Simmons College

GSLIS Adjunct Featured in BPL Ad Campaign

December 15, 2008

GSLIS Adjunct Professor Scot Colford is one of the librarians featured in the Boston Public Library's new ad campaign. See the TV spot and print ad at: http://www.bpl.org/ads/.

Raynna Bowlby Speaks at REFORMA Northeast Chapter Event

December 10, 2008

GSLIS West Recruiting & Administrative Coordinator/Adjunct Faculty member Raynna Bowlby spoke at the November 14, 2008 REFORMA Northeast Chapter meeting, held at the Hartford Public Library. An article about the meeting is available at: http://tinyurl.com/4bg9ad (see page 8).

GSLIS West representatives will be back at the Hartford Public Library on January 6, 2009. Please see the Admission Events page for details.

Nicaragua Fellowship Winner Will Blog in January

December 8, 2008

Congratulations to Stephanie Donohue for being awarded the $750 fellowship to take part in the January 2009 Nicaragua trip being coordinated by the Simmons International Relations (SIR) student group. Stephanie will document her travels on GSLIS' Dispatches from the Field blog.

GSLIS Alum Wins Book Award

December 8, 2008

Congratulations to Sarah Lamstein '85LS for being awarded the Association of Jewish Libraries' 2008 Sidney Taylor Honor Award for her book, Letter on the Wind: A Chanukah Tale (Boyds Mills Press 2007). The award recognizes the best in Jewish Children's literature.

Wishing You A Happy Holiday Season!

December 4, 2008

For this holiday season, GSLIS students and staff created a special greeting to send you good cheer. Please see: http://gslis.simmons.edu/greeting/

New InfoLink Now Available: The Foodie Issue

December 3, 2008

In honor of the wonderful meals many of us are enjoying over this holiday season, this month's InfoLink features three GSLIS alums who work with food (either directly or indirectly) as part of their professional lives.

Even when it's not a professional pursuit, librarians are passionate about their food. GSLIS Assistant Manager of Information Technology Linnea Johnson has been reviewing restaurants for some time. This month, she shares reviews of five of her favorites.

Linnea isn't the only one. We also sent a note out to GSLIS students, staff, faculty, and alums, and were thrilled to have a great response. Read this month's PDF issue and online supplement to see what they're cooking, reading, and eating.

And although he isn't a foodie, per se, we are also happy to welcome Richard Gates, GSLIS' new Student Services Manager, as this month's Snapshot profile.

Read all about those stories and more by downloading the PDF; an online supplement, with additional content, is also available.

Program in Honor of Allen Smith

November 24, 2008

GSLIS is pleased to announce that Alumni Day 2009 will include a special afternoon program in honor of Professor Allen Smith, who passed away in August. The program will include a talk on the future of reference by Brian Matthews, User Experience Librarian at Georgia Tech, and a special toast and reception in honor of Professor Smith.

GSLIS Alumni Day will be Friday, April 17, 2009, at Simmons College in Boston. More details, including how to rsvp for afternoon program, will be posted on the GSLIS website and Alumnet in January.

Seeking Nominations for GSLIS Alumni Board

November 20, 2008

The Nominating Committee of the Simmons GSLIS Alumni Board seeks the names of people interested in serving on the 2009/2010 Alumni Board. If you know of someone who might be interested or would like to nominate yourself, please contact Margaret Cardello, Committee Chair, at mcardello@cmrls.org by Friday, January 23, 2009. Open Board positions include Vice President/President Elect (3 year term), Treasurer (2 year term), and one Director at Large position (two year term). Please direct questions to Margaret Cardello at mcardello@cmrls.org.

Positions Available at Simmons GSLIS

October 27, 2008

Simmons GSLIS is currently recruiting for an Assistant Professor (full-time, tenure track) and for an Assistant Dean for Admission and Recruitment. Full descriptions are available as PDF downloads below. To apply for either position, please go to our online employment site at: https://jobs.simmons.edu/. Click on "Search Postings," select the position title, and follow the directions to apply online.

• Assistant Professor
• Assistant Dean for Admission and Recruitment

  Simmons is committed to excellence in education and employment through diversity.

New Issue of InfoLink Now Available

October 22, 2008

Wondering what truly goes on in those Presidential Libraries? Or what Adjunct Professor Laura Quilter thinks about fair use and intellectual property? Or who some of those new faces at One Palace Road belong to? Look no further - the October InfoLink is now available!

In it we have an in depth look at the JFK Presidential Library, a Snapshot Profile of Laura Quilter, and an introduction to our new faculty members and Dean's Fellows.

Read all about those stories and more by downloading the PDF; an online supplement, with additional content, is also available.

GSLIS Congratulates Alums Metzger, Shirman, and Sutherland for Being Named ALA Emerging Leaders

October 15, 2008

Congratulations to GSLIS alums Rebecca Metzger '06, Hagar Shirman '08, and Tracy Sutherland '05 for being named in ALA's most recent group of Emerging Leaders. It's not surprising if these names sound familiar: Hagar, one of the founding members of the Student International Relations (SIR) group, was also the 2008 Kenneth Shaffer Award winner. Rebecca was one of the students featured in the March 2006 InfoLink UpFront article, "Librarians in the Blogosphere." And Tracy hails from the GSLIS West program at the Mount Holyoke campus.

For more information about SIR, see: my.simmons.edu/gslis/
resources/student-info/student-organizations.shtml#sir; more information about the Emerging Leaders program can be found at: wikis.ala.org/emergingleaders/index.php/Main_Page

New Issue of InfoLink Now Available

September 17, 2008

This month's InfoLink features tales from GSLIS grads who have gone on to do unconventional things with their Library Science degree. Check out interviews with just a few of our esteemed alumni and learn about the not quite mainstream ways they interpreted the word "librarian."

Our Snapshot this month features new GSLIS grad and current Career Resource Librarian at Simmons, Cheryl Kohen, and we also have a report of the summer's South African Children's Literature Seminar from Assistant Professor Amy Pattee. In addition to our regular features, this month's issue contains a tribute to Professor Allen Smith, who passed away in August.

Read all about those stories and more by downloading the PDF; an online supplement, with additional content, is also available.

GSLIS Alum Named Executive Director of Open Content Alliance

September 8, 2008

Congratulations to GSLIS alum Maura Marx, who has just been named as the first Executive Director of the Open Content Alliance (OCA). Maura was appointed after an intensive search conducted by a committee representing the Alliance's approximately 100 cultural and academic institutions. Her appointment was announced by the Internet Archive and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

For the full press release, please see:
www.opencontentalliance.org/2008082600.OCArelease.html

GSLIS Welcomes Four New Faculty Members

August 27, 2008

We are pleased to announce the appointment of four new faculty members: Ross Harvey, Ph.D., a specialist in the preservation of library and archival materials; Howard Rodriguez-Mori, Ph.D. (candidate), a specialist in reference and user services; Lisa Hussey, Ph.D., a specialist in diversity and management in librarianship; and Melanie A. Kimball, Ph.D., a specialist in youth services and literature. Rodriguez-Mori, Hussey, and Kimball join the faculty as assistant professors. Harvey will be a visiting faculty member for two years.

To read the full press release, please download the PDF version. More information about the GSLIS faculty can be found at: http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/about/full.shtml.

Scholarship Fund Established in Memory of Professor Allen Smith

August 21, 2008

The Graduate School of Library and Information Science is establishing a scholarship fund in memory of Professor Allen Smith, who passed away on Saturday, August 2, 2008. Donations are currently being accepted. If you would like to contribute, please make a check payable to:

Simmons College
Memo: Professor Allen Smith Scholarship Fund

Checks can be mailed to:

Simmons College Office of Advancement
Attn: Professor Allen Smith Scholarship Fund
300 The Fenway
Boston, MA 02115

In honor of Allen's request, there will not be a memorial service. However, GSLIS will hold a program in Allen's honor in spring 2009. Details will be posted as plans develop.

Professor Allen Smith

August 5, 2008

It is with great sadness that we report the death of a beloved member of the Simmons GSLIS community, Allen Smith, Associate Dean and Professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, who passed away on Saturday, August 2, 2008.

In his life at Simmons, Allen's contributions were many and his dedication was great. Allen joined the GSLIS faculty in 1978, served as Associate Dean from 2006 to 2007, and was recognized just this past spring for 30 years of service to the College. He lectured in reference, humanities, oral history, and computer programming, and was devoted to those he taught. To many of his students, the words "bibliographic control" will forever live on in their memories, despite the decades it has been since they sat in the seats of C101.

An integral part of Simmons, he was fondly considered by many "the parliamentarian of the GSLIS faculty." One faculty member remembers him by saying "He loved Robert's Rules." Allen was also a member of the Simmons Breakfast Club for the past 15 years, a group who had early morning coffee together in the College Center.

Allen was highly accomplished professionally, having earned his Masters at the University of Denver and his Ph.D. at the Institute of Dialect and Folklife Studies, University of Leeds, England. He lectured at the College of Librarianship in Aberystwyth, Wales, for nearly ten years prior to his time at Simmons. His publications include Directory of oral history collections (1988) and Catalogue of pre-revival Appalachian dulcimers (1983), as well as serving as column editor of "Guide to the Professional Literature" in The Journal of Academic Librarianship.

A man of many hats, Allen was a blacksmith (he put himself through graduate school shoeing horses), a folklorist, a librarian, an author, and an expert on the Appalachian dulcimer.

Our deepest sympathies are with the Smith family during this time. Information regarding memorial services will be posted when it becomes available.

GSLIS Receives $955k Grant to Expand Ph.D. Program

July 25, 2008

Simmons GSLIS recently received $955,694 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in support of its doctoral concentration in managerial leadership in the information professions. Matching funds from the College bring the grant total to $1.8 million.

Through the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, in 2008 IMLS awarded 31 institutions grants totaling $20.3 million. Simmons received the 7th largest grant of the year, competing against universities, state and city library systems, and research institutions. The Laura Bush program supports efforts to recruit and educate librarians and library sciences faculty. It also supports grants for research related to library education and library staffing needs, curriculum development, and continuing education and training.

Built upon a previously-funded project and spearheaded by GSLIS Professors Peter Hernon and Candy Schwartz, GSLIS will use the money to expand its already-successful Ph.D. concentration in managerial leadership in the information professions to include rising leaders in the public and state library arenas. (The original grant supported students from the academic library community.) The successful applicants will receive full tuition coverage and a travel stipend.

The expansion will give mid- to upper-level library managers access to preparation for senior-level leadership. The program will include face-to-face and online courses, research projects, and intensive interaction with library leaders acting as "professors of practice." Student products such as case studies, literature reviews, and issues briefs will be disseminated to influence Master's-level courses in library management and leadership.

The original Ph.D. concentration was founded in 2005 with a $780k grant from IMLS.

IMLS is the primary source of federal support for the nation's libraries and museums. To learn more about IMLS, visit www.imls.gov.

To learn more about the Simmons Ph.D. program, visit www.simmons.edu/gslis/academics/programs/doctoral/. To read the full press release, please download the PDF version.

Relax Amid the Stacks

July 9, 2008

InfoLink is now available. The six-page issue is all about the unique and interesting libraries right here in Massachusetts. Who knew there was a library specifically dedicated to insurance! We also have an interview with visiting Fullbright Scholar, Gladys Saade.

Read all about those stories and more by downloading the PDF; an online supplement, with additional content, is also available.

GSLIS Podcasting Initiative Increases Events' Accessibility

June 17, 2008

Want to know what is happening on the GSLIS campus? Thanks to a Tech Lab initiative called GSLIScast, you can hear podcasts of many Simmons events. Approximately 40 professional-sounding podcasts are available on the GSLIScast site, http://gslis.simmons.edu/podcast/, or in iTunes. A grant from the Pottruck Technology Resource Center funded the purchase of hardware and software, allowed them to hire a student to edit the podcasts, and paid to have some podcasts transcribed. A recent partnership with the Simmons Center for Academic Excellence means that all the podcasts will be transcribed and made accessible to people with hearing impairments. The podcasts will also be available through the Beatley Library catalog.

GSLIS 08-09 Alumni Board

June 16, 2008

Below, please find the list of the 2008/2009 GSLIS Alumni Board members. This year a new director-at-large position has been added to represent GSLIS West.

President: Kris Liberman ‘87, Program Manager, Continuing Education, Simmons College GSLIS

Vice President/Achievement Award Chair: Ann McLaughlin '71 UG, ‘72LS, Director, Thomas Crane Public Library

Secretary: Julie Jersyk ‘ 91, Northeastern University

Treasurer: Bernadette Rivard ‘01, Bellingham Public Library

Past President: Margaret Cardello ‘85, Central Massachusetts Regional Library System (CMRLS)

At-Large Directors: Khalilah Gambrell ‘05, Product Manager, EBSCO Publishing; David MacCourt ‘03, Research and Instructional Librarian, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Vivien Goldman ‘00; Beatrice Pulliam ‘04, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library

Director of Fundraising/Friendraising: Thomas J. Casserly ‘94, Head of Reference & Instructional Services, Boston University, Mugar Memorial Library

For more information about GSLIS Alumni, please see http://alumnet.simmons.edu.

Student Award Winners

May 19, 2008

At the May 2008 Commencement ceremony, GSLIS presented four students with awards:

• Kenneth R. Shaffer Award: Hagar Shirman
• GSLIS West Leadership Award: Meghan Peterson
• Outstanding Information Science Student Award: Alison Cody
• Estelle Jussim Award: Evelyn Green

For more information, including details about both the awards and the recipients, please download the full PDF.

GSLIS Student Becky Robbins Named Recipient of SAA's F. Gerald Ham Scholarship

May 8, 2008

Congratulations to GSLIS student Becky Robbins, who won the prestigious F. Gerald Ham Scholarship from the Society of American Archivists (SAA)! The scholarship was established in 1998 by long-time SAA member and past president F. Gerald Ham and his wife, Elsie. The scholarship fund provides financial support to graduate students in their second year of archival studies. Becky was selected from a large pool of applicants based on her outstanding academic performance in the archival program and her potential for contributing to the archives profession.

Becky began at GSLIS in Fall of 2007. She has completed internships at the Burns Library at Boston College and the Lesley University Archives. Becky originally wrote her winning essay for her Introduction to Archives class. The paper explored and analyzed the topic of postmodern theory within the archival literature in an attempt to understand how archivists' work shape the records they are preserving. In her essay, Becky aimed to demonstrate an ability to be both open-minded and critical in analyzing the literature. She added, "I also tried to, when possible, get at the practical considerations of what can be a very theoretical and abstract topic. It was an interesting exercise that brought up many more questions than answers!" After graduating from GSLIS in May 2009, Becky hopes to work in a university library as an archivist or special collections librarian.

Bastian and Webber Publish Book on Internships

May 6, 2008

Jeannette Bastian, Associate Professor & Director of the GSLIS Archives Management Program, and Donna Webber, Simmons College Archivist and GSLIS adjunct faculty member, recently wrote Archival Internships: A Guide for Faculty, Supervisors, and Students. Published by the Society of American Archivists, the book is a practical guide to archival internships. It aims to establish standards for successful internship experiences for students, supervising practitioners, and professors.

The full press release is available as a PDF (download).

InfoLink Focuses on Alumni

April 30, 2008

The April issue of the Simmons GSLIS InfoLink is now available. With a lead story on GSLIS Alumna Sarah Thomas (the first American and first woman to be chosen as the Bodleian Librarian at Oxford University), and a snapshot profile of Alumni Association President Margaret

Cardello, this issues honors Simmons GSLIS alumni. There is also a feature on "GSLIScast," the GSLIS Podcasting project, as well as congratulations to recent award winners. Read all these stories and more by downloading the PDF; an online supplement, with additional content, is also available.

Associate Professor Robin Peek to co-found Open Access Directory

April 30, 2008

Associate Professor Robin Peek and Peter Suber, Research Professor of Philosophy (at Earlham College), will soon launch a new wiki project called the Open Access Directory (OAD). GSLIS has agreed to host the OAD, with an external editorial board of international OA leaders overseeing the content. OAD is a wiki where the OA community can create and support simple factual lists about OA, starting with a over a half a dozen lists and adding more over time. Terry Plum, Assistant Dean for Technology and Director, GSLIS West, is serving as Technology Coordinator and Athanasia Pontika, GSLIS PhD student, serves as assistant editor. The wiki will officially launch on May 1st at:
http://oad.simmons.edu/.

The full press release is available as a PDF (download).

New MLIP Cohort Announced

April 24, 2008

GSLIS has announced the 2008 MLIP Cohort. They will begin their studies in May. Please join us in welcoming Maria Carpenter, Director of Advancement, Marketing, and Communications, Northeastern University Libraries; Jolie Graybill, Social and Behavioral Sciences Team Leader, Cline Library, Northern Arizona University; Jerome Offord, Jr., Director of Diversity Initiatives, Association of Research Libraries; Mary Piorun, Associate Director for Technology Initiatives and Resource Management, University of Massachusetts Medical School; Michele Reid, Director, Hoover Library, McDaniel College; and Gary Shaffer, Director of Marketing, Sacramento Public Library.

For their bios, as well as more information about the PhD concentration in Managerial Leadership in the Information Professions, please see:

http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/academics/programs/doctoral/phdmlip/people/index.shtml.

MSLA-SIG Second Annual Student Conference

April 10, 2008

The Massachusetts School Library Association Student Interest Group (MSLA-SIG) will hold its Second Annual Student Conference on Saturday, April 26th.

If you're interested in school libraries OR if you are thinking about working with children and young adults, don't miss this event.

This year's theme is "Getting the Word Out: Marketing Your Library" and will include a keynote address by MSLA President Sandy Kelly.

The conference is free for Simmons students and $5 for others. Registration is required for everyone in order to reserve lunch. To register please download the registration form, fill out page one, and mail it to MSLA, c/o Elisabeth Zimmer, 15 Belmont St #1, Somerville, 02143. GSLIS students can also drop the form into Elisabeth Zimmer's folder in the student lounge.

Linda Braun Receives Award for Excellence in Online Education

April 4, 2008

GSLIS Adjunct Faculty member Linda Braun was one of only seven faculty members nationwide who received a WISE Award for Excellence in Online Education. Faculty were nominated by a WISE student from an institution other than their own, based on their instructional style.

Braun has been teaching LIS 460 (Technology and the School Library Media Center) and LIS 467 (Web Development and Information Architecture) online since 2006. Simmons College has been a member of the WISE Consortium since it began in 2005.

For more information, please see the article in the Spring 2008 WISE newsletter at: www.wisepedagogy.com/newsletter/Spring08/index.htm

Crossing Borders

March 21, 2008

The March issue of the Simmons GSLIS InfoLink is now available. The six-page issue is all about "Crossing Borders," be it by spending Thanksgiving in Amman, blending face-to-face and online learning, bringing boys back into the library, or traveling from Baghdad to Boston to

pursue a doctoral degree. Read all about those stories and more by downloading the PDF; an online supplement, with additional content, is also available.

Chen Named ALA Beta Phi Mu Award Recipient

March 19, 2008

Congratulations to Ching-chih Chen, who has been named the recipient of this year's ALA Beta Phi Mu Award. This annual award, donated by the Beta Phi Mu International Library Science Honorary Society, is presented to a library school faculty member or to an individual for distinguised service to education in librarianship. Please see the full press release on the ALA website, or download the PDF.

GSLIS Grads Cody and Tucker-Raymond Named LJ Movers & Shakers

March 15, 2008

Congratulations to Alison Cody, a December 2007 graduate, and Caleb Tucker-Raymond, a 2000 graduate, both of whom were on Library Journal's 2008 list of Movers & Shakers.

Cody is the Public Relations/Instruction Librarian at Loyola Notre Dame Library in Baltimore. Tucker-Raymond is currently the L-Net ProjectCoordinator at Portland, OR's Multnomah County Library.

For the full article, please see: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6535095.html

For the profile on Alison Cody, please see: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6535112.html

For the profile on Caleb Tucker-Raymond, please see: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6535084.html

New GSLIS CE Program Manager Named

March 4, 2008

We are pleased to announce that Kris Liberman is the new Continuing Education Program Manager. Kris has been serving as temporary program manager since December. An alumna of Simmons GSLIS, Kris joins us after working in corporate libraries such as Ernst & Young, Fidelity, and Lotus. Kris has been active in SLA and ASIST, as well as with our own GSLIS Alumni Board, serving this year as Vice President. Kris's experiences, skills, enthusiasm, and commitment to GSLIS will be an asset for the program and the school. Please join us in welcoming Kris to GSLIS!

GSLIS Goes Hollywood

February 15, 2008

In the February InfoLink, we take GSLIS West! The February Up Front profiles GSLIS West student Jeremy Smith who co-produced and edited the video, "Freedom of Expression: Resistance and Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property." Wendy Brown, the subject of this month's

Snapshot profile, is one of the Co-Chairs of the Progressive Librarians Guild (PLG) - which happens to be hosting a screening of the video on February 27. Then set your sights further west and read all about GSLIS alum Linda Demmers LS'73, a noted library facilities planner who also happens to be married to a Hollywood producer. Download the PDF.

Professor Peter Hernon Named ACRL Academic/Research Librarian of the Year

January 30, 2008

The Association of College and Research Libaries (ACRL) has just named GSLIS Professor Peter Hernon as the Academic/Research Librarian of the Year. The award, sponsored by YBP Library Services, recognizes an outstanding member of the library profession who has made a significant national or international contribution to academic/research librarianship and library development.

"Dr. Peter Hernon was selected because of his substantive body of research over a career of more than 30 years," stated Award Committee Chair Cynthia Steinhoff in the ACRL press release. "Dr. Hernon's work, which focuses on such varied topics as assessment, government information, servicec quality and leadership, addresses very real issues and questions that academic librarians face every day."

To read the press release in its entirety, please see: www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2008/january2008/hernon08.htm

GSLIS Professor to Work with MLK, Jr. Papers

January 28, 2008

Assistant Professor Tywanna Whorley will be one of a small team of specialists working to catalog two major collections of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s papers.

In Fall 2007, Boston University's Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center (HGARC) received a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to catalog its extensive Martin Luther King, Jr. collection. Whorley will be working with BU staff, as well as staff at the Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center Consortium and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, institutions that also received Mellon Foundation grants.

The goal of the project is to create a resource that makes the catalogues of two major King collections searchable by subject and name. Combined inventories will be created by using a new open-source program, the Archivists' Toolkit. The Toolkit is specifically designed to assist with the process of listing and organizing manuscript collections.

Along with the experience Whorley will bring back to the classroom and the GSLIS community, she will be supervising several interns from Simmons College each semester who will benefit from working with the Archivists' Toolkit and the MLK Jr. archive. This semester, Steven Booth and Amber Moore will be working on the project.