2019 Lightning Talk Presenters

Carli currently works on the Collections & Content team at the University of Guelph, as an Electronic Resources & Metadata Associate. In this role, she completes a wide range of tasks to provide support and access to the library’s vast electronic resource materials by creating and maintaining records, and investigating issues of access. After a brief stint in corporate banking post graduation, she made her way back to libraries and worked in E-Learning and Reserves, also at the University of Guelph. She completed her BA and MLIS at Western University. Carli is interested in the intersections of femininity and librarianship, as well as the precarious nature of work facing new librarians. In her spare time she likes to read, travel, and smother her dog with all the love.

Amber Allen works in the Access Services department at the University of Guelph helping students, faculty, and community members to navigate the myriad resources and services available to them. Since graduating she has been a librarian at York University, University of Toronto, and Herzing College. She holds an MI from UofT iSchool, a BA from York, and she is currently working towards a Teacher/Trainer for Online Learning certificate through Conestoga College. Her research interests include precarious work for new librarians, the intersections of motherhood and academic librarianship, and inclusive instruction. In her spare time she likes to read, write, and sew pieces of felt and fabric together to make textile art.

Katrina has been an Advancement Research Officer at the University of Guelph since mid-2015. She can be found carving out her own space in the world of philanthropic fundraising and loves special projects that allow her to focus on community outreach. Katrina completed her MLIS in 2014 and has been honing her online stalking skills ever since. In her free time she can be found re-heating cold cups of coffee, binge-watching Netflix series, and chasing a muddy toddler.

Emily completed her MLIS at the University of Western Ontario in August 2018. A few short weeks later she began her role as the first Scholarly Communication & Research Data Management Librarian at Nipissing University/Canadore College. On May 1 of this year, however, she began a new role as Editorial Lead - Open at Scale for eCampusOntario, in which she will work with colleagues across Ontario to grow Open Education and Open Educational Resources across the province. Follow her on Twitter @emilycarlisle07 for tweets about Open, mental health, and (currently) the highs and lows of wedding planning.

Kaelan currently works at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology as Business and IT Librarian. She spends her days supporting a diverse population of students and faculty by enthusiastically providing information literacy instruction, research and reference consultation, collection management and outreach. Prior to librarianship she spent over five years in auditing and accounting. Kaelan graduated from the University of Toronto’s iSchool in 2018.

Katrina Cohen-Palacios is currently an adjunct archivist at York University. In this role, she preserves records, delivers workshops, provides reference services, and oversees two large scale projects: enhancing the metadata of over 300 legacy finding aids and coordinating the offsite storage of 6,000 audiovisual items. Follow her twitter feed at @katrina_cp for updates on archivy, public history, and sports heritage.

Rebecca is a Librarian with Nipissing University/ Canadore College Libraries in North Bay, Ontario, on Robinson Huron Treaty territory and the traditional territory of the Anishnaabeg people. She received her BA in English Literature from UBC Okanagan, and her MLIS from the University of Western Ontario. Her role involves instruction, reference, collections, liaison work, and ERM. She spends her winters at the hill and her summers at the lake with Lucy.

Lisa Levesque is an Evaluation and Assessment Librarian at Ryerson University Library. Her research interests focus on how systems shape behaviour, and as a result she is interested in information literacy, digital infrastructure, and resisting the idea that libraries are neutral. With co-author Alison Skyrme, she recently completed a critical analysis of the experiences of new librarians through the lens of Michel de Certeau. When she wants a break from critical theory, Lisa enjoys going to the beach and eating tacos.

Ebony is the African and African-American Studies (AAAS) Librarian in Louisiana State University (LSU) Libraries’ inaugural 2019-2021 Diversity Residency Program. She spends her work days supporting the research and learning of students and faculty in the AAAS program and learning new tasks in rotations throughout various library departments such as Special Collections and Digital Programs and Services. She is passionate about the public services side of library work, especially providing outreach programs that serve diverse populations. Ebony received her MSLS and Diversity Advocate Certificate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her BA in History and International Students from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (her hometown).

My name is Michael Myers and I am currently working as an e-Learning and Reserves library assistant at University of Guelph's McLaughlin Library. In this position I locate and upload educational material that is copyright compliant and accessible, allowing students to freely access course material. I obtained my Library and Information Technology Diploma in 2017 from Seneca College, and will receive my MLIS from Western in August 2019. My education and diverse employment experiences have allowed me to gain a wide understanding of librarianship, which has instilled in me a passion for diverse collection development within libraries. Outside of Library Land I am an avid runner, dog enthusiast, and nature lover.

Ryan is a Research & Scholarship Librarian at University of Guelph Library. He graduated Western University in 2015 and worked as a Federal Government Librarian for a few years before moving into academic libraries in the fall of 2018. He tries to blog and tweet interesting things about libraries at his blog and @ryregier. The Toronto Raptors are the only thing that gives his life any meaning.

Andrea is in her first year as a Resident Librarian at Michigan State University. Her primary responsibilities are in Teaching & Learning where she provides instruction sessions to First Year Writing classes on campus. She was also recently appointed into a secondary assignment as the Chicano & Latino Studies Librarian. Andrea’s interests are in building new relationships with student success programs on campus, specifically those aimed at first-generation, transition, and bridge programs. Her library journey began as a library student worker during her undergraduate studies at MSU. Andrea received her MLIS from Wayne State University’s School of Library and Information Science in 2018.

Alison is a Special Collections and Liaison librarian at Ryerson University. She is a second-career, new academic librarian with a background in the history of photography and photographic preservation. Her research interests are issues faced by librarians in their education and early careers, collections management and ethics, and discovery metadata for diverse collections in GLAM institutions. When not thinking about collections, she enjoys making a mockery of perfectly good recipes with her clumsy kitchen skills.

Katelyn spends her days handing out trains and cutting out laminated pigeons for her latest department scavenger hunt. She is a passionate maker and reader and brings that to school-aged children in her work. She is an advocate for passive programming and making it work on the massive scales needed at a metropolitan library that you won’t find on library blogs. She graduated with a Master of Information in 2017 from the University of Toronto Faculty of Information. Since then she has worked as a Student library assistant, Tech Tutor, RFID implementation specialist, a retail worker, and supervisory library assistant before landing in her current gig, as a Children’s Librarian with the Mississauga Public Library System.