Welcome to InfoLink Online!

Welcome to the online supplement to InfoLink. A PDF version of the full newsletter is available for your printing convenience. At any time, please feel free to contact us at infolink@simmons.edu. Enjoy!

Feeling nostalgic? Take a look at the Infolink Online Archives.

April 2008: Focus on Alumni

This month's InfoLink gets busy with bragging rights.

Our spotlight is an interview with Sarah Thomas, GSLIS Alumnae and the first American, as well as the first woman, to be chosen as the Bodleian Librarian at Oxford University.

Let's not forget our alumni who were named LJ Movers & Shakers and recieved prestigious awards from ALA.

And last but not least we'll fill you in with a recap of Alumni Day 2008 and give you the scoop on the GSLIS Faculty doing some pretty great things themselves. Come take a look!

In InfoLink Online:

>> Sarah Thomas Interview Extras
>> More about Margaret Cardello
>> GSLIS alumni named LJ Movers & Shakers
>> Podcasting, Accessability, and OPACs, Oh My!
>> Alumni Day 2008
>> Folks on the Move
>> More Links from this Month's Issue

Margaret Cardello Extras

Here are some extra tid bits on the GSLIS Alumni Board and Margaret Cardello.

Margaret Cardello works for the Massachusetts Regional Library System, Central Region (CMRLS). Their website is full of useful and interesting information.

There is also the MetroWest, Southeastern, Boston, Western, and Northeast divisions to check out.

GSLIS Alumni named Library Journal Movers & Shakers

Once again, our fabulous alumni are paving the way to greatness, and being recognized for it. Check out who were named Movers & Shakers in 2008 by Library Journal.

InfoLink's very own Alison Cody and

GSLIS '08 Grad Caleb Tucker-Raymond.

There is also a list of this year's Shakers by state.

GSLIScast (or why GSLIS Technology rocks!)

Like scoring the last cookie before your little brother, here's the rest of the Podcasting article from this month's Infolink.

Working for accessibility and findability
Some of the money from the PTRC grant went to transcribing the podcasts to make them available to people with hearing impairments. After trying several methods, the team found that a transcription service called Casting Words worked the best. Thanks to a new partnership with Simmons’ Center for Academic Excellence, all the podcasts will be transcribed using this service.

In addition to making the podcasts accessible to those unable to listen to the audio versions, the transcriptions can help people navigate within the recordings. The transcripts are time-stamped, meaning that people can use them to locate a specific section of the podcast. The transcriptions also increase search engine findability. Dwiggins explained, “Without the transcripts, the search engine crawlers can only index the few terms we happen to include in the title and introduction. So adding the full text makes it a lot easier for someone using a search engine like Google to come across our recordings.” The transcripts will also help make it easier to catalog the podcasts for the Beatley OPAC, a project that is now ongoing.

What they’ve learned
This undertaking has taught the podcasting team the importance of teamwork in GSLIS Tech Lab and beyond. They have formed connections with other Simmons departments, such as the Center for Academic Excellence (for the transcriptions) and the media department (for using the technology in the classrooms).

They’ve also learned a lot about audio equipment and the process for creating a professional-sounding podcast. The team evaluated many types of microphones and recorders before settling on their final choices. They pushed the limits of the free, Open Source Audacity software and moved on to Adobe Audition because it was easier to use with longer files. Additionally, Zavras remarked, “We’ve learned on the fly what people go to audio recording school to learn.”

Some of the lessons have involved making technology work well in unpredictable situations. For example, early on the team learned the importance of checking the audio with headphones as it is being recorded – in one notable incident, the team discovered too late that a presenter had clipped the microphone to her beaded necklace, resulting in a clicking noises throughout the presentation.

Other lessons have more to do with human nature. For example, the team has discovered that people are unlikely to step up to a microphone to ask questions if they don’t hear their voice coming out of speakers at the front of the room. And the team has also encountered the concerns some people have about making their speeches available to a worldwide audience.

“Some speakers have concerns that an off the cuff remark they make in a presentation today could come back and haunt them in a decade,” said Dwiggins. “So we try to be sensitive to their concerns, while at the same time explaining that by podcasting their talk they’re helping explain their subject matter to a wider audience that’s truly interested in what they have to say. Many speakers are really excited about this.”

Where to next?
The podcasting team is enthusiastic about keeping the initiative going, and about exploring new ways of distributing content. Johnson envisions offering support for blended learning classes—professors will be able to record lectures and have the talks available for students. And the team is experimenting with video podcasting, which is more complicated but can allow for communication of more complex information. One video podcast has been produced, featuring GSLIS Professor Sheila Denn discussing her research on supporting users as they seek information online.

Though the current system for finding events to podcast is working, Johnson and the team would like to form even stronger relationships with student group leaders to expand the number and variety of events being recorded. They aim to bring the diversity of GSLIS events to the world while helping Simmons maintain its place as a leader in the world of technology… and so far they are off to a very professional-sounding start.

Here are a few more interesting links having to do with podcasting and accessibility:

GSLIScast Site

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast

http://www.andycarvin.com/000695.html

http://www.podcastalley.com/

Alumni Day Recap

alumni day panel photo courtesy of Candy Schwartz

In addition to the wonderful speakers and presentations at this year's GSLIS Alumni Day, participants were treated to a panel presentation entitled "Preparing Leaders for the 21st Century – What does this mean to GSLIS alumnae/i?" Led by librarian Jessamyn West, founder of librarian.net, GSLIS student Cindy Fisher, Assistant Professor Amy Pattee, and PhD candidate Irene Herold offered up some interesting points of view on our future roles as leaders.

students at alumni day photo courtesy of Jen Doyle

After the speakers and panels there was plenty of time for great conversation and librarian chat. So this is what networking is all about!

For a more indepth account please see the wonderful article at AlumNet.

Folks on the Move

GLSIS folks must be some of the busiest out there. We here at InfoLink are hard pressed to keep up with all the awards and accolades, and we wouldn't have it any other way!

The Simmons Faculty Showcase featured GSLIS' very own Rong Tang and Terry Plum, as well as presentations from other GSLIS overacheivers.
photo courtesy of Jen Doyle
Professor Jeannette Bastian and donna Webber have published their new book on Archives Internships: http://www.archivists.org/catalog/pubDetail.asp?objectID=2373

Jeremy Dibbell, LIS'07, will be awarded the Justin Winsor Award at this years ALA conference in Anahiem, CA. More information on the Winsor award:
- http://www.ala.org/ala/ors/orsawards/winsorjustin/winsorjustin.cfm
- http://www.ala.org/ala/ors/orsawards/winsorjustin/winsorprevwin.cfm
Professor Ching-chih Chen recieved the 2008 Beta Phi Mu award.

Associate Professor Robin Peek has co-founded a new wiki project on Open Access which will be housed here at GSLIS. For more on Open Access and the new wiki project please see: