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Inside ASIS&T March 2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

Lisa M. Given, PhD
March 2018

Lisa GivenAs we head into autumn here in Australia (and as the northern hemisphere looks ahead to the wonders of spring) it’s a busy time of year for most of us. Often, the new academic year begins with many welcome/social events – and in the last few weeks, it’s been exciting to see ASIS&T play host to three such events in Sydney, Adelaide, and Melbourne. Although many of our Chapters and SIGs host events regularly each year, and while our Past-President Lynn Connaway held a number of events across the Asia-Pacific region last year, this was the first time that we’ve held a “roadshow” to target new members in Australia.

As part of our future planning for the 2019 Annual Meeting, our Executive Director Lydia Middleton traveled down under to tour possible conference venues in Melbourne. She first stopped in Adelaide and Sydney, where she worked with ASIS&T members at the University of South Australia and the University of Technology, Sydney, to host meet-and-greet events on both campuses. Here in Melbourne, I had the pleasure of co-hosting the event with Lydia at Swinburne University of Technology. These events enabled us to reach out to local ASIS&T members and to also connect with potential members across a range of academic disciplines, within government, and in various industries that share our interests in the “people-technology-information” space, broadly defined.

These events were a great success and we even signed up a number of new members on the spot! At my own institution, we met a number of people from across the city and shared a brief history of ASIS&T with those in attendance. What struck me in these conversations was two key messages – 1) there are many people who can benefit from ASIS&T affiliation, but don’t know we exist; and, 2) hosting a reception by using members’ personal networks can go a long way to build the ASIS&T brand and foster new relationships. Through word of mouth we reached many new people and my inbox is already filled with post-event queries about future get-togethers, questions about the conference (both 2018 in Vancouver and 2019 in Melbourne), and general excitement at the potential of finding a new “home” to connect with like-minded individuals.

There are lessons here for all of us in terms of how we can best use our ASIS&T networks. Many ASIS&T members, for example, travel the globe for meetings and conferences – but how many of us think to put together a social event under the ASIS&T brand as a way to strengthen our networks in new locations? How many of us think to host events on our own campuses or in our workplaces, to bring individuals from across disciplines and sectors together. This can help individuals to enrich their own professional development, but also provides a pathway to link our students and junior colleagues with others who share their interests. In short, what more can we all do to foster our ASIS&T community networks?

If you are already hosting these types of events – thank you! ASIS&T relies on the goodwill of its many volunteers, worldwide, and we appreciate all that you do.

If you would like to host an event in future, please contact ASIS&T headquarters to find out more about how we can help. At our Australian events, we gave away conference brochures, pens, and lots of business cards as a way to put ASIS&T on the map with a few new people. You may have other creative and innovative ideas that you can share that we can trial in new locations. Throughout 2018 we will be making a conscious effort to find new ways to connect with local members, including co-hosting ASIS&T events. The amount of time needed is small – to email invitations, post advertisements, book catering, etc., - but the payoffs for individuals and for the Association itself can be great. We look forward to seeing you throughout the year!

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S COLUMN

Lydia S. Middleton, MBA, CAE
March 2018

Greetings from ASIS&T!

Although the weather prediction calls for snow in the next couple of days here in the Washington, DC area, spring is definitely around the corner. We get daily reports on when the cherry blossoms will be reaching their peak (shortly after Easter) and daffodils are popping up all over. And while we in the mid-Atlantic haven’t had a brutal winter, I know many of our US and European colleagues are glad to see the end of it.

Having recently spent about 10 days in Australia, though, I’m reminded that while it’s spring here, our friends and colleagues in the southern hemisphere are finishing off a nice hot summer and getting ready for the cool temps of fall. As I spend more time immersed in the global activities of ASIS&T, I am increasingly aware that we can’t take for granted that what any one of our members is experiencing is the same as any other member. This is most evident to me when I try to schedule a conference call with members around the globe. It is always bedtime for somebody on that call! Figuring out how to serve the unique needs of our members in their own unique setting is increasingly on my mind.

I was very fortunate to be able to spend ten days in Australia earlier this month. The primary purpose of my trip was to identify a venue for the 2019 ASIS&T Annual Meeting which will take place in Melbourne in October of 2019. While the exact site and dates of the meeting are being finalized, we found several excellent options. I hope all of you will mark your calendars for late October 2019 and start planning to join us for this historic event. While Australia may seem far away, you’ll find the cost of getting there comparable to Europe in the summer and the cost of being there quite manageable. And the hospitality and experience are exceptional. Plan to come early and spend a week or so exploring the country before settling in for some great learning in Melbourne. We’ll be centrally located in the heart of the city, so you can see all that Melbourne has to offer while getting in the outstanding networking and education that you’ve come to expect from an ASIS&T meeting.

I was able to take advantage of that long trip to the other side of the world by seeking out and spending time with ASIS&T members and interested colleagues. Lisa Given, ASIS&T President, who is in Melbourne, along with members in Adelaide and Sydney, organized and hosted ASIS&T networking events in each of those three cities. Current, former, and prospective members came together to expand their network of information science colleagues while learning a bit more about ASIS&T and what have to offer. In all, close to 60 people gathered in the three cities, all of them excited about the prospect of ASIS&T coming to Australia and how they can engage with us to make our meeting remarkable and continue the growth of ASIS&T in Australia and the entire Asia-Pacific region.

Back here at headquarters, we continue to roll out the ASIS&T Community. We are beginning the process of transitioning SIGs and Chapters from our traditional listservs over to the community site. This needs to be a carefully managed process as we want to ensure we keep everyone that has been engaged with the SIGs connected with them through the transition. And we will have a new staff member to help us in that transition. You’ll see elsewhere in this issue the announcement of the pending arrival of Rodneikka Scott who will be joining us as our Director of Membership and Communications. Rodneikka brings years of experience working with chapters and interest groups. She will be a tremendous asset to us in ensuring a seamless transition to our new platform.

As I write this message, I’m preparing to leave for Chicago where ASIS&T will once again be hosting the Research Data Access and Preservation (RDAP) Summit in conjunction with the IA Summit. Thanks to ASIS&T’s support of these two growing areas of interest, both the RDAP and IA communities have formed their own governance structures separate and apart from ASIS&T. As the two communities mature they are, not surprisingly, becoming more independent of ASIS&T and less reliant on us to provide their infrastructure. This will be the last year that ASIS&T manages the IA Summit. We wish the IA Community all future success as they form their own organization and strike out on their own. RDAP will also be deciding on its future governance and leadership structure at this coming meeting.

Yet while some of these relationships are changing, one thing will not change. That is our laser focus on our membership and your interests and needs. The Membership Committee recently met to discuss ways that ASIS&T can be of even more service and relevance to you. I invite you to join that conversation and share with me, a Board member, or a member of the Membership Committee ways that you think ASIS&T can support and engage you.

I look forward to hearing from you and wish you all a happy fall/spring!

Lydia

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GOVERNANCE UPDATE

The Board of Directors met on February 14 for a video conference meeting. In attendance were Lisa Given (President); Lynn Silipigni Connaway (Past President); Elaine Toms (President-elect); June Abbas (Treasurer); Dania Bilal; Emily Knox; Kathryn La Barre; Brandi Loveday-Chesley; Heather O’Brien; Soo Young Rieh; Abebe Rorissa; Kayla Siddell; Lydia Middleton (Executive Director); and Steve Hardin (Parliamentarian). The following issues were discussed and/or decided:

Awards
The Board reviewed the revised Award guidelines submitted by the various responsible committees. The guidelines were revised to bring consistency between awards, clarify criteria, and create greater transparency of the decision-making process. The Board made modest modifications to several of the submitted guidelines but voted to approve all of the modified guidelines with the exception of the guidelines for the Bob Williams History Fund Award, about which there was some debate as to whether or not nominees or winners of the awards should be members of ASIS&T. The Board was unable to come to closure on this issue during the meeting so voted to defer discussion of the History Fund awards until the June meeting. The approved revised guidelines can be found on the ASIS&T Website.

President’s Report
Lisa Given reported that her Presidential Working Group had met and begun the work of reviewing ASIS&T committee structure and making recommendations for modification of the current structure. She reported that the Annual Meeting planning is going will with Ramesh Srinvasan of UCLA  and Zeynep Tufecki of UNC agreeing to serve as keynote speakers for the meeting. Lisa added that she expected to have committee charges determined by the end of March.

President-Elect Report
Elaine Toms noted that while she is still developing her thoughts about her presidential term, she is very interested in seeing ASIS&T become more international. She plans to look at our success in securing membership in Europe as a result of our Copenhagen meeting and projecting membership growth in the Asia-Pacific region as a result of our 2019 meeting.

Membership
The Board reviewed a series of Committee/Staff recommendations on modifications to the membership structure of ASIS&T. These changes that were approved by the Board include:

  • Providing a 25% discount on Professional Membership to all members who have maintained continuous membership in ASIS&T for at least 20 years.
  • Requiring documentation of student status in order to join or renew as a student member.
  • Increasing Transitional Membership dues to $70, limiting transitional membership to 2 years, and requiring that transitional members were student members of ASIS&T prior to becoming a transitional member.
  • Eliminating the Hardship Member category and replacing it with a policy that will allow members facing hardship to request a one-year waiver of dues from the Executive Director.
  • Adding a Community-Only membership ($75) that would allow individuals who are currently active in Chapters and SIGs but not members of ASIS&T to maintain engagement with their community at a discounted membership rate with limited benefits.
  • Changing the index used to determine the Developing Nation status of a country from the Word Bank DNI to the United Nations HDI. Using the HDI, members in countries ranked as having Very High Human Development (>.8) will be in Tier 1 and will pay full dues, countries ranked as having High Human Development (>.7 and <.8) will be in Tier 2 and will pay 40% of full dues, and countries ranked as having Medium and Low Human Development (<.7) will be in Tier 3 and will pay 20% of full dues.
  • Enhancing the benefits of our institutional memberships to include multiple Professional and Student memberships and providing greater visibility to those members.
  • Adding a Journal-Only membership for individuals that wish to subscribe to the Journal but not access the other benefits of ASIS&T membership.
  • Removing the print JASIS&T as a benefit of all individual membership categories and making it available as a membership add-on at $60/year.

It will take us several months to roll out all of these changes and if any of them impact you we will contact you directly. If you’d like to discuss how any of these dues changes impact your membership, please contact Stephan Addo.

Budget
The Board approved a revised FY2018 budget which accounts for the shortened fiscal year that will now end June 30.

IA Summit
The Board voted to withdraw from providing financial backing and logistical support to future IA Summit Meetings.

Any member who would like to see the formal meeting minutes may request them from the ASIS&T office. They will be available once they have been formally approved by the Board. The next meeting of the ASIS&T Board will take place June 4-5 in Vancouver, Canada. If you are interested in attending this meeting as an observer, please contact Lydia Middleton.

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MEMBER HIGHLIGHT

Dr. Devon Greyson
Postdoctoral Fellow
British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, UBC

1—What attracted you to information science as a profession and field of study?

Originally, when I decided to get my MLIS, I was very library-focused. I had some very positive work experience in an academic library and with a community archive, and saw public libraries as a valuable site for community education. Little did I know that going to “library school” would blow my mind, teaching me that libraries are only one corner of the information science world, that antelopes might be documents, and that information is one of the major fields of both struggle and play in our current era.

2—In what area of information science do you practice, teach or do research? What about that area of practice/study made you choose it?

I study health-related information practices, with a focus on child and family well-being. My goal is to improve the fit between health information interventions and people’s real-life values and behaviours, in order to increase equity and build trust in public health systems.

As a practicing librarian/information specialist, I more or less followed the interesting opportunities available to me, which led me down an unexpected path from children’s/public librarianship to health services and policy research.

When I decided to go back to school for a doctorate, I made a more deliberate decision to pursue a program of social information research that would encompass many of the things about which I care deeply: youth and families, health, and social justice. I love doing research and teaching content that spans the theoretical and applied, and working in a subject area—health—that is germane to nearly everyone.

3—Why did you join ASIS&T and what does your membership in ASIS&T do for you?

I joined ASIS&T early in my doctoral studies when I wanted to connect with the scholarly information science community beyond my local and subject-focused networks. As an early career academic, my membership in ASIS&T has provided me with opportunities to meet other information science scholars, connect with professional mentors, exchange ideas with colleagues at the Annual Meeting, and develop leadership skills on committees and in SIGs. As an interdisciplinary information scientist who is based outside of an iSchool, ASIS&T is one of my main connections with the broader LIS community.

4—What advice would you give to young people contemplating information science as a potential profession or field of study?

My advice for anyone—old or young—contemplating information science would be to keep your mind open to professional and intellectual possibilities while maintaining your core values. Information professions evolve rapidly these days, and I would encourage new information scientists to be open to unexpected or nontraditional scholarly and professional possibilities, as long as those opportunities still serve one’s personal and professional goals.

5—What do you think will be the biggest challenge for those working in information science in the next decade?

If I had to hazard a guess, I would predict that these would be the same challenges facing many other fields and professions. Logistically speaking, these might be continued trends and pressures toward privatization of services (including education, libraries, and health services), as well as casualization and deprofessionalization of labour forces. Conceptually speaking, I expect we will continue grappling with cultural conflicts around information trust and truth, including the de/construction of expertise.

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ASIS&T WHO'S WHO

ASIS&T Staff: Rodneikka Scott, Director of Membership & Communications

ASIS&T is delighted to welcome Rodneikka Scott as our new Director of Membership & Communications. Rodneikka comes to ASIS&T with more than ten years’ experience working in not-for-profit associations and scientific societies. Most recently, Rodneikka served as the Assistant Director of Member Services for the American Urological Association where she provided executive-level leadership to the membership, member service, and residency/fellowship match teams. Previously, Rodneikka has worked for the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, the Association of Government Accountants, and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. And of particular relevance to ASIS&T, she spent two years with Higher Logic, training associations in how to get the most out of their online community platforms just like ours. In all her previous roles, Rodneikka has worked closely with committees, chapters, and interest groups to develop structure and drive member engagement and value. She will be leading our efforts to improve chapter and SIG infrastructure, leadership orientation, and succession planning. Rodneikka has a Master of Science in Mass Communications and a Bachelor of Science in Journalism, both from Arkansas State University. Rodneikka will be starting on April 2nd and I invite you to reach out to welcome her by email or by phone on 301.495.0900 x1400.

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ANNUAL MEETING 2018 -- KEYNOTES AND MORE!

Ramesh Srinivasan, Ph.D.

Zeynep Tufecki, PhD

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The ASIS&T Annual meeting boasts more than 500 information science and technology professionals.  This year, ASIS&T will be in beautiful Vancouver Canada scheduled for 10-14 November 2018. Our robust educational sessions, panels, and workshops are not to be missed. In addition, we are featuring two great plenary speakers! Ramesh Srinivasan, PhD, Associate Professor, UCLA, and Director of UC Digital Cultures Lab is our opening plenary speaker and Zeynep Tufekci, PhD, associate professor at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an affiliate appointment at the Department of Sociology is our closing plenary. She is also a faculty associate at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society. We hope that you will take advantage of all that ASIST2018 has to offer to learn, network, and support ASIS&T in promoting the information science and technology field across all borders.

In addition to the outstanding education and engaging networking opportunities at an ASIS&T meeting, we are offering a guided tour of the Museum of Anthropology, located at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver. The Museum is renowned for its displays of world arts and cultures, in particular, works by First Nation band governments of the Pacific Northwest. The tours will take place on 10 and 14 November at 1 pm. Additional fees will apply.

Coming soon is registration, mark your calendar for Tuesday, 15 May, and don’t forget to make your hotel accommodations at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver.  The reservation system is now open.

As you begin to make your travel plans, please take look at the schedule-at-a-glance before doing so as there have been slight changes. Please remember to get or renew your passport or make sure that it does not expire within 6 months of the Annual Meeting.  Should you need a visa letter, send an e-mail ASIS&T Staff. Please put "Visa Letter" in the subject line.

And check out all there is to do in Vancouver. If you've never been, you'll want to plan a few extra days to take in the sights!

PAPER AND PANEL SUBMISSIONS DUE 2 APRIL AT 11:59 PM PT.

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ANNUAL MEETING SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Don't miss your chance to connect with the ASIS&T community at ASIST2018 in Vancouver. We offer a myriad of sponsorship opportunities to meet your marketing needs and budget. Get noticed, get exposure, and get connected. Sponsors will have access to professionals from a multitude of backgrounds, including researchers, developers, practitioners, engineering, education, linguistics, librarianship, chemistry, law, healthcare management, students, and professors in the field of information science and technology from 50 countries around the world. Sponsorship opportunities include:

  • Opening Plenary
  • Closing Plenary
  • Welcome Reception
  • Student Reception
  • Coffee Breaks
  • Hotel Key Cards
  • Conference Bags
  • Charging Station
  • Conference Wifi
  • Namebadge Lanyards
  • Video / Recorded Sessions
  • Mobile App
  • Sponsor A Student

There are plenty of options to choose from to make you stand out. Details of all sponsorships and other opportunities are on the ASIS&T AM18 website, and we would love the opportunity to speak with you about how your organization/university could best benefit from being a sponsor at this exciting event. Call now to reserve your spot TODAY! Contact DeVonne Parks, Director of Conferences & Events at 301.495.0900 ext. 1500 or e-mail with ASIST2018 Sponsorships noted in the subject line.

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SIG & CHAPTER NEWS

NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER

The Association for Information Science & Technology, New England Chapter (NEASIS&T) is pleased to announce two awards to support participation in the ASIS&T Annual Meeting.  Our goals are to support scholarship and connect research and practice, bringing new voices to the chapter. There is one student award and one practitioner award of $750 each.  Each award will support your year-long membership in ASIS&T as well as your conference registration and part of your travel costs. The application deadline is April 1.

For details on eligibility, how to apply, and the terms of the award, visit http://www.neasist.org.

SIG ARTS & HUMANITIES (SIG-AH)

SIG AH is pleased to announce its 2018 Virtual Symposium and its 2018 Student Research Award. The theme of this year's Symposium and the Award is, "Users of Arts & Humanities Digital Collections." The Virtual Symposium on April 10, 2018 will feature 5 presentations from scholars and practitioners describing their efforts engaging and measuring users of a variety of arts and humanities digital collections. The Student Research Award is for Master's and Ph.D. students and offers a cash award of up to $500.

For more information on the Virtual Symposium and the Student Research Award, visit the SIG AH website at http://www.asis.org/SIG/SIGAH/.

SIG KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (SIG-KM)

For anyone interested in expanding your understanding about Knowledge Management, you will have the opportunity to do so this fall when ASIS&T and SIGKM join the International Council on Knowledge Management (ICKM) to present the 14th ICKM conference, prior to the annual ASIS&T meeting in Vancouver.  It will be held November 9th-10th. The conference provides a forum for professionals, academics, and researchers from around the world to discuss ideas on information and knowledge management.  If you wish to present or participate at this conference, please see the call for papers and presentations: http://www.ickm.net/.

SIG SOCIAL MEDIA (SIG-SM)

SIG SM Panel Invitation:

The SIG SM would like to thank everyone who participated in the panel survey! Based on your feedback, we have determined the topic for our panel proposal:

Social Media: Politics, Surveillance, and Democracy

In this panel, we intend to address questions regarding how social media may be used in political contexts, the effects of surveillance, the freedoms in public discussion, and other socially relevant consequences of social media proliferation. Social media has existed for less than 20 years and has already caused major changes in how the internet is used around the world. Social network sites and applications such as Facebook and Twitter have become some of the major platforms where semi-public and public communication are carried out, and networks of participation and information exchange are formed.

However, the benefits of social media also come with serious questions regarding government surveillance, freedoms of speech, and the proliferation of social inequalities and divisions. Although social media provides an opportunity to exchange political information and connect with others about political issues, knowledge about government surveillance affects how people browse content online and share their views. Social media, as proliferated in countries where freedom of speech is more or less respected, is open to controversially and politically-charged discussions.

Nevertheless, should any type of speech be banned from social network sites? Where do we cross the line? Social media and internet technologies more broadly allow individuals to connect to various individuals and groups around the world and obtain reliable information regarding public affairs. Still, existing social hierarchies and inequalities do not seem to be affected by the presence of social media. Is the use and distribution of social media leading to greater or lesser divisions of attitudes among the population? Are there other relevant, political and democratic effects?

We are inviting speakers who would like to participate in a panel at the 2018 ASIS&T Annual Meeting to discuss these or related issues. If interested, please email: asist.sig.socialmedia@gmail.com

Please send us your proposal, due March 22nd, 2018:

  • A planned research topic for the panel
  • A short biography (about 200 words) about you and your considered research topic.

SIG SM Logo:

We wouldn't like to keep back the great news! Timothy D. Bowman is our proud logo winner. Congratulations Tim! Below you will see his contribution and the new SIG SM logo. Best thanks to all who participated! You all made our first competition valuable.

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AWARDS

Increase your worth and get recognized for your professional accomplishments! The coveted and prestigious ASIS&T awards represent the greatest recognition and respect professionals may afford their colleagues. All ASIS&T members and non-members are invited and encouraged to submit nominations for these awards:

International Awards

Nominations Deadline (unless otherwise noted): March 31, 2018 at 11:59 PM US Pacific Time (UTC-08:00). 

Questions or comments? E-mail lmiddleton@asist.org.

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CALL FOR WEBINARS

ASIS&T webinars are geared towards creating a path for members (and non-members) to learn and share innovative and high impact best approaches for advancing information science and technology without having to travel. We cover everything from academics and science to technological aspects. ASIS&T webinars assist members to interact and learn from peers and increase awareness of growth and new developments in the information sciences.

ASIS&T will gladly accept submissions on all topics related to Information Science & Technology. There is a clear demand for content that focuses on the various aspects of working with data (curation, management, visualization, analysis, metadata) as well as best practices. We encourage you to submit a topic, an experience, and/or a research paper that shares a passion for information science and technology.

Webinars are 60 or 90 minutes and are typically scheduled on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. ET (other days/times can be accepted). All webinars are recorded. We use GoToWebinars to record and broadcast our webinars.

To submit a proposal, please use the webinar setup form below:

Should you have any questions or comments, please contact DeVonne Parks, Director of Meetings & Events by e-mail at dparks@asist.org or by 1.301.495.0900 ext. 1500.

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