Event: OCAD Library Tour!

Are you curious about the role of information centres in creative research and practice? Want to learn more about academic, special, or art librarianship? 

Please join us for a guided tour of the Dorothy H. Hoover Library at the Ontario College of Art and Design University. 

Librarian Daniel Payne and Learning Zone Technician Heather Evelyn will lead the session; introducing the collection, spaces, and services, and sharing their ways of thinking about best practices for a library that serves and supports creative research and projects. 

The tour will take place on Friday, October 30th from 4:00-5:30pm at 113 McCaul Street (Room 1215, Level 2). All are welcome, but space is limited. This event is FREE! Please RSVP to Angelique Roy at arlis.na.uoft@gmail.com. Seasonal treats will be offered so please specify if you have any dietary restrictions.

For more information, please visit the event page! 

Daniel Payne is Head of Instructional Services at the Dorothy H. Hoover Library. This semester, he is also teaching the Art Librarianship course (INF2312: Art Librarianship in Theory and Practice) at the iSchool.

Marta Chudolinska is the Learning Zone Librarian at the Dorothy H. Hoover Library, managing an alternative library space that is part studio, part collaborative work and research area, and home to the OCAD Zine Library.

Please not that unfortunately Marla Chudolinska will not be available for the tour scheduled on October 30^th.

Heather Evelyn is the Learning Zone Technician at the Dorothy H. Hoover Library, responsible for assisting the librarian with information services in addition to programming, cataloguing and maintaining the collection.

Ulla de Stricker's Resume Workshop

Following a successful first session on Cover Letters for the Professional Development Series with Ulla de Stricker, the next workshop will be on Resumes!

Is your resume an attention grabber presenting you in the best possible light?

Come hear Ulla’s simple tips for creating a professional looking and impactful resume. Ulla’s annual presentation on resumes is an event not to be missed!

Join us for the Resumes workshop on: 

Wednesday, November 14, 2012 12pm-1pm, Room 310 

• by registration

Please cancel if you cannot make the event for any reason. 
SLA Toronto would like to offer unclaimed spots to other SLA members, so we need a head count at least a week before the event.

Thank you for your cooperation!

AGO- E.P. Taylor Research Library & Archives Tour

Courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AGO_at_dusk.jpg

The Art Gallery of Ontario is known for their impressive and inspiring touring exhibitions and permanent art collections, but did you know that not only artists and curators work at the AGO, but librarians do too?!
Come join Larry Pfaff (Head, Reader Services), Karen McKenzie (Chief Librarian), and Donald Rance (Reference Librarian) as they share what it’s like to work at the AGO, a cornerstone of the arts community in Toronto.

Come join us for a tour of the E.P. Taylor Research Library & Archives.

When:Thursday, November 1st, 2012
Time:11am-12pm
The AGO has informed us that a maximum of 30 spots are available. This event is by registration only; contact sla.tsg.1[@]gmail.com to register.

Again, please note that if you cannot make it, try to cancel at least 5 days ahead so that people on the waitlist can be contacted! Thank you for your cooperation!

CBC Libraries and Archives Tour Reminder

Just a reminder to everyone who is registered for our CBC Libraries and Archives Tour tomorrow.

Please meet us in the CBC Main Lobby near the CBC Store for 1:45pm. We are required to pass security clearance before we begin the tour. The tour will begin at 2pm and will last between 1.5 to 2 hours. Please be on time! Unfortunately due to tight scheduling the tour will begin at 2pm sharp and we won’t be able to wait for latecomers.

CBC Toronto is located at 250 Front St. West. The closest subway stop is Union (on the Yonge-University-Spadina Line). Once at Union station, you can walk west on Front St to the CBC.

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Ulla de Stricker Professional Workshop Development Series

In today's competitive job market, are you wondering how to stand out? How do you make potential employers notice you from all the other candidates?

iSchool students are in luck as the dynamic Ulla de Stricker is offering a free professional development series to help you navigate the path to employment!

Ulla is a highly sought-after consultant and coach for library staff. Having held numerous senior positions in the information industry, Ulla has extensive understanding of the day to day practices of knowledge workers and what potential employers in all areas of the information industry are looking for.

The SLA-TSG is delighted that the SLA Toronto Chapter and Ulla have offered to host a series of workshops to help iSchool students stand out in print and in person!

Come take part in Ulla’s lively, informative sessions on:

• Cover Letters Workshop (with “before” and “after” examples!)
Thurs, Oct 24, 2012 from 12-1:30pm, Room 310 (Claude T. Bissell building)

• Resumes Workshop (with “before” and “after” examples!)
Thurs, Nov 14, 2012 from 12-1:30pm, Room 310 (Claude T. Bissell building)

• The Job Interview: Projecting Competence, Confidence, and Fit with
Organizational Culture
Thurs, Jan 23, 2013 from 12-1:30pm, Room 310 (Claude T. Bissell building)

• Professional Branding and Packaging
Thurs, Feb 20, 2013 from 12-1:30pm, Room 310 (Claude T. Bissell building)

All workshops are by registration only.

If you cannot make it to a workshop that you have registered for, please cancel at least 5 days in advance, so that we can give your spot to someone else!

Please note that the iSchool students will be given priority, but remaining spaces will be open to SLA members.

Register at sla.tsg.1@gmail.com

Come learn how to make a lasting, professional impression with Ulla de Stricker! See you there!

Visit Ulla’s website: http://www.destricker.com

Thank you to all who came out to our first SLA-TSG meeting last Thursday, September 27th!

We'd like to welcome the following individuals to their newly elected positions:

First Year Co-Chair: Mary Gu

Communications Officers: Meghan Fitzpatrick and Ramona Sansait

Stay tuned for information regarding the Ulla de Stricker Professional Development Series and the upcoming AGO library tour!

Don't forget to sign up for the CBC library tour if you haven't already!

The CBC Library & Archives Tour is Back!

Have you ever wondered how librarians contribute to media outlets like television and radio? What exactly does a media librarian do?

Bring your curiosity and queries and join the SLA-Toronto Student Group on the first tour of the year at the CBC Libraries & Archives! This was one of our most popular and well-loved tours last year and we are thrilled to be able to give everyone the opportunity to experience media librarianship this year as well.

WHEN: Thursday, October 11, 2012
TIME: 2pm

The tour will take approximately 1.5-2hrs. Please email sla.tsg.1[at]gmail.com to register.

Please note that you must register in order to attend this event as there are only 20 spaces available. We must confirm and submit the names of all registrants by Friday, October 5th at the latest. If you register and cannot come, please cancel before then so that someone else can have your spot!

We apologize that there is limited room for this tour. But don’t worry if you can’t make it – we will be taking notes (and photos, if allowed), so we will share all the information with you right here afterwards.

SLA-TSG Executive Meeting

Please come join us at our first executive meeting of the semester! We are looking for a First Year Co-Chair as well as Social Chairs and will be holding elections for these positions. If you're interested in getting involved with the SLA-TSG, then this is the opportunity for you.

You do not need to be interested in these positions to attend our meetings. Anyone who is interested in learning more about the SLA-TSG, providing feedback on our programming for the year or just has some time to kill is welcome to attend.

So come out this Thursday, September 27 at 3pm in the Student Lounge (7th floor).

A big thank you!

Thanks to everyone who came to visit us last night at the MISC Clubs and Associations Open House!

We were glad to see so much interest in the SLA-TSG and are grateful for all of your feedback regarding our plans for tours and events. Please stay tuned for updates about our first event of the season and our upcoming executive meeting. We will be electing a First Year Co-Chair and Social Chairs, so if you're interested in getting involved with the association this is a great opportunity!

More details to follow...

Join us for Clubs & Associations Night!

Welcome everyone to the 2012-2013 school year! The first week of classes is under way and our first event of the season is the MISC Clubs and Associations Night.

Come meet us on Thursday, September 13nd from 4:00pm to 6:00pm in the student lounge (7th floor, Bissell Building, 140 St. George St.). We will be there to answer any questions you might have about the Special Libraries Association, the SLA Toronto Chapter and the SLA- Toronto Student Group!

We will also be soliciting your feedback and suggestions as we plan out our programming for the year.

Please drop and see us!

SLA-TSG Year End Meeting

Hello everyone,


Please feel free to join us this evening for our Year End Meeting. It is being held at 5:30pm in the student lounge (rm. 728).


We will be electing our incoming executive positions:

1) Second year co-chairs (2 positions)
2) Webmasters (2 positions)
3) Secretary 


Hope to see you there!

Workshop Reminder: Professional Packaging: Easy Ways to Promote Yourself as a Professional with Ulla de Stricker

Join us, and the fabulous Ulla de Stricker, for our second professional development workshop on Professional Packaging!

Information professionals must constantly explain what we do and why it's worthwhile for employers to pay us for doing it. This workshop will draw on the ideas from the book, The Information and Knowledge Professional's Career Handbook: Define and Create Your Success, that Ulla co-authored with Jill Hurst-Wahl. Topics discussed will include:

• Determining what organizations offer you a good professional "fit"
• Using promotional activities to increase awareness of your organizational role
• Fashioning the value message
• Choosing and crafting a professional image

Date: TOMORROW! Tuesday, April 3
Time: 12:10pm-1:30pm
Location: Room 728, Claude Bissell

*Please bring your lunch - Cookies will be provided.

Cover Letter Workshop Follow-up!

Thank you to everyone who came out to our Cover Letter Workshop with Ulla de Stricker! We would also like to thank the numerous volunteers who submitted their cover letters. Your submissions helped make the workshop a great success. For those of you who were unable to attend, never fear... Ulla had some fantastic pointers and we are sharing them with you.

View a .pdf of Ulla's Presentation

Cover Letter Workshop Reminder

Hello all,

This is just a reminder about our Cover Letter Workshop with Ulla de Stricker. Join us tomorrow (Monday, March 26th) as we learn how to improve our cover letter writing skills and land the interview!

Date: Monday, March 26
Time: 12:10pm-1:30pm
Location: Room 728, Claude Bissell

Please bring your lunch - Cookies will be provided.

SLA TSG's workshop - Professional Packaging: Easy Ways to Promote Yourself as a Professional with Ulla de Stricker

Join Ulla de Stricker and the SLA Toronto Student Group for a workshop on Professional Packaging!

Information professionals must constantly explain what we do and why it's worthwhile for employers to pay us for doing it. This workshop will draw on the ideas from the book, The Information and Knowledge Professional's Career Handbook: Define and Create Your Success, that Ulla co-authored with Jill Hurst-Wahl. Topics discussed will include:

• Determining what organizations offer you a good professional "fit"
• Using promotional activities to increase awareness of your organizational role
• Fashioning the value message
• Choosing and crafting a professional image

Date: Tuesday, April 3
Time: 12:10pm-1:30pm
Location: Room 728, Claude Bissell

*Please bring your lunch - Cookies will be provided.

Three Tips for Students Interested in Law Librarianship

Our tour for March took us all the way to the 34th floor of First Canadian Place, and the location of Bennett Jones LLP Library and Information Services Department. The student group had the chance to sit and chat with Jane Freeman (Library Supervisor, Toronto), Christine DeLuca (Law Librarian/Intelligence Analyst), Zena Applebaum (Manager, Intelligence and Intranet) and Lenore Bergson (Library Technician), as well as BMO Law Department’s librarian Katie Thomas, whose library is on the 21st floor of First Canadian Place.

The professionals spoke about the rewards and challenges related to law librarianship, as well as the projects and responsibilities they take on to help gather and disseminate research in the firm, such as the firm Intranet, and embedding librarians in practice groups, all which help increase the usage of the library services.

The physical library consists of a number of shelving units, housing up-to-date legal publications and literature, as well as bound copies of provincial and federal statutes. However most of the information is housed in online databases, such as QuickLaw, Factiva, FP Infomart, Bloomberg, and CaptialIQ to name just a few. The librarians use these sources to access the information required or requested by their clients, as well as provide training on these resources for articling students and lawyers.

The Bennett Jones Library and Information Services department shared some useful tips for students interested in law librarianship:

1. Take a course that will give you some basic understanding of legal research. Courses offered at the iSchool include INF 2136 - Government Information and Publications and/or INF 2133 - Legal Literature and Librarianship.

2. “Work your network” - join and volunteer in the library associations geared towards law librarianship, such as SLA, TALL(Toronto Association of Law Libraries), or CALL (Canadian Association of Law Libraries) and get to know the information professionals. Ask if you can meet with them over a coffee break for an information interview to find out more about their career, projects, responsibilities.

3. Get some hands-on experience – send your resume around to law libraries and see if they would be interested in taking on a library student to help in their centre. That’s what Christine did in the summer between her first and second year at the iSchool. It eventually led to her current position at Bennett Jones. Also consider taking INF 2158: Management of Corporate and Other Information Centres, where a component of the course involves a 45-hour placement at a special library, with some placement offerings at Toronto-area law libraries.

Cover Letter Makeover Workshop with Ulla de Stricker

Join Ulla de Stricker and the SLA-TSG for a Cover Letter Makeover workshop. Ulla de Stricker is the Career Guidance Chair of the SLA Toronto Chapter and has helped many iSchool students with their professional development over the years.

Students are invited to email anonymized versions of their cover letters to the SLA Toronto Student Group at sla.tsg.1[at]gmail.com. Ulla will then use "before" cover letter examples to illustrate tips and tricks for crafting stronger cover letters. Students will leave the workshop with "after" cover letter versions that can be used as professional templates for the future.

Date: Monday, March 26

Time: 12:10pm-1:30pm

Location: Room 728, Claude Bissell

*Please bring your lunch - Cookies will be provided.

Bennet Jones Law Library Tour Reminder

Our Bennet Jones Law Library tour is TOMORROW! For everyone who will be joining us, the details are as follows:

Tomorrow (Tuesday, March 6th) at 1pm.

Bennett Jones is located on the 34th floor of First Canadian Place, 100 King Street West. We will meet in the reception area on the 34th floor.

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SLA-TSG February Meeting - Feb 27th, 2012

Hi everyone,

The SLA will be having a general meeting on Monday February 27th at 12pm in the 7th floor student lounge.

Please feel free to come and give us your feedback about recent SLA events.

We'll also be discussing upcoming library tours and professional development events for March.

Hope to see you there!

Interested in Health Librarianship?

If so, the SLA-TSG has some interesting information for you!

We recently went on a tour of the St. Michael's Health Sciences Library on February 7, 2012 and had a fantastic time learning more about the library's mission, goals, and objectives. The library serves an integral role in helping with the research of students and professionals from various healthcare fields such as nursing, medicine, and mental health. The librarians help with a variety of research requests, but one of their most important roles is providing literature searches for researchers. This requires the librarians to have expertise knowledge of medical databases and to also have subject knowledge of specific medical fields. Some of the tips the librarians offered for becoming more comfortable with medical terminology is to take continuing education courses on medical terminology.

We also learned about the hospital's archives and found out a lot of interesting facts about the hospital's history. Finally, we had a chance to visit the hospital's innovative patient simulation centre. This centre allows "instructors to reproduce various scenarios from basic patient interactions to technical procedures to critical situations" and ultimately allows students to gain hands-on training without having to involve actual patients (St. Michael's Hospital, 2012).

While we were on the tour, the librarians also showed us St. Michael's Patient and Family Information Centre. This newly developed center provides a range of resources and services for inpatients, outpatients, their families and friends and is currently recruiting new volunteers!

If you're interested in health librarianship this is a great chance to gain some experience in the field and be involved in special projects that will help develop your professional skills.

Please check out the following link for more information about this great volunteer opportunity:
http://www.ischool.utoronto.ca/jobsite/2011/volunteer-role-0

Sources:
St. Michael's Hospital. (2012). Learning resources: Allan Waters Family Simulation Centre. Retrieved from http://www.stmichaelshospital.com/education/simulation.php