S C HOOL OF L IB RA RY & I N F O R MAT ION SCIENC E
THE YEAR IN REVIEW 2 02 0
MESSAGE FROM SANDA ERDELEZ, SLIS DIRECTOR We began Spring 2020 by welcoming new students to SLIS—a 28% increase compared to enrollment projections. This group included 10 students in the new Interprofessional Informationist Certificate, a post-master’s program funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), led by Dr. Rong Tang. In a year filled with pandemic and political upheaval, our faculty is engaged in vital research and conversations. Associate Professor Laura Saunders offered dialogues on online pedagogy, Assistant Professor Rebecca Davis held open discussions on uncovering unconscious biases, and Associate Professor Colin Rhinesmith continues his research into broadband technologies and the digital divide. Our new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee has continued working on goals aligned with the Strategic Planning Framework for Simmons University. We also welcomed two new tenure-track Assistant Professors, Rhiannon Bettivia and Sumayya Ahmed, who enriched our faculty expertise in digital preservation and cultural heritage informatics. SLIS students excelled while navigating a fully-online education. Student enrollment has continued to be healthy, with students now having an option to take coursework in Information Science and Technology concentration, which has been reinstated by the faculty. Student organizations found creative ways to connect in the online environment, including online SLIS Town Hall Meetings, a discussion hosted by the Special Library Association Student Chapter about the impact of COVID-19, alumni panel session on employment strategies, and on a brighter side, the ASIS&T Student Chapter Virtual Pet Parade. Our alumni continue to impress us. Vicky Biancolo ‘06MS, Director of the Library at Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield, was appointed by Governor Baker as the newest member of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Cindy Grove ’06MS has published her first professional book, Libraries and the Substance Abuse Crisis: Supporting Your Community (ALA Editions, 2020), on how libraries can safely support patrons struggling with substance use disorders, their loved ones, and the general community. On the strength of our indomitable students, faculty, and alumni, we are starting 2021 with hope, knowing that we have proved ourselves capable in the face of obstacles. We will continue to develop our online programming and also look forward to being on campus in Boston and SLIS West in South Hadley, MA, as soon as it is safe to do so.
Sanda Erdelez, SLIS Director
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MISSION The Simmons School of Library & Information Science prepares students for inspired service, advocacy, and leadership in library and information science and archives.
VISION The Simmons School of Library & Information Science imagines an interconnected world with a diverse and engaged citizenry empowered by information, cultural heritage, and technology; in which the information disciplines and creativity improve lives; and where literature, knowledge, and collective wisdom are preserved and celebrated.
SLIS BY THE NUMBERS FOR 2020
61
255
Tenured: 13 Tenure-Track: 8 Contract: 5 Adjunct: 35
Master of Science: 254 Doctoral: 1
$2.5M
Students
Faculty
Scholarships Awarded Awardees: 463
13,570 Alumnae/i
Degrees Granted
720 Master of Science: 693 Doctoral: 27
10,740 Credit Hours Master of Science: 10,615 Doctoral: 125
Master of Science: 13,550 Doctoral: 20
simmons.edu/slis
SCHOOL OF LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE PROGRAMS & DEGREES GRADUATE PROGRAMS
CERTIFICATES
• Library & Information Science MS
• Inter-Professional Informationist
• Library & Information Science: Archives Management + History
• Archives Management
MA, MS
• Children’s Literature + Library Services to Children MA, MS
CONCENTRATIONS • Archives Management • Cultural Heritage Informatics • Information Science & Technology • School Library Teacher
• School Library Teacher Licensure
DOCTORAL • Library & Information Science PhD
FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS IMLS LAURA BUSH 21ST CENTURY EARLY CAREER DEVELOPMENT GRANT Assistant Professor Rebecca Davis received a Laura Bush 21st Century Early Career Development Grant for $140,834 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The grant will fund her research into the experience and use of academic libraries by African American undergraduate students. The two-and-a-half-year project will include interviewing African American undergraduates at three types of four-year universities: Liberal Arts, Research Intensive, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities in four US geographical regions.
UNIVERSITY FELLOW FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Assistant Professor Sarah E. Pratt is the Simmons Community Engagement Faculty Fellow for 2020–2021, bringing her passion for social justice and community engagement in archival studies to inform Simmons programming and activities.
PRESIDENT-ELECT OF ASIS&T Associate Professor Naresh Agarwal was elected President of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T). Agarwal has shown his dedication to supporting ASIS&T since joining as a student member. Agarwal and SLIS doctoral student Wenqing Lu are the recipients of the Best Information Behavior Conference Paper Award 2020 for their co-authored paper, “Response to non-response: How people react when their smartphone messages and calls are ignored,” from the Association for Information Science and Technology Special Interest Group for Information Needs, Seeking, and Use’s (ASIS&T SIG USE). The study demonstrates how relationships play out in smartphone-based communication and what we can do to make them better.
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RESARCH ON THE DIGITAL DIVIDE Associate Professor Colin Rhinesmith’s research on broadband access, wireless hotspot lending, and digital equity has new relevance and importance in light of the pandemic. This research is done through the Simmons Community Informatics Lab, with project manager Susan Kennedy ’20MS and SLIS student Jo Dutilloy ‘21MS.
COLLABORATION FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT The “Research Data Management Librarian Academy” (RDMLA) is a professional development program for librarians, information professionals, or other professionals who work in research dataintensive environments throughout the world. As a communitybuilt learning program, RDMLA addresses the gap experienced by practicing professionals who want to learn more about how to provide RDM services in libraries or other information settings. The program has enrolled more than 4,200 learners from around the world. This project is co-led by Elaine Martin ‘05DA, Director and Chief Administrative Officer, Countway Medical Library, Harvard Medical School, SLIS Associate Professor Rong Tang, and Jean P. Shipman recently retired VP, Global Library Relations, Elsevier. Zhan Hu, SLIS doctoral student, served as the project coordinator and will continue to work on the RDMLA program, and both Tang and Hu and will be developing new units and implementing improvements in future iterations of the RDMLA course site.
AWARD FOR SERVICE Em Claire Knowles is the recipient of the Simmons Alumnae/i Association’s 2020 Priscilla McKee Award for exceptional service. Knowles retired in 2020, after 45 years supporting SLIS students. Knowles is also the 2020 winner of the American Library Association Equality Award for her lifetime of work on issues surrounding Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the library community. A scholarship has been established to recognize a lifetime spent advocating and advancing the LIS field. The Dr. Em Claire Knowles Scholarship will support the next generation of library and information science leaders, allowing young professionals to expand upon the work Knowles championed in her career.
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FACULTY PUBLICATIONS Associate Professor Laura Saunders published two books, Reference and Information Services, Libraries Unlimited (2020) and Instructing in libraries and Information Centers: An Introduction (2020).
Professor and Dean Emerita Michèle Cloonan’s latest book, Advancing Preservation for Archives and Manuscripts, was published by the Society of American Archivists.
INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTES Associate Professor Naresh Agarwal presented “The many meanings of Context: Can we arrive at a shared understanding?” at Information Seeking in Context (ISIC): The Information Behaviour Conference, Pretoria, South Africa, Sep 28 – Oct 2, 2020; and “Fighting disinformation and fake news: The role of the library and beyond” at International Conference on
Library and Information Science, Osaka, Japan, January 15-17, 2020. Director and Professor Sanda Erdelez, presented a keynote “Human Information Behavior Research: From Ivory Tower to Main Street“ at ASIS&T Asia-Pacific Regional Conference, December 12, 2020.
MILESTONE YEARS AT SIMMONS PROMOTIONS
MILESTONES
• Peter Botticelli, Associate Professor with tenure
• Naresh Agarwal, 10 years
• Colin Rhinesmith, Associate
• Katherine Wisser, 10 years
Professor with tenure
• Melanie Kimball, 10 years
• Daniel Joudrey, 15 years
SABBATICALS
• Amy Pattee, 15 years
• Laura Saunders, 2019–20
• Jeannette Bastian, 20 years, granted Emerita status
NEW FACULTY • Sumayya Ahmed, Assistant Professor, tenure track • Rhiannon Bettivia, Assistant Professor, tenure track • Adam Kriesberg, Assistant Professor, tenure track
• Arianna Lechan ’10MS, Assistant Professor of Practice and Manager of School Library Teacher Concentration • Sarah Pratt ’12MS, Assistant Professor NTT and Manager of Field Experiences
RETIRED FACULTY • Donna Webber
simmons.edu/slis
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
14 $17,700
Student Organizations
awarded in professional development to 162 students
DEAN’S FELLOWS SLIS students have been awarded COCIS Dean’s Fellowships, which include an award package of a scholarship and assistantship. Each Fellowship is a oneyear (three-semester) appointment, with the possibility of renewal for successive appointments. Dean’s Fellows have the opportunity to work closely with faculty, staff, and students on a variety of projects.
• Virginia Hudgins ‘22MS: Information Technology Support • Chris Kaufmann ‘20 MS, PhD Student: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion • Abigail Lance, PhD Student: Information Analysis • Shawnee Sloop ‘22MS: Social Media and Communications • Maya Sungold ‘22MS: Events and Outreach
My coursework ... helped me understand the importance of collective memory and the ways in which the public grapples with historical events. —CHRISTINA THOMPSON SHUTT ’10MS, ’11MA
I learned so much ... Understanding the needs of your users is essential to delivering your services. Analytics and metrics are about better understanding your users: what is important to them and how they are searching and using your information. —BRANDON BELLANTI ‘20MS
STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS Alyson Gamble, SLIS doctoral student, was awarded the Association for Information Science & Technology Special Interest Group History and Foundations of Information Science (ASIS&T SIG-HFIS) Bob Williams Research Grant for their proposal “Mental Health Information in LIS: A 100 Year Retrospective of Access and Attitudes.” SLIS students Dymond Bush ’21MS, Charlotte Cotter ’22MS and Arianna McQuillen ’21MS (LITA/OCLC Scholar) were selected as 2020-2021 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association. Bush and McQuillen, along with Kimberly Villafuerte Barzola '22MS, were also selected as 2020-2022 Kaleidoscope Program Diversity Scholars by the Association of Research Libraries. Evan Delano ’22MS was selected as the 2020 David H. Clift Scholarship recipient by the American Library Association. Archives student Elena Hinkle '21MS is the 2020 recipient of the prestigious Society of American Archivists' F. Gerald Ham and Elsie Ham Scholarship of $10,000. Wenqing Lu '14MS '21PhD, is a recipient of the Beta Phi Mu International Library and Information Studies Honor Society's Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for her research entitled “Using Social Media Tools for Collaborative Learning: A Mixed-Method Study on Academic Group Work by Worldwide iSchool Students.”
COMMENCEMENT AWARDS In May of 2020, SLIS faculty virtually celebrated the recipients of the 2020 Commencement Awards. These students were honored because of their service and leadership within SLIS. Willa Anderson ‘20MS received the 2020 Estelle Jussim Award for the Visual Arts. This award was created to acknowledge the photographic arts, film in communication, and their role as it relates to the fields of museums and cultural heritage. Shannon Compton ‘20MS received the 2020 Terry Plum SLIS West Leadership Award. This award was first presented in 2004 by the LIS faculty and administration at SLIS West to an outstanding student in the SLIS west campus who best exemplifies the leadership values of academic excellence, community building, services, and commitment to the success of other students and the program. Jay Jankelewicz ‘19MS was posthumously awarded the ASIS&T Student Chapter for the Outstanding Information Science Student Award. Alejandro Paz ‘20MS received the 2020 Kenneth R. Shaffer Outstanding Student Award. The award is given each year to a student whom the faculty has identified as outstanding and possessing great leadership potential.
ALUMNAE/I HIGHLIGHTS Jennifer Gordon ’02MS was selected as the recipient of the 2020 SLIS Alumni Achievement Award by the SLIS Alumni Board. Gordon, a school librarian at Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was awarded a $25,000 Milken Educator Award in 2018, a prize to recognize innovation in the classroom. Michael Rush '01MS, '03MA, Assistant Head of the Manuscript Unit in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, was selected as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA). Rush is one of three fellows chosen for 2020, the highest honor given by SAA as recognition for outstanding contributions to the archives profession. Derek Mosley ’11MS is the Archivist and Archives Division Manager at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, a special library in the Fulton County Library System in Atlanta, Georgia. Mosley oversees archives collections, donor relations, and instruction at the non-circulating special library. The archive attracts a wide variety of researchers, including students from nearby Georgia State University. Bridgett Pride '18MA, '18MS is the reference librarian for the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, and Art and Artifacts Division at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. At the Schomburg, Pride teaches classes, serves patrons and researchers, answers reference questions, creates research guides and presents materials from the collections during public programs. She recently published a guide on Black Queer Archival Research. Pride was also selected by Rare Book School at the University of Virginia for the inaugural cohort of the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Heritage, a three-year program that aims to advance multicultural collections. Amber Moore ’08MS, Archivist at the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Study for Advanced Study at Harvard University, works with collections—and more importantly, with the people behind them. Her work at the Schlesinger has focused on the collections of African American women, including the collection of Angela Y. Davis, which included traveling with Dr. Kenvi Phillips, curator of Race and Ethnicity, to Davis’s house in California. The Angela Y. Davis collection opened in November 2019, with a conference in her honor.
simmons.edu/slis
Anya Brodrick ’13MS recently became a librarian (rank of Staff Sergeant) in the United States “The President’s Own” Marine Band. Brodrick works with the musicians and a team of five other librarians to prepare the music the band performs and maintain the archive of performance records and historic artifacts. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the band works and performs in a more limited capacity, with smaller ensembles. They collaborated with the Marine Chamber Orchestra on a collage video of “Amazing Grace,” and another video of John Philip Sousa’s march “Hands Across the Sea” with members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Central Band. John Campopiano ’13MS has been archives and rights manager for WGBH’s FRONTLINE for the past six years. He works with producers, gathers footage and music, works with the legal team, and creates footage databases and shot logs for each completed film. Campopiano has helped facilitate WGBH’s transition from tape-based media to digital, an ongoing process. His interest in documentary filmmaking led to his creation of a short documentary for PBS American Experience, about a massive sea serpent created by masterpuppeteer, Tony Sarg, photographed washed up on the shore of Nantucket in an elaborate hoax. He has also produced his own documentaries about the filming of the movies Pet Sematary and It, both based on Stephen King’s novels. Ashleigh Coren '14MS is the Women's History Content and Interpretation Curator at the National Portrait Gallery. In light of the pandemic, Coren’s work focuses on creating resources for distance learning for K-12 teachers and their students. She has developed subject-based digital teaching collections through the Smithsonian Learning Lab, works with Smithsonian Education, and guest-facilitates webinars that encourage the use of art to learn global history. Nicole Cunha ‘13, ‘16MA, ‘16MS, Public Services Librarian at the Newton Free Public Library, engages in disability-consciousness building—educates others on the concept of disability, giving librarians the tools to evaluate how their institutions are engaging this patron group. Cunha emphasizes practical considerations for visual and hearing impairments, limited mobility, and disparities between developmental and physical age. At the 2019 Massachusetts Library System Annual Meeting, Cunha gave a presentation addressing the importance of disability representation within the library profession, as part of the 2019 Project SET (Skills, Empowerment, Talent) Cohort.
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