No. 528 - December 4, 2024

  • Coming Events:

    - FIMSWrites Fall Edition
    - The Untold Story of Children's Television in India
    - Podcast Advertising Effectiveness: An Emerging Economy Perspective
    - Computers and You: Black Women and Early Digital Culture in Essence
    - Poster Session: FIMS 9732 - How Computers Talk to Us: Conversational AI Designs and Uses
    - Archiving the Present: Memory as creative practice, Multi-local and site-specific creative memory work
    - MLIS Research Methods Poster Session

  • Important Dates:

    - Friday, December 6, 2024 - Last day of classes for undergraduate programs
    - Friday, December 6, 2024 - Senate (SH, 1:30 pm)
    - Monday, December 9 - Sunday, December 22, 2024 - Undergraduate Exam Period
    - Friday, December  13, 2024 - Last day of classes for FIMS graduate programs
    - Saturday, December 21, 2024 - Thursday, January 2, 2025 - FIMS offices closed
    - Monday, January 6, 2025 - Undergraduate classes begin
    - Monday, January 6, 2025 - MLIS Orientation and first day of classes for FIMS graduate programs
    - Friday, January 17, 2025 - Senate (SH, 1:30 pm)

  • News & Announcements:

    - Get Published in ELIP - Submission deadline extended

  • Awards & Achievements:

    - Anastazia Csegeny
    - RJ Dill
    - Giada Ferrucci (PhD'24, Media Studies)
    - Eden Hoffer
    - Yetunde Ogunpitan (PhD'24, HIS)
    - Paulette Rothbauer
    - Aalanna Rusnak
    - Earlel Thiyagaratnam
    - Andre Wolmer de Melo

  • Publications & Presentations:

    - Juan Bello

  • In the Media:

    - Emily Austin (MLIS'13)
    - Kathy Gannon (Winter 2025 FIMS Asper Fellow)
    - Selma Purac
    - Ronnie Shuker (MA'08, Journalism)
    - Sarah Smith
    - Carey Toane (MLIS'12)

  • Additional Activities of Note:

    - Mark Rayner

  • News from the FIMS Grad Library:

    - Library Hours in December
    - Upcoming Events in the Library

  • Next Issue:


Coming Events


FIMSWrites Fall Edition
Every Wednesday
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
FNB 4130, or Zoom
Do you expect to have assignment, story, article, report, thesis, and/or book writing deadlines coming up this term? Does having other people writing around you help keep you on-task? Then join us for FIMSWrites, an informal initiative to provide some solidarity in the sometimes-solitary writing process. What it is: a group of people sitting silently together working on their individual writing projects for a morning, with a mid-morning coffee, snack, and socializing break (fika). What it's not: a writing tutorial or workshop. Join us in person or on Zoom (check your Western email for a message from Pam McKenzie to find the Meeting ID).

The Untold Story of Children's Television in India
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
FNB 4110
Presented by Professor Ruchi Kher Jaggi, Director of Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication and Dean of the Faculty of Media and Communication.
Abstract: Despite the proliferation of several media technologies, television occupies an important position in children’s lives. The images and sounds of the television screen are an integral part of children’s everyday lives. According to the latest data collected by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) of India in 2018, of 298 million households in the country, 197 million households — or 66 per cent of the households — own a TV set (continue reading).

Podcast Advertising Effectiveness: An Emerging Economy Perspective
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
FNB 4110
Presented by Professor Kuldeep Brahmbhatt, Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication.
Abstract: The evolution and consumers’ acceptance of podcasts has been on the rise. Scholars argue that this rapid rise is due to the ability of podcasts to offer content that consumers find valuable. This has resulted in brands following consumers on the podcast platforms and attempting to reach them through podcast advertisements. The last decade has seen a tremendous rise in the podcast advertising budgets of brands (continue reading).

Computers and You: Black Women in Early Digital Culture in Essence
Thursday, December 5, 2024
5:00 p.m.
Attend in-person: FNB 4130
Attend online: Zoom link
Presented by Myrna Moretti, Postdoctoral Associate, as part of the Mediations 2024/25 Lecture Series.
Abstract: In the 1980s, the magazine Essence published numerous columns and articles about the changes and opportunities of the burgeoning computer age. This paper offers an overview of how the coverage evolved over the course of the decade with particular attention to the ways that habits and time management were evoked (continue reading).

FIMS 9732 Poster Session: "AI and I in My Future Profession"
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
FNB Atrium (1st floor)
Description: Curious about the buzz around AI? Discover how automated conversations, prompt engineering, and NLP insights are shaping YOUR future profession! Students from LIS, HIS, Media Studies, Education, and Computer Science will showcase their posters examining the capabilities and limitations of AI-enabled Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications (continue reading).

Archiving the Present: Memory as creative practice, Multi-local and site-specific creative memory work
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
12:00 p.m. - 1:20 p.m.
Attend in-person: FNB 4130
Attend online: Register on Zoom
Presented by Postdoctoral Fellow Tania Cañas as part of the FIMS Seminar Series 2024/25.
Abstract: Public memory practices are continual sites of struggle and contestation on unceded lands as the nation-state continually functions to relegate and dispossess memory. Archiving the Present (AtP) is a multi-site digital community archive project of "remembering as insurgent practice" (Cusicanqui 2020, p.xxxii) and memory as creative practice, from a Central American, site-specific, and multi-local perspective (continue reading).

MLIS Research Methods Poster Session
Thursday, December 12, 2024
1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
FIMS Grad Library (FNB 3020)
Join students from LIS 9004 (sections taught by Melissa Adler and Shengnan Yang) as they showcase their work this term. The community is invited to stop by and explore the session. 


Important Dates


- Friday, December 6, 2024 - Last day of classes for undergraduate programs
- Friday, December 6, 2024 - Senate (SH, 1:30 pm)
- Monday, December 9 - Sunday, December 22, 2024 - Undergraduate Exam Period
- Friday, December  13, 2024 - Last day of classes for FIMS graduate programs
- Saturday, December 21 - Thursday, January 2, 2025 - FIMS offices closed
- Monday, January 6, 2025 - Undergraduate classes begin
- Monday, January 6, 2025 - MLIS Orientation and first day of classes for FIMS graduate programs
- Friday, January 17, 2025 - Senate (SH, 1:30 pm)


News & Announcements


Get published in ELIP - submission deadline extended
MLIS and LIS doctoral students in FIMS are encouraged to submit work for review and potential publication in Emerging Library & Information Perspectives (ELIP) later this academic year. Some great reasons to submit your work include:

  • ELIP is a peer-reviewed journal
  • ELIP is open access
  • ELIP accepts five content types, including research articles and reviews
  • You can submit an assignment or course paper if you rework it into a publishable manuscript
  • ELIP is indexed by Google Scholar
  • Hey, you might get cited by The New York Times

The deadline to submit an original article for the next ELIP issue has been extended! You now have until Friday, December 13 to send in your research articles, critical essays, interviews, reviews, or other relevant submissions. Have questions? Head to our website or email us at elip@uwo.ca. We look forward to reading your work!


Awards & Achievements


MLIS student RJ Dill was named the winner of the Fall 2024 Spirit of Librarianship award, presented by the MLISSC each term. The Spirit of Librarianship Award is given to a Master of Library and Information Science student to celebrate the contributions they bring to the program. The award is meant to recognize the student who best exemplifies "the spirit of librarianship" in their daily life as a student.  

HIS PhD student Eden Hoffer's research was featured by the Inspiring Minds Showcase, a research sharing opportunity for grad students supported by SGPS, Western Research, the Writing Support Centre, Student Experience, and Western Libraries. Eden's submission was titled "Failure to Protect or A Failure to Be Protected? The Criminalization and/or Revictimization of Mothers Who Are Intimate Partner Violence Victim-Survivors." Also read the 2024 (or past) submissions from FIMS students Anastazia Csegeny (Media Studies), Giada Ferrucci (PhD'24, Media Studies), Yetunde Ogunpitan (PhD'24, HIS), Earlel Thiyagaratnam (HIS) and Andre Wolmer de Melo (Media Studies). 

Associate Professor Paulette Rothbauer was named the winner of the Fall 2024 Fantastic FIMS award, presented by the MLISSC each term. The Fantastic FIMS award is given to a member of the MLIS staff or faculty to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions that they bring to the program in terms of social support and administrative savvy.

MIT student Aalanna Rusnak was honoured among 483 scholar-athletes at Western at the 2024 Mustangs Honours Breakfast on November 26. To be recognized, student athletes must compete while also maintaining a minimum 80% average in their academics. Aalanna is a member of the Western Figure Skating team, and was joined at the breakast by FIMS Associate Dean, Undergraduate, Susan Knabe.


Publications & Presentations


Assistant Professor Juan Bello will teach a workshop on Visual Research for Documentaries at LIFT (Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto) on Thursday, December 5. LIFT workshops offer training throughout the year in all aspects of filmmaking and media arts.


In the Media


Emily Austin's (MLIS'13) book titled Interesting Facts About Space, was included as part of a list of "20 Canadian books to mark International day of Persons with Disabilities," published by CBC Books on December 3. 

Kathy Gannon, the upcoming Winter 2025 FIMS Asper Fellow, was profiled on the FIMS website in an article titled "Independent Media: Fact or Fiction." Gannon spent decades reporting for the Associated Press from Afghanistan and Pakistan on major international issues and conflicts. While with FIMS, Gannon will teach a course examining the importance of independent media in international reporting, and as part of a separate project she will examine local coverage of international conflicts such as the ongoing Israel/Gaza war.

Assistant Professor Selma Purac was interviewed for an article titled "The revival of your mom's digicam," published by the Gazette on November 22.

Ronnie Shuker's (MA'08, Journalism) book titled The Country and the Game: 30,000 Miles of Hockey Stories was included in Western News' "10 winter reads by Western faculty and alumni," published on December 2.

Associate Professor Sarah Smith was a guest on the podcast Die Kulturmittler:innen in November. She appeared in an episode titled "Deep Dive: Reshaping Power Dynamics in International Cultural Relations."

Carey Toane (MLIS'12) was featured in an article titled "From the stacks to startups: Carey Toane and the business of librarianship," published by University of Toronto Libraries on November 25.


Additional Activities of Note

FIMS instructor Mark Rayner will soon be wrapping up Season Three of his podcast Re-Creative, hosted by Rayner and Joe Mahoney. Guests so far this fall have included the legendary SF writers John Scalzi (Red Shirt, Starter Villain) & Bruce Sterling (aka 'Chairman Bruce' of the cyberpunk movement) and the sculptor Ruth Abernethy (artist behind iconic public art such as the Glenn Gould stature in front of the CBC building, and Raising the Tent, outside the Festival Theatre at Stratford). If you haven't had a chance to check it out, Re-Creative is available anywhere you get your podcasts. 


News from the FIMS Grad Library

Library Hours in December

Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15 (Library Closed)
Monday, December 16 – Friday, December 20 (Library Closed, available by appointment)
Saturday, December 21 – Sunday, January 5 (Library Closed)

Upcoming Events at the Library

The FGL hosts workshops, lectures, and community events each term to support graduate teaching, learning, and research. Events are posted to our website (https://lib.fims.uwo.ca/events/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fimsgradlib/)

WikiClub: Lunch & Learn

There will be no WikiClub on December 16th. We'll take a short break for the holidays and return on January 20th where we’ll kick off 2025 with exciting new projects and discussions.

Enjoy your holidays, and we can’t wait to see you in the new year!

Make of the Month – December - Homemade Winter & Holiday Card-Making

In December we’re putting the Cricut from our Makerspace to good use and making winter and holiday-themed cards. If you need a break from your coursework or research, visit us in the Library to put your creativity (and crafting skills) to good use.

We supply the materials, and even a few pre-cut designs to make and take. Themes include winter wonderland, happy holidays, Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza and more.

If the pre-cut cards aren't your style, browse our catalogue of cards that can be cut from the Cricut in ten minutes or less! We'll show you how.


Next Issue


The FIMS Bulletin is your source for news, announcements, and events pertaining to FIMS graduate programs. Submissions from the FIMS community are always welcome and may be sent via e-mail to fims-communications@uwo.ca.

This is the final issue of the FIMS Bulletin for the Fall 2024 term. The Bulletin will resume publication on Wednesday, January 22, 2025. Submit any items you have by noon on Tuesday, January 21, 2025.