NEWS & EVENTS

While pursuing his MLS, Robert Lebowitz (GSLIS ‘24), continued working part-time assisting Holocaust survivors in obtaining reparations for their wartime experiences. In the course of this work, Robert began searching through archival collections in order to find documentation to prove his clients’ claims. After encountering both the excitement and the frustration of this research, Robert enrolled in LBSCI 710: Applied Research in Information Studies with a focus on how archival resources can be better utilized to establish reparations claims. Together, he and Dr. Johnathan Thayer developed a plan of study to systematically investigate this topic. Robert reviewed literature on the history of several key repositories of Holocaust-era records, compared their organizational structures, and corresponded with archivists. The results highlight the political, economic and social issues that arise in utilizing archives for reparations research and also offered reflections on how both researchers and archivists might approach the issue going forward, as racial and ethnic groups press countries to make amends for historical injustice through financial redress.

Current GSLIS Archives Certificate student, Kathryn McKenzie, has been a volunteer archivist at St. Bartholomew’s Church in the City of New York (St. Bart’s) for the past few years. On behalf of St. Bart’s and as part of her coursework in LBSCI 710: Applied Research in Library and Information Studies, Kathryn applied for and received a Documentary Heritage and Preservation Services for New York (DHPSNY) Archival Needs Assessment. The purpose of the assessment is to examine the archival program, identify and address specific organizational needs, operational efficiencies, storage concerns, and collection management issues. The St. Bart’s volunteer archives team and other stakeholders will begin working with DHPSNY this summer.

In addition to the DHPSNY assessment work, Kathryn aims to take a community archives approach to the church archive expanding opportunities for community engagement and missional social justice work and reflection.

https://stbarts.org/ 

https://dhpsny.org/archival-needs-assessments 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynmckenzie44/

*View and print QC GSLIS Spring 2024 Newsletter:  WEB  |  PDF  |  PRINT

Through the generous support of the Pine Tree Foundation, GSLIS is pleased to offer a new class this summer.

BOOK LAB

 Book Lab is a hands-on study of the book. Learn through doing in the studios of Center for Book Arts with experienced crafts people. Students will learn about the development of the book from manuscript to printed edition. Find out why the printing press in combination with the codex revolutionized information technology. Students will learn about how letterforms are made, hand set type and print it on a historic Washington hand press, and learn how to bind a book.

Book Lab is part of a wider effort of the GSLIS Curriculum Committee to develop a specialization in rare book librarianship. Book Lab will be especially valuable to students who wish to work with rare books, to work in archives and special collections, or in art librarianship.

The class is a standard 3 credit class, but it is scheduled across six full days:

• Friday, July 12th, from 10AM to 5PM (bookbinding)

• Saturday, July 13th, from 10AM to 5PM (bookbinding)

• Sunday, July 14th, from 10AM to 6PM (bookbinding)

• Friday, July 19th, from 10AM to 5PM (letterpress)

• Saturday, July 20th, from 10AM to 5PM (letterpress)

• Sunday, July 21st, from 10AM to 6PM (letterpress)

The class will be held at the Center for Book Arts, 28 W 27th St, NY 10001

To mark the inauguration of this class, the Pine Tree Foundation is generously granting $750 to each student enrolled in Book Lab.

To enroll in the class, email Esther Van Sertima Esther.Vansertima@qc.cuny.edu We will begin enrolling students on Wednesday, May 29.

Will be taught by Prof. Rachel Leff, Research and Instruction Librarian and Head of Research Services at Sarah Lawrence College.

This course provides students with an understanding of the major components of academic libraries, common academic library resources, and academic library services. Students will learn about the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy, academic library classification systems, how to conduct a research consultation, how to plan an instruction session, and current issues impacting academic libraries, including open educational resources and information ethics.

Will be taught by Prof. Kyle Triplett, Rare Book Librarian at New York Public Library.

The class will survey issues in rare books and special collections, including an overview of the history of the book, descriptive bibliography and information sources and services for rare book librarianship.

Dina Schuldner, GSLIS Alumni , a contributor for the recently published book "Young Adult Library Services: Challenges and Opportunities." Her chapter is Chapter 20: YOYA: The Motivational Magazine. 

Congratulations to Dina from everyone at GSLIS!

Congratulations to Josselyn, Amber, Jennie, and Tara from everyone at GSLIS! See their profile and links below. 

Josselyn Atahualpa | Movers & Shakers 2024—Advocates

Employer: Queens Public Library

School: Queens College

Amber Gagliardi | Movers & Shakers 2024—Innovators

Employer: Middle Country Public Library

School: Queens College Grad School

Jennie Pu| Movers & Shakers 2024—Ban Battlers

Employer: Hoboken Public Library

School: Queens College, CUNY

Tara Somersall | Movers & Shakers 2024—Innovators

Employer: Yonkers Public Library

School: Queens College, CUNY

Please join via Zoom us on Thursday May 2nd from 6:30 to 7:30pm for a talk by OlaRonke Akinmowo, the founder and director of the Free Black Women's Library, a reading room, art space, and collection of materials by Black women and nonbinary authors located in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn. You can register for the event at https://bit.ly/RiPDSsp24

Attendance is open to anyone, but you must register in advance via the link. Please share widely, and we hope to see you there!

GSLIS Assistant Professor Dr. Nafiz Zaman Shuva has been awarded a Cycle 55 PSC-CUNY Research Award (Traditional B). Dr. Shuva will use the award to explore the employment-related information experiences of Bangladeshi recent immigrants in New York City.  To learn more about this award, please visit https://www.rfcuny.org/rfwebsite/principal-investigators/explore-pre-award-resources/psc-cuny-award-program/

GSLIS alumnus Raymond Pun has been elected 2024-2025 president-elect of the American Library Association (ALA)!

Raymond Pun (he/him) is the academic and research librarian at the Alder Graduate School of Education, a teacher residency program in California, where he supports library services by engaging with residents and teacher educators. With over 17 years of experience in the library field, Ray has previously worked at Stanford University, Fresno State, New York University Shanghai, and The New York Public Library in various roles. Ray holds a Doctorate in Education from Fresno State, a Master of Library Science from the City University of New York - Queens College, a Master of Arts in East Asian Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from St. John's University. Pun has previously served as President of the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) and the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), and on the American Library Association (ALA) Council as the CALA Councilor.

Congratulations Ray, from everyone at GSLIS!”

The First Amendment and the Freedom to Read,” led by Prof. Arlene Laverde, receives American Association of School Libraries Roald Dahl's Miss Honey Social Justice Award.

See the details:

https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2024/04/first-amendment-and-freedom-read-receives-aasl-roald-dahls-miss-honey-social

Congratulations to Prof. Emily Drabinski. She will receive the Torchbearer Award from The Publishing Triangle, the association of LGBTQ+ people in publishing.

The award, now in its second year, is given to organizations or individuals who strive to awaken, encourage, and support a love of reading, or to stimulate an interest in and an appreciation of LGBTQ literature.

See more details: https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2024/03/american-library-association-president-emily-drabinski-be-honored-award

GSLIS invites you to a reception to mark the publication of Dr. Johnathan Thayer’s book, "Citizenship, Subversion, and Surveillance in U.S. Ports: Sailors Ashore".

Thursday, April 18
5:30pm
President’s Conference Room 2 (RO-525)
Fifth Floor, Benjamin Rosenthal Library, Queens College

Citizenship, Subversion, and Surveillance in U.S. Ports: Sailors Ashore

The forces of industrialization that transformed ship technology simultaneously transformed the working-class lives of merchant seamen, intensifying class conflict and producing collective networks of subversion and resistance within the urban borderland spaces of sailortowns in which sailors fought to maintain control over their mobility, agency, and rights. Given their social, cultural, economic, geographic, and legal marginalization, merchant seamen have occupied essential roles at the parameters of US urban, legal, labor, immigration, and wartime history. The constellation of these histories, embedded in the encounters and negotiations that merchant seamen provoked along the nation’s coastlines and sailortowns, collectively represents a unique and essential perspective on the history of US citizenship. These arguments are advanced by Johnathan Thayer in his book Citizenship, Subversion, and Surveillance in U.S. Ports: Sailors Ashore, available in hardcover and ebook formats from Springer: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-45618-3

Dr. Johnathan Thayer is Assistant Professor at the Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, City University of New York (CUNY). He holds a PhD in History from the CUNY Graduate Center and an MLS from Queens College. He is a former Graduate Fellow in Labor Studies at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and is a recipient of the E. P. Thompson Fellowship in United States History. Dr. Thayer is a maritime studies researcher and a public history and archival studies educator. His previous works include the co-edited volume Negotiating Masculinities and Modernity in the Maritime World, 1815-1940 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). He has worked in maritime libraries and archives for more than twenty years and has sailed as a Voyager on the nineteenth-century whaleship Charles W. Morgan, as oral history interviewer on the liberty ship SS John W. Brown, and as Ship’s Librarian on SUNY Maritime’s training ship Empire State VI.

The GSLIS Admissions, Academic Standing and Student Affairs (AASSA) Committee invites nominations from GSLIS faculty members and GSLIS graduates for the Alum of the Year Award 2024. This award is presented to an alum who has made a significant contribution to the field, community, or beyond and who represents the highest ideals of the profession.

Please submit your nomination via https://forms.office.com/r/TqRrBaXPjU 

Selection criteria:

The selection committee will carefully consider all nominations based on the following criteria:

• The significance of the nominee's accomplishments

• The impact of the nominee's work on their field, community, or beyond

All nominations will be reviewed by the AASSA Committee, which will present qualified nominees to the full faculty for consideration and final selection.

Recognition:

The GSLIS Alum of the Year will be honored at a special ceremony during the 2024 GSLIS Commencement on May 30, 2024, and will be featured in the GSLIS newsletter, websites, and relevant professional listserv and social media.

Don't miss this opportunity to recognize a remarkable GSLIS graduate! 

We look forward to receiving your nominations by March 31st, 2024. 

For any questions, please contact Nafiz Zaman Shuva, AASSA Chair, GSLIS at nafiz.shuva@qc.cuny.edu 

Feliks Gross/Henry Wasser Award lecture on Friday March 22, 2024 12:30-2:30pm (In the Segal Theater on the first floor of the Graduate Center).  The lecture series is to hear about the research of our awardees and celebrate their accomplishments.  

On March 22, Dr. Nerve Macaspac will present his research along with one other of our awardees. Welcome all to join in recognizing Dr Macaspac's achievements. 

“I wake up every morning hoping this is over,” said Emily Drabinski, the president of the organization [ALA]. “What I find striking is that this is still happening, and it’s happening with more intensity.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/14/books/book-bans.html

Next Research in Praxis event to be held March 27th at 6:30pm. 

Organizing to Win: The Fight Against Censorship in St. Tammany

Winning the fight against censorship requires all of us to pull together for libraries. We need more than just the librarians. Join Mel Manuel and Jeremy J.F. Thompson, founders of Queer Northshore, for a discussion of how the community organized for wins in Louisiana. Reporting from one of toughest spots for book bans in the country, Manuel and Thompson connect the struggle to keep books on shelves to broader struggles for a better world.

Register here 

Speakers: 

Mel Manuel is the Operations Coordinator for the Louisiana Abortion Fund, an LGBTQ rights activist, former teacher and congressional candidate from Southeast Louisiana. After finishing as the valedictorian of their high school class and graduating from Tulane University summa cum laude, Mel lived abroad in six countries before returning to Louisiana. They are the Co-Director and Co-founder of the nonprofit Queer Northshore and a founding member of the St Tammany Library Alliance. They devote their personal and professional time to increasing visibility for underrepresented communities, defending our public libraries from censorship and assuring access to reproductive healthcare for the Gulf South. Mel is looking forward to bringing the first PRIDE parade to St. Tammany county this summer. 

Jeremy JF Thompson is an independent digital strategist with clients ranging from The Rock and Metallica to state and congressional political candidates. The child of a missionary, Thompson experienced life abroad at a young age, establishing a long term appreciation for other cultures. Cofounder of the nonprofit Queer Northshore and the St Tammany Library Alliance, they are dedicated to creating the infrastructure necessary to organize and mobilize groups of people. Thompson is currently campaigning to represent their district on the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. They find joy in building community and empowering others to have a voice within communities.

The next Social Sciences Research Seminar is next Wednesday, March 6, at 12:20, in Powdermaker Hall room 333. Our distinguished speaker will be Professor Johnathan Thayer from QC GSLIS, who has recently published a book titled "Citizenship , Subversion, and Surveillance in U.S. Ports: Sailors Ashore"

The Citi Center for Culture and Queens Public Library would like to extend an invitation to apply for a two-semester fellowship taking place during Fall 2024 and Spring 2025.  Applicants must be currently enrolled students in the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies who are committed to earning the Advanced Certificate in Archives and/or those participating in the MLS/MA Dual Degree in Library Science and History program.  

Fellows will each receive a $4000 scholarship from the Citi Center for Culture at the conclusion of the fellowship in the summer of 2025.

Students can apply here.

The first research talk of this semester’s Research in Praxis Discussion Series (RiPDS) will be held Wednesday, February 28 at 6:30pm ET via Zoom. We are pleased to be able to hear from new GSLIS faculty member Dr. Nerve Macaspac, who will be discussing his research on "Digital Civic Spaces." Please see the flyer below/attached for more information and please be sure to register!

https://bit.ly/RiPDSsp24

Please share widely, and we look forward to seeing you all there!

---

Nerve Macaspac (he/him) is a political geographer and cartographer. His research examines community-led spaces of peace amid active violent conflict. He is an Asst. Professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at Queens College and a Doctoral Faculty at the Earth and Environmental Sciences Program at the Graduate Center.

Digital Civic Spaces

In the Philippines, human rights defenders face threats and harassment on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) for standing up for human rights and democratic reforms. They face online threats due to their long-standing work against extrajudicial killings, social injustice, and many forms of societal violence. From state counterinsurgency to the government’s "drug war", human rights defenders have documented thousands of cases of extrajudicial executions, illegal detention, gender-based violence, and torture. Many of the perpetrators of these atrocities remain unknown and maintain impunity. Meanwhile, the Duterte government has filed trumped-up charges repeatedly against human rights defenders for alleged “terrorist activities,” which human rights experts refer to as “red-tagging.” Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, reports that red-tagging in the Philippines results in extrajudicial killings and poses a dangerous threat to civil society and freedom of expression. This research asks: How do human rights defenders create digital spaces of peace and protect themselves from online violence? At stake is a better understanding of the challenges and prospects of digital civic spaces in the promotion of human rights and peace.

Two of Dr.  Nafiz Shuva's papers have been published recently.  Here is the information:

Shuva, N. Z. (2023). “They act like we are going to heaven”: pre-arrival information experiences, information crafting and settlement of immigrants in Canada. Journal of Documentation, 80(7), 1-24. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JD-05-2023-0082/full/html

Shuva, N. Z., Taisir, R., & Mallick, P. S. (2023). Information behavior and HIV/AIDS/STI awareness among Bangladeshi female sex workers: Do informational programs help?. Information Development, 02666669231222461. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/02666669231222461

GSLIS alumnus John Drobnicki, who graduated in February 1993, just marked thirty years of reviewing for Choice magazine (1994-2024). Drobnicki has worked as an academic librarian at York College/CUNY since 1995, and prior to that worked for the Queens Public Library. His most recent journal article (https://doi.org/10.1080/17460263.2020.1778074) was published in Sport in History in 2021.

Dan Woulfin (GSLIS 2021) will be giving a workshop, From Python to R: Learning the Basics of R Programming, this Friday, February 2 from 12-2PM. It will explore the basics of the R programming language from a Python user's perspective, paying particular attention to some of the structural, as well as syntactic and idiomatic differences between the two languages. We'll look at R's strengths and weaknesses with the goal of exposing non-R users to the language using practical hands-on exercises. suitable for beginning/novice programmers but based on the practicalities of working with real-world data. The workshop is open to the public over Zoom. Register here.

Dan Woulfin is Computational Research Instruction Librarian at Columbia University.

GSLIS Assistant Professor Dr. Johnathan Thayer's book Citizenship, Subversion, and Surveillance in U.S. Ports: Sailors Ashore has been published in Palgrave Macmillan's Global Studies in Cultural and Social Maritime History series.

Dr.  Nafiz Shuva has been selected for the spring 2024 CUNY Faculty Fellowship Publication Program (FFPP) as a Faculty Fellow. As part of this fellowship, Dr. Shuva will work on publishing scholarly journal articles from his PSC-CUNY funded research on “Public library usage, settlement, and Bangladeshi Immigrants in Queens, New York in Queens, New York.” 

View QC GSLIS Fall 2023 Newsletter pdf:  Desktop version  |  Printable version

New for Spring 2024, GSLIS will offer a course on Bibliotherapy (7903), taught by Bibliotherapist and Psychotherapist, Emely Rumble, LCSW, who is the private practice owner of LiterapyNYC. The class will be held synchronously online Wednesdays 6:40 - 9:15pm.

This course examines the history, methods, tools, and clinical practices of incorporating the use of literature, poetry, and expressive writing into healing practice. The course will teach a brief history of bibliotherapy as a modality that uses literature as a tool to promote mental health and overall wellness. Students will consider their role as information professionals in prescribing books to meet the emotional needs of patrons by assessing intersectional identity, reading style, genre preferences, and more.

Students in this course will have the opportunity to both study bibliotherapy as a treatment modality, as well as curate their own book prescriptions for patrons based on unique case studies spanning the human life cycle stages. They will learn techniques to engage and speak with patrons about emotional challenges, book match based on a patron’s unique needs and intersectional identity, and confidently curate a list of go to texts for different life ailments in the tradition of bibliotherapy.

• Students completing this course will be able to: 

• Understand, define, and explain to others what bibliotherapy is and how it supports treatment goals for patrons in therapy or those who are seeking self-healing practice support.

• Explain the science behind how literature benefits emotional, psychological, and social well-being.

• Discuss the process of book matching, conducting a reading intake, and pairing an individual with the right book to support their reading and/or therapy goals.

• Explain the difference between clinical and developmental bibliotherapy.

New for Spring 2024, GSLIS will offer a course in Digital Humanities (709.3), taught by Assistant Professor S.E. Hackney, who has worked in DH for nearly a decade. The class will be held synchronously online Wednesdays 6:40 - 9:15pm, and is a Zero Textbook Cost course, and utilitzes Open Educational Resources whenever possible. 

This course examines the history, methods, tools, and scholarly practices of teaching and research in the digital humanities (DH), including ways in which the library can engage with, enhance, and support those activities. The course will focus on digital humanities as a burgeoning field in its own right, as well as the development of digital methods in specific disciplines within the humanities.  Students will consider their role as information professionals in the creation, cleaning, storage, and dissemination of digital humanities datasets and research projects, as well as gain hands-on experience with some of the tools and methods used in these activities.

Students in this course will have the opportunity to both study DH as a field, as well as create their own digital projects using DH methods. They will learn techniques to identify potential datasets, collect that data, clean and prepare it for analysis, and to identify appropriate tools and methods to answer DH research questions using data. Additionally, we will engage specifically with the role that the library and larger information professions play with regards to the collection, storage, and curation both of data with the potential for use in DH work, as well as the broad range of deliverables and project types that can result from DH research.

Students completing this course will be able to: 

• Understand, define, and explain to others what DH is, the types of research and scholarship activities associated with DH, and the general history and development of the field 

• Conduct secondary research on DH topics using academic and popular sources, tools, networks, and services, and synthesize, organize, and describe the findings of this research 

• Identify and describe various digital data formats, as well as tools and techniques appropriate for the gathering/cleaning/storing of that data. 

• Identify and evaluate tools and methods for conducting DH research/developing DH projects 

• Articulate in-depth the research practices, trends, tools, and methods for conducting DH research within a specific humanities field of their choosing 

• Identify and evaluate the research lifecycle as it uniquely relates to digital projects, and the role of LIS workers in the creation, maintenance, dissemination, and preservation of DH projects 

An Introduction to Accessible Digital Pedagogy with Dr. Leila Walker

December 6, 2023 - 5:00 p.m. on Zoom

Register at https://bit.ly/ripdsaccess23

In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn the basics of creating and evaluating accessible digital resources for teaching and learning. The workshop will begin with an overview of the major characteristics and considerations of accessible materials. Then, participants will practice identifying and resolving accessibility issues in a live demonstration. By the end of this workshop, participants should be able to create their own accessible materials, or update existing materials for greater accessibility. 

Dr. Nafiz Shuva has been elected Vice-President/President-Elect of the Canadian Association for Information Science (CAIS), Chair of the American Library Association, International Relation Round Table (IRRT) Membership Committee, and a member of the International Federation of Libraries and Information Institute (IFLA) North American Regional Division.

On Tuesday 11/28, GSLIS hosted Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Public Library, Long Beach Library, Great Neck Library, West Hempstead, Sea Cliff Library, NY Courts, Hempstead Library, Port Washington Public Library, NYC Depart of Records, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP at a careers and networking event. 

One of the most sacred institutions in America is under attack: our libraries. But thanks to Emily Drabinski, the president of the American Library Association, and other brave librarians, they have a real fighting chance.

Read the full article: https://www.out.com/out100/storytellers/emily-drabinski

Dr. Joe Sánchez has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the Library of Congress Literacy Awards and the ALA Committee on Accreditation.

Dr. Joe Sánchez presented a paper at ASIST in London ‘Culturally responsive pedagogy in undergraduate research experiences’. He also gave an invited research seminar to the faculty and doctoral students at Emporia State University Library and Information Management Program.

Prof. Arlene Laverde published in the Spring/Summer 2023 issue of Young Adult Library Services--- Laverde, A. (2023). Librarians of New York take a stand against book banning. Young Adult Library Services, 20(3/4), 29–31. and in May/June 2023 issue of Knowledge Quest--- Laverde, A. (2023). Librarians of New York take a stand against book banning. Young Adult Library Services, 20(3/4), 29–31.

The second research talk of this semester’s Research in Praxis Discussion Series (RiPDS) will be held Wednesday, November 8th 2023 at 7pm ET via Zoom. We are pleased to be able to hear from GSLIS alumni and data librarian Dan Woulfin, who will be discussing his research, "Touring the invisible college: using bibliographic networks to measure influence and impact in academic topics" Please see the flyer below/attached for more information and please be sure to register!

https://bit.ly/RiPDSfa23 

Please share widely, and we look forward to seeing you all there!

Dr. Nerve Macaspac's Public Syllabus project, "Here Lies Love in Critical Context", made in the news via The Straits Times:

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/disco-and-despots-filipino-americans-grapple-with-the-breakthroughs-and-perils-of-here-lies-love

WMI FolkTales Set to Music From Around the Globe. Hosted by Prof. Bill Gordh. 

The WMI FolkTales podcast is an original production that features improvised re-imaginings of classic folk tales from around the world set to music. Hosted by acclaimed storyteller Bill Gordh, each episode invites a guest musician to improvise a culturally-appropriate score in dialogue with Bill’s inspired re-tellings of beloved stories from around the globe. Recommended for children of all ages.

Prof. Bill Gordh is an award-winning storyteller, author, educator, early childhood and elementary literacy specialist and consultant. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, at the Gerald Ford Amphitheater in Vail, CO, the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum in Houston, TX, the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, the Clearwater Festival and for three years was a featured storyteller at the White House Easter Egg Roll in Washington DC.

Read the full article: https://www.worldmusicinstitute.org/folktales-podcasts/

Oscar Zamora Flores presented a poster titled “Didactic booklet on climate change: a long term risk assessment to protect archives” that won “Most Outstanding Poster, All Categories and Themes Combined” at the 2023 International Council on Archives in Abu Dhabi.

The next talk in the Research in Praxis Discussion Series (RiPDS), brought to you by the GSLIS Research and Pedagogy Committee, will take place Wednesday October 4thh, 2023 at 7pm ET. We are pleased to hear from Vikki Terrile, Assistant Professor at GSLIS share her research in a talk titled, “More than a Problem?: A Systematic Review of the Homelessness and Libraries Liberature.”  Please share this information and the attached flyer with anyone who may be interested—and don’t forget to register! See you on October 4th!

http://bit.ly/RiPDSfa23

Dr. Nerve Macaspac (GSLIS) and Lara Saguisag of New York University launched Here Lies Love in Critical Context: A Public Syllabus. Compiled in response to the Broadway show Here Lies Love, the syllabus delves into the complex and painful history of the Philippines under the Marcos dictatorship. 

Link the syllabus: https://wp.nyu.edu/herelieslovesyllabus/

“The NYLA  Awards and Recognition Committee is pleased to announce that”   Simone Yearwood    is “ this year’s winner for Academic/Special Librarian of the year!”

Professor Simone will be officially presented with the award at the  Inaugural Reception, to be held at NYLA Annual Conference in Saratoga Springs, NY,  on  Friday, November 3, 2023.

A BIG congratulations to Professor Simone Yearwood!

Prof. Jess deCourcy Hinds  featured Emely Rumble in her latest article for School Library Journal on graphic novels and mental health.  Emely Rumble, a bibliotherapist and incoming GSLIS adjunct instructor who will teach a course this spring!  Congratulations to both of you. 

• https://www.slj.com/story/Thats-How-I-Feel-Visual-Books-Help-Teens-Grapple-with-Emotions-and-Mental-Health

Congratulations! Dr. Dr. Vikki C. Terrile published an article at The Library Quarterly.

Terrile, V. C. (2023). It’s Meaningful Work, but It’s “Really, Really Hard”: Librarians’ Understanding of Their Work with Families Experiencing Homelessness. The Library Quarterly, 93(3), 333-351.https://doi.org/10.1086/725066 

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/725066

Brilliant article by Sarah Pousty, one of Professor Jessica Hinds's LBSCI 737 star students from last semester! 

Congrats, Sarah! 

Please read, post, share widely.

https://www.slj.com/story/newsfeatures/How-to-Read-Wordless-Picture-Books-with-Children

Congratulations! Dr. Shuheng Wu published an article online in June.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01639374.2023.2224781

Wu, S. (2023). Implementing bibliographic enhancement data in academic library catalogs: An empirical study. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 61(3/4), 308-345. https://doi.org/10.1080/0

View QC GSLIS Spring 2023 Newsletter pdf:  

Desktop version  |  Printable version

Prof Jess deCourcy Hinds wrote School Library Journal's May cover story (Stress Tested: These School Librarians Hit the Breaking Point. Here’s How They Moved On). In this article, Prof Arlene Laverde and GSLIS have a starring role! She also recorded a video for their website where she give a shout out to QC! 

Special thanks to Prof Arlene Laverde for giving the perfect quotes in the article!

• Story: https://www.slj.com/story/Stress-Tested-These-School-Librarians-Hit-the-Breaking-Point-Heres-How-They-Moved-on

• Video: https://www.slj.com/story/Stress-tested-What-I-Learned-Reporting-on-Librarians-in-Crisis-for-SLJs-May-Cover-Story-Video

In Fall 2023, GSLIS will be offering a new class on Data Ethics. The class emerges from GSLIS’ ongoing curriculum reform process.

This course will introduce students to the foundations of ethics – the moral principles that govern behavior – and ethical approaches to information problems. Shaped by the current and emerging big data environment, this class considers problems in data ethics related to identity and intent, visibility and control, responsibility, and truth and trust, as well as special topics in data ethics. The course covers algorithmic accountability, ethics in machine learning and other types of artificial intelligence, the ethics of computational approaches to information work, and the contributions of LIS to ethical data futures.

In the Fall 2023 semester, the special topics covered will be: content moderation; the encoded body; surveillance capitalism; and privacy and obfuscation.

The learning outcomes for the course are:

• Explain foundational concepts in ethics (applied, normative and metaethics)

• Analyze information problems or issues for their ethical dimensions.

• Apply ethical approaches to solving information problems.

• Identify social issues where data ethics might contribute value.

There are two required textbooks for this class:

Ruha Benjamin, Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code, Polity, 2019. 

Louise Amoore, Cloud Ethics: Algorithms and the Attributes of Ourselves and Others, Duke University Press, 2020.

The learning outcomes will be assessed through a short paper, in class exercises, and a video essay. The class will include a workshop on video essay production.

The class will meet virtually (Zoom) on Tuesdays from 3:55pm to 6:30pm. The class will be taught by Dr. James Lowry.

In Fall 2023, GSLIS will be offering a new class on American Sign Language for Librarians. The class emerges from GSLIS’ ongoing curriculum reform process.

This introduction to American Sign Language and Deaf culture will bring you a new perspective to both Deaf and hearing worlds. You will learn that American Sign Language (ASL) is its own language with distinct grammar structures, syntax, and mouth morphemes, far different from English language. You will learn that Deaf culture in America has fought to be recognized as a group of linguistic minorities, rather than a group of disability. From the course readings, you will learn the history of ASL and Deaf culture; the obstacles and challenges that many Deaf people have faced and overcome, and still struggle in contemporary society. The goal is for you to walk away from this course with basic knowledge in conversational ASL signs and American Deaf culture.

Please note this class is new territory for both GSLIS and the instructor, who is not a librarian, and as such the first time it is offered, students will be helping to shape the content of the class for subsequent iterations by bringing their perspectives on library operations, reference services, etc.

The provisional learning outcomes are:

• Identify and analyze the 5 ASL parameters (the foundation that makes up sign language)

• Understand and apply proper cultural norms in the deaf community

• Be able to produce and understand ASL fingerspelling

• Demonstrate basic introductions, basic conversations, and phrases associated with library activities

• Demonstrate accurate usage of cardinal number signs and basic math signs

• Comprehend and produce vocabulary signs for different types of libraries and subjects, colors, numbers from 0-millions, genders, pets, family relations, relationship status, employment status, and professions

• Analyze and apply proper ASL translation with correct syntax, mouth morphemes, and grammar

Demonstrate and utilize the difference between noun and verb pairs and listing and ordering techniques

The class will meet virtually (Zoom) on Wednesdays from 3:55pm to 6:30pm. The class will be taught by April Cheng.

In Fall 2023, GSLIS will be offering a new class on Oral History. The class emerges from GSLIS’ ongoing curriculum reform process.

In this hands-on class, students will engage with the theory and practice of oral history as a transdisciplinary field in the social sciences and humanities, specifically the fields of memory studies, history, sociology,  anthropology, psychology and the arts. The main objectives of the course are to learn and practice the skills required to  conceptualize, conduct, analyze and disseminate oral history interviews. Students will learn project design, interviewing, audio recording, transcribing,  indexing, and digital archiving. The goal will be to critically engage in interdisciplinary conversation as students become proficient in underlying principles and practices necessary for conducting and designing oral history projects.

By the end of this course, students will:

• Acquire in-depth knowledge of oral history as a transdisciplinary and global field of study and  practice originating in its modern form in the 20th century; exploring its roots in the social  sciences and the humanities, specifically the fields of memory studies, history, sociology,  anthropology, psychology and the arts. 

• Examine the ways in which oral history theory and practice intersect, in order to  enable those we interview to make meaning of their life experiences and the events they witness. 

• Through intensive fieldwork, students will learn and practice the skills required to conceptualize, conduct, analyze and disseminate oral history interviews.

There are no required textbooks for this class.

The learning outcomes will be assessed through weekly reading responses, a recorded oral history, with a legal release and annotated transcription, an archival plan, an essay, and a project design document.

The class will meet in person at Baruch College on Mondays from 3:55pm to 6:30pm. The class will be taught by Dr. Cynthia Tobar. This class is an eligible elective for the Certificate in Archives and the Preservation of Cultural Materials.

GSLIS Assistant Professor, Dr. Nafiz Shuva, has been awarded a Cycle 54 PSC-CUNY Research Award (Traditional A). Dr. Shuva will use the award to explore public library usage among Bangladeshi immigrants in Queens, New York, and their reading habits. To learn more about this award, please visit https://www.rfcuny.org/rfwebsite/principal-investigators/explore-pre-award-resources/psc-cuny-award-program/ 

Congratulations to Dr. Shuva!!

Congratulations to Professor Jennifer Brown, Newly Elected ALA Councilor-at-Large! (2023-2026)

The next talk in the Research in Praxis Discussion Series (RiPDS), brought to you by the GSLIS Research and Pedagogy Committee, will be occurring Tuesday April 18th, 2023 at 4pm ET. We are pleased to be able to hear from Sepideh Mckensy, Senior Services Specialist with Library Impact Ontario and the Toronto Public Library, and Joseph Lalonde of TPL for their talk “Technology Measurement to Demonstrate Impact: A practical use case of a data solution in the public library sector for collective advocacy, digital inclusion advancement and strategic success”  Please scroll to the bottom of this email for more information about the speakers and their work, and please share this information and the attached flyer with anyone who may be interested—and don’t forget to register!

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArceiuqjsqE9Z92Rfnt7HW-haD4Wya7Ky_

Meral Agish (she/her) is an oral historian, educator, and the community coordinator of the Queens Memory Project, where she leads outreach efforts, training sessions for the public, and collaborations with volunteers, colleagues, and community partners. She is in her third semester at GSLIS, where she is focusing on participatory archiving, civic engagement, and oral history-based documentary practices.

The HASTAC Scholars fellowship program is an innovative student-driven community of graduate and undergraduate students. Each year, around 100 new Scholars are accepted into a new 2-year cohort of the program. Scholars come from dozens of disciplines and have been sponsored by over 200 colleges and universities—ranging from small liberal arts colleges to large Research 1 institutions. We are building a community of students working at the intersection of technology and the arts, humanities and sciences. HASTAC Scholars write blog posts; interview leaders within the digital research and digital humanities fields, host online forums, organize events around the future of higher education; organize collaborative book reviews; and much more. Much of the work here centers around rethinking pedagogy, learning, research & academia for the digital age.

Literary Hub recently published Professor Hinds's article, How Can Literary Spaces Support Neurodiverse Readers and Writers? was recently published an article.