Welcome Winter 2015!

Hello and welcome to all new and returning students!

We hope you all had an enjoyable holiday break, but it's time again to hit the books for another term, and we here at SLA are excited about the things to come!

Weekly meetings will begin next week on Tuesday from 12-1pm in the Grad Lounge on the 4th floor. However, starting in February, we will be meeting in room 266 going forward.

On the agenda for this Winter, we hope to schedule more speaker series with professionals currently employed at special libraries and organize tours of local special libraries - and that is just the beginning!

SLA is always in need of volunteers to help run events, and suggestions are always welcome! So if you are interested in getting more involved, don't hesitate to speak up at a meeting or send us an e-mail at slaatuwo@gmail.com.

Lastly, this year is SLA Toronto chapter's 75th anniversary so expect some updates regarding our parent chapter and special or networking events.

MLIS Alumni Interview - Yasmeen Awadh!

Western received a special visit yesterday from a MLIS alumni, Yasmeen Awadh!  She was in London for the day, and returned to Toronto the same evening, and then back to Vancouver for a week before heading to Calgary.  Despite her busy schedule, she took some time out for this interview! 

Yasmeen completed both her Master of Library and Information Science and undergrad in Media, Information and Technoculture at Western and currently works at the Centre for Digital Media.

Magdalen:   Please tell us a bit more about yourself and your work at Centre for Digital Media. 

Yasmeen:   I graduated from Western's MLIS program in 2004.  What appealed to me about the MLIS program was the information aspect.  I was interested in how people exchanged information, information-seeking and the different channels to access information.  MLIS students could be found in a lot of non-librarian environments.  My boss also has a MLIS degree (from University of Alberta), and she was working at CBC prior to the Centre for Digital Media (CDM).

CDM specifically offers one program:  the Master of Digital Media (MDM) which draws a variety of students from various backgrounds in information architecture, UX design, industrial design, computer programming, software engineer, visual arts, media arts, architecture, etc.  All students’ works are project-based and as they work with industry clients, they develop their project management, leadership and team collaboration skills specifically for the digital media environment.  MDM was modelled after the program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, except the US program cost $100,000!  MDM was created by industry professionals and is a collaboration of UBC, SFU, BCIT, and ECU. 

As CDM’s admissions and recruitment officer, I liaise with all the different departments, work with the faculty, stay well-informed of the changing curriculum as the industry evolves so rapidly, meet with the marketing team, create webinars, develop recruitment strategies, conduct search engine analysis, interview candidates, evaluate admissions credentials... are some of the things I do.

M:  How are information needs of people changing?

Y:  People are more tech savvy, so as they are more connected through social media, they rely more on the learning experiences of others.  Access to people is access to information.

M:  In your present job, what did you find most useful from what you learned in the MLIS program?

Y:  Reference interviews, asking the right questions and customizing information in order to see which candidates were a good fit for the MDM program.   It is important to determine if the student will do well and being able to provide the right information to them.  Digital media has different meanings to different people with different backgrounds.  A gamer perceives digital media differently from a photographer or a compositor, but digital media consists of multi-skilled teams to carry on a project.  Our projects are very team-collaborative, as it is in this industry.

M:  CDM has worked with some pretty big industry partners such as Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Relic, Microsoft, and Mozilla, how can special librarians and information specialists best market their skills when looking for work?

Y:   Students need to be problem solvers and know how information flows, such as in content management systems.  Ask companies the right questions, like what problems do the companies have and companies would want to know that you can help them solve their problems.  MDM students solve problems that clients didn’t even know they had.

M:  In our Information Visualization course, there is a lot of emphasis on being able to identify the problem in the info space, or else any mental activity is meaningless, so I can see how problem solving could top the list of desirable skills.  Besides being good problem solvers, what other important skills should special librarians have?

Y:  Good information literacy skills and be able to determine the relevance of the information.  Take initiative, strong critical thinking skills, be able to work with different types of personalities… soft skills, positive attitude.

M:  What do you see in the future of special librarians?

Y:  Be adaptable, have the ability to be adaptable, pick up skills quickly and adapt to the changing demands of the market.  They will have to have good tech skills.

M:  We have a few SLA members who will be completing the MLIS program this term, any words of wisdom for those venturing out?

Y:  Be open to opportunities and all avenues.  The path to your dream job may not be straight and narrow, but have many twists and turns.  The best opportunities come in strange packages!

Thank you Yasmeen for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences with us. You can find out more about the Centre for Digital Media at http://thecdm.ca.


magdalen lau is currently completing the MLIS program with a concentration in information science and global information.  She is from the Pacific Northwest and uses multimedia as a tool for visual storytelling.

Welcome everyone!

Welcome all new MLIS students and those returning from Co-op!  

SLA had its first meeting yesterday (meetings will be held every Thurs @ 4:30pm, NCB Room 266) and we discussed our upcoming activities and tours planned for the fall.  

It was great to meet some of the new members and we have two new executives on board!  Thank you both to Anita, new Special Events Coordinator, and Brittany, First-Term Representative, for taking on the roles!  We’re looking forward to seeing more new faces at the next meeting, hearing more about your interests and what you would like to learn about in special libraries...

Gilmore Music Library, Yale

Childreach Toy Library and Resource Centre Tour - August 6, 2014

We had our final tour of the term at the Childreach Toy Library and Resource Centre this past Wednesday, where we were joined by some members of the SLACYS student group in our program.

The Teach and Play Toy Library, a toy and resource lending library for children with special needs

The Childreach Resource Centre, a library of curriculum and activity kits, puppets, and a craft room for Childreach members.

Please read below for Allison's great post on our experience!

Today, Wednesday August 6, both the Special Libraries Association (SLA) and Student Librarians Association for Children and Youth Services (SLACYS) were lucky enough to have the opportunity to see a wonderful library that offers a unique service, lending toys. Community Living London, offers three wonderful programs that offer parents, educators and children the opportunity to borrow toys, books, and teaching materials all for just $35 a year. 

Walking into the building it’s obviously a place that’s meant for children with beautiful colors and murals painted inside and a big playroom filled with toys that any child would love to play with. All 

three programs offer the opportunity to lend out materials for different reasons. Some of these toys are geared towards children who have special needs while others are there for parents to take out for their children to help them learn by playing. It’s amazing to see not only how many toys there are but what skills they toys help develop such as cognitive, emotional, physical skills and many more. 

However, as a professional, my favorite part was the upstairs library that’s available for educators. Within this part of the library there are rows and row of boxes filled with books, toys, games, songs, and even puppets and felt board characters. Needless to say, I was in children’s librarian heaven! 

I could have spent an entire day there looking at all the different programs, games, toys and ideas available and all ready to go home with me in a box! What a great idea and great resource for school support workers, teachers, and even librarians etc... who for various reasons may not have the resources to purchase these materials and the craft room, well as a scrap booker, don’t even get me started on that.

Within this craft room there were so many different options available but the coolest was this machine called a die cutter that allows people to make different shapes on many different materials. Using this machine you can cut out shapes for felt board characters, or event use it to cut out shapes for crafts on practically any material. For example, this machine was used to cut out shapes for a mobile from pop cans ... talk about a great resource, it’s creative, fun and even environmentally friendly. 

They even had puppets and felt board stories for sale complete with not only the felt board characters but also the song. Before you ask, yes I did buy some of the felt board stories, how could I not? They were adorable and practical professionally speaking! For anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity to go and see what this toy lending library is all about, I strongly recommend it but must warn you, visiting there may leave you wanting to A) either start you own toy lending library or B) lead to excessive toy, book and crafts purchases after you see all the great ideas that you’re missing from your own collection!

Thanks for reading,

Allison Gibbard 

SLACYS President, Summer 2014

Allison is in her final term of the MLIS program and is an aspiring children's librarian. She is President of SLACYS at Western University for the Summer 2014 term. Read more about Alli's musings on her blog!

Herbology for Librarians: UWO’s SLA Herbarium Tour

Herbology for Librarians: UWO’s SLA Herbarium Tour

Harry Potter references aside (and there were many), herbology is not something I know much about. So I was excited to attend SLA Student Chapter’s tour of Western University’s Herbarium.

Sandra Mackin guided us through a brief introduction to her job and the role of a Herbarium. What is a Herbarium, you ask? Basically it is part museum and part library with its own classification system based on plant taxonomy. The information in this library is in the form of dried plants, or specimens, which have been pressed and glued (with special glue) to archival paper for posterity. These specimens are used for plant identification and study, mostly by biologists.

Here’s a sample of the flower Passion Everlasting, also known as Helichrysumsanguineum.

If you like binomial nomenclature,then this will interest you! I have a background in Latin so I was very interested in the classification system they use. Like most people who work in herbaria, Sandra has a background in biology and she can tell you the Latin name for a specimen just by looking at it. Now that is a party trick that I would like to have!

The Herbarium receives donations of specimens from private collectors, other herbariums, and academics. They also collect some of the specimens themselves. One of the most unusual—and fun! — roles of herbaria staff is that you may need to go hunting for specimens or spend time in your work day picking local plants to add to the collection.

They also do public outreach, especially having students of all ages come to experience biodiversity. Their specimens can also be used in teaching to illustrate plant taxonomies or species evolution.

For us library students, their historic collection of plant and specimen ephemera was of most interest. Their oldest specimen is from 1840 and personal donations have included many original drawings, illustrations, and lithographs of different plant and flower species in Ontario and beyond.

This is their oldest specimen; It was pressed in 1840!

Since the Herbarium is so unique and is a relatively small operation, they face many challenges. Chief among them is ensuring the safety of their collection from damage; hard to do in an older building. They are also working to begin digitizing their collection, which is made more difficult since many of their items are 3-dimensional and fragile.

Ultimately, their work is invaluable in recording local and international plant and fungal species for the future and interest in the affects of global warming and concern for biodiversity have been increasing interest in this field. Herbaria are definitely unique collections with library and archives crossover appeal.

Thanks to Megan Siu and Sandra for this opportunity! Volunteer opportunities at the Herbarium for MLIS students will be available this fall, check back for more opportunities in September.

Christine Pinkney is originally from Calgary, Alberta, and started the MLIS program through online courses via the University of Alberta's School of Library and Information Studies. She is now working to finish off her degree at the University of Western Ontario as an aspiring information professional in many different types of librarianship.

Skype Interview: Theatre Alberta Library

On Wednesday, June 25^th, the UWO SLA student group was joined by Becca Barrington, one of the librarians at the Theatre Alberta Library in Edmonton, Alberta over Skype.

Our promotional poster created by UWO SLA Communications Coordinator, Sarah Calder.

Theatre Alberta Library is the largest, independent fully-circulating theatre library in Canada, boasting over 19,000 playscripts, periodicals, and other materials in its collection.

One particularly interesting feature of Theatre Alberta Library is their eScripts collection. The Theatre Alberta Library eScripts collection is comprised of unpublished plays written by local playwrights who are members of Theatre Alberta, which have been produced in Alberta. The website provides an option to submit playscripts to the library by uploading them for approval, and if added are searchable on the online catalogue.

I, along with a number of other members in our student group, am in the process of applying for jobs in the library field. As a result, whenever possible, we have the slight tendency to ask our guest speakers how they ended up working where they are.

A piece of advice that Becca told us was that it was important to be active in professional organizations, and this is something that has been repeatedly noted by information professionals I have come across. As well, while informational professionals in other special libraries have indicated that most of the specific subject content may be learned on the job, Theatre Alberta Library demonstrates that having expertise in the subject focus of the library definitely does provide some edge. I guess that what we can learn from this is that even if our academic backgrounds are not in a related content area, gaining any experience will do that much more for us.

One of my favourite questions to ask a librarian (especially for one who maintains a special library of some sort) is what the most obscure title in the collection is. Becca entertained us by enthusiastically pulling out what was very dated playscript of Richard II, which she mentioned is kept hidden unless specifically requested for.

I am currently enrolled in the Special Libraries course in the program, in which we learned that special libraries tend to encounter the following challenges:

1. Limited physical space
2. Decreasing in-person visits from clients
3. Maintaining cohesiveness and value within the larger organization
4. Small staff size

However, despite being a special library, Theatre Alberta Library doesn’t seem to have as much difficulty as others.

1. Yes, the physical space of the Theatre Alberta Library is limited - composed of 3 main stacks, along with the desks for the librarians, and a few other cabinets – however, because playscripts are thankfully thin and therefore, it is easy to store many more of them in a smaller amount of physical space. To assist even more, the playscripts are also in the process of being digitized.
2. Yes, the in-person visits are generally limited to those in the Edmonton area who don’t have so much of an issue commuting to the library, many of the transactions between the library and clients who are elsewhere in Alberta are conducted through interlibrary loans.
3. Yes, Theatre Alberta Library exists within the larger organization of Theatre Alberta, however, the two are very much intertwined! The library caters to Theatre Alberta’s members including anyone from actors and actresses to stage managers to academics. There seems to be a very positive relationship between Theatre Alberta and the University of Alberta and MacEwan University’s drama programs. As well, the library assists in promoting community events, auditions, and festivals to and on the behalf of Theatre Alberta members; the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, Improvaganza, and the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival just to name a few. The Theatre Alberta Communications and Marketing Coordinator has even created a YouTube video that shows viewers how to find the library within the building! It really seems as if the Theatre Alberta Library is here to stay for quite a while.
4. Yes, there are only 2 librarians running the show, but given the limited physical space, it might be better that way. As well, Becca’s background from the University of Alberta’s Bachelor of Arts Drama program combined with her colleague, Solveig’s background from Grant MacEwan’s Information Management and Library Technology program overlap well enough to cover all the bases needed to operate the library!

All in all, by the end of the interview, we were all quite convinced that Becca and Solveig have our dream jobs, but it always fosters hope by hearing about such wonderful experiences working in libraries.

A great, big thank you to Becca Barrington for enlightening us on the ins and outs of the Theatre Alberta Library!

To learn more about Theatre Alberta Library, visit their website or follow them on their blog!

Megan Siu is in her third and final term of the MLIS program at Western University. She is the current Event Coordinator for the UWO SLA student group in addition to her involvement in various other groups. Megan is very excited to return to Edmonton in less than a month, in search of opportunities in special libraries and/or non-traditional library environments! 

@ SLA 2014 Annual Conference in Vancover

 
I have just returned from the SLA 2014 Annual Conference held in the beautiful city of Vancouver, BC from June 8-10, 2014. Perhaps it’s the post-conference adrenaline rush, but I am feeling more educated and inspired already.

Over the span of 3 days, I connected with many interesting individuals I didn't know before, attended a number of networking events, presentations, and vendor/aggregator demos, and collected a LOT of library-related “swag". For my first time to a big conference like this one hosted by SLA, I left feeling pretty accomplished.

If I learned anything at all, it came down to these 4 things:

1. The importance and how-to of networking
2. The need to have a broad scope and flexibility as an information professional
3. How to create and maintain a professional presence in the Information Age
4. How to conduct efficient and effective meetings

(Honourable Mention: How to use Twitter through practical, hands-on experience - if you follow me on Twitter @megscellany, you'll notice that majority of my Tweets were about #SLA2014.)

You can read the rest of Megan's SLA 2014 Adventures at her blog Megscellany! 

Megan Siu is in her final term of her MLIS, she is currently the Event Coordinator for the UWO SLA student group. Follow her on her blog or twitter!

Student Speaker Series #2, Winter 2014 - March 26, 2014

The Western SLA Chapter held its second student speaker series on Wednesday, March 26th in Middlesex College. Three students from Western’s MLIS program spoke to the group about three very different subjects relevant to different aspects of special librarianship.

 

Catherine Alderson presented tips and tricks for those going to a conference for the first time. A veteran conference-goer and organizer (she’s a coordinating volunteers at Emerald City Comicon today!) she gave us some memorable mnemonics to help make conversation, and taught techniques “to calm your nerves and make collecting business cards easy!”

Josh Klar spoke about his work at the CHRW campus radio station archives at Western. He discussed different paper conservation techniques practiced within archives, showed us some tools of the trade, and pictures of his work. He described the practice of to cleaning, deacidifying and repairing paper.

Rachel Burke presented early results from her study on the education of information-seeking skills in law and paralegal education in Ontario. Her work looks at the state of information-skills teaching at Ontario colleges and universities.

The event was a great success! We look forward to hosting more student speakers this summer.

Andrew Sharp is native to London, Ontario. He is currently in his second term of the MLIS program at Western University, and acts as Social Coordinator for UWO SLA. Andrew is interested in business libraries, reference services, and research.

The Diary of a Conference-Planning Newbie and Librarian-to-be - March 22, 2014

On Saturday, March 22, 2014, the CLA and SLA student groups at Western University jointly hosted a one-day conference called "Humans of New Librarianship". The theme was very much in-line of what all of us, as aspiring information professionals are wondering about and working towards! The name? A devious spin-off of the blog called, "Humans of New York". 

Meagan Berry, current chair of UWO CLA is modeled in one our conference's promotional images.

The CLA-SLA Conference Organizing Committee was made up of mostly executive members of the CLA and SLA student groups; Meagan Berry, Catherine Alderson, Rachel Burke, Colin Evans, Dan Quintal, Doris Wagner, Charlene Lee, Lyndsey Janzen, and myself. Thank you everyone on the planning committee for all of their hard work! This was possibly one of the best groups of people that I worked with, and it made everything go so smoothly!

On the day, we all started our mornings, bright and early at 8:00am in NCB. And of course, it was from the get-go that obstacles began to come forth. We had 2 or 3 coffee machines going along with 2 kettles to ensure our offerings of freshly brewed coffee and hot water ready for the break. Unfortunately for us, the power kept jumping, and our coffee station had to be relocated 3 times! As frustrating as it was, everyone handled it very well, and coffee was had! We received an astounding donation of baked goods from members of the CLA and SLA student groups to fill our coffee break table with muffins, cupcakes, strudels, croissants, and more! One feature of our coffee break setup that caught some attention was a continuation of CLA's "Bakerspace", where attendees were invited to decorate cookies and cupcakes with frosting and/or sprinkles. 

The first of our feature speakers, Sarah Roberts, is an instructor from our very own Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS), and teaches LIS 9005 - Managing and Working in Information Organizations. It was nice to listen to her talk about something more related to her current research interests! Visit Sarah's blog to find out what she thought of our conference, and see what amazing things she does!

Sarah Roberts spoke to use about human traces in the technologically-encapsulated world! She even brought her 3-D printout of a Settlers of Catan gamepiece!

Our second feature speakers, Stephen Abram, came to our conference from Toronto. Meagan Berry had been in contact with him since the OLA conference in February, and convinced him to come and fill our hearts with library wisdom and hope! It was a wonderful opportunity to meet Stephen as former chair of the CLA and SLA organizations! Visit Stephen's blog to view his slides from the conference and see what interesting things is he is up to! You can also read more about Stephen's talk on UWO CLA's blog entry by MLIS student, Ryan Regier, a member of the CLA student group and attendee of the conference!

Stephen Abrams talked to us about new trends in librarianship!

Our conference also featured two lightning talks by students of our program, Sarah Calder, and Erin Clupp!

Sarah Calder talked to us about social tagging!

Erin Clupp closed our conference talks with the human-centred approach to archives!

It was an amazing experience to be involved in the planning process behind a conference and see everything follow through. It was also amazing to see how much work goes into planning a single day - speakers, accommodation and transportation for speakers, lightning talks, budgeting, delegating tasks for the day of, catering, donations, equipment for presentations, equipment for coffee breaks...it really helps me understand why the organizers behind the OLA begin recruiting their student volunteers a year prior! 

This was a great opportunity for me to learn about really seeing the process of building and hosting a conference, and it's something that I'm going to take with me on my continued journey to a library career! Thank you to everyone who helped us, and thank you to everyone who attended! 

Megan Siu, originally from Edmonton, Alberta, is a co-chair of the UWO SLA Student Chapter, but is also involved with the UWO CLA Student Chapter. She is currently in her second term of the MLIS program and is only growing more certain of her passion for the field of library and information science. Her interests are focused in special and non-traditional librarianship, particularly in legal and government-related environments.

Skype Interview: Prospect Research - March 12, 2014

On Wednesday, March 12th, following our student group business, we were joined by Carmen Lee via Skype. We actually had the opportunity of meeting Carmen on our Toronto Trip at dinner during the reading break. I spoke casually with Carmen about the idea of possibly doing a Skype interview on prospect research, and it ended up happening!

In the interview, Carmen gave us some great insight into the world of prospect research - what "prospect research" actually means, what her role as a research officer entails, how prospect research fits into special librarianship, and pointers on finding employment in the field!

Carmen Lee is the Research Officer for the Toronto East General Hospital Foundation, as well as the Membership Director of the SLA Toronto Chapter. She graduated with a Master of Information degree from Toronto's iSchool, and took every single research course available in the program at the time. She also took a continuing education class called "Prospect Research for Information Professionals", which was incidentally taught by a graduate of the iSchool. Initially, in her job search, Carmen started out in an academic library setting, but had a chance to move around within the field during her practicum. She found her current position through Charity Village, a database of non-profit professional job postings in Canada, and by employing her Boolean searching skills looking for things such as "research job career", "research identification", and "research analyst". Before attending her interview, she reached out to a colleague in the field via LinkedIn to learn more about prospect research and prepare herself.

What does this tell us?

• We need to employ the skills we attain through the Library and Information Science program outside of situations simply involving assignments and papers. Abilities such as Boolean searching can be used immensely for the purpose of a job search!
• We need to prepare. When going in for an interview, don't wing it. Prepare in advance so that you can present yourself as professionally and suitably as possible! Make the employer believe that you are the best fit, and you are exactly who they are looking for!
• We need to network. They say that connections are how you get jobs, but that doesn't translate to "inheritance". Networking means reaching out and connecting with others - even better, with professionals. Harness the networking opportunities you get from talks, conferences, socials...basically any situation that puts you in touch with professionals. Start right now and connect with Carmen Lee on LinkedIn!
• We need to look at the non-profit sector. Because we are continually exposed to the distinct areas of public, academic, and special libraries, many of us don't stop to consider the fact that there are jobs out there with non-profit organizations. 
• Carmen has recommended taking a look at these three places to start:
1. Charity Village
2. APRA (the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement)
3. AFP (the Association of Fundraising Professionals)

But, what is prospect research?

• According to Carmen, prospect research is the act of gathering and analysing information, and presenting and interpreting the results. 
• Prospect research can be divided into two main branches...
1. Active research, which concerns things such as competitive intelligence
2. Passive research, which concerns more reference-oriented work. 

What are the responsibilities of a prospect researcher/research officer?

• It is your job to connect the dots. Rather than simply stating things, prospect research entails strategically connecting what you find to meet your client's needs. Keeping in mind your clientele/audience, you need to mine the information and data that you collect, compile the information into a cohesive, presentable format, and as Carmen described it, "make your client look amazing"!

Are there jobs for librarians in prospect research?

• Yes! Majority of Carmen's colleagues are librarians and hold the MLIS degree we are currently in pursuit of! 

Who are the clients of a prospect researcher/research officer?

• The clientele will vary depending on the organization. Carmen works for the Toronto East General Hospital Foundation, so most of her clients are from the foundation board members, as well as the hospital board members. 

What are the most important questions to consider when serving a client?

• What are they using this for? For instance, if the client is meeting with someone important, what would they need to know about that person to help meet their initiatives?
• When do they need it by? If the time frame is shorter, the client would need key points. If there was more time to work with, more in-depth information could be useful.

What resources does a prospect researcher/research officer use?

• Free and open sources. The Toronto East General Hospital Foundation is a non-profit organization, so Carmen's research tends to employ the use of free databases and resources, much of which can be accessed through the Toronto Public Library. 
• Direct data collection. In addition, Carmen finds other information through  a more direct approach by consulting her colleagues. 
• Mainly online material, with some offline. Carmen described her work as being very online-heavy and if she does conduct offline research, its purpose would be more for establishing a historical context. 
• Social media and news. Carmen has a daily routine of looking through national news sources, and social media platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and RSS feeds.

If I'm interested in finding a career in prospect research, where should I start?

• Carmen suggested consulting Prospect Research for Fundraisers: The Essential Handbook by Jennifer J. Filla and Helen E. Brown as a worthwhile read that includes important terms and definitions, as well as databases. Luckily for you, this book can be found at most public libraries, and is accessible as an e-book through Western Libraries here!

I hope that you have found this post helpful, and explore the possibility of a non-traditional library science career in prospect research! If you have any other questions about prospect research, Carmen's contact information, along with the other SLA Toronto Chapter executive members can be found here!

Thank you, Carmen for the wonderful advice and opportunity for our students!

Megan Siu, originally from Edmonton, Alberta, is a co-chair of the UWO SLA Student Chapter, but is also involved with the UWO CLA Student Chapter. She is currently in her second term of the MLIS program and is only growing more certain of her passion for the field of library and information science. Her interests are focused in special and non-traditional librarianship, particularly in legal and government-related environments.

Diversity in Three Special Libraries in Toronto

On February 20^th, a group of MLIS students were fortunate enough to attend tours of three special libraries in Toronto.

I really enjoy tours: Getting to experience the physical space and talk to an information professional in their natural habitat is more tactile and practical to me than just exchanging emails. I jumped at the chance to tour these information organizations and delve into the world of special libraries. Here are some of the things I learned on the journey:

Ontario Legislature Library

• Legislature libraries are non-partisan: This is a big deal. The library staff cannot be political in order to retain library neutrality.
• It is closed stacks, and most of their questions are virtual or over the phone.
• Their users are members of parliament, their staff, journalists, and the public.
• They are open until the house closes which could, potentially, be very late.
• They capture party websites during elections. This is something not many libraries do and it is an interesting evolution in digital collections.
• HANSARD is the official record of the debates of legislature and standing committees. It is published by the legislature and available online in PDF and HTML. There are several librarians devoted to running this massive publication. You can learn more about how it works at the HANSARD Society.

Thank you to Wendy and all the other library staff who spoke about their roles in the legislature.

Bennett-Jones

• I had never heard of competitive intelligence before this tour and now I am fascinated. If you do not know what it is, look it up because it is a growing LIS field.
• It is a fast paced environment and their practice encompasses so many different areas that it is never boring. Reference questions could be about anything and answers are needed right away.
• They have a plethora of business and law databases that I have never heard of! So if you are interested in working in a library like this, it is time to get better acquainted with SEDAR, Capital IQ, Bloomberg, QuickLaw, and MergerMarket.
• Marketing yourself within the law firm is important, make sure they know you are unique and have a good value.

Thank you to Christine and the other librarians who were able to shed some light on how corporate librarianship works.

PWC

• Staff in many departments work in LIS related roles. Librarians fill roles in tax law, website management, marketing, and knowledge management.
• Some staff work on the internal intranet site for employees. They ensure clear navigation, functionality, do content management, content editing, and aid in file sharing. Pretty different than your average reference library jobs.
• PWC has it is own social media platform. That is definitely an interesting feature to me, and I think is a great way of creating employee participation and interaction among each other to build strong teams. 
• They train other staff in the company on how to do their own research. Did not expect to see much teaching in the corporate environment, so this was of interest to me. 

Thank you to Erin and all the librarians who gave us a peek into this international corporation. 

I felt like these tours gave me insider knowledge into the role information plays in corporations. In fact, writing this article felt like sharing secrets that I probably shouldn’t even be privy to. However, the biggest takeaway for me was learning how diverse each of these special library roles are. There is so much potential for non-traditional library jobs and these companies are just a small fraction of what is out there waiting for MLIS students and graduates who are interested in trying special libraries.

As a final thank you, I wanted to thank SLA Toronto and all the SLA members who organized the trip! 

Click this link to view more in-depth notes about our Toronto Trip!

Christine Pinkney is originally from Calgary, Alberta, and started the MLIS program through online courses via the University of Alberta's School of Library and Information Studies. She is now working to finish off her degree at the University of Western Ontario as an aspiring information professional in digital and metadata-oriented librarianship.

Student Speaker Series - February 5th, 2014

Last Wednesday, February 5^th, we held our first speaker series of the semester, which we think went pretty fantastically. We have held speaker series in previous semesters, however, this semester we had hoped to expand the idea so that we could offer this opportunity to more students!

From left to right: Cody Fullerton, Cat Alderson, Dan Blackburn, Megan Siu, Michael Gunn.

Cat Alderson, Dan Blackburn, Cody Fullerton, Michael Gunn, and Megan Siu each presented on special topics in librarianship; all presentations were informative and thought-provoking. Topics included basic programming, the reality of business librarianship, digital archives, board-game collections and accessibility to legal information. These presentations were insightful, presenting topics in special librarianship that are not often discussed in class. It was a really great opportunity to learn something new that is a little outside of the normal topics of our studies!

Because this series was so successful, we are excited to host our next series March 26^th! If you are interested in presenting, please let us know! Email us at slaatuwo@gmail.com.

Rachel Burke is from Port Moody B.C. and is an MLIS student at Western University. She is currently co-chair of the SLA student chapter at Western , but also serves in ARLIS, PLG, and Student Council.

Ivey Family London Room Tour - February 4, 2014

On Tuesday afternoon the SLA and few other students from the MLIS program at UWO took part in a tour of the Ivey Family London Room. The London Room is located in the Central Public Library and is a research facility for genealogy and local history. The library has a wealth of original and secondary source materials about the city of London, Middlesex County, and surrounding Counties.

Arthur McClelland, the head librarian of the London Room lead the tour and gave us a very exclusive look into the special collection and informed us of the rich history of the London Room. First opened in 1967, as a center for local history, the library wasn’t much more than a tiny room. Since then it has grown to a very valuable collection, consisting of: out-of-print and rare books by London authors, a huge microfilm collection that includes The London Advertiser (1864 -1936), The London Free Press (1849-present) and other local newspapers, city directories (1856-1980), building information, fire insurance plans and much, much more!

       The special collection holds the city directories and many other municipal documents. All of the directories exist in microfilm format for easy accessibility. The special collection also holds photographs of local buildings and people taken in the 19^th and early 20^th century. The photos have all been digitized and can be browsed online for free! The genealogy collection is of the biggest collections in the area, reaching beyond Middlesex County, including cemetery transcriptions for eight counties around London, Ontario censuses, Ontario marriage records and passenger ship lists. Use of the materials is unrestricted as condition will permit, some of the materials are very fragile, or incredibly rare, and could be destroyed by excessive handling. Materials are accessible to the public, free of charge, however some items must be handled by the library staff. The London Room is a magnificent resource for locals, or previous Londoners who want to learn more about property, local organizations, or family history.

The tour was an incredibly valuable learning experience for anyone interested in special libraries. This was a very unique special library that specializes in local history. The London Room doesn’t define itself as the local archives, yet it most certainty functions as the archives for the city, since London and Middlesex County does not have an archives where this information would be accessible otherwise.


Joshua Klar is from London, Ontario and is an MLIS student at Western University. He is the special events coordinator of the SLA student chapter at Western and is particularly interested in archives and special collections.