New Librarians Symposium

2017 Lightning Talk Presenters

Kailey is a Metadata Librarian on the Collections and Content team at the University of Guelph Library. In this role, she participates in developing, implementing, and evaluating metadata strategies, policies, and procedures. She graduated in 2016 with an MLIS from the University of Western Ontario. You can find her on Twitter @kaileybrisbin.

Meg is a Finance and Public Administration Librarian with the Ontario Legislative Library. New to the role, she is more than excited to have the opportunity to merge her public service orientation with her experience in financial research. Previously, Meg was the Information Resource Specialist of the Ontario Securities Commission and before completing her MLIS at the University of Western Ontario in 2013, held co-op positions with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Global Affairs Canada.

Janel is a currently an Archivist in the Collections Development and Management Unit at the Archives of Ontario where she works to provide access to the province’s collection of public and private records. She struggles to confront whiteness in archives – on and off the record.

As Reference and Digital Resources Librarian, Natalie helps to manage the library website used by students across the school board and works to support amazing TDSB teacher librarians. Before starting this position, she worked as an information specialist at a health promotion non-profit. She never imaged that librarianship would lead her to such different opportunities. Natalie graduated from McGill’s School of Information Studies in 2014. You can find her on Twitter @lilstairz.

Michelle holds a MA in History (2011) and an MLIS (2014) – both from the University of Western Ontario – and has nearly six years of experience working in academic libraries. After more than four years in a paraprofessional role, she landed her first librarian position and has been riding the wave ever since. An avid gamer and cosplayer, Michelle has been leveraging her skills and connections as she tries to build a cultural ‘hub’ in the City of Brantford while continuing to balance her traditional liaison duties. Her other (library) interests include special collections, game-based teaching and learning, social media, open source data, and outreach. You can find her on Twitter @migoodridge.

Catherine graduated from the University of Toronto iSchool in 2015, and followed her love of cataloguing to BiblioCommons, which builds patron-facing software and catalogues for public libraries. No two days are the same, and her work there includes writing for internal and external audiences, performing research, and shepherding projects to fruition. When not at work, she enjoys biking, reading, and eating snacks (though not all at the same time). Find her bite-size thoughts on Twitter @owlegg.

As the Education Coordinator, Mary oversees the Education Institute, an online platform providing professional development to library professionals across the country. She also acts as the staff lead for many OLA divisional events. Mary holds an MLIS from the University of Western Ontario. You can find her on Twitter @maryroselib.

Ben is the IT and Digital Experience Librarian with the East Gwillimbury Public Library, where he is responsible for managing the library’s IT infrastructure, training, and digital literacy initiatives (among other things). He completed his MI at the University of Toronto and can often be found buried under robots, game designs, and 3D printers. Ben strives to find creative ways to encourage digital literacy in his suburban/rural environment. He can be found tweeting in bursts as @BeardaciousB.

Desmond is a settler librarian living and working on Mississauga of the New Credit First Nation land. He received his MLIS from McGill University in 2015. As an Outreach Librarian, he works with the Indigenous and International communities at the University of Toronto. He works to make libraries a more inclusive space for marginalized peoples who may not see the library as a resource in solidarity for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour. You can find him on Twitter @desmondcwong.