LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE NEWS
The School of Information Studies at Syracuse University 
 
The Original Information School

March 2006
 
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Center for Digital Literacy announces new magazine for teachers of information literacy skills

S.O.S for Information Literacy announces the premier issue of Educators' Spotlight Digest, the first multimedia, online magazine that provides information and ideas to teachers of information literacy skills. 

Located at http://www.sosspotlight.org/, the contents of the inaugural issue include: 

-a feature story on how kids are using the Web; 
-news about relevant information literacy projects and activities; 
-tips on how to address copyright issues;
-successful motivational teaching strategies submitted by library media specialists;
-valuable resources available through AASL; 
-an article by a guest contributor on transforming research on student motivation into effective teaching strategies; 
-amusing and poignant teaching anecdotes by a veteran classroom teacher; and
-archived issues of the publication in its previous format

Educators' Spotlight Digest is edited by Marilyn Arnone, research associate professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University. Ruth V. Small, professor and director of the university's Center for Digital Literacy, is associate editor. Educators' Spotlight Digest, published three times a year, is a free, online publication of S.O.S. for Information Literacy, the Center for Digital Literacy, in collaboration with the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). 


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A faculty profile:  Joanne Silverstein

Drawing on her background in software management and electronic commerce, and her research into topics like digital reference and metadata, Joanne Silverstein, an assistant research professor at the School of Information Studies has made contributions to the field of digital librarianship as a researcher, instructor, and creator of digital libraries.

Professor Silverstein conducts research into the evolving role of the human intermediary in Web-based information provision, often in educational and library-related use. She also works in the areas of digital reference, ontologies, metadata, and scalability in systems. 

Her previous careers in the corporate sector led to her dissertation topic, Information Technology and Commerce: Emerging Attributes of Web-Based Business, an area of study that has been helpful in planning, developing and evaluating Web-based services for libraries, schools, and educational organizations.

All of Professor Silverstein's research comes together in the digital library proposals she has written and projects she has produced. Since 2003, she has served as the principal investigator on a project for the National Science Digital Library designed to improve access for young students and involve them with NSDL collections and services. Students Using NSDL (SUN) is located at NSDLKids.org, and is intended to increase children's science information literacy and encourage use of NSDL Web resources.

Throughout the project, Professor Silverstein worked with groups of local students, listening to their opinions about science, libraries, and the Web. She asked questions like "What would you do if you were king of the Web?", and incorporated the answers into the creation of a new interface for NSDL.

Professor Silverstein's latest project is a digital library called "The Road to Seneca Falls," which she describes as an "online meta-library for women's history." Developed with Judith Wellman from the State University of New York at Oswego, the project won a $220,000 grant last fall. The completed project will include a digital library of women's history resources; a digital reference service; a guide to off-site museums, libraries and historical sites; and a conference in Seneca Fall in July 2006 during which teachers will be trained to use the site.

In the classroom, Professor Silverstein draws on her real-world experience as an instructor for IST676: Digital Libraries, the introductory course for the digital libraries Certificate of Advanced Study. She teaches students the ins and outs of metadata, research, and evaluation for digital libraries as she uses examples from her own work to help them prepare digital library proposals of their own. 

Professor Silverstein also serves as the Director of Research & Development at the Information Institute of Syracuse, a research center focused on education, technology and librarianship. 

She received her PhD from Syracuse University in 1998 and has a background in software design and management.

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SU Alum Joseph Janes honored with reference librarianship award 

Congratulations to Syracuse University School of Information Studies alum, Dr. Joseph Janes, this year's winner of the Isadore Gilbert Mudge -- R. R. Bowker Award!  

The Isadore Gilbert Mudge-R. R. Bowker Award is awarded to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the field of reference librarianship.  The nominations are reviewed by a panel of three to five Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) members and winners receive a $5,000 cash award and citation.  The award will be presented at this year's American Library Association annual conference in New Orleans.

The criteria for the nominees' "distinguished contributions to reference librarianship" include imaginative and constructive program in a particular library, publication of an article or book significant in the reference field, creative and inspirational teaching or reference services, active participation in professional associations devoted to reference services, or in other noteworthy activities that stimulate reference librarians to more distinguished performance.

Janes graduated from Syracuse University in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in math. He earned master's degree in library science in 1983 and a PhD in Information Transfer in 1982. He is currently an associate dean at the University of Washington.

Janes's interests include reference, particularly in the use of technologies to mediate and assist and the use of networked resources in reference. His research is on models of practice in digital reference. He teaches courses in reference, in online searching, in research methods and statistics, and on the use of Internet technologies in librarianship.

He is the author of a number of library and information science textbooks, as well as a book about the value of working as a teaching assistant. Janes has also published articles in numerous journals, including the Journal of Academic Librarianship, Library Quarterly, D-Lib, JSIST, Library Journal, and others.

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Coming up*

The School of Information Studies is gearing up for a busy spring. Check out the calendar below and join us for some of the fun and exciting events we've got coming up.

PLA Annual Conference
When: March 22-24
Where: Hynes Convention Center, Boston MA
Booth Number: 426
An alumni and prospective student reception will be held at 6 p.m. at the Vox Populi restaurant, across the street from Hynes Convention Center.
More info: http://placonference.org 

SLMS-NYLA Annual Conference 
When: April 27-29
Where: Hyatt Hotel, Rochester NY
More info: http://www.ggw.org/rasl/2006_conf.html 

2006 Summer Institute 
When: May 30-August 11
Where: Syracuse University
More info: http://istweb.syr.edu/academics/graduate/summer/index.asp 
Registration begins March 22, 2006!

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For more information:
Amy Sloane-Garris
Executive Director of Communications and Enrollment Management
Syracuse University--School of Information Studies
Tel:  315.443.6885
Fax:  315.443.6886
[log in to unmask] 
www.ist.syr.edu 

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