No. 452 - June 8, 2020


Coming Events


FIMSwrites - Virtual Edition
Every Thursday
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
Do you expect to have paper, story, article, report, thesis, or book deadlines coming up? Does having other people writing around you help keep you on-task? Then join FIMSWrites, an informal initiative to provide some solidarity in the sometimes-solitary writing process. All FIMS graduate students, staff and faculty are welcome to bring their favourite writing devices and join us to write and check in. If you're interested, contact Pam McKenzie.


Important Dates


- Thursday, June 25, 2020 - Meeting of the Board of Governors
- Monday, June 29 - Friday, July 3, 2020 - MLIS Research Week
- Monday, June 29 - Wednesday, July 1, 2020 - Extended Canada Day holiday (offices closed, no classes)


News & Announcements


Submissions to the FIMS Class of 2020 Online Yearbook posted
All the submission received for the FIMS Class of 2020 Online Yearbook have been posted to the website at: https://classof2020.fims.uwo.ca. Check out the messages from students, staff and faculty. Submissions will remain open for the time-being, so it's not too late to send in a personal message!

Subscribe to the Graduate Research Blog
Graduate Students are invited to subscribe to the Graduate Student Research Blog. The blog provides research information for graduate students – scholarship, fellowship, internship and other funding announcements, tips on writing scholarship/funding applications, and other research-related tidbits.


Awards & Accomplishments


Andrew Braun, MA in Media Studies student, successfully defended his thesis titled, Dance like nobody's paying: Spotify and Surveillance as the Soundtrack of Our Lives on May 11, 2020.

Associate Professor Jacquie Burkell was re-appointed as Acting Associate Vice-President (Research) for another year, effective July 1, 2020. For more about Professor Burkell's activities as Acting Associate VP (Research), read the article, "Jacquelyn Burkell, Kevin Shoemaker reappointed to Research roles," published in Western News on May 26, 2020.

Heidi Jacobs, MLIS alumna, won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour for her debut novel titled, Molly of the Mall: Literary Lass and Purveyor of Fine Footwear. Heidi came out on top of 84 submissions to the contest and will receive $15,000.00 as part of the prize.


Publications & Presentations


Martins Olu' Badmus, LIS PhD candidate, published the following article: 

Author: Martins Olu Badmus
Journal Article: “When the storm is over: Sentiments, communities and information flow in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian”
Journal: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. Vol. 47
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101645 
Date: May 2020

Chris Brogly, HIS PhD student, co-authored the following article:

Begert D, Granek J, Irwin B, Brogly C. Towards automating systematic reviews on immunization using an advanced natural language processing–based extraction system. Can Commun Dis Rep 2020;46(6):174–9.

Amber Matthews, LIS PhD student, published Part II in her ongoing series Theory in practice: Moving from systemic racism to anti-racism in Ontario public libraries, in Open-Shelf.ca on June 4, 2020. Part II is titled "Addressing systemic racism."

Amber also presented a paper titled, "Dataveillance and fundraising: The watchful gaze of Canada's non-profit sector," at the Association for Nonprofit and Social Economy Research (ANSER) Annual Conference on June 5, 2020.

Associate Professor Ajit Pyati published the following article:

Pyati, A. (May 24, 2020). What Michael Jordan's documentary 'The Last Dance' tells us about beating the coronavirus pandemic. The Conversation.

Professor Anabel Quan-Haase published the following articles:

Quan‐Haase, A., Boulianne, S., & Harper, M.-G. (2020). The sociological imagination in studies of communication, information technologies, and media: CITAMS as an invisible college. Information, Communication & Society, 23(5).

Quan‐Haase, A., & Ho, D. (2020). Online privacy concerns and privacy protection strategies among older adults in East York, Canada. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology.

Professor Nadine Wathen published the article, "Impossible Choices: Serving Women Experiencing Violence During COVID-19," as part of the O Canada Project on June 3, 2020. The O Canada Project is a collaboration between the Royal Society of Canada and the Globe and Mail aimed at providing Canadians with COVID-19 resources.


In the Media


Juan Bello, FIMS instructor, was interviewed both for a print article and broadcast piece titled, "40 Aniversario de la masacre del Río Sumpul en El Salvador," published by Radio Canadá Internacional on May 21, 2020. The interview related to Bello's work in El Salvador, and his documentary project titled, The Chalatenango Massacres, produced with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the London Arts Council and the Sumpul Association.

Professor Anabel Quan-Haase was interviewed by Oregon Public Broadcasting (opb.org) for an audio piece titled, "The Pandemic Is Changing How We Use Technology To Communicate," posted on May 27, 2020.


Additional Activities of Note


Introducing Western Media Studios!
The MMJC program is excited to introduce the new digital communications agency, Western Media Studios. Led by new Limited Duties faculty, Michelle Edwards, the team of students will spend their virtual internships working with real-life non-profit clients in the London and surrounding area. They’ll be supporting these clients with a wide variety of communications and marketing strategic plans and projects. Throughout the internship’s 10-weeks, the multi-talented team will consist of the following: Mariah Brenders, Robert Brent, R. Kathleen Brown-Blake, Rene Dunkley, Shannon Edwards, Megan King and Victoria Vienneau.

Check out the new website (created by Rene Dunkley and R. Kathleen Brown-Blake for their capstone projects!): https://communications.fims.uwo.ca.

And...Introducing the Western Journalism Studio (sister-organization of Western Media Studios)
The Western Journalism Studio is designed to prepare students for a career in journalism by providing newsroom experience. All student journalists will write and produce stories against daily and long-term deadlines. The website will showcase those stories and equip graduating students with a strong portfolio that demonstrates the strengths and capabilities the MMJC program has helped them build. Throughout the 10-week course, students will be matched with experienced professional journalists from the London Free Press, and supervised by London journalist Jennifer O'Brien. They will also have opportunities to contribute to journalism projects across the country. WJS students will cover a wide range and style of stories using multimedia formats and learn to work independently and as a team. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 WJS will operate remotely with students working from their home communities across Canada.

Journalism is already happening at WJS. Please visit the website (created by Rene Dunkley and R. Kathleen Brown-Blake for their capstone projects!): https://journalism.fims.uwo.ca 


News from the FIMS Graduate Library


Contact us!

Although our physical location is closed, Kendall and Marni are still here to help you with any library-related questions.

  • Starting June 9th, we will be in the library a couple days a week to scan print materials that are available in the FIMS Graduate Library only. We do not have access to print materials in other libraries on campus.
  • We can also help with access to digital resources for your teaching, learning and research.

Email us (fimslib@uwo.ca) or call and leave a message (519-661-2111 x88488).

We are available to offer assistance Monday to Friday, 9am to 4:30pm.

Be Social @FIMSGradLib!

Follow us @FIMSGradLib on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for updates on electronic resources, access to informative articles, and lots of humour to get you through the term.

Emerging Library & Information Perspectives (ELIP) 2019-20

Although our publication timeline has been pushed back, Sara Clarke, our Managing Editor, continues to work with MLIS student authors for a delayed publication date later this summer.

Western Libraries Service Updates Page

If you need any information about service updates at Western Libraries, please refer to the following page:
https://www.lib.uwo.ca/news/2020/covid19pandemic.html  


Next Issue


The Grad Bulletin is your source for news, announcements, and events pertaining to FIMS graduate programs. Submissions from the FIMS community are always welcome and may be sent via e-mail to bblue@uwo.ca.

The Bulletin will be published four times over the summer. The next issue will be on Monday, July 6. The deadline for submissions is noon on Friday, July 3.