Last Thursday evening I witnessed an amazing example of a community/campus collaboration: The Story Collider. I heard about this event via Open.Michigan and decided to check it out.
The Story Collider is a group out of New York City that brings stories of science to real-life situations. This is vague sounding, yes, so let me try to explain. The Story Collider event I attended was produced through a partnership between Open.Michigan, the Ann Arbor District Library, and The Story Collider group. This was not the first time The Story Collider had been in Ann Arbor, but it was the first time I had seen the performance, so I'll speak to that event.
Last Thursday's Story Collider featured two emcee's; one was a founder of The Story Collider Brian Wecht, the other was University of Michigan staff member Erik Hofer. The emcee's introduced six different speakers who told a story about their life and science. Now, let me preface the rest of this entry by saying I am not a "science person." I've taken science, yes, but am by no means an Chemical Engineer, or a Cosmologist, or an English professor, like a few of the speakers were. Yet, through their storytelling, I was taken to a place where science made sense, in the real world that we all live in.
One storyteller explained how she became to realize why she felt the way she did about science, another told about a time when they had an ephiphany about science and was able to express that to a professor, before they were even in college. Another speaker talked about wikipedia editing, and yet another about a wild trip to Haiti to do relief work. The other stories reflected the speaker's interactions with science then and science now (how could a museaum be wrong about something?), and about what it's like to live with a real, live scientist.
These stories touched me, and made me realize that events such as this can bring together the unlikelist of partners. I would love to know more about how this collaboration came together, but it showed me that the opportunities for outreach are endless.
You can read more about the speakers, and check back for the podcasts of their stories. And, if The Story Collider comes your way, be sure to check them out!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
A Student Unconference
Last Saturday I attended Quasi-Con, an "unconference" developed from the ground up by my classmates at the School of Information. It was so exciting to see my future colleagues in action - sharing information in an open, interesting way. (That's what libraries do, right?)
Quasi-Con began with small group brainstorming sessions to tease out topics which were both relevant and interesting to participants. The next part of the conference focused on sessions based off these brainstorming ideas. The conference developers really gave the conference participants a chance to discuss and dig into library-related issues about which they are passionate. What a great way to engage everyone!
In the afternoon, Quasi-Con featured presentations from speakers who'd signed up in advance. Some presentations were 15-minute talks about disaster planning or the Occupy Wall Street library, others were panels on thinking about how your prior jobs (like being a trail guide) could apply to being a librarian.
The entire conference was creative, innovative, informative, and inclusive. It was extremely fantastic to see my classmates produce such an awesome event. Check out the http://quasicon2012.wordpress.com/ website for more information!
Quasi-Con began with small group brainstorming sessions to tease out topics which were both relevant and interesting to participants. The next part of the conference focused on sessions based off these brainstorming ideas. The conference developers really gave the conference participants a chance to discuss and dig into library-related issues about which they are passionate. What a great way to engage everyone!
In the afternoon, Quasi-Con featured presentations from speakers who'd signed up in advance. Some presentations were 15-minute talks about disaster planning or the Occupy Wall Street library, others were panels on thinking about how your prior jobs (like being a trail guide) could apply to being a librarian.
The entire conference was creative, innovative, informative, and inclusive. It was extremely fantastic to see my classmates produce such an awesome event. Check out the http://quasicon2012.wordpress.com/ website for more information!
Monday, January 16, 2012
MLK Jr. Day and UM
Each year, the University of Michigan hosts a symposium in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. It's a day that the University sets aside to reflect on his work - and the work still going on around us. Martin Luther King Jr. Day gives students, staff, faculty, departments and units a chance to express themselves and they way they choose to reflect upon the important work that Martin Luther King laid out for his generation and ours.
The University of Michigan Library is co-sponsoring two events: a screening of Fordson (today) and Step Afrika Dance Performance (January 19).
The Detroit Center hosted an event as well, proving that the symposium can include and bring together various communities.
It's days like today - when class and some work are canceled - that I reflect on what is really important in our world and at the University of Michigan. It's a day to stop and consider how my future career should work towards goals of equality and the riddance of oppression. It shouldn't take a day to help me remember that those goals underlie what I want to work toward, but it's a great day to do this with others from the campus and the community.
May your MLK Jr. Day bring reflection and contemplation - in whatever way that means to you.
The University of Michigan Library is co-sponsoring two events: a screening of Fordson (today) and Step Afrika Dance Performance (January 19).
The Detroit Center hosted an event as well, proving that the symposium can include and bring together various communities.
It's days like today - when class and some work are canceled - that I reflect on what is really important in our world and at the University of Michigan. It's a day to stop and consider how my future career should work towards goals of equality and the riddance of oppression. It shouldn't take a day to help me remember that those goals underlie what I want to work toward, but it's a great day to do this with others from the campus and the community.
May your MLK Jr. Day bring reflection and contemplation - in whatever way that means to you.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Blog Day now = Monday!
As with a new semester comes a new schedule and thus I'll be attempting to blog weekly on Mondays.
Since I just logged quite an entry last week, I'll hold off on content until next week.
For now, here's a link to last semester's Information Literacy for Teaching and Learning class's free downloadable e-book Information Literacy in the Wild. It's in MeL (Michigan's Electronic Library)!
Since I just logged quite an entry last week, I'll hold off on content until next week.
For now, here's a link to last semester's Information Literacy for Teaching and Learning class's free downloadable e-book Information Literacy in the Wild. It's in MeL (Michigan's Electronic Library)!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
What the new year shall bring - Detroit-based work
The winter/holiday break that academics and students receive is much needed, but the itch to get back to work is just as important. As such, 2012 is shaping up to be a fantastic year.
One of the initiatives on which I'm most excited to work is at the Detroit Center. There are many connections to make, many collaborations to develop, and many people to meet. The UM Library is just starting work there to connect librarians to the projects at the Detroit Center. Many of the projects are health-based, social work and leadership based, connected with urban planning, engineering, and much more. There are many ways that librarians can assist this work; as UM is a research institution, the projects it supports need to be research-based. UM librarians can work with the project coordinators to inform their work so that it can benefit the UM community, Detroit community, and citizens worldwide.
The University of Michigan is dedicated to working in Detroit. Just today, as I was searching for UM-based Detroit work, I came across a very interesting website from The Office of the Vice President for Communications at UM entitled The University of Michigan and Detroit: A Parternship for Progress. The website details UM's commitment to work in Detroit and discusses the "base of operations" (the Detroit Center) and lists projects associated with UM's work in Detroit.
The Partnership for Progress and the Third Century Initiative are just two of the many reasons that the Library should forge forth with creating a partnership with the Detroit Center. The possibilities for collaborations are abundant, and it will be exciting to see and be a part of what's to come.
One of the initiatives on which I'm most excited to work is at the Detroit Center. There are many connections to make, many collaborations to develop, and many people to meet. The UM Library is just starting work there to connect librarians to the projects at the Detroit Center. Many of the projects are health-based, social work and leadership based, connected with urban planning, engineering, and much more. There are many ways that librarians can assist this work; as UM is a research institution, the projects it supports need to be research-based. UM librarians can work with the project coordinators to inform their work so that it can benefit the UM community, Detroit community, and citizens worldwide.
The University of Michigan is dedicated to working in Detroit. Just today, as I was searching for UM-based Detroit work, I came across a very interesting website from The Office of the Vice President for Communications at UM entitled The University of Michigan and Detroit: A Parternship for Progress. The website details UM's commitment to work in Detroit and discusses the "base of operations" (the Detroit Center) and lists projects associated with UM's work in Detroit.
The Detroit Center is the base of operations for many of U–M’s Detroit–focused programs. Established in 2005, the 10,500 square–foot facility provides space for offices, classes, meetings, exhibitions, lectures, and collaborative work while serving as a home base for students and faculty working on projects in the city. The U–M Detroit Admissions Office is also located here.UM's work in Detroit also relates to UM President Mary Sue Coleman's Third Century Initiative which I learned about through Arts of Citizenship's Associate Director, Elizabeth Werbe. The Third Century Initiative aims to, "use $50 million in existing funds during the next five years to develop innovative, multidisciplinary teaching and scholarship approaches to such topics as climate change, poverty and malnutrition, energy storage, affordable health care and social justice challenges. It will encompass teaching, research and service efforts" (http://www.ur.umich.edu/update/archives/111005/thirdcent).
(Source: http://vpcomm.umich.edu/issues/detroit.html)
The Partnership for Progress and the Third Century Initiative are just two of the many reasons that the Library should forge forth with creating a partnership with the Detroit Center. The possibilities for collaborations are abundant, and it will be exciting to see and be a part of what's to come.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
e-book chapter, and 2011 wrap-up
It's been an exciting week. Today I am "done" with work until the new year, and it's looking like an exciting 2012.
Here's a quick rundown of the past 10 or so days:
1) Went to the Detroit Center last Wednesday to "float" during a grants workshop hosted by the UM Library and the Nonprofit Enterprise for Work for local non-profit organizations. It was exciting to see how library and database resources can be used for organizations who are doing such important work. My days at the Mott Foundation came back to me as we moved fluidly through the Foundation Center's website looking at funder's and grants that applied to the non-profits missions. It was a really cool experience to be there and see yet another facet of what the Library does.
2) Almost have finished "dscribing" part my Community Information Seminar from last semester. Dscribing means taking the lecture slides from the course and ensuring that all of the content and images are "open" for use by others. We collect lecture slides from our guest speakers, they decide the level of licensing they want (Creative Commons) and we publish it. When we're finished, you can view the course here (http://open.umich.edu/education/si). Topics included information technology development, the Open.Michigan movement, social media use in Egypt, local informatics, and more!
3) I'm published! As part of my SI 641: Information Literacy for Teaching and Learning class, we had to observe 20 hours of instruction, teach two face-to-face lessons, and create a project related to information literacy. Then, we were asked by our Professor, Kristin Fontichiaro, to write a chapter for a book about one or more of our experiences. The book, Information Literacy in the Wild, was edited by Kristin and includes a forward by School of Information Dean Jeffrey MacKie-Mason. You can download it free via Smashwords or in .pdf format. Please feel free to share widely!
4) Finally, I'm going to take a break next week and start blogging again after the new year. Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season and best wishes into 2012!
Here's a quick rundown of the past 10 or so days:
1) Went to the Detroit Center last Wednesday to "float" during a grants workshop hosted by the UM Library and the Nonprofit Enterprise for Work for local non-profit organizations. It was exciting to see how library and database resources can be used for organizations who are doing such important work. My days at the Mott Foundation came back to me as we moved fluidly through the Foundation Center's website looking at funder's and grants that applied to the non-profits missions. It was a really cool experience to be there and see yet another facet of what the Library does.
2) Almost have finished "dscribing" part my Community Information Seminar from last semester. Dscribing means taking the lecture slides from the course and ensuring that all of the content and images are "open" for use by others. We collect lecture slides from our guest speakers, they decide the level of licensing they want (Creative Commons) and we publish it. When we're finished, you can view the course here (http://open.umich.edu/education/si). Topics included information technology development, the Open.Michigan movement, social media use in Egypt, local informatics, and more!
3) I'm published! As part of my SI 641: Information Literacy for Teaching and Learning class, we had to observe 20 hours of instruction, teach two face-to-face lessons, and create a project related to information literacy. Then, we were asked by our Professor, Kristin Fontichiaro, to write a chapter for a book about one or more of our experiences. The book, Information Literacy in the Wild, was edited by Kristin and includes a forward by School of Information Dean Jeffrey MacKie-Mason. You can download it free via Smashwords or in .pdf format. Please feel free to share widely!
4) Finally, I'm going to take a break next week and start blogging again after the new year. Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season and best wishes into 2012!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
connect2edinfo - becoming a professional
Becoming a professional is a lot of work. Not only is there an actual lot of work to do inside of work, but there's a lot to do outside of work, too.
I decided a while ago that I wanted to change my Twitter name, that I wanted to create a website, and - after matriculating into the Higher Education program - that I wanted to change my blog's domain name. Whew!
You might ask why... and the answer is strictly professional. My old Twitter name - abundntsunshine - meant nothing, particularly because I live in Michigan where we don't have a lot of sunshine. I wanted to create a website because, hey, that's what information professionals do, right? And, I wanted to change the blog domain name from being solely about libraries to being more inclusive of my interest in higher education (not that I believe we shouldn't still live.love.libraries). More than anything, I wanted to create a cohesive online profile.
So then the challenges started. Not only would I have to come up with a semi-creative and relevant Twitter and blog domain name, but I'd have to find the time to change all of the links in various spaces. Between LinkedIn, my School of Information profile, Facebook, Twitter, and my resume, it's nearly impossible to keep up with everything - let alone change three important pieces of information everywhere. That's why it's taken me until December to do so. But I'm pretty satisfied with the results.
Connect2EdInfo is my new Twitter (@connect2edinfo) and blog domain (connect2edinfo.blogspot.com), and my website is simple - alissatalleypixley.com. It was my attempt to keep my online profile professional, and for it to represent what I'm interested in and what I hope to work on in my career.
It's a lot of work to continually put myself out there in a way that is representative of my professionalism. But I think it's worth it - more and more people are reading my blog and it's my hope that the new name change will begin attracting broader audiences on Twitter and on the web. Enjoy (and thanks for reading this self-promoting post :) - hopefully there are some lessons learned for all.
I decided a while ago that I wanted to change my Twitter name, that I wanted to create a website, and - after matriculating into the Higher Education program - that I wanted to change my blog's domain name. Whew!
You might ask why... and the answer is strictly professional. My old Twitter name - abundntsunshine - meant nothing, particularly because I live in Michigan where we don't have a lot of sunshine. I wanted to create a website because, hey, that's what information professionals do, right? And, I wanted to change the blog domain name from being solely about libraries to being more inclusive of my interest in higher education (not that I believe we shouldn't still live.love.libraries). More than anything, I wanted to create a cohesive online profile.
So then the challenges started. Not only would I have to come up with a semi-creative and relevant Twitter and blog domain name, but I'd have to find the time to change all of the links in various spaces. Between LinkedIn, my School of Information profile, Facebook, Twitter, and my resume, it's nearly impossible to keep up with everything - let alone change three important pieces of information everywhere. That's why it's taken me until December to do so. But I'm pretty satisfied with the results.
Connect2EdInfo is my new Twitter (@connect2edinfo) and blog domain (connect2edinfo.blogspot.com), and my website is simple - alissatalleypixley.com. It was my attempt to keep my online profile professional, and for it to represent what I'm interested in and what I hope to work on in my career.
It's a lot of work to continually put myself out there in a way that is representative of my professionalism. But I think it's worth it - more and more people are reading my blog and it's my hope that the new name change will begin attracting broader audiences on Twitter and on the web. Enjoy (and thanks for reading this self-promoting post :) - hopefully there are some lessons learned for all.
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