LIS News from the Stacks

Follow the FIMS JobWeb on Twitter!
FIMS JobWeb has launched a Twitter feed.  The focus is on Canadian LIS and Journalism job postings.  Follow us to stay in the loop! The JobWeb will continue to operate as usual on the FIMS website. Find us at: https://twitter.com/FIMSJobWeb

“Out of the Stacks:” a blog from India
Amy Riggs and Shawna Stone were the second contingent of FIMS students to participate in the MLIS India Internship Program, organized by FIMS professors Ajit Pyati and Sandra Smeltzer. The students were in Bangalore, India between September and November, working with the Hippocampus Reading Foundation to improve literacy among children in marginalized populations. They kept a blog during their travels. You can read about their adventures at: http://outofthestacks.wordpress.com/

Access Copyright Report
Associate Professor Sam Trosow recently released the research report "Objections to the Proposed Access Copyright Post-Secondary Tariff and its Progeny Licenses: A Working Paper." The report is co-authored by Scott Armstrong and Brent Harasym. It was published on August 14, 2012 and is posted in the Scholarship@Western repository.

Canadian Association for Information Science (CAIS) Conference
At the CAIS conference in Waterloo (May 31-June 2), Assistant Professor Diane Neal was elected Vice President for 2012-2013. This also means that she will serve as President in 2013-2014.

Angela Pollak, LIS PhD Candidate, won the “Student to CAIS Award” for her paper “"Forester or Bushman? Experience as an Information Source in an Ontario Logging and Tourist Community." This award is given annually to the best scholarly paper submitted by a student and accepted for presentation at the CAIS conference.

Student Group Mini Profile:

Progressive Librarians’ Guild:

Politically-minded and action-oriented, members of the PLG - London Chapter are committed to creating spaces where information workers can engage in critical dialogue on any number of topics. Recently, members the London chapter have been involved in raising awareness about locally and nationally important issues. Some recent activities include:

London Food Bank Food Drive: This past November, PLG members organized a food drive, collecting donations from faculty, staff and students for the London Food Bank.

Access Copyright: PLG members have written about the issue on their blog and put together several public presentations addressing the Access Copyright Agreement as it relates to higher education.

Library & Archives Canada cuts: Earlier this year, after news broke that severe funding cuts at Library and Archives Canada meant the end of the National Archives Development Program, PLG members organized a mock funeral procession to mourn the death of archival funding in Canada.

Internet filtering: When the issue of whether or not to apply filters to library computers in the London Public Library system was raised, the PLG were on-hand to weigh in and make a public statement at the Library Board Meeting.

Membership in the PLG – London Chapter, is open to any interested MLIS students, librarians, information workers, and community members in the London area. Current membership includes both current and graduated MLIS students.


Recent Dissertation Defenses:
Olga Buchel, LIS PhD Candidate, defended her dissertation “Making Sense of Document Collections With Map-Based Visualizations” in May, 2012.  She was supervised by Kamran Sedig.

Louis D’Alton, LIS PhD Candidate, defended his dissertation “A Critical Historical Analysis of the Public Performance Right” in April, 2012.  He was supervised by Sam Trosow

Michael McNally, LIS PhD Candidate, defended his dissertation “Intellectual Property and Its Alternatives: Incentives, Innovation and Ideology” in April 2012.  He was supervised by Ajit Pyati and Sam Trosow.

LIS in the News:
MLIS student Ticha Gwaradzimba was featured in the Western News article "Student values 'opportunity,' hopes to pass it on," published on Thursday, October 4.

LIS PhD Candidate Kim Martin appeared in a CTV Atlantic news item on September 28.

Alumni News
LIS PhD grads Michael McNally and Tami Oliphant were both appointed to tenure-track positions with the University of Alberta. Their positions within the Faculty of Education, School of Library and Information Studies, were effective July 1.

Are you a LIS grad with news to share in this newsletter?  Send your details to fims-alumninewsletter@uwo.ca, specifying that the information is intended for publication.