The UBC SLAIS (the iSchool at UBC) Alumni Association has the great honour to announce Colin Preston, Media Librarian, CBC Vancouver, as guest speaker at the 2013 Meet the New Grads. The event will take place at the Alice Mackay Room, lower level VPL Central Branch, 350 West Georgia St., Vancouver, on Friday, April 12th from 5:30-8 p.m.

To purchase tickets and sponsor one or more graduating students, please visit: http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/3172873149#

Colin graduated from UBC SLAIS in 1983, building on his degree in Anthropology and his Teaching Credential.  Weathering the 80’s recession with many contracts and temporary jobs, he joined Vancouver Public Library briefly, and then accepted the position of Media Librarian at CBC Vancouver.  In Colin’s words:

I’ve been there ever since, although I now call myself a Media Archivist. My greatest accomplishment? Stickhandling the CBC Archives Project here at CBC Vancouver- coordinating & cajoling staff, contract and student hires to preserve and create catalogue records for some 300,000 discrete Television ‘artifacts’ as well as making the first steps to create a real Archive for CBC Radio material.

My professional sidelines include Sound & Moving Image appraisal, union activism, public programming of Heritage Film and foster-parenting ‘orphan films’ that appear on our vault’s doorstep.

Colin is well known for his passion for his work at CBC and in the community and for his humour and warmth.

The Meet the New Grads event celebrates the newest graduates of The School of Library, Archival and Information Studies: The iSchool at The University of British Columbia, and offers alumni, faculty, directors, staff, and other friends of SLAIS the opportunity to meet the new graduates and welcome them as our colleagues.

There is a new instructor, Reto Tschan, who will be teaching LIBR 579G this summer session 2013, Term 2. The new dates and times are Mondays and Wednesdays evening from 6:00 pm – 8:50 pm.  Starting July 3rd to August 7th.

The SLAIS Alumni Association is pleased to announce the 2013 Meet the SLAIS Grads Event.

Tickets Meet the Grads Event are now available via Eventbrite http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/3172873149#

The event will take place at the Alice Mackay Room, lower level VPL Central Branch, 350 West Georgia St., Vancouver, on Friday, April 12th from 5:30-8 p.m.

This event celebrates the newest graduates of The School of Library, Archival and Information Studies: The iSchool at The University of British Columbia, and offers alumni, faculty, directors, staff, and other friends of SLAIS the opportunity to meet the new graduates and welcome them as our colleagues.

We hope to see you there and welcome you into the community.

Cheers,

Leanna Jantzi on behalf of the The SLAIS Alumni Association

Dr. Mary F. Cavanagh, Assistant Professor from the University of Ottawa, School of Information Studies, is presenting “Social-Biblio.ca: Meaning and Method Behind Public Library Micro-Blogging Practices” on Thursday, March 21, 12-1 pm at the Dodson Room, Irving K Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall at the University of British Columbia.

Twitter is the most well-known microblogging social media application structuring public library-client information interactions. The goal of this multi-phase project is to understand how Canadian public libraries are engaging with their clients through micro- blogging and what effects these interactions may be having on the broader library-community relationships over an extended period of time. This paper reports on two preliminary content analyses of public library tweets on two separate “events” and on the research framework proposed for the next phase of research.

The platform supporting this project was launched in February 2012. Social-biblio.ca is an open curated archive and web platform tracking micro-blogging activities by Canadian public libraries with institutional Twitter accounts. Currently 130 public library Twitter accounts representing 22% of all Canadian public library systems are tracked. Various Twitter typologies across different settings have been developed based on large data sets but few address organizational micro- blogging and in particular government agencies. We tested Lovejoy and Saxton’s (2012) information-community-action and early findings suggest this framework can illustrate new directions in how public libraries interact with their clients. Theoretical and methodological contributions to public sector social media and public participation research are anticipated.

Are you currently in library school or a new professional?

On behalf of the Membership, Promotion, Diversity and Recruitment Committee for ALA’s New Members Round Table (NMRT), I would like to personally invite you to consider membership in this round table. NMRT offers many great benefits for new members. As an ALA member for fewer than 10 years, you are eligible for membership in NMRT.

The NMRT provides a starting point for everyone who is new to ALA, the profession, or both, and provides them with assistance, encouragement, and development opportunities – all for only $10 a year. What do you get for your $10? Here’s a sample:

• Connect with students, new professionals, and experienced “Alumni” members through the NMRT listserv, meetings, conference socials, and development programs;
• Join or chair an NMRT committee to jump start your involvement in ALA;
• Publish something in the NMRT newsletter, Footnotes, or our peer-reviewed journal, Endnotes;
• Apply for travel grants and awards to attend the ALA Annual Conference;
• Get advice on your resume through the Resume Review Service, either virtually year-round or in person at the ALA Annual Conference.

Start at www.ala.org/nmrt and take the first step on your greater ALA journey.

Thank you for your time, and we hope to hear from you soon! If you have questions, feel free to email us at ala.nmrt.mpdr@gmail.com.