No. 529 - January 22, 2025

  • Coming Events:

    - The Glass Room Exhibit at Weldon
    - The State of AI and Why Canada Shouldn't Buy the Hype
    - Animation and Artificial Intelligence
    - You are not here: coordinating repair under occupation
    - Save the Date - Three Faces of Labor: Uncovering the Hidden Ties Between Gender, Race, and Class
    - Save the Date - Film Screening: Prisoner N. 626710 is Present

  • Important Dates:

    - Thursday, January 30, 2025 - FIMS Alumni Reception in Toronto (5-7 PM, AGO)
    - Thursday, February 6, 2025 - Meeting of the Board of Governors (10 AM, WIRB)

  • News & Announcements:

    - Call for Papers: 4S Conference - Starling Centre for Just Technologies and Just Societies

  • Awards & Achievements:

    - Nicole Bussey (BA'24, MIT)
    - Jesse Butler
    - Larry Cornies
    - Akram Kangourimollahajlou
    - Avery Page

  • Publications & Presentations:

    - Melissa Adler
    - Lindsay Adoranti (MLIS'24)
    - Melissa Cameron
    - John Kausch
    - Santasil Mallik
    - Selma Purac
    - Sarah Smith
    - Gigi Wong

  • In the Media:

    - Andrea Benoit
    - Alissa Centivany
    - Bernard Graham
    - Selma Purac
    - Anabel Quan-Haase
    - Joanna Redden
    - Andie Shabbar
    - Matt Stahl

  • Additional Activities of Note:

    - Lindsay Adoranti (MLIS'24)
    - Andrew Lewis
    - Sarah Smith
    - Victoria Rubin and LIS 9002

  • News from the FIMS Grad Library:

    - Winter Hours
    - Upcoming Events at the Library
    - Social Media

  • News from Western Libraries:

    - Upcoming Research Skills Workshops
    - Kindred Spirits Exhibit

  • Next Issue:


Coming Events


The Glass Room Exhibit at Weldon
Thursday, January 23, 2025
Weldon Library 113
Open during library hours
Brought to Western by the Starling Centre. What happens when you rely on social media for information? How do you know if a picture or tweet is truthful? What data is being collected about you and why? What power do you have to shape your relationship with technology? Examine these questions and more at The Glass Room exhibit, running at Weldon Library until April (continue reading).

The State of AI and Why Canada Shouldn't Buy the Hype
Thursday, January 23, 2025
4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Weldon Library 115
Presented by Paris Marx, journalist and host of the podcasts Tech Won't Save Us and System Crash. This event is hosted by the Starling Centre for Just Technologies and Just Societies.

Animation and Artificial Intelligence
Monday, January 27
4:00 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.
Attend in-person: FNB 2210
Attend online: for Zoom link, email rskinne6@uwo.ca 
Professor Luke Stark presents a discussion of his article "Animation and Artificial Intelligence," which proposes that ChatGPT and similar chatbots powered by large Language Models (LLMs) can be best understood as animated characters. Characteristics of animation can help us both analyze and respond appropriately to interactive AI technologies and the hyberbolic claims of their promoters. Hosted by the School for Advanced Studies in the Arts and Humanities at Western University.

You are not here: coordinating repair under occupation
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
12:00 p.m. - 1:20 p.m.
Attend in-person: FNB 4130
Attend online: Register on Zoom
Presented by Professor Alissa Centivany as part of the 2024/2025 FIMS Seminar Series.
Abstract: This research challenges dominant understandings of ubiquity, mobility, and connectivity and explores the limits ICTs through a qualitative study of a collaborative capacity‐building initiative to localize the repair of medical devices and equipment in the Gaza Strip. Dominant perceptions of ICT affordances rely upon taken‐for‐granted political, economic, and social systems that are neither universal nor guaranteed (continue reading). 

Save the Date - Three Faces of Labor: Uncovering Hiddent Ties Between Gender, Race, and Class
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
UCC, McKellar Room
Presented by Nancy Fraser, Henry and Louise A. Loeb Professor of Philosophy and Politics at the New School for Social Research. Hosted by the FIMS Rogers Chair of Studies in Journalism and New Information Technology.

Save the Date - Film Screening: Prisoner No. 626710 is Present
Thursday, February 13, 2025
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
FNB, Creative Commons (2nd floor)
This film by Lalit Vachani is 60 minutes long and will be followed by a Q&A.
Synopsis: On September 13, 2020, Umar Khalid, a charismatic student leader who recently finished his PhD at India’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, was arrested under the draconian UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) – a law that designates individuals as terrorists and allows the Indian state to imprison people without due process. His crime? As an Indian Muslim, he had dared to protest against the new citizenship law that the Indian state was trying to impose on its people (continue reading).


Important Dates


- Thursday, January 30, 2025 - FIMS Alumni Reception in Toronto (5-7 PM, AGO)
- Thursday, February 6, 2025 - Meeting of the Board of Governors (10 AM, WIRB)


News & Announcements


Call for Papers: 4S Conference
The Starling Centre seeks contributions for its Open Panel: Just Technologies for Just Societies" at the 50th 4S Conference in Seattle this September (Deadline: January 31, 2025). Imagine the synchronous movement of a flock of starlings. Murmurations are a vivid metaphor for the relationships between just societies and just technologies: complex, interwoven, and capable of reverberating across boundaries, spaces, and bodies. As societies become ever more technologically mediated, the intersections between justice and technology multiply in intricate patterns. But what happens when the murmuration falters (continue reading)?


Awards & Achievements


Nicole Bussey (BA'24, MIT) won a 2024 Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award for her submission titled, "Don't Bite the Hand, Make Love to It: Disrupting Pervasive White Representation in Mitski's Your Best American Girl." The winners were announced in a Western News article titled "Western Libraries celebrates excellence in undergraduate research," published on January 15.

MLIS student Jesse Butler was announced the winner of the inaugural ESU Formal Verse Contest, for a metrical, rhymed or unrhymed poem of 70 lines or less, presented by the English-Speaking Union. Jesse's entry, titled Continuing City, triumphed over entries from poets in Australia, the USA, Canada and Germany. Winners were announced at an Awards Ceremony in Melbourne on December 14.

Larry Cornies, former instructor and Western alum (MA'86, Journalism) received the Conrad Grebel University College's Distinguished Alumni Service Award, given to alumni who make a unique contribution to the world that represents the ideals and purposes of the College. Cornies will be presented with the award on January 29, 2025. A profile titled "Distinguished Alumni Award Winner Bears Witness to the Stories of Others" that details Cornies' career was published with the announcement by the University of Waterloo. 

Akram Kangourimollahajlou, Media Studies PhD candidate, successfully defended her thesis titled Stories of Displacement: A Phenomenological Study of Migrant Experience on December 11.

Avery Page, Media Studies PhD candidate, successfully defended her thesis titled Producing Representation: Re-Visiting Jewish Women in/on the American Sitcom on December 6.


Publications & Presentations

Associate Professor Melissa Adler published the following article:

Melissa Adler (Associate Professor): "Mounting the Antelope: How the Early American Wild Became a Document." The Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science, in Special Issue, "Knowledge Organization and Nations" 47, no. 3 (2024): 59-69.

Lindsay Adoranti (MLIS'24) and current MLIS student Melissa Cameron published an article titled "Measuring Researcher Impact in the Environmental Science Field," in the Fall 2024 issue of the University of Toronto's iJournal: Student Journal of the Faculty of Information.

LIS PhD candidate John Kausch published the following article:

Kausch, John (2024) "Modeling Context and the Characteristica Universalis," Proceedings from the Document Academy: Vol. 11 : Iss. 2 , Article 16.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.35492/docam/11/2/16 

Media Studies PhD candidate Santasil Mallik published a paper titled "History in Fragments: What Does A Photogenetic Line Tell Us About Dialectical Images?" published in a conference proceeding titled In My End is My Beginning: Dialectical Images in Times of Crisis.

Assistant Professor Selma Purac gave a talk on body horror between screenings of Cronenberg's The Fly and Carpenter's The Thing at Horror at the Hyland on January 10.

Associate Professor Sarah Smith published an article (co-authored by Alexandre Couture Gagnon) titled "Québec on the World Stage: Examining a Provincial Approach to Cultural Diplomacy," in The Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society.

Media Studies PhD student Gigi Wong presented a paper titled, "Queer Apocolypse 'Now': Queer Techne, Diasporic Intimacies and Transnational Imaginaries" at the Modern Language Association Annual Convention held in New Orleans on January 11.


In the Media


Assistant Professor Andrea Benoit is quoted in an article titled, "Why the debunked concept of Blue Monday still resonates, 20 years later," published by CTV News on January 18.

Assistant Professor Alissa Centivany is quoted in an article titled, "Right to repair movement sees progress but advocates say it's no easy fix," published by The Canadian Press on January 17. The story was then picked up by over 50 media outlets including the Toronto Star, Global News and CTV News.

FIMS instructor Bernard Graham is quoted in an article titled, "Gen Z makes podcasts popular," published in the Gazette on January 6.

Assistant Professor Selma Purac is quoted in an article titled, "From textbooks to campus looks: Life as a Western influencer," published by the Gazette on January 21.

Professor Anabel Quan-Haase is quoted in an article titled, "Elon Musk in 2025: Will space entrepreneur's Trump card pay political dividends?" published The National on December 27.

Research completed by Associate Professor Joanna Redden that found the Canadian government used AI in nearly 300 projects and initiatives was included in a year-in-review article titled "Year in review: A look at news events in April 2024," published in the Toronto Star on December 12.

Assistant Professor Andie Shabbar is quoted in an article titled, "'Memes are the way we see things:' Why Gen Z consumes news through humour," published by CBC News London on December 12.

Associate Professor Matt Stahl was interviewed by RA Pro Newsletter about his collaborative work with Olufunmilayo Arewa researching unjust financial practices in the recording industry for a segment titled, Reclaiming Music Rights, published on October 3.

Professor Stahl was also interviewed for the three-part CBC Gem series titled Paid in Full: The Battle for Black Music, which first aired towards the end of 2024 and can still be streamed on the CBC Gem app or the CBC Gem website.


Additional Activities of Note

Lindsay Adoranti, MLIS'24, hosted an episode of the So What? Library and Information Science Podcast titled "4.1 Library Unionization," released on December 21. "In this episode Lindsay Adoranti explores Kitchener Public Library’s unionization journey to better understand the dynamics of workplace advocacy, solidarity, and the broader implications for library workers’ rights."

FIMS instructor Andrew Lewis produced mural artwork for the Biblioteca Municipal de Viana do Castelo in Portugal. The work is described as "fluid, humanistic artwork that introduces an element of movement and color, contrasting the serene and deliberate simplicity of the building's minimal form.

Associate Professor Sarah Smith launched a new curatorial project, an exhibition titled The Air of the Now and Gone, which is a group show of eight new and recent works of contemporary art. The exhibit is co-curated with Kirsty Robinson and opens January 26 at the Carleton University Art Gallery, running until May 4. More details about a tour and launch party on the 26th can be found online.

Professor Victoria Rubin and her Fall LIS 9002 class went on a fieldtrip (jpg) at the end of the term to visit the Central branch of the London Public Library, where staff discussed operations, the latest priorities for collections, and cataloguing with the students.


News from the FIMS Grad Library

Winter 2025 Hours (January 6 – April 11)

Monday-Thursday 10:00am – 7:00pm
Friday 10:00am – 4:00pm
Saturday 12:00pm – 4:00pm

*Reduced hours over Research Week TBA

Upcoming Events at the Library

The FGL hosts workshops, lectures, and community events each term to support graduate teaching, learning, and research. Events are posted to our website (https://lib.fims.uwo.ca/events) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fimsgradlib/)

WikiClub: #1Lib1Ref

Are you passionate about free knowledge and access to information?

If so, consider participating in the #1Lib1Ref campaign! Short for "1 Librarian, 1 Reference", this international initiative aims to add missing references to Wikipedia articles and improve the verifiability of open information online.

New to editing Wikipedia or interested in working on Wikipedia alongside others? The FIMS Graduate Library is hosting a week of #1Lib1Ref drop-in editing sessions over noon hour from January 20-24, 2025. At these sessions you can learn more about Wikipedia editing and get hands on help in adding citations to Wikipedia articles. More info: https://ca.wikimedia.org/wiki/1Bib1Ref_2025_1Lib1Ref 

Monday, January 20 – Friday, January 24, 2025
12:00pm – 1:00pm
FIMS Graduate Library Room 3020 D/E

Zotero Tutorial

Unfortunately, the Zotero workshop scheduled for this term has been canceled. However, we are pleased to share that Nicole Hunt has kindly recorded her tutorial, which is now available for viewing here. If you have any questions or would prefer in-person assistance from a trained professional, please visit the FIMS Grad Library service desk or email us at fimslib@uwo.ca to schedule an appointment.

Monday, January 27, 2025 12:00pm - 1:00pm FIMS Graduate Library Room 3020 D/E
View here: https://youtu.be/HjBnSIi4TeM

Naloxone Administration Training

Become knowledgeable and confident in how to respond to an opioid poisoning emergency, including how to administer intranasal naloxone. Learn to recognize the signs and symptoms of opioid poisoning, what naloxone is and how naloxone works to reverse an opioid poisoning. Space is limited. Register by emailing fimslib@uwo.ca.

Wednesday, February 12, 2025
12:00pm – 1:00pm
FIMS Graduate Library Room 3020 D/E

Make of the Month – Lunar New Year card

We’re celebrating the upcoming Year of the Snake by creating a beautiful greeting card that you can make and share with friends and family. To make this card, we’re using, you guessed it, the Cricut! If you haven’t had a chance to learn how to use this neat machine, now is a great opportunity! Whether you want to learn for personal use or to enhance your library resume, we are here to help you learn the skills you need to succeed! Drop by the library anytime in the month of January to participate.

Social Media

If you haven't already done so, please consider following us on Instagram @fimsgradlib to keep up with our events, programing and other announcements.


News from Western Libraries

Upcoming Research Skills Workshops

You're invited to join the upcoming Research Skills Workshops hosted by Western Libraries. From data collection to publishing, get expert help at all stages of the research cycle.

To find more upcoming Western Library events and workshops visit the Western Library Events page. If you have questions about workshops, please email rsclib@uwo.ca. 

Kindred Spirits Exhibit - January 6 - March 26, 2025

This unique exhibit, hosted in Weldon Library, showcases a collection of handcrafted book art and celebrates the life and work of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the beloved author of Anne of Green Gables.


Next Issue


The FIMS 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 fims-communications@uwo.ca.

The next issue of the FIMS Bulletin will be published on Wednesday, February 5, 2025. Submit any items you have by noon on Tuesday, February 4, 2025.