Tag: conferences

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A Wondrous Winter Semester

Now that the winter term is in full swing, we’ve already had some great events and look forward to an exciting rest of semester!

  • We kicked off the term with a beloved tradition, Waffle Wednesday! Hot cocoa, coffee, and homemade waffles were enjoyed by all. Thanks to everyone for such a great turnout, it was wonderful to reunite after the holiday break. 
  • Our holiday fundraising initiative for Books Beyond Bars was a great success! Together we collected 31 children’s books, 19 novels, 4 blank notebooks, giftcards, and donations made directly to the organization. We received contributions from students, faculty, alumni, and the Dalhousie English Department. Thank you to all who supported this effort. If you would still like to make a donation to the organization, the Loaded Ladle located in the Dalhousie Student Union building is a drop off point for donations, or you find more information about donating directly to Books Beyond Bars here: https://booksbeyondbars.wordpress.com/most-requested-donations/
  • SIMSA’s first social event of the term was held on January 16th. Fun was had by all at Bingo at the Forum!
  • SIMSA’s very first Career Day is taking place today, January 20th! This is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn tips and tricks for resume and CV building, networking, and professional development. This event is a collaborative day put on by SIMSA and SIM’s Professional-in-Residence, Cabot Yu. A second part to Career Day will be hosted in March; we’ll come back together for a resume review session where students will be paired with practitioners in the field who will offer feedback on CVs/resumes. There will also be an opportunity to network with a variety of information professionals.
  • SIMSA’s next book club meeting will be held on January 30th. Our book club pick this month is “Elatsoe”. A sign-out sheet for this month’s book pick will be available in the SIM common room.
  • In exciting news, the highly anticipated Information Without Borders Conference is right around the corner! SIM is very much looking forward to the return of IWB and learning from an incredible line up of speakers and panelists. Registration is free for MI students and is open here: https://iwbconference.informationmanagement.dal.ca/registration/
  • Finally, DJIM has also returned this year! The Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary Management is currently accepting submissions. The deadline is January 31st and more information can be requested at djim@dal.ca

That’s all for now- stay tuned for more SIMSA updates and stay cozy!

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Conference Recap: Nova Scotia Library Association

Conferences are an excellent way to share your work, network with professionals in your field, and see new places! A cohort of SIM students recently attended the NSLA Conference in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Janine McGregor writes about her experiences in this conference recap- thanks for sharing, Janine!

NSLA Conference Recap by Janine McGregor

The weekend of October 14-16 myself and three other SIM students travelled the four and a half hours up to Sydney, Cape Breton to attend the Nova Scotia Library Association conference. The four of us are all interested in working in public libraries and wanted to have the chance to meet with and learn from current professionals in the field. Upon arrival we quickly realized we were the only students attending the conference, but I don’t think that was a bad thing. People were intrigued to know our reasoning for attending.

The weekend was a great opportunity for professional development. There were many workshops and presentations with the opportunity to join in on five throughout the weekend. I learned about creating guidelines for successful libraries, creative training techniques through webinars, creating connections and building community with African Nova Scotians, crocheting packers for transgender youth, and running paint nights with watercolors and credit cards. It was exciting to take what I already know from my time working in libraries this summer and build on it.

Saturday night included a banquet with a sit-down meal, awards and door prizes (which I won!). There were many opportunities to network and connect with professionals. I met library professionals from throughout the province as well as my home county back in Ontario! I’ve always said that library people are good people and this weekend definitely backed that up.

I’m looking forward to more opportunities in the future to connect with the people I met at the conference and continue to learn and grow as an information professional.

Joining professional organizations and associations is an excellent way to get more involved in a field, make connections, and keep up to date with current issues and trends. Many organizations have student membership pricing and reduced conference rates. If you would like to get involved with NSLA, find their website here: https://www.nsla.ns.ca/join-nsla

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A New Page on SIMSA: Conference Calls

Hey, I just thought I would make people aware that I have created a new page on the website titles “Conference Calls” which will hold all of information we get about calls for abstracts, posters, essays, etc. that will be used in conferences or presentations of a higher professional capacity. This new page makes it easier to showcase all of your academic writing.

It can be found under the “Other Resources” tab in the main navigation. Feel free to email the SIMSA DPO with any comments 🙂

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Join the IWB Conference Committee – September 19th

Info Mgmt Climate Change Adaptation

Are you an incoming student interested in joining the Information Without Borders Conference Committee this year? Send a resume and statement of interest to iwb@dal.ca by midnight on Friday, September 19th! IWB will be electing the following positions:

  • In-coming Programming Chair
  • In-coming Logistics Chair
  • In-coming Swag & Fundraising Chair
  • In-coming Web & Communications Chair
  • In-coming Registration Chair

Please visit the IWB website for more details.

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IWB Conference Theme Announced

The last emperor

The 2015 Information Without Borders (IWB) Conference theme has been announced!

This year’s conference, “Information Management for Climate Change Adaptation,” will center on issues of social, economic, and environmental development.

IWB Co-chair Hilary Lynd said, “We are very excited about this topic, as we feel that it is timely, interdisciplinary and that there are many great potential speakers to draw on.” This is sure to be another transformative and fascinating conference, and a great opportunity for SIM students to engage with wider issues in the information field.

To get involved in the conference this year, check out more information here.

 

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SIM Students @ APLA

Spotlight on Student Research

SIM students @ APLA
Left to right: SIMSA Vice-Chair (Academic) Valerie Collins, DJIM Co-Chair Carlisle Kent, APLA Past President Louise White.

SIM students took the annual Atlantic Provinces Library Association (APLA) conference by storm in Moncton, NB last week.

Valerie Collins presented her paper on “Social Media and Scientific Communication,” a collaborative project she completed as part of a reading course with Lou Duggan, Dr Anatoliy Gruzd, and Dr Bertram MacDonald. Their research explored how the dissemination of scientific information has evolved from the Age of Reason to the Information Age.

Carlisle Kent presented “Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction,” a collaborative project she completed with Maria Bartlett, Andrea Kampen, and Hilary Lynd as part of the INFO 5520 (Research Methods) course, supervised by Dr Mike Smit. Their research investigated issues surrounding the meaning, perception, and experience of visual art in the digital age.

If you attended the 2014 Information Without Borders (IWB) Conference at Dalhousie, then you may be familiar with Marc Harper‘s work concerning the human rights issue of information access in North Korea. “Information access: a study of the potential for an information revolution in North Korea” was a presentation that tapped into Marc’s personal experiences in Asia.

Gayle Graham explored the role of publication in the spread of misinformation in her project, “The Halifax Explosion and the Spread of Rumour, 1917 to the Present.“

Mingyue Chen presented a pilot study of international students’ online health seeking behaviours, where she investigated barriers to finding health information for international students.

Finally, James Ross explored the dissemination of information in an environmental context in “What do users want in a State of the Environment report? A study of the State of the Scotian Shelf Report.“

You can read more about the Spotlight on Student Research here.

Check out the Twitter discussion generated by student research at the APLA conference using the hashtag #InfoStudies.