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Dot your i’s and Cross your listservs:
A guide to iGroups for new and returning iSchoolers.

By Jenine Lillian, MLIS Day

The most prominent element of iSchool membership is the sense of our own unique community. Many times this cohesiveness begins online in listservs or in meetings of special interest groups such as the Silverfish. At quick glance, the email lists on the technology portion of the iSchool webpage can be daunting and several lists aren’t active anymore. The following is a brief description of iGroups and listservs serving the iSchool community, complete with contact information about how you can get signed up and involved. Events that are happening in the next few weeks are included here but feel free to email the contact folks for more info. It seems us iSchoolers just can’t get enough of sharing our interests with the rest of the iSchool as is evidenced by the following groups.

Many of these iGroups are just getting started or taking new directions this year with changes in leadership and focus so it’s a good time to jump in. For new students, I hope this guide will serve as an invitation to you as well as a way to get you started thinking about your many portfolio opportunities. For returning students, this guide may be your first introduction to some of the iGroups and I hope you’ll find one or two of interest for your second year. This article concentrates on lesser known iGroups, and does not include the larger student groups such as ALISS, ASIS&T, SLA, SALA, and IUGA. Links to these group’s websites can be found here.

  • IGroups and listservs
  • iArts: *Under new leadership*
    Contact: Jenine Lillian je9@u.washington.edu
    A group and listserv for the iSchool community interested in creating, living and enjoying art. This iGroup is getting new life breathed into it by a growing group of iSchoolers and will post events such as museum happenings and info on the art scene in the Seattle area. We also hope to sponsor some workshops, lectures, and/or hands-on art nights. iArts also coordinates an annual art show that fills the halls on the forth floor of MGH.

    iChat:
    A general chat list for students in the school.  iChat hosts informal discussions, social events, rants, tidbits of interest, etc.

    iDiversity
    A list that will have announcements of scholarships, internships, residency programs, etc. that relate to diversity, particularly diversity as it relates to groups that have historically been under-represented in the library and information professions.

    iKnit: *Under new leadership*
    Contact: Jenine Lillian je9@u.washington.edu
    A group and listserv for iSchoolers who enjoy knitting and crocheting. The occasional spinning and weaving question also pop up on this list. There’s a whole lot of knitting going on at the iSchool and it’s not just for girls! iKnit also has beginning knitting workshops and meetings whenever we can fit them in. A yarn swap and welcome meeting will take place in mid October (date and time tbd).

    iParent: *Under new leadership*
    Contact: Hannah Parker hannahp@u.washington.edu iParent provides a forum for iSchool students to exchange information on parenting issues such as childcare, schools, and how to study when the kids are making a racket all around you. The other parents running iParent this year include Kat Combs, Toby Harris, Anne Miller, and Anne Turner. iParent’s Web site address is: http://students.washington.edu/iparents/ and the mailing list is at: http://mailman.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/iparent   iParent is hosting a brown-bag lunch info meeting for new and interested iSchool students at noon on Monday, October 4, in MGH 420. iParent is also co-hosting (with the UW HR Work/Life office) an event in the HUB on Tuesday, October 12, from noon to 12:45 where iSchool Dean Mike Eisenberg will talk about using Big 6 skills to help kids with their homework, based on his and Bob Berkowitz's book Helping with Homework: a Parent's Guide to Information Problem-Solving.

    iProjobs & iStujobs
    iProjobs is for professional job postings (opportunities that are available to students upon graduation) but often has jobs we can do while in the iSchool and iStujobs has job postings for hourly employment while we are in school. I recommend signing up for both of these lists as it’s helpful to keep up on the jobs available to us and other opportunities that float across these virtual bulletin boards.

    iWorld: *Under new leadership*
    Contacts: Co-chairs Aaron Bowen asb01@u.washington.edu;
    Deb Raftus draftus@u.washington.edu
    This list is open to all iSchool students to discuss and post issues related to international library and information science. Topics include the digital divide, foreign libraries and employment, and technology in developing countries. For a more detailed look at iWorld, check out Aaron’s article in this issue:  

    iYouth: *Under new leadership*
    Contact: Linda Johns lindajohns@mindspring.com
    This list is open to anyone interested in sharing knowledge about youth-related issues in libraries. The purpose is to create a network of colleagues to be used as a resource for questions, ideas, and events relating to children's and young adult services in libraries. 
    A new group of iSchoolers have recently taken on this listserv and these are just a few of their ideas: “ sharing information about great new books, issues working with children and teens, issues in school and public libraries, as well as local author events, conferences and associations. We're also looking at sponsoring an event for those interested in youth librarianship and setting up some friendly, small groups so we can practice booktalking to kids and teens.”

  • Other special interest groups
  •  Archives and Preservation Club: *Under new leadership*
    Co-chairs: Toby Harris tobygh@u.washington.edu & Joshua Daniel Franklin joshuadf@u.washington.edu Publicity & Webmaster: Lauren Manes
    Local Archives Liaison: Marjorie Reeves  
    www.students.washington.edu/archpres/   APC has organized panel discussions, talks, and tours on various related issues. All APC events have been well attended; and excitement about the fields of archives and preservation has grown with each event.

    iServe
    Contact: Blythe Summers blythes@u.washington.edu
    Blythe manages an email list with postings about volunteer and service opportunities in the Seattle area. Anyone can email the list or join to receive notices. This is a great place to start scoping out ideas for the service part of your portfolio project!

    distlist: distlist@u.washington.edu
    Contact: Mark O’English markoe@u.washington.edu   Mark describes this list as “a mailing list open only to distance students in the UW library school (no faculty, staff, other students, etc. are currently invited, sorry!). It gives a chance to both be part of a community, and to be able to reach our fellows to bitch, whine, celebrate, or just generally discuss with people who are in the same situation. So, while its got no 'i' in front of distlist, its an unofficial list which serves as a useful communication tool for the 150 or so distance students out there.”

    The Student Colloquium http://students.washington.edu/bchelle/colloquium/index.html
    Contact: Chelle Batchelor bchelle@u.washington.edu  
    This website and event is being coordinated by Chelle Batchelor and here’s why:   “Many people who are currently in their second or higher year are working on amazing capstone projects, independent studies, directed fieldworks, theses, and RA/TA/GA jobs. The Student Colloquium is an opportunity for students to share those experiences and learn from each other. The range of topics covered will be as broad and diverse as our student populace, so each meeting will be new, different and interesting.”   The first meeting will be on October 8th in MGH 420, where Tom Dobrowolsky will present "Reading the city: when walls speak, what do they say?" Please visit the Student Colloquium website for more information.  

     

    How to subscribe to iSchool listservs

    It’s easy to subscribe to any iSchool listserv through the iSchool site. Just go to: http://www.ischool.washington.edu/resources/listservs.aspx and click on the name of the iGroup. You’ll be taken to a page that asks for a login and you should click on the button under UW Community. If you’re already logged in, you’ll be redirected to a page with information about that specific listserv (otherwise, you’ll be prompted to log in with your UW NetID first). I recommend that you select the option for receiving list mail in a batched daily digest before you subscribe. Practically speaking, I find that it’s much more manageable this way, especially for those of us who are on many listservs. You’ll get all the news in one or two emails instead of getting one each time someone posts to the listserv. And, voila! You’re subscribed. Note: At the time of publication the following listservs were not active: iResearch, iSearchers and iTech.

     

     

     

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