Month: April 2015

We didn’t manage to get a round-up in last week, but that was only because we were so busy hosting some awesome events! So here’s a super-sized round-up to catch you up:

Friday, April 10th was the Pratt SILS takeover at Librarian Libations! Thanks to everyone who showed up, all the student group leaders for promoting, and especially to ASIS&T at Pratt for making this event happen!

 

Saturday, April 11th was our Zine-Making Workshop, with Emma Karin Eriksson. We had a great time looking over Emma’s vast zine collection, and getting started on zines of our own! If you’re interested in zine culture and/or zine librarianship, the Brooklyn Zine Fest is April 25th & 26th, and the Barnard Zine Library will have a table there on the 26th.

 

Tuesday, April 14th was the Perspectives in Public Librarianship Panel, which had a great turnout, and excellent presentations from Natalie Milbrodt, Lauren Comito, Betty Lacy, and Nicola McDonald. Special thank-yous to Dr. Rabina, Corina Bardoff and Anna Murphy for making this a great and informative event!

Saturday, April 18th was our Librarians @ Pratt, Part 2 Wikipedia Editathon. Thank you to SILS alumna Gina Shelton for leading an informative and fun editing workshop, and congratulations to everyone who added to Wikipedia with us! Every edit counts! To see a full report from our editathon, check out the event’s Wikipedia page.

And last, but not least, our April General Meeting was held on Monday, April 20th. We discussed #infoshow15, SILSSA Office Elections, and the upcoming Bike the Branches. Take a look at our meeting minutes for an overview, and quick links to more information about what we covered.

We had a great time at all these events, and we hope you did too! If there’s something you’d like to add, or a suggestion for the future, don’t hesitate to email us at silssa.pratt@gmail.com. That’s all for now, and don’t forget: Nominations for #infoshow15 must be in by May 1st!

This Saturday, April 18th, SILSSA is hosting a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon (sign-up!) covering the history of Pratt SILS, and notable leaders and alumni from the Pratt Libraries. I (Sarah) thought I would take a moment to talk about why I believe knowing how to edit Wikipedia is an important skill, and the value of adding information to Wikipedia.

Wikipedia touts itself as an egalitarian source of knowledge, edited by everyone, for everyone. But studies have shown that the vast majority of editors are men, and the coverage of women, LGBTQ people, and POC is sorely lacking, or missing altogether. As a profession that is traditionally female, and still more than 80% (pdf) comprised of women, as well as one that cares about equal access and representation, I feel that librarians have an obligation not only to help expand the perspectives and stories that are told on Wikipedia, but also to teach others how to edit and engage in the Wiki-community. Plus, librarians are expert researchers, and can provide the sources and context to create excellent, well-cited pages, which helps make sure the pages they create and edit remain a permanent part of Wikipedia.

Editing Wikipedia for the first time can be scary, because there are a lot of rules about form, citation and content, and there’s always the fear that something you’ve spent hours creating will be taken down. That’s where edit-a-thons come in. By coming together as a group to work on editing and creating pages, we can lean on one another, and create a supportive in-person environment to help overcome the fear of wading into the wild internet alone. There are tons of  great, friendly communities on Wikipedia, but getting your foot in the door, or knowing the social etiquette can be intimidating at first, just like with joining any group. Plus, many edit-a-thons, including the Librarians @ Pratt this Saturday, will provide sources for you to work off of and suggestions of pages to work on, which makes research that much easier!

Additionally, editing Wikipedia can be a great learning experience, not only in the topic you’re working on, but in research skills, knowledge creation, community engagement, and digital literacy. The Wiki Education Foundation is a non-profit organization that works to help incorporate Wikipedia-based projects into classrooms, and provides heaps of really helpful information, resources and encouragement for anyone looking to incorporate Wikipedia as a teaching and learning tool. I would encourage you to look through their blog and resources!

I truly believe that Wikipedia has the potential to be a force for good on the internet and in the world. But, I also believe that it requires the input of diverse voices, and the time and commitment to work at making the Wikipedia community better than it is, and more inclusive and open than the current world it attempts to document.

That’s my soapbox speech and I hope you can join us this Saturday, April 18th, for the Librarians @ Pratt: Part 2 Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. We’ll be set up in PMC Room 609 from 1-6pm, with a workshop for beginners from 1-2pm, led by SILS alum Gina Shelton. Come by for a few minutes, or stay the whole time. We’ll have snacks!

 

Did you miss our Gender, Intersectionality and LIS panel a few weeks ago? Not to worry, we’ve collected the slides and audio from the panel and are now able to share them with you!

Slides from each panelist:

Sian Evans, #artandfeminism Wikipedia Editathon.

Jen LaBarbera, Filling in the Margins: The use of Queer Theory, Feminist Standpoint Theory, and Critical Race Theory to build inclusive archival collections.

Shawn Smith, Being a Lesbian Librarian, Collection Development in Lesbian Librarianship, and Archives as Lesbian Spaces.

Click here for the panel audio. (File has to be downloaded)

Here’s a link to the storify from the day as well: http://bit.ly/GenderLISPanelStorify

Welcome to the weekly Round-Up! This week, we started rolling out a lot of information about the end of the semester, and beyond!

We made a thorough list of everything that’s coming up in April, and it’s up right now on our homepage. Check it out. In other news:

• Nominations for SILSSA Officer positions for the 2015-16 school year are now open! There will be THREE officer positions available in SILSSA for the upcoming fall semester: President, Vice President, and Treasurer.

  If you are interested in running for any of these positions, please send an email to Rachel O’Neill, rachelskinneroneill@gmail.com, including a biography and statement of purpose (two paragraphs total). Please submit by 5 PM on Sunday April 26 for consideration.

  Please read the Guidelines for SILSSA officers including: time commitments and payments to officers, and the Pratt SILSSA constitution. Elections will be held the week beginning Monday April 27th.

• #infoshow15 is coming! There is a blog post about what that entails, and how you can participate, either as a presenter or a volunteer. Take a look at that for the details, but the vital information is: Nominate by May 1st, and #infoshow15 itself will be May 15th.
• Tonight! Tonight! One night only! All of Pratt SILS’s student groups (SILSSA, ASIS&T, SAA, SLA & UX/IA) are co-hosting the monthly Librarian Libations at Beauty Bar, from 6pm onward, tonight, April 10th! Come join us for a drink, and maybe also a manicure?
• Tomorrow, April 11th, starting at 1pm is the Zine-Making Workshop. Meet in PMC 613 to learn about the history of zines, their social and political impact, and make some of your own. Drop-in and out as you please!
• Tuesday, April 14th, from 5:30-6:30 is the Perspectives in Public Librarianship Panel. There’s also a great blog post about this event, so be sure to read up! Also, if you’re considering giving a lightning talk at #infoshow15, this would be a great opportunity to see how it’s done.
• And next Saturday, April 18th, from 1pm -6pm (drop-in) is the Librarians @ Pratt, Part 2 Wikipedia Edit-a-thon! Help expand the world of Wikipedia as it relates to the achievements of Pratt SILS and it’s faculty, staff and alumni. There will be an introductory session on how to become a Wiki-editor, make changes and create new pages! Sign-up here.
• And, at all of these events (except Librarian Libations) there will be FREE SNACKS! So join us!

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading, and let us know if you have any questions or comments!

Please note that this blog post is about #infoshow15, which took place a year ago (in 2015!). The information about what the #infoshow is, and how it is run is still relevant, but the date for #infoshow 16 is Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 5:00pm.

 

Hello fellow students!

SILSSA is excited to announce details and open self-nominations for the upcoming #infoshow15 at Pratt SILS, to take place on May 15th, from 5 to 7 PM. Before we get to that, however, we’d like to share information about last year’s show!

Last year, the Pratt Student showcase featured the following work from students: 8 thirty-minute panel presentations, 13 fifteen minute presentations, 29 five minute presentations, and 14 poster presentations.

Topics of student work ranged from presentations on issues of gender and race in libraries, the need for embedded librarianship, how to develop a consistent file-naming standard, a linked open data website of textile collections in museums, usability testing of museum websites, and many more fascinating projects. If you’d like to get a sense of the types of projects presented by SILS students, check out http://research.prattsils.org/ !

You can also view the program from last year below:

For a sense of the mood and energy of Pratt SILS Student Showcase, check out our Storify of last year’s Showcase!

The Pratt SILS Student Showcase, referred to by the new name #infoshow15 from here on, is a great way to share and celebrate student achievements at Pratt SILS.

Now that we’ve got you all excited about last year’s student showcase, read on for information about participating in this year’s!

 What is the Pratt SILS #infoshow15?

#infoshow15, referred to as the Pratt SILS Student Showcase in previous years, is the annual showcase and celebration of Pratt SILS student work. #infoshow15 is modeled as a professional event with panel presentations, lightning talks, poster presentations and more. It also gives students a chance to look at some of the work done in classes they may be interested in taking the following semester. #infoshow15 is an opportunity to share all of the work that you’ve done over the past year with fellow students, your families, friends, and the New York professional community. It is an occasion to see what other students in the program have been working on, and celebrate our collective achievements.

In addition to providing an environment to present work, #infoshow15 gives students the opportunity to chair panels. This is a great opportunity to bolster your CV and gain professional experience! Chairs will introduce panelists, keep time to ensure that the session stays on schedule and solicit questions from the audience. Chairs are integral to the functioning of #infoshow.

Student projects are included in #infoshow by faculty or self-nominations.

 When will #infoshow15 take place?

#infoshow15 will take place on Friday May 15, from 5 to 7 PM. Following #infoshow15, Pratt SILS will host the graduation party. Workshops for participants will take place in early May, and will provide information and a chance to practice presentations and chairing sessions.

 This sounds so fun! How can I present my work?

If you would like to present work, please fill out the nomination form:

2016 Nomination form: http://bit.ly/infoshow16nom

 

If there are too many projects to fit all of them into Student Showcase, the Selection Committee will decide which projects will proceed (this selection process will take place at the beginning of May).  The deadline for student project submissions is May 1st.

We encourage you to invite your family, friends, internship and work supervisors, LIS mentors, and members of the professional community who you think would enjoy #infoshow! Please have non-family member guests RSVP here:

2016 RSVP: http://bit.ly/infoshow16-RSVP

If you have any questions, please contact: silssa.pratt@gmail.com