Category: Community Events

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Beyond Colonialism? Libraries for a Canada We Don’t Yet Know

Update: The lecture was recorded, and is now available to watch on Youtube!

Lecture Details
Monday, January 23, 2017
4:00pm-6:00pm
Paul O’Regan Hall, Halifax Central Library
Free, open to the public

The 2017 Dalhousie-Horrocks lecture, featuring Monique Woroniak (of the Winnipeg Public Library), will be titled “Beyond Colonialism? Libraries for a Canada We Don’t Yet Know” and take place Monday, January 23rd at 4pm at the Halifax Central Library.

Abstract: Reconciliation. Relationships. Restitution. All three are on the minds of public institutions following the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action. But where and how to begin? As institutions that support learning, libraries are uniquely suited to engage with—and model—responsible practices that take direction from Indigenous peoples, both locally and nationally. A leader in the area of library services with Indigenous peoples, Monique Woroniak will consider how libraries can best position themselves to be relevant for a country reconsidering its foundations.

For more details please see the Faculty of Management’s page for the lecture here.

Dalhousie-Horrocks 2017 lecture card
Advertising image for the lecture.
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Recording Available! IM Public Lecture Series: “On Transformations of Scholarly Communication in the Digital Era”

*Recording Here*

Dr. Vincent Larivière (Canada Research Chair on the Transformations of Scholarly Communication)
University of Montreal

Abstract:
This year marks the 350th anniversary of the creation of the first scientific journal, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. At the beginning of the 19th century, journals became the fastest and most convenient way of disseminating new research results, outranking correspondence and monographs with which they had happily coexisted until then. They consolidated this position throughout the 20th Century, especially in the sciences. The advent of the digital era then challenged their traditional role and form. Indeed, digital technologies, which are easy to update, reuse, access, and transmit, have changed how researchers produce and disseminate knowledge, as well as how this knowledge is accessed, used, and cited. Drawing on historical and contemporary empirical data, this talk will address the past and current transformations of scholarly communication, with an emphasis on how these transformations have affected the speed at which knowledge is disseminated.

Biography:
Vincent Larivière holds the Canada Research Chair on the Transformations of Scholarly Communication at the Université de Montréal, where he is an associate professor of information science. He is also the scientific director of the Érudit platform, associate scientific director of the Observatoire des sciences et des technologies (OST) and a regular member of the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie (CIRST). Vincent holds a bachelor’s degree in Science, Technology and Society (UQAM), a master’s degree in History (UQAM) and a Ph.D. in Information Science (McGill), for which he received the 2009 Eugene Garfield Dissertation Scholarship award.

Lecture Details
Tuesday, March 8th, 2016 from 4:15pm-5:15pm
Room 3089, Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building, 6100 University Avenue

NOTE: We encourage you to attend in person, but if that is not possible you can access an audio recording + slides on SIM’s website following the lecture (a notice will be sent when posted). Web streaming is not currently available.

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IM Workshop: “From Bibliometrics to Altmetrics: Current Challenges in the Measurement of Scholarly Activity”

*A light lunch will be served at 11:45am in Rowe 3087

*co-sponsored by the Dalhousie President’s Office, SSHRC (Research Development Fund), and Dalhousie Libraries

Abstract: 
Since the creation of the Science Citation Index in 1963, sociologists of science and information scientists have developed methodologies to quantify various aspects of scholarly activity based on papers and citations. The digital era, which makes it easier for knowledge to be diffused, accessed and used, has led to a diversification of the means for communicating scholarly information, but also increased the traces it leaves online—especially on social media. This workshop will provide an introduction to bibliometrics and to the new family of social media-based indicators of scholarly activity currently grouped under the umbrella term of “altmetrics”, emphasizing possibilities and limitations.

Bios: 

Vincent Larivière holds the Canada Research Chair on the Transformations of Scholarly Communication at the Université de Montréal, where he is an associate professor of information science. He is also the scientific director of the Érudit platform, associate scientific director of the Observatoire des sciences et des technologies (OST) and a regular member of the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie (CIRST). Vincent holds a bachelor’s degree in Science, Technology and Society (UQAM), a master’s degree in History (UQAM) and a Ph.D. in Information Science (McGill), for which he received the 2009 Eugene Garfield Dissertation Scholarship award.

Stefanie Haustein is a post-doctoral researcher at the Canada Research Chair on the Transformations of Scholarly Communication at the University of Montreal. Her current research focuses on social media in scholarly communication and making sense of so-called “altmetrics” and is supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She is co-chair of the NISO Working Group on altmetrics data quality. Stefanie holds a Master’s degree in history, American linguistics and literature and information science and a PhD in information science from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany.

Workshop Details
Monday, March 7th, 2016 from 12:00pm-1:30pm
Room 3089, Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building, 6100 University Avenue

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Bowling For Literacy: Bowlarama on March 18th

SIMSA will be raising money to donate to Halifax Public Library Literacy Programs. We are hosting an evening of bowling — $20 gets you ~2 hours of bowling and some sexy bowling shoes with all additional proceeds going to HPL to support literacy in our community!

WHO: SIMSA
WHAT: Bowling for Literacy!
WHERE: Bowlarama, Bayers Rd.
WHEN: March 18th, 7-9PM
HOW MUCH: $20.00

You can pay:
1) in advance to Hannah Steeves (or any friendly neighbourhood SIMSA member who is willing to accept your cash)
2) when you arrive at the bowling alley
*If you think you will be attending please fill out the following form so we have an approximate idea of numbers:
http://goo.gl/forms/OYtZti9vmy

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IM Public Lecture Series: “Designing Virtual Environments for Children and Teens: Challenges and Opportunities”

Presented by  Dr. Jamshid Beheshti @ McGill University

Abstract:
Virtual environments (VEs) provide the unique experience of a sense of being within a 3D space, where the user is involved by interacting with objects. In education, immersion and presence can have strong motivational impact for students, who can actively be engaged in building their own internal models of the world. VEs may also be used as an alternative information retrieval tool by presenting a more engaging browsing environment for children and teens. Creating informational and educational VEs, however, can be perplexing, requiring multitudes of experts, advanced technologies, funds and time. In this presentation the challenges and opportunities in the design process of two different VE projects will be discussed.

Biography:
Jamshid Beheshti, in collaboration with his colleagues, has produced more than one hundred publications, and has obtained close to three million dollars in research grants from SSHRC and other organizations over the past two decades. His research has focused primarily on investigating the information behavior of children and youth, and on designing and developing tools to assist them in their information seeking in the academic milieu. The culmination of his experience has led to the publication of two books on the topic of information behaviour. He served for five years as the Interim Dean and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education, and for six years as the Director of the School of Information Studies at McGill University.

Lecture Details:
Monday, February 22nd, 2016 from 2:30-3:30pm
Room 3001, Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building, 6100 University Avenue

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2016 Horrocks Lecture Recording

If you missed the 2016 Horrocks Lecture given by Dr. Ingrid Parent, don’t worry, there’s a video! Click Here.

There’s also a great write-up by one of our own, Domenic Rosati, on the SIM blog.

Lecture details:
Driving Influential Leadership in a Global Context in the Information Profession
Dr. Ingrid Parent (University Librarian, University of British Columbia)

Abstract: Librarians on the leadership track are encountering a fast-paced and changing landscape. UBC’s University Librarian and former President of the International Federation of Library Associations, Ingrid Parent, shares her insights on how today’s librarians can become influential leaders, drawing from her international perspective and leadership style.

Dr. Ingrid Parent, speaking at a podium at Dalhousie on Feb 4th, 2016