Monday, November 23, 2009

A Luddite in the library

This Diana Wagman opinion piece from the Los Angeles Times was passed on to me by a Toronto Star reporter who said it reminded him of me. I can see where he's coming from, despite my technical expertise, I really am a luddite at heart!

A Luddite in the library by Diana Wagman, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 22, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-wagman22-2009nov22,0,3706824.story

Astrid Lange
Listserv and Publicity Coordinator, CASLIS Toronto

CASLIS/SLA/FIAA Holiday Social

We cordially invite you to attend our annual holiday social in the Great Hall of the Arts and Letters Club

Lily Mac, 2009-2010 President, CASLIS Toronto
Joy Shanfield, 2009 President, SLA Toronto Chapter
Claire Lysnes, 2010 President, SLA Toronto Chapter
Kim Silk, 2009-2011 President, Faculty of Information Alumni Association (FIAA)

Join your CASLIS, SLA and FIAA friends and colleagues to celebrate the holiday season.

Enjoy a delicious selection of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres and raise a glass of good cheer as you toast 2009.

Date:
Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Time:
5:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Cocktails (cash bar) and hors d’oeuvres will be served

Location:
Arts and Letters Club of Toronto
14 Elm St.

Cost:
CASLIS Toronto Members/SLA Toronto Members/Alumni of the Faculty of Information, U of T: $25.00
Non-Members: $35.00
Retired/Not Employed/Students: $15.00

Registration Information:
http://units.sla.org/chapter/ctor/events/register.asp?eid=271
Registration closes Saturday November 28th, 2009

This event is generously sponsored by SLA Toronto Chapter Partner CEDROM-SNi

Sunday, November 22, 2009

November Program Review

An Evening for Leaders: Preparing Ourselves for the Future

On November 4, CASLIS had the pleasure of hosting a presentation by Vicki Whitmell on “Leadership, Skills and Knowledge: How We Can Prepare Ourselves and Our Staff for the Future.” The Executive Director of the Information Technology and Services Division, and Librarian at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Vicki addressed leadership and information technology skills—two competencies acquiring increased importance in the library and information science (LIS) field.

The event took place at the Nicholas Hoare bookstore in Toronto, on a rainy evening. Surrounded by hundreds of books, elegant brown bookshelves, the interesting architectural features of an indoor balcony, and the pleasant company of attendees, Vicki’s presentation had the intimate quality of a mentor sharing useful tips with colleagues.

Vicki began by proposing that librarians are an aging population, while social and technological developments require a skill set that older librarians may be lacking. New LIS vacancies and opportunities for advancement often require knowledge of electronic content management; digitization; database development; and other competencies that may not have been part of the curriculum of older library programs.

For librarians, the future does not look bleak, but does require some changes. Quoting the document, “The Big Bang: Creating the New Library Universe,” Vicki emphasized that “No job will be unchanged; some things we have always done, we will no longer do.” Libraries will increasingly become user-centered, developing and organizing collections, and providing access that reflects a constituency’s changing information needs. Librarianship will require leaders to keep abreast of these changes and make decisions on these developments.

Identifying and grooming future LIS leaders will be an important part of our field’s evolution. iSchools and library programs that emphasize “the relationship between information, people and technology,” and encourage a broad understanding of diverse expertise within the information field, are good places where to begin the search. However, current librarians will need to acquire leadership skills themselves, before this process can take place. This is not a tall order, affirmed Vicki. There is a leader in all of us, and there are many opportunities to acquire these skills. Informal leadership, for example, can be developed as we build relationships with other colleagues, train new ones, and become role models to others.

Following the presentation, attendees had a chance to pose questions. One of the most interesting queries came from a gentleman who proposed that managers with an information technology (IT) background might not be the best choice to lead a library, and asked how librarians can demonstrate they are also capable of becoming CIOs. Vicki answered that IT professionals have actively sought leadership roles, and in the process have associated their expertise with “leadership.” Librarians must do the same, redefining “information science” more broadly to include LIS, seeking leadership roles, demonstrating competence as leaders, and acquiring the skills necessary to be able to efficiently manage IT workers.

The evening concluded with a chance to mingle and speak to Vicki one-to-one, before heading back out into the damp streets of Toronto.

Presentation slides for this event can be retrieved from http://www.caslistoronto.on.ca.

Yannet M. Lathrop
M.I. Candidate, 2011, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Photos - October and November programs

Our first two events were a success. If you would like to see a few snapshots from those enjoyable evenings please click the links below:

October 15th 2009 event, featuring Ezra Silverton from the Toronto Web Design & SEO Company, "What does the future of the Web hold?"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36772867@N04/sets/72157622654739057/

November 4th 2009 event, featuring Vicki Whitmell from the Legislative Assembly of Ontario “Leadership, Skills and Knowledge: How We Can Prepare Ourselves and Our Staff for the Future”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36772867@N04/sets/72157622778849472/

Enjoy!

Raluca
Photographer, CASLIS Toronto Chapter

Friday, November 13, 2009

October Program Review

On October 15th, CASLIS Toronto kicked off their programming year by celebrating the past and looking into the future which, as CASLIS TO President Lily Mac noted, is of particular relevance, given that librarianship and the information field are forward looking disciplines, with a vital role in the future of our organizations. Looking forward also helped us to celebrate how far we’ve come as a profession, and was a fitting way to celebrate October, which was Canadian Library Month.

Hosted at Ryerson University, guest speaker Ezra Silverton, from 9th Sphere, spoke about to the group about the evolution of the web as a tool, and the future of the internet as it relates to business, networking and more. He touched on the history of the web from his perspective as someone who has been working “online” since the early 90’s, offering a good overview of what has come before and, perhaps more importantly, emphasizing that we are still in the very early days of the internet’s evolution, with much of its full potential still laying ahead of us, which was a key takeaway from the evening.

Ezra’s presentation served as fodder for a lively and impassioned discussion amongst those in attendance. The conversation ran the gamut from trepidation and curiosity to excitement and detailed discussion of the concepts of the future of the web. Topics discussed included cloud computing, server needs and the aggregation of increasingly more data as well all move towards a web 3.0 world. Shrugging off the notion of the staid and quiet librarian, event attendees dug into the subject matter and were happy to pipe up and share experiences and opinions.

As much as the content of the presentation, the debate made for a great event. What’s more, the debate and discussions around the room were a fantastic reminder of the value of Professional Development programming, like CASLIS’, which serve our professional community and bring us together to discuss our work and share ideas and passions alike. To me, this is the real value of associations, and underlines why I continue not only to attend events, but also to serve as an association volunteer, so that I can give back to my community as well as take away the valuable lessons and food for thought that provides.

To download a copy of Ezra Silverton’s presentation “What does the future of the web hold?” please see the CASLIS Toronto Website.

Eileen Lewis,
Vice President, CASLIS Toronto Chapter

Thursday, November 12, 2009

University needs Grateful Dead archivist

As Lily mentioned in her introductory message, this blog will be used to post information about CASLIS Toronto and its events, but also news of interest to the library and information community. Sometimes that news can be fun ...

Anyone a fan of the Grateful Dead and looking for an information career? The University of California needs you!

Astrid Lange
Listserv and Publicity Coordinator, CASLIS Toronto

Monday, November 9, 2009

Welcome to our new blog!

On behalf of the CASLIS Toronto Chapter executive, I would like to personally welcome you to our new blog. We are thrilled to create this new tool to connect with our members and colleagues in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area.

Our goal for developing this blog is to reach out to librarians and information professionals. As a communication tool, this blog will help connect our members and colleagues together who work in such diverse areas as business, health, law, non-profit, and media. And as a learning tool, this blog will be a medium for knowledge and information exchange. We'll be bringing you up to date news on CASLIS Toronto and the library and information community, and new this year we'll be reporting on our programs to help bring the programs out to you.

But it's not just the CASLIS executive who will be contributing to this blog. We would love to hear from you. Feel free to share your comments, or connect with us if you would like to contribute to a blog posting!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. We hope you enjoy our new blog and we look forward to your comments!

Lily Mac
President, CASLIS Toronto Chapter