Simmons College

GSLIS to Host World Usability Event on 11/12/09

November 5, 2009

November 12, 2009 is the World Usability Day. Simmons GSLIS Usability Lab, in partnering with the Student Chapters of American Society of Information Science and Technology and Special Library Association, will host an event on the morning of November 12th in the Linda Paresky Conference Center (3rd floor of Main College Building), Simmons College. The event is open to the public, and the registration is free. For details about the event, please see: http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/news/calendar/events.php; to register, go to: http://gsliswud.eventbrite.com/

Helping Make Libraries Happen

November 4, 2009

This fall, GSLIS students and alums have been assisting in the establishment of the Chinatown Storefront Library, which was opened on October 15. Using donated space, a nonprofit called Boston Street Lab came up with the project as a way to give people in Chinatown a sense of what it feels like to have a library in their neighborhood. The hope is that a permanent library will be established in the future. (The neighborhood has been without a Boston Public Library branch since 1956.) For more information, please see the Oct. 23 Sampan article and the Library's website at: http://www.storefrontlibrary.org/

ISI Samuel Lazerow Memoral Lecture (11/17/09): Is There a Future for Special Libraries?

October 14, 2009

2009 is the 100th anniversary of the Special Libraries Association, making this an ideal time to consider if there is a future for special libraries (and the skill set of librarians who work in them). Are we prepared to answer the question of whether in the struggle for our survival we will be "the fittest" or if special libraries will become a casualty of the ongoing information revolution? In exploring these questions Dr. Pearlstein will take a look at the roles special librarians have typically played as intermediaries and arbiters of information and knowledge in their parent organizations, discuss the increasing challenges to these roles from both within and outside the profession, and conclude by taking a pragmatic look at some ways to position ourselves for survival and success in a future of ongoing economic and social turbulence.

For more information, please see the GSLIS events page.

GSLIS Welcomes Four New Faculty

October 14, 2009

Simmons GSLIS is pleased to welcome four new faculty members in Fall 2009. The new faculty are Naresh Agarwal, a specialist in information seeking behavior and context; Mary Wilkins Jordan, a specialist in management and international and cross-cultural perspectives; Katherine Wisser, a specialist in archives and information organization; and Fran Zilonis, a specialist in school libraries and instructional technology. Agarwal, Wilkins Jordan, and Wisser join GSLIS as assistant professors. Zilonis is a visiting faculty member. Please download the full press release (PDF).

Dr. Saad Eksander Returns to Simmons GSLIS on 10/22/09

October 8, 2009

On Thursday, October 22 (7:00 p.m.), Dr. Saad Eksander returns to speak at Simmons GSLIS; the lecture is being co-sponsored by GSLIS student groups SCoSAA (the Student Chapter of the Society of American Archivists) and SIR (Simmons International Relations), as well as the Simmons College Warburg Lecture Series. He will be discussing his experiences rebuilding the Iraq National Library and Archive and the issues surrounding the National Library and Archive during the rebuilding and currently.

Dr. Eksander, Director of the Iraq National Library and Archive, spoke on campus in November 2007. During that trip, he was profiled in the Boston Globe. Please see the November 2007 article and the diary he kept during 2006 and 2007 for more information about Dr. Eksander. Details regarding the event can be found on our GSLIS Events webpage.

Three GSLIS Students Publish in CIL

September 24, 2009

GSLIS students Stephanie Buck, Katharine Dunn, and Nick Szydlowski have been published in Computers in Libraries. The articles — "Libraries in the Cloud: Making a Case for Google and Amazon" (Buck) and "Web Archiving for the Rest of Us: How to Collect and Manage Websites Using Free and Easy Software" (Dunn and Szydlowski) — can be found in the September 2009 issue.

GSLIS Congratulates Dr. Gellman-Danley

September 1, 2009

Congratulations to GSLIS alum Dr. Barbara Gellman-Danley, who has just become the first person to be named president at both the University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College (Oklahoma). Gellman-Danley will begin her new role on October 1.

For more information, please see the article in The Daily Sentinel.

Dean Cloonan Quoted in Article

August 26, 2009

Dean Michèle Cloonan was quoted in the August 14, 2009 issue of Gloucester Daily Times. The article, "Beverly Native Gets Obama's Nod for US Archivist," covered the nomination of GSLIS alum David Ferriero. Ferriero, whose confirmation by the Senate is expected in September, would become the 10th person to head the National Archives and Records Administration since the program was established in 1934.

Please see the article at www.gloucestertimes.com; for the original announcement, please see the July 29 news item below.

GSLIS Student Interviewed by Boston Globe

August 3, 2009

Simmons GSLIS student Claudia Deane is interviewed by the Boston Globe about her volunteer work in records management for the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, a nonprofit agency that helps low-income families find affordable housing. Please see the article at boston.com.

GSLIS Alum Named U.S. Archivist

July 29, 2009

Congratulations to GSLIS Alum David S. Ferriero, who, the White House has announced, will be nominated by President Obama to be the Archivist of the United States. Ferriero, who has served as the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries since 2007, has also served as the Chief Executive of NYPL's Research Libraries and the University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs at Duke University. While at Simmons, he began working at the MIT Libraries as a Junior Library Assistant. He was at MIT for over thirty years, and was the Acting Co-Director of the MIT Libraries when he left. Ferriero graduated from Simmons GSLIS in 1974.

For the full press release, see http://www.simmons.edu/overview/about/news/press/ or download the PDF; for the White House press release, see http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/.

IMLS Grant Awarded to Simmons GSLIS Faculty

June 26, 2009

Professors Jeannette Bastian, Ross Harvey, and Martha Mahard, and Dean and Professor Michèle Cloonan have been awarded an IMLS grant of over $450K for their project titled "Curriculum, Cooperation, Convergence, Capacity - Four C's for the Development of Cultural Heritage Institutions: Libraries, Museums and Archives in the New England Area." GSLIS will partner with New England cultural institutions to incorporate museum informatics and data stewardship into its existing program of study. For more information, please see the IMLS press release at: http://www.imls.gov/news/2009/061709b_list.shtm#MA

Chinese American Librarians Association Grants 2009 Scholarship to GSLIS Student

June 11, 2009

Congratulations to GSLIS student Danitta Wong, who was just named the recipient of the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) 2009 Sheila Suen Lai Scholarship. While maintaining an excellent academic performance, Danitta has worked as a volunteer at the Teen Room of the Brookline Public Library's Main Branch. One of her references commented that "I can speak for Ms. Wong's professional potential, and I believe Danita will be a strong addition to the profession. Volunteering here can be as little or as much as the volunteers wish to make, and Danitta has been generous with her time in volunteering to help out not only by monitoring the Teen Room but also taking on other tasks… Part of being successful in librarianship counts on innovation and industriousness as well as an outgoing, friendly nature, all traits which Danitta has in spades."

To read more about CALA, please see http://www.cala-web.org/.

GSLIS Student Receives 2009 NELA Scholarship

June 11, 2009

Congratulations to Alexis Brown, the 2009 New England Library Association (NELA) scholarship recipient. Alexis, who has been active in the MSLA student chapter at GSLIS' Boston campus, plans to be a school librarian. Please see more at http://www.nelib.org/

PDF of Spring 2009 Simmons Magazine Now Available

June 5, 2009

The PDF version of the Spring 2009 Simmons Magazine is now available on the Alumnet website. While you're reading about the exciting green initiatives taking place at Simmons, make sure to check out the article about the $1 million gift from the family of Allen Smith (p. 4); "The Great Paper Debate," which features an interview with Dean Michele Cloonan; and a feature on Maggie Bush's retirement (p. 24). GSLIS faculty and alums are also highlighted in the magazine's regular features such as "Movers and Shakers" (p. 7) and Faculty Focus (pp. 8-9).

2009 GSLIS Grad Wins SLA Essay Contest

June 4, 2009

Congratulations to 2009 GSLIS grad Molly Caple for winning the SLA Boston Chapter Student Travel Stipend Essay Contest. Caple, who plans a career in law librarianship, will be attending the SLA Annual Conference for the first time. Her winning essay can be found on the SLA Wiki.

Professor Pat Oyler to Receive Major ALA Award

May 14, 2009

On July 13, Professor Pat Oyler will receive the John Ames Humphrey/OCLC/Forest Press Award from the American Library Association's (ALA) International Relations Committee. This is the third year in a row that a Simmons GSLIS faculty member has received a major ALA award. The award recognizes her contribution to library development in Vietnam and elsewhere, and will be given at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.

Please see the ALA Press Release for more details.

Simmons GSLIS Ranked in Top Ten Nationwide

May 9, 2009

Simmons College GSLIS was ranked as one of the nation's top ten schools of library and information studies in the U.S.News & World Report's 2010 edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools." The rankings were released online this week and are featured in the May issue of the magazine.

It was also named in the top ten category for the specialty rankings of Archives and Preservation and Services for Children and Youth.

Please see the full press release.

GSLIS Receives $1 Million Gift

May 9, 2009

The family of former GSLIS Professor Allen Smith has made a $1 million gift from his estate to pay tribute to Dr. Smith's 30-year Simmons career. This generous gift has endowed two funds: one to establish a visiting scholars program, and a second to enhance a scholarship created at GSLIS in the late professor's honor after he passed away on August 2, 2008.

To read the full article, please download the PDF document.

GSLIS and SOM Offer Joint Program

April 30, 2009

On Thursday, June 4, GSLIS and SOM will together offer their first joint program, a leadership breakfast entitled "Recession-Proof Strategies for Doing More In Your Library With Less" from 7:30 - 9:30 a.m.. Specially priced at $35, the breakfast features GSLIS Professor Lisa Hussey and GSLIS Adjunct and SOM Assistant Professor Patricia Deyton speaking on "Libraries and the Economy," as well as SOM Associate Professor Mary Shapiro speaking about "Influence Without Authority." For more information, please see our Events page. Or, to just go directly to registration, please go to http://www.simmons.edu/som/execed/register/.

April InfoLink Now Available

April 21, 2009

There are many changes afoot in academic libraries, perhaps in particular in science, engineering, and medicine—fields that have in a short time migrated much of their data and publications online. Practicing science librarians say that despite the economic downturn there are good jobs for people who like fast paced, interdisciplinary work. In this issue, we explore what some of those jobs look like and how to prepare for them. We also profile GSLIS adjunct professor Howard Silver, the co-head of the engineering and science libraries at MIT. Read all about those stories and more by downloading the PDF; an online supplement, with additional content, is also available.

March InfoLink Now Available

March 16, 2009

2009 marks the end of an era at GSLIS. Professor Maggie Bush officially retires in June, after more than a quarter century at Simmons and decades before that as a youth services librarian. In her honor, we've devoted this month's InfoLink to Youth Services. In this issue, our snapshot profiles GSLIS Adjunct Professor Linda Braun '81LS, president-elect of the ALA's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). We are also pleased to announce that on Thursday, March 19, GSLIS Communications Assistant Alisa Libby released her second young adult novel, The King's Rose. In this month's issue, you can read about her experiences in researching the book.

February InfoLink Now Available

February 17, 2009

February is Black History Month, a celebration of African American heritage and achievement that has been observed nationwide since the mid-1970s. In its honor, we profile a recent GSLIS alumna, Holly Smith ‘08LS, who works with the African American archival collections at the Southern Historical Society in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. We also highlight some of the African American-related holdings at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston.

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

GSLIS Welcomes Visiting Researcher

February 3, 2009

Boris Badurina, a faculty member of University J. J. Strossmayer, Osijek, and University of Zadar, Croatia will be spending the month of February 2009 working with Prof. Ching-chih Chen on her World Heritage Memory Net project in partnership with UNESCO/World Heritage Center under the sponsorship of National Science Foundation. Boris was a visiting researcher with Prof. Chen for three months in the second half of 2005, and was instrumental in working on the LINUX/MySQL/PHP-based Integrated Multimedia Content Retrieval System for Prof. Chen's Global Memory Net.

Assistant Professor Joudrey (Co-)Writes The Book

January 29, 2009

Assistant Professor Daniel N. Joudrey has just published his first book. The Organization of Information (3rd ed.), co-written with Arlene G. Taylor, is *the* textbook for information organization, used by students in LIS programs everywhere.

Joudrey, who has been working with Taylor since he was a grad student at the University of Pittsburgh, has been at GSLIS since 2005. In addition to preparing to work on the 4th edition of The Organization of Information, Joudrey is writing a book for Libraries Unlimited, tentatively titled, "Puzzles and Pearls: Determining What Something is About." The book is based on his dissertation research, and focuses on the nature of 'aboutness' and subject access to information resources. He, Taylor, and Tina Gross, are also currently involved in a research project on the value of Library of Congress subject headings in information retrieval in OPACs.

Adjunct Professor Braun Wins Teaching Excellence Award for Second Time

January 21, 2009

At this year's ALISE conference, GSLIS Adjunct Professor Linda Braun will be receiving the WISE (Web-Based Information Science Education) Consortium's Excellence in Online Teaching Award for the second year in a row. Linda, who won for her class LIS 467 - Website Developement and Information Architecture, is an educational technology consultant with LEO: Librarians & Educators Online. She is a long-time adjunct faculty member for Simmons GSLIS and also an instructor in the GSLIS Continuing Education program.

To read more about Linda's best practices, please see the WISE website. To read more about LEO: Librarians & Educators Online, please see their website.

Assistant Professor Melanie Kimball Joins GSLIS

January 14, 2009

Assistant Professor Melanie Kimball is joining Simmons GSLIS beginning in the Spring 09 semester. Professor Kimball, who comes to us from SUNY-Buffalo, received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where she also got her M.S. degree in Library and Information Science. Her primary area of research is in youth services in public libraries, literature for youth, and the history of public libraries as social and cultural institutions. For more information, please see our Faculty page.

GSLIS Welcomes New Assistant Dean for Admission and Recruitment

January 5, 2009

We are pleased to welcome Sarah Petrakos as the new Assistant Dean for Admission and Recruitment. Sarah comes to us from Emerson College where she was the Assistant Director for Graduate Admission. She has previous experience in graduate admissions at Suffolk University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She earned her undergraduate degree in psychology at Providence College and her MBA in Marketing at Boston College. She is an active member of the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals (NAGAP) and is the recipient of NAGAP's first Future Leaders Award. Sarah will begin at GSLIS on January 14, 2009.