Dear Patrons,
As we begin the fifth week of classes, I’m writing to provide you with a synopsis of recent news and links to useful resources and events of interest for the next five days. We trust you’re connecting to digital resources without difficulty. However, if you run into any trouble our IS Lab Staff, as well as our dedicated Information Studies librarian, Diane Mizrachi, are available to assist you. Please make sure that you have VPN or proxy set up to access resources from off campus.
Mindful Matters
For those moments when remote work challenges and the uncertainty arising from the pandemic feel overwhelming, this week’s mindfulness resource is the Mindful Music channel on YouTube. Check out this terrific resource’s website for a calendar of events. Supported by the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, Mindful Music’s mission is to care for health professionals, researchers, and scientists making breakthroughs for humanity. If you have found mindfulness resources that would be useful to others in our community, please send them my way to include in a future update.
Practical Concerns
Week 5 has begun, and we remain at the ready to provide assistance as described in last week’s update.
Alumni engagement
In response to student requests, we have added a new page to the IS Lab website with links to digital portfolios. If you have a digital portfolio you’d like to add to this page, please let us know. I’m happy to report that we’ve matched more than 50 alumni with MLIS students for practice portfolio presentation reviews. If you registered to participate in this initiative but do not receive an email about your match by May 1, please let us know. Coaching sessions via Zoom are coordinated by the participants.
Circulation & due dates
A reminder: We have extended the due dates for resources borrowed from the IS Lab through June 10, 2020. All fees and fines that would have accrued since March 1, 2020, will be waived; however, items that are lost and not returned will still be assessed replacement fees. Therefore, if you prefer to return items you’ve borrowed, please contact me to arrange for shipping to a secure address.
Interesting links
In an effort to stop bombarding family and friends with interesting links at inconvenient times, I’ve created a new page for coronavirus-related resources that provide historical context through various forms of expression, including investigative journalism, narrative storytelling, and art. Feel free to submit links for inclusion. Our newest entry is a call for volunteers to contribute to the University of Indiana, Bloomington’s Coronavirus Archives.
Jobs board
Following our well-attended Forum Friday panel on non-traditional LIS careers, you may want to revisit our jobs board. Aside from front-line medical personnel, information professionals are among the most instrumental hires an organization can make during a pandemic—across industry sectors. Also, please submit job postings when you find great opportunities. Using this system will cut down on the email deluge, and broadcast the opportunities to our students.
Virtual assemblage
Student groups need a place to meet? Need reference support? Want help delivering compelling instruction via Zoom? Need to pick up new practical skills? For all of these needs, and more, we invite you to the new instantiation of the IS Lab as a virtual assemblage.
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Reference services (register: bit.ly/ISLab-Reference)
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Instructional support (register: bit.ly/ISLab-Teach)
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Training (register: bit.ly/ISLab-Learn)
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Virtual commons (register: bit.ly/ISLab-Community)
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Workshop Wednesday
If you missed last week’s Workshop Wednesday Resume Clinic, fear not. I’m offering it again this Wednesday, April 29, at 12:30pm. Please come prepared with your resume and a few job ads of interest. We’ll help you craft a resume that presents your skills and experience in ways that will resonate with hiring managers in LIS-related fields. Any experience level is welcome, none is necessary. Register here.
I hope you find these resources useful. We welcome your feedback and suggestions to help us support instructional continuity.
My best wishes for your continued health and safety.
Diana Ascher, PhD, MBA
Director, IS Lab
Digital Instructional Support Librarian