Speaker Event recap

It’s been two weeks since our Fall Speaker Event, and the members of SGO are still buzzing with excitement over the talk that Marilyn Johnson gave.  From the speech itself to the wonderful crowd that turned out, this year’s event was a huge success!   

For those of you who couldn’t make it, here’s a brief recap: Marilyn’s remarks centered on the idea of service in the public library.  Time and again, she expressed her wonderment at librarians’ ceaseless attempts to help the “freaks” of the world deal with technological change.  “Freaks,” as Marilyn clarified, include those of us who walk into a library baffled by new web resources, printers that always seem to be offline, and the myriad other challenges that the public faces every day.  She lamented that the profession does not have a higher profile, and urged librarians and library lovers alike to become stronger advocates of the important services that libraries provide.  Her message was very affirming, particularly because Marilyn Johnson speaks as someone who is not a member of the profession — she is a writer and a user of libraries, not a librarian.   We are fortunate to have such a wonderful ally! 

                                                                                                                                   

Afterwards, Marilyn was gracious enough to take questions from the audience and sign copies of her book, This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All! 

On behalf of SGO, I’d like to thank Meeting and Event Services for their help in organizing the Jeanne d’Arc auditorium, the staff and faculty of the MLIS program for tirelessly helping us promote the event, Brigette Marty of Student Center and Activities/GSAB for being an incredible resource, and Common Good Books for providing copies of Marilyn’s book for sale.

Everyone in SGO is eagerly looking ahead to the planning of next year’s Fall Speaker Event.  We arrange other events throughout the year, too, so watch this blog for upcoming announcements on future SGO happenings!    

Were you at the event?  Do you have any feedback for us on this speaker or on future speakers you’d like to see?  Leave us a comment or send an email to lissgo@gmail.com.

-Michael Mitchell

 From left: Heidi Hammond, Marilyn Johnson, Deb Grealy, and Deb Torres.

 Marilyn Johnson and Michael Mitchell

EVENT THIS FRIDAY!!!

Location for Friday's event

See this page for information on parking and a PDF of the map (without my lovely annotations).

SGO Meeting for October 7, 2010

SGO Meeting for October 7, 2010

CDC 495  5:00 – 6:00

AGENDA:

I.                   Recap of ERP meeting

II.                Marilyn Johnson Event

a.       Advertising

b.      The Event

III.             Committee Updates?

IV.             End of Semester

a.       Food for grad reception

b.      Gifts for students?

D.C., the L.O.C., O.S.I., N.D.I.I.P.P. & m.e.! [also known as My Summer of Acronyms]

Looking back on summer 2010, I am overwhelmed by the alphabet soup that was my good fortune.  Need a tour through the acronymic mess?  I’m happy to oblige!

D.C. – Why, the District of Columbia, m’dear!, where I temporarily resided.

L.O.C. – Library of Congress, where I fulfilled a Junior Fellowship this summer.

O.S.I. – The Office of Strategic Initiatives, service unit under which I worked at L.O.C..

N.D.I.I.P.P. – The National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program, my host department, in which I worked most closely with the Communications Team (which we thankfully did not call the C.T.).

m.e. – Candice LaPlante, third year (gracious!) graduate student at SCU who never thought she’d be engaged in digital initiatives…but grew to love them over one very exciting summer!

After wading through a hefty application process in Winter 2010, I was selected to serve as the first-ever Junior Fellow in the O.S.I. at L.O.C., where I gladly worked with N.D.I.I.P.P.  I didn’t know what to expect when entering the Fellowship (other than a veritable labyrinth of acronyms), but I certainly got a lot out of it!

Some of the highlights of my time at the L.O.C. include:

·         Meeting and learning from inspirational leaders such as David Ferriero, Lee Rainie, Dan Gillmor and James H. Billington.

·         Being an active participant and member of the 2010 Partners Meeting, which brought together a diverse, enthusiastic, collaborative and progressive group of digital preservation leaders and stakeholders.  We celebrated the rollout of the new N.D.S.A. (National Digital Stewardship Alliance), and I’m happy to say “I was there when it began!”

·         Attending and engaging in amazing meetings, such as eST (electronic Science and Technology), FCC (Federal Communications Commission), the 2010 annual ALA conference, and O.S.I. team meetings.

·         Writing, producing and editing my first ever video, titled “Bridging Physical & Digital Preservation at the Library of Congress.”

·         Meeting amazing people, learning in a premier national library, and growing as a professional in ways I never expected!

Now that the Fall semester has begun, I find myself actively building bridges between my experiences at the L.O.C. and my continued schoolwork.  Via class projects and a Project Assistant position I have undertaken at the Minnesota Historical Society, I keep in contact with acquaintances and coworkers from the summer, as I continue to produce material for N.D.I.I.P.P. and engage in partner-efforts.  For a lass amazingly timid where networking is concerned, I’d say I’ve come a long way since my pre-L.O.C. days!

So as to not overwhelm, however, I close with encouragement for current students: Take advantage of the amazing opportunities open to you as a learner.  Institutions, organizations and professionals are willing and able to support student learning in profound ways—you just have to seek them out.  And, to help you on your journey, St. Kate’s SGO gladly accepts and entertains funding grant requests.  

Now.  Is.  The.  Time.  Enrich your SCU learning with real-world experience!

Oh!  How rude of me.  What did you do over the summer?

~Candice LaPlante

SGO Represent!

At this semester's first Graduate Student Advisory Board (GSAB) meeting, held on Monday, September 27th, the MLIS program was well represented.

Attending the meeting on behalf of Student Governance Organization and the greater MLIS program, were Andrew Crow and Candice LaPlante.


GSAB consists of two voting members from each program and as many non-voting members who actively choose to participate in GSAB initiatives. GSAB meets monthly during the academic year on the St. Paul campus to share program updates, review financial proposals, plan activities, address common questions/concerns, and network. All graduate students are welcome to attend the meetings and get involved!

And, excitement!, our own Andrew Crow will now be representing the GSAB at University Council meetings for St. Catherine University.  Thank you, Andrew, for continuing to represent St. Kate's MLIS program and the greater graduate program here on campus!

The next GSAB meetings will be held:

       October 25, 2010 in Coeur de Catherine in room 495
       December 6, 2010 in Coeur de Catherine in room 362

Feel free to attend and contribute to the graduate agenda at St. Catherine University!

SLA MN Chapter Salon 4

...hosted by our very own St. Kate's SLA Student Group!

From their blog:

"The St. Kate’s SLA Student Group is extending the party!  You are invited to join Minnesota SLA Chapter members for a post-lecture discussion, dinner, and drinks following the book talk with author Marilyn Johnson on Friday, October 15, 2010."


Find out more about this event by visiting the St. Catherine University Special Libraries Association Student Group Blog.  


Find out more about other events and activities by vising the student group at their website.

Agenda for 21 Sept Mtg

SGO Meeting for September 21, 2010

CDC 018   5:00 – 6:00

AGENDA:

I.                   Welcome and Introductions

·         Welcome to first-time SGO participants

·         Introduction of current Executive Committee members and Department Liaison

II.                What we do! [Mission and Involvement]

·         Review SGO Mission, Goals, and Structure

·         Standing Committees: review of open committee posts

III.             ERP Visit 

·         Discuss SGO Involvement, confirm meeting time with ERP

·         Review talking points, questions that may be asked by ERP

IV.             Updates from Committees

V.                Questions, other issues

I feel a movie night coming on...

Check out this article on Huffington Post:

Librarians Save The Day! 11 Great Movies In Which They Star

Any movies that you would like to see that aren't on the list?

Author Marilyn Johnson to speak at St. Catherine University—October 15, 2010

We are proud to present Marilyn Johnson at St. Kate’s on October 15, 2010.

Ms. Johnson, author of This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All , will speak on October 15 ^th at 5:00 P.M. in the Jeanne D’Arc auditorium on St. Catherine University’s Saint Paul Campus. There is no charge for this event.

Marilyn speaks regularly at library conferences and similar events, and she was interviewed earlier this year on National Public Radio’s On the Media (listen here).

Watch for further details about this event in an email announcement later this summer!

Meeting Minutes: March 9, 2010

MLIS SGO Meeting, March 9, 2010
Members Present: Leslie Hunter-Larson, Heather Lewis, Andrew Crow, Michael Mitchell, and Faculty Advisor Deb Torres

1. Committee Updates
Faculty Meeting Committee: Michael updated the group on the department meeting from February, which featured special guests Karen O'Brien and June Lester, both of whom took questions from faculty and staff regarding the Committee on Accreditation

2. SGO Web site, email, and blog
a. Leslie reported that the stkate.edu email address for the SGO group is currently inactive/disabled. She will follow up with student services.

b. Michael agreed to update the blog with 03/09/2010 minutes

3. Mid-Term Cookie Break
a. SGO members brainstormed about the cookie break for Saturday and Sunday students. Deb suggested that it would be difficult to coordinate breaks among weekend classes, given the advanced planning that would require.

b. It was suggested that instead of a cookie break, SGO could make cookie care packages to be distributed to the weekend students. This would allow for SGO to distribute cookies AND serve as an opportunity to include a note about movie night.
i. Heather will get quotes on treats from a local bakery.
ii. Michael will work on getting the enrollment numbers for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday classes this semester.
iii. We will aim to do this the week prior to Spring Break

4. Via email, Candice submitted an update to Leslie regarding the Movie Night. The best date for Movie Night, as decided by those in attendance, is April 10th. The movie will start at 5:30 to allow Saturday students to attend.

5. Fall Speaker Event
a. Friends of the Library issue: consensus on this issue was not reached. Leslie will follow up with an in-person meeting.

b. Brainstorming list of speakers (submitted by those present):

• Walt Crawford; author, editor (maintains the website http://citesandinsights.info/)
  
• David Rothman; "exploring medical librarianship and web geekery"
  
• Chad and Laura; both professional from local special libraries...possibly worth considering for a Spring Event or Monday night instead
• Paul LeClerc; outgoing director of New York Public Libraries
  
• Marilyn Johnson; author (This Book is Overdue!)
  
• Loriene Roy; past ALA president
  
• Nancy Pearl; author, former director of the Washington Center for the Book
  
• Will Weaver; Minnesota author
  
• Louise Erdich; Minnesota author
  
• Lawrence Lessig; legal scholar, author
  
• Sarah Vowell; author
  

6. SGO Development fund
Reviewed the criteria for approval and came to a group consensus on two current requests

7. Other items
i. For next meeting, consider what could be done to promote a St. Kates student presence at national library conferences; keep SGO bulletin board up to date with conference information.

Welcome Dr. Deborah Grealy as Associate Dean!

Dr. Deborah Grealy has accepted the position as Associate Dean for the MLIS program.

SGO is really excited about this! Two SGO members were on the search committee for this position and Dr. Grealy was the search committee's first choice.

The fact that our MLIS program can recruit an Associate Dean of this caliber says much about
the strength and vitality of our MLIS program.

Check out Dr. Grealy's book published with Sylvia D. Hall-Ellis From Research to Practice: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in LIS Education published by Greenwood.

Learn more about Dr. Grealy's professional background on the MLIS website.

Please welcome our new Associate Dean when you come back, or start, Spring Classes in February!