Information Studies: Managing Audio Visual Material runs the duration of the term and is taught by Brock Silversides. Be warned, it fills up VERY fast and is one of the highly coveted, 'waiting-list' courses.

--Carolyn

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

SLA Science & Technology division: S. Kirk Cabeen travel stipend award


SLA SCIENCE-TECHNOLOGY DIVISION:
S. KIRK CABEEN TRAVEL STIPEND AWARD


The S. Kirk Cabeen Travel Stipend Award is offered to a library school student or first time conference attendee. This $750 award is to be used toward expenses of attending the SLA Annual Conference in Washington, DC, USA June 2009.

QUALIFICATIONS: Be a library school student or first time attendee; be a current member of SLA, preference going to Science-Technology Division members; if NOT a student, then must be attending his or her first SLA conference.

NOMINATIONS: Self-nominations are encouraged.

Send a typed and signed document including complete title, name of Library School and anticipated graduation date, employer, and all professional and personal contact information.

All nominations must also include the following:

A short essay (500 words or less) on the theme of the 2009 Annual Conference:
"Information to Inspiration: Knowledge & Vision Shaping the Future."
The essay should be double-spaced. Neatness, spelling and grammar will count in judging. Supporting documentation must include a current curriculum vita OR resume for the candidate, significant publications, supporting letters, etc.

Applications should also mention if you are currently applying for other SLA division awards.

DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS: March 1, 2009. Nominations and all accompanying materials should be sent to Sheila Rosenthal, Chair of the Sci-Tech Division Awards Committee, at the following email address: (substitute the "AT" for @)
slr AT sei.cmu.edu

POST AWARD REQUIREMENTS:
1. Recipient (s) will write a brief article (approximately 1,000 words) on the conference experience for the November 2008 Sci-Tech News.

2. Recipient (s) will be asked to serve on the Science-Technology Division Awards Committee in the following year to provide for the continuity and enthusiasm of the awards.

NOTIFICATION:
1. Applicants will receive notification of award status by mid March 2009. The award checks will be sent to the recipient as soon as the receipts are received by the Awards Chairperson.

2. The recipients' names will be posted to the Science-Technology Division's Web site.

3. The award will be announced and presented to the recipient at the Science-Technology Division's Annual Business meeting/breakfast.

SLA Centennial Video Contest! 10k in prizes!

Information to Inspiration: Knowledge & Vision Shaping the Future.
Celebrating the Special Libraries Association Centennial, 1909-2009

The SLA Centennial Video Contest deadline of February 23rd is just a few weeks away, and while an Oscar may be in your dreams, $10,000 in prizes is pretty darn good (especially when you realize that there's $1,000 for a designated chapter AND division)!

So, if you are planning to submit a video, let the SLA know by e-mailing
this form:
http://www.sla.org/PDFs/centennial/video_contest_entry_form.pdf
to
tbmccollough AT gmail DOT com

Any SLA member, individually or as a group, can submit a video, so get your cameras rolling!

More information on the video contest is at
www.sla.org/centennial
(contest timeline will be updated very soon)
backup site:
http://wiki.sla.org/display/CCWIKI/Centennial+Video+Contest

Promotional Video on YouTube:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=yXR-e2tiDQs