[Asis-l] News from Simmons SLIS

[Alisa Libby]

Simmons SLIS is proud to announce the most recent accomplishments of our
faculty, staff, and alumni.


*Faculty*


Associate Professor *Gerald Benoit* was invited to speak at the NISO
webinar, “Enabling Discovery and Retrieval of Non-Traditional and Granular
Output” on June 7. Benoit’s presentation was titled “Visual-Only Retrieval.”


Associate Professors *Melanie Kimball* and *Kathy Wisser* have co-edited a
book, *Libraries - Traditionsand Innovations: Papers from Library History
Seminar XIII <https://www.degruyter.com/view/product/463508?format=G>*
(DeGruyter, 2017). The book is a compilation of articles written from
presentations at the conference “Envisioning Our Information Future and How
to Educate For It” held at Simmons in 2015, sponsored by a grant from IMLS.
Kimball co-chaired the conference with Dean and Professor Emerita *Michele
Cloonan*, and Wisser served on the program committee and conference
committee.


At the Simmons Service Awards on Thursday, April 27, 2017, Professor and
Director *Cathryn Mercier* was the 2017 recipient of the Priscilla McKee
Award for Exceptional Service
<http://www.simmons.edu/news/school-of-library-and-information-science/2017/may/priscilla-mckee-award>.
Mercier is Professor and Director of the Children’s Literature Program
<http://www.simmons.edu/academics/graduate-programs/childrens-literature-ma>,
and Director of the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature
<http://www.simmons.edu/about-simmons/centers-organizations-and-institutes/center-for-the-study-of-childrens-literature>,
and has made Simmons a part of the children's literature landscape. She was
given the award in recognition of her "exceptional service to the Simmons
community." In May, Mercier organized the first *School Library Journal*
Innovator BaseCamp, which hosted and sponsored by Simmons. The event was
for new and seasoned teachers and librarians eager to network, hear from
the experts, and learn new practices.


Assistant Professor *Kyong Eun Oh*'s article, "Types of personal
information categorization: Rigid, fuzzy, and flexible" has been published
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.23787/abstract> in the *Journal
of the Association for Information Science and Technology*.


Assistant Professor *Colin Rhinesmith* published an article, "At the Edges
of the National Digital Platform
<http://www.dlib.org/dlib/may17/strover/05strover.html>" in D-Lib Magazine,
and a report, “Digital Inclusion Outcomes-Based Evaluation
<https://www.benton.org/blog/digital-inclusion-and-outcomes-based-evaluation>”
published by the Benton Foundation.


At a Simmons recognition event, *Professor Candy Schwartz
<http://www.simmons.edu/Faculty/Candy-Schwartz>* was recognized for her
upcoming retirement after 37 years of teaching at Simmons SLIS.


In May, Associate Professor *Rebecka Sheffield* celebrated the release of
her book, *Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer
<https://chbooks.com/Books/A/Any-Other-Way>* (Coach House Books, 2017). The
book incorporates archival records and new perspectives on Toronto's LGBTQ
history and includes chapters on: Oscar Wilde's trip to Toronto; early
cruising areas and gay/lesbian bars; queer shared houses; a pioneering
collective trans archive project; bath house raids; LBGT-police conflicts;
the Queen Street art/music/activist scene; and a profile of Jackie Shane,
the gay R&B singer who performed in drag in both Toronto and Los Angeles,
and gained international fame with his 1962 chart-topping single, “Any
Other Way.”


Associate Professor and Director of the Simmons SLIS Doctoral Program *Rong
Tang* was awarded a sub-contract grant from WGBH's "PBCore Development and
Training Project," funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH) through its Digital Humanities Research and Development Grant. Rong
Tang will be conducting usability and accessibility evaluations of the
PBCore website in Fall 2017. Tang is currently visiting several LIS schools
in China, including Wuhan University, Nanjing University, Jiangsu
University, and Nanjing University of Science and Technology to give
research talks and explore research collaborations. On May 31, Tang
presented "User Behavior Research: Facets and Measurements” at Wuhan
University, School of Information Management.


Associate Professor and Director of the Computer Science and Informatics
Program, *Nanette Veilleux*, was awarded the fifth annual Toby Sloane Award
for Student Centeredness
<http://www.simmons.edu/news/school-of-library-and-information-science/2017/may/nanette-wins-teaching-award>
in Teaching. This award was established by Carl Sloane through a gift made
to Simmons in honor of his wife, Simmons Trustee Toby Sloane ’60.


*Adjunct*


Adjunct Professor Julie Roach chaired the 2017 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
<http://www.hbook.com/2017/05/news/boston-globe-horn-book-awards/presenting-the-2017-boston-globe-horn-book-award-winners/#_>
committee. The winners were announced on May 31, 2017.


*Students*


LIS Master’s Student *Mylynda D. Gill* has been awarded the Summer
Internship from the Massachusetts Committee of the National Museum of Women
in the Arts. Gill will be working in the archives of the Betty Boyd Dettre
Library and Research Center, at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in
Washington, D.C. this summer.


Computer science
<http://www.simmons.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/computer-science>
students
*Amal Saaed* and *Jazzmine White* presented their research project
"Identifying and Analyzing Security Vulnerabilities in Brain-Computer
Interfaces (BCIs)" as part of the keynote panel at the Simmons Undergraduate
Symposium
<http://www.simmons.edu/academics/research/undergraduate-symposium>. Their
research included investigating low-cost BCI options and the usability of
"thought passwords" as an alternative to traditional passwords. They also
conducted security testing of the BCI to scan for vulnerabilities. Saaed
and White were among a select few chosen for the keynote presentation.


During Spring Break 2017, students volunteered at the JFK Library for
Preservation Week. They helped reorganize 120 boxes (60 cubic feet) of the
John F. Kennedy Condolence Mail Collection. This is the mail received by
the White House and Mrs. Kennedy after President Kennedy's assassination,
which had previously been minimally processed. This opportunity was part of
Alternative Spring Break, a program that NARA (National Archives and Record
Administration) coordinates to provide students with an opportunity to work
at a NARA facility.


*Alumni*


*Tom Blake* '06LS has been awarded the 2017 Alumni Achievement Award
<http://www.simmons.edu/news/school-of-library-and-information-science/2017/april/tom-blake-alumni-award>
by the SLIS Alumni Board. Tom has worked at the Boston Public Library (BPL)
as their Digital Imaging Production Manager, Digital Projects Manager, and
Content Discovery Manager since 2005. Since 2010, Tom has managed an
ambitious project to help digitize collections from across Massachusetts in
conjunction with digital Commonwealth, a statewide repository services, and
as a pilot Service Hub of the Digital Public Library of America. In 2015 he
received an MBLC award, and in 2014 was named one of Library Journal's
Mover & Shakers as a Tech Leader.


In April, *Emma Florio* '16LS competed on Jeopardy
<http://www.simmons.edu/news/school-of-library-and-information-science/2017/may/simmons-alumna-competes-on-jeopardy>!
Florio works in Special Collections at The Newberry Library in Chicago.


*Araceli Hintermeister* ’15LS and *Catherine Gaggioli* ’16LS, along with
colleague Judy Gelman, were featured in a recent Boston Globe
<https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2017/04/25/turning-into-mobile-library/RdLcktYYMUcaOv5dunOKQL/story.html>
article
about their project to leave free reading materials for commuters on the
MBTA
<http://www.simmons.edu/news/school-of-library-and-information-science/2017/may/books-on-the-t>
.


On Wednesday, May 24, *Alex Lent* ’11LS became the 103rd President of the
Massachusetts Library Association.


Congratulations to *Liz Phipps Soeiro
<http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2017/03/people/movers-shakers-2017/liz-phipps-soeiro-movers-shakers-2017-educators/>*
'07LS
and *D. Joshua Taylor
<http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2017/03/people/movers-shakers-2017/d-joshua-taylor-movers-shakers-2017-educators/>*
'10LS
for being selected for Library Journal's list of 2017 Movers & Shakers!
Phipps Soeiro, a librarian at the Cambridgeport School Library, in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, was selected for her innovative programs, which
"builds strong and trusting relationships among students, families, and
community leaders." Phipps Soeiro is also the founder of Cambridge Book
Bike. Taylor, President and CEO of the New York Genealogical and
Biographical Society, said his childhood interest in genealogy led him to
pursue a career in the LIS field. Taylor brought genealogy to PBS's
Genealogy Roadshow and continues to educate amateur genealogists.


*Staff*


*Em Claire Knowles*, Assistant Dean for Alumni and Student Affairs,
presented awards at the ceremony for the Letters About Literature Program
on May 16, at the Massachusetts Center for the Book. The event welcomed 30
students in grades four through 12. Representing the top 1 percent of
participants from across Massachusetts, the honorees had written letters
addressed to an author whose work had personally resonated with them,
changing their view of the world or themselves. Knowles presented an award
<http://mansfield.wickedlocal.com/news/20170601/guest-column-mansfield-sixth-grader-wins-letters-about-literature-award?&_ga=2.36219040.1643017829.1496930757-331482246.1496930757#vf-widget-art-50EBC4A3-70AB-5FAB-E053-0100007FF3C2-pub470>
to Al Noor Academy sixth-grader Ali Shaikh, of Mansfield, for his letter
written to author J.K. Rowling about her book, *Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone*.

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Alisa M. Libby
Communications Assistant
Simmons College, SLIS
300 The Fenway
Boston, MA 02115
t 617-521-2816
f 617-521-3192

Author, *The King's Rose* and *The Blood Confession*
alisalibby.com