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!