ALISS Open Meeting

Thursday, October 26, 2006, 1:15 p.m.

MGH Room 420

Officers Present:

Sarah Evans, President; Tammy Salman, Vice President; Laura Horne, Publicity Coordinator

Items Discussed:

1. MLIS students expressed gratitude that we set aside a few hours to allow them to discuss classes in the week leading up to registration for winter quarter.

2. Marie Potter reported that one of the projectors was stolen from MGH 420, so be on the lookout for suspicious characters.

3. Beth Sanderson, one of the iSchool GPSS senators, will send out an e-mail about various UW committees that students can participate in. She said they seem like good opportunities. Her goal is to work on the budget committee so she can help the iSchool.

4. One topic of discussion was whether we need an online community for the whole MLIS student body (residential and distance combined).

a. Cohorts often have their own listservs or e-posts.

b. Distance MLIS students, regardless of cohort, have an e-post that is heavily used for anything from posting photos of pets to discussion of classes.

c. Sarah wanted to know what the interest level was, and in what format such a community might occur.

d. One person suggested that it would be a good idea to have an e-post that allowed alums to weigh in on career and job search topics. Marie noted that some alumni might be potential employers who might use postings to rule out applicants.

e. Another person said that the textbook exchange e-post set up by ALISS was a good idea, but that she wants a place where she can find all announcements since there is so much information to keep track of.

f. Some iSchool students set up a wiki in Spring 2006, and one of the creators was at the meeting. She said that it would be useful for posting a project or sharing ideas, and it could be set up to allow anonymous postings. However, she said it would take some work to set it up properly and doesn’t want to do so unless there is interest.

g. Another topic that arose involved what the various listservs are used for. Marie said she will send out a reminder, but that if we do set up an MLIS e-post, we will want to define what it is to be used for.

h. Someone mentioned that if MLIS students were automatically added to an e-post, then the textbook issue (where numerous “I need a textbook” messages went out on the iMLIS listserv) wouldn’t have been a problem because ALISS could set up links for people to exchange books.

5. The Diversity Committee is having trouble getting Informatics students involved. Marie said that others interested in the committee should contact David Levy, the committee chair.

6. On Monday, Oct. 30, the list of special topics should be on the website. If it isn’t, Marie said she will e-mail it to us.

7. There was a question about who will be the LIS 580 instructor. No word on this as of yet, which likely means there is a search for extended faculty. Marie said the name won’t be added until it is official through HR.

8. Cross-program interaction continues to be lacking. There was some talk of trying to get the MSIM and MLIS groups together, but so far that hasn’t happened. This is a good leadership opportunity if someone wants to take on that job.

9. Lynn McKechnie conversation is set for Nov. 16.

10. The iParent group is up and running.

11. ALISS officers noted that iCareer week is coming up in January and asked students to help think of ideas for panels or workshops. Laura suggested getting together a panel to discuss digital initiatives and related projects. This would be of interest to more people than just MLIS students.